The Mistake

King Cervantes was deeply conflicted.

Throughout history, at home and abroad, only the Barbarossa Empire had ever had a Legendary Mage stationed in its capital to guard it with a Mage Tower—and even then, for less than thirty years. After that Legendary Mage was killed in a duel by a Dragon Lich whose power was nearly demigod-level, there had never again been a record of a Legendary Mage helping to defend a human kingdom's capital.

Even the mighty two human empires could only get Master Level mages to guard their capitals.

For an ordinary kingdom, having a High-Level Mage lend their support was already something to be grateful for.

It was like someone with a limited budget before transmigrating, taking a gamble on whether a "graphics card used by a girl, 90% new" was really what the seller claimed.

Hey!

Gamblers gambled every day. How could they lose every day!?

I, King Cervantes XIII, have the spirits of my ancestors protecting me. I'll bet that Legendary Mage won't be so shameless as to come and snatch his disciple's little Mage Tower!

His Majesty clenched his teeth. "Ganis, go make contact with that gentleman and see whether he intends to hand the Mage Tower over to his disciple. Then, you can offer him this much..."

The king secretly made a hand gesture.

As a longtime minister, Ganis understood at once. He led his men off to offer their "congratulations."

In truth, the Cervantes king and his ministers were worrying over nothing. They were on a completely different wavelength from Lein.

After taking in [Iron Face], Lein was busy checking the system.

Only when Downs's "friends" knelt deeply alongside him did Lein realize, Oh, right, there are four other nobodies here.

"Greetings, Your Excellency Tesla." After one of the disciples reminded them in a low voice, the four peripheral members at least learned the surname that the so-called Legendary Archmage had made up for himself.

"Oh, thank you for your efforts, everyone." Lein was busy checking which planes his newly acquired [Beginner Teleportation] could connect to.

Madela was a High-Level Mage, but when it came to Spatial Magic, he was genuinely far beyond what his rank suggested. It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say he'd reached the threshold of Master Level.

When he died, his permissions were released to [Iron Face], and eventually came into Lein's hands. Leaving aside the Mage's Vault, which Lein couldn't personally inspect, Madela's most immediate legacy alone included dozens of spatial coordinates.

The discovery had piqued the curiosity of Lein, who'd been very bored lately.

Madela was a Halfling less than a meter tall, and the magical manuscripts he'd left behind were written in the Halfling language. Lein couldn't understand a word, but he was itching to find out what they said.

Downs's friends were hoping to make a good impression on Lein, but their attempt at flattery had landed wide of the mark.

Lein said casually, "There are a lot of things left behind by the missing adventurers in this Mage Tower. Help sort through them. If you need anything, talk to Downs."

"Yes!" The four were overjoyed.

They knew their place and certainly hadn't expected to make a connection with a Legendary Archmage. But getting close to the Archmage's disciple would still be a great opportunity. And on top of that, they'd been asked to sort through the adventurers' abandoned gear in the Mage Tower.

Honestly, the tower belonged to the Archmage now. The four could only grit their teeth and accept it, even if he didn't leave them so much as a drop of soup, let alone a share of the meat.

At that moment, they gained a profound understanding of the century-old saying: "Mages are either broke or loaded."

"Downs, let's keep in touch!"

"If you need anything, I'll take a blade for you."

"May the Holy Light grant you good fortune."

"Come visit my forest sometime."

Downs warmly saw off the companions who had fought alongside him, and felt a little warmth in his heart.

It wasn't for any other reason. In the end, whether they'd been despairing or furious, at least they hadn't lost control and vented their anger at him.

Downs knew there would always be people who came looking for him just to curry favor. He couldn't expect every person to genuinely care about him. But people like those four were at least companions he could trust with his back, a little.

Downs watched them follow the Tower Spirit [Iron Face] to the remains of the victims and begin clearing the area. Relieved, he went to Laifu again.

"Master, are you there?"

"I am."

Downs instinctively sensed that his master seemed to be brushing him off.

If Downs had enough life experience, he would have realized that his master was in the middle of a "girlfriends can be replaced, but the team battle must be won" kind of situation.

Lein's eyes were full of spatial coordinates. He was miserably using the system to analyze where each coordinate might lead and assess the risks. How could he find time to pay attention to his foolish disciple?

Even if he couldn't go there, couldn't he at least take a look?

Downs could never understand the fun of opening a blind box and drawing an anime waifu!

Who knew that Downs wouldn't pick up on his master's wandering thoughts at all, and simply began reflecting on his own.

"Master, now I finally understand why you always emphasize [science] and theoretical knowledge. As expected, [knowledge is power]!"

"Mm."

"It's ridiculous. I only knew a dozen or so spells, and I thought I was the Son of Heaven. I always thought you were lying when you said, 'You're the worst class I've ever taught.' Now I see that compared to my senior brothers and sisters, I still have so much to learn."

"Mm..."

"I've made up my mind. Once things are settled here, I'll return to your side and devote myself to studying the fundamentals of magic."

"Mm???" Lein's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

In truth, Lein had really wanted to respond with three cheerful question marks.

But out of respect for his master's dignity, he didn't dare ask Downs to repeat himself!

How could he tell Downs that he'd been listening just now—as in, listening in the sense of "as if"?!

Speaking through [Laifu], Lein adopted a lofty, avuncular tone. "Young people shouldn't aim too high, nor should they be of two minds."

Lein had clearly given him an ambiguous answer, but in Downs's ears, it took on an entirely different meaning:

Oh! Cervantes citizens came of age at twenty, and only adults could be called "young people."

So Master meant that before I turned twenty, I shouldn't expect too much of myself. Becoming a Legendary Mage would be enough. And "don't be of two minds" meant I should stay resolute and never waver.

Wuwuwu! Master thinks so highly of me!

Downs was instantly moved to tears. "Master! Your disciple will study hard and strive to improve every day."

Lein was dumbfounded. How had his foolish disciple managed to work himself up all on his own?

In a moment of distraction, Lein accidentally clicked on a spatial coordinate that the system had rated as [Beginner]. Before his eyes, a black halo spread open like ink dropped into a clear pool of water.

The next second, the Mage Tower, which had been silent for more than a century, was suddenly rocked by an earth-shaking tremor.

Without warning, after a flash of green light, a large horde of monsters burst onto the open ground south of the Mage Tower.

Even though King Cervantes had prepared a security force for the expedition's entry, the soldiers were still badly startled.

"Weren't we told the Mage Tower was under control?"

As the underground monsters charged toward them, the city guards scrambled to fight back.

For the first time in thirty years, the alarm bell rang in Cervantes Royal City...