BTCATL 102

Chapter 102

Even after the meeting, the policies of the Spirit Tower hadn’t changed much.

They had only temporarily adjusted the system slightly to track the movements of spirit mages going on missions—or more precisely, moving in and out of the tower.

Previously, when missions arrived at the tower, spirit mages could freely choose which missions to go on.

Although the missions came with the note “as quickly as possible,” most spirit mages were people with busy schedules, not idlers.

Thus, spirit mages would allocate their own time, complete their chosen missions at their discretion, and only submit reports.

But now, temporarily, the tower’s master and the elders had changed the policy so that missions were assigned based on the capabilities of the affiliated spirit mages, with a fixed period to complete them and return.

Of course, since the purpose was merely to track movement, there was no coercion. Affiliated spirit mages could refuse the assignment, swap missions, or adjust the period if they wished.

Effectively, the only limitation was on activities outside the tower unrelated to missions.

Christina, who had retreated to her private laboratory and was becoming a recluse, or those who diligently went on missions but lazed around inside the tower otherwise, barely noticed any change and soon stopped caring. But the problem was people like Lucy.

“Whyyyy can’t we go out!! If the guild master rests, the guild collapses!!”

For someone as free-spirited as her, building a position and engaging outside the tower, this must have sounded like a bolt from the blue.

I broke into a cold sweat as I watched Lucy pound the floor, throwing down the extra money from the tower as both bribe and consolation, asking for just a bit of understanding.

Christina, sliding across the floor to snatch the money Lucy had thrown, claiming she wouldn’t use it if she didn’t get it herself, only escalated the chaos rather than calming it.

—If only it were like last year, when only our group was at the Research Festival, this could have been handled as a problem only among spirit mages… but the involvement of ordinary people, even high-ranking ones from various regions, was the issue.

The recent Research Festival incident had led to a suggestion to be a bit more reserved, and the fact that all towers—not just the northern tower—had implemented the same policy helped quell dissent.

And, of course, the fact that it was temporary.

Once the official notice with the tower master’s seal was issued, the major protests subsided.

People were starting to get used to this temporary system… or rather, they were counting the days until it would be lifted, but in any case, they were starting to adjust.

Most spirit mages in the tower likely considered this a show of restraint for other nations to see.

However, this policy had been designed and agreed upon by the four towers’ elders and masters to identify a potential insider.

Only a few—myself, Reddin, and a handful of others who attended the meeting—knew this.

The fewer people who knew, the less chance of leaks, so those outside the meeting needed an external justification.

Thus, restraint was chosen. Since such a major incident had occurred during the Research Festival, even other proud spirit mages reluctantly accepted it.

And the goal of the policy—to identify a mole—was still ongoing, although no suspicious movements had been observed… for now.

[Asila, this way!]

“Thanks.”

I stepped onto the crumbling part of the building and slid down, slicing the monster in half.

Red-tinged butterflies, moving quickly and precisely, destroyed the violet core.

I was currently near the building where the Research Festival had been held.

“Finish it off!”

“Monster at 9 o’clock eliminated!”

I wasn’t alone. A few other spirit mages, aware that the incident during the Research Festival wasn’t a mere accident, had gathered.

Spirit mages initially dispatched immediately after the festival to collect any remaining evidence reported that the building area had become a monster den.

Though someone had released the monsters, the land where the Research Festival building was constructed had been strictly controlled.

Especially before and after the festival, management was even stricter because of the crowds.

Rifts occur irregularly in unpredictable places, mostly in damp, dark areas.

This site had been carefully chosen to exclude such areas, and the barriers had been layered multiple times.

Until just before the festival, it had been a pristine, verdant location—but now…

Brushing monster blood off my cheek, I looked around.

The monsters weren’t coming out in the massive numbers like during the festival.

They weren’t particularly high-level. However, a lower-level swarm, enough to call a den, had emerged.

Earlier dispatched spirit mages had tried multiple times to enter the building for investigation, but monsters kept emerging from somewhere, nullifying their efforts.

So, we decided to exterminate the monsters first, which is what I and the other spirit mages were doing now.

Ten… eleven… twelve… about twelve monsters down.

Watching the corpses slowly turning to ash, I caught my breath.

[All done?]

I nodded to the butterflies resting on my shoulders and approached the temporary tent.

“Fun, wasn’t it?”

As soon as I stepped into the tent, I flinched at the sudden cold on my cheek.

Kallios had pressed a water bottle to my face, his red eyes gleaming mischievously.

“You’re probably the only one who finds that fun.”

Even when training me, his habit of laughing while swinging a blade was infuriating—but I had to acknowledge his audacity.

I stuck my tongue out at him when he immediately asked if I enjoyed slaying monsters.

“But… aren’t you busy?”

Kallios blinked, looking confused as if he had no idea what I meant.

“…….”

“…Really, why would I be busy?”

I remembered his aide, who always called for him even during the short time he stayed at the western tower. His under-eyes looked dark and fatigued, as if exhausted.

“You are the tower master.”

I sighed, realizing I shouldn’t expect much from him, as I stared into Kallios’ cold eyes.

Even while resting in the tower before heading to the building, I hadn’t seen or heard Reddin.

When I tried to find him, he was buried under paperwork and moving frantically somewhere, leaving me no courage to disturb him.

And he wasn’t the only one busy.

The spacious room of the tower master I briefly visited was buried under piles of documents; only a weak, faintly laughing voice could be heard.

The elders, mostly retired from missions or paperwork, were all working as manpower.

Everyone was so exhausted they worked mechanically, which was terrifying.

I had heard that finding the mole was important, and since several countries had participated in the festival, the cleanup was taking a tremendous amount of time.

The northern tower wasn’t even the main body in charge of management, so if other towers were worse, it wouldn’t be any less severe.

Perhaps noticing my gaze, Kallios suddenly seemed to realize something and rolled his red eyes.

“Moving with my body is easier.”

They say a dull mind makes the body suffer—but in this case, it was slightly different. Kallios didn’t have a dull mind and actually enjoyed taxing his body.

While arguing with him about why he thought he was more useful than sending ten other spirit mages out, I stopped mid-step.

“Really… what’s going on?”

In a corner of the large tent, a group of people in white coats were huddled together.

Blinking, I realized they were from the research team, gathering to inspect the building again. But why were they over there?

“Ahh.”

Kallios, noticing my gaze, said knowingly:

“There’s a curtain here. They can’t get in. They asked me to call you so we could tear it together—but I forgot.”

“…A curtain?”

I ignored his “I forgot” excuse and focused on the word.

The two or three barriers surrounding the building had long since been broken by the monsters rampaging inside.

What curtain was he talking about?

“What are you doing here!!”