episode_0119

“How on earth did this happen?”

“Don’t know, someone said it was cut down?”

“I saw it cut down, neatly. What I’m asking is, who the hell made this?”

Lüüm, a border city of Kraftia.

Currently, magic engineers are seen repairing about 20 broken golems.

The magic engineers kicked the fallen golem fragments while lamenting their situation of being forcibly dragged out on a day they should be resting to tinker with golems.

“As far as I know, this golem’s strength is enough to withstand intermediate magic or higher, right?”

“I don’t know about that. The professor just told me to do restoration work here….”

Another man answered, scratching his head.

And a middle-aged man, who had been watching the scene, approached them and said.

“What, you guys don’t know?”

“No. We were suddenly dispatched from the capital because of a shortage of manpower…. Did some kind of Demon King army invade?”

“It’s peaceful for a Demon King army invasion….”

As the two men answered awkwardly, the middle-aged man raised his hand to his mouth as if telling a valuable secret.

“Actually, this is a secret…. Apparently, the Hero came.”

“The Hero?”

“Did the Hero do this? Why?”

The two engineers spoke, seemingly unable to understand what the middle-aged man was saying.

But the middle-aged man chuckled and continued.

“Heh heh, apparently the golem attacked first.”

“The golem?”

“Why? This golem is set not to attack unless it’s an enemy, right?”

“Looking at the inscribed formulas, it doesn’t seem like there’s an error….”

The two men looked at the golems lying scattered around.

They also knew about these golems.

Guardian golems located in major cities of each border. Golems with sufficient offensive and defensive power to counter external forces trying to invade the Magic Kingdom. At the same time, these golems had the function of thoroughly distinguishing hostile forces inscribed in advance.

This function is so famous that there is even a curriculum where those who graduated from golem manufacturing/manipulation departments become familiar with it by looking at the real thing at least once.

As such, the functions of these things should be perfect….

The golem attacked the Hero?….

“Apparently, the golem misunderstood. Due to the Hero’s massive magical power exceeding the limits of a human, the golem seems to have mistaken him for a non-human being.”

“Magical power exceeding the limits of a human…”

“With that much strength, who is it? Hero Ragna? Hero Abel?”

“Tsk tsk, these guys. You’re so slow with the news because you’re stuck in your rooms doing research!…”

Clicking his tongue, the middle-aged man said with an arrogant smile.

“Didn’t you hear the story that the Holy Kingdom spread nationwide? The rumor has spread all over the continent. The story that Hero Leon succeeded in directly eliminating the fragment of the Demon King for the first time since the first Hero.”

“!!”

“I’ve heard that story! Are you saying Hero Leon came to the Magic Kingdom?!”

“That’s right. Don’t say I told you. I’m secretly telling you what the higher-ups told me to keep quiet about.”

The other two men were very excited at the middle-aged man’s words.

Hero Leon.

Currently, there is no one on the Pilgrean continent who doesn’t know this name.

The achievement of subjugating the Demon King’s fragment, which had never been perfectly subjugated since the first Hero, was quite a hot topic in contrast to being called 『Incompetent Hero』 in the past.

Moreover, in contrast to Hero Abel and Hero Ragna failing to subjugate the orcs and the Black Dawn Society, respectively, the fact that he subjugated the Demon King’s fragment, which must have been much more difficult and challenging, in a foreign land without receiving any support from the Holy Kingdom or his own country, led to discussions about the qualities of other Heroes once again.

There is no need to say that he is the most talked-about figure these days.

“Then, shouldn’t we go and meet him right away instead of staying here!?”

“I have a lot of questions!”

“Hey! You guys. I told you earlier, this is a secret, right? If you go now and get caught, you’re all getting fired! You don’t want to keep being stuck in your rooms doing assignments, do you?”

“Th, that’s….”

“A bit….”

Looking at the two men trembling, the middle-aged man laughed heartily and said.

“Let’s fix the golems quickly. It’ll be a problem if the Demon King’s army comes while we’re doing this.”

* * *

We, who entered the city with quite a considerable welcome, could clearly understand what the name Magic Kingdom meant.

“Wow….”

“Amazing….”

“This is just an outer city on the border?….”

Seeing people riding the real-world transportation machines that I had seen a lot in reality, the technology here was so advanced that I couldn’t tell whether this was a world in a game or reality.

Moreover, the buildings were unique building styles that were hard to see in this world….

Well, if I had to say, there were many buildings that felt like apartments in reality.

‘I already knew roughly, but it still feels quite strange.’

As I looked at the surrounding buildings, Lucina and the others also looked around like me.

“Certainly…. I heard that the Magic Kingdom’s technology far surpasses common sense…. Seeing it in person, it’s quite impressive in many ways.”

Lucy, who was always sly, seemed quite overwhelmed seeing this city, and looked around with an awkward expression.

“I, I’ve never seen such a tall building before. Even the casino building wasn’t that tall….”

“Haha, most people who come to the Magic Kingdom for the first time say that.”

Albert said with a chuckle, as if he was used to our reactions.

We walked down the street.

And the place we arrived at was a structure in the form of a ‘tower’ that could be seen at a glance to have been made with considerable effort, unlike other bland buildings.

I already knew about this tower. I’ve been here several times in the game.

“Is this the Magic Tower?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the Magic Tower of Lüüm. The Magic Tower is connected to all the Magic Towers throughout the Magic Kingdom. I will have them contact the Magic Tower in the capital from here. Would you like to take a look around the Magic Tower if you don’t mind?”

“Is it okay to do that? I heard that the Magic Tower is basically a place where various magical research materials are stored. What if we steal them?”

“Haha, surely the Hero who defeated the Demon King wouldn’t do that.”

I don’t know if he’s saying this because he sincerely believes in me, or if it’s just flattery, but since he said he’d show me around, there’s no need to refuse.

“Is it okay?”

“Yes. I’m okay with wherever Doryeong goes.”

“I don’t know any places around here anyway.”

“I will follow where you go.”

“M, me too!….”

Baekryeon, Seollin, Baekho, and Leviyah nodded.

“Hehehe….”

But Lucy let out a suspicious laugh like a mischievous girl who was thinking of something evil.

Seeing that, I asked with an uneasy feeling.

“What are you planning to do?”

“Hehehe…. It’s nothing. I’m just happy to think about creating a haven for faith in this desolate place.”

“Don’t do it….”

This crazy guy is thinking of proselytizing in a place like this.

“Then it seems like the story is over, so please follow me.”

“Okay, I understand.”

The inside of the Magic Tower was definitely a place that deserved to be called a Magic Tower.

When I looked at the Magic Tower from the outside, I thought it was just a tall tower with not much internal space, but the inside of the Magic Tower was dozens of times larger than what was visible from the outside.

“It’s different looking at it from the outside and looking at it from the inside.”

“We expanded the space.”

“Expanded the space?”

“Yes. That’s right. We expanded the internal space by using the tower as a boundary.”

Expansion….

It looks quite useful. Can that technology be applied to things like tents?

“Albert!”

“Have you finished the outside work?”

Greeting us who entered the first floor were two people, a man and a woman.

Since he said he was the representative of this place earlier, I guess they’re like priests who assist this man.

“The outside work is done well. And Cosmoa, please connect to the capital Magic Tower.”

“To the capital Magic Tower?”

“Yes. It’s urgent, so please connect the communication quickly.”

Then the woman nodded and quickly disappeared somewhere.

Albert then looked at the man and said.

“Dayment, please take these people and show them around the Magic Tower.”

“Show them around the Magic Tower?…. Who are these people that…”

“You must have heard the recent rumors, right? The person here is Hero Leon. So please don’t do anything rude.”

“!!!”

What. Why are you so surprised?

Have you never seen an incompetent Hero before?

“Then my disciple will guide you through the Magic Tower. I think I need to prepare for the activation of the gate in advance, so I’ll excuse myself.”

“Okay, thank you for your consideration.”

“Haha, it’s okay because it’s for the Hero who is working hard for the world.”

Albert left those words and disappeared, and only his disciple, the man, remained in front of us.

“So you are….”

“Dayment! Dayment Ashte, at your service!”

“I see. As you heard earlier, I’m Leon. Nice to meet you.”

“Y, yes! Nice to meet you! Mr. Leon!”

…Something feels strange.

Wasn’t I supposed to have the Incompetent Hero title? Why are you making such a fuss?

I questioned the other person’s reaction, but this question was resolved very quickly.

“I really wanted to meet you!”

“…Me?”

“Yes! The Hero who defeated the fragment of the Demon King!…. The existence of the Demon King is quite attractive to us magicians. Hearing that you subjugated such an existence, my curiosity keeps soaring!”

“?”

What. He knows?

“Lucy?”

“Hmm…. I did deliver it to the Pope…. I never imagined he would announce it nationwide.”

Suddenly.

I remembered when I negotiated with the casino owner to take Leviyah from Goldroad.

‘Goldroad is quite slow with outside news. Therefore, this news was also delivered very slowly.’

I definitely said that back then.

Was that news referring to this?….

‘I don’t have to say it myself. Sweet.’

If I said it myself, it would feel like I’m showing off, so I was wondering how to announce it naturally.

Awesome, sweet.