Chapter 8

You Said You'd Tell Me

"Do you perhaps have another message...?"

"No, it's fine."

This matter isn't urgent anyway.

Of course, if this person knew who I'd been talking to, he'd probably faint, but there's no chance of that happening.

"I heard that you wish to join our Magic Tower."

"Yes. That's right."

"And, though I've already heard, your current realm is..."

"I've already broken free from the system, and I'm at the perfected Two-Star level. I should be able to enter Three-Star soon."

"Ahh. I see!"

The face beneath the brown robe brightened.

Then again, even by the standards of Haedong Nation as a whole, this was such a remote backwater with such a low level of power that there were only two people who had entered the Demonic Path.

No matter how relatively high-ranking a city Hyeondeok City was, even in this 'Winter Tree Magic Tower' I was about to enter, the Tower Master was only around the Seven-Star level.

Therefore, a perfected Two-Star.

Though it was entirely based on my own claim, a mage supposedly capable of entering Three-Star was a valuable asset.

Even if I wouldn't become part of the Inner Tower's core, as a mage naturally recruited from outside like this, I was practically a blessing that had rolled right into their hands.

"Indeed, indeed... I didn't ask merely out of curiosity. Your mana system is quite unusual. You said you're twenty-four this year, correct?"

"That's right."

"Perfected Two-Star at twenty-four. Hoh hoh, truly. I can find no words other than remarkable. And your master, perhaps..."

"He is somewhere rather far away. He is quite an extraordinary person."

"Ahh, certainly."

He really, really is somewhere far away.

The one I could call my master was the transcendent once known as the Mage of the Glass Star.

He was the originator of the school and now governed one of the laws themselves.

...Of course, he had no awareness whatsoever that he'd taught me.

I'd merely peeked at a book he'd uploaded without much thought, so you could call it an extremely one-sided master-disciple relationship.

Still, the mage in the brown robe seemed to accept that explanation as completely natural.

He probably understood "far away" to mean somewhere outside Haedong Nation.

"In any case, you've truly come to the right place. At least within Hyeondeok City, our Magic Tower can be called the finest."

As he said that, he led me into the interior building.

For reference, when I say interior, that doesn't mean the Inner Tower.

This was the inside of the Outer Tower.

"...Hm."

Of course, that didn't mean its facilities or grandeur were lacking.

The purity of the mana I could feel from the first-floor lobby was incredibly refreshing.

The texture of mana brushing against my skin, the coolness reaching deep into my lungs, was pleasant.

A single breath filled me with several times the mana I would have accumulated outside.

All that filled my body was a sense of complete fullness.

"Fuuuu... This is nice."

"Haha, it's one of the prides of our Magic Tower."

A massive tree stood at the center of the lobby.

Pure mana poured from its bizarre body, completely entwined in vines.

The Winter Tree. I knew the true identity of this tree, but ironically, the Magic Tower that had been founded and maintained because of its existence did not.

"Uh, uh. Wait a moment. Mage Jin, over there!"

I slowly approached the tree.

The brown-robed mage, who had been staring blankly at my natural movements for a moment, shouted as though trying to stop me.

However.

Guu-uuu-uuu-

A wave of mana inaudible to mortals.

The low growling cry of the 'tree.'

"Yeah."

As though submitting to a single touch, it swayed its branches, and I smiled faintly as I stroked the base of its trunk.

Everyone in the lobby stared at me as though I were something strange.

Naturally, this situation was intentional.

____________

"Young Miss..."

"It's fine. We already knew this might happen."

Yu Seolyeong smiled and shrugged at the maid who was watching her with a worried expression.

Just as she said, it was something they had clearly anticipated.

The only problem was that things had deteriorated this far. As for today's rejection, she didn't feel even the slightest disappointment.

However, inwardly, she was just as anxious.

The situation of the Cheongheo Sect was worsening by the day.

The internal power structure of Hyeondeok City was one where numerous groups were simply locked in a taut tug-of-war.

They were merely waiting for a rival exposing its pale throat to render itself completely defenseless.

Once the sect truly reached the point where it could no longer endure, they would bite.

The sects, schools, Magic Towers, and corporations that had maintained friendly relations with the Cheongheo Sect until yesterday would try to trample it underfoot.

Naturally, Yu Seolyeong herself would not emerge unscathed from that situation.

If she was lucky, she would merely fall from grace. If she was unlucky, she might suffer humiliation beyond simple ruin.

"Young Miss, things really won't continue like this, will they?"

For reference, this child would unquestionably end up in a worse situation than Yu Seolyeong.

Humiliation aside, it was immediately a matter of life and death for her.

"Of course not. We've done too much until now for that."

"...I'm sorry. I was being too..."

Yu Seolyeong shook her head and stroked the maid's hair.

She had no intention of blaming this pitiful child's slip of the tongue.

'It really can't end like this.'

If one had to assign blame, this was a failure of virtue within the sect, and ultimately the responsibility of the Yu family.

The position of Sect Master existed entirely to bear responsibility.

And so Yu Seolyeong, as the Sect Master's eldest daughter, was simply sharing that burden.

...Of course, it was somewhat heavy.

Feeling the maid's sobbing and trembling slowly subside in her embrace, she couldn't help but let out a small sigh.

"Let's go back for today. We still have plenty left to do anyway."

"Yes, Young Miss."

The wish to lean on someone existed within her as well.

But she couldn't cling to some delusion that a prince on a white horse would suddenly come to find her.

She knew that would merely be escaping from the reality before her.

And yet, deep inside, she desperately wished for it.

For the existence of a savior who would pull her from this hardship.

_______________

After the commotion in the lobby.

The brown-robed mage, Ju Geonyeong, treated me with somewhat more courtesy than before.

"It will probably be fully processed within three days. Of course, even before then, you may use the facilities inside the Tower."

"I see. Thank you for your prompt assistance."

"Ahahahaha-"

Ju Geonyeong was afraid of the young man before him, despite the somewhat mild demeanor he displayed.

Although they were clearly both Two-Star mages, he couldn't see through the young man's inner depths whatsoever.

'...This person is going to rise much higher anyway.'

Ju Geonyeong had entered Two-Star around the age of forty.

His own achievements weren't particularly poor, but compared to true talents, they were merely shabby.

That was why, despite technically being equals in rank, he had no choice but to lower himself.

To begin with, he couldn't even properly sense Jin's realm.

Perfected Two-Star. Judging from his own words and other indications, it did seem highly likely that this was genuinely his level.

For reference, with other mages at that realm, one could clearly feel the magnitude of their power.

The rings of mana woven inside them could be distinctly sensed.

But Jin was completely impossible to see through.

It was the kind of impenetrability one would normally feel only from mages at least two stages higher.

So this must be what true talent was...

"Once your official registration is complete, you'll also be assigned a laboratory, and you can have one assistant allocated to you. You may bring someone from outside if you wish, but if possible, we ask that you choose someone from within the Tower."

"Thank you for the explanation, Mage."

"It's my job. Then, I'll see you later."

And so there wasn't much time left for him to maintain this courteous attitude.

Once Jin's realm rose in the near future, his position would naturally rise as well.

Perhaps before very long, he might even enter the Inner Tower.

Ju Geonyeong finished all the guidance with as much kindness as possible, then left the room.

It was a temporary private room prepared by the Magic Tower.

Click-

And so only one person remained in the room.

At the same time, a long sigh spilled into the air.

"...Haa."

With the sound of air escaping, his entire body went limp.

Contrary to Ju Geonyeong's perception that only he had been suffering, the situation had been just as nerve-racking from Jin's perspective.

"Seriously, I can't keep doing this."

All that acting and speaking like some 'arrogant and refined genius' simply didn't suit his personality.

During that whole performance where he'd loftily stroked the Winter Tree, even he had gotten goosebumps.

His head had been full of thoughts like, Seriously, what the hell am I doing?

Fortunately, he was more shameless than he'd expected.

Even through that endless succession of acting and false pretenses, he'd managed not to break character.

"How the hell does that crazy bastard of a protagonist do this?"

He could only feel admiration for the protagonist of the original work.

Of course, the guy hadn't even been born yet, and naturally a protagonist was supposed to give off that sort of impression.

But the mental fortitude required to perform such cringeworthy behavior without batting an eye could truly be called a talent.

Jin shook his head from side to side and looked around the room.

It was fairly clean and neatly furnished with everything one might need, but─

"...I can't use this place."

He would probably have to keep staying at the inn for the time being.

Inside the Tower, one essentially had to assume there were eyes everywhere.

He had no intention of sharing any of his secrets with the upper ranks of the Magic Tower.

As he looked around the room while organizing his future plans in his head.

"Ah, right."

A thought suddenly came to mind.

Jin connected to the Transcendent Gallery and was greeted by thirty-two accumulated messages and their previews.

[ You said you'd tell me you said you'd tell me you said you'd tell me you said you'd tell me you said you'd tell me you said you'd tell me you said you'd tell me you said you'd tell me ] - Nonexistent

"..."

He didn't bother arguing against that.

Admittedly, he had been a little late.