Chapter 676: Central Council Senate (4)
“A Magic Tower, you say…”
Lennok mumbled, echoing the Chairman’s words, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
He had expected the Central Council to bring up the topic of wizards when they summoned him, but he hadn’t anticipated them suddenly proposing the establishment of a Magic Tower.
“Quite surprising.”
Lennok tilted his head slightly and asked,
“I thought the City Council had a somewhat different view on wizards.”
“……”
Even in a city as powerful and vast as Vulcan, a Magic Tower had never existed. This wasn’t due to a lack of capability from the City Council or the environment of a megacity, but purely because of the Central Council’s policy.
“Fostering over recruitment. Education over employment. Wasn’t the existence of Rebatenon University of Magic the embodiment of the City Council’s will?”
“That thinking remains unchanged.”
Said the Chairman.
“However, all decision-making must be followed by value judgment. If there is value enough to overturn existing policies, the Central Council does not resist that flow.”
“New value?”
Lennok chuckled.
“I didn’t realize the Senate was still searching for such things. I thought your desire was to cling to failed projects and burn through scenarios.”
“……”
At Lennok’s blunt mention of the project, the atmosphere in the conference hall turned icy.
But Lennok was certain that at this point, not mentioning the project would be stranger.
There was no way the Senate wouldn’t know that Lennok had witnessed some of Kaiser’s past after resolving Kaiser’s spacetime bottleneck phenomenon, a task he undertook for the Elder Council in the sealed-off zone.
Knowing the secrets of the Black Consumer Project and its origins, yet not asking the Senate about them, would be awkward. At this point, Lennok throwing such a seemingly thoughtless question at them was an opportunity to alleviate suspicion.
“……Whether we wish it or not, the world’s time simply continues to flow.”
Said the Chairman.
“It’s the same. No matter how much you try to calculate and filter out the value of everything, variables like yourself are bound to emerge someday.”
“……”
“The reason this city has endured and grown for decades is its effort to actively embrace variables like you.”
A clear affirmation that Lennok held enough value to overturn existing policies and propose the establishment of a Magic Tower.
Instead of responding, Lennok quietly tapped the cane he was holding.
The flame of the cigarette in his mouth intensified, swiftly burning through the remaining stick and disappearing.
Crackle…!!
A wisp of smoke spiraled above his head, scattering throughout the conference hall. A few senators on their thrones showed interest in the scent of the smoke, but Lennok ignored them. The Chairman, watching with an expressionless face, merely showed interest in Lennok’s cane.
“You’re still using a cane. Have the injuries from your battle with Onnion not healed?”
“……”
“They say it’s an artifact modified from a life-support device? A peculiar taste for a wizard. There’s no reason to flaunt it.”
“I only carry it because I need to. There’s no further meaning.”
At Lennok’s words, the Chairman quietly watched him before speaking.
“Onnion was a great man.”
“……”
“A trustworthy ally, a seasoned commander, an impartial chief justice, and… a precious friend.”
With those words, the atmosphere in the conference hall seemed to sink deeply. The senators gathered here, especially the older ones, would have known Madrich Onnion in his prime.
They knew well what an outstanding Military Spirit Wizard and excellent colleague he had been.
The Central Council holding a funeral for him directly was not mere pretense.
“Though in the end, our paths diverged, I respected his will and resolve. Even the strength with which he held onto his convictions until the very end.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I merely wished to say that the military spirit wizard who fell by your hand was a person worthy of someone’s mourning.”
The Chairman tilted his head.
“And that you are the first person to receive this offer since Onnion went into seclusion.”
“……”
The Level 8 Military Spirit Wizard, Madrich Onnion. The former chief justice of the Supreme Court, who had dedicated himself to the megacity as the executioner of the Great War. It made one realize how monumental his achievements once were in this city, how formidable an opponent he was, and how his aftermath still resonated.
Yet, even as the Chairman spoke, he didn’t linger on his sentiments. Instead, he lifted his deep-set eyes and turned his gaze back to Lennok.
“Indeed… we’ve strayed a bit. The important thing, ultimately, is what you caused in Machina, despite leading an ailing body.”
“……”
“No matter how exceptional one’s talent, the fact that you committed such acts while relying on a life-support device is still hard to believe… yet your presence here is proof.”
The Chairman asked,
“That must be possible because you accomplished something befitting your talent. Therefore, I ask you.”
“……”
“Van, have you transcended the Hierarchy you established and found a new path?”
The conference hall fell silent with the weighty question. It seemed that the other senators, excluding the Chairman, had no intention of interfering in this dialogue. They merely waited silently for Lennok’s answer, without any reaction or hint of intention.
But Lennok knew that this question itself was posed out of respect for him.
The truth they must have already surmised from Lennok’s past actions, the enemies he faced, and the achievements he amassed, yet they specifically summoned him here to ask and confirm it in person.
This seemingly cumbersome procedure itself was an acknowledgment of Lennok as an equal and a show of respect. This situation was quite contrary to their previous attitude of openly disregarding Van’s existence and power, despite clearly knowing of them.
And Lennok knew well where this reaction from the Senate originated.
Click.
Lennok tapped his cane once more and perched on a nearby railing. He raised his head.
“You want to know if I made a deal with Ex Machina.”
“……”
Without the Chairman responding, Lennok continued,
“That’s why you contacted me as soon as you learned of my return, and tried to meet me secretly, bypassing your usual liaisons.”
The reason the Central Council Senate was finally summoning Lennok directly and questioning him was likely because they, too, had detected evidence of Lennok’s contact with Ex Machina in the Machine City.
A Level 8 wizard. Furthermore, a wizard of the Peak of Extremes who survived countless bloody encounters in the shadows.
They didn’t want to keep such a monster close to constrain him, but they also couldn’t just watch him fall into Machina’s hands. The significance of Lennok’s presence had grown so immense that the entire environment and situation surrounding him could drastically change depending on his movements.
That was why the Senate, too, sought to meet him directly before it was too late.
“Didn’t you bring up the Magic Tower because the events in Machina finally made the calculations clear?”
“Van, it seems you’re misunderstanding something.”
The Chairman slowly clasped his hands and placed them on the table. A heavy gaze fell upon Lennok’s head.
“The Central Council has no intention of specifically persuading you. I know well how difficult it is to change the resolve of a wizard like you.”
“……”
“Contrary to rumors, you are far from malicious or insane. Yet, the fact that all fear of Adamant Thunder stems from the military achievements he accomplished as a result…”
The Chairman’s eyes, fixed on Lennok, shone intensely.
“That in itself is incredibly dangerous. Even more so than simply being blood-crazed.”
Did he mean that even knowing the rumors about Adamant Thunder weren’t entirely true, Lennok was more dangerous precisely because of it?
An insight that grasps the essence of things with a perspective and reasoning different from others.
“We are merely presenting an offer.”
Said the Chairman.
“If you wish, the Central Council will fully support you in exercising your talent and qualifications without reservation. A Magic Tower for a single person. And it would be the one and only Magic Tower in the megacity of Vulcan.”
“……”
“Once formally approved as a Magic Tower and you begin to establish a school, a territory of extraterritoriality will be established. You will be free from all accountability and penalties for any crimes you have committed thus far. Only other wizards would be able to judge and define you.”
The reason no Magic Tower had been created until now was that there hadn’t been enough value. But the Chairman was saying that for Lennok alone, they could overturn past policies and exert their influence.
He was, quite literally, just presenting an offer and waiting for Lennok’s answer.
In the process, he seemed indifferent to whether Lennok chose Machina or Vulcan.
“The choice is yours.”
“No.”
Lennok smiled.
“Your words are grand, but in the end, it seems you want me to side with either Vulcan or Machina.”
“……”
The conference hall fell silent. For a moment, it felt as though the gazes of the unseen senators intensified.
Lennok tilted his head, keenly feeling the air slowly sharpen.
“That’s because, no matter which city government’s side I take, my actions and intentions would fall within a range that can be controlled and calculated, wouldn’t they?”
Lennok tapped his cane, looking at the Chairman’s expressionless face.
“I will do as I please. If I establish a Magic Tower, that too will be entirely based on my own judgment and decision. More than anything…”
Lennok looked around and spoke with a cold smile.
“You’re far too late with this offer compared to the Elder Council. What exactly makes you better than those old geezers in the back room?”
These people weren’t uninterested in Lennok, nor were they trying to distance themselves from him. They simply disliked the fact that Lennok, a powerful variable, was now beyond their calculations and control.
That’s why they were using the opportunity of his dealings with Ex Machina as a pretext to compel Lennok to choose between the two cities.
A Level 8 wizard of the Peak of Extremes.
But no matter how powerful, if his strength was wielded under the city’s laws and order, it would be much easier to accommodate. At the very least, Lennok causing chaos by rampaging through various cities and continents, as he did now, would be greatly reduced.
“Do as I please…”
The Chairman, who had been silently looking down at Lennok, slowly raised his head.
“That is an answer that did not exist in my predictions.”
At that moment, a massive wave of mana, heavy as a tide, began to pour down from behind the Chairman.
Rumble…!!
An immense pressure that seemed to crush the entire space of the conference hall with a mere manifestation of will. It wasn’t manipulating gravity or specific mass. It was a subtle art of filling the space with mana, amplifying a non-existent pressure.
It was nothing less than a display of the Chairman’s mana being more vast than any other superhuman present.
Thump-thump-thump…!!
With just the will to infuse mana into the space, the conference hall building, constructed with space-parallel design, trembled.
“Chairman. What is the meaning of this?”
Only then did some of the previously silent senators begin to express their displeasure to the Chairman.
“It was clearly agreed that only investment proposals for the Magic Tower would be discussed.”
“Being aggressive with a wizard like Adamant Thunder is a loss. You should restrain yourself.”
All those gathered here were administrators who led and governed the megacity in their respective fields. Therefore, instead of being intimidated by the Chairman’s absurd mana, they openly displayed their discomfort.
Lennok watched the senators and lightly clenched the Chairman’s heavy mana pouring down from the air.
Mana, which should inherently be weightless, flowed like sand with a distinct texture and heaviness—a paradox.
But Lennok simply brushed aside the Chairman’s mana with his bare hands and nodded.
“I see.”
Whoosh…!!
The moment Lennok’s wizardry, surging from his fingertips, pierced and overturned the Chairman’s mana in reverse.
The Chairman’s sand-like mana, which had been flowing downwards, surged upwards, soaring towards the ceiling of the conference hall.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
“Mana Reversal…”
“Did he apply Property Transformation in reverse?”
Ignoring the surprised voices of senators from all directions, Lennok smiled coldly and tapped his cane. Simultaneously, a torrent of mana, as if boiling, erupted from beneath Lennok’s feet.
“I don’t mind finishing this here.”
Rumble rumble rumble!!!
The mana of the two clashed and shattered fiercely from above and below, sending sparks flying in all directions. Eerie creaks from the space and anomalies of the scenery twisting slightly.
The intensely heated air of the conference hall surged as if it would explode, unable to bear the limit, at that very moment.
“Alright, that’s enough.”
Between the two, a brilliant platinum glow erupted.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
The counter-clockwise rotating platinum light smoothly penetrated between the Chairman’s and Lennok’s mana. In an instant, a clock-like scenery, distorting and cracking the conference hall, emerged from beyond the unseen void.
Through it, a young man in a fedora hat walked out, smiling broadly. His slender build and youth were his only discernable features, giving him a peculiar, indistinct impression.
“What are you two doing, among people who know each other so well?”
“……Silford.”
Lennok immediately recognized him and let out a scoff.
“What brings the Elder Council here?”
It was Silford, the magician who had introduced himself as the new Herald of the Elder Council at the moment Lennok found Kaiser’s research journal in the sealed-off Zone 25.
The small platinum glow still swirling at his feet was proof that he was an aristocrat from the central city.
Silford lightly clapped his hands, changing the atmosphere, and turned his smiling gaze towards the Chairman.
“Chairman, you should stop. Didn’t you truly know that you couldn’t break him no matter how hard you hit?”
Silford shrugged.
His light tone and actions, completely devoid of any weight, remained unchanged. A stark contrast to the Chairman, who now seemed deeply immersed and on the verge of collapsing.
“He’s not someone who’ll be swayed by ordinary persuasion. Why are you doing this when it could be resolved amicably?”
“……”
At the Chairman’s lack of response, Silford sighed softly. He snapped his fingers again, and the platinum glow rising from beneath his feet began to transform into a spatial rift once more.
“I expected as much, so I’ve brought an esteemed guest to mediate this situation.”
From beyond the spatial rift, someone wearing old overshoes quietly walked out.
A bronze-skinned woman, wearing a thick hood and simple robes, adorned with large prayer beads and various trinkets around her neck. Her closed-eyed smile suggested a considerable age.
“……It’s her.”
“She came herself?”
The senators, who had been observing the situation with disinterest, murmured in slight surprise. Even the Chairman, unlike before, showed a hint of hesitation.
“What do you mean by bringing an outsider and intending to settle things here?”
Lennok asked, glaring coldly at Silford.
“Who decided that this would be wrapped up here?”
“Now, now, don’t be like that. This will be a very good opportunity for you too.”
Silford naturally grabbed Lennok’s shoulder, turned to the woman, and whispered,
“That person is the most mystically potent astrologer on the continent.”