Like Zich mentioned before, Sunewick was a city called the magician’s holy land. Even the magicians who were usually difficult to run into were a common sight in this city. Here, there were people who clearly looked like mages with their robes and staffs, and of course, there were the less obvious-looking ones with no defining characteristics and walking around like normal people.
However, there was one similarity that united all the magicians in this city: a small brooch that they hung on the left side of their chest. The brooch indicated that the wearer belonged to the magical tower, and a mage wore it at all times no matter what their attires were. To them, it was a symbol of pride as a member of the magical tower.
Besides Sunewick, there were many places that nurtured mages. Some countries managed magic training schools or like Sunewick, had a magical tower and ran a whole city as a sorcerers’ training ground. Yet, whenever someone asked where the magical tower city or a magicians’ holy land was, no one answered with anything besides Sunewick. This name was the only answer.
Displaying what the city was reputable for, there was a tall magical tower in the center of the city pointing up as if it would pierce the sky. Even in places where the city wasn’t very visible, the tower revealed its majestic existence and seemed to embody an indestructible structure that would never fall. The unwavering giant structure was the mages’ pride and honor and the object of all envy, jealousy, and attention among all the mages in the world.
Naturally, everyone who came to Sunewick for the first time was impressed by the magical tower before they even entered the city.
“Ohoh!”
“Wow!”
Hans had never left the Count’s residence, and Snoc had basically lived in the mines before travelling with Zich, so they couldn’t help but let out their astonishment.
“I guess that’s the magical tower!”
“It’s really high!”
Koo! Two people and one beast looked up; their heads were tilted so far back as though they were going to roll off. Nowem stood on top of Snoc’s shoulders, and he almost lost his balance and toppled over. Thankfully, Nowem had the reflex speed of a mythical beast—he hung from Snoc’s clothes and swayed to avoid falling to the floor.
Lyla also looked up the magical tower. Unlike Hans and Snoc simply stared at in awe, her eyes sparkled with curiosity. This place was the most wizard-friendly city in the world, and she couldn't help but be delighted to be in it. Although she had known about Sunewick, knowing about the place and experiencing it firsthand was different. Thus, Lyla was excited to experience everything she could in this city.
Lastly, Zich also stared up at the tower like the others. However, the emotions he felt while looking at the tower completely contrasted what the three (four if he included Nowem) felt.
‘How sickening.’ Before his regression when there was an ongoing battle against Demon People, Zich had fought pretty much all big forces at least once; Sunewick was not an exception to this rule. Of course, he fought and struggled against them.
Mages were slow to attack and weak in close combat. However, they were revered because as long as this weakness was covered, mages were capable of striking a powerful blow against their enemies. Furthermore, there were many ways that they could exponentially increase their power as their numbers increased. For example, they could connect their mana and cast a gigantic spell or use a synergetic effect to increase their power not by 1+1=2 but higher than 2.
At the immense, whirling magical attacks around him, Zich had almost died. Of course, in the end, he managed to penetrate this magic storm and annihilate the magicians. However, right before he approached the mages, he really felt like he had a one-way ticket to Hell in his hand. Nevertheless, Zich was the final winner.
‘If they had organized themselves better, I would’ve struggled much more.’
Although mages were able to come up with tactics and strategies well with their superior heads, they were clumsy about ordering soldiers on the battlefield. Thus, Zich had used these weaknesses to his advantage. In the end, Zich shook off these thoughts and pulled the rest of his group away from their infatuation with the magical tower and Sunewick.
“Regain your senses, guys. You all would be a nuisance if you stand absentmindedly in front of the castle door.”
“…You are saying that we would a nuisance?” Lyla asked dumbfoundedly.
“Why? For now, I’m a kind person who doesn’t bother other people. The Karuwimans gave me the title of Honorary Holy Knight in token of that too.”
“Are you seriously saying that you don’t bother other people? If the guys you humiliated, shamed, and killed heard that, they would be floundering around for their severed, decimated, or rotten body parts to stick them back together and rise up again.”
“You don’t understand, Lyla,” Zich squinted one eye. “Bad guys are supposed to be like a training tool that you can punch, step, spit on, or whatever you want to do with them. Whatever I do to those guys, everyone will compliment me for it. So, how could I be a bother?”
“The guys you defeated wouldn’t think the same way.”
“Those guys don’t have the right to express their opinions since they are bad guys.”
“…Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds, coming from you?”
“No, not at all. I’ve thought this since a long time ago. If my previous self heard me right now, he would nod his head and say that I was completely right.”
“Ah, how you can talk!” Lyla shook her head like she couldn’t stand listening to him any longer and walked forward.
Zich laughed jokingly and followed her from behind. Hans and Snoc also moved. Like that, the group officially began to enter Sunewick.
* * *
Lyla’s annoyance at Zich’s half-hearted jokes didn’t last long, and she soon wandered around the city eagerly.
To a mage, this city was the same as the heavens. There were stores selling all kinds of magical ingredients and items, and some places were selling low-level grimoires. Moreover, since mages were passionate about research and finding knowledge, there were a great many high-quality books. For those reasons, Zich, Hans, and Snoc were unable to even find a lodging place and were being dragged around by Lyla.
“Wow, look at that! There was something like that over there?” With just these words, Lyla separated from the group and headed towards a shop.
“…They say that an animal that drops off from the group is weak against outside danger.”
However, Lyla right now could probably bite and kill off even the most dangerous predators. Zich and his companions slowly moved towards where Lyla went, but they kept a certain amount of distance from her. It was so that people could recognize them as Lyla’s companions but just barely.
“Is this an artifact that lets you shoot out wind arrows?”
“You have a very keen eye, miss. You were able to find its use right away.”
The owner of the shop was a middle aged person with no special characteristics. However, judging by the broach on their left chest that symbolized their connection to the magician’s tower, they probably were selling their inventions to obtain money for their research.
Lyla held a thin golden plate. On the surface, there were many complicated magic circles with a subtle amount of mana flowing out. “How much is it?”
Lyla was interested in this artifact, and she also had money. She inquired about the price. The magician told her the price, and Hans and Snoc were shocked.
“I-It’s that expensive?”
“Isn’t that a rip-off?”
Even though they both received a substantial amount of money from Zich, their commoner instincts were still engraved in them. Moreover, even if they had money, they didn’t have enough time to comfortably use it, so they were not used to spending a lot of money.
“Artifacts are usually around that price.” Zich corrected Hans and Snoc’s misconceptions.
“Since Lyla easily made a bunch of artifacts during our travels, you guys must have not realized it, but artifacts are actually extremely difficult objects to make. It’s an item that top-tier mages make after using a long period of time and attention in a well-equipped workshop with all kinds of rare ingredients. So obviously, even the most trivial artifact is going to be expensive. The price that this mage quoted is not expensive; it would actually be considered really cheap.”
Of course, since this was a business, there were cases where people tried to rip off their customers, but to Zich, this transaction was relatively fair.
‘The seller might be an upright person or they judged that Lyla was not someone they could cheat. There aren’t a lot of people who can figure out an item’s use just by looking at the magic circles.’ Zich thought that the latter was probably right. Lyla happily bought the artifact and returned where Zich, Hans, and Snoc were.
“You seem to be in a good mood. It must be a great product?”
“No, it’s fucking trash.”
Zich tripped on his feet. Hans and Snoc also stared at Lyla.
“The magic system and presentation is super old-fashioned and outdated, and the flow of mana moves in all directions, so it’s very inefficient. There’s no power amplification ability on this at all. Obviously, the power, distance, and mana consumption is probably subpar as well. I’m amazed by the person’s bravery to sell trash like this.”
Hans and Snoc both looked at each other. Lyla’s way of talking made them instantly think of one person, and then they naturally looked at the person they were thinking of.
“…Why are you looking at me? It’s not me. It’s not because of me!” However, Zich’s denial did not work; even Nowem stared at Zich.
Annoyed, Zich said, “Damn it, then why did you buy something like that?”
“It’s so messed up, I became curious about it instead. Well, should I say, regardless of how lowly it is, isn’t it interesting if trash can move? That’s why I bought it. Rather, things like this might help me more as well.”
“…Is that so.” Zich looked back. The magician who sold their item to Lyla watched them with a happy expression. The magician noticed Zich’s gaze and greeted Zich with their eyes. Even Zich could not just ignore the magician and greeted them back with his eyes. Then he turned around and looked ahead. He did not look back at the shop again.
* * *
“…We should start finding a place for us to stay.” Zich brought up this topic to Lyla when the sky started to turn yellow.
Lyla saw the sky and was surprised; she hadn’t realized that so much time had passed. “Yeah, let’s just look at this stretch of vending carts and go.”
“…Normally, shouldn’t people say let’s grab a place to stay right after I say something like that?”
However, Lyla was already looking at the items at the nearest cart. Zich sighed and counted the number of vending carts in the same stretch as the one Lyla just entered.
‘It’s fortunate that there are not many carts.’
There were very few people in this place. While walking all over the city randomly, they reached a deserted street like this. Since there were very few people, there were also few carts. Zich scanned the items over Lyla’s shoulder. Since the carts were in a deserted area, the quality of the items seemed to be lower. Even with Zich’s eyes, the items looked crude.
‘Lyla seemed to be more interested in these items though.’
However, even Lyla didn’t randomly buy items just because they were of poor quality.
‘She said she had to distinguish between interesting trash and just trash from the gutter.’
Of course, this was Lyla’s personal standard. Lyla was glancing at the items in different vending carts when she stopped at the last cart. Zich stood behind her while feeling relieved that they could finally grab lodging for them to stay.
“Welcome in.” A high-pitched voice greeted them. Zich scanned the items in the cart.
‘What?’ Zich tilted his head. ‘These don’t seem like artifacts?’
He didn’t feel any special type of mana that usually came out of artifacts; or were these artifacts able to hide their mana?
‘Then why is this person selling such high-quality artifacts in the streets?’
Zich stared at the cart’s owner and then his eyes widened. ‘This person is!’
He knew who this person was; no, Zich could not forget who this person was. The owner of the vending cart had messy brown hair and was wearing a cheap-looking robe; however, the owner’s green eyes were sparkling in anticipation. Even though the owner didn’t dress up at all, she was a woman that would have been called a beauty by everyone.
‘Elena Dwayne!’
The magician from Glen Zenard’s Hero Party that defeated him was standing in front of him.