Ch.167Dark Lord. (2)

Olivia immediately asked if there was a Grandmaster or an equivalent mental arts practitioner.

The Master of Dark’s eyes twitched after hearing her request.

[Why are you asking me that? If you’re looking for a practitioner, asking Melina would be much faster than asking me.]

“You’re not saying you don’t know.”

[I can’t tell you before we even start negotiating.]

The Master of Dark moved to sit in a leather chair.

[If you’re using that debt to buy information, I wouldn’t mind telling you… but then you might not leave here in one piece.]

“The debt my master placed on you wouldn’t disappear for just one piece of information, would it?”

[…..]

The Master of Dark closed his mouth, realizing Olivia knew more than expected.

The debt he owed to Melina.

It was a life-saving debt.

His principle was that a life debt must be repaid with a life debt. As Olivia said, the debt was too great to be settled by simply providing one piece of information.

[Giving you premium information and letting you live wouldn’t be a fair deal for me. Either hear five pieces of premium information and die, or disappear from here right now.]

“Then let me pay separately for the premium information. That works, doesn’t it?”

[…..]

“If we consider overturning one branch as payment for my master’s debt, wouldn’t I be a customer from that point on?”

It wasn’t wrong, but the Master of Dark’s gaze remained cold.

[That’s stretching it. I don’t meet customers this way. There’s a very complicated procedure. If you want to come as a customer, get a VIP ticket first. You can get one at the auction next month.]

“I couldn’t wait that month, which is why I turned Branch 3 upside down.”

As Olivia said this, she pulled out a thick money pouch from her spatial storage.

Gold that she had sorted in advance.

It contained not only the cost of a VIP ticket but also compensation for damages.

“Will you still refuse?”

[What about the ticket?]

“Something as simple as a piece of paper without even basic magical processing—I can create one right now.”

As Olivia snapped her fingers, magical circuits were gently engraved on paper, transforming it into a familiar ticket.

The Master of Dark slightly furrowed his brow, realizing this had been an unfavorable game from the start.

‘So the answer was determined from the moment we met.’

The Master of Dark was the only one who handled premium information. From Olivia’s perspective, just meeting him would accomplish her primary objective.

Escaping would be simple—she just needed to use the debt Melina had placed on him.

[You seem to have been around for decades.]

The Master of Dark was sincere.

Planning something in your head and actually executing it are problems of different dimensions.

The fact that she thought of messing with an assassination organization that ruled the continent’s underworld—not some third-rate group—was evidence of Olivia’s incredible nerve.

And in the underworld, having momentum alone gets you halfway there.

“So am I a customer now?”

Olivia asked.

The Master of Dark nodded lightly and spoke again.

[I’ll give you the address.]

Tap.

Placing a piece of paper on the table, the Master of Dark said:

[His name is Andro Clemang. He’s a mental arts practitioner who came from the Western Archipelago.]

“……”

[Naturally, he’s an unauthorized practitioner who hasn’t joined the magic tower. Seventeen years ago, he reached the rank of Grandmaster.]

The Master of Dark’s black eyes gleamed behind his mask.

[Let me give you one piece of advice—abandon the idea that a mental arts practitioner would have a normal way of thinking. He could twist your memories and turn you into an idiot at any moment.]

As he said this, the Master of Dark’s voice seemed slightly excited.

[Do you need directions?]

“I’m fine.”

Olivia responded with a smile.

*****

Road 27.

A shabby residential area located in an industrial complex on the outskirts of Makina.

It didn’t look like a place where a Grandmaster-level practitioner would stay, but considering that the person was a mental arts practitioner, it wasn’t entirely strange.

Like black mages, mental arts practitioners were equally ostracized due to their unique nature.

Of course, due to their usefulness, it was common for high-ranking officials to keep them on a leash, but the mental arts practitioners in Makina seemed to be in a somewhat different position.

This residential area was a case in point.

It looked shabby on the outside, but the reality was the opposite. Like an iceberg floating in the ocean, there would be a vast underground facility beneath.

‘They’ve connected magical threads to every passerby.’

A man leaning against a wall in a dark alley, a homeless person begging on newspaper, children running through the streets…

They looked ordinary, but they were all like puppets controlled by mental arts practitioners.

The magic was so intricate that even Olivia, a high-ranking Grandmaster, had to concentrate to notice it.

She had come to the right place.

“A magician, I see.”

It was the young man leaning against the wall in the alley. He looked ordinary on the outside, but his approach was too obvious from the moment he attached a magical thread to the back of her head.

“What brings you here?”

“I’m looking for someone. Andro Clemang, know him?”

“Indeed I do. But seeing that you’ve come without knowing who he is… I suppose someone else referred you.”

Instead of answering, Olivia glanced at her notification window.

[Time remaining: 4 minutes 24 seconds]

Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to dawdle here.

‘The coordinates are roughly… around here?’

Whoosh!

A massive wave of magical power erupted from Olivia’s body. The energy was so intense that the nearby “puppets” were momentarily drawn to it.

She filtered out the magic of the lesser mages and searched for the trace of the purest magical power.

The next moment, Olivia’s figure disappeared.

The air instantly became stuffy. It seemed that ventilation technology hadn’t developed much yet.

“I thought I knew most of the magicians in this city… but I didn’t expect such a young lady among the high-ranking magicians.”

A voice that scraped the vocal cords to the point of discomfort.

An old man slowly approached Olivia, leaning on his staff, and muttered:

“Are you perhaps an executor sent by the magic tower?”

“They usually work in pairs.”

“…Then you must be a guest.”

Clemang turned without hesitation, and Olivia followed him.

“You’ve come to the right place. Even if you searched the entire continent, it wouldn’t be easy to find a mental arts practitioner as good as me.”

When he placed his hand on the magical recognition device, a thick metal door opened.

“…Is there something you don’t like?”

Clemang turned to look at the silent Olivia and chuckled.

“I’m just curious about something.”

“Heh. Ask away.”

“Can you erase a Grandmaster’s memories without leaving a trace?”

“…I’ll need a more detailed explanation.”

Clemang’s expression changed.

“It’s exactly as I said. Can you erase the memories of a Grandmaster stronger than the Golden Tower Master without leaving a trace, and make them not even feel the dissonance?”

“…What an insane question. It’s impossible to interfere with the memories of the Empire’s old monster, let alone someone stronger. Unless they’re a dragon—no, even for a dragon, I wonder if it’s possible.”

Olivia asked as if she knew nothing:

“Don’t they sometimes appear in history books? Magicians who have reached the truth.”

“What? Kihihihi!”

“……”

He laughed so hard that his eyes became moist.

“Hm… I can’t believe there’s still a fool who believes in the divine realm of magic. It’s been a while since I heard such an amusing joke.”

Perhaps sensing Olivia’s age from her question, Clemang’s wariness had considerably diminished.

He might even think she was an unworldly magician and was looking down on her.

“So, it’s impossible?”

“Of course. If there had been a mental arts practitioner who reached the truth, we wouldn’t be stuck in the shadows like this.”

Clemang narrowed his eyes and glared at Olivia.

Olivia smiled slightly and took out gold from her pocket.

“I’d like to ask one more question.”

“…Go ahead.”

“Clemang, as a magician of your caliber, you surely have connections with other mental arts practitioners, right?”

“I do.”

After a brief pause, Olivia spoke:

“Then, are you the strongest among them?”

“You could say that.”

“Ah…”

Disappointment showed on Olivia’s face.

‘So it turns out like this.’

Though it was too early to conclude, this made it highly likely that the identity of the [14th] was not a mental arts practitioner.

“Are you thinking of leaving already?”

“I don’t have much time left.”

“Hmm…”

As Olivia turned to leave without hesitation, Clemang’s expression changed strangely.

A murderous intent flashed in Clemang’s eyes as he looked at Olivia’s unprotected back, not even deploying a shield.

As a mechanical device activated and the magical power around the platform where Olivia stood was controlled—

Zzzzzap!

An immense amount of electricity burst from the end of a wire.

It was an ambush executed in a split second.

“Kihihihi! Stupid woman!”

Clemang’s face was filled with greed as he saw Olivia writhing on the floor.

“The blood of a high-ranking elemental magician is precious. With this… I can advance one more step.”

He spread his magical threads to turn Olivia’s body over.

As he slowly raised his head to check her face, a voice was heard:

“That tingles.”

“…!”

Olivia, as if nothing had happened, shook off the residual magic in her body.

“Sorry, but one of my specialties happens to be lightning.”

In Olivia’s left hand, a current of electricity much greater than before was flickering, as she smiled.