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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 145: This tower is the Blue Magic Tower?
Not all cities are created equal.
Even considering that fact, Keplan's size was beyond imagination.
The magic barrier and cityscape stretched endlessly in all directions.
If the Khaoto of the past was a highly concentrated magic city, Keplan was a city with an absurdly wide sphere of influence.
To exaggerate a bit, it's like the entire Quebek region would have to be combined to match the size of Keplan.
Magic carriages crossing the sky, and transport carriages coming and going on the main streets.
"You folks seem to be from out of town, where are you headed?"
"..."
"Don't ignore me and come here. I'll give you a good price. 5 gold to the Pablo Auction House. 3 gold to the city center! I'll take you anywhere for half price!"
There are always touts wherever you go.
Coachmen who had parked their carriages along the main street were shouting at us every time we passed.
Since the city was so large, many people traveled by carriage, but I chose to walk to the center.
Because I needed to familiarize myself with the geography.
"Wow, is this whole area an industrial zone?"
As we walked, the Moron's amazed exclamations continued.
"Are all those blacksmiths? There seem to be over a hundred!"
"Do you see that gold building? That's the building of the Goldsmith Guildhall, the most famous in the West!"
"There's even a section that only sells magic items."
As we walked around sightseeing, we soon reached the center of Keplan.
It seems it wasn't that far from the beginning.
A towering clock tower is visible in front.
And in the very center of the city, a large cone-shaped structure floating tens of meters above the ground.
At the entrance of the structure, where the flags of each magic tower flutter, lights are emitted 360 degrees towards the ground.
"We're here. That's it."
Zion exclaimed.
"That's the Magic Tower Alliance headquarters? It looks strange."
The light emanating from the entrance looked like a magic passage connecting the Alliance headquarters and the ground.
Many people were moving between the ground and the sky within the range of the light.
I said to my subordinates.
"You guys go in first."
"What about the commander?"
"I'll find out a bit about the situation here and follow you."
I pointed to Zion.
"Go in and say you want to enter the Demon Realm. Then they'll take care of it. You'll have to take a test or something to register on the list."
"So you're telling me to take the lead?"
Zion, suddenly smiling, looked around at the other members and said,
"Everyone heard that, right? Since the commander isn't here, I'm the temporary commander."
This guy really likes titles.
I knew it from the time he was going around calling himself a business manager.
Zion raised his hand high and shouted.
"Everyone, follow this body, who has taken on the role of temporary commander of the Crazy Mage Squad!"
"Wait!"
I stopped Zion and said.
"Give it to me, that."
"What?"
"Hand over what you're wearing."
"Why suddenly? Ah, I knew it. You want to wear it yourself, right, Commander?"
As soon as Zion's eyes turned sharp, I opened the Circle of my heart.
"Why is a guy from the Crazy Mage Squad wearing something like that? It's not cool. Do you want to give it to me after a beating, or just hand it over?"
When Zion showed no sign of backing down, I said,
"Give it to me. I'll get you something better next time."
Zion suddenly pointed at my wrist.
"Then trade it for that bracelet."
"What bracelet?"
"The stone bracelet."
"This is a no-go."
"Why?"
"It's not polite to give someone a gift I received."
"What am I supposed to do?"
When I took a stance as if to shoot my slingshot, Zion took off his glove with a tearful face.
"You're a real gangster."
"I'll really get you a good one next time."
Zion stared at me and said,
"You promised?"
"Alright."
As Zion led the subordinates and disappeared, I slowly strolled through the city center, looking around.
First, I looked at the people.
There seemed to be fewer high-level knights or mercenaries in the city center.
Instead, mages wearing the same uniform were walking around the streets in groups of three or five.
'Are they some kind of patrol?'
It was then that I felt a subtle gaze following me from somewhere.
After wandering around a few corners in the central area, I became certain.
It was a tail.
No one in particular came to mind who would follow me here.
As soon as I turned into an alley on the right, I immediately stuck to the entrance and waited for the approaching footsteps.
The moment the footsteps were heard right in front of me, I jumped out like lightning.
"Who is it!"
"Oh, shoot."
"What? It's you?"
As soon as I jumped out of the alley, I ran into Arin.
Our faces almost touched.
"Why aren't you going to the Alliance and what are you doing?"
"I already registered on the list before."
"Ah."
Come to think of it, Arin already had a history of going to the Demon Realm.
"Then why are you following me?"
"I wasn't following you. I was just looking around."
"Hmm."
I felt uncomfortable, but it was hard to say anything, so I said,
"Follow me. Stop following me like a rat."
"What do you mean, rat? That's rude."
"Hmm."
It felt like the order of things was reversed, but it was hard to say anything, so I just started walking.
Unlike the first impression of the city center, there were also run-down areas here.
I entered the shabbiest-looking tavern in a corner of an alley.
"Welcome! How many are you? Two?"
A grimy young employee greeted us.
"Can we sit outside?"
"Of course, sir. What can I get for you?"
"Do you have any moonshine? Something simple for snacks."
"I'll get it ready right away!"
I sat side by side with Arin at a cracked wooden table.
After a while, the employee brought out some moonshine and a few dried snacks.
The employee said with a smile,
"It's been a while since someone ordered moonshine."
"What do people usually order?"
"They don't usually drink moonshine, they say it's cheap. But it tastes good."
"You know what's up."
I opened the moonshine bottle, handed Arin a glass, and took a sip myself.
"This is properly made."
Suddenly, the employee held out a glass.
"Can you give me a drink too?"
"You're quite bold."
The employee emptied the glass I handed him in one gulp and exclaimed.
"How long have you been working here?"
"For a long time. This is my shop."
"You must have made a lot of money."
The employee held out his empty glass with a bitter face.
As I poured him another drink, he said,
"No, sir. I don't get many customers. By the way, are you two lovers? She's very beautiful."
"No."
"Well, I guess."
"....?"
I looked at the employee with a questioning expression, but he changed the subject.
"You must be from out of town."
"We arrived today. We're getting used to things."
I drank with the employee and had various conversations.
Although Kant and Fichte had explained Keplan to me in detail, there were certainly things you could only understand through direct experience.
Employees of these old pubs are usually well-versed in local affairs.
When we ran out of moonshine, the employee said,
"I'll bring another bottle. Since I drank too, you can pay half price later."
While the employee disappeared inside, I looked towards the end of the alley.
Two men in matching uniforms were walking towards us.
Thud—
They stopped right where I was sitting, clicked their tongues, and scanned the store up and down.
"Tsk, I told you to empty this place out several times."
"This was expected. The locals are usually stubborn."
The two men, who didn't even look at me, went straight inside.
Then voices could be heard.
"I believe I told you yesterday was the deadline."
The employee's frustrated voice could be heard.
"No, how can you be so unreasonable?"
"Unreasonable? This is a public project to renovate the city center. Haven't we asked for your cooperation enough? We even offered several times the..."
Perhaps fueled by the alcohol, the employee's voice grew louder.
"What kind of market price is it when you arbitrarily set the official land price? And I said I don't want to!"
At that moment, the voice of the higher-ranking official among the two men was heard.
"It's because of shabby pubs like this that the city center's status is declining. I'll give you one day. If you don't vacate by then, we'll demolish it immediately."
"I said I won't!"
"Then we can make you leave right now."
At this, I looked inside and shouted,
"Hey, why isn't the person who went to get the moonshine coming out?"
The three people inside looked at me simultaneously.
The man who appeared to be a subordinate frowned and asked,
"What?"
"The person who was drinking here."
The man scoffed and said,
"Don't worry about it, you can just leave."
"No, I'm drinking with the employee, who are you to tell me to leave?"
"What?"
I said to the employee,
"Bring the moonshine."
In the meantime, the employee approached me with the moonshine.
I poured the drinks into the two glasses again and said,
"Let's drink pleasantly. Tell them to come back later to talk about the demolition and whatnot."
The two men finally approached me.
They looked me up and down, and then with a look of understanding, said,
"Now that I see, you must be from out of town."
I turned my head to look at the man.
The man who appeared to be a subordinate made eye contact with me and said,
"I'm saying this because you seem to be unaware, but we are..."
"Don't spoil the mood by talking. Tell them to come back later."
The man pointed to the knot drawn on his uniform and said,
"We are the Magic Tower Alliance patrol. We are carrying out official duties, so we ask for your understanding. Please drink somewhere else."
I clinked glasses with the employee and said,
"I understand how the employee feels. It must have been frustrating not being understood. I told you not to talk to me twice, but you keep talking."
"Exactly. It wasn't like this before, but these days it's too much."
"These guys, really..."
At that moment, I suddenly felt a strange feeling and turned my gaze to see the higher-ranking official staring intently at Arin.
I said to Arin,
"Your face will wear out."
"It does spoil the mood."
The higher-ranking official finally looked at me.
The man, who was silently looking me up and down, opened his mouth.
"Where are you from?"
“Khaoto."
The man asked with a smirk,
"What clan are you from?"
"Samael."
"Where's that?"
"You don't need to know."
"You must be from some backwater clan."
The man's words were getting shorter and shorter.
At that moment, the man looked at my right hand, frowned for a moment, then suddenly widened his eyes and shouted,
"A High-grade Vancle?"
Arin looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.
"Why are you wearing that glove?"
At a loss for words, I quickly took off the glove and hid it in my front pocket.
It was at that moment that the man suddenly burst into laughter.
When I looked at him, he suddenly changed his attitude 180 degrees and gave me a broad smile.
"I apologize for my rudeness. Are you perhaps trying to enter the Demon Realm?"
"You're right."
"Do you have an entry pass?"
"...."
"I see you don't. You must still be an apprentice. Haha, you need to prove your qualifications and register with our Alliance to obtain an entry pass."
I tried to guess what this guy was thinking.
"I'm Vaph, the deputy commander of the patrol. Would you like to come with me? I'll guide you and make sure you're comfortably escorted without having to wait."
[TL/N: The rank is not confirmed might change in the future as I get more context (I’ll add a tl/n in the said chap)]
"What about the demolition?"
The man said with a smile,
"Is demolition important right now? I can postpone it indefinitely."
I carefully examined the man's attire from top to bottom.
The blue garment he wore under his uniform caught my eye.
It was the same color as the clothes Parin was wearing.
"Is your main tower the Blue Magic Tower?"
"Oh, you have a good eye. That's right. I'm also a senior member of the Blue Magic Tower."
I smiled and said,
"Lead the way."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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