Tick!
A thin, white finger flicks the cone hat on the desk. One spin, two spins, three spins.... The cone hat spins in circles with no intention of stopping, defying the laws of physics. But no one is surprised to see that.
"Hmmm."
It was Jesse Heinness, the Archmage. It was her. Because it was her. The conical hat was like Jesse's symbol and alter ego.
Ever since she rose to fame as the hidden class, the Archmage, Jesse hasn't let anyone see her without it. Not even to her former colleagues from The Shining.
Was it shyness?
Did she not want to show her face?
On the contrary.
Was Jesse trying to establish the cone hat as a trademark?
All sorts of speculation ensued.
Unfortunately for public expectations.
Jesse was not a person of that sensibility.
Jesse looks at the spinning cone hat and mumbles.
"What do you say, dizzy, why don't you cooperate?"
Mage.
People who have emotions and abilities that are far from ordinary criminals. Why is it that even in a Magic Tower, a gathering of mages, jokes about their humanity are so prevalent, even when they know they're spitting in one's face?
Even among those mages.
It was Jesse who had been recognized as a vessel of the Archmage.
Jesse raises her eyebrows in qualification.
"Considering your age, you shouldn't be pushing yourself, should you?"
The elder Archmages in the cone hats.
Jesse was intimidating them in her own way. The Archmage who had spoken to her through the cone hat, no, Tower Master, no longer existed.
She had expected to see some changes in the hat as Tower Master's consciousness separated, but she hadn't expected to see her progress in the Archmage class quest come to an abrupt halt.
"Hmm."
Jesse had been blackmailing the cone hat for days. The more she thought about it, the more pissed off she got at the mean-spirited way she had been treated, trying to use her as a mere vessel for the Archmage.
"After all this?"
But still silence.
Gently.
A tick.
"So what?"
Jesse flicked her fingers at the cone hat again. The cone hat spun even harder with the energy transferred from her fingers. It looked like this was going to be a long game.
"Think about it, you might regret it later."
Jesse's gaze shifted from the cone hat to the monitor.
-What do you think, expert, do we have a chance of winning this fight?
-I don't know if I'd call it a fight in the first place....
The screens on the wall were showing breaking news. Raymond Sean and Lee Hoyeol escalate confrontation.... Jesse watched the headlines and became uncomfortable.
"Why, Raymond Sean first?"
Player privilege. Even for Jesse, who is not bound by language barriers. It's not easy to understand South Korea's national rules, alphabetical order, without explanation.
"VBC? No interview."
A brief moment of self-talk that would chill someone at the broadcasting station.
The following breaking news is delivered.
It was exciting news that one hundred rifts had been cleared in less than an hour.
"...."
Jesse said nothing. She didn't need to. She had felt Hoyeol's magic prowess when he came face-to-face with the body of a runaway Tower Master.
It shouldn't have surprised her, but when the anchor's voice announced the next breaking news, she was stunned. News about a magic tower that has not been accessed for a while.
-Breaking news just in from the Magic Tower. The pure-blooded mage race, the Descendants of the Twilight, have revealed themselves in the Magic Tower. For more information, please visit....
"!"
Jesse had seen this in an emergency update.
But she didn't pay much attention.
Although she was interested in the mage race, she decided that right now it was more important to get the archmages in the hat to talk, and that hadn't changed.
-"I am Mary, Descendant of the Twilight."
The woman introduced herself as a Twilight Descendant.
Until she saw her face.
At the time of Hoyeol's declaration of war, to be precise.
A woman standing far away in the back.
Until Jesse realized she was Mary.
-"I have traveled from the Arcana continent to the land of you, adventurers, to find my purpose. I will prove my worth over time, starting today."
Arcana Continent.
A pure-blooded race of mages, descendants of the Twilight.
Stepping onto this land for a purpose....
"...!"
Jesse's thoughts were interrupted, and she reached for her phone. It was helpful in times like this to leave a magic mark so that she wouldn't lose it.
Chak─
She released her magic.
Jesse's smartphone immediately sticks to her hande.
When Sh checked it, there were tons of notifications.
-I miss you~~~♥
-When are you going to meet me?
-I'm so sad 🙁
As she swipes past Camilla's half-hearted flirtation, she sees a message from Jim Joshua, the president of AAU, North America West. Jesse's eyebrows twitched slightly.
" ...has something to do with the Archmage class quest?"
A proposal that had been scrapped in development.
As such, only the basic setup remains.
But now that the Twilight Descendants have been confirmed to exist.
──────
Ms. Jesse Heinness has unlimited opportunities for growth....
──────
Hereafter omitted.
Jesse jumped up from the overstuffed couch.
'Infinite progress, just what I was hoping for.'
She muttered to herself as she straightened her clothes.
'I was getting frustrated without it.'
The Great Alliance.
The day she'd gotten the news that they'd launched their assault on the Hundred Thousand Caves of the Zero Mountains with great fanfare.
Jesse felt left behind.
Technically, Hoyeol had given her the first chance.
On the day they stood side by side against Tower Master's physical body.
Hoyeol had given her so much consideration.
She felt like she couldn't return the favor.
'I feel like I've hit a wall.'
To break that wall.
Jesse tried to attack the rift by himself.
She tried her best to manifest magic that was completely different from her [skill], and she even reached a level where she could manifest magic in her daily life, even though she couldn't use it in real life.
Tuk─
As if to prove it.
The spinning hat stops at Jesse's gesture.
It floats through the air and settles on top of Jesse's head.
Jesse looked at the screen again.
"...Twilight Descendant, Mary."
A being related to the Archmage's class quest.
Now that she realized it.
Jesse didn't hesitate, heading for the Magic Tower.
There was nothing wrong with such behavior.
Except, she was Jesse Heinness.
If there was one thing she didn't know about herself.
"...!!!"
Players and mages alike.
It was enough to get everyone's attention.
Jesse was uncharacteristically expressionless.
"That's Jesse Heinness, right?"
"I don't think I've seen her in a long time...."
"Why is she looking so serious?"
"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's Jesse Heinness, the Archmage, not someone else. Maybe there's some kind of quest involving the pure-blooded Mage race...."
Such a sentiment could not help but be transmitted to the other party.
Crystal Hall.
Developing in different directions.
Mary swallowed her admiration as she looked at the Magic Tower that had reached its essence.
'Was there an adventurer who knew me?'
The only places on the Arcana continent where Mary could be said to have stayed were the Spacetime Social Hall and the deserted southern seas. No adventurers had ever been there.
'Have I.... Am I becoming sensitive?'
There were plenty of reasons to be nervous.
She'd had enough trouble with her senses when she'd first entered the Demon World, which was completely different from the Arcana Continent, and it was against her conscience to hope that her body was still intact.
The cigarettes she smoked every day to escape the whispers of Bad Omen were now in debt, and it was her turn to collect on the mental power she had loaned him, with interest.
Mary muttered.
'This is not the time to get distracted.'
Claudi said,
'I have value.'
The power and magic of twilight might save the Arcana continent and the world of adventurers. Mary was glad. It seemed she had finally found a way to repay her debt to Claudi.
'As long as this rotten body holds out, then.'
No, until the day Claudi discovered the value of twilight.
Mary was determined to persevere no matter what.
Sure, she knew it wouldn't be easy.
But she's determined, isn't she?
Soon, she was ready for her twilight magic. Twilight magic surged from her. Her vision was already flooded with violet light, but her observers saw differently.
"Looks like she's starting something...?"
"Look, Senior Vangrit. You're a senior in Pure Magic, right? Even if I can't see it, you should be able to see it, the magic that must be overflowing!"
"You may be so eloquent, but what you can't see is what you can't see, Senior Bensch...!"
Only because Mary had hinted at it.
We can only assume that she is manifesting Twilight Magic.
To the best of the audience's knowledge, there was no twilight magic, no magic power.
"This."
All of them.
Even the senior mage, Marcelo, was no exception.
It was to be expected.
If you weren't a transcendent, or more precisely, someone with enough manifestation power to form a circle, it would be difficult to even witness Twilight. It was a different kind of magic.
In that sense, Claudi was amazing.
'Magic and swordsmanship. And to a degree I don't even know.'
He was literally a multi-talented man.
But in this moment, it wasn't Claudi that Mary should be surprised by.
Crystal Hall.
Now that both Hoyeol and Tower Master were absent.
No one was there to witness the magic and power of the twilight.
Someone muttered.
"...Magic is violet?"
It was Mary who reacted before anyone else.
"...!"
For a moment, Mary wondered if there was a mage with extraordinary manifestation powers, but there wasn't. She was the only one who realized that twilight magic was violet in color.
It was.
The player she'd been watching earlier.
Jesse Heinness.
'What was that?'
It is a flow of magical power that does not feel like it has formed a circle.
But how can she witness the power of twilight?
Her mind raced.
There were two possibilities.
One was that the girl-at her age, all humans were either boys or girls-was Twilight blood. However, she was not an Arcanians, but an adventurer from another world entirely.
Then there was only one other possibility.
Mary's eyes calmed.
"The Archmage's vessel."
*
Busy, busy.
I cleared the Hundred Rifts and stopped by the Yusra Kingdom. I returned to reality and stamped my face on the Magic Tower, but I couldn't do that on Yusra Kingdom.
'Anyway, what's with the excuse letter?'
Chief in Magic Tower.
In Yusra, General Manager.
Of course, grumbling aside, there was no such thing as special treatment based on rank in Grandfell's principled world.
I didn't return to the Magic Tower until after dark.
"You're late, Chief."
The top floor of the tower.
I was greeted by a pile of fur on the floor.
Tower Master, the cat, scratches his head with his hind paws.
"Isn't that unusual?"
I replied coldly, looking at the fur in the air.
"I'm not the one who's late."
"Then?"
"The sun just ran away from me."
...You have a knack for being so serious, don't you?
Tower Master looked at me with a questioning glance.
Then he licks his front paws with his tongue.
"It's good to see you're still the same."
It's times like these that I'm glad Tower Master has a good heart, because no matter what bullshit I say, he'll let it slide, but embarrassment is embarrassment....
"As of this time, I will return to my position as chief."
Anyway, since I've informed my boss, Tower Master, that I'm returning to work, let's hurry back to the office. I made up my mind and hurried off. When Top-Ju's back was turned, he added
"Your guests are waiting outside. Chief Lee."
...What, I have guests?
Wait, does that mean you heard that bullshit about the sun running away?! While I'm freaking out, Tower Master yawns and speaks up.
"It ran away from me so as not to disturb my sleep."
That...!!
He's sarcastic about what I just said, right?
This is why I hate cats.
I mean, fur is fur, but it's not the same as fur on the inside, right?
"I get it."
Of course, I can't keep it to myself.
I slipped out of the top floor with mixed feelings.
I wondered if there were any other guests in the tower but mages.
'Not Marcelo, for sure.'
There is no reason for Marcelo to seek me out on the top floor.
Is it the Shadow Mercenaries in the Healer's Quarters, then? They've recovered remarkably well during my time on the Arcana continent. Given the time difference, I wondered if Senior Bellier had overdone it.
It wasn't.
'Ah.'
The front door.
It was Mary waiting for me.
I had forgotten ....
She was a stranger to reality. There was no place to stay, but I thought too little of it. I'll take care of her.... No, she must have a lot of work to do. I was negligent in my hospitality.
While realizing my mistake.
I saw a familiar silhouette next to Mary.
A familiar hat, to be exact.
Of course, I opened my mouth to speak shamelessly.
"Given the circumstances, I'll skip the pre-arranged meeting."
At those words, Mary, and the cone hat, Jesse Heinness, turned to look at me.
Yes, until they opened their mouths.
I never imagined it.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think my etiquette training would lead to such anger...!
They both bow politely at the same time.
"Welcome back, Mr. Grandfell."
"It's been a while, Chief Lee Hoyeol!"
"...Lee Hoyeol?"
"...Grandfell?"
"??"
Finally, someone's going to kill me...!
–
–
–
tl/n: ahahaha poor Hoyeol