The Hearing (7)
Leaving the hall after the hearing.
Antares pushed the wheelchair, and Lenok, with his help, circled the hall.
The crowd that had been buzzing near the hall scattered as soon as Lenok glanced at them.
They tried to pretend they didn’t see him, turning their heads away and avoiding the spot, trying to catch a glimpse of the mage.
Unlike when he first entered the hearing hall, no one tried to meet Lenok’s gaze anymore.
“……”
An awkward and unsettling silence, as if their ears were ringing.
A clumsy avoidance stemming from being completely overwhelmed by a single person.
Who could believe that all of this was done without any violence or coercion?
Thud, thud.
The procession of city council members and judges, who left the hall later than Lenok, continued.
They clearly acknowledged Lenok’s presence still near the hall, yet they didn’t try to confront him.
Avenia Stenson, the mage from the Valefor Magic Tower [a renowned institution known for its combat magic], who had been guiding Lenok through the crowd, stopped walking.
“Mr. Ban, I’ll stop here.”
“I see.”
Lenok chuckled, resting his chin on the wheelchair.
Why Avenia, who had only recently started staying in Vulcan, was guiding Lenok.
Perhaps it was because, among those who feared unnecessary conflict during the guidance, only she was willing to do it.
Even if that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t forget the name of the Valefor Magic Tower, where extreme combat experts gathered.
“I’ll remember your name. Thanks for your hard work.”
“…It’s my pleasure.”
Avenia, hesitating, bowed her head and spoke hesitantly.
“Would it be alright to visit the Magic Tower when you have time later? I will make sure not to disturb you, Mr. Ban.”
“Antares vouches for the excellence of the Valefor Magic Tower.”
Lenok nodded.
“The Magic Tower is always looking for excellent collaborative partners. I’ll let the relevant people know.”
“It seems the mercenaries can be helpful sometimes.”
Avenia smiled.
“I’m glad he hasn’t forgotten my warning. Then, I’ll be going…”
Avenia, as neatly as when she first came to see Lenok, finished her greeting and stepped back.
Lenok, watching the mage walk away, spoke to Antares.
“I thought you would intervene at least once, but you really just watched.”
“Are you talking about Stenson?”
“I’m talking about you.”
“……”
Lenok, leaving the silent Antares, asked leisurely.
“So, what were your thoughts on watching the hearing today?”
“Hmm, can I be honest?”
Antares laughed.
“Watching you play with the city council members at the hearing… it was so enjoyable that I wondered if it was okay. It felt like the first time in years.”
“……”
“Anyone who knows you would understand that there’s not a single lie in your words. I can’t understand how you can walk the line so well. It’s actually admirable.”
Indeed, if one were to watch the hearing from another’s perspective, how ironic this situation would feel.
Lenok, not entirely unable to understand Antares’ feelings, gave a wry smile, while Antares, closing his eyes with a satisfied look, muttered.
“I was right after all. I don’t think I’ll regret following you today.”
“You’re being awfully roundabout.”
Lenok said, leaning comfortably in his wheelchair.
He smiled, watching the attendants slowly walking out of the hearing hall.
“Or is it because you came back from seeing the future, so you can’t say it directly?”
“……”
“It doesn’t matter. I understand why I’m here.”
Antares said he was there to watch the hearing, but Lenok knew that this precognitive [someone who can see the future] wasn’t the type to spend his time for his own amusement.
There must be something he wanted from the moment he agreed to accompany Lenok to the hearing.
Decisively, Lenok’s lingering at the hearing hall was Antares’ will, not Lenok’s.
Thud!
At that moment, the back door of the hall opened, and several boys walked out from beyond the door.
Young boys dressed in elegant formal attire.
They looked no older than ten years old, and they were the ones who had carried the stone tablet for Lenok to swear on the Judgment Covenant [a magical contract used in legal proceedings].
“…!!”
The boys, quietly talking among themselves, were startled to see Lenok beyond the back door.
They must also know what Lenok had said to the people in the hearing hall.
They tried not to show it, but they couldn’t pretend not to see him, so they passed by with a light bow.
Just as the shrunken boys were about to leave, awkwardly passing by Lenok.
Lenok opened his mouth to the blond boy standing at the very end of the line.
“It seems like you’ve been waiting for quite a while, are you planning to leave without saying hello?”
“Y-yes?”
The boy with a youthful face stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Lenok, with a flustered expression.
He was trembling with fear, not even trying to hide the goosebumps on his neck.
The age difference between the boy and Lenok was more than ten years, even at a glance.
Considering their positions, it would seem strange for a conversation to even take place.
But Lenok, knowing this, lightly flicked his hand towards the boy who had frozen in place.
“Avenia Stenson warned Antares not to use precognition arbitrarily.”
“I, I don’t know what you mean, I…!!”
Whoosh!!
With a single gesture, Lenok brought the young boy in front of him and whispered.
“Antares, who was constantly watching the entire hearing hall, never once glanced at you.”
“……”
The warning Conrad Haven had given was not a lie.
The mega-city of Vulcan. The city-state that currently boasts the largest scale and capital on this continent.
The authority holder at the pinnacle of a super-regional living area spanning dozens of areas was watching Lenok at the hearing, in a way that no one else had expected.
“A position to intervene by directly carrying the Judgment Covenant. A young age that wouldn’t stand out to others. An existence with such strong causality that Antares has to avoid precognition on his own accord.”
Lenok asked mockingly.
“Mayor of Vulcan. Isn’t it a bit too young to be disguised as a child, considering you’re in charge of leading a mega-city?”
“…Haha.”
At that moment, the boy’s expression, which had been constantly terrified, completely changed.
As if a completely different emotion was sprouting from deep within. As if another personality was breaking out of its shell.
The expression that had been shrunken with fear and anxiety relaxed, and a strange sense of elation emerged from within.
“Ah… I see.”
The boy muttered quietly.
The boy, who had been staring at Lenok, put on a pale smile.
An alien and awkward smile, as if it were not human, was directed at Lenok, and then the boy slowly nodded.
“You were the person Kaise mentioned.”
“…Kaise, you say.”
The boy, who had been pretending not to know anything until now, mentioned the name casually.
A mineral-like tone that didn’t feel human, and conversely, a very clear fragment of emotion.
Indeed, the leader of this mega-city was not an existence bound by ordinary causality or fate.
Lenok, realizing this, looked into the boy’s eyes and asked.
“The person you’re talking about, which timeline’s Kaise are you referring to?”
“Oh my, do you already know that much?”
The boy laughed.
A complex reaction mixed with self-deprecation and cynicism, which didn’t suit his young age.
If an old monster wearing a boy’s mask were to show his emotions without restraint, it would be like this.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t answer that question. The project’s restrictions are an equal constraint for everyone. It’s an oath that has reached the mystery of causal reversal.”
“……”
“If it’s not too much trouble, could you let this child go now? It’s time for him to sing hymns at the cathedral. If he’s late, he’ll get scolded by Sister Mary.”
“Hymns…”
Lenok chuckled at the boy’s nonchalant answer.
That very statement seemed to show how the boy thought of the current situation.
But Lenok didn’t force a confrontation with the mayor at this point just to hear such an answer.
“I’m not asking because I’m curious why the mayor of Vulcan hasn’t come forward and is still hiding.”
“……”
“It’s because your answer is somehow connected to the fundamental reason for attending this hearing. So, tell me.”
Lenok’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“What did you hear from Kaise?”
“Hmm, that’s why I didn’t want to meet you now…”
The boy shook his head with a troubled look.
“Alright. I shouldn’t play around with a monster who plays with the Judgment Covenant. But what I can tell you is only about how to obtain knowledge.”
“I also know about the circumvention of the restrictions.”
“The answer is in the 19th district where Vice Mayor Weinstein visited.”
The boy said slowly.
“If your connection can reach beyond that, you will be able to understand the truth.”
Was the secret about Kaise hidden beyond the [door] that existed in the 19th district?
Just as Lenok was pondering that fact, the boy dusted off his clothes and stood up as if nothing had happened.
“Actually, I didn’t originally plan to encounter you like this… but precognitives are indeed troublesome beings. The same goes for the Baritz bloodline, there’s a reason why abilities are rejected in long history.”
“……”
“I’d like to get rid of you right now, but I don’t think there’s any need to show mercy to a precognitive whose ending is already determined.”
With those words, the boy smiled and turned around.
“Let’s meet again if we have the chance. Great mage. And you too, Antares.”
With those words, the boy walked away without using any supernatural powers.
He adjusted his bag strap and waved innocently to his group waiting for him in the distance.
But neither Lenok nor Antares stopped or caught the boy.
“Antares.”
Lenok said quietly, watching the boy’s retreating figure.
“I’m telling you this because it seems like there won’t be another chance.”
“……”
“I heard from Felix. If you meet the lighthouse keeper and observe the future, your ending-”
“Ban. Don’t worry about that part.”
Antares replied with a smile.
“What can be seen with the initial ability is only the future that hasn’t happened yet. There’s no ability to change the future that has been observed and the ending has been determined.”
“…Have you already confirmed it?”
“Directly with the original Heavenly Eye in her lifetime.”
Antares answered quietly.
“She didn’t like precognitives, but she wanted to know if it was possible to change the predetermined ending of humans.”
“……”
“It was a good experiment. Regardless of the result.”
Antares’ answer was gentle, but the content wasn’t positive.
“But if Felix wants it, I’m thinking of visiting Lapis Falsier once.”
“Even if you know it’s useless?”
“Still, if it can ease Felix’s lingering feelings a little.”
Antares smiled.
“He’s still keeping the promise we made on the pilgrimage.”
“……”
“Then I should do my best too.”
* * *
The great mage’s hearing that had caused a stir throughout Vulcan.
Two days after the hearing, which the mage with the most chilling notoriety in this city had been summoned to attend.
[Here is a mage who says he kills people very carefully.]
[Does this man truly believe that he has been committing acts of destruction with caution?]
But all the media outlets in Vulcan were busy replaying and highlighting Lenok’s words for days.
[The words left by the great mage, Ban the Unyielding, who rules the 49th district, at the hearing are becoming a hot topic…]
[The phrase has been dominating the top of the network and SNS trend rankings for days…]
[Various sectors are criticizing the outrageous remarks made by the mage who killed over hundreds of superhumans-]
[Even though the full transcript of the hearing has not been released, the viewership of the broadcast has broken record numbers-]
“…This is truly unbelievable.”
Felix, who was leaning against the inner wall of the tower and reading the newspaper, sighed with a dumbfounded look.
Felix, glancing at Lenok who was squatting in front of the upper-level inner wall corridor, said.
“To be able to cover all the media outlets in Vulcan with just one sentence, a great mage is indeed different.”
“……”
Lenok, without any reply, was focused on repairing the magic circuit laid out in the corridor.
Felix, who was tapping the newspaper with his arms crossed, asked.
“Just in case, but you didn’t do it on purpose, did you?”
“…Of course not.”
Lenok dusted off his hands and stood up.
In the corridor’s magic circuit, which was glowing with a blue light, a new pure white magic was mixed and flowing.
Lenok, straightening his back and frowning, said.
“If anything, it’s my mistake.”
“Mistake? I didn’t know you could make mistakes.”
“…I don’t know what you think of me.”
Lenok said with a wry smile.
“I just sympathized with something someone said, and I thought it was an appropriate answer.”
“That’s an appropriate answer?”
“Yeah, I thought so at the time…”
Lenok, stroking his chin and thinking, slowly nodded.
“Come to think of it, I think I was thinking the same way as other people at that time. I didn’t take that into account.”
“……”
Felix, looking down at Lenok with an indescribable emotion, sighed deeply, as if his bird’s head had sunk in.
“I heard from Jenny earlier that you’re being called all sorts of ridiculous nicknames on the deep web right now.”
“……”
“The immortal great mage, the life-despising tower lord, the human-loving dog, and all sorts of other strange names…”
“Do you really have to explain that in front of me?”
Lenok turned his back, not knowing whether Felix wanted to scold him or tease him with his new nicknames.
“Anyway, it’s almost done, so just wait a little longer. All that’s left is to add the mass formula into the magic circuit.”
It wasn’t that he had called Felix for no reason and made him wait for a long time.
It was just that he had been focusing on remodeling the tower’s facilities and adding new abilities whenever he had time, so the schedule didn’t match.
Among them, what Lenok was doing now was the mass formula assignment work of the tower that had been postponed for quite a long time.
The Ascendant of the old world, the war proxy Hermes Orokneer.
His power, which used mass formulas to wage war single-handedly, was a high-dimensional authority that even Lenok couldn’t easily handle.
A transcendent’s formula who had not only obtained the qualifications for ascension but also sent his own answer to the next world.
The fact that he was finally able to integrate the mass formula, which was so difficult, complex, and had poor fuel efficiency, into the tower’s system was because.
Lenok’s maximum magic power had increased, and he was able to handle the extremely poor fuel efficiency of the mass formula.
The absorption of magic from the outer sea to increase his magic power was a coincidence that occurred in the process of helping Lapis,
but as a result, the fact that his magic power itself had greatly increased was a huge benefit for Lenok as well.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to imagine remodeling all the systems of the tower like he was doing now.
Lenok, who roughly wiped the soot from his face with his shirt sleeve, said, shaking the magic adjustment device he was holding.
“All that’s left is to reconnect all the magic circuits of the tower to the engine. The assimilation process itself won’t take more than 5 minutes, so follow me.”
“…I always think, but you’re really an unpredictable person.”
Felix shook his head with a dumbfounded look, but still followed Lenok obediently.
“The great mage who has turned Vulcan upside down several times is focused on repairing the tower for days like this, other people wouldn’t believe it even if they saw it.”
“Really? I think this kind of work is quite fun in its own way.”
Lenok chuckled.
“There aren’t many tasks where there’s a clear improvement and the high point of the result changes depending on my judgment. It may look boring, but there’s a part that stimulates a sense of accomplishment.”
“That’s an interesting answer. Does a mage like you still have emotions like a desire for achievement?”
“Yes.”
Lenok said, heading to the underground common where the tower’s engine was located.
“A long time ago, I couldn’t even grasp what kind of effort I had to make to become stronger.”
“……”
“Looking back now, I miss the time when I didn’t choose anything… but it’s over.”
Click!!
Reconnecting the magic circuit to the tower’s engine, which directly receives magic from the Phoenix Hall, and restarting it.
Among the intense magic shining with red and blue light, a pure white thought began to shine slowly.
After building the Lightning Connector system that allows free movement within the tower’s territory, the engine is essentially starting to operate again for the first time.
At the same time as the lights gradually turned on, the outer and inner walls of the tower began to vibrate and shake.
Kugugugugu!!!
From the other side of the tower’s underground common, which was shaking violently and then quickly regaining stability, a baby dragon with a pure white body ran out.
[Awoo…!!]
Perhaps frightened by the shaking tower, the huge baby dragon spread its limbs and jumped towards Lenok.
“It’s a task to give virtual mass to the area around the tower’s territory, so that it can exist independently without being bound to the ground.”
Lenok said, using magic to lighten the guardian spirit’s plump body and catch it.
“The goal is to make the entire tower not bound by the laws of physics on the ground in the future.”
“The laws of physics on the ground…?”
“I think you already have an idea.”
Lenok smiled.
“My goal is to make this tower a floating fortress in the sky, not on the ground.”
“……”
A preposterous idea.
But Felix couldn’t say anything because the one who was saying it was the mage who had created the tower himself.
“The reason I called you today is not for any other reason, but because there’s one thing I want to ask.”
Lenok, wiping the sweat that was dripping down his forehead, sat on the support between the huge engine and raised his hand.
“If I don’t check before dealing with the deep web stuff, I might not have time for a while.”
“…Deep web stuff?”
Lenok, ignoring Felix’s question, took out a cigarette and asked.
“Antares’ matter. You know about it, right?”
“……”
“He said that he wouldn’t be able to change his ending even by borrowing Lapis’ ability.”
Lenok said with a blank face.
“But he told me that he would visit Lapis someday to keep the promise of the pilgrimage.”
“……”
“What is the pilgrimage? Why do you guys call traveling around the continent by that name?”
Lenok asked, watching Felix close his eyes without saying anything.
“Croken Asilus was with you on that journey, and if you and Antares are still on that path, I think I should hear what it is at least once.”
“That’s…”
Felix, hesitating, said.
“That was our dream.”
“Dream?”
“There’s a secret story passed down among countless mercenaries and warriors.”
Felix gave a wry smile.
“A warrior who completes his own pilgrimage by traveling the continent can obtain a destiny that suits his ending…”
“……”
“It doesn’t have any special rules or forms. I’ve only heard that it means the journey itself. But-”
Felix, looking up at the sky without saying anything, said.
“It’s clear that it’s called that for the forgotten ancient ascension ritual for warriors to challenge ascension.”