“If Evan’s words are true, then what we must do is clear.”
The young man, who had been standing with his arms crossed and eyes closed, joined the conversation.
He appeared to have recently transitioned from his youthful appearance, now emanating a sharp and mature aura. Clutched within his embrace was a lengthy spear.
While it might seem unusual to bring such a weapon into a conference room, in this world, it wasn’t considered particularly strange to carry one’s weapon at all times.
Since Lennok had never attended a meeting with individuals who routinely carried weapons, he could only awkwardly tilt his head in response.
Caught in his contemplative musings, Chenni continued speaking.
“No matter how hard our Watchers try, it would be impossible to root out all of the Drug Lord’s underlings scattered throughout the Autonomous Region. It would be far more realistic within the three-day deadline to rob his vault and verify the existence of the ledger. You truly have excellent insight.”
“Um, sure.”
Flustered by the young man’s compliment, Lennok replied.
“We’ve reached a conclusion,” Lapis nodded calmly.
“Evan and Grisha have personally intervened; we can’t afford to waste time. Let’s move immediately.”
***
When the barrier was activated, Chenni made the decision to divide the forces into two separate paths.
There was no necessity to commit a large number of individuals to locate the Drug Lord’s vault, nor was it prudent to waste the time of other Watchers.
The young man wielding the spear, Chenni, along with other physically capable Watchers, promptly made their way to the Autonomous Region to aid in restoring order.
Their goal was to inform the local spellcasters that the current emergency was orchestrated by the Drug Lord and actively seek their cooperation. Accomplishing these two objectives would significantly reduce the chaos within the buoyant island community.
“You seem lost in thought.”
“…Well.”
“Focus. We may also need to assist in the operation.”
On the upper floor of the tower, Grisha addressed Lennok, who had been leaning against the wall of a spacious chamber. Both of them gazed intently at Lapis, who was diligently preparing for the ritual.
In the chamber illuminated by the night sky, where the Lighthouse Keeper’s power was most potent, Lapis employed her abilities to pinpoint the location of the Drug Lord’s vault.
The essential component was a sample of Basilisk mushroom collected from the collapsed island. Through it, she intended to trace the presence of Malabest, also from the same island, and enhance the ritual’s potency using an artifact from the vault.
While she couldn’t precisely pinpoint the exact location, this method seemed the most promising.
In compliance with the ritual’s requirements, they had taken another step forward in their arduous journey. Lapis sat at the center of the magic circle, which her assistants were diligently inscribing all around the chamber. In her petite hands, she cradled the statue that Lennok had provided.
The miniature floating island that appeared in her third eye.
Lapis spoke, gently caressing the corroded statue with a solemn expression.
“This statue was crafted by Grandmother herself, hoping to symbolize the bond between the Autonomous Region and the Lighthouse. When she was in her prime as a Lighthouse Keeper, everyone praised her.”
“…”
“But now it has become a symbol of mutual neglect.”
In the hundred years that The Great Seer Madria Falcia devoted to her role as the Lighthouse Keeper, everything had changed.
Old promises had faded away, and even the responsibilities and affiliations they once held for each other had dissolved.
Madria Falcia had attempted to bridge the gap between the Autonomous Region and the Lighthouse before her transcendence, but did the people of the Autonomous Region view even that effort as a charade?
Once a divide opens, it is not easily bridged.
However, Lapis made a conscious effort not to dwell on the dishonor that remained as a vestige of the past.
“Rather than obsessing over the legacy of my ancestors, I should focus on what I can do for this land. I have no regrets.”
Lapis’s clairvoyant abilities were deeply influenced by Grisha’s magical methods, allowing her to significantly enhance her abilities by offering significant objects as sacrifices.
What remained of her ancestors’ legacy for her.
A symbolical item commemorating the relationship between the Lighthouse Keeper and the Autonomous Region.
The eye of clairvoyance radiated more brightly as it consumed the memories of the past.
The statue that Lapis carefully set down slowly liquefied in the intense mana heat, streaming into the magic circle. Simultaneously, a brilliant light burst forth from the spell circle surrounding her.
Boom!
With her eyes wide open, emanating a profound inner light, she gazed up at the night sky.
The eyes of the solitary observer, standing in the now-ruined lighthouse, never ceased their vigil.
Basilisk mushrooms. Every trace gathered from the collapsed island is meticulously connected through the eyes of clairvoyance.
Observing from a distance, Grisha muttered with his arms folded.
“It’s been 40 years since I’ve seen the lighthouse operate.”
“…40 years?”
I knew I had led a long life since surpassing 100 years, but my perception of time was vastly different from that of humans.
But Grisha calmly replied to Lennok’s inquiry.
“Hmm, you may not know, but the tribes of my homeland generally have long lifespans. I’ve mastered magic to quite a high level, so I’ve lived for an extraordinarily long time among them. But is that really so surprising?”
Lennok nodded in response to Grisha’s casual shrug.
“I was just wondering if all high-level sorcerers live that long.”
“I’m not a particularly special case. The moment you start manipulating powers that defy the laws, you start walking a different timeline. Grandmother probably lived dozens of times longer than I have.”
“Is that so?”
Lennok understood that the lifespans of high-level sorcerers differed from ordinary humans, but what concerned him was whether this applied to him as well. The constraints of the attribute [Natural Talent] bound Lennok, and he was trying to determine the extent of his potential.
However, Grisha seemed lost in thought, slowly crossing her arms and mumbling.
“So I never thought she’d leave her granddaughter like that and go.”
“…”
“It’s ironic. I thought I would have to repay the real debt to Grandmother someday, but I never thought I’d return to the autonomous Region like this. Did Grandmother foresee this far?”
His silent gaze followed Lapis’s retreating figure.
Within the magical circle, her hunched form, with her head held high, seemed distinctly out of place among the dozen or so individuals.
“Those who don’t care about ascension don’t realize it, but observing the outer seas has a very important significance in cosmology. It confirms and fixes the movement of the transcendent monsters once directly observed.”
Lennok felt a sense of deja vu, as if he had heard similar concepts in physics, even though he didn’t fully grasp them. However, he could roughly comprehend the context of her words.
“So, the lighthouse was the first line of defense against the monsters of the outer seas?”
“Yes. That’s why the responsibility of the lighthouse keepers has been shared among the ascendants. But now the situation has changed.”
“…”
“Even the transcendent beings who were somewhat friendly to humans have all disappeared over the past 100 years, and most of them have turned into twisted maniacs. In the end, there was only one option from the beginning.”
Lennok now understood the essence of her explanation. She was elucidating the reasons that led to Lapis being selected as the next lighthouse keeper.
“So in the end, Lapis was the choice.”
“After all, the only ones who could potentially handle the power of clairvoyance are those from the same ascendant lineage. The size of that vessel is incomparable to others.”
As they conversed, the radiance of the magic circle gradually dimmed, and the gleam in Lapis’s eyes became increasingly hazy.
Before long, some form of outcome would materialize.
“Even so, no one can guarantee that child will become an ascendant. We’ve entrusted her with an absurdly heavy task, relying on that miracle-like probability,” Grisha muttered.
“I have to repay my debt to the old woman.”
“From what I see, you seem to have a more plausible reason than just debt.”
Grisha, who typically responded to everything with nonchalance, spoke in a manner that hinted at the depth of her compassion for the young lighthouse keeper.
Do giants who have grasped the principles of magic share a common tendency to hide their true emotions rather than feigning emotional indebtedness?
Grisha rubbed her nose and stood up.
“The ritual is over. Let’s go.”
As she passed by Lennok, her countenance had turned considerably colder compared to before.
“It seems I can’t rest easy until we take down the Pandemonium.”
***
“I’ve found traces,” announced Lapis, sitting within the now-darkened magic circle.
The aftermath of employing her Celestial sight abilities still lingered, evident by her profuse perspiration.
While nearby wizards were busy wiping her brow, Lapis continued to speak without pause.
“Within the autonomous region, soil from that land remains in three places. I’ll share the locations immediately, so write it down…”
With pen and paper in hand, Lapis adeptly began sketching something.
The scenes of the three places, glimpsed through her Celestial sight ability, were meticulously captured on a single sheet of paper.
Lennok and Grisha both gazed at the paper, deep in contemplation.
“Hmm…”
“Do you have any guesses?”
“One of these places I can guess,” Lennok stated first, pointing to the expansive field depicted at the bottom of the paper.
“This is where I took the sample of the Basilis mushroom. We can exclude it from the candidates.”
It was logical for the locations to overlap when searching for soil from the collapsed island, rather than specifically for Malabest.
Most likely, aside from the sample Lennok had acquired, the remaining Basilisk mushroom samples would be found at this facility.
“I know another place,” Grisha added.
“It’s the old building of the history museum managed directly by the autonomous region. I heard it was moving to a new building, but I don’t know if it’s still operational.”
“Then the remaining place is…”
The scene resembled a view from the edge of a floating island, seemingly gazing at the setting sun.
However, with just the three of them, it was challenging to pinpoint its exact location.
“We’ll have to seek help from others,” Grisha concluded.
“Fortunately, the setting sun is visible in the landscape Lapis saw. It’s not impossible to narrow down the investigation area by calculating the angle of view during the sunset. But…”
“There’s no need to go that far,” Lennok interjected.
Lapis’s eyes widened.
“Does that mean… the Drug Lord’s vault is in the history museum?”
“Yes, it’s most likely there,” Grisha affirmed.
The moment the words “history museum” left her lips, Lennok too had an epiphany.
“Dominic Cabaro is precisely affiliated with the autonomous government, specifically interfering with the department that manages artifacts. Initially, we thought he had extended his influence to those connected with the lighthouse, but that wasn’t the case.”
The man masquerading as Enrico had initially approached them from the lighthouse’s side, ensnaring Lennok and Grisha in a trap, but it had involved only a small force.
Furthermore, after their initial attempt had failed, instead of deploying additional forces to capture them, the drug lord himself had laid a trap. This indicated that the autonomous Region was not entirely under the drug lord’s control.
“The Juicemaster’s influence extends only to a few among the government employees, among them being Enrico, the artifact department head. Why did he choose a civil servant from the artifact department, of all people, who would be more useful in gaining control over the autonomous region?”
Finally grasping the significance of Lennok’s words, Lapis exclaimed softly.
“I see… to make use of the old grounds of the history museum!”
“Exactly. Now, civil servants associated with the museum grounds, who have also managed and moved the artifacts remaining in the museum, have been co-opted. Given what has been revealed about the drug lord’s character so far, it is probably a certainty.”
There would be no need for intricate concealment spells or security enchantments to hide the location.
Since it was managed directly by the autonomous government, it was a piece of property that had served its purpose and couldn’t be interfered with casually. The drug lord had astutely identified and seized this strategically advantageous position.
“The old building of the history museum. He audaciously stashed his assets in a building that is now abandoned and no one sets foot in.”
Lennok rose with a smile.
“Now it’s time for us to make the first move.”
