The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 69

“This is the artifact workshop that our Blue Mana Tower is so proud of.”

“……Wow.”

One of the top three artifact production workshops in the world.

True to its reputation, the facilities inside the workshop were truly enormous.

“Isn’t that the refining equipment from Repel Corporation that hasn’t even been released yet?”

“Haha. You recognized it right away. That’s right. It’s a tool scheduled for release in the second half of this year or early next year. The artisans sent it over for us to use and give their feedback.”

“……Repel Corporation just sent you a test product for free?”

“There’s no way it was free.”

Kim Kangin smiled meaningfully. It was a smile that seemed to carry a subtle sense of pride.

“We actually got paid.”

“Excuse me?”

“Why are you so surprised? Receiving a sample and giving feedback. There’s no way we’d do that for free.”

“……That’s true, I suppose.”

Logically, Kim Kangin’s words were correct.

But the other party was none other than Repel Corporation. A giant corporation that produces not only artifacts and refining tools but also all kinds of magical tools.

Just being able to try out a new product from such a company would be a great benefit, but to receive additional payment on top of that.

‘So this is the Blue Mana Tower.’

It was a scene that showed how important Repel Corporation considered the Blue Mana Tower as a business partner.

“There aren’t any artisans here?”

“Yes. Usually, there’s no one here between 5 and 7.”

It seemed to be dinner and break time.

“That’s a shame. I wanted to see the artisans at work.”

“Hmm. It’s actually our artisans who would want to see you at work.”

“Pardon?”

They want to see me at work?

“Everyone has seen the video of you refining the Element Mana Light. They’ve all been lamenting how they should have seen that scene in person, not just in a video…”

“Ah……”

Element Mana Light.

The impregnable mana stone that has been a challenge from the Red Mana Tower to the Blue Mana Tower.

It wasn’t just Kim Kangin who couldn’t refine that mana stone.

The artisans belonging to the Blue Mana Tower were the same.

‘Since I solved something they couldn’t solve even after years of research, it’s understandable that they’d want to see it.’

I understood.

“If you have the chance next time, please come and show us how you refine mana stones. Everyone would love it.”

“Wouldn’t they just be disappointed by my lacking skills?”

To be clear, my mana stone refining skills are terrible.

The Element Mana Light was a special mana stone that required mana control capable of fully controlling the four attributes, so I was able to succeed easily.

I’m honestly not confident in refining other mana stones.

“We know that you haven’t learned general refining techniques. We also know that the Element Mana Light was a special case.”

Of course, Kim Kangin knew about this. He had seen me refine the Element Mana Light right in front of him, and I had also told him how to refine it.

It would be strange if he didn’t know.

“I’m not asking you to demonstrate the refining of ordinary mana stones. What I’d like to ask is for you to refine special mana stones with similar properties to the Element Mana Light… For example, composite attribute mana stones like the Light-Dark Stone.”

“Ah, I see.”

Light-Dark Stone.

A chaotic mana stone where light mana and dark mana are mixed.

It’s not as difficult as the four-attribute mixture of the Element Mana Light, but it’s still an extremely difficult mana stone to refine.

“Can I seriously ask you for this? I think it would be a good opportunity for our artisans.”

“I don’t think my refining is worth that much… But if that’s the case, I’m fine with it anytime.”

I’ve received quite a bit of help from Kim Kangin. I can grant this much of a request anytime.

And trying to refine something like that would be helpful to me as well.

“Thank you. Well, you must be very busy these days, so let’s schedule it after the Olympiad.”

“Yes.”

Kim Kangin smiled brightly.

“Then, from now on, I’ll give you a brief tour of the workshop.”

“Please do.”

As I was guided through the workshop by Kim Kangin, I eventually arrived at the deepest part of the workshop.

“And here it is. This is the workshop where your artifact, ‘Four Realms,’ is being made.”

It was a space of about 10 pyeong [approximately 33 square meters] filled with complexly designed magical devices that were impossible to understand.

“……These are facilities I’ve never seen before in my life.”

“That’s probably true. We haven’t disclosed any information about these facilities to anyone yet.”

Not disclosed to anyone.

Not ‘hasn’t been’ disclosed, but ‘hasn’t’ disclosed.

That means.

“This… Could it be that the Blue Mana Tower developed these magical facilities?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Kim Kangin smiled brightly.

“It’s something that was finally able to fulfill its role thanks to your Element Mana Light refining.”

Kim Kangin looked at the facilities with loving eyes, touching them here and there. I could believe he was truly in love.

“What kind of function does this device have?”

“It’s a mana stone compression device.”

“Compression?”

Isn’t compression common?

“Of course, it’s not ordinary compression. This device can compress over 100,000 times.”

“……100,000 times?”

“Yes.”

Kim Kangin manipulated the device, opening it.

The device slowly opened with a mechanical sound.

“By applying only 0.01% or less deformation per compression and compressing the mana stone very finely, we can make the mana stone as thin as paper by repeating this about 100,000 times.”

Something could be seen inside the device.

Red, blue, green, and yellow.

A thin piece of glass about 1.3cm in diameter, shining in four colors.

It was contained in a square cube.

“You said you liked artifacts that weren’t cumbersome on the body.”

“Yes.”

“And you said that the form didn’t matter as long as it wasn’t cumbersome.”

“……Yes.”

Kim Kangin took out the unidentified glass in its cube.

“This is…”

“Yes.”

Slightly curved like a dome.

A very thin piece of glass with a diameter of 1.3cm.

“Is it a contact lens…?”

“That’s right.”

A lens shining in four colors.

“The Blue Mana Tower’s greatest masterpiece, made possible by the Element Mana Light’s attribute fusion ability.”

Kim Kangin smiled confidently.

“The world’s first four-attribute composite artifact and the world’s first eye-contact artifact. Four Realms.”

Four worlds, Four Realms.

“I’m confident that this artifact will show you a new world.”

Mana stone contact lenses.

That seemed to be the project the Blue Mana Tower had been preparing.

* * *

After that, I heard various explanations about the Four Realms.

How good its performance was, how comfortable it was to wear, how perfect it was, how it protected the pupil, the greatest weakness, and how it would work for those with magic eyes. I heard all sorts of information.

Normally, I would have just thought, ‘Kim Kangin is doing his TMI [Too Much Information] talk again,’ and reacted appropriately, but this time, I was grateful for Kim Kangin’s TMI.

I welcome this kind of TMI anytime.

“I guess I won’t be able to sleep for the next three days.”

The Four Realms would be completed in three days. Thanks to that, I was excited in real-time.

“That won’t do. The Olympiad isn’t far away, so you can’t afford to not sleep.”

Kim Kangin smiled playfully.

“If you fail to control your condition because of this and fail to win a gold medal at the Olympiad, I’ll confiscate the Four Realms as punishment.”

“Ah, that won’t do. I’ll have to get plenty of sleep somehow.”

I also smiled playfully.

A warm atmosphere permeated between us.

“Excuse me.”

In the meantime, the food arrived.

A woman set the appetizers with practiced movements.

“Enjoy your time.”

And after bowing slightly, she returned to her original place. She must have gone to prepare the next dish.

“Well, the food is here. Let’s talk about other things after we eat. This is my favorite course, so I hope you like it.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

After that, we enjoyed the course meal, repeating only short conversations.

It was indeed a quality worthy of being Kim Kangin’s favorite course.

I pride myself on having eaten a lot of high-end food since I was young, but this place was among the top tier.

I should remember this place and come back again if I have the chance.

“Did it suit your taste?”

Kim Kangin asked with a smile.

“Yes. It was delicious. Thanks to you, I found a good restaurant.”

“Haha. I’m glad to hear that.”

Kim Kangin sipped his after-dinner wine. His expression softened a little, as if he liked the wine quite a bit.

“Well, now that we’ve filled our stomachs, let’s hear what you wanted to say to me.”

Kim Kangin swirled his wine glass appropriately and his eyes sparkled.

“I’m already looking forward to what kind of interesting story you’ve prepared this time.”

Kim Kangin seemed convinced that I would bring up an unusual story this time as well.

It was a natural conviction, as I had never brought up an ordinary story before.

“Hmm.”

I glanced around.

Is the security here okay?

“You don’t have to worry about security. I guarantee it.”

Come to think of it, this restaurant was one that Kim Kangin frequented.

As such, the security must be thorough.

“But if you’re still worried…”

Kim Kangin lightly snapped his fingers. At that moment, a translucent barrier formed around us.

It was a sound-blocking barrier that Min Janghyun had used before on Baekryeong Island.

“Now, tell me.”

Kim Kangin’s smile deepened. He must have been convinced again that my words were unusual because of how much I worried about security.

I stared straight into Kim Kangin’s eyes and slowly opened my mouth.

“To put it bluntly, there’s a very high possibility that the Black Mana Tower will intervene in this Olympiad.”

Kim Kangin’s pupils dilated.

He seemed momentarily stunned by the completely unexpected words.

“……Could you explain in detail?”

Kim Kangin’s expression turned cold. As a man who hated the Black Mana Tower more than anyone else, it was a natural change in expression.

“First of all. You’ve heard about my magic eyes, right?”

“Yes. I know. You’re said to possess detection-type magic eyes that are similar to my Ruby Eyes. What about it?”

His eyes were asking what my magic eyes had to do with the Black Mana Tower’s intervention in the Olympiad.

“I haven’t told the media, but my magic eyes have the power to see the amount of mana a target possesses.”

“Does that mean you can see the opponent’s level, like my Ruby Eyes?”

“Yes.”

Kim Kangin asked back, somewhat surprised.

“In addition, I also have the power to distinguish the opponent’s mana by ‘color’.”

“Mana by color… Does that mean you can classify colors by attribute?”

“Yes. That’s right. Through these eyes, I can read the attributes of an opponent’s magic before it’s activated.”

This time, Kim Kangin’s eyes widened greatly. He had an expression of disbelief.

“The reason I was able to be certain that Leng Smith was a spy of the Black Mana Tower was because of this power to see mana by color.”

“……You saw the Black Mana Tower’s mana flowing through Leng Smith’s body. Is that it?”

“Yes.”

Kim Kangin’s brow furrowed.

He seemed to be deep in thought.

“……Indeed. If that’s the case, then I understand the information gap that made it impossible to know your identity. So?”

He understood that my magic eyes were amazing.

So, what did that have to do with the Black Mana Tower intervening in the Olympiad?

That was the expression he was making.

“I confirmed the Black Mana Tower’s unique black mana with these eyes on Baekryeong Island this time.”

“……Are you sure?”

“Yes. I directly encountered it at the central research institute on Baekryeong Island.”

“Encountered it at the research institute……”

Kim Kangin’s expression twisted with disgust.

“Does that mean that the Black Mana Tower caused the Baekryeong Island core explosion incident?”

“Yes. I believe that’s highly likely. Here. This is the data.”

I handed the data I had prepared in advance to Kim Kangin.

That a Black Mana Tower executive was impersonating the research director.

That such a research director left the island the day before the core explosion.

And other things.

I delivered all the information that had not been released to the media.

“……”

As he read through the data, Kim Kangin’s expression grew colder and colder.

“In short, is this it? There’s someone within the Magic God Society who’s trying to eliminate you. And that person is daringly colluding with the Black Mana Tower.”

“Yes.”

I hadn’t mentioned that the spy was Shin Jihan yet.

There was no point in saying it without evidence.

This side could face a backlash, and Shin Jihan could become aware of my movements through Kim Kangin’s actions.

Talking about Shin Jihan was still only harmful for now.

“Someone, whoever it is, is even thinking of eliminating me by causing the core to explode. There’s no way such a person wouldn’t take advantage of the timing when I leave Korea to participate in the Olympiad.”

Those who had even thought of erasing me along with Baekryeong Island wouldn’t just leave me alone when I left Korea.

They would most likely do something at the Olympiad.

“Then what you want to ask me is…”

“Yes.”

I looked straight into Kim Kangin’s eyes and said.

“I would like you to protect me while I’m competing in the Olympiad.”