Who Actually Won?

Lein got his wish and saw the system, but the muscles in his face instantly froze.

There was only one reason.

The system said the portal could indeed transport people and supplies, provided someone was there to oversee its operation. In this academy, whose entire student body and faculty consisted of just two people, the only one who qualified was Lein himself, the one who knew [Beginner Teleportation].

Without a qualified overseer, any attempt to force a teleport was bound to fail. The person being transported would most likely be swept into the spatial turbulence, where even a 1-in-9,999 chance of survival wasn't guaranteed.

As fate would have it, the person one certain master most wanted to transport was himself.

Lein felt his body and soul turn to stone in an instant. Then a gust of wind blew, and he completely fell apart—apart, apart, apart...

The Mage Tower, which he'd practically gotten for free, suddenly didn't seem so appealing.

Lein really wanted to belt out My Sorrow Is Made of Water, but he was afraid that if he sang it and heard that awful, gong-like voice, he'd beat himself to death first.

Sigh! Let's not talk about it.

The more I say, the more tears I shed.

Downs sensed the subtle change in the atmosphere. He immediately decided that his master was disappointed in him again. Boohoohoo! I became a High-Level Mage and got carried away with myself... I really am too frivolous. From now on, I'll work twice as hard, master more magic, climb the ladder to legend, and keep up with my master.

Leaving their side aside for now, ever since Downs had led the four of them into the Mage Tower, the palace had been keeping a close eye on what was happening there.

King Cervantes had specially chosen a large terrace in the palace with a view of the Madela Mage Tower. He called it "rest time," but in reality he watched the tower anxiously.

The king made sure he'd know at once if anything happened.

"Your Majesty, the protective array has long been prepared." The speaker was a Holy Priest.

A hundred years ago, after magic's protection was lost, the capitals of every kingdom had been forced to change their defenses. These days, protective arrays were powered not by magic, but by divine spells.

Divine spells could fail at random, too, but having some protection was better than running around naked.

King Cervantes nodded lightly.

He felt more at ease with the large group of heavily armored Royal Guards in front of the terrace than with a divine array.

The king turned around. He'd lost count of how many times he'd asked Ganis: "They'll succeed, won't they?"

"They will." The Half-elf advisor remained gentle and patient as he gave the same reassuring answer again. "Your Majesty needn't trust my judgment, but at least trust the power of that Legendary Archmage."

At the thought that the Legendary Archmage might take over the Mage Tower in his capital, the king was again torn between hope and dread.

The ideal outcome, of course, would be for Downs Quijote, a High-Level Mage, to take charge. Downs was a son of Cervantes, and the king had a thousand reasons to win over this promising young Mage.

But it would be very difficult for King Cervantes to support a Legendary Archmage, and the man's origins were unknown. If the kingdom poured all its resources into him, only for him to run off, the king wouldn't even have anywhere to cry.

And so, after two hours of agonizing with Ganis and the other senior officials, the king suddenly saw a dazzling, iridescent blue light shoot from the top of the Mage Tower. It pierced the sky and swept away huge swathes of white clouds.

"What is this..." The king, who had been pacing, stopped at once and turned to Ganis.

One of the sharpest-eyed people in the kingdom, Ganis carefully compared the tower before him with the Mage Tower in his memory, then broke into a smile. "In any case, the Mage Tower is under control. Congratulations, Your Majesty."

The king was overjoyed. He knew perfectly well that only five people had entered the Mage Tower, and that Downs's master hadn't shown himself at all.

If his guess was right, his dear little hero of a Mage had accomplished the feat of conquering the out-of-control Mage Tower that had devoured countless elite squads over the past hundred years.

King Cervantes had no interest in dealing with that irritable, unpredictable Legendary Archmage.

Compared with an Archmage he couldn't afford to support, let alone win over, Downs, the young man, was much more appealing.

Youth represented hope and the future—and, even more, immaturity.

Judging by Downs's record, King Cervantes was twelve out of ten certain he could keep the boy in line.

Downs was too young. Even though he'd been born into a court rife with intrigue, his age would remain a fatal weakness.

The king beamed. "Send word! Welcome our kingdom's new hero, Sir Downs Quijote, with the grandest ceremony. Make all the preparations to the highest standard. I won't allow a single publicly acknowledged unmarried beauty in the royal city to refuse to attend tonight's banquet. Uh, make up the numbers with handsome young men, too. Keep those Foreign race beauties on standby for now."

Those last two sentences made the corner of Ganis's mouth twitch. From the kingdom's perspective, His Majesty's approach was entirely reasonable.

If they didn't pamper their own young hero, were they supposed to leave him for another kingdom to poach?

But just as the king finished issuing his string of orders, he saw one of his Shadow Guards race through the main gate of the palace, charging over at an extraordinary speed of less than five seconds per hundred meters.

His Majesty instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

The Shadow Dancer arrived at the terrace and, under the watchful eyes of the guards, stopped at a safe distance of five meters before kneeling on one knee. "Reporting to Your Majesty. The Madela Mage Tower has been successfully activated. The problem is that Sir Downs Quijote lost control at the final moment, and his mysterious master had to step in and take over the Mage Tower."

The king's facial muscles weren't the only ones to suddenly freeze. The ceremonial officials who had just received their orders and were about to hurry off to work also stood rooted to the spot, as if they'd all been struck by Flesh to Stone.

How ridiculously awkward.

A young hero of a Mage taking over the Mage Tower and his master taking it over were two entirely different things!

One was a rookie he could twist and flatten as he pleased.

The other was a freak who might be older than his grandfather.

Who had the upper hand was obvious!

His Majesty was completely numb. He even looked at Ganis in terror.

He could already picture a Legendary Archmage, throwing all decorum aside, taking control of the Madela Mage Tower and aiming the fabled magic cannons at the royal palace.

Even if the man seemed "neutral," who could say he was truly neutral when he'd never shown himself?

Ganis was the one who kept his head. He quickly pressed the Shadow Guard for details about what had happened.

Once the whole story was clear, the awkwardness in the air only grew.

Downs was indeed powerful, virtually invincible among his peers, but he had nearly failed at the final magical hurdle. His disciple had nearly crashed and burned, so it was only natural for his master to step in and save him.

Even knowing that, the king still felt awful.

In this state of almost—but not quite—getting what he wanted, His Majesty Cervantes simply couldn't feel happy.

"Perhaps we could suggest that His Excellency return control of the Mage Tower to us?" Ganis ventured cautiously.

Well, this secondhand Mage Tower was a bit like a girl who'd run off from home. Even if this ordeal hadn't turned it into a knight who'd been through a Goblin den, the king still felt its state was about the same as that of a girl whose thighs were covered in tally marks spelling out "正."

And there was no guarantee the man hadn't left some sort of contingency behind. What if the Mage Tower fell under someone else's control again one day...