novelraw Chapter 281
Chapter 281
Chapter 281
When the navy-robed mage returned to the archive, there was no one on that floor.
Only traces that people had been there remained.
Just a lamp with its flame nearly extinguished and scattered parchment.
From the looks of it, they seemed to have left in a hurry.
When he approached and picked up one of the parchments scattered on the floor,
He felt a chilling sensation at the back of his neck.
"...You didn't go somewhere after all."
"Of course. I'm not a mage who can use teleportation magic just anywhere. Where would I go?"
"What is this?"The mage slowly straightened his bent back and showed his empty hands.
Only then did he notice the red-haired youth looking at him casually.
The mage realized that the knight who had been following the youth was no longer by his side.
The owner of the sword now threatening the mage's neck was probably that escort knight.
The mage spoke seriously.
"This is making an enemy of Asgard's Mage Tower."
"Since I'm a foreigner, that's quite possible. But what is this?"
The youth waved a carelessly torn piece of paper in front of his eyes.
The mage said stubbornly.
"I don't know."
"Hmm."
Dry saliva went down his throat automatically.
The Mage Tower was a building built for mages, by mages.
So he couldn't dare guess what kind of magic might be cast on each brick, each rolling pebble.
His hand trembled thinly in the air.
The youth waved the piece of paper back and forth as if pondering, then spoke as if remembering something.
"Ah, so you... don't know anything."
"That's right. I'm a mage affiliated with the Mage Tower, so how can you treat me so rudely? If I just tell our director, he'll come here immediately!"
"Right. Sometimes not knowing anything is better. But then sometimes I think this."
"What thoughts?"
"You know, when you're threatened, even things that weren't there come out."
"You're going to threaten me?"
"Isn't that so? You really had no choice. You were unluckily caught by a vicious solver from a foreign country and were just spouting random words. Everyone only has one life, fairly."
"Oh."
The mage was confused for a moment, then asked back.
"If you threaten me, when you return to Aquilonia, you might receive official protests..."
"I said I came from Aquilonia, but I'm not an Aquilonian. For now."
"Ah."
Having heard that much, the mage nodded. There was relief and slight tears in his eyes.
The youth declared majestically.
"I'm going to threaten you! Confess everything properly, you weak mage!"
"Yes! I'll confess everything I know!"
* * *
Except for the visit of the uncomfortable existence called a foreigner, the ground floor of the Mage Tower was quite peaceful.
The mages living in the Mage Tower gathered in small groups to talk about recent research,
Or were passionately continuing intellectual debates on topics that divided opinions in academia.
But that was only temporary.
As soon as the magical power injection vertical transportation device that had been up on the top floor of the tower came down to the ground, peace was shattered.
"Everyone get down!"
Along with someone's shout, a shockwave exploded from beside the transportation device. A roar rang throughout the entire Mage Tower.
-BOOOOM!
"Aaaaah!"
"Kyaah!"
"Wh-what is that!"
People turned their heads toward the flying fragments. Even the mages who had been beside the transportation device were blown back several steps by the sudden impact.
Three people walked out of the dust that had risen thickly.
The red-haired foreign youth, the mysterious escort knight who had followed him, and finally a Mage Tower-affiliated mage with a terrified face, hands behind his head.
The youth shouted.
"Everyone freeze! If anyone moves, I'll blow their head off first like you just saw!"
"You- you're the foreigner who was destroying the statue earlier!"
"I clearly warned you. Just try coming even one step closer."
When the youth picked a fight, the escort knight stepped forward.
At the sight of him drawing his sword without hesitation, the mages were left speechless, but soon several began to sneer.
"Ha! You think we'd be scared of you swinging that measly sword? You're acting up without knowing how scary mages can be-"
-Thud!
But before he could finish speaking,
He collapsed to the floor without even being able to dodge the black shadow flying toward him.
With his nose bridge twisted and blood streaming from his nose, a yellow tooth rolled onto the mage's knee as he sat down.
The surroundings quickly became quiet at that sight.
What had they just seen? Had he cast some magic to assist physical movement?
But the escort warrior just brushed off his slightly bloodied hand while pressing down the hood attached to his cloak.
The youth pointed to the mage he was holding hostage.
"Now it's gotten a bit quieter. If you don't want to see something ugly, clear a path to the exit. We're taking this mage as insurance."
"You vicious bastard! Aren't you afraid of Asgard's Mage Tower, no! Asgard itself!"
"Not particularly?"
The youth shrugged.
Among the mages who were half-scared and half-angry, someone shouted again.
"No matter how much you fly around, can just one knight stop dozens, hundreds of our mages? We'll make you regret it right now!"
"Ah. Right. About that. I think the same way."
"...What?"
"No, honestly, no matter how strong my escort knight is, he couldn't fight dozens to one. Honestly, I don't think that's possible. Right?"
"Th-that's right."
To the mage who muttered inadvertently, the expressionless youth pointed upward.
Upward?
"So I installed dangerous explosives in the records archive. You guys also learn something called alchemy, right? This hostage happened to know such things well."
"What?"
"Rather than confronting us here, it would be better to go up right now and remove the explosives. That is, if you don't want to blow up all your research records so far. Let me see, but I just destroyed the magical power transportation device for going up..."
Dozens of pairs of eyes turned toward the transportation device that was still smoking.
It was clearly in a state where operation was impossible.
The youth tilted his head slightly.
"I guess you'll have to use the stairs over there?"
The mages all turned their heads with creaking sounds.
Even they could see the stairs that had been completely forgotten after installing the magical power injection vertical transportation device.
Stairs that were surely covered with dust and spider webs since they hadn't been properly cleaned, let alone maintained.
They had to go up there? All the way to the records archive on the top floor?
"Are you going to keep standing there?"
"Wh-when will the explosives..."
"Hmm."
The youth narrowed his eyes and spread both hands wide.
"10..."
"10 minutes?"
"9..."
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"
The mages screamed and ran toward the stairs.
Cries like 'Call the director!', 'He's on the floor right above!', 'Isn't there an alchemy-specialized mage? How do we remove explosives?' could be heard.
The three people ran against the crowd rushing toward the stairs, straight toward the exit.
As soon as they opened the door, they ran past the statue with one leg askew, and the mage screamed in terror.
"Is it really 10 seconds?"
"How could that be! It's probably about 5 minutes!"
"I think I told you there was about 10 minutes of leeway! According to the standard alchemy bomb manufacturing method, that's a 10-minute one!"
"Right, but I cut it in half!"
"What!?"
The youth pushed the horrified mage and escort knight into the waiting wolf sled.
Then he got on himself and said to the driver.
"To the royal castle! As fast as possible!"
"As fast as possible?"
The driver, who had been shivering in warm fur clothes in the cold, held up his whip with a bewildered face.
Leaving the completely chaotic Mage Tower behind,
The carriage rushed out through the dark blizzard with the sound of 'Let's go, you bastards!'
As the wheels began rolling, those sitting inside the carriage let out sighs of relief.
The mage, who had been sitting exhaustedly as tension was released, wiped his face with dry hands.
"We barely escaped the Mage Tower... Thank you so much."
"No need to thank us. We also had something to gain from it. But was there a reason you had to leave the Mage Tower?"
"The Mage Tower is also a place where mages' experiments are conducted. So it wouldn't be strange if there was magic that transmitted sound from anywhere."
"You were worried about eavesdropping. I understand."
The youth nodded and brushed off some snow that had accumulated on his shoulder.
"What's your relationship with the expelled mage?"
"He's an old friend. I'm from Vicus, which belongs to one of the magic-friendly regions within Asgard. We grew up in the same village and had our magical aptitude recognized."
"Is that unusual?"
"It's not a common case. How happy we were when we got to study together at the Mage Tower. Even among mages, various factions are formed according to region or acquaintances. So if you don't know anyone, you're bound to be quickly eliminated. Whether in research or anywhere else."
The youth didn't seem very shocked.
It was a familiar story. The fact that broad connections led to individual achievements was so natural that it didn't give much impression.
"Fellow students who came up from your hometown together. That must have been reassuring."
"That's right. I focused on alchemy, and that friend was interested in magical studies. We helped each other greatly while researching different fields."
"From what you're saying, he doesn't seem like such a strange person. Do you know why that friend was expelled?"
The Mage Tower's director had said he had dishonored the Mage Tower.
So he had been expelled from the Mage Tower to take responsibility.
But the navy-robed mage didn't seem to think so at all.
"Ryurik is- my friend is absolutely not someone who should be expelled. Absolutely not. His passion for research was extraordinary. He always kept academic books in his hands and said he would bring great change to the magical academic world. He's a friend who would definitely raise objections even if the Mage Tower decided on expulsion."
"So there were some suspicious points. It's true that friend participated in the meeting held at the royal palace?"
"That's right. To be honest, I didn't know about the meeting until then. Not only did that friend not tell me, but things like climate change and meetings... rumors unrelated to magic are rare within the Mage Tower."
"So you didn't notice?"
"Yes. But I remember receiving news that the friend would be absent for about one to two days due to a royal summons."
"Do you remember when he returned?"
"He seemed both excited and dejected. And he politely asked for my understanding, saying he had to do important research for a while."
"Did you hear what kind of research?"
"No. Not at all."
The mage stopped the words he had been pouring out quickly and took a moment to compose himself.
"That's why I respected my friend, and I also concentrated only on my research in the alchemy laboratory. I happened to be working on a project to extract gold-like substances from toxic liquids."
"That's not important. But then?"
"Several days passed like that, and I began to worry about my friend. Not only hadn't I seen his face, but we hadn't even encountered each other during meals."
"Did you go look for him directly?"
"Yes. But his room was empty. Without any personal belongings. Surprised, I asked a passing mage... and he said the Mage Tower had expelled him."
The sequence of the story was correct for now.
A new mage who participated in an important royal meeting claimed delusions,
And the Mage Tower expelled the new mage before the entire Mage Tower suffered damage due to his delusions.
The mage clenched both hands tightly.
"At first I was resentful. To be expelled like that without even asking me for help! But when I entered the friend's room after he left, I found something under the bed. At first I thought it was research material left behind when they collected the expelled member's records."
The mage suddenly rummaged in his chest and held out a paper that had been folded many times.
One corner of the paper was torn.
The youth took it and matched it with the piece of paper he had.
The two pieces of paper fit together perfectly.
"This is."
"Seeing this, I realized. The fact that my friend might not have been expelled. Perhaps, my friend."
The youth's face darkened as he looked down at the paper that had become complete.
Among the chaotic memos that seemed like thoughts from his head written down without order, several sentences were written boldly.
[Nabua-Takitan's proposed consumption of standardized magical power - school succession centered on consumption - magical power enhancement training.]
The mage said heavily.
"Might have met his death."