◈ Episode 509. The Shortest Week (1)
Seoul.
The capital of South Korea and the land of the weird.
And the city where The Shining’s guild house is located.
“I’m honestly surprised.”
Shattered windows.
The hallways are deserted.
Not a hint of The Shining’s former glory.
And yet.
“Thank you all for gathering here.”
Camilla looked at the assembled guild members.
The guild was no longer as large as it had been when it was categorized as a super-giant guild.
Still, it was a lot of people to take in at a glance.
Camilla shook her head.
“I guess I’ve been a good girl after all~?”
“Shameless, my lady.”
“Can you hear them?”
I can hear the same muffled laughter.
Even the Guild Master, Lox, has left the Guild.
The Shining’s reputation is falling without wings.
Camilla doesn’t take it easy.
“It’s on NetTube, it’s on Arcana Today. Dmitri’s death, Guild Master Lox’s resignation. The Shining’s power has been cut in half thanks to a series of bad news.”
Her shoulders shrugged.
“Fools, aren’t they?”
…… Actually, it’s more than half true.
Lox and Dmitri.
They’ve been on the front lines, leading the Shining.
They stood a few paces back from the enemy lines.
Unlike me, who fiddled with my bow.
But.
‘I’m sorry, both of you, but this is a time for lies, isn’t it?’
Camilla swallowed the words that came to her.
Not for herself, but for the remaining guild members of the Shining.
Seoul was bathed in the colors of Arcana’s continental electricity.
“We, the Shining, must have seemed like easy prey. Talking, judging, and making assumptions~ No wonder guilds we’ve never heard of are raiding our guild house~”
Haven’t we been there?
The Shining has been under siege many times already.
At this point…….
Lox, Dmitri, do you want me to be honest with you?
I’m saying this with a lot of confidence, but I’m not sure about myself.
I don’t know how long I can keep going like this.
I don’t want you to blame me.
‘How am I supposed to be okay?’
It’s all part of the class quest, to put it mildly.
Lox, I’ve seen you suffer from so close.
And I saw it clearly, thanks to the vastness of my vision.
‘You can fool the camera, but you can’t fool my eyes.’
The trace of the demon in you is not completely gone.
That’s why, isn’t it, Lox?
That’s why you left the Shining.
‘……Even for you.’
Even if I can’t be that vessel.
I must lead the Shining.
Camilla laughed bitterly inwardly.
‘So don’t blame me if the Shining isn’t the same.’
It’s all because of the two of you who left on a whim.
“Now, let’s get to the point.”
Camilla looked up and surveyed the assembled guild members.
The Shining, a toothless tiger, hadn’t much power left.
Still, it was heartening.
‘We’ll see what we can do, Camilla.’
I’m just taking over the burden that Lox was carrying.
She cleared her throat.
Then she opened her mouth.
“I’m thinking of applying for the Shining Guild Master position that became vacant with Lox’s resignation. Seoul is on the Arcana Continent’s system, you know that, right?”
She added.
“If there are no other candidates, the election process will be skipped.”
At the same time, a vision flashed.
[Current candidate for Guildmaster: Camilla]
[There are no additional candidates].
[If there are no additional candidates, the election process will be skipped].
The members of the Shining Guild looked at each other and nodded.
Camilla could be trusted.
Even if she wasn’t as good as Lox.
She had proven her strength during the siege.
“Then this is it…….”
The impending time limit.
The meeting was about to come to an end.
A new message popped into everyone’s vision.
“……?”
[Nomination complete].
Camilla’s eyebrows twitched.
‘……I can’t even guess who it is?’
Why would someone with such ambition stay at The Shining?
She couldn’t think of one.
Like I said, the Shining was just a big toothless tiger.
Camilla made a reasonable guess.
‘Could it have been instigated from outside?’
Could this be a ploy to sow infighting within the Shining, to make it easier to take over the Shining, if so, there was no backing down. Camilla was ready to settle the matter in the manner of the Arcana Continent’s biographies.
A name that came to mind in retrospect.
[Current Guild Master Candidates: Camilla, Jesse Heinness]]
“……Jesse? Je, Jesse?! Is that really you?!”
The opponent was too unexpected.
*
“Did you see their faces, Jesse, they were freaking out!”
Jesse took off her top hat and placed it in her lap.
Jesse turned to face Camilla.
Just for this moment.
She didn’t want to hear her Master’s scolding.
She didn’t want to hide her expression anymore.
And then.
Jesse put down her teacup and groaned.
“……I honestly thought I was going to die of embarrassment.”
“What, you thought you could say you were embarrassed?”
“I’m not above that, Camilla.”
It was literally out of control.
Jesse, who had resigned from The Shining, rejoined and now declared herself Guild Master. She knew the guild would not be pleased.
Jesse looked at Camilla.
“So, are you okay with that?”
“Me? About what?”
“My nomination.”
“Oh, that? I’m withdrawing my candidacy?”
“……What?”
Camilla smirked and sat down next to Jesse.
seug.
She crossed her arms and smirked even more.
“When my daughter grows up like this, she says she’ll carry my burden for me~ How could I refuse? Of course, I’ll have to put on a good show.”
“……I’m afraid of you, Camilla.”
“Really?”
Camilla said, looking at Jesse’s bored face.
“I’m more afraid of your transformation, Jesse.”
“…….”
“Why, can you keep it to yourself?”
Camilla asked.
“I don’t think it can be equalized.”
“Equal……?”
“I just want to understand how you feel.”
Jesse continued.
“That’s what makes me want to carry a burden.”
The corner of Camilla’s mouth lifted as she listened.
“Are you really, really grown up?”
“I’ve always been grown up, Camilla.”
“Our Jesse, you have completely grown up.”
Camilla had just put her small concerns to rest with that conversation.
With Jesse in this state of mind, no matter what.
She’ll restore the Shining to its rightful place.
Because unlike me, she has the power to do it.
‘Isn’t that right, Dmitri? And Lox?’
But Jesse wasn’t finished with his declaration.
“And I have one more goal.”
“More than Shining Guildmaster seat? What? You’re greedy~”
“I plan to work hard at the Magic Tower.”
“At the Magic Tower……?”
Jesse had been favored by the Magic Tower since the days when Arcana was just a game. What could she possibly want to do in the Magic Tower? Camilla was thinking.
Jesse spoke seriously.
“As an Adept Mage, I’ll never understand it.”
“……Jesse, are you kidding?”
Yes, she thought, no way.
“I’m going to be the Senior Mage of the Magic Tower.”
It wasn’t until after she was recognized as an adept mage that she began to see the Magic Tower more clearly.
How it operated, and what secrets it held.
The extent to which the truth of the Magic Tower was granted to adept mages.
So Jesse made up her mind.
Jesse decided that she would take the position of Senior Mage, one of only twenty in the Magic Tower.
Only then would I be able to understand Hoyeol, the Chief.
I would be able to understand him a little better.
Of course.
“Why?”
“…….”
Even Camilla.
She couldn’t be that honest and spill the beans.
Jesse hastily added a specific reason.
Folding her fingers together.
“There are many benefits to being a Senior Mage. You get a private office, and access to the Hall, which is reserved for adept mages of the same school……. Oh, and you have free access to the Secret Location.”
“Secret locations? Did the Magic Tower have such a thing?”
“Yes.”
Jesse said something that would have made ‘someone’ cringe.
“For example, the Amethyst Hall.”
“Isn’t Amethyst the name of a gemstone?”
“Yeah. It’s the first place I’ll look when I become a Senior Mage.”
Not long ago.
Jesse had bumped into Matisse, the Senior Black Mage, in the Magic Tower.
Jesse had been dumbfounded.
A look she didn’t usually see.
Matisse, the corner of his mouth.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
So she mustered up the courage to ask.
Did something good happen to you, by any chance?
And Matisse replied.
-“There was a light, Miss Jesse. In the Amethyst Hall.”
*
……What is it, my ears suddenly tickle violently.
“This is not the time to be swayed by personal feelings.”
I know, I know!
The face of Grandfell.
The wind blows the itch away.
Desperately, I focus my attention on the mineral on my desk.
What am I doing staring at a mineral?
What can I say, I’m researching a new anomaly……!
Exactly one week later in real time.
I’m about to enter hell via Lycoris Flower.
Isn’t that a little hasty?
Oh no.
A week was all the time I had to prepare and barely suppress Grandfell’s temper tantrum, which was about to be extinguished in Hell.
Moreover.
-“This is the first time we’ll be exploring Hell with the Commander in Chief, so we’d better be prepared, Romantic Explorer, and live up to your Lorenzik name, hahaha.”
……By citing someone else’s circumstances, not mine, Lee Hoyeol.
‘You can’t just let a week pass by.’
You have to be prepared, too.
There was a stop at Garnet Hall to borrow magic tools for battle that could be used in hell, and a stop at Claudi territory to pick up some items.
But most importantly.
‘In the end, I just have to do well, Hoyeol. only me.’
It was my growth.
I was struggling to grow even a little bit.
I was struggling.
When I surpassed the 1,000 level, I decided it was more efficient to work on anomaly adaptation of the resources I already had, rather than running around in random rifts.
So I placed Mineral.
Obsidian.
Obsidian, with its magic-devouring properties.
‘Obsidian is a mage’s natural enemy.’
But what if I could overcome even natural enemies with an anomaly? In some cases, I might even be able to manifest a perfect anomaly with no weaknesses.
Of course, seeing as Obsidian doesn’t move…….
‘Hmm, I don’t think this snowball fight is going to end well.’
Nevertheless, Grandfell’s talent was still brilliant.
It didn’t take long for Obsidian to stir.
It didn’t take long.
……wiggle.
Just.
……Gleam.
Just a distraction to let go of a barely held clue.
As for Grandfell’s passion for learning.
Even if I have two mouths, I don’t have enough.
‘What I’ve been up at night thinking about.’
For a man who was a bookworm during his time as a parachutist in the Magic Tower, with the intention of poring over every magical book in existence, it’s no wonder he can’t say anything nice.
“Time is more precious than gold.”
I’m not exaggerating.
Even the greatest Grandfell of the world skipped afternoon tea.
It was Anomaly’s progress that he was passionate about……!
Because I couldn’t imagine what the aftermath would be.
I also get a system message that gets on my nerves.
I was forced to pay closer attention than usual.
[A vast amount of energy flares up from beyond the dimension.]
A normal player would have wondered what the hell that meant.
But I could feel it in my gut.
Because I was in the same situation.
This is ‘it’?
Paimon was talking about.
The presence of the Ten Thrones that could not be hidden.
‘……For something like this, I might need an incarnation.’
Putting it another way, it’s……. At this moment, just as I witnessed the message. The high-ranking demon kings might know where I am and what I’m doing.
So who is it?
The one who moved around with such a presence.
The one who interrupted my concentration.
Soon, a message came to me, and I opened my mouth.
You can’t leave me alone for a week, can you?
[Demon King of the Ninth Throne, Noble Paimon.]
[The Noble King of the Demon World welcomed a guest.]
[A man with brilliant silver hair like yours.]
“Paimon.”
The man in the message is me.
And it wasn’t hard to figure out who the man with the brilliant silver hair was.
It wasn’t hard to guess.
The symbol of Claudi, the shining silver hair.
‘Because there is only one Claudi other than Grandfell.’
A chilling voice slips between my lips.
“Pride.”
*
Western Demon World.
Even in Paimon’s territory, Pride never flinched.
He knew better than anyone what his opponent wanted.
He did.
“My purpose and yours are the same, Noble Paimon.”
Pride murmured.
There was nothing false in his voice.
No falsehood in it.
“Grandfell, holding and shaking my poor brother.”
It was sincere.
“A ray of light extinguished.”