Chapter 117

The three men stood facing each other.

Me and Meh had an agreement, while the 'Brass Arm' Onseu Om faced both of us alone.

The first to move was Meh al-Hmed, the head of the Bururade Canal Company's technical department and a special inspector for the Peninsula Alliance.

He was also a Three-Star Mage who could manipulate space.

Spatial magic was only granted to a very small number of talented individuals.

As difficult as it was to wield, it was just as difficult to face.

Since it penetrated from space itself, it couldn't be blocked or deflected, and could only be dodged.

The Two-Star magic, 'Tri-Section'.

The space was cut in a triangular shape.

There were about thirty of them, each the size of a palm.

A swarm of triangles that could sever anything they touched poured towards Onseu Om.

They were fast, but Onseu Om was faster.

Having dodged the tri-sections, Onseu Om's navy-blue mana blazed.

But Meh had already finished his next spell.

It was a great magic he had been preparing even before revealing himself.

He was a Three-Star Mage on the verge of reaching Four-Stars and he could use magic from a realm he hadn't yet reached by using an artifact.

"Mushat."

The Four-Star magic, 'Dodeca-Great-Section'.

The space was cut into a wide, twelve-sided shape.

The area from right in front of Meh to a good distance behind Onseu Om was instantly severed.

Onseu Om hurriedly bent at the waist, but he couldn't completely avoid it.

The severed hem of his navy-blue frock coat fluttered in the air.

"This...!"

Onseu Om was already short-tempered.

When his cherished clothes were damaged, his face instantly turned crimson with rage.

The navy-blue mana began to entangle itself.

"...Annoying bastards, to make me use my Ars...!"

Ars is the shape of one's soul.

It is a unique radiance that each person possesses.

But sometimes, on very rare occasions, an Ars can change.

If a person goes through something very, very severe that changes the shape of their soul, the Ars also changes to follow the soul.

The same was true for Onseu Om.

It would be stranger if his soul hadn't been damaged, having lived his entire life for the honor of being a Master only to have the title stripped from him.

From the day he was chased out of Maesh, his Ars took on a lost golden color.

Onseu Om's transformed Ars.

'Nostalgic Golden Feathers'.

Golden feathers sprouted from his tricorne hat.

A golden medal was attached to the chest of his frock coat.

Golden decorations were embroidered all over his clothes, mixing gold into the navy blue.

All of these were things only granted to a Master of Maesh.

Even if it was just the outer shell, Onseu Om's momentum, which was now draped in his former honor, swelled several times over.

The navy-blue mana mixed with golden light also blazed with a different density than before.

Meh al-Hmed was overwhelmed and broke out in a cold sweat, but I was nonchalant.

"What are you gonna do if it's annoying?"

The first Ars of Septem Arcana.

'Fantasy Finger'.

The invisible hands wandered.

The way they twisted and turned was like a synchronized dance.

They seemed to be filled with so much anguish and pain that they couldn't stand it without grabbing onto something.

Over a hundred hands poured out.

But only I could see them.

They tried to tear apart Onseu Om with a ferocity that was incomparable to any torrent.

But they were blocked.

They couldn't reach Onseu Om, who was clad in navy-blue mana like a suit of clothes.

'Did he already prepare a countermeasure?'

I frowned.

In fact, countering 'Fantasy Finger' isn't that difficult.

If you don't know where the invisible hands are coming from, you just have to block every direction.

That shouldn't be difficult for the current Onseu Om, who had his golden feathers.

"Ha. You didn't expect your Ars to be blocked like this, did you, kid? Even if it's a difficult Ars, you were too careless just relying on that one thing!"

Onseu Om was triumphant, completely unaware that his death was right in front of him.

This was because he couldn't have imagined that I would have more than one Ars.

It was a natural thing.

An Ars is one per person.

A world law that cannot be changed.

I withdrew 'Fantasy Finger'.

Since the invisible hands were invisible even when they were withdrawn, he didn't even know that they were gone.

Anyway, 'Fantasy Finger' was an Ars meant to assist other Ars.

I just used it often because it was easy to use.

Thick veins bulged on my neck.

They bulged again and again.

The third Ars, which was ridiculously hot and heavy, was about to pop out.

'I didn't want to bring out the 'Iron Bloodline' with Meh here...'

However, it seemed impossible to let Onseu Om live.

Even for a Brass Arm, he couldn't block it if I brought out the 'Iron Bloodline'.

He would be crushed before he even noticed what had been swung at him.

'I need to take Onseu Om out of the picture here.'

"Stop! Stop!"

My hand stopped at the shout.

The iron veins that were about to pop out returned to my soul.

"Just stop it already!"

It was Pneuve Freira.

"Why are you fighting!"

"What do you think, Pneuve?"

Onseu Om hissed at his companion.

"Your acting was so terrible that it was revealed I was alive!"

"...Are you blaming me!?"

"Then who's fault is it!?"

Pneuve Freira was a very patient man.

But Onseu Om was the kind of man who could make even the most patient person angry.

Pneuve bit his lip and tried to suppress his anger.

"Anyway, stop fighting! It's already been found out, so why shed blood for nothing!"

"Are you interfering again, Pneuve?"

Onseu Om pointed a finger at him.

"All you've done since you got here is stop me!"

"Because that's exactly why I came here!"

"...Damn it!"

The Brass Arm cursed.

"Let's just stop and go. There's no reason to fight, and this narrow place is disadvantageous for you, Onseu."

"Even so, I can chop those two up in an instant."

He couldn't hide his regret.

He had even used his Ars, 'Nostalgic Golden Feathers,' and he didn't want the fight to end like this.

He was convinced that if he had just a little more time, he would have personally cut off Meh's and my necks.

I twisted my lips in disbelief and Pneuve Freira let out a deep sigh.

"What are you going to do after you chop them up? Has anything ever gone well after you did that?"

"..."

"It's already over the moment we've been found out. Let's go back."

"...Dog-like."

There was a 'tsk' sound.

He clicked his tongue so loudly that everyone could hear it.

"Fine, you can confiscate it or whatever you want."

Onseu Om withdrew his navy-blue mana.

The golden feathers and golden medal were gone.

He pointed a finger at me and Meh and spat.

"I can't stand being in this smelly sewer anymore."

He took out a small orb from his pocket.

Pneuve took out the exact same orb.

It was a simple spatial teleportation magic orb.

It was a one-time use and very expensive, but the effect was certain.

"Damn it."

Pneuve and Onseu Om stood close together.

Meh and I did not stop them.

They gripped the magic orbs, and soon the light of mana seeped into them.

As they disappeared, Onseu Om's muttering lingered.

"...I'm going to hear it from Kukulo."

***

Pneuve and Onseu Om disappeared.

After their plan to retrieve the Del Conti family's tax evasion goods was exposed, they used emergency spatial teleportation magic orbs to escape to the surface.

Me and Meh were left.

We looked at each other and nodded.

"Is it over, Meh?"

"It seems so, Shion."

"Genote, then."

"Genote, indeed."

Meh al-Hmed habitually offered thanks to the gods.

I followed him and glanced at the spot where Onseu Om and Pneuve had disappeared.

"What should we do? You closed the sluice gate, so you know how to open it, right?"

"Of course, but there's no need to."

A light shimmered in Meh's hand and gathered into a triangular pyramid.

It was a spatial entry point commonly called a 'portal'.

It was the height of convenience, only granted to a select few mages who could manipulate spatial magic.

"You can create a portal."

"Yes. We can leave with the confiscated goods."

"Since they're all physical goods, won't the volume be considerable?"

"I can do it all at once if I just take my time."

We were deep underground.

We had countless stones, dirt, water, and even swarms of cockroach-like magical beasts above our heads.

But it wasn't a problem for Meh al-Hmed.

Space was very lenient with him.

"Because there's no reason to save mana anymore."

Meh had already set up a marker on the surface.

If he set up a marker well underground, he could transfer a volume the size of a large room to the surface without any damage.

He didn't know the exact size of Del Conti's tax evasion warehouse, but the size of a warehouse that could be placed this deep underground was limited.

Meh and I started to walk.

The Horm man touched his mustache and moved his hand.

As he drew eight points in the air, mana shimmered and formed a geometric solid.

Two-Star magic, 'Detection Cube'.

The mana cube swelled in size and seeped into space.

Secret spaces and devices were like paper to Meh, with everything in them being visible.

Meh very easily found the secret warehouse that the Del Conti family had put all their effort into hiding.

"I've found it."

"With just one detection spell?"

"Actually, I thought it would be quite a struggle to find everything since the underground area is so vast, but it seems Onseu has guided us."

"My presence saved you some trouble, didn't it?"

"I am only grateful, Shion."

Meh gestured with his hand.

"This way."

We were in section 65 and Meh guided me to section 68.

It wasn't far.

The path collapsed in the middle, but we moved without difficulty by clearing the way.

We soon stood in front of a wall covered in moss.

"It's behind here..."

A light of mana flickered and three 'Tri-Sections' flew.

But the triangles that cut space scattered and disappeared in front of the ordinary stone wall.

Meh touched his mustache as if he wasn't surprised.

"As I thought, there's a great mana barrier."

Magic could not affect it since it scattered mana and rendered it null.

An ordinary mage might have been frustrated here, but Meh was also the head of the Bururade Canal Company's technical department.

He carried a small folded space in his pocket, which contained all sorts of tools.

He could dismantle a stone wall like this anytime he wanted.

"Please wait for a moment. I'll open it soon."

"Is there any need for that? I'll use my Ars."

Ars is a kind of power that operates on a different plane from magic.

Furthermore, Septem Arcana is a secret too deep and vast to be blocked by a barrier of the Del Contis.

'Fantasy Finger'.

The invisible hands grabbed and tore at the stone wall.

They also tore at the alarm systems and barriers at the same time.

Magic is invisible, but 'Fantasy Finger' is just as invisible.

Since neither can be seen, 'Fantasy Finger' can tear at the magic.

To Meh, it felt as if the wall was suddenly being torn away and the presence of mana abruptly cut off.

Even though space was exceptionally lenient with him, it didn't tell him what was happening.

Perhaps it was because space also couldn't see 'Fantasy Finger'.

"What a remarkable Ars... Oh, my..."

Meh stopped speaking.

It was because of the brilliant golden light.

It was coming from beyond the wall that 'Fantasy Finger' had torn apart.

"Oh, my God..."

Everything was gold.

In some places, it was jewels.

There was no more appropriate word than 'treasure'.

"...The Del Conti's corruption is on a scale I never imagined."

"The Del Conti bastards must be so pissed off."

I chuckled as I looked at the piles of silver and gold coins.

I could understand why Onseu Om and Pneuve had been so furious.

The space was the size of three large rooms combined and it was filled with so much treasure that one couldn't help but gasp.

"Can you transfer it all at once?"

"No. I'll have to go back and forth three, no, four times."

"The promise won't change just because the amount got bigger, right?"

"Of course not, Shion."

"30% of this, huh."

Hmph. I hummed a tune.

"A shower of money."