◈ Episode 399. The Butterfly Effect in the Flower Garden (1)

The William family.

Matisse evaluated their power with a straight face.

“One of the best mage families in the modern era.”

Bellier nodded in agreement.

“Senior Bensch, in particular, had such a reputation that he was called the Flame Emperor for House Williams, and rumors of him were heard around the Magic Tower even before he entered it. I remember talking to him. Karimzeva has a history of being famous, and I wonder if firemages have a history of becoming famous.”

Hmm, that makes sense.

‘Where did that unbreakable self-esteem come from?’

In short, a greenhouse plant that grew up never knowing failure.

A man who had no concept of adversity.

That was Bensch William.

Not to the displeasure of Grandfell.

He did have a hint of nobility in the way he dressed.

‘I thought he was just another senior mage.’

Players could choose their own mage class, but not the Arcane.

They weren’t called the Mage Family for nothing. It’s called a mage’s lineage for a reason.

Bellier laughed as Bensch moved ahead.

“Not bad for a man of your stature, eh, Senior Bensch?”

Twenty senior mages, all with their own personalities.

Approximate personalities?

You can tell by the way he treats his fellow senior mage, Vangrit.

The one and only senior mage from a commoner’s background who could do anything. At some point, Bensch went beyond treating Vangrit without prejudice to treating him like an innocent friend.

‘The problem is that you don’t have too much sense.’

Well, at least he’s a nice guy.

It was Marcelo, by the way.

You didn’t allow Bensch to leave for nothing, did you?

“Nash William, he’s my brother, but he’s quite a character. He’s very sincere, regardless of his magic accomplishments. He’s unusually humble for a mage, though sometimes his humility gets in the way of his abilities.”

Nash, the Imperial Mage I met in Antonium.

I try to pull the face out of my memory.

I heard the blonde strangely resembled someone…….

I finally nod.

‘I didn’t realize it because there was no resemblance other than looks.’

The gorgeous blond and the mesmerizing eyes definitely resemble each other.

You could hardly call them blood relatives.

Their personalities were different.

Bensch said with conviction.

“Nash must know something!”

Then why wait?

Goooo

Bensch searched for Nash’s magic.

Following the magic response, he manifested a portal.

I stepped through first, and the others followed.

“Huh?!”

……Now that I look at it, I have the same surprised look.

Nash stomped his foot angrily when he saw my face.

Then he looks at Bensch’s revealed face and is horrified.

“Sir Lee Hoyeol……. Ah, no! Be, Brother Bensch!”

“I see you’ve been doing well, Nash.”

“I’ve missed you, big brother……!”

Nash was close to tears. I wondered if the brothers were getting a little carried away. After hearing the details, I nodded in agreement.

“You’ve grown so tall, are you taller than me now?”

Did you say that this was the first time you met Bensch after entering the Magic Tower? Considering that the mages of the Magic Tower, especially the Senior Mages, especially Bensch, had repeatedly failed to go out the Magic Tower…….

‘It stings a little.’

I suppose I have a stake in his failure to make it.

I’ll have to allow for an emotional reunion.

Soon, Bensch introduced us.

“This is Senior Mage Matisse Dean Karl, founder of Black Magic, and Senior Mage Bellier Yusia, Healing Mage. Both of them are renowned in the Magic Tower, and I’m sure you know this man well.”

“Yes, Sir Lee Hoyeol…….”

“The pride of our Magic Tower.”

“……Yes? Magic Tower?”

Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve had a chance to have a proper conversation with Nash. The Emperor may know that I’m the Chief of the Magic Tower, but Nash may not?

Bensch are paint it in brilliant gold.

“The creator of Reversal Magic, considered by many to be the most sophisticated magic in the history of the Magic Tower, and the rebuilder of the Magic Tower. And at the same time, our Chief Mage, Lee Hoyeol, who has brought a new wind to the Magic Tower!”

“Chi, chi, Chief Mage……!!!”

Nash looks even more surprised than when we saved the empire.

Actually, from a mage’s point of view, it doesn’t make sense.

It’s a bit hard to say it from my perspective as a Chief Mage…….

‘It’s not often that you see such a thing on the Arcana Continent.’

The greatest military organization on the Arcana Continent.

It was too powerful.

They are the executives of the Magic Tower who were unable to exert their influence in the pre-Arcana era, and were unable to be seen on the outside.

Basically, it is understandable that mages who cannot admire the Magic Tower would look at it that way.

However.

“But Nash, now is not the time to be surprised. Aw.”

Maybe it’s because it’s his brother.

Bensch interrupts, his voice solemn.

Bensch inquired about the situation with a serious expression on his face.

“Why are you outside of Antonium, Nash?”

“Yes, brother. I traveled outside of Antonium to set up a magic stone spire in the rebuilt city at the command of His Majesty. Sir Lee Hoyeol. No, Chief Lee Hoyeol. No, I mean the infinitely deep…….”

……Yes, no wonder I stutter.

I have a lot of tinnitus.

You’re confused, aren’t you?

‘I get confused sometimes, too.’

I said generously to the rambling Nash.

“You can call me whatever you like.”

“……Thank you. It was all thanks to Sir Lee Hoyeol laying the foundation with his Reversal Magic. Not to mention the protection of the Quernberg Machine Tower.”

“Oh.”

Grandfell’s way of speaking is never to explain things nicely. It only said that the Empire had begun to rebuild, but it didn’t go into detail about how exactly he had helped, if at all, with the seniors of the Magic Tower.

“Indeed, Reversal Magic!”

Bensch says, looking around.

“I thought it was more than I expected, but I suppose Chief Lee’s support has paid off! Then I must ask, Nash. Why has Antonium sealed the gates, and does the Emperor have a plan?”

“That’s…….”

For a moment, Nash’s gaze flickered to mine.

“I’m afraid I can’t guess, brother.”

“Really? Well, it happened while you were out there.”

“I’m sorry.”

His words slurred, but his gaze turned to me again.

‘This.’

From the looks of it, I’m the only one who has something to say.

Let’s make room, then.

I turned to the three seniors.

“Do you think we can enter Antonium?”

“I don’t think our magic will be enough to bring down the walls. Moreover, the empire has long been wary of Magic Towers. The Warlord Library in Antonium will have the means to deal with mages, including Obsidian.”

“More importantly, isn’t there a way to enter Antonium without harming the people? We can’t even summon the Meteor Strike like we can in America.”

Matisse and Bellier exchanged troubled looks.

Bensch was rambling on about William Family Arcane Magic again.

It didn’t seem necessary to listen.

“I’ll keep an eye on it and think about it.”

“I will.”

With my words, the group dispersed.

Nash followed casually behind me.

Only after I was sure no one was around did he speak.

“I apologize, Sir Lee Hoyeol. There are things I cannot tell you in front of others, let alone in front of you. So I just gave you an apologetic look”

“No need to apologize.”

Surely, there must be a reason.

“I know your heart for the Empire.”

A chance for Nash to leave the Empire?

There were plenty.

He didn’t have to go far. Until, that is, Shegwin led the rebels and laid siege to Antonium. What if someone of Nash’s caliber decided to betray the Empire?

‘The rebels would have been treated with the utmost hospitality.’

But Nash defended Antonium to the last man.

It was impossible to do that without a heart for the Empire and the Emperor.

“I am flattered to hear you say that.”

Nash nodded grimly, then continued.

“And……. I don’t know if I should say this.”

What’s he talking about?

Of course, the hind end was a deep but not narrow grapple.

Even the back end can be forgiving, as long as the target isn’t a demon.

“Of course.”

I nodded, and Nash decided.

Then.

” ……Sir’s blood relatives.”

I’d never imagined that from the first word……?!

“Yes. Not long ago, a man claiming to be the prodigal son of the Claudi family came to Antonium. It was my fault for leading him to His Majesty. I shouldn’t have listened to that nonsense……!”

My flesh and blood.

If this place was reality, what are you talking about?

Lee Yerim, I would have suspected it was an accident.

But this was the Arcana Continent.

Not in the past, but in the present, on the Arcana Continent.

There is only one person who can be called my relative.

The one from that day.

“He had the same silver hair as you, and I didn’t want to be disrespectful to your relative, so I watched as he opened his foul mouth in front of His Majesty……!”

So that’s what happened.

After hearing Nash’s words, I can see why.

Why the Emperor sealed the gates of Antonium.

Yes, he was possessed by a demon.

‘That’s no ordinary demon.’

It’s the Seven Deadly Sins of Pride.

-“Are you telling me to tell the whole truth? Are you telling me you don’t know what really happened? Claudi, a silver-haired man who looks just like you……!”

-“He took the lives of his own people.”

-“Pride, he certainly said so.”

Ullrich, an orc I met while fulfilling a request from the Upper Spacetime.

I had been convinced of his arrogance during that quest.

‘I wondered how long he’d been silent.’

An Emperor flipping his hand?

I’m not shocked, now that I know.

A demon’s abilities are greatly enhanced by the vessel of flesh it possesses. The fact that the demons coveted flesh without knowing the subject matter is telling, isn’t it?

Claudi’s flesh in that sense?

‘Great Evil, It might be worse than that.’

The last of the Seven Deadly Sins.

A prey worthy of the name.

Not just strong.

“I’m sorry. If only I hadn’t left Antonium, I might have been able to be of some use to you and Brother Bensch…….”

He was holding the people of Antonium hostage.

The big variable was that you couldn’t know what would happen if you were wrong.

I opened my mouth to speak.

“It’s not your fault, Nash.”

“……It’s all my fault.”

“No, it’s all the demon’s fault.”

“Oh, and if it’s the demon……? What, really?”

“Not my blood relatives.”

I said coldly.

“Just an inferior and ugly race.”

I left a stunned Nash behind.

I stared at the closed gates of Antonium.

I try to think of a way to retake Antonium safely.

‘It won’t be easy.’

Pride.

The same demon that had led Claudi to destruction. Even if other forces, including the Shadow Mercenaries, had joined in, it would have been one of his abilities to lead them.

We should be suspicious of whatever plans and schemes are brewing behind closed doors in Antonium. What was urgent was information from inside Antonium.

‘I need to know what’s going on in the specific Antonium.’

From experience, I imagine the worst case scenario.

What if Pride was planning to sacrifice Antonium?

I can’t tell from a quick glance at the map.

And worst of all.

‘He doesn’t seem to be trying to hide this bullshit.’

He could hide it all he wanted.

If only he hadn’t locked the gates of Antonium in the first place. Not even Nash, who was at the Emperor’s side, would have realized that hubris had taken over.

My head was spinning.

“!”

Suddenly, Nash’s body erupted with magic.

“Who are you?”

Nash warned, his voice sharp.

Not quite as good as his brother, Bensch, but still a nice flow of magic.

Did the other person sense that too?

“I came here because I have something to tell you.”

Although it was awkward, I heard a respectful address that seemed as formal as possible.

However, the next words made me stop.

……What?

“It is a life abandoned by the world and pushed to the bottom, but even if I die, I will not forget the grace I received from you. I bring you internal news from Antonium.”

The man raised his head.

Sitidel overlapping his face.

The faces of the assassins.

So it was.

That was it.

“The Scavengers will repay Claudi’s mercy.”

You didn’t listen to my ramblings, did you, Grandfell?