Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 161

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Café operated by the Dark Guild’s heir.
161
Grandfather handed the book to the elders and came to me, where I’d stepped back out of the way.
“You did well. You’ve accomplished something great.”
“I’m glad I could be of help.”
“Once we restore the book, I’ll let you know. Rest easy until then.”
“Yes.”
Worried about being in the way, I nodded without a word.
Grandfather gestured to Cayden and Raiely, and both of them rose and came to our side.
“Cayden, Priest—would you show our guest to the guest quarters?”
“Of course.”
Cayden extended his hand with formal courtesy, grinning playfully as he offered his arm.
“Shall we go?”
Raiely and I followed Cayden out of the room.
A circular, massive hall came into view. It rose to what must have been three stories high, and I had to crane my neck to take it in.
Suspended from the ceiling was an enormous hourglass-shaped structure.
My gaze caught by its grandeur, Cayden explained from beside me.
“It moves automatically according to the time. What’s inside is the powder of Magic Stones that have already been used.”
The granules within the hourglass shimmered brilliantly—far more beautiful than I would have expected from Magic Stone dust.
Raiely approached a window cut into the wall and peered outside.
“How many floors does this place have?”
“Fourteen.”
I was startled—such heights were rarely seen outside.
“Rosia, I can see the ocean from here.”
“What? That can’t be right.”
“Imaging Magic is cast here, so the view changes every so often. It’s a remarkable place.”
The more Cayden explained, the more real it became that we’d stepped into the Mage Tower.
When Raiely returned, Cayden offered his hand in greeting and introduced himself.
“I’m Priest Cayden.”
“I’m… Rosia’s friend. Her oldest friend.”
Raiely continued, glancing at me as if seeking confirmation.
“I’ve heard a great deal about your help with the Café.”
“Have you? Unfortunately, I haven’t heard anything about you… but it’s a pleasure.”
Cayden, who’d never heard me mention Raiely before, made a wounded expression.
I pretended not to notice and asked him instead.
“When did you get here?”
“Yesterday. The Imperial Palace only granted the High Priest’s visit yesterday.”
That was clearly Biedler’s doing.
Just as he’d said when we parted on the mountain, everyone was doing their best to prevent a war with the Demon Realm.
“If you ride this, you can move between floors quickly.”
Cayden opened a door in the corner and stepped onto the moving platform.
Finding it strange that the floor moved, I immediately followed and looked at Raiely.
“What do you want to do? Ophelia must be waiting.”
“Let’s stay just tonight and leave tomorrow. It’s not every day we get an opportunity like this.”
“Fine then.”
Raiely climbed on beside us. The platform didn’t feel like it was moving, yet the scenery beyond the door shifted dizzily.
We arrived at the tenth floor in moments.
The door opened and I followed Cayden out, when Raiely spoke from behind.
“I’d like to look around the tower. Is it alright if I explore alone?”
“Yes. There are no forbidden areas here, so you can walk freely.”
“Then I’ll look around a bit more.”
Though he must have exhausted himself battling Beasts all day, Raiely showed no sign of fatigue, his eyes bright as he closed the door.
I watched the platform descend for a moment, then turned my head.
“You can choose a room here based on whatever concept you prefer.”
“Really?”
Thinking he must be talking about interior design, I approached the mage working at the center desk.
“Hela, we have a new guest. Meyson asked me to show them to a room.”
“The Master’s guest? Thank you for visiting the Mage Tower.”
The mage called Hela smiled kindly and offered me a menu.
“Pick whichever room you’d like from here and let me know.”
Bewildered by what kind of menu this was, I unfolded the paper and gasped.
“What is all this?”
“Like I said—you have options.”
The Emperor’s chambers, the youngest imperial princess’s room, a castle abandoned for over a hundred years, a famous painter’s studio from his living days… and so on and so forth.
“Don’t you have anything normal? I just need a room.”
My head was starting to ache from the impossibly detailed and varied concepts, when—
Cayden flipped through the pages quickly and pointed to a mountain cottage.
“Of course there is. It’s on the last page. For reference, I’m staying there.”
“…Yeah. I like this one.”
The moment I saw it, memories of living in the Café came rushing back.
‘A life I want to return to.’
I immediately understood why Cayden, among all those rooms, had chosen this one.
“I’ll prepare the room next to Priest Cayden’s. This is the key. You can enter in five minutes.”
“Thank you.”
I took the key, but the hall didn’t have a separate corridor.
The space wasn’t wide enough for rooms, so I looked around uncertainly.
“Where’s the room?”
“Rosia, it’s this way.”
I followed Cayden past Hela.
Walking straight ahead, I found a circular space marked out.
“I got lost the first time I came here too. You just stand here. Like this.”
As Cayden stood, a keyhole appeared. He inserted the key into it, and white light burst forth as Cayden vanished.
“…!”
Startled, I shut my mouth and followed him to the same spot.
Similarly, a keyhole appeared, and when I inserted the key Hela had given me, the scenery around me changed.
“You did well.”
Cayden, already waiting, let out a small laugh.
“I wonder if Raiely’s alright.”
Imagining how bewildered Raiely must be without knowing this method, a quiet laugh escaped me.
Walking the corridor together, Cayden spoke.
“It’s only been a few days, but it feels like ages since I’ve seen you.”
“Same. And I’ve never seen you outside the mountain before.”
“I thought you’d be together with the prince. But a new man…?”
“Not a man—a friend.”
“His sex is male, though.”
I shrugged, and by then we’d reached the room.
“This is my room, and this is where you’ll be staying.”
Just as I was about to go in, Cayden blocked the door with his body, leaning his face forward suddenly.
“Are you very tired? I want to talk more.”
I removed my hand from the doorknob and pushed away Cayden’s approaching face.
“Is there a place to eat?”
“There’s a dining hall. They make whatever food you want.”
“Does that have a concept too?”
When I narrowed my eyes, Cayden laughed aloud and shook his head.
“No. Want to go together?”
“Sure.”
I needed to eat dinner anyway.
If I went alone, I’d probably get lost, so I followed Cayden out.
***
Juliano listened to Ken’s report while tapping his desk with a finger.
“Mastmak disappeared, you say.”
“Yes. After he sent word that he would attack the Territory, he vanished without a trace.”
“And the Territory?”
“…A failure. According to the residents, a mage appeared suddenly and saved the village.”
Irritated that his plan had fallen through, Juliano crumpled the paper and hurled it at the wall, shouting.
“So you just left the people alive?”
“…By the time we went to check, Support Forces had already arrived.”
“Those damned fools again. This won’t do.”
The Support Forces, formed by a coalition of the Imperial Palace and nobility, were thwarting Juliano’s plans everywhere.
Unable to sacrifice people as easily as before, Juliano grew anxious.
“I need to go there myself. Mastmak is one of the stronger Summoners. If he’s alive, I have to find him.”
Juliano and Ken immediately moved to the Territory where Mastmak had vanished.
“This is the place. All the Beasts died here as well.”
“We’ll know if he was swept away by a single spell once I check. You keep watch of the surroundings.”
Placing Mastmak beside him, Juliano knelt and pressed his palm against the ground.
Red light erupted from his hand. Simultaneously, horns grew from his head and fur bristled on the backs of his hands.
His form twisted into something Beast-like, but he paid no mind, focusing instead on reading the memories carved into the earth.
The power came entirely from Desikan.
“Found it.”
Juliano’s eyes snapped open, the whites shot through with burst blood vessels, gleaming crimson.
“He subdued Mastmak in a single stroke. The magic used on the Beasts—it’s no ordinary technique. And the face… where have I seen it before?”
It didn’t take long for Juliano to remember Meyson.
The magical skill was more than a young person should possess, and having glimpsed Meyson from afar before, he recognized him.
“The Grand Mage appeared to save someone… How intriguing.”
Letting out a cackle, he attempted Memory Reading on the ground again.
And once Juliano had confirmed even Rosia’s face, he began to laugh like a madman.
“I found her at last. Mastmak, you’ve done something great.”
Rosia, whom he’d gone searching for in Alein but who had already vanished—
Unable to find any trace of her despite constant searching, he’d been tracking her. To discover her this way was extraordinary.
“Let’s go back, Ken.”
Buoyed by his good mood, Juliano returned home at once and found the cave.
He sat before the altar where he could commune with Desikan and lit the candles.
“Lord Desikan. I have discovered where the woman you asked me to find is located.”
Desikan, who could commune with Juliano’s mind, shared the memories he had read.
“Well done. I shall grant you greater power. It is stronger than what you had before.”
Black pills appeared on the altar.
Already accustomed to taking the pills Desikan gave him daily, Juliano trembled with excitement upon seeing them and kowtowed, pressing his forehead to the ground.
“Thank you!”
Each time he consumed the pills, his strength grew tremendously, and his usable abilities multiplied.
Addicted to his ever-increasing power, Juliano ignored the fact that his body was beginning to transform.
“My remaining strength lies there. From now on, gather all personnel and every Summoned Beast in one place. We must attack the Mage Tower.”
“I… beg your pardon, but the Mage Tower is hidden, and there are many Barriers surrounding it. We cannot approach it.”
“I am here, am I not? I will forge a path for you to enter.”
Desikan’s voice rang out with sonorous authority, and he filled the altar with more pills.
They were much smaller and far paler than what he’d given Juliano, yet they were the largest amount he’d distributed thus far.
“Feed them to all who follow me. And eliminate all lower-ranked Beasts—Summon only middle-rank and above.”
“I shall obey your command.”
Juliano carefully gathered the pills, his eyes gleaming with avarice lest a single one should fall.

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