The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 63
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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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Chapter 63
“…What brings Benheim’s son-in-law here?”
The Ochre Tower Lord, Melchior Bazet, was a reasonable person.
Indeed, he immediately grasped my affiliation and treated me with proper courtesy.
“Since this place is rather chaotic right now, let’s move to a different location.”
Afterward, Melchior guided us to the top floor of the Ochre Tower, to the Tower Lord’s office.
“Hah… I see. So Giles…”
After hearing the whole story from me, Melchior let out a deep sigh and bowed his head as he said:
“This is all our fault. I apologize.”
Melchior wore a troubled expression as he rubbed his forehead.
“I had no idea that our tower’s chief researcher would kidnap a mage sponsored by Benheim and attempt extortion.”
Living as a mercenary, I had encountered all kinds of people.
I had met many like Melchior.
People who were humble despite their position, who valued reason over authority.
Looking at his expression, he didn’t seem to be lying.
Then this Victor incident was likely Giles’ personal transgression.
However, Melchior let out a small sigh and voiced a minor complaint.
“Even so, if you had explained the situation at the entrance from the start… there would have been no unnecessary conflict.”
Sheril nodded vigorously.
Well, that wasn’t wrong either.
However, when a perfect opportunity to test spectral magic presented itself, how could I just pass it by?
Of course, I didn’t reveal my true intentions.
“Isn’t the cause and effect reversed? If the Ochre Tower hadn’t taken Victor in the first place, none of this would have happened.”
“That’s also true.”
Melchior readily accepted this and nodded.
“As the highest authority of the Ochre Tower, I deeply feel the responsibility. I sincerely apologize.”
Then Melchior took out a small box from his drawer and offered it to me.
“It’s modest, but I hope this will appease Benheim’s anger.”
“What is this?”
“It’s an elixir refined by the Ochre Tower. It’s commonly called Earth’s Essence, and it’s quite useful for mages. While it may not match Benheim’s elixirs, it should be superior to most ordinary elixirs.”
My eyes widened. Elixirs were precious items that money couldn’t buy. Moreover, if it was an elixir directly refined by one of the Seven Great Towers, it would be priceless.
To readily offer such a thing.
“Hmm…”
I pondered for a moment.
Would it be alright to accept this?
If I took it readily, wouldn’t the commotion I caused reach Steren’s ears?
As I was thinking this, Melchior continued speaking.
“In return, I have a request.”
“What is it?”
“Please keep this incident secret from Benheim. Both as a Tower Lord and as a mage, I would prefer to avoid any gossip involving Benheim.”
“Oh.”
This meant it was hush money.
It was actually what I had hoped for.
I had rescued Victor and even gained an elixir, while being able to keep it secret from Steren.
I nodded and tucked the box Melchior handed me into my coat.
“Seeing the Tower Lord’s sincerity, I’ll gratefully accept it. Let’s end this matter between you and me.”
Sheril let out an exasperated breath, Renia giggled, and Melchior sighed in relief.
I realized anew just how tremendous Benheim’s influence was.
For one of the Seven Great Tower Lords to show such extreme respect to a mere son-in-law and even offer an elixir.
“…Reagan, can’t you give me that?”
“Later, depending on the situation.”
Actually, Melchior’s submissive attitude might be more due to him being mindful of Renia, Benheim’s direct descendant who was giggling behind me, rather than me.
Whatever the case, since the tower side had backed down, the discussion proceeded quickly.
“What do you plan to do with that chief researcher or whatever he is?”
“You mean Giles.”
“Yes.”
Even if we were letting the matter slide, Giles had kidnapped Victor, imprisoned him, and attempted extortion.
Since it was once my money, this too was not a matter I could overlook lightly.
“Giles is my direct disciple. However, he has always been impatient and arrogant by nature, so I thought he would cause trouble someday… but I didn’t know he would be this recklessly defiant.”
Melchior let out a deep sigh.
He was so humble that I almost felt sorry for pressing him.
“I will punish Giles separately.”
“How will you punish him?”
“I’m thinking of banishing him from the tower.”
Renia reacted to those words.
“Banishment?”
I didn’t react outwardly, but I was quite surprised as well.
During my two years in Benheim, I had heard enough about the ecology of magic towers to understand it fairly well.
For a mage, being expelled from a magic tower meant the end of their career as a mage.
Victor was a prime example of this. Hadn’t he ended up in a situation where he needed to borrow from loan sharks just a few years after being expelled from the magic tower?
I thought it was too harsh a punishment for a chief disciple, but ultimately, the affairs of the Ochre Tower were decided by Melchior, the tower lord. It wasn’t my place to argue about it.
In the end, I stood up from my seat and said.
“Understood. Then I’ll take Victor with me.”
“Of course. I sincerely apologize once again for causing you concern with this disgraceful matter.”
Until the very end, Melchior kept his head bowed.
“I would also like to apologize to Victor Otto. Would you please convey my words to him?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to tell him directly?”
“…I would like to do that, but what face could I show him now after driving him out with my own hands?”
Hearing Melchior’s words, I suddenly became curious.
Victor was certainly a mage expelled from the tower. However, Melchior, the tower lord, didn’t seem to harbor any ill feelings toward Victor; rather, he seemed to feel sympathy for him.
“Tower Lord, what kind of mage was Victor? Please tell me honestly.”
I asked this question thinking that Mage Tower Lord Melchior would know about Victor’s true nature.
About the current Victor who had not yet bloomed, not the left hand of the Archmage King that I had known.
Melchior closed his eyes tightly and answered.
“A kind and ambitious mage.”
“…Then why did you drive out such a mage?”
“Because he is a kind and ambitious mage.”
Melchior straightened his body and continued speaking.
“Mages who will change the world do not belong in places like this magic tower.”
“…”
In my previous life, Victor had not betrayed the Ochre Tower Lord’s expectations.
Whether in a good sense or a bad sense.
He had indeed changed the world.
* * *
After finishing my conversation with Melchior, we approached Victor, who was standing nervously on the lower floor.
“Let’s go.”
“…I-is it over?”
“Yes. You don’t have any debt to repay, and that Giles fellow or whatever has been decided to be expelled from the magic tower.”
At my words, Victor showed a strangely elated smile.
Looking at his expression, it seemed he and Giles were bound by quite a bitter relationship.
Victor bowed his head to express his gratitude, but I waved my hand to stop him.
“That aside, why didn’t you say anything?”
“Pardon?”
“From what I heard from the tower lord, if you had revealed early on that your backing was Benheim, it would have been resolved immediately.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Victor looked at me with an aggrieved expression and spoke resentfully.
“It was you, Lord Reagan, who told me to never reveal anything about my sponsor.”
“…Right, that’s true.”
What a foolishly good fellow.
He had endured such humiliation just to keep that one request.
‘To think this guy was the enemy I desperately wanted to kill in my previous life.’
And now I was helping that very enemy.
There was no greater sense of the changing times than this.
I chuckled and changed the subject.
“So Victor, how is your golem research going? You built quite a magnificent workshop.”
“Of course it’s going well!”
When his field of interest came up, Victor’s face lit up as he spoke passionately.
“I succeeded in dual-sourcing the golem’s power source! I improved the efficiency of existing mana stones by more than 30% and dramatically reduced wear on the joints. Ah! The design for mass production is almost complete! And also…”
“…Mm. Right. Well, that’s good news.”
Well, since there was hardly anything I could clearly understand, I let it go in one ear and out the other.
“I roughly understand your achievements, so once things are settled, let’s return to Orelion. Pack your things there. We have somewhere to go.”
“Somewhere to go? Where are you planning to go?”
“It’s quite far. I’m thinking of going to the northwest of the Empire.”
“The northwest means…”
“Arcamen.”
Victor’s eyes widened.
Of course, it was still too early to be surprised.
“We’re going to repair an ancient device in Arcamen. You’ll need to play an active role there.”
Victor’s glasses slid down along the bridge of his nose.
* * *
When Giles, the chief researcher of the Ochre Tower, regained consciousness, the sun had already set.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar ceiling. It was the bed prepared in the personal workshop of the magic tower.
“Ugh.”
His head hurt as if it would split. When he raised his hand, he found bandages wrapped around his forehead.
“Damn, I feel like I’m dying.”
Giles groaned as he struggled to sit up.
“Finally awake, are you.”
A low voice reached his ears.
When he turned his head, he saw Mage Tower Lord Melchior sitting in a chair beside the bed.
“Tower Lord…”
“You’ve been unconscious for half a day.”
Only then did his hazy mind become clear.
Giles remembered what had happened before he lost consciousness.
The Airidd mage who had suddenly barged into the Ochre Tower.
That bastard had stormed in without warning, turned the tower upside down, and attacked him.
Giles’s face turned bright red. It wasn’t from shame. It was from rage.
“That Airidd mage! How dare he barge into our tower and cause such chaos! There’s a limit to rudeness! Don’t you think so?!”
Giles shouted furiously, slamming his fist on the table.
Though he had been defeated by a mere 5th tier brat, he thought it was only because the bastard had ambushed him.
If they fought again fair and square, the result would be different.
As Giles consoled himself with these thoughts, a plausible excuse suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Ah! Tower Lord! How about we formally protest to Airidd over this incident! Isn’t Airidd in trouble both inside and outside their family because of some black plague or whatever! If we exploit that weakness…”
Smack!
Suddenly Giles’s head snapped to the side.
A burning sensation spread across his cheek.
Melchior was holding his hand in a chopping position.
Only then did Giles notice that Melchior’s expression was more menacing than he had ever seen before.
“I thought you were someone who could exercise proper judgment.”
Melchior spoke with a twisted face.
“You want to mess with a Great Magic Family? And not just any family, but not Rucen or Arcamen, but Benheim?”
“…What do you mean by that…”
Giles couldn’t understand why Melchior was angry.
Benheim, not Airidd?
Regardless of his identity, wasn’t that bastard the one who barged in first and turned the tower upside down?
There was already much talk within the Great Mage Alliance about the Council matter. Using this incident as an excuse to pressure the Great Magic Families would actually be beneficial.
“Do you think the world will keep indulging your childish antics forever!”
Melchior slapped Giles’s cheek once more.
“It’s Benheim! Benheim! The mighty Benheim! Don’t you still understand the prestige that name carries on this continent!”
“Benheim, you say… That bastard is from Airidd…”
“You’re mistaken! Couldn’t you even figure that out! The young man who came today was Benheim’s son-in-law!”
Melchior shouted furiously, spittle flying.
“Even if the mage who visited today had been from Airidd and not Benheim! You dare threaten and blackmail a Great Magic Family? Using the tower’s name at that? Have you gone mad with a death wish?!”
Giles just blinked blankly.
He seemed completely unable to understand his wrongdoing.
“…Damn it.”
Melchior let out a deep sigh. Then he placed his hand on his throbbing temple and took deep breaths for a while.
Giles.
He had been quite a talented individual.
When he had taken him as a disciple, he had even harbored expectations of making him the next tower lord.
This incident made him realize it had been a misjudgment.
The older Giles got, the more his ugly nature was revealed.
Knowing this but being unable to overcome his affection and covering for him was Melchior’s own fault.
Now it was time to cut ties.
“…Giles, as Tower Lord, I will impose punishment upon you.”
At those words, Giles’s expression hardened.
“Pack your things and leave the tower.”
“You’re joking, aren’t you, Master?”
“Don’t call me Master. Didn’t I tell you I’m the Tower Lord, not your master?”
“Tower Lord…”
“From this moment on, you are no longer affiliated with the Ochre Tower. You’re in the same position as Victor Otto.”
Giles wore a bewildered expression.
He had lived his entire life as a mage of the Ochre Tower. To him, this tower was no different from home.
To be kicked out overnight over just that one incident. He couldn’t understand it at all.
However, Melchior’s attitude was resolute.
“I’ve already told the tower members that you’ve been banished. Don’t even think about coming back.”
Melchior deliberately ignored Giles’s pleas and left.
Left alone, Giles stared at the mirror with a dazed expression. In the mirror was a pathetic middle-aged man with bandages and a swollen cheek.
‘…Why on earth.’
The first emotion he felt was injustice.
What had he done so wrong?
It was for the tower. He had simply used slightly rough methods to make up for insufficient finances.
Giles was someone who was infinitely lenient with himself. So he directed his anger, which had nowhere to go, outward.
“…That bastard, they said he was Benheim’s son-in-law.”
He frowned and rummaged through his desk. From there, he pulled out several crumpled pieces of paper.
Giles served as a chief researcher at one of the Seven Magic Towers and had received offers from various organizations. Among them were dark organizations rooted in shadows that were too unspeakable to mention in respectable society.
He never thought he would end up contacting them…
‘Should I really end it like this?’
Even if he was Benheim’s son-in-law, if he died without anyone knowing, that would be the end of it.
Giles picked up a quill pen with bloodshot eyes.
The pen tip moved roughly across the paper.
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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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