Chapter 112
According to Magic Hero, the Fire School is a mainstream school—a group of mages headquartered in the North Kingdom.
Here, "mainstream school" basically means a major magic faction.
Should I call them a large defense contractor?
One of the two heavyweights dominating combat alongside the Ice School.
Hm.
In truth, I don't know much.
I'm a dungeon master who has built my own ecosystem inside a dungeon, after all.
I've never really had much contact with the outside.
And even that was mostly with bastards brandishing swords and demanding mana stones.
Magic Hero : How should I put it... the mainstream schools that have mage towers exist...
Magic Hero : Um...
Magic Hero : You could say they're... organizations that don't belong to any country?
Magic Hero : Basically, think of them as independent groups...
I could only take a rough guess from listening to the veterans' stories.
So they're basically the Vatican version of a defense contractor?
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : To add to that,
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : the mainstream schools usually have something called the Mage Tower Alliance, so it's kind of like mages from different schools mingle and bicker with one another!
ㄴNewbie : Thanks for the explanation!
I looked at the monitor.
Mallang is currently infiltrating the Red Mage Tower.
At first, it was rather troublesome because getting in physically was impossible.
The mage tower has a barrier installed that prevents anyone from entering by any means unless they are authorized from the inside.
Mallang is a bizarre slime that can shrink to a size too small to see with the naked eye, but it still has a physical body, and even at minimum size it couldn't get in.
But well, all we had to do was wait until another mage entered the tower.
Even in a place with the tightest security, there are still moments when the door opens, and besides, a shrunken Mallang would be hard to identify anyway.
It infiltrated without much trouble by latching onto a Fire School mage as they opened the door and going in.
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Could infiltration really be this easy?
Normally, when an intruder gets into a mage tower,
shouldn't some kind of blaring alarm be going off?
Newbie : This newbie is disappointed in the Fire School's security level.
ㄴCowhead : Hey, you bastard, lol
ㄴCowhead : Since you and Mallang have no mana, they can't even detect you, so it feels like a total pushover, damn it
ㄴCowhead : If it were anyone else, they'd be burning at the entrance and doing a popping dance.
ㄴKingjjang Evil Spirit : Newbie, you can't think of the mainstream schools as pushovers.
ㄴKingjjang Evil Spirit : If you really start acting up, you could end up getting flattened...
ㄴNewbie : For real...
Mm.
Let's keep the arrogance switch turned off.
In many ways, things were going too smoothly because of the special nature of the bizarre phenomenon.
I borrowed Mallang's eyes to check inside the mage tower.
The scenery on the screen looked somewhat familiar.
I wasn't talking about things like the bricks used instead of concrete or the very old-fashioned art pieces arranged in the hallway.
This place is full of exhausted mages.
-Fuck, how the hell do you write a procurement report like this? If you've got a brain in your head, you should think before moving your pen. You think all a mage needs to do is be good at magic? How the hell did some idiot who doesn't even know such basics get a Tier 3 title?
-Ah, yes, my lord, about the mage dispatch matter you mentioned last time. The marquis said he urgently needs people to deal with the Frost Trolls, so... perhaps if we could just delay it for about half a month...?
People buried in piles of paperwork, people cooped up in labs drawing magic circles, people getting scolded by their superiors, people sucking up in front of crystal balls.
Everyone is working hard in their own place.
People are people wherever you go.
Newbie : It's a bit different from what I expected...
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : Why??
ㄴNewbie : I thought the whole mage tower would be obsessed with clearing Dreamland...
ㄴAnt Queen : Newbie-nim, that's a bit full of yourself, lol
ㄴNewbie : "!"
ㄴAnt Queen : There must be a system in the Fire School too.
ㄴAnt Queen : It's not like they'd abandon all the important work they were already doing.
ㄴAnt Queen : and decide to devote themselves to Dreamland, right? ㅇㅇ
ㄴAnt Queen : Unless Newbie-nim is, as Aboralis said,
ㄴAnt Queen : the Demon King who'll destroy the world,
ㄴNewbie : Guess so?
I had only ever worked for small and midsize companies, so I didn't really know.
But I've heard that big companies carry out multiple projects at the same time.
Maybe Dreamland clearing is just one of the projects they're running.
Until now, everyone like Julius, Yuben, and Count Wolphaufen had seemed to be going all in, so I assumed the Fire School would be the same.
Maybe I really was being too self-important, just like Ant Queen said.
Besides, the mages who came last time didn't seem all that strong either.
"Mallang, keep moving forward."
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The Red Mage Tower was tall and vast.
Back when I was on Earth, I once visited Company L's skyscraper, and in terms of feel, this seemed far bigger.
There were quite a lot of people working in the tower besides the mages too—assistants who supported them, cleaners, and others.
Even just looking at it through Mallang's eyes on the monitor, it gave off an overwhelming sense of pressure.
From the veterans' explanations, I was starting to understand why the mainstream schools are said to wield power so great that even major noble houses far larger than Count Wolphaufen can't easily lay a hand on them.
It felt like looking at a small territory made entirely of towers.
The mage tower went up to 100 floors.
Most of it consisted of laboratories whose purpose was hard to tell, spaces for office work, and rest areas like lodgings and reception rooms.
I suddenly had a rare question.
Aren't mages mostly indoor types?
I became a little curious how they got around in such a huge, sprawling tower.
"Oh."
That curiosity was quickly resolved.
There were those who went up and down the floors via the stairs,
but most used auxiliary magical tools that helped them move around.
Something small, roughly like a winged fairy,
grabbed the mages by the shoulders, lifted them up, and carried them along.
It looked a lot like the claw machines lined up in arcades.
"It looks like a fly, but it's surprisingly strong."
That was a bit lame.
Still, I didn't really have room to talk, since I was flying around like a person trapped inside a balloon.
I guess I'd better just accept it.
"I wonder where Lorensia is."
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I was certain that Lorensia was the reason for this Fire School infiltration.
Just look at the state of the conversation she had with the count last time.
She looked like she was itching to clear it.
I figured I could probably just observe her as the focal point.
Newbie : Lorensia spotted
Red Mage Tower, 53rd floor.
She was in a laboratory marked 53-035.
She was sitting in a chair, drawing complicated diagrams.
The floor was a mess, strewn with half-finished papers and the like.
Newbie : Is this the blueprint for the magic vault?
I took a screenshot of the monitor and uploaded it to the gallery.
ㄴMagic Hero : Yeah...
ㄴMagic Hero : She really is working hard...
ㄴMagic Hero : She's making much faster progress than I expected, too...
ㄴMagic Hero : She seems like quite a vicious one...
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : I want Newbie to stalk me too...
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah : lol
ㄴWhaleWhaleYeah : This girl's really vicious...
Nice.
The rest was the same as when the Wave showed up.
All I had to do was observe.
I leaned way back against the backrest.
And started monitoring Lorensia.
***
Lorensia is holed up in the laboratory again today.
Since the tower lord granted her permission to tackle Dreamland, she has stayed here ever since.
Today as well, she was obsessed with making a magic vault that would work properly inside a dungeon.
Originally, this wasn't her specialty.
She was more of a combat specialist, after all.
The road was long and difficult for Lorensia,
but after consulting a mage from the Space School,
and getting help from other Fire School mages assigned to the project, something fairly convincing was being made.
"Lorensia."
The door to the laboratory opens.
An eighteen-year-old—no, a kid—Tier 5 mage.
Even Lorensia, the one called a genius, had friends.
Someone who would worry about her locking herself in the laboratory day and night and bring her a warm meal, that is.
"What?"
"Make sure you eat first."
"I'm fine. I'm not really hungry right now."
"No matter how much you like the work, you can't skip meals."
Another round of her friend's nagging begins today.
Lorensia let out a small sigh.
"Okay."
"That's right. Hehe."
Lorensia looked at her friend.
Her name was Anna.
They were the same age, childhood friends who grew up together in the same hometown.
Unlike Lorensia, who came to the mage tower three years ago,
Anna officially became a Fire School mage this year.
Anna's rank was Tier 3.
She couldn't be compared to Lorensia, but she was also a fairly talented mage.
"So why did you start the dungeon-clearing project?"
Anna asked, lightly perching on the edge of the desk.
"There you go again?"
"No matter how much I ask, Lorensia won't tell me. I heard this time that Count Wolphaufen's domain has completely thrown in the towel. Honestly, I'm worried..."
Dreamland.
If I had to describe this dungeon in one word, it would be an irregularity.
It was the only dungeon whose existence could spill into the outside world.
Renowned factions like Fire Forge and Count Wolphaufen's domain challenged it, but all failed.
And although this is still just a rumor,
information that it could unleash all sorts of disasters like a mana storm was spreading rapidly through the North Kingdom, centered on the Cult of Oblivion.
Anna, as her childhood friend, couldn't help but worry about Lorensia.
Going into such a dangerous place is a matter of life and death, whatever your purpose may be.
Anna hesitantly parted her lips.
"I keep thinking maybe we're needlessly provoking it."
"Huh?"
"It can come out of the dungeon, so what if it harms you? Honestly, I'm starting to think maybe we don't even need to clear it..."
Even so, Lorensia only smiled softly.
"Don't worry. That won't happen."
"How can you be so sure...?"
"Because Count Wolphaufen's domain and Fire Forge are both unharmed. Mayor Goldhand, who spearheaded the raid, is still alive... and the count, well, he died inside the dungeon, so he's an exception."
Lorensia said.
If the dungeon master had intended to do harm, then those territories should have been ruined first.
But look.
They're still perfectly fine now.
That was Lorensia's argument.
"I also agree that Dreamland's minions and the dungeon master can come out of the dungeon. I heard it from Count Wolphaufen. He said it was information guaranteed by none other than the Blessed Aboralis. I suppose we have to believe it."
"Then even more reason to..."
"Like I said before, the people and territories that have tried to clear it so far haven't really been harmed. The losses happened only inside the dungeon. And if there's any being that has the potential to hurt us, it's better to deal with it while we can, right?"
Lorensia's resolve looked firm.
Her attitude made it clear that she intended to successfully finish this project.
Inside the cluttered, chaotic laboratory,
With dark circles under her eyes, Lorensia clenched her fist.
"Besides, this is a chance. Things inside a dungeon can't go outside the dungeon. But Dreamland is different. In many ways, it's strange."
"..."
"There have been attempts throughout history to study dungeon masters, but they always failed. Still, Dreamland's dungeon master might be different. He can come outside. If we can just capture him..."
Anna let out a sigh.
This wasn't the story she had really wanted to hear.
"..."
She talked so firmly that there wasn't much else to say.
It seemed unlikely she'd be able to persuade Lorensia right now.
There would be another chance later.
Anna thought.
"Okay. But make sure you eat while you're at it."
"Yeah. I will."
"And if it gets dangerous, make sure you stop."
"Okay. Thanks for worrying about me."
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Lorensia opened her mouth, watching Anna's back as she left.
"Anna."
At Lorensia's voice, Anna tilted her head.
"You said you'd be taking the test to advance to Tier 4 next year, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Nothing. And don't overdo it just because you're trying hard."
"Hehe, okay."
Click.
The door closed.
Left alone, Lorensia blinked.
She was about to reach for the food Anna had brought when she stopped.
"..."
And then she started moving her pen again.