Chapter 70 : Chapter 70

Chapter 70: This is a Scam (3)

“Low-grade mage Roston. Is that correct?”

At my question, Roston immediately turned his head.

“Who are you to call me that way....”

Roston, who was frowning, froze the moment he checked my robe.

“That is correct, but who might you be?”

I spoke in a low and leisurely voice.

“So it is. I'm from the Sage’s Tower. I'd like you to accompany me for a moment.”

To naturally speak down to him as soon as his identity was confirmed.

This was also part of the plan.

“...Why is the Sage’s Tower suddenly looking for me?”

“A report has been filed that you conducted a magical experiment in an unethical manner.”

This was the most common reason mages were taken to the Sage’s Tower.

It was because there were many cases where those with a great passion for learning would often not follow the set rules and conduct magical experiments in an inhumane way.

‘Damn it, who on earth did such a thing!’

Roston tried his best to calm his racing heart and looked at the young mage in front of him.

It wasn't that he had nothing to hide. But that wasn't the important thing.

The important thing was why, at this particular time, such a report had been filed.

‘Something is suspicious. Don't tell me this guy too?’

Recently, there had been mercenaries targeting him.

“Excuse me, but which Sage’s Tower are you from?”

“It seems you don't understand the situation when I say it in words.”

I sighed and lightly tapped the floor with my staff.

[Using Unity Rite.]

Thump... Puhaaaak!

“Heok?!”

Roston could feel the mana that was soaring up as if it were exploding in an instant wrapping around my entire body.

‘Wh-what kind of power is this?’

It was an immense amount of mana that he couldn't even imitate.

It was clear that he had been continuously condensing his mana for at least several decades.

Just being near him made his entire body tingle, and he couldn't move properly, as if he were standing in front of a beast of prey.

‘A high-ranking mage...!’

Roston didn't even think to wipe the cold sweat that was running down his eyes.

I, who was watching him quietly, continued to speak in a low and cold voice.

“Until the suspicion is cleared, you are a suspect. Be aware that your words and actions may all be reflected in the investigation.”

A tone of voice as if it didn't matter at all what happened to someone like you.

Only then did Roston realize that this was not a joke.

“I-I'll follow you.”

As the situation was like this, his words naturally became more polite.

As soon as I heard those words, I looked around and said.

“It's noisy around here. Let's move to a different location.”

The shopping district was still in a state of chaos, busy cleaning up the beans.

Roston also looked around and nodded his head.

Such a bustling and distracting environment was like the worst possible place for mages who needed to concentrate at all times.

Wow... to use it like that. You're amazing, really.

Tell everyone to wait at their designated positions.

I tried my best to push away Collie's voice that was spreading in my head.

And yet, there was not a single change in my expression.

‘As expected, a forceful act is more comfortable than trying to persuade him moderately.’

Why was that? The reason was probably simple.

It was because that was the way he played the game in the first place.

It was like that from the tutorial.

It was more comfortable to show with actions rather than words, and he pursued going straight to the point rather than taking a complicated detour.

Because that was the attitude of tackling a game, the attitude that gamers should have.

“Hey, that's not the Teleport gate over there, is it?”

“That's ridiculous. Are you saying a suspect wants to enter the Sage’s Tower through the official procedure?”

“Yes?”

“We're being considerate enough. If you have no suspicions, then you've never met me. But if you enter through the official procedure, you'll be left with the stigma of having been investigated. Think carefully about which is better.”

When I lightly glared at Roston, Roston immediately bowed his head.

“N-no, sir....”

I inwardly sneered and continued to walk.

Of course, the reason for not heading to the Teleport gate was because I couldn't meet another mage.

Because I wasn't really guiding him as a representative of the Sage’s Tower.

Finally, I led him to a magic circle installed in a corner of the street.

Roston, who had lightly examined the magic circle, gulped and muttered.

“Is this a Teleport magic circle?”

“Yes. It's connected to the vicinity of the Sage’s Tower.”

I entered the gate without hesitation.

As I disappeared with a flash of light, Roston hesitated for a moment.

‘Should I just run away now?’

I had disappeared.

If he ran away now, he might be able to shake me off.

But to shake off a mage from the Sage’s Tower meant to be hostile to the Sage’s Tower.

No matter how much of a Roston he was, he couldn't go against the will of the Sage’s Tower.

“Haaa....”

In the end, with a sigh, Roston stepped into the magic circle.

With a familiar feeling, light wrapped around his body, and finally, he felt his feet touch the ground again.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

And before Roston could even open his eyes, he was grabbed by someone's hand and thrown to the ground.

“You really came?”

“It's inevitable.”

“What is this?!”

Roston was not around the Sage’s Tower, but in a secluded clearing in a nearby forest, surrounded by a group of people.

Since some of their faces were quite familiar, it was not that difficult to grasp the situation.

“Damn it! It was a trap!”

“That's right. It's really hard to see your face, honey.”

I, who was behind, chuckled and took off my robe, handing it to Collie.

“You hold onto this for now.”

“Understood. But I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Even if he felt the difference in mana, how did such a suspicious person come to believe it right away? I don't understand the reason.”

“Ah... that?”

I was silent for a moment, then giggled and said.

“Mages have always been like this. They have a tendency to worship strength even more than warriors.”

If the skill of warriors was a diagonal line that steadily rose through effort, the skill of mages was more greatly influenced by talent.

In short, the strong continue to be strong, and the weak continue to be weak.

Since surpassing someone stronger than oneself was close to a miracle, it became natural at some point for mages to bow their heads to mages stronger than themselves.

‘It was like that in the game too. The moment a high-ranking mage was in the party, all the mage NPCs we met would use extremely polite language....’

Even if you left that mage somewhere else for a while, they would immediately start speaking down to you, and if you brought them back, they would switch to extremely polite language.

That fickle appearance was so funny that I still remembered it clearly.

“Do you think you can find out anything by doing this? I'm a mage.”

“Really?”

Thump!

“Keoheuk!”

Jeina grabbed Roston's head and slammed it into the ground.

She was smiling, but Gerard, who saw her up close, knew instinctively.

‘She's seriously pissed off. If we're not careful, there won't be a sound part of his body left.’

“You should have said so. Then there's no reason to let you go, right? Hahaha.”

“....”

“Wouldn't it be better to talk? No one saw you disappear. Huh?”

“What... what do you want.”

Overwhelmed by her tremendous spirit, Roston finally became a little more obedient.

Seeing his trembling pupils, it seemed he didn't even think of hiding his fear.

“You should already know, right?”

“I don't know much about Boker either. They assigned me the job from above, and besides being told to keep it a secret from everyone....”

Crack.

“Aaaah!”

Jeina, with a smiling face, broke Roston's arm.

“You really don't know?”

“I don't know! I really don't know!”

“Hmm... it's effective, but if we leave him like that, he'll die before he can finish talking.”

At Tersion's comment, who was watching, everyone nodded their heads.

It was understandable that Jeina was very angry, but they had no intention of really killing Roston and trying to destroy the evidence.

“Who is this 'above'?”

In the end, they had no choice but to pull Jeina away and interrogate him together.

“I don't know the details either. It just comes through a carrier pigeon every time.”

“Hand it over.”

“Yes?”

“Collie, search this guy's inventory.”

“Understood.”

When Collie forcibly opened the inventory with magic, he was able to find dozens of letters in Roston's inventory as expected.

Gerard, who was examining one of the letters he had taken out, stiffened and stared at something.

“I've found a big piece of evidence.”

“What is it?”

“Look.”

Gerard handed the letter to me.

On the letter, there was a seal stamped with wax.

“This is...?”

“A family seal. It's proof that a noble of the Empire is involved.”

It was a crest of a two-tailed wolf roaring below a soaring eagle.

Tersion, who had approached and glanced at it, said.

“It's the Condestraden family.”

“How do you know that?”

“How can you see me as just a mercenary too?”

A hollow laugh escaped from behind the mask.

It seemed she was quite dumbfounded.

“I have all the human noble families memorized.”

“I see... so it's the Condestraden family.”

Even after that, I completely shook down Roston's soul, but I couldn't get any more meaningful information.

In the first place, even Roston was more of a middleman, so he wasn't given much information.

“Still, I feel like this is enough to find the answer.”

“What kind of person is Count Condestraden?”

“I don't know the details like that. But I know it's a huge family.”

Tersion spread out a map and showed the location of the county.

The Condestraden County, located in the northeast of Crotan, was practically attached to the eastern end of the Empire.

“It's located too far on the frontier for anyone to care, but if you consider only the troops and technology they have, it's a domain with a status close to a marquis.”

“So, we have to see it as a marquis being behind this in reality.”

It would be scary even if an ordinary noble was behind it, but a marquis.

Gerard seemed to have fallen into thought.

“Well, our goal was to find the mastermind in the first place. I think we can consider the request complete.”

“Yes. Now the Rata faith will take care of it. Surely they wouldn't say something crazy like telling mercenaries to infiltrate a county, right?”

“That's right. I'll send a letter to Ropin.”

I nodded my head, but my expression wasn't very good.

“What's wrong?”

“...No. It's nothing.”

My gaze lingered for a moment on the map Tersion had spread out.

“I just have a feeling that we're running out of time.”

Was this a coincidence?

Or was it a cleverly disguised inevitability?

The Condestraden County.

That place was the starting point of the next main quest I had to head to, and it was a place where a forced defeat event, a sea of fire, was scheduled to happen with certainty.

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