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Chapter 248: Lloyd Schultz (6)

He couldn’t breathe.

The mana emanating from the archmage before him was something Lloyd had never once faced in his entire life.

Even his master—said to be the strongest in the world—had never revealed such a monstrous force to him.

“Oops, did I go a bit too far?”

The moment Kudel hurriedly withdrew his mana, Lloyd burst into coughing fits.

“Cough! Cough!”

After a long bout of coughing, he finally steadied his breathing and glared at Kudel as if he wanted to kill him.

Kudel found even that look pleasing.

“Cluck cluck, instead of fearing me you want to kill me, is it? The more I see you, the more I like you. As expected, you’re far more suited to the Red Tower than the White Tower.”

“…It neither suits me, nor will it ever happen.”

Lloyd snapped back.

“What you just said—I’ll be delivering every word to the Imperial Family. Including how you harassed me here today.”

“Bwahaha!”

Kudel threw back his head and shook his shoulders in laughter.

“You fool. Do you think the Imperial Family will believe you?”

“Once an investigation starts, evidence will turn up.”

“If such evidence existed, do you think I would even speak to you like this in the first place?”

Kudel’s overwhelming confidence left Lloyd’s mind tangled in doubt.

Indeed, if there were any traces left, today’s words would amount to nothing more than a confession.

And it was hard to believe that someone of the Tower Master’s stature would act so carelessly without countermeasures.

Tap, tap.

Kudel patted Lloyd’s shoulder as if kindly advising him.

“Think carefully. This is not such a bad proposal for you either. You could call it… coexistence.”

“…Coexistence?”

“Yes. Whether you know it or not, that peculiar magic of yours is very special. It’s something I’ve been searching for, for a very long time.”

For a moment, a glimmer of desire flickered in Kudel’s eyes.

“Come to the Red Tower. Then I’ll make you one of the greatest mages in the world. Even for the White Tower, it wouldn’t be such a bad deal—gaining such a powerful supporter. You’d live without worries. The Tower, which can’t even guarantee its next year, would at least be able to keep its name alive for another ten years or so.”

“……”

Smack!

Lloyd slapped away Kudel’s hand and said firmly:

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear any of this. And I will never become your disciple.”

“Cluck cluck, suit yourself.”

This time, Kudel didn’t stop Lloyd from leaving.

He only called out after him:

“I hear Oscar’s disciples are quite close with each other. Think long and hard! About what choice would truly help your younger siblings.”

“……”

On the carriage ride back to the White Tower, the Red Tower Master’s voice kept echoing in Lloyd’s ears.

He lifted the heavy pouch of coins he had received as thanks from the host of the banquet.

The pouch felt heavy.

Was it simply because of its actual weight?

Or because it represented the lifeline that could feed the hundreds in the White Tower for a month?

‘Money.’

His master had once said that a true mage should never chase after vain things such as money or pleasure.

For not a single mage who pursued such things had ever reached greatness.

“……”

Lloyd chose to believe in that teaching.

For there had never been a single thing his master said that was wrong.

* * *

“I’m hungry.”

“Me too…”

The complaints from Gilliot and Sasha grew more frequent.

Children in their growth spurt couldn’t be satisfied with just three meals of canned soup a day.

“…Just hold on a little longer. Only two hours left until dinner.”

“Brother, can’t we just eat now?”

“No. If you do, you’ll complain you can’t sleep later because you’re hungry again.”

Two months had passed since the banquet.

In that time, the White Tower’s finances had become visibly worse—even outsiders could tell.

The ration of canned soup had shrunk, and by nightfall the whole tower was shrouded in darkness to conserve mana.

It was doubtful whether what Fidelina had said—that they could last a year—was really possible.

‘Kudel Redmane.’

As hunger worsened, the exodus of mages from the Tower quickened.

No matter how madly devoted to magic one was, one couldn’t starve to death.

Some even left deliberately, just to reduce the burden on the Tower.

“……”

Even then, Lloyd struggled with his thoughts.

Would it be right for him to leave the Tower just for the sake of money?

Though his master had never returned as promised, Lloyd still remembered the words spoken to him.

—Lloyd, while I’m gone, you must take good care of your younger siblings.

He had tried with all his might to keep that promise.

He cut down on his sleep to restore lost spells, and even tried creating new ones.

But with his meager level of mastery and lack of proper facilities, nothing went well.

And then, disaster struck.

“What did the healer say?”

“…Malnutrition, they said. It’s a problem caused by not eating properly during growth. From now on we’ll need to pay more attention to the children’s meals.”

When Lloyd returned from research, he found Sasha collapsed.

He was the one who carried her to the infirmary.

Her body felt lighter than the coin pouch he had held the other day.

The thought that his ever-cheerful little sister could feel that frail was terrifying.

Lloyd, overcome with helpless rage, lashed out at Gilliot.

“Where were you?”

“Brother, I…”

“Where the hell were you, and what were you doing, while she became like this?!”

“I-I was working!”

Gilliot burst into tears.

“T-the butcher at the marketplace said if I helped, he’d sometimes give me some meat… so I helped him.”

“Why would you—!”

Lloyd trailed off, biting his lip.

He knew.

He knew how Sasha had sung every day about wanting to eat meat.

Though she was Lloyd’s younger sister, to Gilliot she was also his sister.

Of course he’d desperately want to feed her something delicious.

“……”

For the first time, Lloyd began to think it might be better if he left.

That night, he visited the garden.

It was a place he hadn’t come to since his master’s passing, always using busyness as an excuse.

Thud. Lloyd sat down beneath the great tree in the garden.

It was the clearing where he and his younger siblings had always learned magic from their master.

“…I don’t know.”

His master had once told him never to chase after empty illusions.

A true mage, he had said, must not pursue money, fame, or pleasure, but instead follow the right path.

Do not waver before the desires in front of you—fix your eyes on the things far beyond.

[Translator - Night]

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“I too want to look far ahead, but I just can’t ignore those who are suffering right before me.”

His voice trembled.

As he took a deep breath, sobs quickly leaked out.

He hastily wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, fearful someone might see—but the tears, once started, would not stop.

“I… I’m afraid.”

What tormented Lloyd was the gulf between his master’s teachings and the reality he lived in.

His master had told him that if he believed something was right, he must see it through to the end.

But now, the Red Tower Master coveted his magic, and that greed alone was causing countless people to suffer.

“Is it truly right for me to stay here, to persist in my convictions to the very end?”

The image of Sasha, lying powerless on the floor when he had entered the room, would not leave his mind.

No matter how mature or composed the boy might seem, he was still only fourteen years old.

If his master were still alive, would he have given him the answer?

The child who wept in the clearing until dawn finally made his decision.

“……”

A few days later, he left the White Tower.

* * *

After leaving, Lloyd heard that he was being called a traitor.

But he did not let it bother him.

The Red Tower Master had kept his promise faithfully, and the funds flowing to the White Tower had been restored.

‘That’s enough.’

From now on, his siblings would not go hungry.

The mages of the White Tower could once again dream of tomorrow.

That was enough.

Convincing himself of this, Lloyd adjusted to his new life in the Red Tower.

“Again.”

“Try making it again.”

“Once more.”

The Red Tower Master demanded that he create a certain flower.

But aside from a picture of that flower, he gave no further information.

Lloyd had to pour out his magic until he spat blood every day, just to try to create this flower whose name and properties he did not even know.

“Hmm, it does indeed seem that once a flower is created, it possesses the exact same traits as the real one.”

“Even the wilting period is similar… Perhaps this isn’t mere fabrication but an actual manifestation.”

“So, flowers you only vaguely know—you fill in the gaps and create them through your own concept? Kukuku, fascinating.”

Half a year after beginning experiments under the Red Tower Master as his disciple,

Kudel nodded in satisfaction, apparently pleased with the results.

“It seems at lower levels it’s impossible to manifest a flower you haven’t directly seen. At the very least, this requires reaching the 7th Level of World Liberation… perhaps even waiting until the 8th.”

The Red Tower Master spared no expense to accelerate his growth.

He was fed elixirs the White Tower could never have dreamed of affording, and was granted access to high-level grimoires.

But more than anything, what was strictly demanded of him was real combat experience.

“A mage who only reads books in his room cannot grow quickly. The most beautiful flowers always bloom in the wild.”

Wearing sunglasses, Kudel dragged him out to a forward base in the desert, where sandstorms raged.

“Reaching the 7th Level as fast as possible—that is your task from now on.”

Thus Lloyd was thrown onto the battlefield, the very front lines.

At the age of fifteen, he entered war for the first time, and everything terrified him.

A senior who had warmly greeted him just yesterday was dead today.

Another man, who had shaken his hand saying he was the same age as Lloyd’s younger brother, was also dead.

That place was a field where endless flowers named “death” bloomed.

After throwing Lloyd into that hell, the Red Tower Master completely abandoned him to his fate.

“……”

He wanted to live.

Though branded a traitor now, one day he would reveal the truth and return home.

That goal became his driving force.

He was the first to rise and run to the training grounds, and he ate more than anyone else to strengthen his body.

His quarters were always the last to go dark, and he never neglected his magical studies late into the night.

From that brutal regimen was born the youngest 7th-level master in the history of the Empire.

“To think you’ve reached the 7th Level at only eighteen… Better than that Oscar brat.”

Four years later, he was able to meet the self-proclaimed master, the Red Tower Master, once again.

Even with the man before him, Lloyd betrayed no emotion.

Instead, like a respectful disciple, he bowed politely.

“All of it was thanks to your generous support, Tower Master.”

“Kukukuku, I can’t tell if your claws have been pulled… or if you’re just hiding them.”

After giving him a sharp, piercing look, the Red Tower Master resumed his old experiments.

“Show me. Reveal your world.”

For three more months, the experiments continued without pause.

And in the Red Tower Master’s eyes, expectation and desire swelled.

“Still impossible? But once you reach the 8th Level… perhaps it won’t be out of reach.”

“Tower Master, isn’t it about time you told me what this flower is?”

Feigning the part of the humble disciple, Lloyd asked.

Kudel turned his head.

“Hm. You want me to tell you about this flower?”

“Yes. If I know more, it might help me bring it forth.”

“Hmmm…”

After pondering for a moment, Kudel apparently decided the reasoning was sound, and nodded.

“Very well. Not that knowing will change anything. This flower has no name. It’s simply called the Flower of Refinement. In ancient times, long ago, it bloomed—but now, not a single one remains.”

“…An ancient flower?”

Why, after all this time, would he want to revive something like that?

Seeing the doubt in Lloyd’s eyes, Kudel smirked.

“It is said that whoever consumes it has their body restructured to near perfection. Compared to mere rejuvenation or becoming slightly younger, its effects are on a completely different scale.”

“…Do you want to become young again?”

“Kukuku, you don’t understand. As I said—it is perfection itself.”

In his eyes seethed a madness, a bottomless hunger.

“Through that flower, I shall surpass the mortal limit of the 9th Level… and ascend to the 10th.”

The moment Lloyd faced that insanity, he realized instinctively—

He must never, ever allow this man to have that flower.

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