The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 75

I replied to Dahlia Salentia, who was speaking in American English, in the same American English.

“Well, I’m not Kim Kang-in’s disciple, so I don’t really know.”

Dahlia, standing in front of me, stared directly into my eyes.

I could see the undisguised confidence and pride in her eyes.

“Really? That’s a shame. I was thinking of naturalizing to Korea if the Blue Magic Tower Master was the type to cherish his disciples.”

A playful smile.

It was a joke to anyone who saw it.

“Oh, was that your intention? Then you should have said so earlier. The Blue Magic Tower Master is very kind to his disciples. I could tell just by looking from afar.”

I replied playfully to her playful words.

Dahlia laughed as if she found it amusing.

“The bus has already left. You should have thought it through from the start.”

“That’s a shame. I’ll have to think more carefully next time.”

It goes without saying, but it’s all a joke.

Dahlia has no intention of naturalizing at all. She’s just saying those things as a joke. And I was just playing along with her joke.

“Here.”

Dahlia Salentia smiled and extended her right hand.

It was a gesture to shake hands.

I lightly extended my right hand and grasped hers with moderate strength.

“Nice to meet you. You probably know my name without me having to say it, right?”

Dahlia shook our clasped hands gently.

“Nice to meet you too. I don’t really need to introduce myself either, right? I’m famous, for better or for worse.”

“What is this? A black joke from the first meeting? You’re quite humorous, unlike what I saw in the media.”

Dahlia giggled.

I didn’t really intend to be funny, but it seems like our comedic codes matched.

No, more than that.

“Thanks for the compliment, but we’re not meeting for the first time. We met once when I was ten.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. The Red Magic Tower Master brought you on my birthday to show off his disciple.”

“I think I kind of remember…”

Dahlia tilted her head slightly and pondered.

It was something that happened when she was ten, so she didn’t seem to remember everything.

“Well, if you say so, then it must be true.”

Dahlia smiled brightly, as if such a trivial thing didn’t matter.

“Then, does that mean this is a reunion with an old friend?”

“I guess so?”

“Then, let’s change the greeting…”

Dahlia smiled even more brightly and took a step closer to me.

And then, she hugged me.

“Long time no see, friend.”

I wasn’t particularly flustered.

This was just an American greeting.

I hugged Dahlia with moderate strength so she wouldn’t feel awkward.

“Yeah, long time no see.”

Well, we weren’t exactly friends eight years ago either.

But I guess we can just gloss over such trivial things.

While we were doing that, the door that Dahlia had just come out of opened again with a mechanical sound, and the Red Magic Tower Master and the Blue Magic Tower Master came out at the same time.

“Oh, what’s this? Just like my disciple, are you already using your charms?”

The Red Magic Tower Master.

James Filler.

Like Dahlia Salentia, he was a charming middle-aged man with fiery red hair. Although he was over 70 years old this year, age was just a number for a wizard who was constantly under the influence of mana.

In appearance, he looked only about 40 years old.

“…Master.”

Dahlia frowned and stepped away from me.

She had just been scolded by the Red Magic Tower Master, and judging by her reaction, it seemed to be true.

“Blue Magic Tower Master. What should we do? It looks like we’re going to be helpless against our Dahlia’s charms. Hahaha!”

James laughed heartily and patted Kim Kang-in on the back.

“Charms? Well, I think it’s the opposite, more like a handsome man’s charm.”

Fluent English came out of Kim Kang-in’s mouth.

His pronunciation was almost at the level of a native speaker.

“Oh, a handsome man’s charm. Hmm. He does have a face that Dahlia would like. That makes sense.”

James stroked his chin and observed my body, focusing especially on my face.

“Hoo. Master, please stop. That’s rude to our guest.”

Dahlia stopped James’s actions with a very annoyed expression.

“What is it? Are you already protecting him? Did you really fall for his handsome man’s charm?”

James widened his eyes with a shocked expression.

“Oh, come on. Master, please…”

Dahlia covered her face with an embarrassed expression.

She seemed embarrassed by James’s antics.

“Why? Are you going to naturalize to Korea because of a man?”

“Oh, really…”

Dahlia turned her body away.

“I don’t know. I’m leaving.”

And then she walked straight out of the Red Magic Tower.

She didn’t want to talk to the Red Magic Tower Master anymore. That nuance was conveyed through her actions.

“Then, I’ll go. See you later.”

Before leaving the lobby, Dahlia gave me a final greeting.

“See that? I told you she fell for his handsome man’s charm.”

James Filler said with a sly smile and a sly voice.

“…Master. Please shut up.”

Dahlia left the lobby after saying those words.

“Ooh.”

Shut up.

The native ‘shut up’ was quite flavorful.

“Kekekeke.”

James laughed as if he was having the time of his life. I could roughly understand what this master-disciple relationship was like.

It didn’t seem like this eight years ago. Well, eight years is enough time for even mountains and rivers to change.

“James. Enough. She might become twisted.”

“That’s what I want, but it’s… I guess it’s because her reactions are getting more and more interesting. It’s not easy to restrain myself.”

James approached me with a very happy face.

Kim Kang-in followed behind him.

The two Tower Masters stood side by side in front of me.

“Is this the second time we’re meeting? Nice to see you.”

The sly expression and light atmosphere he had shown to Dahlia a moment ago disappeared in an instant.

He had a strong aura and gaze. He extended his right hand to me with an intense gaze that seemed like he could burn everything in the world right now.

“It is my second time.”

I took the Red Magic Tower Master’s hand.

I ended up shaking hands with the master and disciple in succession.

Squeeze!

James gripped my hand tightly.

“I said that earlier, but you’re not really harboring any personal feelings for Dahlia, are you?”

“…”

For a moment, I saw the image of Adela’s father, Wi Sang-cheol, overlapping with James.

It seems that this master-disciple relationship is exactly as I thought it would be.

“That’s not the case, so you don’t have to worry.”

“…Hmm.”

James stared directly into my eyes. He was probably trying to read my inner thoughts.

“Good. It seems like you really have no thoughts.”

Did he read the truth in my eyes?

James released the grip on my hand and let go of the handshake.

Then, he moved away from me and shook hands with each of my team members, exchanging greetings.

“Then, let’s go inside right away.”

After shaking hands with everyone, we entered the Red Magic Tower.

* * *

About two hours had passed since we entered the Red Magic Tower.

It was indeed worthy of the Red Magic Tower’s reputation for having state-of-the-art facilities.

There was so much to see that two hours had passed in a flash. Perhaps it was because there were so many fun, amazing, and shocking things.

It felt like only 10 minutes had passed.

“Then, next we’ll go to the training room that was just released this year.”

For reference, the one guiding us was a disciple of the Red Magic Tower.

Since James Filler couldn’t speak Korean, they assigned a disciple who could speak Korean as our guide.

The two Tower Masters had just told us to have fun and went up to the top floor.

Well, they said they had some things to discuss.

“Ah, before we move on to the next place. Shin Ha-yul. The two Tower Masters have a message for you.”

While he was about to guide us to the latest training room, the guide turned to me.

“They said to come up to the top floor right now.”

“…Right now?”

“Yes.”

“Haven’t we even seen half of it yet?”

“Yes.”

“But we have to go up now?”

“Yes.”

“…Really?”

That’s not right. Really.

“…Haha.”

The guide smiled wryly, as if he had read the passion and anger burning in my eyes.

I sighed softly.

“…Okay. I can’t help it if the two of them are calling me. How do I get to the top floor?”

“Ah, just a moment. I’ll assign a guide. Hey! Mickey!”

He called a man who was waiting nearby and asked him in English to take me to the top floor.

The man said OK and approached me, telling me to follow him in English.

I sent a sign that I would be back in a moment and turned my gaze back to my companions.

“Then, I’ll go first. Everyone, have fun and I’ll see you later.”

“Okay. Have a good trip.”

“See you later.”

Soonchan and Adela replied on behalf of everyone.

“Ah, and Adela. Can you make a report about the things we’ll see later, in a little more detail? So I can experience it indirectly.”

Ah, this is frustrating.

To have to leave these treasures behind.

“Shin Leader. Is our Jisoo a pushover? Why are you making our Jisoo work so hard to make a report?”

Jin Hee-yoon shouted and protested. I could see her pathetic attempts to score points with Adela.

But unfortunately, she stepped on a landmine.

“…Jin Hee-yoon, senior. I always make a report about what I learned that day.”

“…Huh?”

No, it wasn’t just a landmine, she stepped on a nuclear bomb.

“I think I mentioned it before. Did you forget? Hmm. I see.”

“No, that… Jisoo?”

Even if I didn’t ask, Adela would have written and kept a report of what she saw and experienced today.

I just asked her to make the report a little more detailed.

“As expected, you weren’t interested in me at all, senior.”

“Nooo. Jisoo, please listen to me.”

“Speak.”

“…I was wrong! Please forgive me!”

Jin Hee-yoon hugged Adela and begged, crying.

Adela glared at Jin Hee-yoon with cold eyes.

“…I shouldn’t approach those two until tomorrow, not just today.”

Soonchan shuddered again and made a resolution.

I also made a resolution in my heart.

I should just leave those two alone. I don’t want to get caught in the crossfire.

“Anyway, please do me a favor.”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Adela smiled brightly and replied to me, while Jin Hee-yoon clung to Adela with a tearful face.

Looking at that scene, I couldn’t help but smile.

It’s like the hostile relationship they had a month ago was a lie.

“Then, let’s go.”

I turned my body to the guide, thinking that.

The guide turned his body and headed towards the elevator.

I got on the elevator, unlocked the security with the guide’s ID card, and headed to the top floor where the two Tower Masters were waiting.

Ding-!

We arrived at the 75th floor, the top floor. The guide told me to go straight ahead and then went back down in the elevator.

As the guide said, I went straight ahead and saw what looked like the Tower Master’s room.

A room decorated entirely with red fire stones, befitting the Red Magic Tower’s symbol of ‘flame’.

Among them, a particularly red door.

I knocked on the door a couple of times.

“Come in.”

I heard Kim Kang-in’s voice from inside.

I immediately opened the door and went inside.

And as soon as I saw the interior, my eyes widened.

To be exact, I was surprised by the people sitting in the room.

“Welcome.”

“Welcome.”

Of course, I wasn’t surprised to see the Blue Magic Tower Master and the Red Magic Tower Master.

I already knew they would be there, so there was no reason to be surprised.

What surprised me was that an unexpected person was sitting in front of them.

“Father?”

My father was sitting with his arms crossed, with his usual solemn expression.

“When did you arrive?”

“I arrived at the airport four hours ago.”

“You came early. I thought you said you would come the day before the competition because you had a lot of work…”

I slowly approached the three giants.

“I was going to…”

My father glared at Kim Kang-in with narrowed eyes.

“But the matter at hand is the matter at hand.”

“Ah.”

I see.

“It’s because of the Black Magic Tower, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

My father had seen the data about the Black Magic Tower’s strange behavior that Kim Kang-in had sent.

That’s why he came to the United States five days earlier.

He must have canceled his other work or Kim Seok-hyun must be handling it instead.

“Then, the reason you called me is…”

“After that, more new information has been gathered. We wanted to hear the opinion of Ha-yul, the first informant, so we called you here.”

“I see.”

It was as expected.

That was the only reason this group would call me.

“Please sit down first.”

Kim Kang-in urged me to sit across from him, next to my father.

I quickly sat in that seat.

“To get straight to the point, I’ll start with the conclusion.”

The three gazes focused on me at the same time.

If it was the first time they were talking about this, the gaze would have been focused on Kim Kang-in, but since it was focused on me, it seemed like they had already talked about this before I came.

“This morning. We arrested a black magician from the Black Magic Tower who was disguised as an Olympiad official.”