Chapter 638: Idol

Conversation.

The Puppet, who had lived the longest among the Black Hand’s members and built vast influence, responded.

He said he came here directly to talk with Tilda, who is the original master of the Tower of Magic and the head of the prestigious Iceye Family.

Even at the Tower of Magic.

This situation was strange beyond common sense.

Tilda radiated her distinct coldness in response.

“Did you come here to play some kind of trick on us?”

Crack…crack…

As Tilda spoke, the temperature in the room plummeted, and a thin layer of ice formed on the walls.

She had instantly chilled the room with her magic.

An ordinary person would have been overwhelmed by this pressure and confessed everything, but the Puppet only blew on his hands to melt the frost.

“Hah… It’s cold.”

“I know what you’re up to.”

Tilda spoke as if she had realized something.

“You’re meddling with the traditional factions. It’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To play your tricks on the Tower of Magic as well. I don’t know what you did, but you think it’ll work here too—”

“—Hahahahaha.”

Before Tilda could finish, the Puppet burst out laughing.

Though it was a normal laugh, neither too loud nor too soft, it suffice to stop Tilda’s words.

Startled by the sudden laughter, Tilda stopped talking, and in that moment, the Puppet naturally seized control of the conversation.

“Ah, forgive me. I apologize… It was just too funny.”

“…What’s so funny?”

“Seeing someone blatantly lie. Did you actually think that I wouldn’t know?”

This time, the Puppet asked the question.

“Your informants have been stirring up trouble in the traditional factions, including the Skadi Faction. Those spies also tried to keep an eye on me. Did you truly believe I wouldn’t find out?”

Tilda remained silent.

“Of course, I knew. But I let it slide because I was curious. I wanted to see how you’d act—whether you’d report it to the Tower of Magic and plan a countermeasure, or keep it as your own secret to use later… And as I predicted, you chose the latter.”

The Puppet’s sharp words didn’t faze Tilda, who maintained her stern expression.

The Puppet continued speaking.

“I’m not blaming you. The Iceye Family has been wandering from place to place for years, after fleeing your homeland. You would naturally want to prepare for any contingency. I understand entirely.”

“Watch your mouth. We’ve stayed loyal to the Tower of Magic.”

“Are you talking about not joining Theodore’s rebellion? You rejected his offer to escape the curse of aging and create a Tower of Magic for true wizards?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean.”

“Lies. The real reason you turned down Theodore’s offer is because you were scared.”

“…”

“You were afraid of Merlin. Even though the offer was enticing, you refused because you knew nothing could happen with Merlin around.”

Crack!

As the Puppet finished speaking, Tilda’s emotions surged, and sharp ice shards sprouted from the frozen layer around them, all aiming at the Puppet.

The ice shards could rot skin with just a touch.

In the midst of it all, Tilda whispered coldly.

“You dare speak such nonsense without proof? Did you think I would be afraid of someone with a nickname like ‘Finger’?”

“You’re good at pretending to be angry, but there’s no need for that. The World Trees around the Tower of Magic are effectively blind right now, thanks to my friend. So, you can be more honest.”

“Nonsense. Who’s guarding the World Tree in the Tower of Magic?”

“Eve is, of course. Now, you understand what I’m getting at, don’t you?”

Tilda flinched at the Puppet’s confident response.

Currently, the security of the World Tree in the Tower of Magic relied on Eve.

Eve, the artificial intelligence and spirit of the World Tree… And yet, they’ve been blinded? There’s only one explanation.

There must be another Eve helping the Puppet.

As unbelievable as it seemed, that made it even easier to believe.

“How did you…”

“That isn’t important, so let’s move on. What were we talking about…?”

The Puppet pondered before remembering.

“Ah! We were talking about how you were afraid of Merlin, weren’t we? It’s understandable… After all, you saw how Merlin defeated his master in his younger years—not one-on-one, but with a group of wizards. The problem was that there were several masters.”

As the Puppet evoked these old memories, small cracks appeared on Tilda’s composed face.

To her, that event was a nightmare.

Merlin, who was slightly older than her, suddenly advocated for the unification of the Elemental Faction and succeeded.

He did have a somewhat rational reason.

The Elementalist Faction had been in decline for years, and to maintain their prominence they needed to unite against the times.

Many wizards who agreed to this lent their support.

The problem was that not everyone agreed.

The reasons were simple: concerns over the distribution of power, shares, and control.

But Merlin resolved these complex issues with startling ease.

He did so through overwhelming strength and skill.

When the unification of the Elemental Faction hit a snag, Merlin publicly challenged all the grandmasters and powerhouses of each faction to a duel.

And not just one-on-one fights, but all at once.

He brazenly claimed he would defeat them all single-handedly.

To refuse would be more than an embarrassment. It was a matter of pride.

In the end, every wizard, regardless of status, accepted Merlin’s challenge, and they all met with crushing defeat.

The domination was so complete that no one could even begin to question ‘what if’.

That was Merlin before he became the Archive.

Arrogant, ruthless, but undeniably skilled.

In a way, he was the perfect image of a wizard.

‘Though he changed completely after becoming the Archive…’

During the unification process, Tilda’s master and the grandmaster had to retire, and thus the Skadi Faction was demoted to the Skadi Minor School. The grandmaster’s title was abolished.

“You were even defeated by Merlin’s disciple—your son.”

“You remember such trivial matters well.”

“I know many trivial things. Like how you secretly helped Life School magicians escape after the Lake Village event, or how you’ve been personally investigating Armageddon, or even how you’re looking into the Archive’s new disciple. For someone supposedly disinterested, you’ve been quite active.”

“…”

“You’re curious, aren’t you? About the ultimate material to break the curse of aging, as hinted by Theodore, or the new Era of Creation he spoke about. You know he isn’t someone who spouts nonsense.”

“…”

“Are you going to keep silent forever?”

The Puppet flicked one of the many ice shards targeting him.

The message was clear: the free talk was over—if you have something you want, you better ask for it.

Tilda understood.

“…Do you know what Theodore meant by the ultimate material and the new Era of Creation?”

“How boring. Asking directly like that.”

“Does it have to do with recruiting the traditional factions?”

“Now you’re getting straight to the point. The answer is yes. Even if someone is outdated, it wouldn’t be easy to get them on my side without something of that magnitude.”

The Puppet claimed that Dark Magicians seldom cooperate with wizards.

It was a typical statement, but Tilda no longer thought of the Puppet as someone who would stick to such conventions.

“Could it be that the reason the Divine Knight came here has something to do with this?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“So, what do you want from me?”

“I’m more curious about what you want. Since you’ve kept my recruitment of the traditional factions a secret and come to speak with someone like me… you must want something in return.”

While Tilda and the Puppet hadn’t fully revealed their hands, they had shown each other enough.

Now, it was time to make a choice. A silent pause followed.

A brief, but heavy silence.

The one to finally break it was the one who felt the most urgency.

“…Before I answer, let me ask you one thing.”

“Ask.”

“Is the end of the world really coming?”

Tilda, who had learned of the strange phenomena in the First Step Colony of the New Continent, asked.

It was too unrealistic and terrifying a story to accept.

She hesitated to delve deeper into it.

The Puppet chuckled at her question and replied.

“Of course.”

***

“While I’m away in the continent’s center, could you keep an eye on the people around me?”

In the Grandmaster’s office at the top of the Life School Tower, Oliver made his request.

Merlin, who heard the request, opened his eyes slightly.

A response unlike what one would expect after waiting for Oliver’s visit.

Though Merlin’s expression was unreadable, he appeared slightly surprised.

“Oh, my apologies. What did you say?”

“It seems I didn’t explain well… I met Grand Master Roderick today. The treasurer of the Pater Church.”

“I know who that is.”

“He asked me for help. To assist in the purge of Dark Magicians in the central continent.”

“I heard about that too.”

“While I’m away… I asked if you could keep an eye on the Redevelopment Union.”

After hearing Oliver’s detailed explanation, Merlin paused.

Sensing his hesitation, Oliver asked again.

“Is my request too unreasonable?”

“…No, I’m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t expect that question.”

“Is that so?”

“Honestly. I thought you’d ask whether you should go to the central continent or inquire about Grand Master Roderick.”

“I’ve gotten a bit smarter, it seems.”

“…Is that a joke?”

“Yes, but I also meant it. No matter how I think about it, going to the central continent seems inevitable.”

Merlin confirmed this with his silence.

Considering that a group of Dark Magicians now worshiped Oliver, it was necessary to address the situation sooner rather than later.

Even as a hero in Randa, getting tangled up in idol worship could lead to trouble—being labeled a heretic, a cult leader, or worse.

Considering the future, it was best to help the situation for now, despite the risks.

In other words, whether to go or not was not a matter worth questioning.

“I just wanted to ask this first because I have a rough idea of what Grand Master Roderick is like.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. He seemed intelligent, knowledgeable, and insightful. He also reminded me a bit of Grand Master Armand, though they have their differences.”

Oliver thought of Armand as he said this.

Both men were former Holy Knights before becoming Grand Masters. Perhaps because of this, their personalities had some similarities.

One similarity being their willingness to act rather than just pray. Although they had their opposite characteristics as well.

To hear Oliver, who rarely judged others easily, make such an evaluation made Merlin ask.

“So, do you think he’s someone worth helping?”

“What exactly do you mean by ‘worth helping’?”

Oliver asked back, and Merlin clarified.

“…Worth helping in that he doesn’t seem dangerous.”

“I’m not sure. I question whether I’m someone who can judge that. However, for someone in his position, he did seem unusual.”

While Oliver accurately identified Roderick’s traits, he stuck to his previous stance on the most important point.

He refrained from making quick judgments.

Although this might seem frustrating, Merlin found a bit of comfort and sadness in that behavior.

“Indeed, for someone in his position, he is proactive.”

“Yes.”

“Did he say anything else?”

Oliver recalled Roderick’s words explaining the Archive.

Roderick mentioned that the Archive was deeply involved with the end of the world.

He even speculated that the Archive might be directly connected to Armageddon. It was a surprising, yet not entirely unexpected, revelation.

Thinking back to that, Oliver responded.

“He said that it’s awkward.”

“What?”

“The way I address you… He said that a direct master should always be called ‘Master’.”

“I think you’ve mentioned that before. What did you say?”

“I just said that it happened that way… Is it awkward?”

“Who knows? I’m quite progressive, so I don’t really mind things like that. What about you?”

“Hmm… I’d like to continue calling you as I have. It’s grown familiar.”

“Then there’s no problem.”

Merlin smiled, and Oliver tried to smile back.

Though he did not succeed.

“Then it’s settled. Anyway, back to the main topic, I’d appreciate it if you could keep an eye on the people around me while I’m in the continent’s center. Given how unsettling this idol worship is, I’m a bit worried.”

“It’s not impossible.”

“Thank you.”

“But, have you considered taking anyone with you? Like that girl, Marie. It might be better to bring her along.”

“I’ve thought about it, but I think Marie should stay here.”

“Do you think she’ll cause trouble if she goes?”

“No, I want her to help establish the Dark Magic faction. That’s why I brought her to the Tower.”

“That’s admirable. You’ve become quite thoughtful.”

“Thank you.”

“But at the same time, you seem more frustrated. Compared to before.”

Oliver couldn’t respond to this. It was true.

In many ways, Oliver had become more frustrated compared to the past.

There were more things to consider and more uncertainty.

In the past, everything was simple and clear.

He only needed to satisfy his curiosity and deal with those who got in the way, either by persuading or removing them.

At least back then, he hadn’t had as much to think about.

But somewhere along the line, there had been more to think about, and things that were harder to define had kept piling up.

Oliver suddenly wondered when things had become this way.

Was it when he tried to establish the Dark Magic faction?

When Jane was kidnapped?

Was it when Armand offered his support?

Meeting a demon?

Or was it the Flesh Cook?

Or perhaps when he rescued Marie and the chosen ones from Wineham?

Maybe when he briefly helped the Fighter Crew?

Or even when he met Kent?

It was not easy to pinpoint a specific moment.

Perhaps it was the accumulation of all those experiences.

Lost in thought, Oliver spoke.

“May I excuse myself now? I should contact Grand Master Armand. There’s a lot I need to ask him.”

“About what?”

“Various things. Since I’m going alone, I’ll need to prepare quite a bit.”

“The central continent? Alone?”

“Yes… Is there a problem?”

“No problem, but I’m afraid you won’t be able to go alone.”

“What?”

“Burke. He heard about the idol worship. He won’t let you go alone.”