Although Walwiss was glad that Elena was safe and fine, he was now stuck in a difficult situation. He had mobilized too many of the city’s troops to save his granddaughter. Of course, the main reason why he had brought up all that fuss to gather troops was to capture Zich and his companions rather than to save Elena; but since they had failed to accomplish their first goal, they couldn’t prevent their reputation from getting tarnished.
As expected of Sunewick—the city of the magical tower—the highest authoritative figure was the master of the magical tower, Walwiss. However, like other cities, Sunewick also had mayors and other bureaucrats, and Walwiss couldn’t just ignore them either. Since he went overboard in this incident, there was now friction between him and them.
Walwiss didn’t regret his decision. If he encountered the same situation, he thought he would do the same thing again. Yet, it didn’t change the fact that he now had many troublesome problems to deal with. Moreover, on top of this difficult situation, some mages were protesting against Walwiss. They weren’t just ordinary mages, but all from elite families and members of the highest meetings in the magical tower.
Of course, it wasn’t like they were leading a coup d’état. They had simply requested Walwiss to step down from his current position. During normal times, he would have simply been able to ignore their requests, but now, with his weakened political position, Walwiss took considerable damage from them. Walwiss was the master of the magical tower because he was the most talented mage, but that didn’t mean he was guaranteed a life-term position. Since the mages in the tower had gathered for the benefit of the tower, if the master brought some great harm, they were sometimes chased away from their position.
The people asking Walwiss to step down argued that Walwiss’ actions had seriously damaged the magical tower’s reputation and relationship with the city. Thus, the mages in the magical tower were split into two large fractions.
Overall, the general public opinion was that regardless of what Walwiss did, it was not enough for him to step down and get expelled from the magical tower; however, he should take responsibility for his actions. Normally, these kinds of complaints would quietly simmer down and disappear, but those who challenged Walwiss’ authority were from elite families and brought it to the public light.
“And that’s what the situation of the magical tower is like.” Since they were collaborators now (at least on the outside), Orland explained the current situation of the magical tower to Zich in great detail.
Zich fervently listened to Orland’s words as if he believed that Orland would return the same attitude and courtesy. However, both of them had no intentions to join hands and walk the same path together; they just wanted to use each other.
“However, regardless of how bad the situation is in the magical tower, my father’s influence and power is still substantially high. It would be hard for an outside force to attack him.” While saying this, Orland stole a glance at Zich.
Orland thought that the main reason why Zich had asked for his help despite Zich’s status as the Karuwiman Honorary Knight was because of Walwiss’ powerful status as the master of the magical tower. Therefore, if Zich judged Walwiss’ influence and authority to have plummeted low enough, Zich could start moving independently and think that he no longer needed Orland.
Orland needed to absolutely prevent that from happening. ‘Of course, he also knows that I have a connection with the other elite families in the magical tower, so he won’t be able to break our cooperation so easily.’
“Yes, you’re right.” Zich agreed to Orland’s words. “Sir, you’re able to assess the situation very well. I chose to cooperate with you because you are one of the top mages in the magical tower despite your young age, and you are knowledgeable about Walwiss Dwayne. Yet, I really did not make a mistake in choosing you. It’s really fortunate that we’re working together.”
After complimenting Orland, Zich’s expression turned serious again. “Sir, as you said, we can’t move hastily. Moreover, the situation right now is strange.”
“Strange? What do you mean?”
“Sir, you told me that out of the top mages, there were a total of three people, including Wayne Jaewick who turned against Walwiss, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s strange because from my resources, there should be more than three people. But you’re saying that only three stepped forward.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. Do you think that perhaps, our enemies are hiding their numbers?”
“Yes, that is a possible explanation.”
Even though Orland replied nonchalantly, he was taken aback. Honestly, there were a few more families that Orland could influence to turn against Walwiss. Like Zich said though, he didn’t use them this time in case something happened.
“As I expected.”
Orland felt relieved that Zich let this slip by. However, he was shocked by what Zich murmured to himself next.
“Is my evidence wrong? If it is, I might have to go back to the very beginning and investigate it all over again…”
If Zich decided to start his investigation from the beginning, he would no longer be Orland’s ally and he’d start looking for new culprits.
‘Then I’ll become one of his suspects again.’ Zich had told him that Orland had been a strong suspect before he became convinced that Walwiss was the culprit. If it was the past, Orland would have just snorted if Zich told him he was a suspect, but the situation was different now.
‘I don’t want to have a negative relationship with the Karuwimans.’
If Zich suspected him as the culprit, all the benefits from this cooperation would cease, and he’d be exchanging positions with Walwiss.
‘Damn it, I guess it can’t be helped. I need to bring the other guys in.’ Orland didn’t know how many collaborators Zich knew. He sneakily tried to ask Zich about it, but Zich shook his head and said he couldn’t reveal that information.
‘If the people who turn against Walwiss are less than what he knows about, he might become suspicious of his evidence and re-investigate this whole matter.’
Thus, it didn’t matter if more people turned against Walwiss than what Zich’s resources told him, but if fewer people turned against Walwiss than what Zich knew about, the situation would turn out unfavorably for Orland. However, Orland didn’t know how much information Zich had.
‘I guess it can’t be helped. I need to make all my collaborators turn against Walwiss.’
Even though this would make the situation even more dangerous, Orland was unable to let Zich go. The robed figures were all killed, and Zich would be critical for driving out Walwiss. Moreover, he couldn’t let Zich become suspicious of him.
While watching Orland rack his brain, Zich watched him with clear satisfaction. ‘Yep. Mobilize all your collaborators. Bring out all the cards you have.’ Zich could roughly estimate the number of collaborators Orland had by the people who turned against Walwiss, but Zich was sure that there were more people behind the scenes.
‘A guy like you won’t reveal all the cards in your deck from the very beginning.’
However, Orland now had no choice but to reveal all his collaborators. Zich thought, ‘Well, why don’t you start moving, my friend? How can you accomplish your ruined plan if not for me? Don’t you have to earn my trust? Why don’t you work hard so that I won’t get suspicious of my evidence and start re-investigating?’
Zich let Orland think for a very long time, and then finally said, “Then, should we end the meeting for today? Let’s wait a few more days. More collaborators might show their faces.”
“…I got it.” Even though he wanted to grimace, Orland couldn’t do that in front of Zich. He pretended to be calm.
“Ah, by the way, do you know the reason why your father is targeting you and Elena?”
“…It’s not certain that my father is trying to harm us.”
“Sir, I understand your feelings, but I need to get as many clues as possible. It would be okay even if it’s just a speculation,” Zich asked with a serious expression. On the inside, however, he was thinking, ‘Yeah, just tell me your made-up excuse about why Walwiss is targeting you and Elena.’
“…If I have to think about a reason…” Orland hesitantly answered, “I think it might be because he’s embarrassed about me and Elena.”
“Embarrassed?”
Orland asked, “What image do you have of my father?”
“He’s extremely fearsome as a mage. I don’t know what he is like as the head of the magical tower, but he has an image of a grandpa who loves and cares for his granddaughter Elena.”
“Is that so?” There was a slight bitterness in Orland’s voice.
‘Is this…not an act?’ Zich tilted his head because Orland’s expression looked very real. Zich judged that even if Orland was still acting, there was some truth mixed in with his words.
“When my father was younger, his personality was not like this at all. He was an extremely cold person who determined a person’s worth based on their magical achievement. In a way, his personality was similar to Wayne Jaewick’s.”
Zich thought this was quite surprising information.
“Even though my father loves and cares for Elena, who can’t use magic, and tries hard to provide a happy future for her, he wasn’t like that when I was young. My magical abilities were not as low as Elena’s, but they were extremely weak when I was young. My father considered me an embarrassment to him.”
“…If I consider how he acts right now, I can’t imagine him to be like that at all.”
“I completely understand. I also didn’t think that my father could change this much.” Orland let out a sigh. “These are all famous stories. If you ask anyone who is a bit older, anyone can tell you this much. When I was young, I really hated my father, and this was the main reason why I changed my school of magic. It’s also the reason why my relationship with my father is still strained.”
“I wasn’t aware of this at all.”
“If my father is really the mastermind and we are his targets, that’s probably the biggest reason. Even though his outside appearance has changed, he might still be the same person on the inside.”
“Sir, even though it must have been very difficult for you, thank you for telling me this.”
“As I told you before, it’s a famous story in this city. Moreover, I also believe that my father is not the real mastermind yet. Because no matter how bad our relationship was in the past, he’s still my father.”
“Sir, I sincerely also wish for that to be true.”
“Thank you.”
‘I guess that’s his justification.’ Even though Zich didn’t think this story was Orland’s entire justification, it might be one of the main reasons why Orland wanted to destroy Walwiss’ life.
‘Since he narrated his story so confidently, I don’t think he’s lying. And that old guy wasn’t so great when he was young either.’
Zich had felt a great distance between the Demon Lord of Magic he knew in the past and the present-day Walwiss Dwayne, but it seemed as if a deep connection between them had existed in the past.
“Then I’ll be leaving. Before that though…” Zich rummaged through his pockets and took out a piece of paper. “Sir, would you be able to analyze this for me?”
“What is it?” Orland opened up the piece of paper. Mysterious letters or pictures were written on it. They were not letters that were normally used by common folk. However, Orland was shocked because he was very familiar with the mysterious letters.
‘This is the code I sent.’ This was definitely the code he used when he communicated with the robed organization, Wayne Jaewick, or other collaborators. However, this was in Zich’s hand.
Zich said, “When I infiltrated Jaewick’s mansion recently, I found this by coincidence. It seems like some kind of code. Would you be able to solve it?”
“This is…very interesting.” Orland scanned the piece of paper as if he was admiring it. However, contrary to his relaxed movements, his brain was quickly moving. He now knew how Zich had obtained this piece of paper. Judging by Zich’s words, it seemed as if Zich was unable to solve this code so far. Moreover, even if Zich managed to solve this code, there was no way for it to be traced back to him. Thus, even if Zich had this piece of paper on him, it posed no danger.
Therefore, Orland was contemplating whether or not he should feign ignorance or help Zich solve this code; he wondered which direction would be more favorable for him.
“If we solve this code and find out our opponent’s plan, it might be significantly easier for us to reveal our opponent’s identity.”
An idea popped up into Orland’s mind. ‘Wouldn’t I be able to control this guy with my coded messages?’ In the first place, Orland was the one sending out orders with these codes. If he sent a message using this code to one of his collaborators and Zich stole it, then he could pretend to decode the message. If he pretended to give advice while making the situation more favorable for him…
“I’ll try my best.”
“Thank you, sir.” Zich bowed, but his heart was far from gratuitous. ‘Yep. Since Lyla seems to be having a hard time solving this, just give me some clues.’
These codes were letters that belonged to an ancient empire that would help Zich and Lyla learn about the Clowon Empire. There was no way Zich would ignore someone who knew about these letters. If someone who didn’t know what was happening heard Zich and Orland’s conversation, they would have been astounded by this ridiculous play.