Noble Soul (1)

From some point in time, mages began to look towards higher places. Not in a broad or symbolic sense, but literally, they liked high places.

Of course, this applied to everyone. It was especially so for humans and elves, who used the upper floors of buildings the higher their status was. But mages had an even stronger obsession with such high places.

Traditionally, those who used the higher floors of the tower were naturally of higher rank, but the noble archmages were not satisfied with such high floors and extended their domain to the sky.

'The Pillar of Lathenon'

It was also known as the green tower. This esteemed institution only had seven mages in its membership.

However, all seven were Class 8 mages, a level rarely found in other towers, and the tower lord was even Class 9 mage, 'Toa Legron,' making it highly renowned despite its small size.

They failed to meet the minimum number of members, the minimum annual research output, the minimum magical contribution. They violated magical laws and left the magical community. They weren't even officially registered as a tower... But to them, the term official seemed meaningless.

"It's a dull place now unlike before."

Eltman Eltwin, principal of Stella Academy and a Class 9 spatial mage, leisurely crossed his legs as he admired the view of the Green Tower.

If one were to define this tower in a single phrase, it would be a floating tower that moved freely in the air.

Currently, it was floating at a height of less than 10 meters, but this wasn't a laughing matter. The Tower Lord Toa Legron simply didn't want it to float any higher. If he wished, it could circumnavigate the globe, being the only tower capable of such a feat.

"That's inevitable. I'm getting old."

"Time is relentless."

Toa Legron and Eltman Eltwin both appeared as teenage boys, causing the attendant serving them tea to break out in a slight sweat.

Thankfully, knowing that these individuals were among the few greatest sages in the world, he didn't dare interrupt.

"It's been half a year since we last met."

"Half a year? It's been half a century."

"Has it really been that long?"

Toa Legron.

With dark brown hair and desert-yellow eyes, the boy, who appeared in his twenties, now met Eltman as a fellow teenager, making the situation quite awkward and uncomfortable.

As Eltman swirled his teacup with his gaze lowered, Toa Legron spoke.

"I heard there was a commotion in Arcanium."

"There was."

"A witch almost turned the whole city upside down..."

Toa Legron narrowed his eyes and spoke to Eltman in a low, threatening tone.

"All this time, what were you doing?"

Eltman had no change in his expression. He continued to swirl his teacup before responding.

"I was busy."

"Lies. Do you think I wouldn't know you were merely watching? You've always been like that."

Eltman laughed at his words.

"Did you ask knowing full well? Yes, I no longer interfere with worldly affairs."

"Speak clearly."

"So demanding. Fine. Not just worldly affairs... I don't interfere in any events or stories happening in the world. I plan to continue that way. Although I won't tolerate any bugs crawling into my precious nest."

"Is that so?"

Toa Legron tapped the table with his fingers and spoke nonchalantly.

"Given your personality, it's surprising you're still enduring such a rotten bug nest."

It was a pointed remark that would normally be met with a jest, but there seemed no point. If the other person had a dislike for jokes, Eltman might have responded in kind, but the old man was too crafty for such tricks.

Before Eltwin could respond, Toa Legron continued.

"But even in such a bug nest, sometimes there are useful beetles."

It wasn't difficult to grasp the meaning of his words. As Eltman's expression gradually darkened, Toa Legron spoke again.

"Eltman, it's time for you to be useful again. My master wants the boy who hunted the witch."

When an unexpected figure was mentioned, Eltman was slightly surprised and widened his eyes. However, he responded calmly without showing his shock.

"That old hag is still alive?"

"Wouldn't it be stranger if she were dead? She's clinging to life more tenaciously than anyone else in the world. And don't call her an old hag. Her perspective on age is different from that of humans."

With a wrinkle between his eyebrows, Eltman replied in a sharp tone.

"... It would be problematic, even for that old woman, to take the boy."

"Your difficulties are not my concern. But you know as well as I do that my master... always gets what she wants."

"Well. Even if it's your master, I think it might be impossible this time."

"I didn't think you'd care so much about that child. It's unfortunate, but it can't be helped. This is partly your fault too. After all, nothing less than a witch was hunted... It would be strange if it went unnoticed."

The name Baek Yu-Seol was well known throughout the magical world, but in reality, that fame had its limits.

He was only seventeen, and no matter how outstanding his achievements, he had only hunted a Danger Level 6 to 7 dark mages.

From the perspective of archmages who had lived for hundreds of years... It was merely a interesting event like a frog beating a toad. Nothing more, nothing less.

But a witch was different.

A witch was a very threatening entity even from the viewpoint of archmages.

Ordinary people might think it was just a more impressive dark mage that was hunted, but the more experienced the mage, the more they deeply consider the significance of witch hunting.

Historically, the number of mages who had successfully hunted witches was extremely rare, so the name Baek Yu-Seol would have now reached the ears of reclusive sages.

So even that damned old hag, who had completely cut ties with the world, would have heard of Baek Yu-Seol.

'This is... truly annoying.'

Eltman's expression crumpled, but the woman was full of greed. Once she set her sights on something, she would undoubtedly try to grasp it.

'Stalling her?'

No. That would be dangerous.

That unsociable old hag might destroy half of Stella Academy.

With his current magic, he could certainly stop her, and perhaps even win, but the process would leave Stella Academy in ruins, which would not be worth the cost.

Thus, there was only one option left.

'I'll have to leave it to Baek Yu-Seol's soul.'

———-

As Arien entered the hospital room, he closed the door and set the pad to indicate 'visiting hours.'

The doctor would come soon, but the conversation with Arien was more important.

"Please have a seat."

There was no chair.

"... On the bed."

It wasn't the most dignified option, but there was no choice. He sat down on the bed, and Arien looked out the window without sitting.

Then he suddenly spoke.

"Well done. You carried out your mission even better than I expected."

"... It was just something that had to be done."

Honestly, if not for Edna's dramatic help at the end, things would have gone very wrong, but sometimes a man has to bluff. When he shrugged his shoulders and pretended it was nothing, Arien nodded.

"Frankly, I didn't think you would manage to do this much. My expectations of you were quite low."

"Oh... Really?"

"So, I must apologize. Do you remember the members of the Stella Knights I assigned to you?"

"Sort of."

Those useless, stubborn fools.

"They were recruited specially. Due to Stella's contractual obligations, we had to accept knights from noble families. No matter how much they were trained and pushed, they were useless, so I assigned them to you."

Saying that, Arien handed him a magazine.

[Weekly Magic Parade]

It was a famous magazine. It was said that the mage chosen as the monthly model was the trend of the month, and its influence was quite significant.

"Huh."

It seemed this week's issue was already out, with 'Witch' written in large letters on the cover.

[The Stella Knights on a Witch Hunt!]

[But a First-Year Student from Stella Caught the Witch?]

[What Were They Doing?]

Baek Yu-Seol didn't need to read more to understand. The Stella Knights were likely receiving an enormous amount of criticism right now.

"Uh, well. I'm sorry..."

"No need to apologize. It's for the best. They're probably mortified by now. Can't even show their faces."

If he put it that way...

"In fact, despite being burdened with those idiots, you not only successfully completed the mission but also managed to hunt a witch."

When the word witch came from Arien's lips, a sudden chill filled the room. He probably didn't intend it, but his magical energy began to leak unconsciously.

"... What was the witch's name?"

"Mellie Sher... was her name."

"I see."

He turned to Baek Yu-Seol, met his eyes for a moment, and then unwound the bandages he always wore around his wrist, showing it to him.

There, glowing black, was a tattoo of a flower pattern.

Even without his magic spec, he could tell instantly.

That was a witch's curse.

Seeing his surprised expression, Arien spoke in a bitter tone.

"A long time ago, I fought a witch, lost, and was severely injured. Considering the consequences of challenging a witch as a mage, I think I got off lightly."

"... I see."

"I probably won't live much longer. After realizing that death was imminent, I started noticing the things right in front of me."

As he pondered death, he must have thought of this.

That the only thing left by his side was... the Stella Knights.

He lacked chivalry.

He behaved roughly and performed his duties ruthlessly, committing illegal acts without hesitation. He was far from an honorable knight.

But just because he lacked chivalry didn't mean he wasn't sincere about the Stella Knights.

He genuinely cared about the Stella Knights and wanted to change many things before he died... So he had been pushing himself, making numerous attempts.

Perhaps one of those attempts was Baek Yu-Seol.

Assigning the temporary status of a knight to a mere seventeen-year-old boy was very unlike Arien.

"I... Even if I die, I want the Stella Knights to maintain their current reputation, or even surpass it."

"I didn't realize you had such deep affection for the Knights."

"It's not deep affection. The Stella Knights are, for now, everything I have."

The only thing he possessed.

It was natural for him to become attached to it even if he didn't want to.

"I'm looking for the right person to take over and protect the knights after I'm gone."

Even if he didn't explicitly say who it was, at this timing, anyone could guess. Baek Yu-Seok had enough sense to understand.

'Leader of the Stella Knights...'

It was not a bad job; it was actually a fantastic one.

Who would refuse the position of the leader of the world's most prestigious knights?

He felt the same, but there was one thing that bothered him.

It was that.

'... He doesn't have to die.'

Currently, the witch's curse was incurable. It was not just that a mage couldn't defeat a witch; one couldn't even find a way to lift the curse if you managed to kill one.

However, during the time he played Aether World Online, a few female gamers who were obsessed with the character Arien didn't sit idly by...

They prepared dozens of computers and created countless characters, invested astronomical amounts of money and endlessly designed storylines involving alchemy and magic engineering.

This insane effort, which once made headlines in the news, finally bore fruit: they discovered how to lift Arien's curse.

And that record was preserved and shared in his Sentient Spec from the online community.

'Do I want the position of knight commander?'

'Of course, I do.'

Just sitting in that position would allow him to live luxuriously for the rest of his life.

But to kill Arien for it?

That was not something he could accept. Even before considering his conscience; it was unacceptable as a human being.

Besides, if Arien could be made an ally, he would be the most reliable support.

If there was a way to save him, it was right to do his best to save him.

With that thought.

"I will not accept it."

Baek Yu-Seol politely declined his offer.

He might be disappointed now, but Baek Yu-Seol… Hoped he would understand that this was all for his sake.