Chapter 36: Rostia Magic Tower (2)

“Relax your face, Kayron.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Would you relax if you were in my shoes?”

“As long as the result is good, that’s all that matters. Don’t you think?”

Avelin nodded as if it was no big deal.

“There are demons hiding among us.”

“...Huh?”

“What did you just say...?”

“I said there are demons hiding among us. Even among the Order—some of the unit captains were demons too. Of course, that’s classified information, but I think it’s the right time to talk about it.”

“Interesting. But what does that have to do with our Magic Tower?”

“I’m saying you never know. How can you be so sure there aren’t demons hiding inside Rostia Magic Tower?”

“......?”

Avelin patted my back, driving the point home.

“We’ll check for you. Kayron here will personally do it!”

The gatekeeper hesitated once more before opening the massive tower doors.

His eyes lingered on us with suspicion, like something still didn’t sit right.

“Can I really trust you?”

“Of course. If we inspect the tower and don’t find a single hidden demon, we’ll leave immediately with no further business.”

“You’re quite confident. But our Rostia Magic Tower is filled with promising, knowledge-hungry mages and scholars. How do you expect to identify a demon among them...?”

The gatekeeper pulled a cord hanging beside the massive doors, sending a signal to the upper levels of the tower.

It meant they were allowing in a visitor who had passed inspection.

Still, I’m the one with the ability to detect demons... and yet it’s Avelin who’s taking all the credit.

At last, the huge gates of the tower rumbled open.

“Well then, let’s go inside.”

“......”

“I told you to relax that face, Kayron.”

“I don’t recall ever saying I could see demons.”

“You didn’t have to. I saw your face when you looked at Razen, and again when you looked at the commander. You looked like you’d seen something you shouldn’t have. With a look like that, how could I not know?”

“Sigh... So this is my fault now? I really need to work on my acting skills.”

“Even if you do, a half-baked performance will only make it more obvious. Quit complaining and get moving.”

Even before stepping inside, I could feel the air was different.

The air was saturated with mana.

It meant the tower was thriving, brimming with constant magical activity.

“Welcome. We are honored to have you at the Rostia Magic Tower.”

The gatekeeper shut the doors behind us and gave us a formal greeting.

Everywhere I looked, magic was embedded in everything.

Even the floors beneath our feet and the smooth walls around us.

“Each Magic Tower has its own magical philosophy. Here at Rostia, our focus is on practicality. As you know, we’re located in the northern region, which suffers from harsh cold all year round. So we’ve developed magical artifacts that can produce a large amount of heat from very little mana, and we distribute them affordably across the north.”

“I’m aware. Our Order uses those artifacts quite a lot.”

“Yes, that’s a prime example of the practical magic we pursue at the Rostia Magic Tower. In fact, we’re constantly researching ways to make magic more useful in daily life—every day, every hour.”

“Hmph...”

I let out a faint chuckle at those words.

So what if they pursue practicality?

If they can’t stop the demons, then life, the world—everything—comes to an end.

In a way, it might actually be a blessing in disguise.

Thanks to powerful demons like Cerberus showing up much earlier than they did in my past life, the world would be forced to recognize the danger of demons far sooner.

If someone like Liana were dispatched from the Magic Tower to show the aftermath of the Wave, it would have far more impact than if our Order went around begging for help.

From my previous life, battling ever-stronger demons and watching the world always react too late, I learned one absolute truth:

Most people in this world don’t open their eyes… until they get burned.

And by then, it’s already too late.

“Hey, aren’t they from the Order?”

“Wait, you’re telling me the visitors are from the Order?”

“But why would someone from the Order suddenly visit our Magic Tower…?”

Before I knew it, a crowd had gathered.

Just the fact that someone passed the gatekeeper’s test and entered the Magic Tower was enough to prove their unique worth.

That alone made any visitor an object of fascination to the bored residents inside the tower—after all, it wasn’t something that happened every day.

Still, the fact that today’s visitors were relatively familiar members of the Order, rather than distant, exotic guests from afar, seemed to leave the tower’s residents a bit disappointed.

The gatekeeper glanced over at me and muttered under his breath.

“Don’t see any among them, do you? We’ve attracted quite the crowd.”

“I’m already checking. Hmm…”

Each member gave off their own distinct aura of mana.

But I didn’t sense any demonic energy.

“Doesn’t seem like there’s one here.”

“A shame, but that’s all right. There’s still much of the tower left to explore, and far more members who haven’t gathered here. I’ll lead the way—please follow me.”

Avelin and I followed the gatekeeper as he guided us through the tower.

“Gatekeeper, may I ask what brings these visitors here?”

“Well, that is…”

The gatekeeper gave a warm smile and smoothly dodged the question from the curious onlookers.

“They passed the first trial by convincing me to let them in, and now they’re undergoing a sort of second test. It’s not just a casual sightseeing tour, so don’t worry.”

He wasn’t wrong.

We were moving through the tower like tourists, but our real goal was to sniff out any hidden demons.

If Avelin and I failed to find one, we’d be breaking the promise we made to the gatekeeper—and most likely kicked right back out.

Just as the gatekeeper had said—this tour was nothing more than a trial in disguise.

First floor. Second floor. Third...

We had already gone through three full levels, carefully exploring each one.

But still, no demons had revealed themselves.

After we finished inspecting the third floor, the gatekeeper finally spoke, his tone now slightly more cautious.

“Our Rostia Magic Tower is comprised of six floors. Starting from the fourth, however, you’ll be entering the quarters of our most promising talents and elite magicians…”

“So we need to be careful.”

“Yes. There are those on these floors who, if even slightly offended, could cause serious trouble. And if there happens to be a demon hiding among them… well, that would be a grave matter for our Magic Tower.”

While the first through third floors housed the tower’s foundational members, the fourth through sixth were home to the core—its prized magicians.

Each one of them was a vital asset.

If even a single person among them turned out to be compromised, it could damage the tower’s reputation and strength. In the worst case, it could mean the loss of a century’s worth of future hope.

“This is... getting dicey.”

Avelin whispered to me, her expression now darkened.

“Should we start preparing an excuse… just in case?”

“Honestly, what were you thinking setting those conditions in the first place?”

“Sorry! But hey, the dice are already rolled. At least we’re not wasting time now. I’ll prepare an excuse, just in case. You focus on finding that demon like your life depends on it.”

“Sigh… Alright.”

Shaking my head, I turned to the gatekeeper and said,

“Gatekeeper, once we reach the fourth floor, let’s not be too thorough. We in the Order have no intention of causing friction with Rostia Magic Tower based on mere suspicions.”

“I was considering the possibility of sending you two back if things got out of hand…”

My heart sank.

But the gatekeeper soon offered a gentle smile and added,

“I could feel sincerity when you said you’d find the demon. As long as that wasn’t a lie, I thought... maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to trust you two a bit more—just in case. Go on up.”

He said he recognized our sincerity, then turned and took the lead once more.

But that sense of ease lasted only a moment.

“Hmm…?”

The staircase leading to the next floor of Rostia Magic Tower was grand and steep.

And as we climbed about halfway up, a subtle aura began to drift downward from the fourth floor.

Avelin immediately picked up on the shift in my expression.

“What is it, Kayron? Are you sensing something?”

“Yeah. Looks like you won’t need to come up with another excuse after all. I can feel it. There’s a demon hiding up there. But…”

I had found the demon.

So at least we wouldn’t be getting thrown out.

But that wasn’t the real problem.

“Aveline, get your sword ready.”

“...Is it that bad?”

Her expression hardened just as mine had.

We were only halfway up the stairs leading to the upper floors.

And yet the demon’s energy was already leaking down to this point…

There was no telling just how powerful the demon hiding inside Rostia Magic Tower really was.

-- The End OF The Chapter --

 

[TL: Join Patreon to support the translation and to read up to 10 chapters ahead of the release: https://www.patreon.com/taylor007 

 

Join our Discord server for regular updates and have fun with other community members: https://discord.com/invite/SqWtJpPtm9 ]