Chapter 126: Mages of the Tower (4)
ySKFD4th floor black mage, Manroji.mlxlmp
xWCbYD3rd floor black mage, Rellin.lSxA
VfGThere 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.Rja0i
qV4wAdelene, 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.wSa9
QnmbsThat Golden Mage was mixed within the group of 50 mages.b11iar
OXtydIt was impossible to see through the disguise, so we had to go by eliminating options.abl
QQLpXxNIn 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.RPRm
pNoFirst 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.XGw
La4uaThe rest of the mages apart from the 4 of them were potential candidates, but there was a way to rule out even more.kzHa
iTEThat was by relying on side quests.7kd
mUBbYkyThe 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.KgsJ
WR2r7aHIn 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.hmdu82
umN8BThat left 30 remaining candidates which could potentially be the Great Golden Mage.NjkMb
mDbrmI 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.pYOAMho
f3sjEW‘In that case…’NIS
FO2The main character of the quest, ❰Love at an Old Age❱, red mage of the 7th floor, Zollin.HyU
BQYGMy next plan was to lure him out. And in order to do that…L3HU8E
hiA“Now~. Miss Rellin. Let’s get started. Face the recording stone, and don’t forget to drool a little bit! Ready~. Action!”kopF
8GWjYoD“…”5TCv
5bcBzD“Hmm? What are you doing? Anything wrong?”uNLVr
AS1mIoaRellin faced me with her ‘reddened’ eyes. She didn’t dare refuse the directions, and looked extremely hesitant and unwilling.7L1d
FgL6“I, I can’t do it. Please… How can you tell me to read such an embarrassing script?”zPiPHau
4a6B5“Ayish~ Far out! Do you want to get scolded by my Marie-noona?!”VgO
3O9I“Boohoo…!”UbJkx
M814KJThe actress… wasn’t complying with the direction!S99Oj
x9A3On the other hand, unlike the sobbing Rellin, the boy with short hair, Jaeger Hinzpeter, had a grin on his face and looked very enthusiastic.HS5i
B70TBFe“I got no complaints. Buddy, how many of these do we have to film?”b5RfD2Y
6cgYqA4“Look! Look at this wonderful example of a starting actor! Behave like a professional no matter what role you are given!”dAiUcp
cWM……oQcq6lQ
2OyuIVt…oip6t
RF2ei1a“Korin… So you are into this kind of stuff… I, I will keep that in mind for later.”jyjKp
NVkSBZS****cN5wqf
0VgJ2For the past few days, Zollin felt like going out of mind.iNb5
gwgNNsEver since the first day the post had been delivered to him, new recording stones had been placed in front of his room every day.rG5T
w6LmIS5Sound 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.1vwl
O6Ufd『This is amazinngggggg! I wasted my life not knowing thissssss!』21FRixY
7EYsEw『Uhyoot! Young and beautiful wizard lady is the best!! Ore-sama super lucky!!』4bO44a
Rz1『Ogogok! Ogogogok!』NS07
FJMf『Oi oi! Where did your pride as a mage go! Koitsu – she gave up on being human! Lolololol!』BZht9xa
cfZ“Stop… Stop!!”VDw9
sOlPeEKorin Lork.aBxw
4DmEilFormer Earthian.mNwtGeM
pZCgA 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.tgBgtD
EVMOYzmNaturally, it was inevitable for him to gain tolerance to NTR, the iconic element of the century.VLR
ARDqNOn 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.q90i6g
NP8eEven though he was an evil person, he did not have the required tolerance to withstand NTR happening to himself.ySzNuv
5ASThe only thing that was stopping him from reporting this to his master, Admelech, was because his partner was Rellin.R5k3op
AMc1hJuThe 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.743dbqb
i3M1BTherefore, 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.ar9
BOvIt was thus hard for Zollin to come out clean about his relationship with Rellin without one of them moving to the other cult.Nwbl
5bUxHe was in the middle of thinking to himself when a voice seeped out of the recording stone.Kc8aNTD
8dpiXOf『Z, Zollin? Zollin? T, that man went somewhere else.』aDB
krGXJb“Huh?”hT7
J1wrkHIt was from the third recording stone. The stone, which he thought had finished playing the audio, continued playing Rellin’s rushed voice.xmDH
Zoz『Please help me! I, I am at the outskirts of the—』otfso
YK12y1BZollin 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.pODC
IO8U0sSThe protagonist of ❰Love at an Old Age❱, Professor Zollin, stood up to save his lover just like the protagonists of every other love story.jhCJph
k1KIp“Oi. I want to look around some parts of the city. Get ready by tomorrow.”Emw
ckoY69The next day, Zollin led a few other mages and looked for Korin.EK2oPB
7r4cQggIt was to head to the place that Rellin had pointed out for him.nGIUP
xe8hij“Alright. It might take some time though. Where would you like to go?”4O5
IANUnfortunately, he did not see the smirk on the face of the guide assigned by the Academy.g8BCQ
JaBw****S18rs
uPYB5OYThe beasts pounced forth.JxEmD7h
9yJe0Kicking 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.pMJTt0
apZJs“Haak… Hak!”Qob
3k49“Ugh… I feel like throwing up.”0DkxZyM
AGmThe two golden wolves gasped for breath, looking at the spearman whom they could not reach.wE3
yxuYI“Your attacks are too honest and linear. Add in some irregular attacks and feints.”wWs
x2A“Ughhh… That’s not that easy though.”NkJ
aWLyw“It’s not like bro is that fast… Why can’t we land our attacks on him?”R6s5L
4Y6wJPL“I told you to call me big brother. Seriously… anyway, let’s take a break. Grab some water and relax.”9HCAX
NfJKorin took the Ren and Ron siblings and sat on a chair inside the training room.q7jqA
8WD“You guys are working hard these days. So, do you see any improvements?”jmSFiJ
HHDo“…I don’t know.”LMcS8t8
PrSbq“We’re still losing to you, bro.”IdquR9
iLohR“It’s nothing surprising for you to lose against me.”58VCIn
iusThe 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.BVk6mT5
kIiz“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.”Jp7
4L1“Are you one of them, boss?”4qs
fNKm“You can say that.”jRuf
JYQe7T2It wasn’t an overstatement nor something coming from arrogance. Objectively speaking, Korin was definitely on the stronger side.Oi8WG2x
cn3UZ“But even I’m just a weakling in front of the real monsters. Maybe not anymore though.”pgXi
7XY“E, even you, bro?”mxUU
2Nqm“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.UlWSp
8y3O“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.keP5t
rcY2“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.IgIHb
xEVQLJD“But I will still beat them in a real fight.”1LgOD5
bIZ2YUWThe siblings had trouble understanding his paradoxical comment.I5ZD7V
CGf“Didn’t you say you’re weaker though? How can the weak beat the strong?”Ukuy5
pqAlaPE“It’s simple. A fight is not like a math equation, and does not have a perfect result that is always the same.”gzcv
531apThere 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.I7j
9QAI6gc“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.”hmeDa
ZeAFight wisely. Korin gave the siblings advice; an explanation of how he was able to survive for so long.H0v
Zlga“I… don’t know.”oAdGp
iel5COpBut 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.0lAQhK
ogWj“Ren wants to protect Ron, and Ron wants to protect Ren, right?”4klY
3wJfe2“Yes! I will protect Ren!”pOmI
Huh“…Of course.”4jT26l9
fZVF“Having something to protect means you have something precious.”jfpDE
O8JMHaving 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.et6YT
eCOw“Because you see, humans tend to become stronger when they have a conviction to follow and a reason to do something.”HJa
Yvy21k“…What is the thing that you want to protect then, boss?”tkBW6MP
n2NoRen asked, wondering what it was that someone this strong would have on his shoulders.kD5yY
OiTpsirAn 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?tffUCK
F3Rl“Everyone.”ZNtj
kFgHis 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.nFzb6y9
pJlIOblivious to that, Ron said while facing him with a bright smile and a gaze of admiration.Nd4y
jAHtE“Do you think I’ll be able to become like you one day, bro?”rRLPSA
Pndiu“Someone stupid like me was able to do it. Of course you guys can.”LQh6Fg
vtsHis words were true… He was being honest and genuine.yT2
lI1GsThe siblings were able to notice thanks to their inborn senses that Korin wasn’t telling a lie.4HZ
rZio7“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.”TOXKq
1grRThe 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.IKxg6
vaZj“I was very immature and… lost many things.”vjLR
2KF20X2Saying 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?kdl
OIqcebOThat was a story about his past, which the two of them had no clue of.mekvRi
XgdKYrr“Let me protect you guys, all the way until you turn into adults.”kTmXy9
DSMvUSRThat is my duty as an adult. Korin added as he gazed at the two of them with a smile.Tn7IvvL
XBgxf“…”TK9a1
1CvksBmThey, 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.CTFq8
MRV“Bro! I’m done resting!”6Za
NI34UAe“Get up, boss. We still have an hour until dinner.”rAc
QVvI“Very energetic, aren’t we? I love it. Well, Senior Marie is the one in charge of dinner today so…”xlip
KMlDespite 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.qZAO
ZgJbibW“You know what, bro! I want to be like you one day!”XW6
Iqx“……Not something I would recommend.”ZYR
NQTeE2That was his last piece of advice, but it wasn’t enough to dissuade Ron from sincerely wanting to be like Korin.BDMz5
uqxl****PsQIr
Kaa“Hukk…!”C1dCmAg
pOd0Zollin 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.lUR
61S“T, this…!”qzmuJL3
B2uIt 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?iENf
cQTQCq7“Ku~aha, ha, ha… Ha! Ha!”m71TF
i9Gtd“W, who is it!?”422D
w3GqFrom 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.8GLrZI
Kyua“Y, you bastard…!”IxJ6
DqkCAfter 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.5PD
fLCMFItHowever, Zollin and the mages were attacked there, by that man wielding a silver spear.ESb
IjizeBeing 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.pDI
9IYxMd“Y, you bastard! Do you know who I…!”7P7qh
KyDBE2“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.”mlx
FPAUTKorin Lork said with an evil smirk on his face.3OX
zva0pF“Senior Marie.”0c5Gdp
wNN“N, nn!”nS8
4mVMarie hopped forward while carrying something mysterious in her hands.wHKz
NtKvVU1– Bubble bubble.YFVQ6bB
QJ2wHThe black stone pot in her hands was steaming, looking like a bubbling volcano that was ready to erupt any time.TNXc
prLyRAS“W, what is that thing…!?”BvTT
xzqbnLj“It’s clotted blood soup. It’ll taste amazing!”Wo7X
35Z2mkC“K, kuhum…!”0MCj
PgcMarie coughed with a blush on her face. She handed the pot of congealed blood soup over to Korin.Rrk0w
4lL2“It will be very delicious.”JjQvO
ZvJ“A, are you planning to kill me?”VUV0hY
Rw2sXsN“Ohh~ Of course not. We just… have a few questions for you. And while we are at it, we might harass you a little.”CKh
Wma“T, torturing me won’t get you…!”UbqG0
q4M“It might be a bit painful. We weren’t holding back with the high quality, concentrated blood after all.”RAX6
3TKMxpW“W, what do you—- Uhp! Uhhppp!!”KGLja
EJ3maHis 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.J4m
laHIAfter having 10-bowls-worth of congealed blood shoved into his mouth, Zollin started to growl while tilting left and right like a drunk man.KqX
mbUcE“Uhh, auhh… Ahhh…”t7GZ
BfUNM“Looks like another ghoul.”7vphJMP
lq5“Yeah…”o0ptcL
Sj2There were two types of vampire familiars.3xJAu
OrLVirgins turned into a dracule or a draculina and non-virgins turned into ghouls.eTHH63
eonWgrThe 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.oItr
WWv“Like, why are they all non-virgins? How am I the only innocent and pure one in this beautiful world?”bmpZD
4AkN“…Wouldn’t it be a problem on its own if he was a virgin till that age?”w4j
ku4e“It’s the same for everyone else though.”ZL5yZz8
iXT“Well… Apparently some people these days do it even before entering middle school…”Z7EH
Rz8“What has the world come to…”e3Rk
FYrz“Ah! Just letting you know, I, I never even held a guy’s hand apart from my dad!”Pjq
ingb“Yeah I figured.”10K
M5JPC“You figured? What do you mean by that?!”Ix2ht
BLqaVForcing himself to look away from her circular, wide-open eyes, Korin changed the topic.sVNRkX
xRrMH“Anyway, 10 chunks of clotted blood to change, huh… He took a lot more than the other guys.”i0D
zIg95K“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…”Vb5
kNpqMvX“I suppose 5 bowls is about the minimum for the change to occur. It’s about time for me to be careful as well.”U4eBpBt
vjEqfa“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!”Wpy3R5Z
atYZC“…………Yes, of course.”bgTw
1YiCzP“What was with that pause? You don’t trust me, do you!?”2EVDQl4
MjgIt took a while for him to settle down the girl with heavily flushed cheeks, who was about to explode at any moment.83GF
3lPu7“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.”Fg8H0Ag
mM3tEx“Knn… I, it’s a ghoul so this doesn’t count…”5Fi
wFVArVMarie vowed to herself that her first ‘dracule’ familiar would be someone specific and no one else.hupaXkR
s2D****4i5
RmPMW『What’s your name?』HLFF
GhJ2『Zollin… My name is Zollin…』9G9cak
lVhTwSomeone 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.zH9atF
R5j『Tell me about the plan, Zollin. Why have you come to this city?』FcKPr
Xx5y『T, to kidnap Marie… Dunareff… and assassinate… Chairman Eriu Casarr…』i77
GRp91G『Why?』G6Bo6US
2SCR『It’s…』Rb0mT
xiPr『Answer me.』xBe7K
eXL4Z『ANSWER ME!』oxEOnY
jNVGry7The 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.BQx
gFjxW3WHe spoke of everything.oBna3vH
GrC7Starting from their plans, to their objective, the reasoning and… he even mentioned the presence of the Great Golden Mage.Fmx
KDv8『How crazy! Everything’s going crazy! Right? Lord Adelene?』REh5F
JGLThe 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.9hERh2
p6D『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.』hdmNp6
DULLp『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.』ddO56tv
CNOG『N, noo! Help mee! Uaahhkkk…!』RANNmX9
rqazw『UHIHI! UHAHAHAHAHA…!!』hPfwJS
saV– UAHKK! UAAAAHAKKK!teI4
aIBYJsXThat marked the end of the footage.XZl70
EAEQKy“…”BRcrC
tPxeyCF“…”mwNP6v
YeoBEThe 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.YGKlMX
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