24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 157

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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24-Hour Friendly Market Specializing in Dimensional Items Episode 157

Episode 157. Turning Point (3)

Silvester, who had been hiding inside the necklace, slowly revealed himself.

Like a handsome bird… I’m not sure if “handsome bird” is the right expression, but anyway, Silvester appeared like a handsome bird and examined the tapestry.

To me, it just looked like a heavy piece of cloth, so I wondered what could be so remarkable about this tapestry.

After examining the tapestry for quite a while, Silvester whispered quietly.

“We need to go in right away. The one who hid this might notice soon.”

Immediately after, his transparent beak carefully pecked at the center of the tapestry.

That was the moment.

“…Whoa, it’s real.”

The invisible aura surrounding the crude tapestry scattered, revealing a simple-shaped door.

The door, nameplate, and handle were all emerald-colored, and it looked well-maintained without a single scratch.

The moment I read the name written on the nameplate, I realized that my merchant’s eye had found something truly valuable.

[Quentin Ixion Berylsha]

I didn’t know the first name, but the surname at the end was definitely ‘Berylsha’.

If someone used the city’s name as their surname, they must be one of the most important figures in Berylsha.

‘Most likely the mayor of this place.’

And probably Green’s superior and a high-ranking mage of Berylsha as well.

I glanced around, but thanks to Silvester’s power, no one was showing any interest in this direction.

It seemed Silvester’s power was working perfectly.

“Are you going in?”

“…Of course. Why? Don’t tell me there’s something more dangerous inside?”

When I asked back, trying to hide my anxiety, Silvester whispered in an extremely elegant tone.

“No, I was telling you to hurry because I can’t hold on for more than a few seconds.”

Silvester urged me in a very elegant manner.

‘You should have said that sooner.’

Without time to respond, I hurriedly opened the door and stepped inside.

“Please let me know if any mages approach.”

The inside was wider than I had expected.

Unlike the brilliant emerald light outside, the room finished with dark wood created a weighty atmosphere.

Light seeping from the purple lighting on the ceiling gently filled the room, and the large desk was cluttered with what looked like magical items.

In the small remaining space on the desk, documents were piled up high enough to reach the ceiling.

And on the floor, an equal amount of documents was stacked without any space to step.

…Even the bookshelf was densely packed with documents without any gaps.

‘The citizens of Florabon would cry if they saw this.’

Isn’t this tree abuse?

How many trees would need to be cut down to produce this amount of documents?

Just as I was shaking my head, feeling overwhelmed before even starting to look for information, I noticed something glowing softly behind the desk.

What was emitting light as the ceiling light passed through it was a long rectangular glass box.

Inside it, something blue was writhing, and upon closer inspection, it was a miniature.

To be precise, a miniature version of Aetheria.

Five islands were floating in order from the top, and they were moving slightly as if reflecting their real-time positions and situations.

‘So he was already watching everything.’

Despite having such tremendous ability to spy on all cities, this power was destined to lead Aetheria to destruction.

I carefully approached the glass box.

The island with the Berynium mine had the characteristic purple glow of magic stones, but that light was so weak it seemed about to go out at any moment.

Why was the light so dim when it was said to have enough reserves for one city to last five years?

I found the answer to that question in a bundle of documents scattered messily right next to it.

When I casually turned my gaze and discovered the title, I almost stopped breathing for a moment.

[Itarkeyon Mine Closure Schedule and Absorption Plan (39th Draft)]

It was a name I’d never heard before, but it said “mine.”

Based on everything I’d heard so far, numerous mining islands existed in Aetheria.

This unfamiliar place name ‘Itarkeyon’ must be one of those mining islands.

Of course, the mining islands were said to have naturally fallen after all the magic stones were extracted, but…

‘That could also be seen as strange when you think about it.’

I hurriedly examined the front and back of the document.

Maybe this plan was written by a subordinate and reported to the mage named Quentin Berylsha.

But from the beginning to the end of the document, only one name appeared.

[Author: Quentin E. Berylsha]

“So this person really was running a one-man mastermind show.”

They say when situations become extremely dire, you actually become calmer.

I calmly turned the pages of the document.

The document was filled with incomprehensible content from beginning to end, making it impossible to understand exactly.

But I could definitely tell that Quentin was not in his right mind.

Quentin had been continuously monitoring the mining trends of not only Itarkeyon but all mining islands.

I hardened my expression as I retraced the part I had just read.

Although it takes a very long time, mining islands originally contain magic, so magic stones regenerate over time.

But Quentin hid this fact and made the mining islands fall when their extraction was finished.

…No, it would be more accurate to say he absorbed them.

So Aetheria going to war over the one remaining magic stone mine was all according to Quentin’s scheme.

Because he had intentionally made all the islands fall.

I gritted my teeth.

I already knew this was a dimension that had perished, but just like in other dimensions, I had grown attached to Brozen, Eldarin, and Theowald…

“…Crazy bastard.”

If this guy hadn’t gone insane, the dimension called Aetheria might have survived…

Although anger was surging up, I tried to maintain my composure.

The scenario was still in progress.

I needed to temporarily suppress the boiling anger.

“But why?”

The most important thing right now was understanding the full story behind all these plans.

Even if he was influenced by the Tower of Babel and pushed this dimension toward destruction, wasn’t this too much trouble?

I began frantically searching through the desk.

[Epo Mine Closure Schedule and Absorption Plan (13th Draft)]

[Magic Power Measurement Status – Year ××× Month ×]

[Gieusguard Internal Situation Investigation]

The titles of the randomly stacked documents were all equally terrifying, but nothing really caught my eye.

Just then, a warm breeze gently wrapped around my shoulders.

“Calm down, and try opening the desk drawer.”

At Silvester’s calm voice, as if he understood all my feelings, I took a deep breath.

“I understand your feelings. I too feel despair. However, we didn’t come here to be angry, did we?”

Perhaps because he’s a spirit, his advice feels more weighty.

And he’s not wrong either.

I briefly pressed my forehead against Silvester’s transparent feather and closed my eyes.

Right, Hae-won.

I didn’t come here to get angry.

I came to find information and save my world.

“…What’s inside this?”

When I asked calmly, pushing aside various thoughts, Silvester quietly answered.

“There’s a magic circle that can’t be easily broken even with a spirit’s power.”

“Then you can’t open it?”

“If I were a high-level spirit, that would be the case. But I am a supreme wind spirit. For something meant for you, whom my contractor regards as a savior, nothing is impossible.”

This spirit has quite the talent for saying ‘yes’ in a difficult way.

The spirit’s power flowing from the necklace seeped into the gap of the tightly closed drawer.

After a moment, the drawer opened with a small clicking sound.

And inside it lay a single small book.

[Tower of Babel Research Journal]

As soon as I read the title, I felt as if my blood had turned cold.

I couldn’t even speak and slowly picked up the book.

The leather cover, stained with fingerprints, was worn at the edges as if it had been opened and closed hundreds of times.

The paper inside was also quite tattered from being read so much, and the sentence visible from the first page was particularly ominous.

[This tower is truly the source of infinite magical power. As a mage, I am grateful to be able to face such brilliant magical power. This is a gift given only to me, Quentin Ixion Berylsha, Aetheria’s sole high-ranking mage.]

“What complete bullshit….”

At the curse that burst out uncontrollably, the noble spirit in the necklace coughed awkwardly as if flustered.

I had an intuition.

Aetheria had never climbed the Tower of Babel.

Because this dimension’s supposed strongest person, instead of thinking about climbing the tower with others, would have been moved to tears alone, thinking it was a gift he received.

I slowly turned the pages and began to carefully read what the mad mage had written.

[Experimental results confirmed that supplying the Tower of Babel with magical power from mining islands where magic stones are reproduced strengthens the magical barrier surrounding the Tower of Babel. I disguised Sturgustil, the closest to Berylsha, as if it had fallen, decomposed it with magic, and absorbed it into the Tower of Babel. Although I consumed much magical power moving one island, the Tower of Babel seemed to recognize my efforts and appeared to break its limits. Now moving small islands isn’t difficult.

(….)

Calculations show that Berylsha can float eternally with the Tower of Babel’s magical power. To make the Tower of Babel’s magical power explode further, I made 10 mining islands fall. The magical power surrounding the Tower of Babel became even more chillingly abundant. I look forward to seeing how beautiful a source of magical power Berylsha will become if all islands are absorbed into the Tower of Babel.

(….)

Now I’ve made all islands fall. Only Berinium remains. Although Berinium still has quite a bit of reserves left, it will become an equally abundant resource for the Tower of Babel. Preparations are going smoothly. However, after absorbing even Berinium, no islands will remain.]

All the mysteries were being solved.

Quentin is a fanatic obsessed with the cult-like Tower of Babel.

A madman who believes that a city that can only float with magic stones can also float with the Tower of Babel’s ominous magical power.

Is it even reasonable to think about stealing other islands’ magical power to create a stronger Tower of Babel?

The reason Aetheria’s cities ended up fighting wars for survival is because of this very fanatic.

‘What kind of idiotic thinking is this….’

It’s so absurd I can’t help but laugh.

This isn’t madness caused by the Tower of Babel’s influence—he was originally insane, wasn’t he?

The very idea of making mining islands that can reproduce magic stones fall is not the thinking of a normal person.

There was a reason why Berylsha didn’t join the battle for Berinium and talked about neutrality from the start.

‘Because he planned to make them all fall and absorb them into the Tower of Babel anyway.’

My gaze was drawn to a paragraph written in jet-black ink that seemed to have been written not long ago.

[Stealing magical power from other cities is an efficient decision. Since making other cities with remaining power fall might consume more magical power than usual, I plan to create rifts inside each city to eliminate life forms and secure only the islands.]

So he’s saying he’ll use other cities as nourishment for the Tower of Babel too….

After staring at that sentence for a long while, I finally couldn’t hold back and growled.

“Isn’t this guy completely insane?!”

Does it make any sense to sacrifice all cities as offerings because he’s bewitched by the Tower of Babel?!

‘Seo Jae-hyuk won’t make decisions like this later, will he?’

Just imagining such an infuriating scenario made my anger about to explode.

That was the moment.

Creak-

A sound coming from somewhere other than the door.

I froze in place and turned my head.

Not the intact entrance I had come through, but a bookshelf stuffed with documents was slowly opening.

‘…I’m screwed.’

Eventually, in front of the opened bookshelf, someone unfamiliar was standing.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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