The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 330: The Violet Brigade (1)
Boom! Boom—KWAANG!
Every time the Mad Fiend stomped on the ground, the stone pavement shattered with explosive thunder.
The aftershock launched the two figures high into the air.
Having escaped the airport district through a crude but fast method, the captain barely moved his lips.
“Cough! Th-... stop.”
At the command that was closer to a plea, the Mad Fiend landed on the ground, and the captain looked back in the direction they had fled from.
What entered his sight was an endless wasteland.
They had run so far that not only the city center but even the airport was nowhere to be seen.
If someone were to sneer and say he had panicked too much, the captain was confident he could sneer right back.
‘If you knew nothing, you could say something like that.’
Sasha Maestro.
In his mind, he raised his evaluation of her by one—no, two whole tiers.
To be honest, he hadn’t expected her to be that strong.
After all, they had proceeded with the operation under the judgment that he alone could handle marking her.
Looking only at the result, it had been reckless.
‘I knew she had reached Level 8, but to this extent...’
Of course, Level 8 is stronger than Level 7.
He had no intention of denying that premise.
However, most mages and knights become less active right after reaching Level 8.
They need time to organize the enlightenment gained from breaking out of their shell and to adapt to their changed bodies.
It varies by person, but that period lasts from a minimum of one year to as long as ten.
‘...And yet she’s already reached the stabilization phase.’
The captain narrowed his brow.
His mind simply could not comprehend it.
Unless someone had guided her, that speed made no sense.
‘Could it be that she trained together with Lloyd Schultz, who also reached Level 8 around the same time...? No.’
That made even less sense.
It would only cause adverse effects instead.
Their realizations and insights would be different; putting their heads together would only lead to an endless parallel line.
‘But in the White Tower, aside from those two, there aren’t any mages above Level 8.’
Then how had Sasha Maestro stabilized so quickly?
Even Oscar Sage had taken a full year to sort out his enlightenment after reaching Level 8.
Did that mean she was a greater genius than Oscar Sage?
“......”
The captain shook his head firmly.
He was someone who had faced Oscar Sage in his prime.
Without exaggeration, the white mage possessed overwhelmingly unparalleled talent among all the humans he had ever seen.
‘Though she is his disciple, Sasha Maestro isn’t that kind of material.’
At the end of that rather cold assessment, one faint possibility crossed his mind.
Edna Sol Laplace.
If it were the dragon who recorded the history of this world, she might have offered some help.
As it happened, she resided in the White Tower, so the possibility wasn’t nonexistent.
‘...But even she couldn’t have given that much help.’
Level 8 was a summit everyone dreamed of, but not one anyone could simply climb.
Those who had never planted their own flag at the peak could never truly teach it.
Knowing this, the captain could not help but question Sasha Maestro’s ability all the more.
‘Just whose help she received... I’ll have to investigate that separately.’
Clicking his tongue briefly, the captain belatedly checked the Mad Fiend.
Part of the mask was cracked, and an eye was visible.
‘...At this point, he must have noticed.’
Things had become thoroughly tangled.
The Mad Fiend’s identity should not be revealed this easily.
Clicking his tongue again, the captain slowly removed his own mask.
“Hmm.”
Tzzzt, tzzzt.
Through the noise-filled mask, a single strand of thread embedded between the cracks became visible.
‘Sasha Maestro...’
This must certainly be a thread she had attached.
The captain tried to raise his mana and remove the thread.
“Mm.”
Judging only by the result, it was possible.
However, the probability of damaging the artifact’s function in the process was far too high.
‘If it’s thread, there is one expert.’
Oran Quil.
If it was that fellow who used thread as his main weapon, he should be able to remove only the thread without harming the artifact.
‘Sasha Maestro...’
To be honest, it didn’t feel good.
It felt like dancing on the palm of her hand.
Probably what made him feel worse was the fact that he had no real alternatives.
‘I can’t give up the artifact.’
His own card must not yet be revealed to the world.
With a faint sigh, the captain put the mask—no different from a tracking device—back on.
Then he stared at the ring on his ring finger.
‘If possible, I didn’t want to call them...’
Click.
The moment he pressed the large violet gem embedded in the ring,
a streak of mana shot into the sky and then scattered in over a dozen directions before vanishing.
“We should get moving too.”
Staring at the fading light, the captain placed his hand on the Mad Fiend’s shoulder again and spoke.
“It’s been a while since everyone gathered in one place. We can’t be late.”
“...Grrr.”
KWAANG!
The two shot once more toward the night sky.
“They’re moving faster than I thought.”
Sasha said in a relaxed voice.
The single strand of mana thread connected to her was relaying the captain’s location in real time.
“What’s the distance limit for tracking?”
“Mm... probably up to Silvarin Lake?”
“Let’s move immediately.”
At Oscar’s hurried tone—made anxious by the shorter-than-expected range—Sasha broke into a grin.
“After circling the continent once~ and up to Silvarin Lake.”
“...Ha.”
In other words, unless the thread was cut, she could track him anywhere in the world.
“You’ve grown a lot. Now you even tease your master.”
“Hehe, it’s all thanks to you teaching me well, Master.”
Saying that, she lightly pushed the top of her head toward him.
“...What, you want me to flick your forehead?”
At that question, her crown shook left and right.
Tilting his head for a moment, he cautiously patted her head instead, and the tips of her ears relaxed like a puppy’s.
Continuing to stroke Sasha’s hair, Oscar asked,
“The opponent will probably try to rendezvous with Oran, right?”
“Yes, with high probability. Cutting the thread comes first for them.”
Only then, apparently satisfied, Sasha lifted her head and continued.
“At the same time, they’ll prepare so the Mad Fiend—no, the Second Senior Brother—doesn’t get taken away.”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“Hm, prepare, huh.”
“They’ll call in a few more members of the Violet Brigade, or in the worst case...”
Flash!
Violet mana embroidered the night sky, scattering in different directions.
“...They’ll issue a full mobilization order like that.”
“A full mobilization...”
Even Oran and Kaya didn’t know the total number of Violet Brigade members.
But judging by the number of lights scattering now, there were at least more than ten.
“Not a pleasant thought.”
“We don’t have that much available manpower right now.”
Lloyd was probably still in the Yan Kingdom, and bringing other elders from the White Tower was too risky.
No one knew better than Oscar the danger of leaving the home base empty.
“So, by the way, Master, can you locate Captain Chester?”
“Mm...”
Oscar looked around and nodded.
“There’s quite a lot of his mana trace left. This should be possible.”
Immediately back-tracking the mana through the Wind Archive, a single location was pinpointed.
Oscar visualized and showed the spot.
“Do you know where it is?”
“No. But I can tell it’s the factory district at Luang Harbor.”
“Then we’ll secure Captain Chester first...”
That would make one Level 8 mage and two Level 7 mages.
A force that wouldn’t be lacking anywhere they went.
‘But if we’re considering a full-scale battle with the Violet Brigade...’
Honestly, it was a bit intimidating.
“Sasha, is there anyone else we can call as an ally?”
“I-I’ve been going around only taking commissions, so I don’t really have close ties with strong people... I’m sorry.”
“No. That’s not your fault.”
If he were to blame anyone, it would be himself for putting her in such a situation.
As the mood grew gloomy, Sasha cautiously glanced at him and asked,
“Don’t you have anyone, Master?”
“Me? Well...”
As it happened, someone had just come to mind.
Oscar thrust his arm into his subspace and rummaged around as he spoke.
“You know the type, right? Artifacts with limited uses.”
“There are quite a few, right? Since the number of uses is limited, their effects are far superior to other artifacts.”
“Exactly. Among adventurers, there are quite a few who die without ever using such great treasures.”
It was all because of attachment.
If you use it, it disappears, so next time—next time when a bigger crisis comes, I’ll use it.
Because of that attachment, many end up dying without ever using it.
“Watching people like that, I always made a vow. I shouldn’t be like that. When a crisis comes, I’ll just use it right away... ‘If you hoard it, it turns to crap’ isn’t a saying for nothing.”
Then, the hand that emerged from subspace held a single sheet of paper.
“Let’s just use this decisively this time.”
“So, what kind of artifact is that?”
Looking at Sasha’s wide eyes, Oscar smirked.
“World’s Greatest Swordsman—Free Usage Coupon.”
On the paper, in rather splendid calligraphy, was written a single character: <Heaven>.
As expected, Captain Chester was bound inside a container at a dockside factory.
Fortunately, aside from having gone hungry for a few days, he wasn’t injured.
“...My apologies.”
“It’s fine. I’m just glad you’re safe.”
After staggering briefly from poor blood circulation, Chester quickly regained his balance and asked,
“The Violet Brigade’s captain used a very troublesome ability.”
“We fought him too. Basically an ability that deletes magic, right?”
To Oscar’s words, Chester added one more sentence.
“To be precise, it seemed to delete all energy.”
“What do you mean?”
“He couldn’t delete attacks launched with tangible objects.”
“Ah, I see.”
It was Sasha who nodded at those words.
She recalled the captain dodging the steel beams falling from the ceiling and agreed.
“Now that I think about it, it was like that when he fought me too.”
“Then we should view it as an ability that deletes magic and mana.”
“Yes, and it didn’t seem bound by properties either.”
“...Indeed.”
The captain had erased not only Chester and Sasha’s wind but also Isel Marcos’s lightning.
That meant that as long as it was composed of mana, attributes hardly mattered.
‘I’ve never heard of such a school existing. It’s probably safest to consider it a unique magic.’
However, every unique magic of irregular-type ability users required a certain “condition.”
For example, Lloyd’s Hundred Flowers in Full Bloom could only bloom flowers he had seen once.
‘A condition...’
The captain must also have a condition that allowed him to use that ability.
In battles against irregular mages who wield unique magic, once you figure out the condition, the win rate shoots up.
“Ah, wait a moment.”
At that time, Sasha frowned as if sensing something.
“The captain and the Mad Fiend... they’ve stopped moving.”
Those who had been fleeing with their tails between their legs suddenly stopping?
Usually, that only happened when they gained something to rely on.
Oscar slowly nodded and muttered,
“Looks like they’ve roughly gathered too.”
Opening a portal, Oscar turned to the two and spoke in a grave voice.
“The final objective of this operation is only one. Codename Mad Fiend. No—”
Golden eyes hidden behind a mask.
Those eyes, identical to childhood, flashed through his mind.
“...to take Gilli back. Questions?”
“None.”
“None.”
The moment those satisfying answers were heard,
Oscar stepped through the portal first.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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