Ch.120White Tower Master (4)

“Persuasion, you say? That’s simple. Because I have Lilly.”

“No. That’s not enough to believe you.”

When asked to persuade her, I pointed to Lilly sitting on my shoulder.

I thought the existence of a fairy would be more convincing in this world than hundreds of words.

But the response was a rejection, different from what I expected.

“Hmm, why not?”

“You seem to claim you’re an Apos Hunt. As you probably know, several Apos Hunts have already infiltrated this Magic Tower and disappeared.”

“Hmm, perhaps you doubt the abilities of Apos Hunters?”

I asked just in case, but I didn’t think that was it.

The look in the White Tower Master’s eyes wasn’t distrust of Apos Hunt specifically, but rather caution toward us in general.

Her answer wasn’t much different from what I expected.

“That’s not it. I’m simply considering the possibility that a captured fairy could be controlled by black magic.”

“Hmm, I suppose that’s possible.”

“Indeed. Just because fairies are innocent creatures doesn’t mean they’re immune to black magic.”

Lilly and I could quickly agree with the White Tower Master’s point.

After all, even the royal palace of Gagap, the dwarf kingdom, had once fallen completely…

‘It wouldn’t be impossible to control a single fairy.’

[So, how will you persuade her?]

[We need to convince her right now, regardless of whether her concerns make sense.]

‘Well, there are ways.’

If she was worried about a black magician’s interference, I just needed to present evidence that even black magic couldn’t tamper with.

Something like a divine object, for example.

“You’ve heard about what happened in Gagap, right?”

“Yes, although news doesn’t travel well because of the Black Tower, I’ve heard that much. Why do you ask?”

“Because I’m the savior of Gagap. This is the sword I received then.”

The God-Slaying Sword that Vulcan had crafted for me.

Although I couldn’t use it now because I wasn’t qualified, that didn’t diminish its value.

The White Tower Master should have the discernment to recognize the divinity contained in the sword.

“This is… genuine. The divinity in this sword isn’t something that can be simply imitated.”

“Will you believe me now?”

“I could say you might be brainwashed… but that wouldn’t leave anything to believe in. Alright, I’ll trust you.”

She seemed to be contemplating deeply, but soon convinced herself and lowered her guard.

Her ability to maintain composure after nearly dying moments ago truly befitted the master of a tower.

“I’m glad you believe me. Now, let’s get straight to the point. What exactly was the method behind this assassination attempt?”

“That’s indeed what you’d be most curious about.”

At my question, the Tower Master closed her eyes and fell into thought.

Although it had just happened, she was trying to recall the situation more clearly.

“As you saw, the attackers were moderately skilled. I could have defeated them without much difficulty.”

“So that artifact wasn’t something that enhanced their abilities.”

“How could such an artifact exist? No, perhaps it would have been more understandable if it had been that kind of artifact.”

The White Tower Master hesitated to speak, looking up at the sky.

Her eyes revealed that even she, who had experienced it firsthand, couldn’t understand what had happened.

And then the words that came from her opened mouth were shocking in many ways.

“When that artifact activated, restrictions began to be placed on all my actions.”

“Restrictions?”

“Literally. Limitations started to apply to each and every action. I barely had enough magical power left to create a clone and hide.”

Just like… the immaterial realm.

* * *

After hearing the White Tower Master’s story, my shock was momentary.

We left that place and began moving to find a suitable location.

It didn’t feel right to continue our conversation at the site of the recent attack.

But even as we moved, I couldn’t relax at all.

‘What on earth has the Black Tower created…’

Summoning the immaterial realm.

Or implementing the immaterial realm.

Though I couldn’t be certain without experiencing it directly, based on the White Tower Master’s description, it had to be one of these two.

And whichever it was, this was a serious matter.

[Even the strongest would be helpless if dragged into the immaterial realm.]

‘Even I struggled so much in the immaterial realm.’

Reduction of all abilities.

Limited activity time.

A space that suppresses power the more you use it.

In that state, even a powerful Tower Master could lose to attackers like the ones we just saw.

In fact, she sensed defeat and chose to create a clone and escape.

‘If everyone became equally weak, that would be one thing, but that’s not the case.’

That’s right.

The Black Tower had it.

An artifact that allowed movement in the immaterial realm at the cost of lifespan.

If that could use other people’s lifespans as fuel as well.

And if powerful individuals wearing it forced battles in the immaterial realm.

‘The power balance that has been maintained until now would be completely overturned.’

This had to be stopped.

It wasn’t just about my unease from suspecting someone I knew might be involved.

‘I was slightly relieved thinking that the Magic Tower didn’t have a doomsday button, but…’

[I feel completely blindsided.]

‘Well, we have no choice. We just have to crush the Evil God’s plans like we’ve always done.’

I spoke calmly to Lumia, but in reality, I wasn’t calm at all.

I felt this wasn’t something ordinary black magicians and apostles could accomplish on their own.

‘Perhaps… no, most likely she participated in this plan.’

When it came to the immaterial realm, she knew more than I did.

While I had traveled this vast world looking for hidden pieces, she had focused solely on the immaterial realm.

I even occasionally asked her directly for information about the immaterial realm.

‘Is she being forced by the Evil God? Or does she still hate people?’

Perhaps it was both.

As my thoughts continued to wander, what brought me back to reality was the White Tower Master’s voice announcing our arrival at our destination.

“This is my private room. It would be difficult for the Black Tower to do anything here.”

“Heh, so this is the personal space that’s only allowed to the Tower Master.”

The top floor of one tower.

The Tower Master’s private research room, inaccessible even with just a token.

Naturally, Lilly, who had always been interested in magic, and Kitsune looked around with curious eyes.

However, those curious gazes didn’t last long.

The reason was simple.

“But… um…”

“It’s very messy. I don’t think even Lilly’s room is this bad.”

“Why suddenly bring up my room? I clean it well.”

“From what I know, you don’t clean it yourself—you get cleaned up after by Faur.”

It was so messy that it reminded me of what Lilly’s room might look like without Faur’s management.

Despite the fact that it could have been tidied up quickly using magic.

“Ugh, I’ve been too busy with Black Tower issues lately to clean up.”

“Let’s go with that for now. We don’t have time to joke around anyway.”

I had several things I wanted to refute, but decided to let it slide for now.

Partly because the situation was urgent, and partly because I wasn’t particularly neat myself.

‘Though now it seems places I stay automatically become clean because of my charm stat…’

In any case, we all agreed that time was limited, so we didn’t pursue this topic further.

“First, let me introduce myself. I’m Louise, the Master of the White Tower.”

“I’m Frey, an Apos Hunt. These are my companions: Lilly, Kitsune, and Kirara.”

We exchanged brief introductions before starting our conversation.

We could have caught each other’s names in passing, but this was a process of building trust.

“So, how many towers can we trust?”

“One. If we include the ambiguous one, barely two.”

Including the White and Black Towers, there were a total of eight towers in the Magic Tower.

White: dealing with light and holy magic.

Black: dealing with black magic.

Red: dealing with fire and explosion magic.

Blue: dealing with water and ice magic.

Green: dealing with nature and earth magic.

Yellow: dealing with electricity magic.

Silver: specializing in creating artifacts.

Gold: managing the overall budget of the Magic Tower.

The specialties changed slightly with the times, and sometimes entirely new towers were built, but this was the current configuration.

“So at best half… From the way you’re talking, it seems there’s no hope except for those two places.”

“That’s right. The Red Tower Master is trustworthy, and Yellow is still neutral. The rest, as you might have guessed, have been swallowed by the Black Tower.”

Louise went on to explain their past actions.

The Blue Tower was the first to propose establishing the Black Tower, with Green supporting it.

Subsequently, other towers that had been neutral were also absorbed by the Black Tower, leading to the current situation.

‘They probably didn’t think they were actually bringing in people connected to the Evil God.’

It was highly likely that the other towers mistakenly believed these were people who learned black magic purely for academic purposes, separate from the Evil God.

With the support of two towers, they probably didn’t feel the need to be suspicious.

But this was the reality they now faced.

‘Come to think of it… wasn’t Diana, whom we met at the entrance, from the Blue Tower?’

Perhaps because I had no idea how corrupted the Blue Tower might be.

I was worried about the little girl we first met when infiltrating the Magic Tower.