[Chapter 61 Comment]
"I have completed my side of the agreement." Theo smiled, showing his accomplishment.
"That's truly the case..." Baold nodded in approval. Theo had truly managed to clear the trials. However, he also wondered about one thing. "By the way, do you know where the previous people went?"
Theo shook his head. "I'm afraid that not even a single remains can be found."
"Is that so?" Baold looked sad. Although they were normal explorers, it didn't change the fact that they were subjects of the empire.
"In that case, you should take some rest. I'll handle the rest." Baold waved his hand.
"Sure." Theo accepted it without hesitation. But Baold noticed the paper in his hand and asked, "By the way, what is that?"
"Ah, this? It was inside the tower earlier." Theo showed it to Baold.
Baold frowned and carefully read the content.
'I, Lemin Balkman, congratulate you, who managed to complete the challenge of my tower. You could get everything you want from the inside. However, I have a small request for the winner.'
'Because I know that my body will decay sooner or later and I don't know how long I will have to wait for the one who can clear the tower to appear. I have burned my body and turned it into ashes with the help of Inscription. I would like you to bring my ashes to my hometown, Lekin, and spread them around the town, hoping that I would stay beside them forever.'
Baold examined the paper and saw Haruka bringing a jar that contained Lemin's ashes.
"Is that..." Baold asked to confirm its existence.
"Yes." Haruka nodded with a serious expression.
"Since I'm the one completing it, I think I share a duty in bringing him home. Before returning to my original world, do you mind if we go to this city first and spread his ashes?" Theo asked.
"Lekin, huh?" Baold recalled the information first.
"Is that a problem? Has the city gone, or is it not in the Empire's territory?"
"No. That's not the problem. It's just..." Baold made a wry smile. "Do you remember the place we came from?"
"Yes. Wait a minute..." Theo frowned, understanding his concern.
"As you could see, that place was in Lekin's Territory. However, due to the appearance of the portal, the city ended up disappearing, and that huge area was turned into a structure that protected the portal."
"I see." Theo nodded. "Well, I think it's fine. I will spread his ashes around that structure so that he can rest in his hometown and protect it."
"I don't think it's a problem. I can guarantee you as the Minister of Defense." Baold agreed without hesitation.
"Alright. I think everything is in that place. I don't know which one is the Eye of Truth, so you could take a look at them first and give me the part of the deal later." Theo pointed at the pile of items on the side.
"Got it." Baold paused for a moment. "I know that you are tired, but can I ask you two questions?"
"I don't mind. But..." Theo looked around as if he was uncomfortable with everyone's stare.
Baold almost forgot about them. He hurriedly turned around and shouted, "All of you are to go back to your duty. Inform the empire about our success and tell them that we will need another reinforcement. After dealing with this, we will be inspecting the items."
Most of the people ended up leaving in disappointment. Only some soldiers and a few high-ranking figures remained as if they had the right to know about it.
Baold continued, "How did you clear the tower? I mean, you could just explain it briefly."
"For that..." Theo gently pushed Haruka forward as if telling her to explain the entire thing.
Haruka knew her part and began explaining about the tower. "There are five trials in total as you have guessed. Each trial represents Helpless, Imagination, Limitless, Honesty, and Despair. Do you want me to explain the reason for each of them?"
"If possible, yes."
"I believe the first floor wants to break us first. After destroying our pride, the second floor utilizes the illusion so that we have to challenge something in our imagination. The third floor shows us that the imagination is limitless. The fourth floor represents Honesty, which is probably wanting us to reveal truth from lies. It should be the foundation of the illusion that can affect reality. Last but not least, it's going to break us again from all the confidence we have gained after clearing the last four floors. I can write about my experience in this. As for Teacher, I don't think he can, since he saw through the illusion and skipped the trials, thus the reason why he asked me to explain."
The people gasped, never thinking that Theo was that capable. Baold thought the explanation was enough, and since Haruka promised to share her experience, it should give them a good record about the great illusionist.
"Then, my second question. Do you know the reason why the tower disappears?"
Haruka glanced at her teacher, who nodded his head. She then answered, "The tower was an illusion. Attacking an illusion would result in nothing."
"Illusion?" Baold gasped, finally understanding the reason why they were so helpless. Only because of Theo, who saw through the illusion, did they manage to clear the trials. He didn't know when he would have found the true answer if he hadn't asked for Theo's help. It seemed that he had to thank his grandson who told him about a great illusionist in the academy. "Thank you very much. Please get some rest first."
"Sure." Theo took a step forward, leading the students.
But before he could leave the area, someone shouted, "Stop!"
That shout caused another wave of silence, making them confused about the reason why such a word was said.
In addition, everyone was curious about who actually tried to stop Theo.
Their gaze soon fell on Devian. Yes, the one who stopped Theo was actually the commander of the guards.
"Devian?" Baold squinted his eyes, not liking how he disrespected his guests, especially after Theo cleared the tower.
"My deepest apologies, Sir Baold. However, we can't trust what these people completely. Unlike our world, the other worlds have some method to store things. If we allow them to leave just like this, we don't know if he has stolen anything." Devian explained the reason, mentioning items like Space Rings.
Obviously, Theo used the Space Ring to hide the compressed tower as well as the books Lemin had given him. Then, he covered the ring with an illusion to make it disappear.
However, Theo made an annoyed look. He had done the favor, yet they would actually suspect him without any proof.
There was another reason why Theo was annoyed.
Baold pointed at the items in the corner and said, "I have made an agreement with Theo that I would give him the Eye of Truth and take the two other artifacts. The rest is just a bonus. While it's his freedom to take it, we have reached an agreement that he will try not to take anything. However, it doesn't mean that he is entirely forbidden to take anything as long as those two artifacts are ours. So, there is no reason for me to check him or whatsoever."
"Enough." Baold had recognized all three artifacts that he wanted to find. The fact Theo hadn't touched them alone was enough to complete the agreement. In addition, there were still a lot of treasures around them, which meant Theo most likely hadn't touched them.
"But Sir..." Devian looked adamant, but Baold shouted back, "Enough. I don't give you permission to disrespect the guests of our Empire as well as the heroes who cleared the tower."
Theo looked at the entire fight and wondered why he managed to complete everything so quickly. He remembered seeing multiple chapter comments, but the amount didn't surpass the previous missions. It was clear that the author was planning to cause a mess in one way or another to extend it.
Additionally, even though he had prepared for the worst, Lemin was actually very friendly. He didn't try to mess with him and prolong the story.
He thought the entire mission went too smoothly. The actual time they took to clear the tower was only an hour, so it seemed that the author was trying to cause something.
Theo frowned and said in a low voice, "The ghost next to Haruka. Can you hear me?"
Haruka suddenly whispered, "She can hear you."
"Can you do me a little favor? Observe that man. There might be something amiss that might put Haruka's life at risk as well."
The moment Theo said those words, the ghost didn't take too long to decide. Although it looked like Theo was asking, she also cared about Haruka. Even without saying anything, she would help Haruka. Theo only gave her a clue.
Haruka and Avalon didn't know the reason why Theo suspected him. They thought it was just because of pettiness.
Unexpectedly, Haruka gasped because the ghost returned immediately. Haruka relayed the message that the ghost gave.
"She said that she heard a sound like shattering glasses."
"Shattering glasses?" Theo frowned. He tried to connect everything, wondering what he could do. Of course, he also factored in the author's power into his calculations.
With all this information, he was trying to find a way for the author to mess with him and prolong the story.
"You serious?" Theo didn't take too long to come to a conclusion. "We are in deep trouble right now."
"Huh? Why is that, Teacher?" Haruka was confused while Avalon placed his hand on the handle of his sword as if getting ready.
While Baold was still arguing with Devian, a strong essence fluctuation shook the area. It created a powerful shock wave that alarmed all the people in the area.
"!!!" All of them reacted instantly by grabbing their weapons. Those who were inside also came out with their weapons in their hands.
Not far from their area, a huge blue vortex began to manifest. This was a similar portal that the Marei used to return yesterday.
Because Theo and the others had witnessed it, they were sure that Marei would come out of the portal.
"Emergency!"
"All soldiers are to come out and be ready to fight the enemies!"
"Marei's Portal's confirmed."
"All staff are to evacuate."
The people were shouting, trying to respond to this weird situation. On the other hand, Baold panicked because he didn't expect that Marei would attack them so precisely.
However, he remembered that he spotted Marei not far from this place when he came here. It was possible that Marei was actually trying to attack the tower.
As he expected, some smaller Marei began to emerge from the portal, alerting all people.
Theo looked annoyed as he said in frustration. "Oh shit. Here we go again."