episode_0056

Episode 56. Magic Kingdom (2)

The Falun Magic Kingdom is geographically not a good place to live.

To the west lies the Great Desert, and to the east stretches the vast sea.

An environment where not even a speck of resources emerges. Food production is also inadequate.

Of course, there is the sea, but the sea bordering Falun consists only of cliffs, making it unsuitable for fishing or human habitation.

Despite such harsh conditions, the reason why the Falun Kingdom is called one of the three great powers.

It is because it was built on a ley line, land where mana flows.

Therefore, in terms of land size alone, it is less than one-tenth the size of the Holy Kingdom and the Empire, but it was able to stand alongside the other two great powers.

“The air is nice.”

“Yeah, it’s good.”

The scent that brushes past the nose upon exiting the warp gate. It is the fragrance of fresh mana. That’s because the Magic Tower is built in the place most affected by the ley line.

We exited the building. Then, towering towers came into view. Each of those shining brilliantly even in the daytime is a Magic Tower.

‘If counted by floors, it was about 100 floors.’

In this world, the only buildings built this high are the Magic Towers. That’s why they are a specialty of the Magic Kingdom.

Besides that, there were shops and restaurants lined up near the Magic Tower, and students wearing robes with the Magic Tower emblem were seen.

The Magic Tower serves as a research institute for exploring magic, and at the same time, as an educational institution like Tianis Academy.

“Are we going straight to the Magic Tower?”

“Yeah. Follow me.”

Nodding her head, she strode forward. Even though her stride is narrow, her pace is faster than that of a decent knight. That is possible because of the magic enchanted on her shoes.

We quickly arrived at the Magic Tower. As we reached the front door, the tightly closed door automatically split open.

The Magic Tower we entered was splendid. From the floor to the ceiling, to every single decoration. Having properly received the blessing of the ley line, magic is added from the basic design.

A sight that a typical academy could never imitate. The daily mana consumption alone would amount to several hundred magic stones. Of course, Tianis is no less than that.

We passed by numerous students and headed to the desk in the lobby. Before the employee could open their mouth, she spoke.

“I came to buy a magic stone mine access ticket.”

“What is the purpose of use?”

“To make mana essence.”

“There is mana essence produced at the Magic Tower. How about that?”

“No.”

“Understood.”

Mana essence. It is a stone containing only pure mana, with impurities removed from the magic stone.

As the employee said, there is essence made at the Magic Tower, but in terms of completeness, the product she makes is of a much higher grade.

“Before purchasing the mine access ticket, we will proceed with identity verification. Would you please show us something to prove your identity?”

“Here.”

She handed over the Lindel family crest. And then, looking at me, she said.

“You too, give it.”

“Ah, yes.”

Following that, I took off Tianis’ student ID, which is also a wristwatch, and handed it over. Like Ruina Lindel, there is a family crest, but there is no need to do that. The watch alone is enough.

After completing the verification, the employee handed over the crest and the watch and said.

“Ruina of the Lindel family. Kyle Arden of Tianis Academy. I will guide you.”

I let out a hollow laugh at the employee’s subtle discrimination.

‘The family name is right there. They’re emphasizing it on purpose.’

I know why they’re doing that.

The Magic Tower poured their everything into magic. The curriculum also focuses solely on magic, making it specialized, and the facilities are also specialized for magic.

Therefore, the Magic Tower has great pride in their magic and students.

But unfortunately.

A student from Tianis Academy, which has several times the land area, teaches all subjects, and whose facilities are no less inferior to theirs, is visiting the Magic Tower.

Even though the difference in magical skill between the two places has been comparable for the past hundred years. The Magic Tower is in a situation where they are going crazy.

Well, for that reason, the Magic Tower harbors a sense of inferiority towards Tianis. Of course, this is a story limited to us. It does not apply to the Holy Academy, which uses divine power.

‘Keep doing that. I don’t care.’

The hollow laugh only came out because it was cute.

The employee’s guidance stopped in front of the elevator. It is not the orange forge’s one, and only space teleportation magic is engraved, and the form is only similarly followed.

“If you stop on the 6th floor, go to room 34.”

“Okay.”

The employee pressed the 6th floor button and politely bowed.

I felt a floating sensation like a warp gate, and the elevator immediately arrived on the 6th floor.

“Room 34… This is it.”

Crossing through densely connected rooms, we reached our destination. I opened the door for her.

A small room of about 10 pyeong. At the end, a man was seen sitting at a desk near the window, looking at documents. Judging by the uniform of the Magic Tower, he is a student, to be exact.

He didn’t greet the customer right away, but only looked up after we had all entered. And when he saw her face behind me.

“Who is this? Isn’t it Ruina Lindel!”

A voice with not even a speck of courtesy was heard. Judging from the content of his words, he seems to have a connection with her.

“Senior, do you know him?”

“Yeah, an entrance classmate from the Magic Tower.”

Well, since there is a setting that she attended the Magic Tower in the past, there would be classmates. The Magic Tower admits students at the same time, and then divides them by choosing a school of thought.

“More than that, what brings our classmate here? Oh, don’t do that and sit down.”

He pointed to the chair while holding out his hand. It was quite annoying, but I sat down for now.

“Wow~ How many years has it been? About 3 years?”

Sitting in the chair, he began to speak like that. But the expressionless she frowned slightly and said.

“I’m busy. The message has been conveyed. Guide us quickly.”

“Don’t say such disappointing things. There are many people who miss you, especially since you ran away to Tianis Academy.”

“……”

“How is it after going there? Has your skill improved a lot?”

Ruina Lindel’s face, which was already expressionless, became even more expressionless. The other party ignored her reaction and continued to speak.

“Surely you haven’t failed to pass the 5th circle, have you? Look at me. I’ve already become a 6th circle and even got an office.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Haha, that personality is still the same. But is this the attendant? Judging by the uniform and the sword, he doesn’t seem to be an assistant.”

The next target was moved to me. But then Ruina Lindel intervened.

“Don’t mess with my junior. He’s not someone you can mess with.”

She seemed angry, and her voice was slightly raised.

“You just have to guide us. You stupid Petus.”

Bang!

The magician called Petus slammed his fist on the desk. His face was horribly distorted.

“Don’t ignore me, Ruina! I’m no longer the magician who was hidden by you back then!”

The enraged magician glared at her with killing intent.

“Even if you came as a guest, you are just a mere assistant magician! You are not someone who can treat me like that! So I’m going to kill you…”

Bang!

Another shocking sound rang out.

“Ugh, ugh…”

The 6th circle magician was groaning with his face buried in the desk. I said to the guy who couldn’t get up.

“The level of the Magic Tower has fallen as much as it has. Hey, is a customer who came to spend money a joke? You can’t even treat them well, and you’re threatening them?”

“A mere knight dares to attack a magician of the Magic Tower…!”

Petus unleashed mana. As expected of a 6th circle, the amount of mana is considerable. But I used Karsaro to poke the guy’s hand to scatter his concentration.

“Aaaagh!”

“Now you’re really trying to kill me. That’s why you hear that you’re being pushed back by Tianis. And you’re crying just because your hand was pierced.”

How much does that hurt? I guess you’d faint if I cut off your hand.

“It’s a serious crime to attack a magician in the Magic Tower! If you don’t want to be imprisoned…!”

“That’s when the customer is just an ordinary person.”

The Arden family is a VIP customer of the Magic Tower. They buy goods worth as much as tens of millions, or at least millions of gold, every month.

On the other hand, he is just a 6th circle magician. It’s obvious who the Magic Tower will choose. Moreover, since the Lindel family, famous for magic tools, is involved, the result is obvious.

“Th, that…”

The anger disappeared in an instant, and his face turned pale.

“If you understand, guide us. Don’t waste our time.”

“Y, yes…”

The guy who had completely lost his will to fight. I painfully pulled out the sword and let him go.

“Ugh…!”

Pain was irrelevant.

After that, the guy left, saying he would go and get treatment for a while.

“You’re being annoying. I’m busy to death.”

I turned my head at the gazes pouring out from the side. Ruina Lindel was staring intently.

After looking with her still lifeless eyes, she got up from her chair. And then, she tiptoed and reached out her hand.

“You did well. Good job.”

She stroked my head and praised me. Because she is short, her fingertips barely reached even when she tiptoed.

“If I hadn’t done it, senior would have done it.”

“Yeah. Petus is stupid. He only knows his realm.”

There is no way she, who invented her own alchemy, would lose to a 6th circle. If she had stepped in, he would have been badly beaten. As she said, that magician was too stupid.

I sat in the chair and waited for the guy. He said he got an office, so there was a tea set and tea, so I made tea with it and drank it.

It was worth eating because it was a high-end product. Of course, Ruina Lindel didn’t drink it. She hates bitter things the most in the world.

After a while, Petus appeared, and we headed to the magic stone mine.

***

The magic stone mine is a mine that was born under the influence of the abundant mana of the ley line.

Therefore, the purity of the magic stones produced on the continent is also high. The reserves are also much higher than in other regions, accounting for 70% of the continent’s magic stone production.

But because the reserves are so large, other countries secretly sneak in and mine magic stones.

So the Falun Kingdom came up with a clever plan. That’s the mine access ticket.

They allowed people to mine magic stones if they paid a certain amount. Of course, master-level skilled people are excluded. The kingdom’s losses are enormous at that level.

Clang! Clang!

Anyway, for that reason, I am mining magic stones.

There was not much of a difficult process. If I wrapped mana around my body and dug a little with a pickaxe, magic stones came out.

Every time a magic stone came out, I gave it to her, who was making mana essence. Since essence was created every time I handed it over, she just watched me quietly.

“But senior.”

“Yeah.”

“In this case, shouldn’t we have brought Lana and Elahim?”

The environment was not as obstructive to her as I thought. Or they could have been shown around the kingdom or the Magic Tower.

“……”

She was silent.

“Senior?”

When I asked as if urging her, she finally opened her mouth.

“She’s nice. But she’s rude. She talks too much. She annoys me every time.”

Well, that could be the case.

Their first meeting can be considered the worst, but it worked out well later. That doesn’t mean there aren’t problems.

First of all, Lana was too attached. Every time we met, she tried to hug me, and she chattered, bringing up this and that. And Ruina Lindel hated that.

Of course, she warned her several times, but it didn’t happen very often. After a day or two, she returned to her original state.

But there is a reason for everything.

Lana likes animals very much, and Ruina Lindel has a strong animalistic nature. Therefore, in Lana’s case, her usual appearance comes out when she is next to her. This is a habit that has been around for a long time, so no matter how much she controls it, her actions unconsciously pop out.

So I understand Lana.

“Then what about Elahim?”

“…No.”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard.

“No?”

“Yeah, no.”

“Then why?”

“…Just because.”

“Excuse me?”

“…Just mine magic stones.”

After that, she was silent. She even turned her head completely and focused on making essence.

‘It’s not easy to read the inner thoughts of this person.’

She is such a moody person that her emotions change quickly. In addition, the conversation itself is short, so it is difficult to read emotions from her words. The only thing I could find out was that she was dissatisfied?

After about an hour, the production of mana essence was almost finished. She said she was going to make an essence the size of her head, so it will be over soon.

“But senior. What is the prize that you’re making something so big?”

Even if you use simple magic with mana inside that, the power of 8th circle magic comes out. She seems to be planning to make a really amazing thing and come in first.

“…They’re giving away an artifact from the mythical era.”

“Mythical era? Is that coming out as a prize?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t have any inherent abilities. It’s just a shell.”

“Even if it’s just a shell, isn’t it the best material?”

“That’s right. That’s why I need it.”

The mythical era refers to the era 10,000 years ago. Roughly an era when humans were not as abundant as they are now, but instead gods were rampant.

Well, it’s not an important story in ‘Aka Cheonma’. It’s just to the extent that there is such a setting.

But things from the mythical era are different. It is a time when all sorts of gods were rampant, so it may contain divine power. Of course, it’s just a shell, but it’s far superior to materials from this era.

“Senior, maybe…”

“Are you interested?”

“Yes. I’m interested.”

“No. I need it too. But… if you participate as an assistant, I’ll give you some.”

“Ugh…”

There was a slight conflict in my mind.

Maybe I will never get an object from the mythical era except for this time.

In fact, there are also mythical era objects in the academy’s warehouse, but it is almost impossible to obtain them. There is no way to obtain them even in the episodes. Even if it’s just a shell.

“I will assist you diligently.”

“Okay.”

Ruina Lindel made a slightly excited voice.

“The competition is on Wednesday, so.”

But it was then.

Kwaaaang!!

The magic stone mine vibrated.

“Looks like…”

Something seems to have happened.