As Carson and Heint stood guard and Lucion looked on in surprise, Shaela chuckled and said, “That’s just everyday life. When the layers between floors are thin, no amount of defensive spells can hold up; they’ll all break through. That’s why there are five floors.”
―Thank you, Hu! I almost dropped the sparkling jelly from shock… Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Ratta turned to Hu with a smile and quickly extinguished the dark flas flickering in his eyes.
Still wearing a startled expression, Hu stared at Lucion, burying his face in Ratta, wondering if he had been noticed.
Hu was afraid.
[No, Hu, Ratta was quick, so no one saw you.]
―Hoo-hoo. Ratta’s so fast!
Russell chuckled at Ratta’s pride and gently tapped Hu on the head before shifting his gaze to where Lucion was looking.
[‘This is insane. There are several people over there who look like they’d be great at scamming, just as Broson described. Could they have already gotten their hands on the black orb?’]
Russell fought the urge to investigate.
Even if he cast spells to hide himself and Bethel from the warlocks and ghosts, there might still be those who could see through it.
[We shouldn’t check, should we, Russell?]
Bethel, equally frustrated, asked Russell.
He nodded in agreent.
[Right. We can’t. If we stray too far from Lucion, our disguise will weaken. We can’t risk that.]
As Lucion listened to Bethel and Russell’s conversation, a realization hit him hard.
‘Damn.’
He had never truly contemplated the possibility that the black orb might actually be in that guy’s possession.
“Lucion?”
Shaela grabbed his shoulder and gently shook him.
“Oh. I was just a bit surprised. Is it alright if I head that way?”
Lucion wanted to morize the face of that man; he was certain the guy recognized him, but he
didn’t know what he looked like.
“That way?”
Shaela looked skeptical, prompting Lucion to calmly ask, “Was that loud noise just now because the magic failed?”
“Yeah, the magic failed,” Shaela replied.
“I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed what happens when magic fails. Since we’re at the Magic Tower, shouldn’t I get to see it at least once?”
Shaela hesitated at the curiosity gleaming in Lucion’s eyes. Normally, he would have been eagerly exploring the tower for days.
‘Look at how excited he is after just a few steps.’
Shaela exchanged glances with Carson, who nodded in agreent. With a bright smile, she responded, “Sure. I can’t really show you, though. But I’m quite skilled.”
“Right. Your punches are impressive…”
Heint muttered sothing under his breath and fell silent, awkwardly smiling under Shaela’s piercing gaze.
As Shaela approached him, he tensed, but his eyes soon faltered at her softly spoken words.
“There’s sothing on you. You’re being so careless, Brother Heint Tria.”
With a smile, Shaela turned away.
-Just keep an eye on Lucion, okay?
Heint clenched his fists at Shaela’s words, which felt uncharacteristic of her.
During the Sea of Death Incident in the East, he recalled how much Shaela had resented him.
“Even you, Brother Heint… you should have protected Lucion! No matter what happened, you should have stayed with him until the end! You know Lucion can’t… can’t protect himself…!”
Feeling as if a heavy armor was weighing down on his shoulders, Heint’s mind sharpened.
He quietly followed behind Shaela.
“I know I’m chatty today, but please understand, brothers. I’m just so happy to see you.”
Shaela pointed to a man.
“Ah, do you see that man?”
But her gaze was directed elsewhere.
Carson and Heint realized that the other person was the real target.
[He’s not a warlock.]
—Yes, he’s not!
Bethel and Ratta confird.
Shaela had already sent a magical letter identifying those without items imbued with light, but she cleverly used her chatter to discreetly signal the actual magicians with her expressions, gestures, and gaze.
Lucion, impressed by her use of every ans available—her expressions, body language, and gaze—called out to Shaela.
In addition to the red thread, there was now a blue thread leading to the upper floor.
This thread was a result of tracing back the tracking black magic that Peter had carelessly left behind after escaping.
Though he didn’t know which floor it led to, the fact that it was directed upwards raised suspicions.
“Sister.”
“Yes, Lucion?”
“Looking more closely, I beca curious about sothing.”
“Go on.”
“There are so many mages in the Magic Tower. Do you rember all their faces?”
“No, probably not anyone—oh, wait. The Elder does.”
“Then only the Elder knows?”
“That’s right. He’s very fond of this place. What was it? He even created so sort of tool. Anyway, I heard he can identify them with that magical device.”
Quick-witted Shaela realized the implication behind Lucion’s question.
Could it be that the warlock had laid a hand on the Elder?
That was what Lucion was hinting at.
Carson and Heint also pondered the question.
Shaela’s expression stiffened slightly, but she managed to maintain her smile.
‘It’s not that I haven’t t the Elder.’
Of course, she had.
But she couldn’t easily check for light-imbued items. The Elder possessed knowledge beyond her own and would surely notice.
Above all, the only way to confirm if soone was under the influence of black magic was through light, and pretending to make a mistake and triggering an incident was far too risky a gamble.
Even she wouldn’t dare to go that far.
“Shall we check that direction first and then visit the Elder? I’ve talked about you a lot, so the Elder said he wanted to see you.”
“I’m fine with that. Is the Elder on the 5th floor?”
“Yeah, he’s on the highest floor.”
At Shaela’s response, Lucion turned his head and looked up.
There had certainly been a red thread leading up there, but now it had co back down.
‘I don’t know why it ca down, but the Elder has already fallen under the influence of the Hand of the Void.’
As his mouth felt dry, Lucion finished off the last of his snacks and asked, “How do we get to the upper floor?”
“To reach the upper floor, you need to use that.”
Shaela pointed to the center of the 1st floor, obscured by a tent and shops due to construction.
There, like a stage, was a black floor laid out, divided into four large sections, which were further subdivided into 16 smaller sections, undulating.
As soon as soone stepped onto one of those areas, they disappeared in an instant, causing Ratta’s eyes to widen.
―Hop! Look, they got swallowed! What do we do, Lucion? The floor is eating people!
[Pfft.]
Russell couldn’t contain his laughter at Ratta’s serious expression.
He felt it was sothing he would never want to label as magic.
“It’s like a portal. But it’s even more fluid than a portal. You can move individually or as a group.”
Shaela chuckled as she watched Lucion, captivated by the transportation device.
―…Ha. Ratta was really shocked. I thought the floor actually swallowed soone.
Only then did Ratta relax and snuggle against Hu’s arm.
“What if the transportation device breaks?” Lucion asked.
Shaela responded imdiately, “The transportation device is precious, so malfunctions are unlikely. Right now, there are a lot of defensive spells operating over there. If the transportation device were to stop, the mages would have to… collectively dispel the magic.”
As Shaela spoke, she flinched slightly. Noticing her subtle reaction, Carson glanced at Heint.
Heint’s expression had tightened.
This was not good.
‘After the Elder, it’s the mages.’
Lucion wiped his palms with the handkerchief Hu had handed him, contemplating.
“Lucion.”
Shaela looked at him with a slightly trembling voice.
Her gaze seed to ask if it would be possible within such a short ti, making Lucion feel a pang of regret.
He hadn’t expected her ignorance about warlocks to catch up with him like this.
‘It’s possible. It’s more than possible.’
But Lucion didn’t voice his thoughts aloud. Instead, he replied to Shaela’s call.
“Yes, Sister.”
“If, by any chance—really, just if—the transportation device breaks down, it can be operated manually. You just have to look at the bottom of the device. It’s designed to be audible. But it only makes a sound when it’s broken. The mages will know when they see it.”
Shaela emphasized this just in case the knights could hear it.
[Be cautious, Lucion. The Elder has already fallen into the grasp of the Hand of the Void.]
Russell spoke firmly, focusing on the current situation rather than offering false hope.
Bethel gritted her teeth.
[To think it would actually be true.]
She had suspected it from the mont Lucion ntioned the Elder but had desperately hoped otherwise.
The Elder was the head of the Magic Tower.
No matter what happened, it was clear that chaos would ensue.
Lucion, observing the temporarily subdued atmosphere, realized that Shaela, Carson, and Heint had all caught on to the implications of his words.
‘Well, everyone must have heard that. If the enemy knows how to stop the transportation device, the next targets for their black magic will likely be the mages.’
Lucion rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
It felt suspicious.
He quickly used the signal Carson had taught him.
“Ah, I finished that snack. Can I buy sothing else first?”
Lucion spoke calmly, despite their astonished expressions.
He needed sothing sweet to think clearly.
* * *
As they approached the site where the magic failure had occurred, the red thread grew shorter and shorter.
Lucion swallowed hard.
The mages were no strangers to magic failures, so there was no commotion.
So were indifferent, so analyzed the cause of the magic failure, and so used water magic to clean up the traces of the incident.
―Hop! I sll black magic.
‘These… crazy people.’
Lucion was taken aback by Ratta’s sudden comnt.
‘Are these people actually using the magic failure as an excuse to experint with black magic?’
They were likely causing magic failures deliberately, whether through enchantnt or deception, to check if their spells were functioning correctly.
[…?]
Bethel flinched at Ratta’s words. She quickly turned her head to look at Russell.
Russell frowned for a mont before replying.
[That’s right. He’s been enchanted.]
―That man over there.
Ratta pointed with her front paw.
‘Why does everyone have such good eyesight?’
Lucion felt frustrated that while Russell, Bethel, and even Hu were looking at soone, he couldn’t see who it was.
Hu quietly called out to Lucion as Shaela signaled to Carson and Heint, informing them of who among them didn’t possess a light-imbued item.
“Young Master.”
“Yes?”
“Your clothes are wrinkled.”
Hu sent a signal that only he and Lucion understood.
There’s soone over there with a black orb.
Lucion grinned.
He already caught on.
[There are five warlocks here.]
Russell scanned the surroundings before speaking.
—Wow! Russell is really smart. That’s right, there are five of them!
[Among them, the one wearing the green cloak. That guy is the boss of the Hand of the Void.]
[That guy?]
Bethel struggled to maintain her composure.
[That’s right.]
Russell observed the man in the green cloak as he darted his eyes around, seemingly aware of their presence.
But he couldn’t see them.
This ant that even with the black orb, that was as far as he could perceive.
‘Still… at least it’s good that he’s a warlock.’
Russell felt relieved by that fact, as it might provide an opportunity for intervention if necessary.
Hu suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong, Hu?” Lucion asked.
“They’re coming.” Hu looked ahead, slightly wary.
An unsettling sense of unease washed over him.
It was as if a giant hand lood behind the man.
“Ah. Lady Shaela.”
A man’s voice erged from the crowd.
It was the man in the green cloak that Russell had ntioned.
—Oh no. He’s coming toward us!
Ratta squird in Hu’s arms.
As the man approached, Lucion noticed the red thread growing increasingly shorter.
‘That guy… he’s not the boss of the Hand of the Void from the previous world.’
He didn’t have the appearance of soone capable of easily deceiving others, as Broson had described; instead, he had a gentle deanor and no scars on his face.
‘Why is this different? Why has the boss changed?’
“Who is that, Shaela?” Carson noticed Lucion’s frozen expression and stepped forward to ask.
“He’s soone who serves the Elder. To put it simply, he’s like a butler. I’ve t him a few tis.”
Shaela responded naturally, not consciously acknowledging the Elder who had fallen to the warlocks.
But her heart was racing.
If the Elder had indeed fallen to the warlocks, it was clear who this mage was.
“Greetings. I’m Hotram, a commoner—probably the only non-mage here.”
‘This bastard.’
Lucion maintained a stiff expression, as that felt more natural.
The boss of the Hand of the Void was approaching them with a disarming smile—so close that if he had a sword in hand, he could have easily stabbed anyone.
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