Chapter 93

Task

After returning to the 7th Principality, there was only a very short time before the Principals' Council.

During this time, I decided to rest properly. I would start the next plans after participating in the council.

'This guy leveled up again.'

In the training ground, the Rief siblings were sparring with each other.

I watched Rigon and inwardly sighed.

【Lv. 29】

The last time I saw him before leaving for Earth Hill, he was at level 23, right?

In the meantime, he had leveled up by 6 more, almost reaching level 30.

Clang!

While blocking the chaotic attacks, Rief suddenly accelerated, seemingly trying to end the duel.

Rief's sword sharply knocked Rigon's sword upward, but Rigon's sword bent and slipped away from hers.

Surprised by the sword strike coming from the opposite direction, Rief kicked Rigon.

Rigon, who was kicked, flew into the air and rolled on the ground a few times before stopping.

"Ouch..."

It seemed he couldn't control his strength in the sudden counterattack.

It was already an incredible feat that he could draw out Rief's full power for a moment, despite the difference of over 10 levels.

"Are you okay?"

The sparring ended as Rief approached the fallen Rigon, looking flustered.

Although the growth rate slows down as levels increase, I thought that at this rate, Rigon might surpass Rief's level within half a year.

I also heard the latest news from Gulpiro, who had come to the castle to see the Rief siblings.

He said he was spending his time leisurely at a mansion located on the outskirts of the city.

"Really, she's an extraordinary woman."

He also mentioned that he had visited the workshop owner of Alkimas as suggested last time, and it seemed he was quite impressed.

"Are you planning to take her as a disciple?"

"No, not a disciple. I just drop by the workshop occasionally to give some advice."

Although it seemed he was already half a master-disciple relationship by giving teachings, it was a good thing anyway.

I strolled around the castle, lost in various thoughts.

'What task will the Grand Principal give me...?'

I considered not attending the council, but it would be meaningless.

They said that a messenger would inform the absent Principals of the council's content later, so there wasn't really a big problem with not attending.

The only penalty was not being able to express my opinion during the council, so not attending would be a loss.

I guessed the probability of the Grand Principal not giving me any task at this council was low.

Since she had the authority to command, there was no way to wriggle out of it.

Although it was somewhat uncomfortable, I didn't want to be selfish and complain.

After all, the position of Principal wasn't free, and I had enjoyed the privileges, so it was only natural to provide the corresponding abilities. Of course, it wasn't a position I had originally wanted.

It had been a year since I first possessed this body, hadn't it?

I seemed to have completely adapted to my current situation.

To be honest, I felt a bit complacent.

I had gained many abilities and no longer had to live in constant tension, not knowing when a threat might come.

I enjoyed absolute power from a position higher than anyone else and lived a life completely detached from the world that was once reality.

It wasn't that this life was bad at all, and it was inevitable to sometimes think that way.

'How pathetic.'

If I settle for this complacency, it will be the end.

I know better than anyone that the future holds nothing but destruction.

The road ahead is long, and I haven't even started yet. I gathered my resolve again.

Time passed, and it was time to move.

I rode the Tyongi with Ashel and quickly headed to the Grand Principality.

***

I arrived at the Grand Principality just in time for the council to start.

Ashel, who couldn't enter the council room, was left in the hall, and I went to the council room alone.

"..."

While walking down the corridor, I accidentally met the 3rd Principal, Cheongung.

For some reason, he was standing in the middle of the corridor, staring at one of the statues on display.

He turned to look at me silently, then turned his gaze away and walked in the direction of the council room.

I continued walking, looking at his back.

I didn't know what he was doing just now, but since he was an unpredictable person, I gave up trying to understand.

When I arrived at the council room, only the 1st Principal, Sintui, had arrived and was seated.

"Welcome, 3rd Principal. And 7th Principal."

I nodded slightly and approached my seat to sit down.

A little later, the 4th Principal, Wangja Wang, arrived, followed by the 9th Principal, Geowang, with a heavy thud.

It didn't take long for almost all the Principals to arrive.

The only ones who didn't enter the council room until the Grand Principal and the Chief Advisor appeared were the 2nd Principal and the 8th Principal.

I looked at the empty seat of the 2nd Principal and thought.

'Did he deliberately not attend?'

He might be trying to avoid meeting the Grand Principal since he had lost a lot of power.

It wasn't my concern, so I quickly dismissed it.

"The 2nd Principal and the 8th Principal are absent, so let's start the council."

The Grand Principal clapped her hands and immediately started the council.

The council's atmosphere was not much different from the one I had experienced before.

Discussions were held on each agenda item, and the Grand Principal assigned appropriate tasks to some Principals based on the circumstances.

The assigned Principals generally accepted the tasks without much objection.

After the Grand Principal's prepared agenda items were finished, some Principals also brought up personal agenda items for additional discussions.

Throughout the council, I was on edge, wondering what task the Grand Principal would give me, but...

"Alright, let's end this council here!"

The council ended there.

The Grand Principal announced the adjournment without assigning any task to me.

'...What?'

I couldn't help but feel puzzled.

I was sure she would give me some task at this council.

I was even looking forward to getting a year's worth of free time.

Suddenly, I made eye contact with the Grand Principal.

She smiled at me and said,

"Ah, 7th Principal, can you stay for a moment? I have something I want to discuss with you."

...Of course.

The other Principals looked at the Grand Principal and me with curious expressions.

They must have been wondering what she wanted to discuss with me alone, which she didn't bring up during the council. I was curious too.

After the Principals left, only the Grand Principal, the Chief Advisor, and I remained in the council room.

She placed her clasped hands on her knees and spoke.

"I have a personal task I want to assign to the 7th Principal. It's not related to Caldric, but to Sainthea."

"..."

"Flaverus Tower's Tower Master, Ank Gindela. I assume the 7th Principal knows him?"

The sudden mention of this person made me frown slightly.

'Flaverus Tower's Tower Master?'

The Tower in Sainthea is the highest magical authority, consisting of three towers.

The Flaverus Tower mentioned by the Grand Principal is one of the two branch towers, not the main tower.

The three Tower Masters are renowned archmages who represent Sainthea and are well-known across the continent, so I couldn't be unaware of them.

And the Tower Master of Flaverus was someone I particularly remembered, because...

"Recently, I received some absurd news from my informants there. What do you think it is?"

I was skeptical.

I could guess what the Grand Principal was going to say.

There was only one absurd piece of information about the Tower Master of Flaverus.

"The Tower Master of Flaverus is secretly conducting research on demons. He's capturing them directly."

...So that was it.

At that moment, the Chief Advisor approached me and handed me something.

A few documents. They contained the information about the Tower Master of Flaverus that the Grand Principal had just mentioned.

The general circumstances of the demon research, the estimated scale of the material resources and lives sacrificed, and other details.

I skimmed through the content and looked at the Grand Principal intently.

The important thing was why she was bringing this up to me.

"What do you want to say?"

The next words were quite unexpected.

"I want the 7th Principal to kill him. Of course, without causing a big commotion, quietly."

I maintained a blank expression but inwardly sighed.

Assassination.

Her words were a straightforward request to assassinate the Tower Master of Flaverus.

"Why?"

I asked without hiding my confusion.

I really couldn't understand why she was suddenly asking for this.

From what she said, the demon research was the trigger, but why was she concerned about it?

The Grand Principal answered.

"Because they are demons. They are not beings that foolish, desire-blinded people can meddle with. I just want to defuse a time bomb that could explode at any moment."

"So, why are you concerned about something unrelated to Caldric?"

I knew demons were extremely dangerous.

What I couldn't understand was why she was concerned about something that would harm Sainthea.

However, she only smiled and didn't answer my question.

"You still have two uses left, right? I don't think it's a difficult task for the 7th Principal's abilities."

"..."

I thought for a moment.

In the game, the Grand Principal was always like this.

She never revealed her true intentions or inner thoughts, and her actions were always unpredictable.

I even wondered if it was a trap, but the possibility was very low.

Why would the Grand Principal suddenly set a trap to get rid of me?

Even if she had decided to get rid of me because of the last emergency summons... No, that was unlikely.

To send me to Sainthea, which wasn't her territory, and set up a fatal trap there? It was impossible and unrealistic.

'Assassination...'

Anyway, it wasn't a bad task, even though I didn't know the purpose.

After all, the Tower Master of Flaverus was a villain I had to deal with eventually.

I knew that his atrocities would cause a major disaster someday.

If I could do it now and also remove one of the remaining command uses from the Grand Principal, it wouldn't be a bad idea.

The question was whether I could secretly eliminate the Tower Master of Flaverus, an archmage nearing level 90, with my abilities.

I could somehow kill him, but assassination was a different matter.

However, there was no option to refuse.

After quickly recalling the information about him in my mind, I asked the Grand Principal, who was staring at me intently.

"When is the deadline?"

"There's no need to rush. Just let me know the result by the next Principals' Council."

A year.

I nodded and stood up.

With that much time, I should be able to figure something out.