Chapter 21.
It Was Supposed to Be ‘Magic Unlock!’
To the mages, Duke Ariel was both a respected Tower Master and their spiritual anchor.
‘Our Tower Master would never do something foolish! That cold, icy expression—do you know how impressive it is?’
She was their star, one that even Awakeners couldn’t dare look down on.
That’s why, at first, no one noticed the strange things their master was doing.
It began with something very trivial.
Mages are lazy. Most of them would sleep quietly in the mornings.
But one mage, who exercised in the mornings just to keep his feeble body from dying on him, was startled one day.
At first, he couldn’t tell who the person lying face-down on the lawn was.
Rubbing his eyes in confusion, he realized—it was none other than their master, Hilaria.
‘M-Master? Why are you out in the garden so early in the morning?’
And… what are you doing?
The mage couldn’t bring himself to ask, but Hilaria, wearing her usual cold and dignified expression, answered:
‘Looking for a five-leaf clover.’
…Why, though?
‘I shouldn’t tear it.’
Normally, he would’ve been shocked and worried, but instead, the mage thought:
Our master has picked up an odd hobby!
Maybe five-leaf clovers were good for boosting mana!
And that wasn’t the last oddity. Over the next few days, strange little incidents kept happening.
Before long, the mages all reached the point where—no matter how strange Hilaria acted—they simply assumed she must have her reasons and let it pass.
“Finally!”
I shouted.
I’d been doing the weirdest things for days.
Why did I have to pick coins up off the street? Why did I need to count the number of stairs in the North Tower?
And don’t even get me started on the absurd quest to feed stray cats in the Imperial Palace garden.
‘I still get goosebumps thinking about that time.’
Feeding stray cats in the Imperial Palace garden.
Up until then, no matter what I did, the system’s effect made everyone around me react with: ‘Our Duke would never do such a thing!’—which gave me confidence.
So, without hesitation, I headed for the palace.
I had to go there for work every day anyway, and with only 3 points left until unlocking my magic, I felt unstoppable.
But while I was casually feeding the cats in the garden—
‘Duke.’
—I ran into the Emperor.
‘What on earth are you doing?’
‘…….’
The awkwardness in that moment…
I’d hoped the system’s effect would work, but apparently, it didn’t apply to Kaisis.
He was clearly suspicious of me.
‘Explain why you’re here, Duke Ariel.’
Lately, I’d often caught Kaisis glaring at me, which was already nerve-wracking enough.
But what could I do? The me at night could threaten him; the me during the day could not.
I decided to trust in Ariel’s shameless reputation—meaning, I’d brazen my way through as usual.
‘As you can see, Your Majesty. But this is a public area, is it not? Is there a problem?’
‘…….’
…While holding a bowl of cat food.
‘Ha? Did you just say that with a straight face?’
‘…….’
The look of sheer disbelief in his eyes was enough to make me expect a system warning to pop up.
‘You’re aware, aren’t you, Duke Ariel? You’ve been acting strange lately.’
That made my heart drop.
‘That is precisely what I wished to say to Your Majesty.’
‘What?’
‘I heard that lately, in battle, Your Majesty has been uncharacteristically cautious. Is that just a rumor I picked up?’
‘You certainly pick up rumors well.’
‘One might say I am simply working diligently and faithfully to serve you. Wouldn’t you agree?’
Ugh. I shivered just remembering the icy expression he wore afterward.
Anyway—fast forward to the most important moment now!
“Finally unlocked!”
I dumped the full 900 points I had into the unlock.
As the system rewarded me, white light spread from my head to my toes.
“Meow!”
Hearing the cat’s cheerful cry, I clenched my fist in anticipation.
Yes—now the Archmage’s memories would naturally resurface.
I’d be able to use magic as effortlessly as breathing, just like Duke Ariel!
[Congratulations!]
Nice, nice. For once, that annoying status window didn’t seem so bad.
Alright—make me an Archmage already!
[You have used your accumulated points!]
Yes, that’s right!
The sensation as the halo of light spread—it was thrilling.
Magic flowing into me naturally, without any effort.
The exhilarating release of something that had been blocked—
It was incredible—
[A random magic has been unlocked!]
…What?
[Class 9. Great Catastrophe has been unlocked!]
…Huh?
[This is the Archmage’s ultimate spell.
It wields the power of nature.
With a wave of your hand, you can crumble mountains, dry up rivers, and shatter the earth. Congratulations!]
A cold silence followed.
The power of nature…
Shattering mountains…
A hollow laugh escaped me.
“……”
“…Hey.”
I looked at the cat with a dazed face, and my chubby furball dropped the meat it had been chewing.
Thud.
I stood up and immediately grabbed its plump belly.
Squeeze—tight!
“Hey. Hey! HEY! What is this?!”
“Meow! Mrrrowww!”
“You said it’d be unlocked. You just said ‘magic’ would be unlocked! Why is it random? And why the ultimate spell, of all things?! What am I supposed to do with that—wipe out my opponent mid-duel?!”
“Hissss! That hurts!”
“Take responsibility!”
This was the definition of burning down the house to kill a bedbug.
What the hell was I supposed to do with this?
I’d spent days doing all those bizarre things, terrified of my identity being exposed—
For this?!
“Ughhh.”
There was only a month and a half left until the magic demonstration and duel.
That same day, a group gathered in the dark, plotting as always.
—The Duke will appear at the gate for the magic demonstration.
A low chuckle spread.
Awakeners and Guides were already detestable enough, but the mages—hungry to claim that sinister power for themselves—were, to them, revolting in their greed.
—What about the plan to make them suspicious of each other?
—It’s said the Emperor and the Duke clashed heavily in the palace. But that alone isn’t enough. We’ve decided to take direct action.
—Make sure not to delay. For the Great Purpose. For the moment of the End. Do you understand, brothers?
—We will remember.
The faint lights in the darkness blinked out.
Even after my spectacular failure at unlocking magic, the gate still opened.
If I were a true Archmage, I could’ve hidden my presence with a mere snap of my fingers.
‘But I’m not. My hopes are shattered.’
All I had now was a magic spell that could destroy nature itself.
So there I was, hiding in the bushes, eavesdropping on the Guides’ conversation in a rather pitiful state.
“It’s been a while since a gate subjugation took this long.”
“When it takes this long, people get injured… I’m so scared. I just hope he doesn’t get hurt.”
“No one should get hurt. But… sigh, the waiting is the worst part.”
“I’m worried about His Majesty. Lately… he’s looked like he’s in a lot of pain. And that Guide of his—ugh. They must be insane.”
Guides here had their own hierarchy.
It wasn’t just ability-based—it was influenced by bloodline and family status, too.
‘So they’ve got their own internal conflicts as well.’
In the original story, the sunny female lead—a Guide lacking in ability—was even bullied by other Guides in the same situation.
My gaze grew cold as I kept listening.
“If someone had the power to guide His Majesty, they should’ve shown themselves immediately.”
“Do you think the rumor is true? They say the Duke is hiding His Majesty’s Guide. The mages were openly gossiping about it.”
Ah, that rumor.
I frowned.
I’d gone around intimidating—no, interrogating—mages more harshly than ever to figure out where that came from.
‘It wasn’t me!’
‘I heard it from Raphael!’
‘Huh? What? I heard it from Josephina, Master!’
No one knew the source. It was as if they’d all fallen into some shared hallucination.
It seemed those people had made their move—
‘The masterminds behind this novel.’
The problem was…
I couldn’t clearly remember who they were.
