Chapter 62: At the End of Despair (4)

[62] 9. At the End of Despair (4)

Before getting out of the carriage, I made preparations for my disguise.

Even after seven years, there might still be people who remember my face. After all, I was once the worst criminal in the Magic Tower.

I put on a wooden mask that covered my entire face and threw on a large robe. And of course, to hide my prosthetic hand, I put on gloves.

After checking my reflection, now unfamiliar even to me, I got out of the carriage.

And finally, I was back at the Magic Tower.

Naturally, the city had changed a lot.

There were just as many buildings that had disappeared as new buildings that had been erected. And the clothes worn by the mages strolling through the streets were much different.

But the scent of the city remained.

Though I called it scent, it wasn’t just the smell.

The Magic Tower’s long shadow, stretched out under the midday sun in early summer,

countless pedestrians with books tucked under their arms, in their bags, and even at their waists,

and the air, thick with a mixture of the sour scent of potions and the faded scent of paper.

Memories, brought on by nostalgia, started to cloud my vision.

“…Big bro?”

“Oppa? Aren’t you coming?”

“Uh… Yeah, I’m coming.”

I shook the memories off and started walking.

I couldn’t lose sight of my purpose.

I came here to see Parsley.

Pushing my nostalgia aside, I looked around again. And then, things that the memories had been hiding came into view one by one.

Faces filled with unease,

vigilant gazes that would sometimes land on us,

and merchants hurriedly turning their carriages back.

As expected, things were not looking good,

but that was to be expected with the master of the Magic Tower murdered.

Perhaps Feya also sensed the uneasy atmosphere because, stepping closer, she whispered,

“Are we even allowed to enter the Magic Tower…?”

“… Let’s try, first.”

Swallowing down a sigh, I looked at the Magic Tower.

The main gate, which looked heavily guarded even from afar.

Heading towards it, I thought to myself:

… *Please don’t tell me to turn back.*

“…I’m sorry, but the Magic Tower is currently closed. Please turn back.”

However, life always has a way of betraying our expectations.

His tone was as stiff as his stern-looking face.

I narrowed my eyes and said,

“There’s someone I need to meet urgently. If you would just let us…”

“Please return.”

Irritation and fatigue seeped into his voice. I realized that he had no intention of letting us pass.

My eyes darted around.

But the security of the Magic Tower, whose master had just been assassinated, was tight. There were no gaps for me to slip through.

Clicking my tongue inwardly, I turned back.

At this rate, I’d have to find the secret passage that I used to escape… No, even that might be blocked…

“Rem, please wait a moment.”

I looked up in surprise and saw Clara approaching the guard. He frowned at her.

“Again, the Magic Tower is currently closed to…”

Clara smiled brightly and took out a necklace from her bosom. It was the gold pendant with the image of a woman praying that I’d seen somewhere before.

“I’m Clara. I came here to offer my condolences after hearing about the Magic Tower’s situation. As the Pope, representing the Church. Will I still be turned away?”

The guard’s face turned pale in an instant.

***

Authority is the ultimate tool, I realized.

It took just 30 minutes.

10 minutes for the pale-faced guard to go get his superior.

10 minutes for the superior, sweating profusely, to escort us to the VIP room.

And 10 minutes for the Vice-Tower Master to arrive.

The moment the door opened, and he appeared, Clara gave me a sly wink.

Again, authority is the ultimate tool.

“F-First of all, we apologize for the disrespect…”

The timid-looking Vice-Tower Master bowed. Wiping cold sweat with his handkerchief, he continued.

“One of our guards, who’s still being trained…”

“It’s fine. If anything, I should be the one to apologize for this sudden visit.”

Clara, smiling kindly, shook her head. It was hard to believe that, until just now, she had just been spewing insults about this “VIP room.”

“I’m grateful for your understanding…”

The Vice-Tower Master trailed off, watching Clara’s expression. Then, with a voice as if mustering all his courage, he added,

“But what brings you to this humble place?”

“The master of the Magic Tower, a close ally of the Church, was murdered. It wouldn’t be right for the head of the Church to not offer her condolences.”

The Vice-Tower Master’s face paled.

“D-Don’t tell me… you brought Holy Knights with you? That’s not acceptable! This is something that we can handle internally…!”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I have no intention of interfering with the Magic Tower’s internal affairs.”

Relief spread across his pale face. But not long after, suspicion filled his eyes.

“Then why…”

“I just wanted to introduce you to an expert.”

Clara glanced at me. The Vice-Tower Master turned his gaze towards me, too.

“Allow me to introduce Mr. Klok, from the Eastern Adventurer’s Guild. He might not be professionally trained, but he’s better than any Imperial investigator.”

*Especially when it comes to solving cases like this,* Clara added with a smile.

Of course, she was lying.

All I learned as a mercenary was how to stab people and rush through paperwork.

I’ve never played detective like Clevens, nor did I have any intention of doing so.

And we hadn’t even discussed this beforehand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Klok.”

But improvisation is a virtue for a veteran mercenary.

I smiled warmly and extended a hand to the Vice-Tower Master. With a hesitant expression, he shook my hand.

“Yes… Nice to meet you, but why the mask…”

“I have severe burns on my face. It’s not exactly something you’d want to see.”

“…”

Perhaps my answer was too obvious?

His expression became guarded.

“It’s fine. I vouch for him. If anything goes wrong, *I* will take full responsibility.”

However, Clara’s words quelled his suspicions.

Even if he didn’t believe her, he wouldn’t dare voice his doubts.

Unlike the Magic Tower, whose influence was limited to this city, the Church was a vast organization with influence throughout the continent.

There was a reason someone as high-ranking as the Vice-Tower Master was acting so subservient.

…Well, if it had been Sage, she probably would have still held her head high, though.

“…Then, what can I prepare for you, Mr. Klok?”

The Vice-Tower Master asked with a weary look on his face. Pushing aside my thoughts, I said,

“I’d like to hear about the progress of the investigation, first.”

“I see. Please wait a moment.”

He snapped his fingers.

A mage with a stern face entered, carrying a thick book. He placed the book on the table before me and then stepped back, his posture rigid.

“I had a feeling you might ask that, so I had one of my assistants prepare this. This is a compilation of everything we have found out so far.”

It was the Vice-Tower Master who had said this. It seemed his tension was easing, he let out a deep breath.

“Take a look.”

I picked up the thick book and opened it. Then, Clara, who was standing next to me, and Feya and Irene, who had been observing quietly, came closer to peek inside.

Only then did the Vice-Tower Master seem to notice them. He looked at Clara, his eyes filled with questions.

“And those two…”

“They’re Mr. Klok’s companions. I vouch for them as well, so don’t mind them.”

“…”

Then, as if to say, “Don’t interrupt me.”, Clara started to read the book.

Again, authority is the ultimate tool.

Giving another glance at the Vice-Tower Master who was clearly having a rough day, I turned to look at the book.

A moment later…

“Wait, are you saying that they didn’t actually find a body…?”

Irene asked in a voice full of relief and disappointment.

***

The media always exaggerates one way or another. And it was no different this time.

Here’s what we learned from the book.

On June 21st, at 11 p.m., Nicolai year 69.

An explosion occurred in the Tower Master’s office on the top floor.

The Magic Tower guards were immediately dispatched, but all they were able to find was Sage’s charred left arm.

So, to find the culprit and the Tower Master, the Vice-Tower Master, who was currently in charge, decided to close down the Magic Tower.

They mobilized every single person and started to search, inch by inch.

However, they weren’t able to find the Tower Master, or even traces of the perpetrator.

The only evidence they were able to get was a statement from someone who said they saw Parsley heading to the office around 10:30 p.m.

[We still haven’t confirmed whether Ms. Parsley really is the culprit. To be precise, we haven’t been able to confirm anything…]

[The article about her being murdered is an exaggeration. You know how those ‘journalists’ like to sensationalize things.]

[But the culprit, the Tower Master, or Ms. Parsley… We’re sure that one of them is still inside. The barriers we cast to close the tower aren’t weak, you see.]

[…And if you manage to solve this case, you will be handsomely rewarded. So, please, if you find any clues, however small, do let me know.]

…Those were the Vice-Tower Master’s final words as we left the VIP room.

I slumped down on the sofa, rubbing my face.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand anything,

it was that everything seemed perfectly clear.

If what we read was true, then the culprit had to meet three conditions.

First, the perpetrator must be a mage as skilled as Sage.

Sage, even if taken by surprise, was a mage who had even defeated a dragon. She wouldn’t have been so easily subdued if there was a big gap in skill.

On top of that, they were able to erase all traces and disappear in such a short time. It’s not something an ordinary mage could pull off.

Parsley had single-handedly destroyed that massive fortress.

Second, the perpetrator must have been someone trusted.

The Magic Tower guards are all skilled mages. It would be difficult to escape their pursuit, even for the most talented of mages.

The culprit must have either taken some measures beforehand to deal with them or found their blind spots.

In other words, the culprit is someone who has access to the Magic Tower guard’s information. This means they were a person of proven status.

Being the Tower Master’s daughter would have been convenient.

And last but not least,

the perpetrator must know of a secret location that the guards, and the mages of the Magic Tower, didn’t know of, a place they couldn’t even find.

And as far as I knew, there’s only one place like that in the entire Magic Tower:

The Summer Night’s Aurora,

The place I had given to Parsley as a birthday gift,

A place only Marianne, Parsley, and I knew about.

“Oppa…?”

“There’s somewhere I have to go.”

I adjusted my mask and then immediately walked off. Trying to ignore the growing sense of dread, I thought.

*Please tell me it’s not you, Parsley.*

***

The balcony, used as a training area for flight magic,

was a vast space, devoid of railings,

stretching out to meet the horizon that was gradually being painted with the colors of sunset.

“Hold on, Oppa! Could you at least explain…”

I ignored Irene and walked towards the edge of the balcony. I stood in front of the empty air, 100m above the ground.

“B-Big bro…?”

I took a small pouch from my pocket,

a pouch I’d been keeping like a talisman.

Pushing aside my hesitation, I pulled out a handful of powder.

[misunlu]

Then I sprinkled it into the air.

My heart pounded with anxiety. I watched the powder fall,

past my chest,

past my knees,

past my shins,

and finally to the tips of my toes.

*Whooooosh-*

But the platform didn’t appear.

“Sigh…”

I couldn’t help but sigh.

Of course, it couldn’t have been Parsley.

Well, there’s no way that’s the only secret space in the magic tower but…

“Hold on a moment, Oppa.”

Irene, with a serious expression, walked past me.

Then, stopping at the edge of the balcony, she rummaged through her subspace pocket. After pulling out a strange magical device, she held it out.

“What are you…”

*Slide-*

My thoughts stopped,

as if a leaf were suddenly appearing on a clear lake’s surface.

An old door materialized before us, seemingly out of the sunset-colored sky, and then swung open.

I saw a vast space, covered with magic circles and tentacles,

a preserved human body and a strangely shaped clock at its center.

And then, standing beside it… A red-haired girl.

Her green eyes glared at us.

“I wasn’t expecting guests.”

Parsley said with a twisted expression.