122 – Fire Moths (3)

“One of the cultists contacted the imperial army.

They say they are securing the identity of Eltman Edelweiss.

As a result of the investigation, it is discovered that Eltman Edelweiss is included as a member of the society they disguised.

Eltman Edelweiss has not returned for 5 hours since he left the lab. It was confirmed that there was a regular conference schedule today.”

“crazy….”

I’m not the type to spit out swear words, but when I checked the contents of the letter that Eltman was detained by the cultists, it was not enough to just say it from the inside as usual. I felt like I had to vent my anger out somehow so I wouldn’t get caught in a vase.

No matter how many people say that life is a series of coincidences, I don’t think this is really too much.

Even the sky is really careless. I was glad that the pagan eradication was going smoothly, but then he gave me this ordeal right away. Somehow, I wondered if things were working out too smoothly, but it seems that we are still far from seeing the after story. What I thought was the main story could have been a prelude. The back of my head hurts.

“Ah, I’m hungry for a back bone.”

Why did Eltman get involved with the cultists?

Even though I was asking that inwardly, my head was pounding because I couldn’t guess the reason at all. It was because, if I was right, it could be attributed to me to some extent that he was captured by the cultists. If you look at negligence, it’s not 100 to 0, but about 40 to 60? I don’t know if it’s 50:50, but it’s a really ambiguous ratio to round up.

In the original story, this event never happened. To be precise, it would be true that there was no incident that put her family in a dangerous situation.

It may be because Elena, the main character, was enough to suffer and grow up in the novel, but there has never been a situation in which her family other than her was harmed. The role given to them was as an unshakable supporter of Elena, so the writer can’t allow them to show a weak side.

However, the world I live in now was real, and in reality, there are no fixed endings or destiny. There is only a causal relationship by each person’s choice, so there is nothing that never happens. If there is a cause, of course there are also consequences.

It can be said that I provided the cause of the current situation that Eltman is in. Of course, his choice would also have had an impact, but as I said earlier, it doesn’t mean that I don’t have a stake at all.

If they’re bees and I’m the one trying to get rid of the hive where the bees live, then Eltman would be more like someone who was stung by a bee while passing by at the right time. It’s not my fault, but somehow I feel like I’m at fault too.

The twist in the original work, as well as the reason why the Hwanggun moved so aggressively, was all because of me, so I can’t help but feel a sense of responsibility for the current situation.

I never thought that the Heniway Gun, which was an incident that informed that there was a pagan inside Luden, would come back with a butterfly effect like this. Was it greed to skip too many main stories at once? I guess this is what it means to give in return and receive in words.

“Why would a human who normally doesn’t go anywhere other than the lab go out to the city?”

Frustrated, I blame Eltman, but I know it’s not his fault. The fault lies with the cultists who did it, and we are just victims of their actions. I strained my hand and looked at the crumpled document once again.

No matter how many times I look at it, the contents of the text will not change, but I still looked at it once again.

The place where Eltman was captured was written on it. The imperial army temporarily released the guard there as requested by them, so to save him, I would have to either follow their negotiations or move myself. Even if those cultists negotiate, there’s no chance of it ending normally, so in reality I only have one option.

“…Would you like to take a walk at night after a long time?”

I packed my sword and clothes and prepared to go out. The only consolation I can feel is that there is no curfew in the dormitory… It brings tears to my eyes.

It’s because the secret line planted in the imperial army told me the truth first, so in a little while the news would reach the Duke of Joheim and Elena. You have to move faster than that. I made a promise to myself before I came here that I would put away anything that would worry them.

So determined, I hurriedly finished my preparations and left the dormitory.

I didn’t even know that a blue feathered bird was chasing me.

I noticed this after Elena, covered in black, appeared in front of me.

“Elena?”

“I also heard that my brother was kidnapped and knew. Damian. Let’s go and rescue him.”

“No, that’s not the problem right now. Why is the blue guy?

“Let’s go!!”

Elena???

***

Altman Edelweiss.

As the heir to the Duke of Edelweiss, he liked to read old stories such as myths since childhood. The content was interesting, and partly because the world of imagination seemed to become reality.

In this place where gods exist, legends and myths are not simply created in people’s imaginations, but actual records. The fact that the scenery he imagined actually unfolded on this land in the past was enough to make Eltman’s heart pound.

In that sense, it could be said that his birth in Edelweiss was fate. One of the places holding the most records in this world was the Seven Magic Towers, and he was the successor there.

Because of this, whenever he had a chance, he read books from the Mage Tower’s library, which was not about exploring magic, but about finding and reading the records of the past.

He was one of those called geniuses who boasted outstanding magical achievements from childhood, but he was more like a genius who worked harder than a genius. Although the direction of his efforts was slightly out of focus, his magical achievements were purely the result of a child’s efforts to acquire the basic literacy needed to understand the records of the past.

Eltman wasn’t too interested in magic. No, to be precise, he had no interest in the unique magic passed down in the Edelweiss family.

Aspect magic, which uses the magical power of the stars, was a skill that could not be learned even if one wanted to learn it, unless he was born with that quality. However, even though Eltman was gifted with this skill, his field of interest to become a master of constellation magic in the future and the next head of Edelweiss was was headed elsewhere.

Ever since he found and read old stories long ago, Eltman Edelweiss had a dream.

The war against foreign gods began with the greed of the old dynasties from the story of the mythical age when God directly ruled the world. The swordsman who cut off the arm of the god of thunder. The legend of the hero who killed the dragon. There were many stories in this land, such as the story of the first wizard who moved the stars and his disciples, but among the countless stories, Eltman’s favorite was the story of the old giants and the wizards who fought against them.

“Wowaaa…”

In the past, when there was a huge mountain-moving giant on this land, a wizard created a giant golem comparable to the giant to oppose it. After reading the story, Eltman’s dream was to create such a golem with his own hands, just like the wizard in the story.

It’s not that there aren’t achievements comparable to this in the history of Ascension Wizards, but when people get stuck in something, the greatness of that achievement is just one of the many opportunities that can shake people’s hearts, but they exert absolute influence on them. It is not.

If he had just liked the fact that he had defeated a huge giant, Eltman would have chosen the path of a knight rather than a wizard. There are more knights than wizards in the saga with those monsters. Eltman liked this story because it was a golem as gigantic as the giant that killed it.

At first, it just started with the idea that he could move a golem bigger than a mountain at will, but the deeper he delved into it, the more Eltman was soaked in it like a sponge in water.

To that extent, the golem was attractive to Eltman.

Golem.

That changed the course of a future archmage.

“Father!!! I will become an alchemist!!”

“Get out now!!! You bastard!!!!!!”

It was obvious, but there was no way Joachim would allow this.

His family, Edelweiss, was the owner of the Tower of Dawn, which was said to be the headquarters of Aspect Magic, and Eltman was the next successor there. However, when the successor said he would become a wizard of another school, Joachim had no choice but to pull his back.

However, despite Yoheim’s objection, Eltman ends up in the Golden Tower after graduating from the academy. The passion of an ambitious young wizard could not be stopped only by his father’s opposition. As a result, Thorazin Yohaim withdrew all of his support from Eltman as the successor of Edelweiss, but he did not regret his actions.

It was fine for his younger brother to take both the title and authority he would inherit. As much as he was his dearest sister, Eltman knew earlier than anyone else that she was truly a person worthy of being the owner of the Tower of Dawn.

For Eltman, it was a scene he would never forget to see his younger brother, whom he brought to the library to show off his accomplishments as a child, skillfully cast spells from a magic book he had never seen before. Because he knew an heir more qualified than himself. This was also one of the reasons why Eltman moved the enemy to the Golden Tower without worry.

If there was a regrettable thing, it was that his younger brother was not interested in golems.

If she, who could be said to be a genius among geniuses in magic, had helped with her research, the research would have made more progress. That was the only regret Eltman had about Edelweiss.

While studying at the Golden Tower, he felt the joy of learning more than ever. It’s because I felt that I was getting closer and closer towards my dream. The joy I got from it felt sweeter than anything I had ever enjoyed.

But everything has an end.

Even Eltman’s sweet dreams were eventually shattered by the harsh walls of reality.

Eltman was a competent mage, and he was the youngest person in the Golden Tower to be given the title of chief alchemist. A well-prepared research environment and colleagues with aspirations in the same field. Even though it was literally the optimal environment he wanted, there was only one thing that didn’t fit him.

“Uh…why can’t everyone understand the aesthetics of this greatness?”

The keynote for the current golem in the Golden Tower was that it was a golem that could move smaller and more precise than before. Not the giant golem Eltman wants. As time passed, magic developed more than in the past, and this was also a corresponding change.

If the golems of the past focused on the physical power that comes from their size, the current golems perform more precise and perfect movements. In the current era, the existence of a very huge golem is just a punching bag that can be targeted by others’ attacks.

Of course, even in terms of practicality, everyone understood that a golem would grow to a certain size, but it was considered inefficient to grow a golem as much as Eltman thought. The growing size also depends on the efficiency, but the size of the golem that Eltman wanted was literally the height of inefficiency.

Just maintaining a body as huge as a mountain takes an enormous amount of mana, and with the addition of the necessary magic formulas and various additional functions to withstand the load that comes to the body, if you consider the mana, it is better to use that mana to quickly fire several shots of great magic. It is an undeniable fact that it is more efficient.

“What is the importance of efficiency?”

Of course, that didn’t matter to Eltman.

Even Eltman knew that the operation of the giant golem was inefficient from the start. However, he was the one who gave up all the rights he had to enjoy and ran for the sake of his dreams. For him, the difference between efficiency and inefficiency is that one letter was added to the front, and it is not something to be considered.

The bad news wasn’t the only one.

The engagement of Elena, whom Eltman thought was the true successor of the family, had come true. Eltman was even more angry that Elena’s fiancée was Krause’s heir.

It wasn’t that he had any ill feelings toward Krause. Rather, he liked it, since the family from which the legend of the hero who killed the dragon was descended, one of his favorite stories, was Kraus.

However, the fact that Elena was betrothed to Krause’s heir was something he did not like very much. Now that Elena, who should have been the owner of Edelweiss, became Krause’s mistress, Joachim had a reason to pressure Eltman. In the meantime, the powerful protection spell ‘Shouldn’t Elena be the family?’ has lost its effect.

In the end, Eltman had no choice but to leave the tower even though he obtained the title of youngest chief alchemist. I couldn’t take root there anymore, so no matter how important my dream was, it wasn’t without affection for my family.

However, he finally made a choice for his dream, and the next path he chose was none other than a professorship at Estelia Academy.

Although he was not a full professor, he received a positive response from the alchemy professor there and promised to create a free research environment, so it was better than any other condition so far. In addition, Estelia’s professorship was an honorable position, but it was different from rooting in a particular school’s mage tower, so it was sufficient as a position until he inherited the headship.

“An old Titan. My childhood dream was to create a golem just like him. I’m really happy to meet a comrade with the same meaning. How about it? Would you like to join us?”

“Of course! Contract!! Let’s write the contract right away!”

Because of this, until this decision, Yohaim could not say anything to Eltman and tolerated his son’s last struggle.

First of all, the senior who was walking the same path as himself and the supporters who supported his will. Since everything he wanted was prepared, there was no reason for Eltman to refuse, and he, who was a serious research fanatic from the beginning, was immersed in the island scent and continued to study only except for food and sleep.

Eltman’s heart is relaxed, and now the world is starting to look beautiful again in Eltman’s eyes.

At first, the younger sister’s fiancée, who had only a bad feeling about taking Elena, seemed to be fine after hearing the rumors coming from here and there. Anyway, even though it’s a time limit, I’m able to fall into sweet dreams again. That’s it now.

***

“Uh…uh…? This is…”

In a dark room where you can’t even see an inch ahead. There, Eltman opened his eyes. The ringing in my ears made my head throb for a while, but that was only a temporary phenomenon. As Eltman began to turn the magic inside his body, the headache quickly subsided.

Feeling cramped in his body, he turned his gaze and saw the black chains binding his body. It was not difficult for Eltman to recognize that it was a restraint that prevented the use of magic.

Looking at the chain, the things that happened before passing out automatically came to my mind even though I was not aware of it.

‘Sir Eltman. The past time has been fun. It’s a pity, but I have to become a hostage.’

The fact that he was kidnapped at a conference held regularly by comrades with the same will. The culprit is all the academic members except him. All of them were pagans, so it was understandable without hearing the reason. Even though he knew this would happen one day, he felt sad in the back of his heart.

“100 million per person.”

After reciting a magic spell to calm his mind, Eltman looked at the chain and sighed lightly.

“It seems that you have been preparing very well for this.”

It is not that he does not know how serious the situation of being unable to use magic is for a wizard, but his voice is very relaxed. If the person who locked him here saw it, he might think it was because he was hit in the head so hard, but Eltman had a good reason.

Eltman looked around for a while, then confirmed that he was the only one in the room, and called out a name in a low voice.

“Minion.”

At Eltman’s call, a very small doll appeared. This was not a magic summoned by him, but a doll around Eltman that appeared at his words. Eltman looked down at the little doll and ordered it.

“Release.”

At Eltman’s command, the minion nodded and entered the keyhole of the handcuffs. After a while, with a clicking sound, the chains that bound him fell off one by one from Eltman’s body.

Confirming that there was no obstacle in casting magic while moving his body around, Eltman put his hand on the floor and performed a certain magic. From the outside, it seemed that there was no change in the flow of magical power, but this was one of the search-and-red magics created by Eltman.

In his head, he had a three-dimensional picture of the place where he was now in a certain shape.

“It’s one floor below the ground and three floors above the ground. Academic building? The number of people is the same. A total of 15 people… no, a total of 15 people. No problem.”

A smile appeared on Eltman’s lips after the search was over. It was the joy that came from the fact that everyone he knew was still in the building. Not one should be missed. If that happened, the amount of money the imperial family could receive would decrease.

For a moment, Eltman felt a sense of contempt for himself, but when he thought about making a newly devised circuit as compensation, that feeling quickly disappeared like snow melting under the sun. I feel calm when I think of the support they give me as I usually do.

“Giant. Blade. Ghost…”

The feeling of hesitation no longer existed in Eltman’s eyes as he took out his golems from subspace.

“Come to think of it, the president of the society seemed quite capable.

Now, in his mind, only the amount of bounties placed on cultists in the past came to mind.

Altman Edelweiss.

With no support from his family, this genius alchemist needed money more than anyone else.