Chapter 379

Words : 2223 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

‘This is quite interesting content.’ They grew the World Tree hand in hand with the elves. Rudger recalled the stump of the dead World Tree where the demon Basara had been sealed. [We sharpened our blades in the shadows to resist the Lumensis Order. In deep, dark places where God’s eyes couldn’t reach, to strike surely. However, fate rejected our will.] [When we hid in darkness, something hiding in even deeper darkness responded. A being that, like us, was hiding from God’s eyes. It was the enemy of the world that we called demon.] Demon Basara. The situation took shape in Rudger’s mind. There existed an organization that sought to resist the Lumensis Order, including the author of this book. That organization wasn’t just a gathering of certain people, but had the scale of a national entity. The previous kingdom that existed before the current Exilion Empire was established built massive facilities underground. That must have been where the Liberation Army had previously occupied. And the elves, or more precisely, the Plante family who held the highest power at the time, cooperated with them. ‘And what followed was Basara’s invasion, was it?’ [The demon hated the Lumensis Order. We did too, but we never joined hands. After all, the demon hated all humanity, with only differences in degree. So we fought.] [Countless warriors and chosen ones fell. The demon’s power was too strong, and we were powerless before it. However, not a single person gave up.] [After a desperate resistance, the demon was sealed in the roots of the World Tree. But none of us considered it a victory.] That makes sense. From their position of having to handle matters secretly, an accident suddenly occurred. Moreover, their elite forces would have been swept away by Basara in the process. Just considering the material losses they suffered, it would have been difficult to maintain the organization. [The filthy Lumensis Order caught wind. They moved quickly and deposed the king. The survivors had to flee. I was one of them. But no matter where we went, the Lumensis Order wouldn’t let us go. The heresy inquisitors were as persistent as hunting dogs. There was no safe place anywhere on the continent.] Rudger turned to the next page. [Even as I leave this record, I can feel their pursuit drawing closer. Now only one option remains for us. Going to the forbidden land where no one has ever returned from. As luck would have it, today is when the mysterious power in that land weakens. If not now, there will be no other chance.] The one pursued by the Lumensis Order fled to this mysterious land, the Kasar Basin, having been driven to the edge. Rudger realized the book was nearly finished and carefully read the few remaining pages. [The forbidden land was indeed as dangerous as its name suggested. All my compatriots who came with me thought so. The compatriots who had survived even that terrible pursuit died helplessly to the disasters occurring in the forbidden land. We grew weary. Fear arose that we might die without even leaving records.] -Flutter. Rudger turned the pages without pause. [That’s when we saw it. A mansion that didn’t belong here. A building of unfamiliar architecture. But it was clearly built by human hands. We headed toward the mansion. And we met him. The one called the master of the mansion.] ‘The master of the mansion?’ Rudger was intrigued by the mention of the master. This mysterious mansion is treated as an unexplained phenomenon, with even its builder unknown. ‘Right. Surely someone must have built this mansion, and naturally there would have been an owner. Since this book deals with events from at least 500 years ago, it wouldn’t be strange for there to have been a master of the mansion then.’ So Rudger checked the last remaining pages. [The master of the mansion was a man entering his later years. He lived alone in this vast mansion and welcomed us warmly. We were surprised. He was a chosen one like us, and beyond that, he was one who had received tremendous learning, skill, and grace.] [But what was more surprising was the fact that he wasn’t a living person. He was the lingering thoughts of someone who had already died and disappeared. We were surprised, but at the same time relieved at the lack of hostility. At least he wouldn’t try to kill us.] [While staying at the mansion, we finished our preparations. We can no longer go outside. So we had to live here. Probably a life of confinement until we die of old age. But we have no regrets. If we truly had regrets, it would be destroying all these records and items.] [Having been entrusted with the mansion by its master, we made preparations. Surely someday others will come here. Chosen ones, magicians who deal with mysteries will exist in any era. But conversely, the filthy dogs of the Lumensis Order could also come. We had to make arrangements for that.] [Using the mansion’s power, we created rules, set up formations, and spread barriers. We took measures so that none could carelessly enter this library where these records are inscribed. Those without qualification won’t even be able to read these records.] [Though preparations were complete before departing, regret was unavoidable. After all, the most important relic was divided into 7 pieces.] ‘Pieces of a relic?’ Rudger’s eyes widened. [My compatriots each took one piece and scattered across the world, but I worry whether they hid them properly. Perhaps they were seized by that vicious order. I’m also concerned about the piece the elves took. After all, they too suffered great losses to their forces fighting the demon at the time.] [But even with such worries, there was nothing we could do. In the end, fate didn’t favor us. All that remains is to leave it to future generations. If someone who will walk the same path as us someday is reading this, please understand. That our will to achieve freedom is not yet dead.] The book ended there. Yet Rudger couldn’t take his eyes off the book. Emotions beyond words surged through him. With trembling hands, Rudger took out the relic fragment from his inner pocket and examined it. Seven pieces. Fragments scattered everywhere. A means to obtain freedom. Clutching the fragment, Rudger found it hard to decide whether to rejoice or be angry at this strange flow of fate. ‘The ways of the world are truly interesting.’ Putting the fragment back in his pocket, Rudger returned the book to its original place. It was just one book, but through it, many current events were neatly explained, along with how events from the distant past had been passed down to him intact, spanning 500 years. ‘This isn’t mere coincidence. I was born in the deepest part of the Lumensis Order, and I’m gathering these pieces because I discovered their traces.’ Coincidence and necessity. Will and determination. It was only because various elements came together that they could come this far. While Rudger regretted that he hadn’t come to the Night of Mystery until now, he simultaneously felt relieved that he had learned this much even now. ‘There’s another gain. The whereabouts of fragments I haven’t yet found. I now know where one of them is.’ The records said the elves took one of the fragments. That meant what he was looking for was at least in the Elven Kingdom. ‘It would have been better if there was one more in the imperial vault.’ The Elven Kingdom, of all places. Isn’t it even worse than the Empire? While it might have been different in ancient times, now the Elven Kingdom has become a place humans absolutely cannot go. But there are humans who interact with elves, and there are elves who don’t completely hate humans. At least one should be able to go as far as the forest. However, that too is limited to the forest’s boundary, its outskirts. Renar-Tirone is the elves’ homeland and where the World Tree grew but humans cannot enter there. ‘Moreover, the current head of the Lifrey family ruling Renar-Tirone is First Order Ventmin.’ If one were to say that entry should be possible since they’re both First Order, that would be speaking without knowing Ventmin. She has never shown friendliness to anyone except Zero Order from the start. Rather, even though they’re both First Order, she tends to look down on and ignore non-elves. ‘One more thing to worry about.’ Rudger thought this as he picked up another book. There’s no need to tell others about the truth of this book. And he still had more materials to find. Clues about non-attribute magic power. Though he unexpectedly found the whereabouts of a fragment, he hadn’t achieved his original purpose. Of course, there were still many books left to read, so it wasn’t like the opportunity was completely gone. ‘But there’s still so much left to read.’ Even reading quickly and skimming over 100 books takes too much time. The other party members read at a significantly slower pace too. Moreover, in some cases where interpretation was difficult, they even asked Rudger how to read it. As a result, progress was inevitably slow, and in the end, they had to finish without having read even half of the pile of books. -Trrrring! Everyone’s attention turned to Limrei at the strange sound coming from his body. Limrei pulled out a mechanical clockwork timepiece from inside his robe. “Time’s up.” “Already?” Roina suddenly lifted her head that had been buried in a book. The library had no clocks or windows to tell the outside time. Since they came here and were absorbed in reading, it was hard to sense how much time had passed. Considering that, Limrei must have set the time in advance. “We need to leave now.” “But there are still books we haven’t read yet.” “We can finish reading them tomorrow.” “How can we expect such good fortune to happen again?” “Did all of what happened today seem like mere good fortune to you?” At Limrei’s words, Roina’s gaze turned to Arpa. Arpa, who had been sitting there blankly, wore an expression of not understanding what was going on. “If we leave now, we should be able to safely meet up with the other exploration party.” “...You mean the exploration party that might have murderers mixed in?” Though they had put it aside while searching for the library, there were still murderers remaining inside the mansion. While Roina was troubled by this, she couldn’t make the bold claim of staying in the mansion. The party eventually left the library and came out to the corridor. “Do you know the way out?” “While finding specific rooms inside the mansion is difficult, finding the door to the outside isn’t hard.” Nothing would happen in the corridor, so they just had to keep walking straight. As they continued walking, they occasionally saw other magicians. They too recognized Rudger’s party and flinched. Their gazes were full of wariness. ‘That makes sense. Inside the mansion, there’s only competition over who gets the knowledge first.’ Thinking about it, it wasn’t strange for murders to occur given the structure. There’s no way to know from the outside what happens here, in this mansion full of secrets. Even if someone dies, the mansion erases the traces on its own. In such a situation, competing to find knowledge first it’s a perfect condition for people to die. Perhaps among those who went missing in this mansion, quite a few were killed by fellow magicians. ‘While not all magicians are such psychopaths, the proportion of such psychopaths is particularly high among magicians.’ Going further than that would make one a dark magician. Anyway, other magicians seemed to think the same way, as magicians were wary of other parties when they saw them. Rudger’s party had to be wary too, as there were murderers inside this mansion. Even if someone killed others for knowledge, it wouldn’t be excusable, but these guys killed their companions as soon as they entered. This wasn’t about pursuit of knowledge or grudges. They did this for some purpose. ‘Still, since almost everyone who entered the mansion is gathering now, they shouldn’t be able to plot anything here.’ When the magicians arrived at the mansion’s exit, what they saw were magicians staring at the closed door, not knowing what to do. “What could have happened?” Roina asked curiously. At this time, it wouldn’t have been strange for everyone to be leaving, but they all looked troubled. “Wait! Stay back!” “Don’t gather more than 20 people!” “Keep your distance and step back!” Since the corridors and halls were spaces where rules applied, they couldn’t gather together even when meeting people inside. In the end, Rudger’s party had to receive news from a distance. Arpa, with his exceptional hearing, was the first to hear the story. “Looks like something’s gone wrong?” Everyone’s attention turned to Arpa. Arpa told his companions exactly what he had just heard. “The mansion’s door is locked and won’t open.”

Chapter 379

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