I came out of the meeting room and organized what I was going to do next.
Finding the successor or assassinating one master of the Magic Tower.
It wasn’t hard to decide which of the two to do first.
'First, deal with the tower master.'
The Overlord gave me a long grace period of a year, but nothing good would come out of procrastinating.
Because I didn’t have any plans about what should I do or how I should deal with it.
If I didn’t solve it in time, they could question my ability. That could make things difficult.
It would be better to start the search for the successor after finishing all chores without distraction.
'Still, wouldn’t it be better to take care of the Mystery first?'
Two Mysteries hidden in Santea.
It wouldn’t take much time, so it would be better to find those before assassinating the tower master.
They might be even of some help in dealing with the target.
First find the Mysteries, then deal with the tower master, and finally start looking for the successor earnestly...
“...?”
I noticed a person in the distance and tilted my head.
It was because the Wiseman was standing where Ti-Yong was waiting.
Purr.
Ti-Yong was constantly crying out as if he was wary of the Wiseman beside him.
And the Wiseman kept a distance and looked at Ti-Yong with curious eyes.
As soon as I got closer, he turned his gaze to me and started talking.
“Did you finish your conversation with the Overlord?”
Was he waiting for me?
I didn’t have any business with him, so I wondered why he would.
I looked at him blankly without answering and asked.
“Do you know what I talked about with the Overlord?”
“I don’t know. Asking that means nothing. I just asked it as a greeting.”
The Wiseman shook his head and then said.
“I’ve been waiting because I have something I want to ask you. Regarding the Neutral Nations Conference you took part in last time...”
“...”
“I heard that the Seventh Lord sided with the Earth Hill Kingdom and prevented the outbreak of war.”
I wondered why that subject suddenly appeared here, but I still nodded.
“I did.”
“Is the reason you helped Earth Hill because of a personal connection? Or is it for some other purpose?”
“I don’t think I have any reason to answer that.”
The main story, Teir, and various other things were the reasons, but there was no need to explain that to him.
Rather, why was the Wiseman suddenly interested in this?
“I didn’t mean to pry. Just consider it as an old man worrying.”
He saw my blank expression and continued.
“As I said before, I don’t want any cracks in the current system of Calderic. All the Lords have their own thoughts and opinions. But it doesn’t mean that it should lead to a conflict. “
“...?”
“Even if we have different beliefs, we can coexist as long as we know when to step back and when to not. So many people had sat on the seats of a Lord and there had been so many conflicts in between. The fact that Calderic is still standing strong until today proved that the current system is not a failure.
I couldn’t understand the context of his words.
I wondered what this dwarf was talking about out of the blue.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”
The Wiseman tried to say something more to him, but seemed to give up.
“That’s probably a long and useless statement for you. What I want to say is that if there’s a conflict with another Lord in the future, I hope you wouldn’t solve it in a radical way, just like you did when you killed the Sixth Lord. I know you already made a promise with the Overlord, so you probably don’t have to hear this. But still...”
His gaze suddenly turned to Asher, who was standing behind me.
“...And child of the White Moon tribe, what is your name?”
At those words, I furrowed my brows.
He must have heard everything that happened at the Neutral Nations Conference, and he seemed to know that Asher was a member of the White Moon tribe.
At the sudden question, Asher glanced at me and answered.
“This is Asher.”
“Last name?”
“...It’s Gronhilde.”
A strange look passed over the Wiseman’s eyes for a moment.
He nodded and said.
“What a happy coincidence. Do you know the name Gabrom Gronhilde?”
...Gabrom Gronhilde?
I was able to immediately remember where I heard the owner of that name.
A distant ancestor of Asher that was mentioned in the game.
Because he was the founder who created the fighting technique used by the White Moon tribe, which Asher was currently learning, albeit still imperfect.
“Of course I know...”
Asher murmured in a bewildered voice.
“It’s a story from hundreds of years ago. I had a small relationship with him during your ancestor’s lifetime. I made a bet once and lost, so I made him a sword.”
“...!”
Asher’s eyes widened at the Wiseman’s words.
I was a bit surprised because I knew nothing about it either.
'What does he mean by this?'
There was a connection between the First Lord, the Wiseman, and Asher’s ancestors who created the fighting technique of her tribe?
There was never anything related to it in the game.
However, since that fact was mentioned, I couldn’t help but think of something that was related to the game.
'Come to think of it, Asher’s sword...'
Asher, who first appeared as a knight of the Black Star Order in the game, had her own dedicated weapon, unlike now.
A famous sword that was called ‘Spear Sword’, whose entire blade was completely blue.
But I didn’t know until now where she got it. It’s because the information didn’t come out even in the setting book.
Later, when she joined the player group and her colleagues asked her about it, she avoided answering and never properly informed them.
But looking at it now, it seemed that the person who made the sword was the Wiseman.
As a Black Star Knight belonging to the Overlord Castle, if he had a relationship with her ancestor, he would have made a weapon for Asher.
When she became a knight of Black Star, she had already proudly revealed that she was a member of the White Moon tribe.
'Was it really like that?'
Feeling the puzzle fit perfectly, I looked at the two in turn.
Asher was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to react.
A person who had a connection with her ancestor appeared out of nowhere, so it must have been confusing.
“I express my regret for the disaster your tribe had suffered.”
The Wiseman said.
“I heard you fought a duel with Santea’s Spear Saint in Earth Hill and lost unilaterally.”
“...Yes.”
“But what I see now differs from what I have heard. You can compete with him to some extent if you fought with all your might. Were you just careless, or did you achieve rapid growth in that short period?”
He muttered, as if he didn’t understand.
At that, Asher’s expression changed.
The Wiseman’s words just now were clearly telling her that her level was close to Santea’s Spear Saint.
'She’s really close now.'
Of course, I, who could see the level, was well aware of that fact.
Asher’s current level was 90, and the Spear Saint was level 91, so the discernment of the Wiseman who judged that she could compete with that bastard to some extent was not wrong.
Before passing the ordeal of the ruins, it was really an overwhelming difference, so she had no choice but to be defeated unilaterally.
I glanced at Asher and said to the Wiseman.
“First Lord.”
“...?”
“Can you make a sword for her?”
Asher looked back at me in surprise, and the Wiseman also gave me a strange look.
At the last emergency call, the Wiseman said that I could request a weapon or equipment for Bellevagorah’s corpse.
I didn’t need any of that anyway, so it wouldn’t hurt to take this opportunity to make a proper weapon for Asher.
The Wiseman nodded and replied.
“Even if you didn’t say that, I was already planning to do so. Thanks to you, Seventh Lord, I got good materials, so I’ll even add an armor. But...”
“...?”
“Then should we go to my territory right now?”
“...Right now? Does it take such a short time to craft a weapon?”
“No, I’m not saying that I will make it right away it. In order to properly produce a matching weapon, there are things I need to see with my own eyes.”
He said that and looked at Asher.
I took one look at her and answered.
“Then let’s go.”
It didn’t really matter if they had to stop by the First Lord’s territory.
“Sir Ron...”
Asher panicked and called me.
I ignored her, climbed on Ti-Yong’s back, and said.
“Come on, Asher. We’re going to the First Lord’s territory.”
***
The Dwarf race with excellent dexterity was usually famous as a blacksmith’s race.
And in the current era, the person who stood at the pinnacle was the Wiseman, Agor.
The opportunity to get a weapon made by him was invaluable.
'I’ve never seen the First Lord’s castle.'
Accompanying the First Lord, we quickly flew to his territory.
I followed the Wiseman through the entrance of the castle and looked around.
It was the first time I actually saw the First Lord’s castle, which I did not see when I was playing the game.
I didn’t stop by the capital when I passed by this territory when I was still searching for Mysteries.
Unusually, there was another building as huge as that behind the main castle, which looked more like a huge chimney than a tower.
I knew that place was a forge because I had seen it in the game.
The closer I got to the forge, the louder the sound of the metal hitting and the stronger the heat that touched my body became.
Upon entering, I saw that all the people busily wandering around inside were Dwarves.
Even when the Wiseman appeared, they only nodded lightly, but soon focused on what they were doing silently.
The atmosphere was completely opposite to the Tyrant I had seen before in Actipol.
The Wiseman didn’t pay attention to them and continued to walk into the forge.
Soon after arriving in a large space, the Wiseman said to Asher.
“I will look at your swordsmanship.”
Asher looked this way as if asking for permission.
I nodded and stepped back.
Sureureung.
She pulled out her sword, took a deep breath, and immediately began swinging it.
In the empty air, many sword strikes rang out, making a vicious roar.
I watched her with my arms crossed.
Being ignorant of swords, I had no way of knowing about the progress of swordsmanship.
However, I could definitely feel the fact that the sword attack was much faster and much stronger than what I saw in the duel with the Spear Saint last time.
“...”
The Wiseman, who had been watching Asher’s sword dance for a while, opened his mouth.
“Wait a minute.”
After saying that, he disappeared somewhere, then reappeared with several swords.
They were swords of slightly different sizes and shapes.
“This time, try your swordsmanship with these swords.”
Although Asher looked puzzled, she meekly followed the request and practiced swordsmanship again with the swords he brought.
To me, there was nothing different from before.
However, the Wiseman watched all of Asher’s sword dance with a serious expression, as if he could see something different in his eyes.
“Enough. You can stop.”
After using the last sword, the Wiseman took Asher and I and moved to another place.
We went out of the forge and went underground to the main building.
After going down to the deepest part of the underground, a huge warehouse came out, and in it, countless ores glittered in the dark.
I started by looking at gems that have a natural blue glow. Asher’s Spear Sword I saw in the game was blue.
However, the Wiseman, who was walking in the lead, stopped in front of the ore that was emitting purple light.
“Try injecting magic into this stone.”
As he said, Asher put her hand on the stone and infused her magical power.
Then, the purple ore emitted a bright light.
The Wiseman, who stared at it with a cautious gaze, nodded with a satisfied look.
“It’s much more suitable than I thought. I’ll have to look at the other things once.”
Was he deciding what materials to use for making the sword?
Watching from the side, I didn’t know what it meant, so I asked.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m looking at what materials are suitable for the weapon. High conduction to magical power is not necessarily good. It’s also important how well it responds to the user’s magical properties.”
...I couldn’t understand what he was saying, so I just nodded moderately.
The Wiseman took Asher, and she went around injecting mana into the ores one by one, and I felt a bit bored following them.
And it was then.
“...?”
I narrowed my eyes at the ominous energy I felt as I approached the back of the warehouse.
