Chapter 126
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ Mages of the Tower (4) ༻
4th floor black mage, Manroji.
3rd floor black mage, Rellin.
There was a reason why I kidnapped those specific people. It was because it was certain that none of these guys were Adelene the Golden Mage.
Adelene, the great mage, was exceptionally skilled at changing their face and going in disguise. Even in the game, Adelene appeared with a different face every single time. It was impossible for the player to see through the disguise, and the great mage therefore served to be a nuisance all the way until the final battle.
That Golden Mage was mixed within the group of 50 mages.
It was impossible to see through the disguise, so we had to go by eliminating options.
In the 4th Arc of the game, during the episode, Conflict with the Tower of Mages, there were a few proven mages that were most definitely not Adelene in disguise.
First of them were the representatives of each cult, Elder Admelech and Elder Morushtan, and because they couldn’t be too conspicuous, the head disciples, Professor Zollin and Professor Arkai were also ruled out.
The rest of the mages apart from the 4 of them were potential candidates, but there was a way to rule out even more.
That was by relying on side quests.
The main characters of the quest, ❰Love at an Old Age❱, Zollin and his partner Rellin couldn’t be Adelene, and the culprit of the quest, ❰Hidden Tricks of a Gambler❱, black mage of the 4th floor, Manroji, was also not a candidate because he ended up in the jail by the player in the game.
In addition to that were 14 other mages that were related to a few other side quests and those that would be defeated by the player in the main scenario of Conflict with the Tower of Mages.
That left 30 remaining candidates which could potentially be the Great Golden Mage.
I already knew roughly how they were planning on capturing Marie by interrogating Manroji and Rellin, but I couldn’t get much from them because both of them were near the bottom when it came to hierarchy.
‘In that case…’
The main character of the quest, ❰Love at an Old Age❱, red mage of the 7th floor, Zollin.
My next plan was to lure him out. And in order to do that…
“Now~. Miss Rellin. Let’s get started. Face the recording stone, and don’t forget to drool a little bit! Ready~. Action!”
“...”
“Hmm? What are you doing? Anything wrong?”
Rellin faced me with her ‘reddened’ eyes. She didn’t dare refuse the directions, and looked extremely hesitant and unwilling.
“I, I can’t do it. Please… How can you tell me to read such an embarrassing script?”
“Ayish~ Far out! Do you want to get scolded by my Marie-noona?!”
“Boohoo…!”
The actress… wasn’t complying with the direction!
On the other hand, unlike the sobbing Rellin, the boy with short hair, Jaeger Hinzpeter, had a grin on his face and looked very enthusiastic.
“I got no complaints. Buddy, how many of these do we have to film?”
“Look! Look at this wonderful example of a starting actor! Behave like a professional no matter what role you are given!”
……
…
“Korin… So you are into this kind of stuff… I, I will keep that in mind for later.”
****
For the past few days, Zollin felt like going out of mind.
Ever since the first day the post had been delivered to him, new recording stones had been placed in front of his room every day.
Sound was the only thing he could take out from the recording stone. Those were extremely explicit, vulgar and… contained words that made it extremely easy to decipher what was going on.
『This is amazinngggggg! I wasted my life not knowing thissssss!』
『Uhyoot! Young and beautiful wizard lady is the best!! Ore-sama super lucky!!』
『Ogogok! Ogogogok!』
『Oi oi! Where did your pride as a mage go! Koitsu - she gave up on being human! Lolololol!』
“Stop… Stop!!”
Korin Lork.
Former Earthian.
A person from the MZ Generation, who was used to every type of subculture, whether it be from the bright or the dark side of the Internet.
Naturally, it was inevitable for him to gain tolerance to NTR, the iconic element of the century.
On the other hand, Zollin was completely different. He was like an innocent child compared to the MZ Generation who had become corrupt by the numerous stimuli on the Internet.
Even though he was an evil person, he did not have the required tolerance to withstand NTR happening to himself.
The only thing that was stopping him from reporting this to his master, Admelech, was because his partner was Rellin.
The Tower of Mages appeared like a united organization from the outside, but each of the cults was in fact vigilant and wary of each other. It was inevitable for the cults to be in a bad relationship, because the allocation of their budget depended on their subjective achievement.
Therefore, a mage at the level of a professor like him, revealing that he was in a sexual relationship with a mage from the 3rd floor of their rival, the Black Cult, was something that required him to put his career on the line.
It was thus hard for Zollin to come out clean about his relationship with Rellin without one of them moving to the other cult.
He was in the middle of thinking to himself when a voice seeped out of the recording stone.
『Z, Zollin? Zollin? T, that man went somewhere else.』
“Huh?”
It was from the third recording stone. The stone, which he thought had finished playing the audio, continued playing Rellin’s rushed voice.
『Please help me! I, I am at the outskirts of the—』
Zollin quickly took out his note and started writing down what Rellin was telling him, in order to head to the place she was locked in.
The protagonist of ❰Love at an Old Age❱, Professor Zollin, stood up to save his lover just like the protagonists of every other love story.
“Oi. I want to look around some parts of the city. Get ready by tomorrow.”
The next day, Zollin led a few other mages and looked for Korin.
It was to head to the place that Rellin had pointed out for him.
“Alright. It might take some time though. Where would you like to go?”
Unfortunately, he did not see the smirk on the face of the guide assigned by the Academy.
****
The beasts pounced forth.
Kicking off the ground, they sliced through the air using their body as fuel. Their oppressive consecutive attacks and their daring fully-offensive attacks… none of them were effective.
“Haak… Hak!”
“Ugh… I feel like throwing up.”
The two golden wolves gasped for breath, looking at the spearman whom they could not reach.
“Your attacks are too honest and linear. Add in some irregular attacks and feints.”
“Ughhh… That’s not that easy though.”
“It’s not like bro is that fast… Why can’t we land our attacks on him?”
“I told you to call me big brother. Seriously… anyway, let’s take a break. Grab some water and relax.”
Korin took the Ren and Ron siblings and sat on a chair inside the training room.
“You guys are working hard these days. So, do you see any improvements?”
“...I don’t know.”
“We’re still losing to you, bro.”
“It’s nothing surprising for you to lose against me.”
The siblings were definitely strong. That was proven by the fact that they were at the level of Grade 2 Knights just because of their sheer physical capabilities despite living in the slums, away from martial arts until recently.
“Strength alone will not be enough to beat the real powerhouses, because theirs is the combination of technique and experience as well as their innate physical talents.”
“Are you one of them, boss?”
“You can say that.”
It wasn’t an overstatement nor something coming from arrogance. Objectively speaking, Korin was definitely on the stronger side.
“But even I’m just a weakling in front of the real monsters. Maybe not anymore though.”
“E, even you, bro?”
“Let’s see… For example, Senior Marie. She has great skills as a mage but her power as a vampire is truly on an unbelievable level. In terms of sheer mana capacity, she’s probably around the level of the strongest mage in history.
“Apart from her, there’s also Hua Ran. She is like a walking disaster thanks to the Unbreakable Vajra Body that she was born with. There’s probably very few people on this entire continent that could even cause injuries on her body.
“There is also Lady Josephine Clara, the Frost Giant of the Northern kingdom, the Great Golden Mage… There are numerous powerhouses in the world and compared to them, I’m merely just a single knight.
“But I will still beat them in a real fight.”
The siblings had trouble understanding his paradoxical comment.
“Didn’t you say you’re weaker though? How can the weak beat the strong?”
“It’s simple. A fight is not like a math equation, and does not have a perfect result that is always the same.”
There could be a difference in mood. There could be an issue with landscape, equipment as well as compatibility and having 10 power did not guarantee a victory against someone having 5 power.
“Strength isn’t the only factor deciding the victor. Weaknesses, compatibility, mentality. You must make use of every element to attack at the weak points of your enemy.”
Fight wisely. Korin gave the siblings advice; an explanation of how he was able to survive for so long.
“I… don’t know.”
But it was a difficult problem for the siblings. What he told them about was something that tended to bloom under extreme situations, in life-threatening moments of a fight. A big motivation… was one of the necessary elements.
“Ren wants to protect Ron, and Ron wants to protect Ren, right?”
“Yes! I will protect Ren!”
“...Of course.”
“Having something to protect means you have something precious.”
Having something that must be protected, meant that there was something that had to be overcome even at the cost of putting their life on the line several times on repeat.
“Because you see, humans tend to become stronger when they have a conviction to follow and a reason to do something.”
“...What is the thing that you want to protect then, boss?”
Ren asked, wondering what it was that someone this strong would have on his shoulders.
An innately good person; a needlessly kind-hearted and stupidly honest boss… Why was it that someone like him was dying to get so much stronger?
“Everyone.”
His short and unhesitant reply made Ren gulp in response. It was because the weight and size of his words were way too heavy and enormous.
Oblivious to that, Ron said while facing him with a bright smile and a gaze of admiration.
“Do you think I’ll be able to become like you one day, bro?”
“Someone stupid like me was able to do it. Of course you guys can.”
His words were true… He was being honest and genuine.
The siblings were able to notice thanks to their inborn senses that Korin wasn’t telling a lie.
“If you hear how miserable and down-to-dirt I was when I first entered the battlefield, you guys wouldn’t be able to believe it.”
The boy said with a smile, as if it was a funny memory to reflect on. However, Ren was still able to notice the faint trace of sorrow that was hiding under his smile.
“I was very immature and… lost many things.”
Saying that, Korin continued stroking their heads. How many trials had he gone through to reach this current state of being so carefree and broad-minded? How many life-and-death situations did he have to overcome?
That was a story about his past, which the two of them had no clue of.
“Let me protect you guys, all the way until you turn into adults.”
That is my duty as an adult. Korin added as he gazed at the two of them with a smile.
“...”
They, however, weren’t content with his words. It felt like he was reminding them once again how they were kids that had to be protected, and children that could not turn into adults anytime soon.
“Bro! I’m done resting!”
“Get up, boss. We still have an hour until dinner.”
“Very energetic, aren’t we? I love it. Well, Senior Marie is the one in charge of dinner today so…”
Despite having so much burden on his shoulders, the hero of the siblings stood up as if they were light, and the siblings wanted to jump down from his shoulders as quickly as possible.
“You know what, bro! I want to be like you one day!”
“......Not something I would recommend.”
That was his last piece of advice, but it wasn’t enough to dissuade Ron from sincerely wanting to be like Korin.
****
“Hukk…!”
Zollin gasped for breath as he shot his eyes wide open. He was in an unknown room; his entire body was restricted and there was a bracelet on his wrist.
“T, this…!”
It was the mana sealing artifact that the Tower had brought in order to seal the vampire. It should have been hidden in his room back at the hotel, so why was it here on his wrist?
“Ku~aha, ha, ha… Ha! Ha!”
“W, who is it!?”
From the door of the dark and gloomy room, someone walked closer towards him. It was a young man with a wild countenance and hopping behind him was a girl with sky-blue-colored hair.
“Y, you bastard…!”
After getting Rellin’s SOS sign, Zollin took a few trusted disciples and headed to the location. It was because he didn’t want his relationship with Rellin to be revealed.
However, Zollin and the mages were attacked there, by that man wielding a silver spear.
Being a Grade 1 Mage, Zollin was naturally not someone weak enough to be unable to protect himself from harm. But the last thing he remembered was his flames disappearing without a trace and… that man attacking them with his silver spear.
“Y, you bastard! Do you know who I…!”
“Shhhh… Everyone says the same thing so let’s not waste time. By the way… We are going to now spend a very fun time together, friend.”
Korin Lork said with an evil smirk on his face.
“Senior Marie.”
“N, nn!”
Marie hopped forward while carrying something mysterious in her hands.
- Bubble bubble.
The black stone pot in her hands was steaming, looking like a bubbling volcano that was ready to erupt any time.
“W, what is that thing…!?”
“It’s clotted blood soup. It’ll taste amazing!”
“K, kuhum…!”
Marie coughed with a blush on her face. She handed the pot of congealed blood soup over to Korin.
“It will be very delicious.”
“A, are you planning to kill me?”
“Ohh~ Of course not. We just… have a few questions for you. And while we are at it, we might harass you a little.”
“T, torturing me won’t get you…!”
“It might be a bit painful. We weren’t holding back with the high quality, concentrated blood after all.”
“W, what do you—- Uhp! Uhhppp!!”
His mouth was forced open as chunks of congealed blood were shoved into his mouth. Just like, more and more of the vampire’s blood was forced down his throat.
After having 10-bowls-worth of congealed blood shoved into his mouth, Zollin started to growl while tilting left and right like a drunk man.
“Uhh, auhh… Ahhh…”
“Looks like another ghoul.”
“Yeah…”
There were two types of vampire familiars.
Virgins turned into a dracule or a draculina and non-virgins turned into ghouls.
The difference between the two of them was that dracules had the ability to inherit their original strength as well as the power of their owner, whereas ghouls were like consumables. Losing all their strength, they would reduce to being just tougher versions of zombies. They were lowly beasts that could not even retain their rationality from the days they were a human, without having it restored by their owner.
“Like, why are they all non-virgins? How am I the only innocent and pure one in this beautiful world?”
“...Wouldn’t it be a problem on its own if he was a virgin till that age?”
“It’s the same for everyone else though.”
“Well… Apparently some people these days do it even before entering middle school…”
“What has the world come to…”
“Ah! Just letting you know, I, I never even held a guy’s hand apart from my dad!”
“Yeah I figured.”
“You figured? What do you mean by that?!”
Forcing himself to look away from her circular, wide-open eyes, Korin changed the topic.
“Anyway, 10 chunks of clotted blood to change, huh… He took a lot more than the other guys.”
“Mhmm… I guess it’s because he has a higher resistance to magic. Even with the restricting bracelet on, it did take a lot longer than expected…”
“I suppose 5 bowls is about the minimum for the change to occur. It’s about time for me to be careful as well.”
“Uun? Korin? What do you mean by that? I, I’ve never given you any congealed blood soups or blood sausages using my own blood!”
“............Yes, of course.”
“What was with that pause? You don’t trust me, do you!?”
It took a while for him to settle down the girl with heavily flushed cheeks, who was about to explode at any moment.
“More importantly, can you please recover this guy’s sanity? He probably knows a lot more so I have a lot of questions for him. After all, he shouldn’t be able to lie now that he’s become your familiar.”
“Knn… I, it’s a ghoul so this doesn’t count…”
Marie vowed to herself that her first ‘dracule’ familiar would be someone specific and no one else.
****
『What’s your name?』
『Zollin… My name is Zollin…』
Someone covering their face with a bandana replied to each and every question of the one filming him. Among them were few questions that might be harmful to the Tower of Mages and yet Zollin seemed fully obedient.
『Tell me about the plan, Zollin. Why have you come to this city?』
『T, to kidnap Marie… Dunareff… and assassinate… Chairman Eriu Casarr…』
『Why?』
『It’s…』
『Answer me.』
『ANSWER ME!』
The one behind the video recording stone bellowed at him. The screen shook as the man violently thrashed Zollin around. His peculiar laugh and violent actions caused Zollin to open his mouth with a shiver.
He spoke of everything.
Starting from their plans, to their objective, the reasoning and… he even mentioned the presence of the Great Golden Mage.
『How crazy! Everything’s going crazy! Right? Lord Adelene?』
The screen moved as the one filming the footage voluntarily showed himself. The man with the makeup of long, stretched-out lips, a white face and the clothes of a clown, looked into the eyes of all the mages of the Tower through the screen.
『Professor Zollin! And let’s see, how many weaklings do I have. One, two, three… around six? I have all of them. I only want one thing.』
『Give me enough gold coins to fill a whole boat. Otherwise, I will cut off the fingers of all of these mages one after another. This guy will be the start.』
『N, noo! Help mee! Uaahhkkk…!』
『UHIHI! UHAHAHAHAHA…!!』
- UAHKK! UAAAAHAKKK!
That marked the end of the footage.
“...”
“...”
The room filled with mages from the Tower fell silent. The entire group, which now had seven less than what they started with, had trouble finding the right words to say.