“Tell me everything, Carlos.”
Frey swallowed dryly and focused on the story.
“The wizard, who identified the brooch given by Count Vliette, took me and the other couriers to the basement.”
“Was there Fog of Fall there?”
“Yes. Deep underground, the Fog of Fall filled the vial. We got them from the wizard. and…”
Carlos furrowed his brows as if he was horrified just to recall that time.
“There were a lot of undead monsters. It was locked behind bars, and they kept throwing themselves at the bars as if they wanted to escape.”
“…”
“At that time, the wizards used scrolls to attack the undead monsters, and the attacked monsters spit out blood and something like dark jewels.”
“If it’s a dark jewel…”
“Yes. Finely ground it into the Fog of Fall The Magic Tower was obviously using undead monsters to produce the Fog of Fall.”
“….”
Daniel, who was listening to the story with a serious face, asked a question as if something was troubling him.
“Were there any docile undead monsters?”
“Yes. However, when the wizards used the magic contained in the scrolls, they quickly became violent. Is there magic that can change a monster’s temper to be violent?”
“Perhaps it was a special magic used for a different purpose. If it was to arouse the anger of the undead monsters, the attack magic that wizards know how to use would have been enough.”
‘Getting that magic scroll will be of great help in achieving Frey’s goal. Before she built the divine Tower, she was sure to know about the strange behavior of the undead monsters that frequently attacked the territory.’
“I have to make a move this time, Frey.”
Daniel and Frey looked at each other for a moment. Daniel’s eyes were completely different from the first time he entered the room where Carlos was staying.
“Keep telling me what you know, Carlos.”
“Yes, Lady Frey. In the Magic Tower…”
Carlos’ story goes on for a long time.
* * *
“Your Highness, Grand Duchess. Did you get anything?”
As soon as Frey entered the office, Vikram asked as if he had been waiting.
[“Vikram. This afternoon, I will meet with the witness who said he carried the Fog of Fall in the Magic Tower.”]
[“Wow, it will finally be revealed to the whole world how stupid the guys who ate my research money were.”]
He was excited that he would finally see the ruin of the magic tower that expelled him. He seemed to have waited until the conversation was over.
I held out the file containing Carlos’ story to him as well.
“Vikram. Did you know that the Magic Tower creates a fog of Fall in the basement?”
“Eh? In the basement? I thought it was a place to treat wastewater and trash and store cleaning tools.”
“A cleaning tool?”
“Yes. Anton, the Magic Tower Lord, has an inelegant disposition, so he took a few wizards and only cleaned them every day—.”
Vikram, who had been sarcastic to the fullest, as straight-faced as if he had never done that.
“It wasn’t just cleaned, it must have been mobilized to produce the Fog of Fall in the basement.”
“There is a high probability that only certain wizards have been in and out of the basement. Cleaning must have been an excuse in the first place.”
“For some reason, I thought it was important to go to clean up…I am an elder, so why didn’t I know?”
“…”
Frey was speechless.
‘Vikram, I couldn’t tell you the truth.’
‘He’s so talented that it’s impossible not to choose him as an elder, but he’s a stupid guy who doesn’t notice anything other than his field of interest and is subtly crazy.’
“well… Vikram’s talent is too precious to be used to produce the Fog of Fall, right?”
“I guess that’s the only reason. Being competent is a sin. They got so jealous that I came out of the Magic Tower on my own feet.”
‘Being kicked out.’
Frey wanted to correct the increasing lies, but I decided not to.
“That’s right. Vikram is competent. Because I really felt that way while working together this time.”
“….”
“Vikram…?”
I was just telling my honest feelings about the hardships we had together building a sacred tower, but Vikram suddenly started to creak.
‘Are you the type who’s not good at accepting someone’s praise?’
It was cute to see this reaction while talking as if he was a genius in the world, so I burst into laughter without realizing it. The more he did, he turned his face as ripe as a tomato and avoided looking.
“Then Genius Vikram, can you start something new?”
“Well, if you call me that, I can’t help it. What is it?”
Frey took the file back and looked it over again.
“With such a detailed story, we can identify the magic involved in the production of the Fog of Fall. Maybe you can investigate the basement with the Holy Knights.”
“If we lead the knights of Prause and attack right away, we will be able to secure physical evidence, but if we delay it to go with the Holy Knights, we will be ruined.”
Vikram was right. Wizards aren’t stupid, but they won’t sit still even after hearing the news that the Holy Knights are going out to investigate.
“However, it is impossible to look inside an institution the size of the Magic Tower without permission.”
“Gelon and the Magic Tower are still in power. In order to investigate the Magic Tower, we must obtain the consent of more than half of the wizards…”
“Wizards have no choice but to stay attached to the Magic Tower for research and livelihood, so in effect, they will follow the opinion of one of the Magic Tower owners.”
Vikram nodded. Since he worked at the Magic Tower in the first place, he must have known that wizards do not have freedom of choice.
However, Vikram was recruited with a huge salary in preparation for this situation.
“So I thought, how about this method?”
I grinned and explained the plan to Vikram.
* * *
A few days later, Anton, the owner of the Magic Tower, called together the wizards who had a close relationship.
The so-called ‘cleaners in the basement.’
Those who gathered in the basement to maintain confidentiality continued their conversation in quiet voices.
“Lord of the Magic Tower, What’s going on?”
“Prause sent a letter saying he wanted to investigate the Magic Tower over the undead monster case. The Holy Knights will also come with him.”
This is a request for an honest investigation like Prause.
Well, was the Magic Tower a place that could be invaded carelessly?
The wizards had no choice but to laugh.
“There seems to be a Fog of Fall transporter we haven’t dealt with yet at the top of Vliette.”
“Breck Vliette has been working on it for quite a long time, so there must be one or two carriers. Right now, Ager went for an intense investigation.”
It was annoying because Frey took over the Vliette Merchant and made people on her side, but that was it.
“From now on, open the movement magic circle and move the items in the basement to the secret storage.”
“Yes.”
“Then, buy some suitable cleaning tools or something. Don’t forget to decorate it as if it were a wastewater treatment facility.”
“I will.”
“Okay Start now!”
Wizards moved quickly.
They put essential research materials one after another in a magic bag made with several magic scrolls.
“Hey, newcomer. Move quickly!”
“Young wizards are good at research, but they are a mess in practice.”
“Ah! Senior, I’m sorry!”
Among them, Elisha, a wizard with particularly slow hands, shrank from the annoyance of her seniors.
But in reality, she was upset at the scolding and quickly rolled her eyes.
‘They don’t even know what they’re doing and they’re freaking out. The coordinates of the moving magic circle, let’s see….’
Leaking the coordinates of the moving magic circle was a serious crime that would kill the head if the owner of the tower or other cleaners found out about it.
But she knew full well that betrayal was the only way to survive. It was because of Vikram, an elder she met in the library near the Magic Tower not too long ago.
[“Elisha. I knew you would be here.”]
‘Vikram.’
He was a genius wizard who became the youngest elder but was kicked out of the tower after rebelling against the elders.
‘If you look at the research results alone, it’s obvious that Vikram will occupy the position of the owner of the tower, so he must have been kicked out.’
They say that only magic research is worthwhile, but the rotten elders are more rotten.
However, the ‘real genius’ wizards who spared neither magic nor life to study the truth like Elisha remembered Vikram.
[“Sir, where did you go? I heard that you opened a magic shop underground…”]
[“The past is the past, and now I’m working in a place where my talents are recognized again.”]
Vikram spoke in his characteristic screwy tone and took something out of his pocket.
[“I am working under Her Highness Grand Duchess Frey. Look at this, Elisha.”]
[“This…!”]
A processed Aquarine that was said to be able to replace scrolls, the main means of earning money in the Magic Tower.
The Magic Tower tried to make something similar to Topaz, but all of them failed.
It was something that only Grand Duchess Prause could do to process gems that were no different from stones so that they could reach their true value.
[“Elisha. Since you are smart, you must be able to calculate money quickly.”]
[“Sure, senior. When you kicked out, the proof is that I endured well while receiving my salary at the Magic Tower.”]
[“As long as this kind of jewel was invented, the Magic Tower is over. Are you going to change?”
sparkle!
After using the luminous magic contained in Aquarin several times, Elisha was convinced.
[“I’m going to have to change quickly. This kind of thing was invented, but what would it be like if I stayed attached to the Magic Tower? What about research expenses?”]
[“Come out. You don’t have to be mobilized to make magic scrolls here.”]
Vikram promised a job. In return, Elisha promised betrayal with wizards as smart as she was and as earnest in her studies.
A time when magic is no longer the exclusive property of the tower. It was because Frey himself proved that the time had come.
‘Ever since the Sacred Tower appeared in the world, I’ve felt uncomfortable joining the side of the crown prince who has no divine power, so this is a golden opportunity.’
Besides, research funding is overflowing.
If Vikram, who is famous for squandering research funds for the Magic Tower, said that, then he had said it all.
“Elisha, go to work! Work!”
“Huft! Senior, I’m sorry! Help me a little!”
“You are so stupid, how did such an idiot intervene in the cleaners as a genius.”
The wizards, who had no idea what kind of behind-the-scenes work Frey had been working with Prause, busily opened the moving magic circle.
The moving magic circle swallowed up the research materials and the fog of Fall had been piled up underground.
‘Let’s see. The coordinates…’
Unaware that someone is waiting at the end of that coordinate.
* * *
