Tatiana Chiglet, known as the Witch of Saturation.
In the newspapers, she was portrayed as a malevolent sorceress, bearing the burden of excessive cruelty and allegations of harm to civilians. However, upon meeting her in person, Lennok discovered that she was not as callous or haughty as he had anticipated.
Perhaps her recent involvement in frontline matters had left her notably fatigued.
Fortunately, upon Tatiana’s arrival, order was swiftly restored within the Magic Tower.
Despite her reputation for a volatile disposition, both her fellow wizards and even the previously passive Council elders quietly began to follow her guidance in managing the situation.
She gathered the remnants of the shattered Witcher’s stone slab and retrieved the spellbooks and artifacts that Geonis had attempted to smuggle away.
Her ability to simultaneously mend the intentionally damaged furnace left even Lennok impressed.
“Oh! Hey, wait a minute. That’s different from what you were holding earlier. What product is it?” Her conversational skills seemed to bridge any gap effortlessly. Undoubtedly, she was an exceptionally unique individual.
“…It’s custom-made.”
“Eh? …Well, that can’t be helped. It’s bothersome to go all the way to the megacity to get cigarettes…”
She said this with a disheartened expression and then turned her attention swiftly to Evelyn.
“Can’t you buy some for me?”
“Shut up.”
“…”
Evelyn, who usually appeared somewhat naive, spoke in such a manner for the first time.
Tatiana, undaunted by the sharp retort, crouched down and focused on smoking her cigarette.
“Ah… Cleaning up the mess left by Geonis is annoying, but this isn’t too bad. The front line has more frustrating issues.”
“Is the central front still like that?”
“Well, yes.”
Tatiana responded casually.
“The elders here in the Council are demoted and at least reasonable, but those at the central front are completely blinded by money.”
The Magic Tower’s magical forces were not concentrated on the central front without reason.
It had been two decades since Arsnova, once the continent’s wealthiest city situated in a fertile grain-producing region, fell into decline due to war.
The battle over its inheritance and resources had yet to conclude, and the massive city, once home to 20 million residents, now lay in ruins, known only as the ‘central front.’
Many coveted the wealth of the central front, just as they sought the power of the Magic Tower.
For a formidable entity like the Magic Tower, ignoring this whirlwind of desire was impossible.
She brushed her crimson hair back, exhaling smoke as she spoke.
“This is still under embargo, but one of the Rosary has died.”
“…”
“It wasn’t a direct disciple of the master, but a collateral, so the situation was quickly contained… But will the other ordinary wizards accept this?”
A sardonic smile danced on Tatiana’s lips.
“We’re all going mad together… I thought it would end once someone died, but seeing the state of things even after a Rosary’s death, it seems we don’t have much time left.”
Even Lennok, unaware of the full extent of the situation, could sense the darkness underlying each of her words.
Despite her renown, she appeared like a veteran who had weathered countless hardships, yet the ravages of war had left her worn and weary.
Lennok regarded her with interest, then knelt before her to meet her gaze.
“If it’s so hard, why don’t you leave the Magic Tower?”
“Heh, easy for a young brat to say.”
Tatiana chuckled.
“Then what would I live on, kid?”
“I’ll hire you.”
“…?”
Lennok retrieved a cigarette and a business card from his pocket and extended them to her.
Evelyn, witnessing this, asked in disbelief.
“Van, what are you doing…?”
“I run a company. Competent people are always welcome.”
Lennok’s convictions had solidified in the wake of the events at the Magic Tower.
Whether it was the Blue Eyes or the Pandemonium, they held little significance to him.
What mattered most was acquiring the power to uphold his own beliefs, along with a formidable force to back them.
He considered it worthwhile to tip off any potential talents he encountered along the way.
Tatiana observed Lennok with keen interest, then cocked her head and inquired.
“You’ve got guts. Are all the wizards in Vulcan this bold?”
“…”
Lennok remained silent, prompting Tatiana to chuckle as she accepted the business card and cigarette.
She lit the cigarette in the same manner as Lennok, took a deep drag, and grinned.
“The smoke tastes passable. Actually, more than enough…”
“I promise to provide them for free if you join.”
“Phahaha!”
Tatiana burst into laughter at his casual response and rose to her feet.
“Evelyn, you’re working with quite an interesting guy.”
A faint vitality returned to her previously somber expression.
“Well, I’ll keep it in mind. If I become jobless later, I’ll come looking for you, so remember that.”
She playfully tapped Lennok’s chest and then turned to leave.
Lennok quietly touched the spot where she had made contact.
“…”
It was the same spot where Geonis had been clutching the red book.
Though she had brushed it off lightly, Tatiana appeared to have a rough understanding of the item’s value.
It was inevitable.
Geonis, who had subjected himself to various geases, including conditions and constraints, in exchange for embedding a mental image in the self-generated domain, used this book to summon and execute his rituals when activating the domain.
Lennok had been monitoring this item closely, and now that he possessed it, he had gained a rudimentary understanding of its capabilities.
It was not merely a tool for enhancing or aiding ritual power.
Specifically for thermokinetic rituals, it significantly accelerated the deployment speed of rituals.
Considering that Geonis used this artifact in conjunction with his domain, the same enhancement would likely apply when deploying a self-generated domain.
It was evident that an artifact effective even for a Star Position Wizard held substantial worth.
Tatiana had opted to hand over this item to Lennok as both compensation and a means of ensuring his silence regarding this matter.
‘Maybe if I study the principles of the artifact, I can significantly reduce the time it takes to deploy a Domain.’
If Lennok could somehow modify it into an artifact that could enhance ritual deployment speed regardless of the attribute…
“Alright, I have to go now. If there’s anything left to do, come to the Magic Tower.”
She waved her hand and headed toward the Magic Tower first, while Lennok stood up, his legs slightly wobbly.
“Hmm…”
Just straightening his back caused him to involuntarily groan.
Perhaps the intense battle had left his joints feeling particularly troublesome.
He had heard that joints couldn’t be regenerated or trained… Lennok quickly dismissed this ominous thought and redirected his attention to Evelyn.
They had already agreed on how to handle the aftermath of this incident.
Evelyn and her agents decided to extend their stay to assist with the restoration efforts of the Magic Tower, while Lennok chose to depart earlier due to the need for potion supplies for his business.
“I should start wrapping up and head back…”
“…”
Evelyn, arms crossed, turned her head slightly away, clearly refusing to engage in conversation. Lennok let out a soft sigh.
He reached into his pocket and discreetly placed a cigarette in her hand.
“If you wanted to smoke, you should have just said so.”
“…”
Crack!
Evelyn, looking incredulously at Lennok, silently snapped the cigarette in half.
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to make a scouting offer to Tatiana?”
Lennok was momentarily at a loss for words.
Evelyn added, almost defensively, “…It’s all about the order of things. Van, you never even told me you had started a company, did you? I haven’t even received a business card.”
“If you want to join our company, is a business card that important? Jenny would be thrilled.”
“Of course, that’s not what I mean, but when recruiting a high-ranking sorcerer as an external consultant and collaborator… never mind.”
Evelyn became tangled in her own thoughts, shook her head vigorously, and pursed her lips.
“Tatiana may have a bad reputation, but she’s at least much more competent and a better person than that. It’s a time when she’s going through a lot, so it’s better not to shake things up unnecessarily, right?”
“Alright. I was indeed hasty on that.”
Lennok finally sighed and nodded.
Evelyn turned around with a relieved expression, and Lennok continued.
“But my not making an offer to you wasn’t just about the agent’s job.”
“What do you mean?”
“If we take out a member from an already understaffed organization, wouldn’t Lapis give us an earful?”
“Really, what are you talking about?”
Evelyn chuckled.
“Lapis is not the type to nag like… that…”
Realizing the true meaning behind Lennok’s words a bit late, Evelyn slowly turned her head toward him with a creaking motion.
Lennok silently gazed at her with a composed expression.
His contemplation had been lengthy, but Lennok had reached a conclusion.
After this incident, there might be no direct contact with Evelyn for some time.
Hence, he felt the need to provide her with a heads-up before it was too late.
She had once saved his life, so she deserved to know the direction in which Van, the freelancer she had rescued, was headed, even if it meant not fully revealing his true identity as Lennok.
His green eyes trembled with intensity.
Facing the warm wind rising from below, the two locked eyes for a while.
* * *
“It feels liberating.”
[If you were going to worry so much, you should have talked about it sooner.]
The day after completing their not-so-brief journey within the Magic Tower.
Lennok reclined in his new residence, lost in contemplation.
This marked the third time he had ingested the medicine prepared by Yakson.
By now, the temporary reversal of his bodily sensations no longer perturbed him.
He deftly maneuvered his fingers to retrieve a cigarette from his pocket and raised his elbow, keenly experiencing the sensation in his knee.
After placing the cigarette in his mouth and igniting it, he took a deep drag, feeling the strain in his abdomen.
Davi, who had been concealed and unable to reveal itself during the recent events, was now crouched in a hidden spot, observing Lennok from above.
Lennok mumbled to himself.
“Until now, I couldn’t be sure if Evelyn was really a member of the Blue Eyes. Since she reacted to Lapis’s name, I had no choice but to give her a heads-up too…”
No matter how meticulously Lennok concealed his three identities, there was a limit to creating alibis.
Even with perfect disguise magic and concealed magical patterns, it was impossible for Evan and Van to coexist in the same location simultaneously.
Even if he could conjure a clone, could he truly keep that fact hidden from Evelyn’s discerning eyes?
If the time ever came when he needed to collaborate with Evelyn as Evan within the Blue Eyes, fretting over secrets would be an unnecessary burden.
It was wiser to address this matter proactively and preemptively tackle any potentially troublesome situations that might arise between the megacity and the autonomous regions.
[Isn’t that risky?]
“As long as my identity as Lennok isn’t exposed… I can handle any risk. What’s needed is not suspicion, but trust.”
Exhaling thick plumes of smoke, Lennok directed his gaze upward at the ceiling.
The presence he had sensed from the upstairs had vanished some time ago.
Evelyn’s stay at the Magic Tower had turned out to be more extended than anticipated, so she had simply engaged a firm to handle her relocation.
This was possible because the move had been prearranged, rendering Lennok’s anxiety over being discovered by Evelyn somewhat anticlimactic.
There was no denying that at times, he harbored doubts about how long he could maintain these facades.
However, he was certain that now was not the moment to cast aside these concerns.
“Alright.”
As the effects of the medicine faded and his bodily sensations returned to normal, Lennok stood up with renewed vigor.
Even though Evelyn had relocated, there was still much to be accomplished by Lennok.
With her finally out of the house, he could establish a separate laboratory within his recently acquired residence.
He chose the largest room in the house, covered the walls with magic-blocking materials, reinforced them with solid steel plates, and inscribed protective symbols.
He meticulously prevented any magical energy leakage through a combination of various security spells from common magic and boundary spells enhanced by his understanding of liberation and primary diagram techniques.
Finally, he arranged a library for the research materials he had amassed, positioned a workbench and potion-making table in the room’s corners, and more or less completed the setup.
Davi, hovering above Lennok, observed the entire process.
[There’s a lot to do.]
“Like a mountain.”
Lennok intended to organize and theorize his observations and manipulations within the thermokinetic self-generated domain.
He needed to document his proficiency in ice magic, gather additional research on the transformative effects of the mystic eye, and produce potions that had been delayed during his absence in Vulcan for Jenny.
He also had to retrieve the custom-ordered revolver from Palmer, contact Aris about adjunct professor responsibilities, and visit the Cartel’s executive safe to locate necessary items.
With the substantial amount of magical training on his plate, coupled with these external responsibilities, there was no respite.
He had believed he was solely focused on survival, yet despite that, the number of individuals and connections surrounding Lennok had grown complex and numerous.
Despite the plethora of desires and concerns that weighed on him, he could only tackle what was manageable, one step at a time.
“Let’s start with this.”
Koong!!
The weighty object that landed on the workbench with a resounding thud was a parting gift and token of farewell from Mauser.
Two sleek navy-blue rechargeable shotguns now rested there, their surfaces subtly gleaming.
