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Chapter 200: Proposal (2)
Currently, Oscar was—if we exaggerate a little—practically perfect.
He had more mana than most Masters.
He had more experience than most Masters.
And he possessed an extensive arsenal of magic usable in virtually any situation.
‘But there’s one weakness... even in my otherwise perfect self.’
All of those abilities required mana.
And that, more than anything, was the fundamental difference between a knight and a mage.
A mage without mana was nothing more than a prideful punching bag.
Oscar knew that well, which was why he continued to train his body and claimed to be both a man of magic and martial arts.
‘What I need is something that can cover for me in emergencies—when I run out of mana.’
That’s when the Wind Archive had strongly recommended the white bracelet now lying before him.
Oscar turned his eyes to the document beside the bracelet.
[Confiscated Item No. 32310]
Name: 『Starry Night』
Classification: Shape-shifting Weapon (Bracelet → Sword)
Effect: When the wearer bends their wrist backward twice, a white sword composed of mana is formed. The blade's durability and cutting power are equivalent to that of a skilled level-5 knight’s aura blade. Even those without mana can use it in a limited fashion via the built-in reserve mana, but once that is depleted, the weapon remains in bracelet form until recharged.
Origin: Shadow Thief, Silk Solain.
Having read the entire description, Oscar nodded.
‘A sword, huh. Not bad.’
Before his death, he’d swung a sword quite a bit himself.
After all, battlefields were far too chaotic for a mage to just stand around with arms crossed in arrogance.
Click.
He fastened the bracelet around his wrist and bent his wrist backward twice.
Fwooom—!
The bracelet, now glowing with light, shifted toward his palm and transformed into a sword.
However, the blade was unlike any typical sword.
It emitted radiant white light, as though it could illuminate the night sky.
‘It’s light.’
So light, in fact, that he nearly forgot he was even holding it.
He swung it slowly.
The mana-forged blade trembled softly and let out a deep, heavy hum.
Fwoong! Fwooong!
‘Unlike a normal sword, the blade is entirely composed of mana.’
Which meant that apart from the hilt, it had no physical form.
After a few more test swings, Oscar nodded again.
He liked the grip, and more importantly, the fact that it operated on reserve mana.
‘Hopefully I won’t need it—but it’ll be useful in a pinch.’
Decision made.
This would be the item he’d take with him.
Click.
He bent his wrist forward twice, and the sword coiled back into bracelet form.
“This is convenient.”
Smiling in satisfaction, Oscar glanced at the bracelet wrapped around his left wrist.
It was the Bracelet of Illusions he’d bought at the underground market in Baran City.
‘Right, I had this one too. I’m slowly getting covered in artifacts without even realizing it.’
And he didn’t mind the feeling one bit.
Even the most powerful of mages rarely traveled unarmed.
He himself had worn all sorts of artifacts in his past life.
‘All of that’s probably buried in the Great Demon Emperor’s tomb by now…’
Each of them was priceless, treasures that no amount of gold could buy.
Clicking his tongue in regret, Oscar returned to where Fran was—only to find the boy pale as a sheet.
“You finished eating?”
“Yeah... but I feel kind of hot.”
“Looks like the medicine’s taking effect.”
It was likely that the low-grade spirit implanted in Fran’s body was reacting to the consumed spirit stone.
If they were lucky, the spirit might even evolve into a higher-grade one.
Even if not, it would still become stronger than before.
“Here, take this.”
Oscar handed Fran a necklace he’d picked up on the way.
“It’s an artifact that greatly boosts the user’s speed. It should suit you well.”
“Th-thank y—”
Fran suddenly collapsed forward mid-sentence.
Oscar quickly caught him and placed a hand on his forehead—it was burning hot, like a furnace.
‘His body can’t handle the growing pains of the spirit, huh?’
This meant his plan to immediately return to Sirin with Fran would have to change.
After a brief moment of thought, Oscar hoisted Fran onto his back and headed out.
* * *
When they arrived at the Clinic of Miracles, Vesalius was standing and reviewing charts, looking healthy.
He beamed when he saw them.
“Ah, you’ve both arr... Hmm?”
His face changed when he noticed Fran slumped over Oscar’s back.
“Professor Oscar, what happened here?”
“Well...”
Oscar quickly explained the situation, and Vesalius sighed in relief.
“If that’s all, then it’s nothing too serious.”
“But he seems to be in quite a bit of pain. Are you sure he’ll be okay?”
“Yes. He’s likely experiencing high fever and some pain, but it shouldn’t last more than two days.”
Vesalius placed a hand on Fran’s forehead, and his expression softened.
“I’ll take care of Fran, so please don’t worry too much.”
“Sorry to trouble you, especially since you just recovered yourself.”
“Haha! Not at all. Thanks to you stopping the terrorist attack, I wasn’t seriously hurt, and you even took care of the cursed beast. I can sleep in peace now. This is the least I can do to repay that debt.”
A healer personally acknowledged by the Emperor was offering his care—what more could Oscar ask for?
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He nodded.
“When Fran wakes up, tell him to rest well before heading back to Sirin.”
“You’re leaving ahead of him?”
“Yes.”
“Please wait, I’ll see you out.”
As Vesalius moved to hand Fran over to the nurses and follow Oscar out, Oscar shook his head.
“No need. I’m not going through the front door anyway.”
“Sorry? Then where are you going—?”
Vesalius glanced at the unfinished, still-under-repair wall, but that wasn’t the answer.
Oscar pulled on a thread of space.
* * *
A familiar sky.
Air he knew by heart.
“Ah, this is nice.”
Home truly was the best.
Travel was exhausting and tiring.
Oscar had arrived on the rooftop of the White Tower in the blink of an eye via portal, and was basking in Sirin’s air when—
BAM!
The rooftop door burst open violently, and a petite woman stormed in, exuding murderous amounts of mana.
“You've finally crossed the line. How dare you invade the White Tower… huh? Master?”
Sasha’s icy expression instantly transformed into that of a harmless creature.
She retracted her magic in an instant and came running toward him.
“Eh?”
Creak—she stopped in her tracks, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
“Hold on. Master went to the capital with Fran, didn’t he?”
The magic she had withdrawn began to swell again, heating the rooftop.
Realizing she had been deceived, Sasha’s eyes sharpened like the deadliest blade.
“You’ve clearly lost your mind. Not only have you dared to trespass into the White Tower, but now you’re impersonating Master Oscar?”
Finding her reaction amusing, he clasped his hands behind his back and decided to tease her a bit.
“Well, well, what an interesting revelation. Calling Oscar ‘Master’—is the former Tower Master reincarnated or something?”
“Th-that’s… that’s not it!”
Watching her fluster in panic, her face pale, Oscar stopped the joke.
“You really still can’t lie, huh? I’m just teasing, Sasha. It’s really me.”
“I-I don’t believe you! Oscar’s in the capital with Fran!”
“Hmm. Wasn’t it when you were four? You accidentally broke Gilly’s favorite toy, and fearing retaliation, came crying to my room at dawn…”
“S-stop! I get it, so stop already!”
Blushing like an apple, Sasha yelled.
“…Please explain.”
“You’ll understand better if you experience it yourself.”
Oscar opened a subspace portal and gestured for Sasha to enter.
Approaching cautiously, she followed him through the portal—then immediately looked harmless again.
“Oh, this is Lake Silvarin, right? We came here during the Night of Mages.”
“That’s right.”
“So this is… an illusion spell or something?”
“No, we actually arrived at Lake Silvarin.”
Staring at the still-beautiful lake, Oscar began explaining what he had achieved in the capital.
“So you stabilized all six magic circuits in the subspace and even created a spell for portals?”
“Rather than creating it… it’s more like I finally noticed something that had always existed.”
“Same difference!”
With sparkling eyes, she clapped like a seal.
“You really are amazing, Master! The only person to use spatial magic like this since the first Tower Master!”
“Well… I’m the only one who inherited their magic.”
Ado, Oscar’s master, passed down a form of spatial magic that was a single-line legacy.
Though a few others dabbled in similar types of magic, none could compare to this.
“So, with this portal spell, could we go to the Kingdom of Yan?”
“It’s possible, but it consumes a massive amount of magic.”
Traveling from the central capital to the Kingdom of Yan consumed about 30% of his mana.
But from Sirin in the north to Yan?
It would take 70%.
The longer the distance, the more exponentially magic is consumed.
“Then… what about beyond the Red Mountains?”
“That didn’t work.”
In fact, one of his first attempts had been to cross the Red Mountains.
If that had worked, he wouldn’t need the royal family’s help to retrieve Edna.
‘If only that were possible, the White Tower’s lost magic and records could all be restored in an instant.’
But the Red Mountains were one of the most unstable magical zones on the continent.
Beyond them lay the Gray Zone, where magical storms constantly raged.
Most knights and mages couldn’t even function properly there.
“That’s a bit disappointing.”
“Can’t be helped. Let’s change the subject. Nothing happened while I was gone, right?”
“Nothing… huh.”
Usually, Sasha would cheerfully reply, “Nope! Not a thing!”
But now, her face was a little sullen as she glanced toward a part of the city.
“Some rather annoying people have settled in Sirin. I’m stressed because I don’t know why they’re here.”
“…Annoying people?”
“The Tattooist and the Puppeteer.”
Oscar nodded at the names.
“The Tattooist must be Kaya Lockwood, right? Never heard of the Puppeteer.”
“Both are criminals from the Violet Brigade. A strange organization with unclear motives. I really don’t get why they came here.”
Now Oscar understood why Sasha had stormed onto the rooftop so angry.
She must have thought those intruders entered the White Tower without permission.
After a brief pause for thought, Oscar spoke.
“Their target is probably me.”
Sasha’s eyes instantly turned cold.
“They don’t know their place… should I go take care of them?”
“No, don’t. I don’t think they mean harm.”
While Oscar was handling Dirje, those two had restrained and gift-wrapped Neil Brion.
If they meant to kill him, they would have done it then.
‘They seem to want to talk, but I still can’t figure out what about.’
Oscar chuckled to himself, wondering why he was even thinking so hard about it.
Turning his gaze toward the city, he spoke calmly.
“…If we don’t know, we’ll just have to find out. Sasha.”
“Yes, Master?”
“Get ready. As the city’s guardian, we should go greet our visitors who’ve come such a long way.”
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