NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52
EP.52 Resti Elenoa (3)
Who is Elder Gileon?
Recalling my memories from when I was the future Master of the Tower, Elder Gileon was quite a decent person.
‘Sure, he’s a bit gloomy…but…’
He was helpful in many ways.
Our goals aligned at the time.
‘He did cross the line sometimes, but it wasn’t bad.’
He nurtures the Ashen Tower and establishes it as the pinnacle of all towers. Since our purposes matched, I maintained a fairly good relationship with the old man.
– No thanks.
– Why not me?
Although I’m saying this, it doesn’t mean I particularly disliked Elder Gileon.
‘After all, he sacrificed for the tower.’
I hold a certain degree of respect for that fact.
However, I know the depths of this old man.
At first, when he was claiming his position as the future Master of the Tower, I didn’t know, but once he fully established himself, Elder Gileon’s impression was uniquely peculiar.
It was completely different from how he appeared on the outside.
‘He wouldn’t have held the Elder position for so long for nothing.’
The more you get to know Gileon, the more you realize just how tiresome and gloomy he is. He pretends to be kind in front of others while scheming behind their backs.
‘They say one’s true nature never changes…’
Clearly, he’s playing with plans now that it’s evident he doesn’t see any prospects in front of me as an Elder or Resti.
“…”
I silently observe the old man. I can roughly guess this sly old man’s plans.
‘You can see that coming from a mile away.’
He’s recommending me as the next Master of the Tower.
There’s a plausible justification for that recommendation. Not just justification? If he recommends me, he’ll receive the support of my Master’s faction automatically.
In one swoop, the next Master of the Tower, backed by two factions, will be born. But, the mages of the tower who don’t know I’m Raniel will surely think like this.
‘Isn’t she just an inexperienced mage?’
Those doubts are bound to arise. This old man is not one to miss that.
He just put an inexperienced mage in line for the position of the future Master of the Tower. What happens next is a no-brainer. The answers lie within the accumulated history of the tower.
‘Under the guise of guidance, he’ll seize power for himself.’
That’s how Gileon will implement a massive reform in the tower. Certainly, it’s not a bad plan.
‘If I were really an outsider.’
Feigning acceptance of Gileon’s proposal, going back to the tower, and seizing power would be a piece of cake.
I already have experience as a future Master of the Tower.
Having done it once, it’s not impossible to do it again.
‘…And I have pre-prepared materials.’
This isn’t the first time I’m considering this thought.
I had similar thoughts when I first came to the Royal Capital.
I’ll build accomplishments.
Catch the attention of those connected to the Ashen Tower.
Then, I’ll return to the tower.
I don’t know which Elder’s faction produced the next Master of the Tower, but it’s likely just a puppet for power struggles.
I’ll take that position.
Again, I’ll become the Master of the Tower and finish the reforms I didn’t complete back then.
With such thoughts, I returned to the Royal Capital.
Upon returning, I saw.
‘The newly elected future Master of the Tower.’
That child was not a mage selected among the Elders. It was the elder (長老) who chose me who directly picked that child and granted her the name.
Resti Elenoa.
While staying in Apuria, I observed that child.
I watched closely and tested her potential.
– Is this how it’s done?
– Yes, all done!
I saw with my own eyes.
I made my own judgment.
‘More than enough.’
I also saw potential in her.
Resti possesses a talent entirely different from mine. At times, I thought she might uproot the tower in a much better way than I could.
‘But for me to interfere here…’
That wouldn’t be right.
A qualified child is establishing her position. She’s still growing. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me, one who has already stepped back from the frontlines, to meddle in her future.
‘Still, this much should be fine.’
I gazed at the remnants before me.
An old man who had already rotted away, yet the desires for power still wriggled in his eyes.
‘What do they call this kind of thing?’
It wasn’t hard to recall that word.
“Now, what is this…”
“Elder Gileon.”
The first thought that came to my mind upon witnessing the old man’s actions.
I spoke those words.
“Please, take it down a notch. It’s quite shameful.”
2.
“Please, take it down a notch. It’s quite shameful.”
Twist, Gileon’s eyebrows moved.
His expression twisted into a fierce grimace. Gileon hoped he misheard and asked again.
“…What did you just say?”
“I said to keep it reasonable.”
“You mean, to me?”
“Yes. It’s shameful.”
The returned answer repeated itself.
Scratch, Gileon’s nails scraped against his staff. Gileon squinted his eyes at the girl in front of him.
Her demeanor showed complete contempt for him.
That attitude seemed to challenge Gileon’s patience.
‘…From the beginning to the end, huh.’
He had held his tongue until now.
Not responding to his words? Fine, he can understand that. Silence isn’t bad. One could simply be a quiet mage, and he could relate to that.
Not even meeting his gaze? He could understand that too. To a young mage, he might be a difficult figure.
Despite every trivial annoyance, he gave her his understanding. It was tolerable so far.
– No thanks.
– Why not me?
However, this was different.
– Please, take it down a notch. It’s quite shameful.
Spilling coffee over the recommendation letter he provided and her attitude of looking down on him were not something he could easily overlook.
Gileon is an Elder of the Ashen Tower.
He takes pride in that fact. He isn’t the type to look down on others by asserting his power, but…
‘You really crossed the line, didn’t you.’
He is not a person easy-going enough to overlook anyone undermining his authority.
“Hmm.”
Gileon spoke up.
“I think you’re under a misconception.”
His hand raised the staff.
“I am the Elder of the Ashen Tower, the oldest Elder at that. I bent my head to you for the sake of the tower’s survival. Don’t you know the value of that?”
If you don’t know…
“Feel its weight.”
He’ll have to make her understand.
Gileon brought the raised staff down.
Bam!
Mana surged from the point where the staff struck.
Gileon’s mana mixed with the mana in the surrounding air. It created an artificial Realm of Mana.
Clack, screech.
A dense concentration of mana pressed down around them.
The coffee cup shattered, and the scenery distorted. The wooden floor creaked ominously.
Realm of Mana.
A spell that spreads mana to rapidly increase the mana concentration in the vicinity. The caster is included within that range, but Gileon was a mage who roamed the uncharted lands of the past.
This level of mana density is something he can handle.
Gileon crossed his legs while gripping his staff.
“Now, do you understand that weight?”
Even in the dense mana, his voice remained unwavering.
With emphasis, Gileon smiled.
‘It’s akin to the mana spring located in Harmain.’
It’s about the concentration of an area near the Mana Spring.
For a mage inexperienced in real combat, even breathing in this level of mana would be challenging.
“I’ll ask again, about this proposal…”
“No thanks, I already said!”
What?
Gileon widened his eyes.
The girl’s voice was smooth. Her breath remained calm and steady.
“What are you doing?”
She lifted her head and glared at Gileon directly. Surprised, Gileon raised the mana density even more. Yet, still, the girl’s breathing showed no signs of change.
Steady.
Still relaxed.
Even as the air warped to the point of bending, she tilted her head slightly, unaffected.
On the contrary, Gileon’s breath became increasingly ragged.
If he pushed it higher, he wouldn’t last.
‘…What the hell is this?’
Everything around twisted.
Yet, the girl’s figure remained perfectly fine.
“Ha.”
A smirk graced her lips.
Then she lifted her foot. She didn’t lift it high. Just a slight raise while seated.
And then, she lightly tapped the ground.
That movement wasn’t violent or loud.
Bam.
A gentle stomping of her foot.
With just that, the flow of the spell crumbled. The realm cracked open. Once a gap appears, it grows uncontrollably.
Shatter.
The spell was shattered like that. However, the mana saturating the area remained intact. What becomes of that mana?
The caster’s mind.
And, right now, that power belongs to the girl who has usurped the spell.
Whoosh.
The girl drew a line with her finger, from top to bottom, roughly a hand-length long. Gileon’s gaze followed the endpoint her finger pointed to.
‘…My finger?’
He attempted to pull his hand back in a hurry, but before that, the mana surged.
Crash!
“Gah, gulp!”
Gileon gasped, staring at his own hand. He definitely heard the sound of something breaking. But he felt no pain.
‘Ah.’
Only then did Gileon realize what had broken. It wasn’t his finger. Perhaps something even more important.
The staff of aged wood.
Damaged at the top, which served as a symbol of the Elder. It looked like it could be broken, yet it was merely bent out of shape.
Screech.
He heard the sound of a chair being moved.
Gileon looked up. He locked eyes with the girl as she stood up.
“Do you have nothing else to say?”
Gileon swallowed dryly.
“Well, then I’ll be off.”
With leisurely steps, she moved past Gileon. As if nothing had happened.
Screech.
As she hooked her finger on the doorknob.
Gileon, regaining his senses, gritted his teeth and opened his mouth.
“…You’ll regret this.”
“………”
The girl looked back at Gileon.
Gileon looked into her blue eyes and spoke.
“The Elder—and you, being disrespectful to the Ashen Tower…”
“Elder Gileon.”
A chilling voice.
“There won’t be a second time.”
Her cold gaze bore into Gileon.
That gaze felt familiar to him.
– Elder Gileon.
Though the voice was entirely different, it echoed with the same chill.
Even over five years ago, that memory remained vividly etched.
– Don’t overstep your bounds.
The mage who seized control of all six factions within half a year.
The voice that suited carrying the name ‘Ashen’ echoed in his ears.
– There won’t be a second time.
In a research lab engulfed in flames, the image of that mage sitting alone flickered in his mind. The chilling voice resounded.
Gulp.
Gileon swallowed dryly, unable to finish his thoughts. His aged body involuntarily shrank.
“The judgment isn’t up to you.”
She raised her finger.
That finger pointed to Gileon’s staff.
“I will see for myself and make my judgment.”
Screech.
As she opened the door, she said.
“Whether or not they are suitable for that position.”
What an audacious statement.
A mere mage dares to assess the qualifications of an Elder, speaking such bold words.
Yet Gileon couldn’t muster a response.
He simply watched as the girl walked out through the café doors.
“…Ha.”
A sigh escaped him, devoid of strength.
No matter how he stiffened his posture, his aged and frail body could no longer stand tall.
“…Everything has been exposed.”
He felt entirely bare, as if all his inner thoughts were laid bare.
Gileon fingered his cracked staff, feeling utterly small.
3.
A research report fell to the floor.
Reports crafted through sleepless nights. Yet, Resti didn’t gaze at the reports.
Her eyes were fixated on the letter Elder Gileon was handing over. Resti’s pupils shook.
“Ah.”
A sound slipped out from between her lips.
The trembling pupils steadied. Her gaze didn’t focus, and Resti rubbed her eyes repeatedly.
“………”
No matter how much she rubbed her eyes or blinked, what she saw remained unchanged. Resti’s reason summarized the situation.
Elder Gileon had pulled out a recommendation for the next Master of the Tower.
The recipient of that letter was Professor Rania.
Should she be pleased with the thought that she, a mage, could summarize and arrange the current situation?
“Ha.”
What started as a whisper transformed into a laugh.
Gradually, Resti’s expression crumbled.
Everything she was holding back began weighing her down.
‘Why.’
An unanswerable question surfaced.
‘Why on earth?’
It felt like she was suffocating.
The accumulation seemed ready to burst. Thickly biting her lip, she tasted the blood as her teeth dug into an unhealed wound.
Just as droplets of blood were about to be formed on her front teeth.
Bam!
A vibration resonated throughout the café.
At that jolt, Resti raised the head she had instinctively lowered.
‘…The Realm of Mana?’
That spell was known to Resti.
She was aware, yet still shocked. This wasn’t the sort of spell exchanged in negotiations.
Resti narrowed her eyes, scanning the café’s situation. Upon closer inspection, something felt off.
Coffee had spilled everywhere.
The recommendation letter was stained black.
And the glares exchanged between two were filled with malice.
As Resti watched, the mana density continued to rise steadily. The scenery warped to the point she couldn’t see the internal situation properly.
And then.
Crack.
The realm shattered.
There was no time to focus on that. Creak, the café’s door opened.
The door hung half-open, yet no one emerged. Resti looked at the woman poised to step outside.
“It’s… not…”
A voice could be heard. It was Professor Rania’s voice. Resti perked up her ears.
“I will see for myself and make my judgment.”
As the woman spoke, she extended her finger.
Pointing at something.
“Whether or not they are suitable for that position.”
Having said that, Professor Rania exited.
Only Elder Gileon remained in the café.
“………”
Resti turned her gaze to where Professor Rania pointed. It was undoubtedly toward Elder Gileon.
What first caught her eye was the table.
She looked at the recommendation letter lying on that table.
‘…A recommendation letter darkened with stains.’
The letter still lay atop the table.
Not even a trace that it had been opened could be found.
Anyone could tell it had been refused.
‘What did you just say?’
It didn’t take much to recall. Resti mentally repeated Professor Rania’s last words.
– I will see for myself and make my judgment.
What was it about?
– Whether or not they are suitable for that position.
Who it was aimed at remained a mystery.
Yet what she pointed out last was undoubtedly the recommendation letter.
“………”
That position must refer to the next Master of the Tower. Moreover, her tone didn’t make it seem like she was talking about herself.
Who would that judgment target?
Resti looked down. Among the scattered research papers on the floor, her gaze landed on the name written at the top of the first page.
– Next Master of the Tower.
– Resti Elenoa.
Slowly, she reached out.
Picking up that paper.
“………”
Resti stared at it for some time.