Chapter 1339: 97. The Tower

"We're almost there."

Muen pulled aside the curtain. In the hazy morning light, the outline of a vast city entered his view.

Calling it vast was perhaps an exaggeration. It was nowhere near as magnificent as Belrand. Judging by its scale, it was merely an ordinary large city, though its architectural style differed somewhat from what Muen was familiar with, leaning more toward certain ancient structures he had seen before.

The City of Magic—Issiusta.

A city that had developed over several centuries around the Origin Tower. Like the Kingdom's royal capital, Saint Blancfazesiya, it was an extremely ancient city.

But Muen's gaze did not linger on the city for long. Although the city could technically be considered their destination, it was not important.

What mattered was......

He slowly raised his head, shifting his gaze upward toward the tall tower faintly visible amid the boundless morning mist.

"So this is...... the Origin Tower?"

A trace of surprise flashed through Muen's mind.

Perhaps because they had set out too hastily and he had not yet had time to learn more detailed information about this place, or perhaps because the title "the highest representative of magic on the continent" had created a certain fixed impression in his mind.

Either way, the moment Muen saw the tower's silhouette, one thought inevitably appeared......

Isn't this tower...... a little small?

Muen raised a hand, pinched his thumb and index finger together with only two or three centimeters between them, then held them in front of his eye and measured the distant silhouette of the tower......

Mm. It was probably a little over two hundred meters tall.

Taken purely as a number, especially considering the average height of buildings in this era, more than two hundred meters was certainly not small. In fact, it was already rather frightening.

But once you considered what it symbolized as the pinnacle of magic, then considered all the various mages gathered here, anyone would feel that number was...... pitifully small.

After all, given the abilities of the mages here, constructing something over a thousand meters tall would hardly be difficult.

Yet in the end, it was only a few hundred meters tall.

A length that would make people snicker if you told them...... no, height.

"Why? Are the mages here really that modest and frugal?"

Muen rubbed his chin.

"That doesn't seem right either. Mages are famously arrogant, aren't they? So rather than saying those arrogant mages simply didn't want to build it higher, could it be...... that some unspeakable taboo is suppressing the tower's height, preventing it from extending any farther upward?"

Muen's eyes suddenly flashed.

He noticed that the uppermost section of the tower looked somewhat damaged. Even from this far away, several jagged, torn-cloth-like "frayed edges" could still be seen in the silhouette at the top.

A mage tower that could not be too tall.

For some reason, Muen thought of a place.

The Abyss.

The demon city.

Gutongs Castle.

There, towers reaching over a thousand meters were commonplace.

"Looks like this tower has more secrets than I imagined......"

Muen sighed softly.

They had not even reached their destination yet, and he already felt as though an enormous mystery had smashed straight into his face.

Fortunately, the doubts just now were nothing more than his own wild speculation and had absolutely nothing to do with the purpose of this trip.

"Mm...... we're already here?"

Just as Muen was enjoying the morning breeze, a lazy murmur came from inside the carriage, accompanied by the sound of something smooth wriggling beneath soft fabric.

Immediately afterward, a sleepy little face squeezed out from beneath his chin, yawning as it looked toward the distant city.

"It only took this long? I thought it would take much longer."

"The finest Dragonblood horses and a carriage enhanced with special magical formations. What did you expect?"

Muen sighed.

Of course he had not wanted to arrive this ? NоvеIight ? (Original source) quickly, but that ancient little lady had issued a strict order: they had to arrive within twenty-four hours.

Otherwise, he would never have left Belrand in such a rush that he did not even have time to say goodbye to everyone.

He had originally planned to leave only after his mother returned.

Now it seemed he would once again have to wait a while longer before meeting the younger sister he had never seen before.

"Oh...... so that's the Origin Tower? Pfft...... first time seeing it. It's so small."

Ariel stretched out one smooth little hand and, just as Muen had done moments earlier, used the tiny gap between her thumb and index finger to measure the tower.

"I thought the legendary Origin Tower would be something much more impressive."

"Don't underestimate it, all right? The tower may be small, but nearly a thousand years of accumulated knowledge and development are packed inside. Any random bit of it would be more than enough for you to handle."

Muen slapped the tender little backside that had been rubbing against him continuously since early morning and deliberately scolded her.

"And how long exactly are you planning to keep sitting around naked like this? Please remember who you're supposed to be!"

"Who I'm supposed to be?"

Ariel glanced back at him, and a hint of captivating allure appeared on her flushed little face.

"Who was it last night who forgot who he was supposed to be, acted so roughly, and tore all my clothes apart, Teacher?"

"Cough."

Muen's old face reddened.

"I already told you, I was checking your homework. Who told you not to study properly?"

"Then how was my homework? Was Teacher satisfied?"

"Passable, passable...... There were just a few mistakes. Remember not to make them again next time."

"Then why doesn't Teacher teach me right now how I'm supposed to correct those mistakes?"

"......"

Faced with his student's admirable dedication to making the most of the morning, Muen, as her teacher, naturally could not refuse.

And so another round of rigorous instruction followed.

Spring scenery mingled with the morning light, making the view especially beautiful.

Only a certain sigh sounded increasingly exhausted and helpless.

......

An hour later, the carriage entered the city and quickly passed through the outer districts where large numbers of ordinary people lived, arriving at the inner area directly beside the tower. 𝐟𝒓ℯⅇ

This was the territory belonging to mages.

The carriage curtain was lifted once again.

What now appeared before everyone outside was the venerable Master Enmu, a towering authority of the Enhancement School, along with his most prized student, the dignified and quiet Miss Alice.

"The Origin Tower...... After all these years, I've finally returned."

Muen sighed softly.

He had already fully entered the role of Master Enmu. Every movement and expression overflowed with boundless nostalgia and emotion toward the tower he had finally returned to after such a long separation.

Of course, such a simple and shallow performance could never properly demonstrate his professionalism.

So within those complicated emotions, he very appropriately added another element......

Rage.

"That past is too painful to look back on, but in the end, I still made it back."

"Everything I lost, I will take back with my own hands."

"Fortune changes with time. Never look down on a poor young man!"

Muen's expression was resolute, his will seemingly forged from steel.

Combined with the speech he had been preparing for quite some time, it quickly attracted the attention of the people nearby.

They apparently assumed some once-frustrated mage king had finally returned in triumph, and several of them could not help showing admiration and approval.

"Teacher, come. Let me help you."

The good student Alice also stepped forward at exactly the right moment and supported her teacher. ℴ𝗆

Every gesture displayed the refinement expected of an exemplary student, earning even more praise from the surrounding onlookers.

Though for some reason, it feels like he stole my lines.

Suppressing the strange thought in her heart, Ariel obediently helped Muen down from the carriage while transmitting her voice to him.

"Seriously, do we need to be this conspicuous? When you were spouting all that ridiculous nonsense just now, I got goosebumps."

"You don't understand."

Muen shook his head slightly.

"The purpose of this trip is to investigate what happened to my convenient senior, Master Arman Guderian. He is a renowned Truth-Rank Grand Mage and one of the upper-level figures in this tower. So only by reaching the upper levels ourselves as quickly as possible will we have a chance to come into contact with relevant information. Why else do you think we went through all this trouble disguising ourselves as people like this?"

"I see...... But will this really be enough for them to accept us?"

Ariel voiced the question she had not had time to ask last night because of their sudden extra lesson.

"No matter how you look at it, to the existing higher-ups in this tower, you're still just some stranger who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, aren't you? Will they really trust you that easily?"

"Heh. Looks like you still don't understand the Origin Tower."

"Oh? You do?"

"I don't either."

"......"

Then what the hell are you talking about?

Maintaining the outward appearance of a good student, Ariel nevertheless reached over and viciously pinched Muen's side.

"Hiss...... I may not understand the Origin Tower, but I do understand what mages are like."

Muen secretly endured the pain while maintaining the same solemn expression.

"A lot of those people are completely obsessed with their own research. It's perfectly normal for them to disappear for ten or twenty years without showing their faces. Why would they care whether someone appeared 'suddenly' or not? All they care about is your identity and your magical accomplishments. After all, in their eyes, magic doesn't lie."

That ancient little lady understood this as well.

That was why she had claimed her preparations were flawless.

"I understand...... So as long as we maintain our cover and don't expose our real identities, everything should go smoothly?"

Ariel finally understood.

"From what we know so far, exactly."

At this point, Muen knew that lingering for too long might arouse suspicion.

He immediately straightened himself, gripping a mithril staff in one hand while allowing his good student to support the other arm.

With his head held high and his stride imposing, he walked toward the entrance of the tower.

"Stop."

A robe swayed.

The guarding mage looked at them with arrogance and indifference.

"Which school are you from? State your identity."

"Heh."

Faced with such an utterly discourteous obstruction, one corner of Muen's mouth immediately curled upward.

He looked at the guard as though he were staring at some idiot incapable of recognizing greatness when it stood before him.

Three parts contempt.

Three parts unruliness.

Then, with a casual flick of his hand, he threw the badge the ancient little lady had given him directly into the guarding mage's face.

"Open your damn eyes and take a good look. What is this?"

"A school crest?"

The guarding mage froze for a moment.

Then his pupils contracted violently.

The cold expression on his face instantly collapsed, leaving behind only indescribable shock.

"This pattern...... Y-You...... you're from the Enhancement School?"

"What? The Enhancement School?"

"It's really the Enhancement School?"

"Impossible......"

"Idiot, it's real! The crest is authenticated by the Origin Tower. The magical aura on it can't be faked!"

One stone stirred a thousand waves.

It was not merely the guarding mage.

The moment the words "Enhancement School" echoed through the area, Muen clearly sensed an enormous shift in the emotions of all the surrounding onlookers!

It was as though they were witnessing a beast that had slumbered for a thousand years slowly awaken before their eyes!

"Oh?"

This reaction?

Muen, who had originally intended to do nothing more than show off in an ordinary fashion, raised an eyebrow.

Then he suddenly realized with delight......

The identity that ancient little lady had prepared for him this time might be far more extraordinary than he had imagined!