“The barrier is broken? Could it be that Vincent succeeded in escaping?”
“No, it was broken from the outside.”
“What? Then someone descended from above and invaded the Void…”
“Hey, look over there!”
“My god…”
The wizards standing on the platform looked up at the sky in a daze.
A giant tectonic plate floating on the 44th floor.
As the mist surrounding it cleared, an enormous universe unfolded outside the barrier.
“Unbelievable.”
“Who is it? Who could it be…”
“It’s definitely someone from the Astrology School. And with such overwhelming power…”
“Damn, I had a feeling today would be bad.”
An overwhelming magical force engulfed an entire floor.
Stars shining in the darkness sparkled like the eyes of a monster searching for prey.
As the wizards, unable to leave the domain due to the difference in hierarchy, trembled.
Shien cautiously approached the girl who suddenly appeared in the interrogation room.
A tilted scale and red flowers.
It was clear that she was the owner of the Paradise Lost, staying in the floors of nobility and one of the Seven Sages from the Astrology School.
“Excuse me, are you Sage Libra? If I may ask, what brings you to such a humble place…”
“Do I need the Intelligence Department’s permission to come to the mid-layers?”
“No!! It’s no problem at all, but currently in the domain, we’re interrogating a suspect who incited a t*rrorist act on the express train…”
“I’m not free enough to listen to the circumstances of the living.”
“S-sorry!”
As Shien hurriedly bowed, Libra approached her with a smirk.
She lightly patted Shien’s stiff back and said,
“I’m just joking. I enjoyed the Magic Festival.”
“Pardon?”
Her black hair flowed like a waterfall, and her green pupils resembled those of a small predator.
Her well-balanced body was covered with dense magic circuits.
She was brimming with talent not seen in recent times, as if she had captured a ray of light split from the Monument Stone.
If she could withstand the strain, she would surely make a mark in the history of the Magic Tower.
“I check all the rumors in the forum. You lost to the Haeju School in the semifinals, right?”
“The forum?”
“You seem to get frustrated whenever you recall that loss, and now you even gave a magic spell to the same opponent? And you haven’t even kissed yet? Aren’t you a bit too generous with your feelings?”
“Wh-what…!?”
Shien was at a loss as Libra seemed to pry into her memories.
It seemed she used the scales to read her memories, doing so with the precision of a surgeon.
The Mystery of the Astrology School always demanded an equivalent exchange, making it hard to extract information from a mage who had reached the mid-layers.
The magician before her was beyond her ability to gauge.
“A price? I didn’t offer much. It means anyone can see you like that opponent. Do you have strange thoughts when you lie in bed at night?”
“Ahhhh!! I’ve never done that!!”
“Given how easy this is, your roommate must be more than just suspicious. Anyway… not mentioning the name is a small courtesy.”
To be honest, I’m not really curious about anything other than that.
Libra spun around to face Vincent, who had fallen to the floor.
Unlike his subordinate, who lost his mind as soon as he looked out his window, he still retained consciousness.
“S-Sage…! No, Libra!”
“So it’s you? The one pretending to be the Administrator.”
“P-pretending? It’s me! I’m the real owner of the forum!”
With the quick wit of a mage, he completely changed his claim from a moment ago.
For some reason, the Sage from the Astrology School was extremely displeased with him pretending to be the Administrator.
Survival now seemed more important than living under the Intelligence Department’s surveillance for the rest of his life.
However, Libra picked up a Witch Note that had fallen to the floor, checked its contents, and asked him.
“Really? Then what’s the name of the toy the Administrator recently acquired?”
“Pardon…?”
“See, you don’t know. Did you know? I brought your price for the scales.”
Libra pointed to the bouquet on one side of the scales.
The flowers wrapped in white silk were for those he had sacrificed for his family in the Void.
As the blood from the buds seeped into the floor, the scales began to tilt.
Vincent screamed urgently.
“Th-there’s no need for this, Sage! It was merely an internal dispute within the White Families…”
“You shouldn’t have sullied the Administrator’s beloved forum. Honestly, I’m restraining myself from adding my own price.”
Clang! Clang…
Coins fell from the white sleeves.
Different in size and color from the currency used in the Magic Tower, they appeared to be coins used in Andalusia.
While Shien looked puzzled, Vincent turned pale at the sight.
“The condition for gaining ownership of the royal treasure room is to spend the most time in nothingness among those who reached it.”
“Damn it! Stay away from me!!”
“Was it ten years per coin? This should equal the weight of the souls you killed.”
Libra picked up the blood-stained coins and placed them on the scales.
As the number of coins on the opposite side increased, Vincent’s body gradually stiffened.
When twenty coins finally left her hand, the scales balanced perfectly.
“See you in two hundred years. You underestimated the depth of the lake created by the rain of resentment.”
“N-no…”
Placing the wilted bouquet at his feet, unable to speak further, Libra folded her hands and prayed for his repose.
“If the spark of the extinguished torch hasn’t completely died out, perhaps you’ll awaken in a new era.”
*
It had been about two weeks since getting off the train that crossed the Milky Way through the darkness.
The Intelligence Department announced that Vincent admitted to inciting the train attack.
They also revealed that while he wasn’t the forum’s owner, he had indeed impersonated him.
Though he was absent from the graduate school, arousing curiosity, no further announcements were made.
However, around the same time, rumors spread that he had abandoned his ascent in exchange for exemption from his sentence.
Reports of a statue of Vincent in a secret villa owned by the Undra family surfaced.
Unlike the heroes commemorated at the dormitory entrance, mages don’t honor those who are still alive or in the middle of their ascent.
A photo of a statue resembling him, located in the garden of an inner courtyard, was leaked, and the rumor was almost confirmed as fact.
It was a beautiful garden where bees buzzed around during the flowering season.
====
Prinana
[In the end, someone couldn’t stand it and stepped in to resolve this incident.]
The family was notorious even within the White Families, and there were many victims, but it had been hushed up until now.
Even a normal person would be furious seeing the bizarre, p*rverted posts on the Bee board from the account impersonating him.
There’s no doubt he took up the sword for the greater good, even if it meant making an enemy of an entire family.
— What should we do, our poor Administrator ㅠㅠㅠ
— He’s so kind-hearted he couldn’t even block them ㅠㅠㅜ
— Or maybe he just decided to mess around like he always does but without his mask?
ㄴ Yeah, if you see how he lets the Beehive members go, he seems to enjoy it too.
ㄴ Can’t you empathize?
ㄴ Our Administrator suffers because of these kinds of people.
====
====
[Administrator, have you stabbed someone again?]
Now you don’t even feel guilty or reflect on it.
— He never had that in the first place.
— Oh, getting bored of playing online, so now you’re messing around in real life too? LOL
— ??? : I did aim, but he was just a scumbag by coincidence?
— The ones who were excited about the capture of the forum leader were immediately silenced!
ㄴ The idea of the Administrator losing is… unimaginable to me.
====
====
[If you miss Vincent, the king of the Beehive, who remains in a handful of bee members, upvote]
Recommend if you have to shiver in the fringe boards until a new queen bee emerges.
[Recommended 489 / Not Recommended 731]
— Bzzz….
— Bzzzz….
— It was annoying to see him, so this is refreshing.
— Criminals are not our kings.
— I’m secretly hoping the Administrator will take over the baton.
ㄴ Honestly, considering he hasn’t changed the Bee profile yet, it’s a reasonable suspicion.
— Just try popping out again~ We’ll immediately create the Hornet Squad and start purging.
ㄴ Seriously, as soon as the next point shop opens, we’re making the Hornet Board first.
ㄴ That’s too harsh…
ㄴ It’s scary…
====
“It’s been a while, Clark.”
“Oh, it’s a bit more spacious than before?”
“We’re expanding the space by breaking down the stairs. How’s the practice with the interference going?”
“I’m about to start in earnest.”
The lounge of the Haeju School, wedged between the 11th floor stairs, was undergoing expansion by demolishing the nearby storage room walls.
It was unclear if they had permission, but it did create some room to stretch out.
Rupert, who came down to supervise the construction, smiled contentedly when he heard I had found an assistant.
He gave some advice while holding a teacup dusted with falling stone powder like sugar.
“Unlike other magic, Haeju always needs a target. The deeper your relationship with those you’ve chosen, the faster you’ll grow.”
“How about Senior Prina?”
“Ahem, she… There are those more talented at ending relationships than forming them.”
She had no friends and chose to climb by turning to curses.
Well, she’s still a senior, so I’ll seek her help in the training layer if the opportunity arises.
After chatting for a while, I was about to get up when I heard heavy footsteps coming from below.
“Hey, I told you not to put stuff here…! Huh? Who are you?”
“Who are you?”
“We saw each other on the train! Back then, you were… Wait, are you from the Haeju School? Damn…”
“Do you two know each other?”
It was Toby, who had been imprisoned in the graduate school as a train t*rrorist.
It seemed they had brought him from the Haeju School to do construction work.
While he recognized me at once, I couldn’t recall him immediately.
It was because I didn’t have my Witch Note with me.
“Did you lose your note?”
“Why would I need that when I can’t even climb? And I’m sick of the forum!”
“Hmm… So you’re a member of the Haeju School now, or rather a graduate student.”
“So what?”
I got up and handed over the sword strapped to my waist.
He was startled by the sudden appearance of a weapon, but when I spoke, he returned to his usual surly demeanor.
“It’s a small errand. Sometimes I’ll entrust you with my sword, so please take care of it.”
“I’m not a blacksmith.”
“Then you can go downstairs.”
“Damn, these curse casters…”
Despite grumbling, Toby obediently accepted the sword.
As soon as the luxurious longsword was in his hands, he shuddered in surprise.
“Hey, it just moved, didn’t it?”
“It’s just your imagination. If it feels like it’s going to stab someone, contact me.”
“You said it was just my imagination! Is it an ego sword?”
“Handle it gently. Oh, and its name is SolSol.”
Though the Franz family had completely collapsed, the siblings survived.
It would take more time before they could fully connect, but at least they wouldn’t be separated again.
Libra
