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Chapter 369: The Story After. (1). [Side Story – 1]

[Uuuugh.]

The Tower Master was holed up in his chamber, buried in paperwork.

The door opened and his disciple, Elian, stepped in.

“Here are some additional documents. All of these must be processed today.”

The documents Elian brought were literally stacked high enough to touch the ceiling.

And there were dozens more piles like it. The

Tower Master let out a deep sigh.

[When on earth will this end…]

“There’s still a long way to go. For the time being, it will be impossible for you to wander around idly as before.”

[It isn’t idleness. Solving matters with my own two hands—that’s what it is. You know very well how many incidents have been resolved that way.]

“I won’t deny that,”

Elian replied with a faint smile.

“But more important than that is the value of the thousands of mages that move at the Tower Master’s command.”

The Tower Master was, after all, the Master of the Mage Tower.

He alone held the authority to command every mage within the tower and mobilize them across the continent.

As the only one with such power, he inevitably had to process mountains of paperwork.

Elian spoke calmly.

“You know this as well as I do. The world is no longer what it used to be. For the time being, you will have to endure the hardship.”

[Ughh…]

The Tower Master groaned uncomfortably, but he didn’t deny it.

Two years ago—

The Demon King had appeared in the world.

The Demon King.

The king of all evil.

The lord of Hell.

That being’s power was unfathomable.

The last time it descended upon the world thousands of years ago, it burned a tenth of all existence, slew countless gods, and crushed heroes beneath its feet.

Such a being had descended once more.

The world was on the brink of destruction.

But that was not all.

There was also the being from Forbidden Lands.

A primordial existence from the dawn of creation.

A horror that once ruled the universe, cast out only when both gods and demons joined forces to expel it from the mortal plane.

That very entity had devoured the Empire and revealed itself once again.

To return all things to their original nothingness.

To erase all that had been built.

And it possessed the power to do just that.

Two calamities, each enough to shatter the world, had come one after another in quick succession.

It was a miracle the world still existed at all.

If the stars themselves had collapsed, it would hardly have been surprising.

And yet, they had triumphed.

They had survived.

Survival alone was cause for joy, and they celebrated.

People embraced one another, rejoicing simply to be alive.

But once the celebrations ended, what lay before them was a broken world.

The invasion of demons had left scars across the continent that could never be erased.

The appearance of the being from Forbidden Lands had destroyed the greatest power of the age—the Empire itself.

It was not an exaggeration to say the world had been torn in half.

The wounds were so great they would not heal even after centuries.

Reconstruction was essential, and so the Tower Master was busier than he had ever been.

With the Empire annihilated and the gods weakened from exhausting their powers, few remained with as much influence as he.

In truth, one could say the Tower Master was now the one overseeing nearly every matter across the continent.

Thus, for the past two years since the catastrophe, he had been stuck in the Mage Tower, endlessly processing paperwork.

The Tower Master groaned.

[This is enough to drive me mad…]

He preferred to solve matters directly with his own strength, but he didn’t have the luxury anymore.

Elian ignored his complaints and continued.

“The western continent has requested aid. Abandoned dungeons have overflowed with monsters, and they are asking for mages to help. Meanwhile, on the eastern continent—”

[That’s enough explanation.]

The Tower Master sighed and flicked his fingers.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

In an instant, tens of thousands of documents rose into the air, filling the chamber.

[Analyze.]

Vwooom.

Mana swept over the hovering papers.

The countless reports and records were all absorbed into the Tower Master’s mind at once.

He grasped every matter, every detail, every degree of urgency, even the time required for responses.

Then he snapped his fingers.

[Confirmed. Process.]

Shhhrrrack!

The documents neatly filed themselves back into their boxes.

[The review is complete. Handle the rest.]

“Understood. As expected of the Tower Master—truly astounding speed.”

Elian’s admiration was sincere.

The Tower Master had even created entirely new magic solely for the purpose of handling paperwork.

Thanks to him, tens of thousands of documents could be processed in mere seconds. Without him, the continent would have been plunged into chaos several times over.

[So then… am I finished for today? If so, then perhaps now I can—]

“Unfortunately, there are still several hundred thousand documents remaining. I’ll summon people to bring them in.”

The Tower Master, who had been about to rise, collapsed back into his seat with a thud. Resting his chin on his hand, he clicked his tongue.

[Tch. It never ends.]

He gazed blankly into the air for a moment, then suddenly spoke as if remembering something.

[By the way… what is our Hero doing these days?]

At present, one story had spread across the entire continent.

The Demon King had descended, and the seal on the beings from Forbidden Lands had been broken.

Disasters that could have ended the world not once but many times over.

And yet, they had prevailed.

All thanks to a single hero who had walked the earth.

A man born with unmatched talent and physique, who had felled the Demon King, who had fought and destroyed the beings from Forbidden Lands.

A man whom even the gods acknowledged, granting him all their power, until at last he had saved the world.

That man was the barbarian—Ketal.

The true hero of this age.

Elian answered.

“He is currently in the Fairy Sanctuary, Pysaraphia. I believe he is aiding in its restoration.”

The Tower Master muttered knowingly.

[No doubt enjoying himself to the fullest.]

“Most likely so.”

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* * *

The holy land of the fairies within the realm of fantasy—Pisarapia.

Because fairies themselves were small in size, many assumed their holy land would also be small.

But in reality, that was not the case.

On the contrary, it was larger than most human cities.

It was only natural.

Fairies were small, but they possessed wings and could fly freely.

Since they could move in three dimensions, they needed an expansive space in which to roam.

And in that fairy holy land stood a muscular human.

Thud! Thud!

He was carrying five enormous pillars in his arms.

With every step he took, the ground trembled with heavy thumps.

The fairies watched him wide-eyed, mouths agape.

“Should I set them here?”

“Y-yes…”

The fairy nodded blankly.

The barbarian, Ketal, began setting the pillars upright one by one.

His movements were light, effortless—so much so that the fairies were struck with awe.

“W-was it always that easy to move those…?”

The fairy holy land was filled with mystery.

That mystical essence even influenced the material world: most objects here weighed ten times more than they did outside.

The pillars Ketal carried now weighed as much as houses.

And yet he carried not one, but five of them with ease.

One fairy whispered in awe:

“This is… Barbarian Ketal.”

The great hero who had slain the Demon King, banished that alien scourge, and saved the surface world.

Thoom!

The final pillar was set upright.

Ketal exhaled with satisfaction.

“That should be it, for now?”

“Y-yes… At least the urgent part is done. Thank you so much.”

The fairy bowed her head in gratitude.

She was the secretary of the mercenary guild master, dispatched to help restore the holy land.

But as she looked at Ketal, she murmured with a strange expression:

“…You seem… different, somehow.”

“Different? How so?”

“N-no, it’s just… Before, you looked like… layered. Overlapping.”

Fairies could perceive the essence of things.

The first time she saw Ketal, she had been terrified.

Within his form, endlessly layered upon itself, she had glimpsed something strange—something so incomprehensible that if it hadn’t been hidden by those overlapping veils, her very mind would have shattered.

That experience left her dreading the thought of ever seeing him again.

But now, the Ketal before her was different.

There was no layering, no distortion.

His form was clear, distinct.

And he was no longer frightening.

He looked just like an ordinary man, someone you could find anywhere.

Understanding her meaning, Ketal smiled faintly.

“It’s nothing much. Just a change of heart.”

“I-is that so?”

“Still… perhaps because the land is steeped in mystery, everything here is quite heavy.”

“You… don’t look like you’re struggling at all though…”

“I was just putting up a front. Carrying those things was a real chore.”

“Haha…”

The secretary let out a dry laugh and bowed again.

“Thank you, great hero. Thanks to you, our holy land is being restored.”

The fairy holy land had been utterly ruined by the forces of evil.

Restoring it might have taken decades.

But with Ketal’s help, it had been swiftly rebuilt in barely a month.

The fairies all bowed deeply to him in gratitude.

The secretary spoke with a troubled look.

“We are truly sorry… but our circumstances are dire. It will be difficult for us to offer you any proper reward…”

“In times of hardship, it is natural to help one another. This isn’t charity—I simply enjoy doing it.”

“…Thank you.”

The fairies were moved to tears by his words.

They believed he spoke them only to preserve their dignity.

But that wasn’t the truth.

Ketal was genuinely overjoyed.

Just then, a divine figure descended beside him: the holy sword, Serena.

“I’ve returned.”

“Ah!”

“Lady Serena! You’ve come!”

The fairies immediately bowed to her in unison.

Though Serena had taken the form of a human, her true essence was that of a sacred sword—the very gift bestowed by the gods upon the mortal world.

To beings of the earth such as the fairies, she was divinity incarnate.

Accepting their reverence with calm composure, Serena extended her hand.

“I’ve gathered as much of the dispersed essence of the Spring as I could.”

“Ohhh! Thank you!”

Within Pysaraphia, there once existed a mystical spring, brimming with condensed divine energy.

A single sip of its water could cure any illness and restore youth.

But when the demons invaded, the spring had evaporated, its essence scattered into the air. Serena had now reclaimed and condensed what fragments she could.

“With this, we can revive the spring!”

Ketal looked on in curiosity and asked.

“To my eyes, it looks like a mere drop. How can you use that to restore the spring?”

“Ah… it’s rather technical, and I fear it would only bore you…”

The fairy replied, flustered.

Ketal smiled.

“Speak freely. Perhaps I can lend some help.”

“…Yes!”

‘The hero wishes to learn even the most complex knowledge, just to aid us!’

The fairies were deeply moved.

So moved, in fact, that their eyes blurred with tears.

And so they failed to notice the broad, delighted grin of Ketal, savoring the joy of it all.

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