Episode 603: Facing the Road (1)
“What now?”
“They destroyed all the materials they had collected to treat Linne. “I tried to protect it as best as I could, but…”
Gariel couldn’t finish her sentence.
This is because Ludger grabbed his collar and pulled him up.
“Are you saying that right now? I should have hidden it! “I should have left it in a safe place so they wouldn’t find it!”
“…There is no shame.”
Normally, if it were Gariel, she would have screamed that it was unfair, but this time it was different.
Ludger rolled his eyes at the sight of Gariel answering despondently, as if he had lost everything, and then loosened his grip on her collar.
Gariel fell down in his seat helplessly.
Ludger saw scenes from the past superimposed on that appearance.
-no. I said no.
The sight of Gariel sobbing, holding on to her lifeless corpse, still remained vivid in Ludger’s memory.
How could you not know?
It was clear from the expression and eyes that Gariel showed whenever he saw Line’s mother how much he loved her.
Ludger thought that it was really foolish to see Gariel struggling to accept a love that could not come true and yet not being able to give up her feelings.
But Ludger didn’t hate that fool.
Even though he was fighting on the outside, Ludger knew how precious the man named Gariel was to Line and her mother.
Who took the one he loved from such a man?
Ludger looked down at his hands.
The red blood stains were warm, as if the warmth of a dead person remained.
Ludger was horrified by that warmth.
When I looked at the bushes with trembling eyes, I saw Line there, unable to accept the reality, and Freuden next to her, with his eyes wide open as if in shock.
Ludger bit his lip as he remembered that time.
“First… develop a treatment method.”
There was no time to feel helpless. Right now, we had to find a way to stabilize Line’s condition.
You just have to get the ingredients again. Ludger consoled himself like that.
“I find the way. “You should first look at Rine’s condition.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I have to do something.”
“…Are you not giving up?”
In response to Gariel’s question, Ludger asked in a natural voice.
“Are you going to give up?”
“….”
Just then, Whiron and Cravat arrived.
“It’s not that crazy. Hey weakling! Are you okay?”
“It doesn’t look like there are any serious injuries, but the more important question is whether or not it can be treated properly.”
Cravat clicked his tongue as he looked at the mess around him.
Although his skills were not so poor that they could be affected by the environment, he still had a feeling.
At that time, a crow flew in from afar and sat on Cravat’s shoulder.
Caw. Caw.
As the crow cried, Cravat’s expression hardened slightly.
“okay. Is that what happened in the end? okay. Thank you for your hard work in letting me know. “You, too, be prepared for any unexpected situation.”
As if the crow understood what he said, it spread its wings and flew away again.
“ok? what? “Did you know how to talk to a crow?”
“It’s not a raven, it’s a member of our Ancient Curse School.”
“You received a crow as a member of the Ancient Curse School?!”
Cravat frowned.
“…I didn’t receive a crow, but I used a curse to transform into a crow.”
“what. Me again. So what were you talking about?”
“It looks like the Roteron wizard heading to the New Magic Tower has a problem.”
Everyone’s attention was focused on Cravat when they heard that there was a problem with Loteron.
“Could it be that you were captured by an opposing faction?”
“It’s a similar situation. The opponent was faster than we thought. “I heard they captured Loteron by mobilizing inspections inside the Magic Tower.”
“This is a sudden internal inspection in such a chaotic situation. “There must have been a lot of talk.”
Roteron is one of the most powerful figures in the [Proletariat] faction.
The fact that an internal inspection team suddenly came forward and took him away was a blatant political attack.
There is no way the proletarian faction will accept it calmly if you commit such an act.
Rather, they will try to repay with interest even the parts that they normally did not consider.
“It seems like the bourgeoisie guys aren’t that crazy about it.”
Hwiron snorted with his arms crossed.
The fact that he moved despite knowing that he would be hit by a backlash meant that his tail, which had been stepped on by Loteron, was sensitive.
It’s too big to cut, so the only option left is to hit it.
“The reason they came out so openly is probably because they have the backing.”
Ludger seemed to know why the bourgeois faction was trying to capture Loteron.
With this choice, the New Magic Tower will ultimately be split in half and fight.
No, since the bourgeois faction has always been blessed with a lot of notoriety, their position would be even more disadvantageous in terms of justification.
Nevertheless, the reason they did it the way they did now is because they decided that it was worth it based on their own calculations.
“Nikolai instigated this from behind my back.”
A large amount of money accumulated through the war between black magicians. In addition, he did this because he joined hands with Nikolai and received his support.
“There is no way the guy who has been hiding behind and manipulating the situation until now would make a reckless move. “Have you decided that there is no longer any need to hide behind the scenes?”
“He must have decided that there was no point in hiding any more since he had already released this much of the test subject unit.”
If Nikolai made up his mind and started moving, it would mean that there was no room left for this side either.
“First of all, we must continue to research treatments.”
“To do that, we first need materials as a curse medium.”
“I still have some bad news about that. “Some of the materials were lost in the attack a while ago.”
At Ludger’s words, Gariel lowered her head as if she had no shame.
Cravat asked with a serious look on his face.
“What are the reagents and mediums that can be used for curses?”
“I managed to protect it up to that point. But after that, the ingredients needed for the cure that would improve Rine’s condition…
were lost in the fight.
“…Even if I can proceed with what I have to do, what should I do after that? Are you planning to rob the magic tower again?”
“There is no way you can do the same thing twice. Moreover, it is not possible to obtain the missing materials again. “I took everything that was inside.”
“…Isn’t this meaningless?”
“So, I’m going to make a plan now.”
“What plan?”
Cravat planned to listen to Ludger first.
“Cravat. First, I want you to use the remaining reagents and ingredients to remove the sacred power running wild in Linne’s body. Is it possible?”
“okay. It’s possible. But what do you plan to do after that? “You can’t go to the Magic Tower, and you can’t get ingredients from the market either.”
“You can use substitutes.”
“Is there a substitute?”
“okay. There would be no answer if the precious material used as a medium for the curse was lost, but the medicine that will control the rampage of magical power after that can be replaced with a different one.”
“It was a very precious material, but shouldn’t we bring something equally precious to replace it?”
“right. There just happens to be a guy on this island who has that precious thing. “That is quite enough.”
Cravat, who shook his head, immediately realized who Ludger was talking about.
“Nikolai! “You mean that guy.”
“He used the cells of the World Tree to create living organisms. The cells of the World Tree, which can be said to be the source of life, are sufficient as a replacement for the lost materials. “There are probably many other reagents besides that.”
“Even if it were the cells of the World Tree, wouldn’t it be a material that should be handled carelessly? “Isn’t it actually more dangerous?”
“You don’t have to worry about that. At least no one here knows the World Tree better than me.”
Cravat wanted to ask what kind of confidence that was, but he couldn’t because Huiron burst into laughter next to him first.
“Hahaha! That’s great, teacher! Awesome spirit! But will it be okay? “I have to fight that mean guy named Nikolai.”
“I was planning on fighting anyway.”
“The man is going and you can’t stop him! “I will be there to help you!”
The sight of Hwiron pounding his chest with his fist could not have been more reassuring.
Ludger had originally planned to ask for help, so he decided to accept Huiron’s favor.
“for a moment. “Then what about that guy, Loteron?”
Cravat began speaking while thinking of someone who was not present.
Shouldn’t we also help Loteron, who is currently detained by the opposing faction’s inspection team?
At those words, Ludger and Whiron exchanged glances and spoke almost simultaneously.
“Not required.”
“You won’t need it?”
“what? Didn’t you guys already know each other? “You’re throwing me away so mercilessly?”
“He seems to have mistakenly thought we were abandoning him, but it’s the opposite.”
“Are you saying the opposite?”
“Loteron is a 6th rank wizard. “You probably don’t know what that means, right?”
Cravat then remembered that he had been worried for no reason.
Ludger drove a wedge into Cravat’s thoughts.
“If he puts his mind to it, nothing can stop him.”
* * *
Loteron sat in the investigation room inside the New Magic Tower and stared straight ahead.
The person facing the iron mask was a 5th rank magician belonging to the Inspection Office.
Inspector General Dimpel Moser.
“If it were any other wizard, he would have restrained his entire body. However, since Mr. Loteron has contributed to the Mage Tower so far, I will not go that far.”
Dimpelmoser spoke triumphantly, as if he were someone who had bestowed a great favor.
Loteron clenched and unclenched his fists.
My body was free because there were no devices binding me, but it was only a superficial freedom.
The space where he was sitting, this interrogation room itself, was already like a prison imprisoning him.
No matter how powerful your magical power is, it is of no use here.
This is because the magic engineering device that surrounds the entire room absorbs magic energy and turns it into an energy source inside the magic tower.
Meanwhile, Dimpel Moser continued speaking.
“Roteron, you will have to wait here until you prove your innocence. Do not worry. Of course, the process won’t be very long.”
“I guess so.”
Loteron lightly frowned at the man in front of him, Dympelmoser.
“You must be afraid of protests from our faction since you did this by accusing me of suspicions that did not exist.”
“Hmm. “What do you mean?”
“Isn’t this something you do because you think that holding it short will be enough to buy you that much time?”
“If you continue to insult our inspection office with such groundless words, it is difficult for us to accommodate you, Roteron.”
“Convenience? “Did you just say convenience?”
Loteron couldn’t help but laugh.
“I knew he was secretly doing dirty and bad things behind his back, but I never thought he would come out so petty.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“No, maybe I just wanted to believe. Since they are people who walk the path of magic, they must have at least some pride. But it wasn’t like that at all.”
Loteron once again realized his shortcomings.
Although they were born as beastmen and were born with the bloodline and talent to become the next chieftain, they came to the human world thinking they had no future.
Thinking that he was different from other prisoners, he tried to adapt to life in the world, but it was he who was wrong.
“I was no different from the prisoner I was trying to escape from. “It actually made me feel better to admit it like this.”
Loteron let out a low laugh from behind his mask.
“…Don’t move!”
Dimpelmoser jumped up from his seat and pointed his staff at Loteron.
“If you move carelessly here, you will really be proving your crime!”
“Even if I plead not guilty, aren’t you going to force me to take my time? And this is really weird. “Since when on earth did a fifth-rank wizard dare to raise his head like this and strain his neck like this?”
Intense magical power began to flow around Loteron’s body.
Dimpelmoser, facing this at the summit, felt suffocated.
‘Is this the power of a 6th rank wizard?’
I thought I was pretty confident because I was ranked 5th.
Although people value the 6th rank highly, I have been trying to reassure them that it is only a difference of one level.
However, the power of the Rexeror-class wizard I actually encountered was not limited to that.
There was only one step difference.
There was a wall taller than all the paths he had walked along so far.
“Do you think you can escape from this place even if you create magical power? “You probably don’t know how this interrogation room was created!”
“okay. “I know better. I know better than anyone else.”
Loteron said that and took off the mask with his hand.
“A mask?”
Why was Iron Mask Loteron famous?
He was famous for never revealing himself to others.
He was wearing an iron mask, but a helmet so large that it was difficult to breathe on his face, and it couldn’t help but attract people’s attention.
Loteron’s appearance was revealed to the outside.
Dimpelmoser’s eyes widened as he saw the beast’s ears sprouting on his head.
‘Susuin!’
The identity of Iron Mask Loteron was a beastman that humans looked down upon as a barbarian race.
But Dimpelmoser’s astonishment did not end there.
This is because the translucent shape of a giant began to appear behind Loteron’s back.
“Who do you think the magical knowledge that went into creating this interrogation room came from?”
Loteron, who fully revealed himself that he had hidden until now, exposed his sharp teeth towards Dimpel Moser.
“I’ve made.”
“What…”
“Of course.”
Loteron crushed the mask with the force of his hand.
“I know its weaknesses best.”
