Chapter 94

◈ Chapter 94. Everything Follows the Procedure (2)

Garnet Hall.

In the Garnet Hall, which manages the magical artifacts of the tower, there is a special room managed by the Enchantment School.

The work carried out in this special room is, of course, the enchantment of magical artifacts.

Enchantment is a field where the results do not match the effort.

Even a slight mistake can damage a valuable magical artifact.

Sighs never cease in the special room of the Garnet Hall.

However.

“Ugh. Why must I endure such trials…!!”

A rare cry of despair echoed from the special room.

Kiko Armin, the senior enchanter.

Her voice was filled with resentment.

Thud─

Kiko sprawled out on the enchantment table.

The skilled enchanters exchanged glances as they looked at her.

‘Is she okay?’

Kiko showed no signs of getting up.

Eventually, one of the skilled enchanters had to step up.

“Senior Enchanter Kiko. As expected, we should take responsibility….”

“If you had thought so, you shouldn’t have asked me in the first place.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. We were short-sighted….”

“But if you had remained silent and things went wrong, wouldn’t you have been furious? You would have demanded to know why you weren’t told.”

“T-That’s also my fault….”

“What are you apologizing for? Anyone can see that I’m being capricious.”

Kiko, sprawled out on the table.

Spoke with a tingling, chain-lightning-like tone.

The skilled enchanters exchanged glances again.

Oh no.

It’s happened!

Senior Enchanter Kiko’s paranoia!

Her paranoia stems from a lack of self-esteem.

While other schools in the tower are busy making a fortune,

The Enchantment School is a field that squanders its wealth.

“You should change your career path now. What’s so great about the Enchantment School? Damn, this field! If I were as young as you…!”

Judging by how she mentioned her age, which she usually doesn’t,

This bout of paranoia won’t pass easily.

The skilled enchanters shook their heads.

‘She has a point.’

But they understood her feelings.

The culprit was clear.

Kiko, who had been muttering hysterically, finally mentioned the name.

“What could Chief Lee Ho-yul possibly lack that he has to meddle with the Enchantment School? This is clearly a hint! He’s telling us to get out of the tower, the parasitic leeches! He’s giving us a hint through this, isn’t he?”

The obvious culprit, Chief Lee Ho-yul!

Indeed.

The emergency in the Garnet Hall’s special room was due to Lee Ho-yul’s order.

“I noticed it when he gave us hints during dinner….”

Click─

Kiko finally lifted her head, muttering resentfully.

“…Could you read the request again?”

Her deep purple hair, frizzy and unkempt.

The dark eye shadow under her eyes, even more pronounced.

If you’re going to make such a face, you might as well just give up.

“Hey, are you listening?”

Shake─

The skilled enchanter, urged by the prompting, shook off his thoughts and responded.

“Ah, yes! According to the order from Chief Lee Ho-yul… First, extract the effect from the submitted magical artifact and apply it to the submitted clothing. Second, amplify the effect extracted from the materials and apply it to the magical artifact….”

Kiko watched the skilled enchanter read from the parchment.

His chatter showed no signs of stopping.

Kiko pondered to herself.

‘…No matter how many times I hear it, I can’t understand it.’

Indeed, the culprit of all this was Ho-yul!

The Enchantment School, a field of love and hate.

The knowledge to be acquired is absurdly vast, but the losses one must bear to properly apply that knowledge are enormous.

As mentioned, it’s a field with low efficiency.

Even the great Chief Marcello only had a basic understanding of the Enchantment School.

But.

‘How does he know so much in such detail?’

The order sent by the new chief was excessively detailed.

Despite understanding the limitations of the Enchantment School,

He was demanding results that approached those limits.

In short, it was an extremely picky order!

‘Without knowledge of advanced Enchantment School theory, he couldn’t have done this.’

Such an order would be impossible to make.

Thinking back, it was the same during the regular academic meetings.

‘He asked sharp questions about Enchantment School research.’

Thanks to that, the skilled enchanter who was struggling was right in front of her.

After a long ramble, the skilled enchanter finally finished.

Kiko twitched her jaw.

“There seems to be more at the end. What does it say?”

“Oh, there’s a postscript he added.”

“Postscript?”

“It says to use it if it helps… But I can’t understand it with my knowledge as a skilled enchanter.”

A person with a personality you wouldn’t want as a superior.

But personality and ability are separate matters.

Kiko vividly remembered what Ho-yul had shown.

Most importantly, what left the deepest impression was.

Of course, the incident with Senior Enchanter Bangrit Tom.

‘He was truly extraordinary.’

Bangrit Tom.

A senior enchanter.

And a demon worshipper.

An unimaginable contradiction within the tower.

And Ho-yul was the one who played the biggest role in resolving it.

‘Use it if it helps?’

This piqued her curiosity.

What could he have written that even the skilled enchanters found hard to understand?

“I need to read it.”

Swish─

Kiko finally got up from the enchantment table.

And gestured.

The skilled enchanter hurriedly handed her the parchment.

“You’re amazing. Truly.”

Our new chief.

Doesn’t do anything half-heartedly.

The postscript was quite lengthy.

It was even longer than the detailed order.

I shouldn’t have volunteered to read it.

But soon, Kiko’s expression began to change.

‘Wait. This is…’

The moment she read the first paragraph,

She realized it.

“You can’t understand it, and that’s natural.”

Because it wasn’t knowledge related to the Enchantment School.

“To be precise, it’s knowledge from other schools.”

And it was a mix of knowledge from various schools.

But as a senior enchanter, she could guess.

“This isn’t a random, difficult request, is it?”

With the postscript Ho-yul added,

It might be possible to complement the limitations of the Enchantment School.

The moment she read it, she realized this.

It wasn’t a difficult solution.

Just a shift in perspective was needed.

‘How could he think of it this way?’

The answer wasn’t confined to the Enchantment School.

The reason Kiko couldn’t shift her perspective was simple.

A thought that any senior enchanter would have.

“The Enchantment School is the best….”

Yes, her stubbornness in believing her magic was the best.

Then she realized.

How Ho-yul could come up with such thoughts.

Kiko let out a hollow laugh.

“Perhaps it’s only possible because he’s an outsider?”

Because, a rolling stone gathers no moss.

Soon, Kiko lifted her long robe.

“Alright. It’s time for me to shed it too.”

It’s time to shed the moss that has clung to my body without my notice.

But the skilled enchanters, who couldn’t interpret the postscript, couldn’t understand her deeper meaning.

‘What does she mean by shedding something suddenly?’

The skilled enchanters exchanged strange glances.

‘How stressed must she be to start talking nonsense?’

‘Poor Senior Enchanter Kiko.’

‘…Should we really consider changing our career path now?’

*

What is the ultimate goal of the tower?

To pursue the truth.

Of course, the tower doesn’t even know what the truth is.

‘But the ultimate goal is the same for everyone.’

In that sense, there’s no need for the schools to have bad relations, I think.

Because, I learned this thanks to Granfel, who has a natural talent for magic.

“The light under the lamp is often the darkest.”

Perhaps because I dug many wells?

The answer was surprisingly easy to see.

It was the same at the regular academic meetings.

And with this enchantment order.

‘I wrote it in detail to avoid feeling regret.’

With the intention of uprooting the tower.

I added very detailed requirements to the enchantment order.

With each additional detail,

Considering that the tower’s enchantment service changes in units,

It’s a price estimate that a normal player wouldn’t even consider.

‘I need to be practical. With everything.’

Of course, overdoing it can cause indigestion.

So I added a postscript.

『Advanced Enchantment Theory』.

The knowledge I gained from reading in the void.

Naturally, the probability of enchantment success would increase.

For me, it’s a win-win situation.

No matter how troublesome, it’s important to set the right precedent.

So that it can be used properly next time.

“However, the procedure is more important than the result.”

Here, the procedure means adhering to the deadline.

Because you never know when an incident might occur.

You might suddenly need an item.

That’s why I commissioned the enchantment of the item.

And I equipped the item I had stored in my inventory.

All to be fully prepared.

Because I need to eliminate the threat.

─ Dispose of the escaped demon worshipper. (In progress)

● Prevent the resurrection of a higher demon. (In progress)

I just flipped through the pages and enjoyed tea time.

The demon worshipper revealed his plan.

I calmly muttered.

“Whether higher or lower, demon or demon lord. They are all insignificant.”

Though I said it with pride,

This was no ordinary serious matter.

The knowledge of a demon hunter told me.

-“Not all demons are the same. There can be a significant gap between lower demons and demon lords, depending on their rank. Therefore, a higher demon lord can be said to have power equivalent to a great evil.”

In other words, it’s simple.

I’m not the only one trying to take shortcuts!

Demons.

And demon worshippers.

They are the same.

-“…Our plan was to resurrect a higher demon lord more quickly. Yes, Bangrit Tom was just one of the sacrifices. Unfortunately, it failed.”

When I first heard this, I was truly shocked.

I did defeat the demon lord Decarabia,

But Decarabia’s rank was only 69th out of 72 demon lords.

Between Decarabia and a higher demon lord,

There was a gap like that between lower demons and demon lords…!

A great evil, one of the seven deadly sins, Greed, was the same.

Even he was ignorant of the [Exorcism Ritual] that Decarabia knew.

For some reason.

He was not an opponent to be called a great evil.

I, who defeated him, knew this better than anyone.

Yes, even with such deranged individuals.

The best course of action was to crush them thoroughly.

If the demon worshippers’ plan had succeeded,

And a higher demon lord had been resurrected at this point….

‘I don’t even want to imagine it. Really.’

In that sense, I can’t help but praise myself again.

‘I spoke up