◈ Episode 338. The World Line Without You (1)
It’s different than usual.
It was Bensch William who first caught the scent.
Bensch’s office.
The sun is setting through the window.
“……?”
Bensch held up the parchment.
One sheet, two sheets, three sheets…….
But no matter how many times he turned the page, there was no response from Chief Lee.
Bensch had written to him more than anyone else.
I couldn’t help but wonder.
“Weird……?”
The rejection notices always came back at the same time.
Right around sunset.
He didn’t know exactly why they always came back at the same time – after all, Hoyeol had started his day by informing Bensch of his rejection – but there was never any variation.
Bensch was stunned.
“……Do you really understand my sincerity this time?”
But Bensch had a conscience.
No, he had a gut feeling.
“No, that can’t be right…….”
It seemed to say.
No matter how you look at it, this is not a positive silence.
After staring at the blank parchment for a while, Bensch picked up a feather pen.
He scribbled.
『Magic Tower Discipline』.
As he wrote it down, the current status of the Magic Tower executives appeared in real time.
What Bensch wanted to check.
It was whether Hoyeol had submitted his leave of absence.
“Let’s see.”
You didn’t submit a leave of absence.
Because Chief Lee, who is always like a sword, had no reason not to send me a reply. But soon, the Bensch’s pupils shook as he found Chief Lee’s name.
“……?”
.
.
.
The Floating Garden.
Marcelo turned to face Senior Bensch William.
“You have more than enough to worry about, sir.”
“After all, I knew you, Chief Marcelo, would understand!”
“But worry should not become suspicion.”
Discipline in the Magic Tower is strict.
Even the Chief is not immune to it. There must be a reason why the Chief, of all people, broke the rules and left.
Marcelo continued.
“I don’t know the details, but he told me that the selection process for the advance team starts today, so why don’t you come back soon so that the process doesn’t get disrupted?”
But many hours later.
Marcelo and Bensch were separated in the floating garden.
The two met again unexpectedly.
In front of Chief Lee Hoyeol office.
Bensch, who had his head down in pretense, looked up.
“Ah, Chief Marcelo.”
“You’re here first, Senior Bensch William.”
“Well, something’s been bothering me…….”
Avoid unannounced meetings.
Bensch knew it was impolite, but he pressed his lips together and knocked on the door of Chief Lee’s office. He could use a lesson in etiquette, he thought, and hoped to hear a chilly voice.
But no.
“I see you’re still away.”
Silence.
There was no voice or movement in the office.
Marcelo searched his memory.
‘Three days.’
That was the longest Chief Lee had ever been away.
Maybe they’re overreacting compared to then.
But the situation was clearly different then and now.
‘……the sir didn’t say anything?’
This is nonsense to Hoyeol and no one else.
Tuk.
A determined Marcelo put his hand on the doorknob of the office.
He had waited patiently because he trusted Hoyeol.
He trusted Hoyeol now, too.
Bensch frowned.
“Chief Marcelo, this is extremely impolite……!”
Despite the words.
Bensch followed closely behind Marcelo as he opened the door.
Soon, the office came into view.
Marcelo and Bensch took their time looking around the spacious office.
Papers neatly organized on the desk.
Teacups arranged on the table.
Everything was as usual.
Bensch opened his mouth cautiously.
“That……. I’m afraid I’ve been making a fuss for nothing. I don’t think our chief is the kind of man to be threatened by anyone, let alone inside the tower!”
Marcelo didn’t answer right away.
He paused in front of his desk.
He remained silent for a moment, then spoke.
“You can tell by the order in which the papers are organized.”
“……? In an organized order?”
“Apparently, Chief has organized the documents for the screening of the selection team as you said in advance. This included the documents related to Bensch William.”
“Is that so?”
dudungsil─
Bensch looked at the documents floating in the air.
“……!”
It was true.
Bensch, a list of the books he’d written on Fire Magic. The introduction to the application form, which was now a blur to him, was written in his own handwriting.
Bensch is visibly impressed.
“So there was a deep meaning behind all the rejections.”
It was clear he was puzzled.
Marcelo didn’t bother to say anything.
There were other things that mattered right now.
“The documents are proof that Chief Lee had no intention of breaking procedure. Even if you say he left intentionally, that means he didn’t intend to be gone this long.”
……Then again, intentionally?
Doridori~
Bensch shook his head, trying to be sympathetic this time.
That’s the worst of the worst, and it doesn’t make sense.
There was only one option to consider, then.
“Things took an unexpected turn……?”
Marcelo nodded.
There must have been a good reason for his absence.
But it’s clear that something unexpected happened along the way that prevented him from returning to the tower.
‘I’m not sure I’ll be of any help to you.’
But if that’s the case.
I want to be of some use to him.
So Marcelo unleashed his magic.
The surge of magic made Bensch stammer.
“Oh, Chief Marcelo. The manifestation of magic at the Magic Tower……!”
“According to procedure. I’ll have to submit a statement of reasons.”
The fact that he was prepared to submit a statement of reasons.
‘Does that mean you’ve caught a whiff……?’
Bensch swallowed dryly and watched the magic manifest.
Marcelo’s power settled over the room.
Suddenly, the magic marks that had been carved into the office rose to the surface.
My lord is probably still not inside the Magic Tower.
He must have traveled somewhere through the portal.
Or…….
He hadn’t.
The magic marks showed no sign of the portal’s interference.
No, there wasn’t even a trace of magic.
Goooo─
Marcelo withdrew his power.
His face darkened.
Marcelo opened his mouth.
He said.
“……This is a time when we need Senior Matisse’s help.”
All that was captured was the ‘suitable magic’.
*
The organizer of black magic.
The founder of black magic.
And, at the same time, a senior mage whose magical accomplishments rivaled those of theoretical magic, the greatest discovery in the history of the Magic Tower, Matisse Dean Karl. At this moment, he was suffering from a sense of helplessness.
The Crystal Hall.
Matisse desperately clung to his sanity.
He looked at Marcelo, who continued.
“The magic marks captured in Chief Lee’s office were no ordinary magic marks. It was the ‘suitable magic power’ that could only be used to manifest black magic.”
At Marcelo’s words, the office unfolds in my mind.
From just a few days ago to just now.
The Chief’s office that I had literally been staring at.
Marcelo wasn’t wrong.
What they found in Hoyeol’s office.
was a vast amount of suitable magic power.
‘I’m the only one with a clue.’
Matisse reflected on his knowledge of the black magic.
But he knew of no black magic that could replace the portal.
Nor could he find a reason for the manifestation of such black magic.
‘How can you call yourself the founder of black magic?’
Marcelo’s gaze turned to Matisse.
“Black Magic, to quote Matisse Dean Karl Senior. He said that even if there was a black magic that could replace the portal, there was no reason to manifest it.”
Matisse interrupted.
“Because the suitable magic is unstable.”
The suitable magic comes from the caster’s past and background.
That’s right.
In fact, Matisse had guessed it from the beginning.
Chief Lee Hoyeol.
There was a reason he had disappeared.
His vast amount of suitable magic power.
I dare not fathom.
His deep, dark past and background must have influenced him.
The elder, Yugweed, asked.
“Do you have any guesses, Senior Matisse?”
But Matisse shook his head.
Because he couldn’t suspect.
No, not exactly.
Because the moment he did, he felt like he’d be buried.
‘That must not happen.’
A massive suitable magic power.
If its source is a regurgitation of the past and background.
Because I thought that even if it was Chief Lee, he wouldn’t be able to overcome it.
That’s why Matisse was worried about blackening. It wasn’t that he believed that Chief Lee could overcome blackening. It was a belief that he would never fall into blackening in the first place.
Maybe he felt it in his gut because he was the founder of black magic. The unfathomable depths of the past and background, where even struggle may become meaningless…….
It was a moment when Matisse was lost in thought.
Burrrr─
The cat that had jumped up once, Tower Master, opened his mouth.
“Then what the Magic Tower must do from now on has been decided.”
What Magic Tower must do.
Those who have been following Magic Tower for a long time may ask, “Is there such a thing?” and scoff. The organization has always been indifferent to anything that isn’t the truth they seek.
But hasn’t a new wind blown through Magic Tower?
None other than Chief Lee.
A new wind driven by Hoyeol.
“I am…….”
Vangrit, a senior in Pure Magic, who was carried back to Magic Tower by that wind, spoke up. In this situation, his passive nature didn’t stop him from opening his mouth.
“Just as Chief Lee saved me from the clutches of a demon worshiper……. I believe that this time, we, the Magic Tower, should stand up for Chief Lee Hoyeol!”
Tower Master’s tail flicked.
“This is the first correct answer in a while, Senior Vangrit.”
*
Only five days.
But his absence had been greater than ever.
News of Hoyeol’s disappearance had reached the Holy War Alliance.
As the Magic Tower traces Hoyeol’s footsteps back from the Magic Tower.
They also followed Hoyeol’s traces from their places.
Kingdom of Yusra.
A private room in the Golden Palace.
The Flower Garden of Dignity.
“Hmm.”
The elf, Elsidor, leaned back on the table and stared at the flower garden with his jaw set. This was who he was, an elf who was more in touch with nature than a nature-born spirit.
“It’s flawless, even if you don’t come to inspect it.”
Elsidor shuddered.
Five days for an elf who had lived for eons?
By honest calculation, it was but a moment in the life of a man.
But it felt different.
Elsidor grumbled.
“Shouldn’t I at least see what my pride is like?”
Elsidor still did not know what pride was.
All he knew was that the sassy silver-haired one had said that he would return his mother’s blessing if he regained his pride, so he tended the flower garden to regain his pride.
Elsidore was sarcastic this time.
“No, wouldn’t the one who left without saying anything have more pride.”
Only one person hadn’t shown up.
The atmosphere in the Golden Palace was bleak.
The already uncomfortable palace had become even more uncomfortable.
“Anyway, this is what humans are for.”
Elsidor didn’t stop talking as he tended to the flower garden.
Later, he even spoke to the growing herbs and elixirs.
“Give me a shout out when you get back. I’m sorry.”
But Elsidor’s grumbling did not last long.
It is the sixth day since Hoyeol disappeared.
Elsidor’s body twitched.
“……!”
To be precise.
Blood, thicker than water, boiled.
Elsidor’s gaze darted upward, urgent.
Elsidor opened his mouth.
“…… lizard?”
I could feel it, the blood that connected me to the World Tree.
At this moment, it was about to emerge into reality.
The lizard, the dragon, was in a bad shape.
.
.
.
──────
[Urgent Update].
New boss monsters will be added.
‘Elder Dragon Eunaxus, Who Swallowed Evil Fruit’ : Lv.2,500
──────
Now that Hoyeol has disappeared.
The history of emergency updates has been one of despair for mankind.
But even if they’re hopelessly defeated.
Pride in not backing down.
At the same time, there was a void in the ranks that needed to be filled.
The Holy War Alliance.
Knight Commander Lionheart, filling the void left by Commander Hoyeol.
Harkon shouts.
“Today we shall meet a spectacular end!”
Even if it means filling the void with blood.
*
Oak Auction Manager, Ulrich.
His voice was shaking for the first time.
For the first time, it was trembling harshly.
“……na, I can’t believe it. Kichi.”
“You can’t believe what, that he’s alive and well, this man you speak of?”
‘No, I wouldn’t believe it even if I saw it with my own two eyes.’
Ulrich can’t bring himself to speak.
Gulp.
He clears his throat and barely manages to speak.
“I’ve been peeking at …….”
“Peeked at what?”
“Rise, the Grear Sage who sees the future in Pandora’s attic.”
“Oh, that old man?”
“I witnessed his final moments through a window in that attic……!!”
“……!”
.
.
.
Something was wrong.
It took a system message to wake me up.
I opened my eyes in the dark.
[Enter the curse, ‘dark understanding’].
[Warning: understanding is too low].
[Past is unstable].
Understanding is low.
Past is unstable.
It wasn’t long before I realized what the message meant.
Grandfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.
As for my black history.
I thought I knew everything about it.
Apparently not.
Silver hair fluttering in front of my eyes.
Through it, I see the back of a man with hair the same color as mine.
I see the back of a man’s head.
Without turning to face me, he spoke.
“I hate you, Grandfell.”
Holy shit……!!!
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tl/n: damn, to much event