The mess on the first floor didn’t lend itself to a quiet conversation, and when they moved to the second-floor lounge, Landes frowned.
“Of course, I can’t do that.”
“Of course, you can’t?”
Grecan’s face contorted ugly, his eyes glowing as he commanded him to prolong Mirania’s life.
“You said you were strong.”
“…”
“You lied to me?”
Grecan’s eyes flashed with sickening intensity.
Landes felt like a mouse in front of him.
Strong?
If it had been a common criminal, or even an imperial mage, who had said that, he would have snorted and shot fire magic at him.
Landes was a wizard strong enough that most mere mortals would recognize him by name.
‘Yet the young man before me, who had suddenly kidnapped me, didn’t seem to care about my prestige.’
All that mattered to him was whether he could save the dazzlingly beautiful woman he was guarding like a knight, and that should have some possibility.
If he could magically extend a person’s lifespan, he would have been a top lord long ago.
A cold sweat broke out on Landes’s forehead.
‘Where did this madman come from?’
Ever since he had been distracted by Grecan’s kidnapping— no, ever since he had been humiliated and taken by him— Landes had been working on a plan.
Even if he couldn’t cast magic, he figured he could use the magic artifact he’d packed for emergencies to escape his unscrupulous kidnappers and exact his revenge, so he gave it a try.
‘Is the artifact broken?’
But for some reason, none of his magic was working for this ignorantly powerful young man.
Landes could see no way out of his current predicament.
“Of course, I can’t… do that. I haven’t developed magic to extend life yet, and I can heal wounds, sure, but I thought you said that wasn’t what you wanted?”
No wizard, let alone a god, can prolong the life of a creature that has already reached the end of its life.
That was the domain of the Creator, not a mere wizard like himself.
“But as I said, I can heal most wounds and illnesses. Even if a limb is severed, I can save a life…”
“You’re useless.”
The words hit Landes in the chest. His face contorted.
“Don’t you think you’re asking for too much?”
He protested angrily, but he had already been banished from Grecan’s heart.
Just like that, Landes, the second-in-command of the Mighty, was treated as a lowly, useless incompetent by Grecan and erased from his memory.
As though he had been disappointed, Grecan muttered lowly.
“Mirania said a wizard named Adensha was omnipotent.”
Landes’s face flushed with embarrassment, and then bewilderment.
“Adensha?”
In this day and age, Adensha was not a name, but a synonym.
It wasn’t that he didn’t recognize the name Adensha, as all mages were now striving to follow in its footsteps, and Landes was one of them.
Just that it sounded so outlandish that he doubted his ears.
Adensha might have a way, as he says, but in the first place, Adensha was a human being so powerful that the world’s laws were rewritten in stone.
A mortal with little talent, but who embodied the human trait of limitlessness.
The mention of the Archmage left me speechless with disbelief. My anger at the mention of the wizard cooled.
‘Are these people sane? Who the hell are they?’
Leverianz chuckled at Grecan’s low mutterings.
“What did you expect from a human? Hilariously stupid, coming from a man with a brain full of muscle. I’ve had a good laugh, thanks.”
Leverianz’s sneer was enough to make anyone cringe.
As if he wasn’t already in a terrible state, Grecan’s forehead flushed with blue veins.
Landes was offended.
‘You keep saying human, human. Are you saying you aren’t human, or what?’
The thought flashed through his mind, and then he froze at the possibility.
‘That could be true.’
Landes’s mind went numb. If so, if they weren’t human, this was serious business.
His brain spun even tighter than before.
“Maybe the Master of the Tower can think of a way…”
Grecan’s ears perked up at Landes’s casual muttering.
“Master?”
Seeing his interest, Landes moistened his dry lips with his tongue.
“He’s my superior. He’s known not only for his magical prowess, but also for his research into all sorts of outlandish things, and even though lifespan magic is forbidden, I’m sure he’s studied it.”
As he rambled on, Landes scrutinized the faces of those staring at him.
‘From the looks of it, I can’t tell if you’re human or not.’
But I hadn’t heard of anyone else who wielded this kind of manipulative power.
One would think that someone so striking would be rumored.
“Where is it?”
“Why do you ask…”
“You should bring him.”
“…”
“Where is it?”
Landes racked his brain for a moment, trying to figure out how to alert the tower to their identity.
He’d only hesitated for a few seconds when Grecan urged him on.
“I said there’s no time.”
“Well, the tower master is with the crown prince right now… I can’t see him even if I wanted to.”
Ignoring Landes’s protests of difficulty, Grecan turned to leave for the palace at once. It was Malandor who stopped him.
“You cannot bring a human master of the Tower, for magic that extends life is impossible on a human level.”
He said in an arrogant tone and pulled a vial from his arm. A thin red solution clinked in it.
“This is the only way.”
Everyone’s eyes focused on the vial at his confident assertion.
“Red flower.”
Malandor explained his plan to use the Red Flower to keep Mirania alive.
Though he’d presented the red flower casually, the liquid he held was the culmination of decades of work.
He had a reason for explaining it to the others so meekly.
‘Mirania and I are incompatible. No matter how much I think about it, I’m not good enough.’
Malandor, the darkness itself, could not fail to utilize the red flower of the mortal realm.
However, Malandor was troubled by the fact that he had already used it on Mirania several times without much effect.
The only conclusion he could come to was that Mirania and he were not the best match.
‘If I can’t save her, I’ll have to use someone else’s life force.’
Or, better yet, if he dies after saving Mirania.
So, even though he knew it was unlikely, he handed the solution to Grecan and allowed Leverianz to stare covetously at the red flower.
It was more accurate to say that he induced the situation.
“…”
“…”
From the moment Malandor had taken out the red flower, the atmosphere had taken a strange turn.
Mirania was uncomfortable with the red flower’s deathly scent, and Grecan, who had already received a vial of the solution from Malandor, remained silent.
The mess on the first floor didn’t lend itself to a quiet conversation, and when they moved to the second-floor lounge, Landes frowned.
“Of course, I can’t do that.”
“Of course, you can’t?”
Grecan’s face contorted ugly, his eyes glowing as he commanded him to prolong Mirania’s life.
“You said you were strong.”
“…”
“You lied to me?”
Grecan’s eyes flashed with sickening intensity.
Landes felt like a mouse in front of him.
Strong?
If it had been a common criminal, or even an imperial mage, who had said that, he would have snorted and shot fire magic at him.
Landes was a wizard strong enough that most mere mortals would recognize him by name.
‘Yet the young man before me, who had suddenly kidnapped me, didn’t seem to care about my prestige.’
All that mattered to him was whether he could save the dazzlingly beautiful woman he was guarding like a knight, and that should have some possibility.
If he could magically extend a person’s lifespan, he would have been a top lord long ago.
A cold sweat broke out on Landes’s forehead.
‘Where did this madman come from?’
Ever since he had been distracted by Grecan’s kidnapping— no, ever since he had been humiliated and taken by him— Landes had been working on a plan.
Even if he couldn’t cast magic, he figured he could use the magic artifact he’d packed for emergencies to escape his unscrupulous kidnappers and exact his revenge, so he gave it a try.
‘Is the artifact broken?’
But for some reason, none of his magic was working for this ignorantly powerful young man.
Landes could see no way out of his current predicament.
“Of course, I can’t… do that. I haven’t developed magic to extend life yet, and I can heal wounds, sure, but I thought you said that wasn’t what you wanted?”
No wizard, let alone a god, can prolong the life of a creature that has already reached the end of its life.
That was the domain of the Creator, not a mere wizard like himself.
“But as I said, I can heal most wounds and illnesses. Even if a limb is severed, I can save a life…”
“You’re useless.”
The words hit Landes in the chest. His face contorted.
“Don’t you think you’re asking for too much?”
He protested angrily, but he had already been banished from Grecan’s heart.
Just like that, Landes, the second-in-command of the Mighty, was treated as a lowly, useless incompetent by Grecan and erased from his memory.
As though he had been disappointed, Grecan muttered lowly.
“Mirania said a wizard named Adensha was omnipotent.”
Landes’s face flushed with embarrassment, and then bewilderment.
“Adensha?”
In this day and age, Adensha was not a name, but a synonym.
It wasn’t that he didn’t recognize the name Adensha, as all mages were now striving to follow in its footsteps, and Landes was one of them.
Just that it sounded so outlandish that he doubted his ears.
Adensha might have a way, as he says, but in the first place, Adensha was a human being so powerful that the world’s laws were rewritten in stone.
A mortal with little talent, but who embodied the human trait of limitlessness.
The mention of the Archmage left me speechless with disbelief. My anger at the mention of the wizard cooled.
‘Are these people sane? Who the hell are they?’
Leverianz chuckled at Grecan’s low mutterings.
“What did you expect from a human? Hilariously stupid, coming from a man with a brain full of muscle. I’ve had a good laugh, thanks.”
Leverianz’s sneer was enough to make anyone cringe.
As if he wasn’t already in a terrible state, Grecan’s forehead flushed with blue veins.
Landes was offended.
‘You keep saying human, human. Are you saying you aren’t human, or what?’
The thought flashed through his mind, and then he froze at the possibility.
‘That could be true.’
Landes’s mind went numb. If so, if they weren’t human, this was serious business.
His brain spun even tighter than before.
“Maybe the Master of the Tower can think of a way…”
Grecan’s ears perked up at Landes’s casual muttering.
“Master?”
Seeing his interest, Landes moistened his dry lips with his tongue.
“He’s my superior. He’s known not only for his magical prowess, but also for his research into all sorts of outlandish things, and even though lifespan magic is forbidden, I’m sure he’s studied it.”
As he rambled on, Landes scrutinized the faces of those staring at him.
‘From the looks of it, I can’t tell if you’re human or not.’
But I hadn’t heard of anyone else who wielded this kind of manipulative power.
One would think that someone so striking would be rumored.
“Where is it?”
“Why do you ask…”
“You should bring him.”
“…”
“Where is it?”
Landes racked his brain for a moment, trying to figure out how to alert the tower to their identity.
He’d only hesitated for a few seconds when Grecan urged him on.
“I said there’s no time.”
“Well, the tower master is with the crown prince right now… I can’t see him even if I wanted to.”
Ignoring Landes’s protests of difficulty, Grecan turned to leave for the palace at once. It was Malandor who stopped him.
“You cannot bring a human master of the Tower, for magic that extends life is impossible on a human level.”
He said in an arrogant tone and pulled a vial from his arm. A thin red solution clinked in it.
“This is the only way.”
Everyone’s eyes focused on the vial at his confident assertion.
“Red flower.”
Malandor explained his plan to use the Red Flower to keep Mirania alive.
Though he’d presented the red flower casually, the liquid he held was the culmination of decades of work.
He had a reason for explaining it to the others so meekly.
‘Mirania and I are incompatible. No matter how much I think about it, I’m not good enough.’
Malandor, the darkness itself, could not fail to utilize the red flower of the mortal realm.
However, Malandor was troubled by the fact that he had already used it on Mirania several times without much effect.
The only conclusion he could come to was that Mirania and he were not the best match.
‘If I can’t save her, I’ll have to use someone else’s life force.’
Or, better yet, if he dies after saving Mirania.
So, even though he knew it was unlikely, he handed the solution to Grecan and allowed Leverianz to stare covetously at the red flower.
It was more accurate to say that he induced the situation.
“…”
“…”
From the moment Malandor had taken out the red flower, the atmosphere had taken a strange turn.
Mirania was uncomfortable with the red flower’s deathly scent, and Grecan, who had already received a vial of the solution from Malandor, remained silent.
