Episode 70. The Black Zone of the White City (3)
“Are you Rubin of the Roinen family?”
The market’s servant was a wizard wrapped in thick white robes. He was polite and showed a subtle submissiveness. It was as if he knew the true identity of the Roinen family and Rubin, who were hiding in the shadow of the empire.
“I apologize for visiting so late at night. I came by order of the mayor. He asked me to bring the young master.”
The mayor’s order left him no choice. Rubin prepared and followed.
As expected, this invitation was only for Rubin. Before leaving, the servant glanced around the room. Leaving Kuze and the cat on guard, he began to guide Rubin.
The two rode in a carriage. The white carriage traveled along the quiet night road.
This was also Rubin’s first time going to the tower where the mayor resides.
“Please get off carefully.”
The carriage stopped. The servant opened the door.
“My guidance ends here. The mayor is waiting at the top.”
Rubin craned his neck and looked up.
In the darkness of the night, a tower stood out. A white tower that could be seen from anywhere in the great city. Although there were many tall buildings in Philimond, they felt infinitely small compared to this tower.
“Please climb up carefully.”
“Aren’t we going together?”
“I am not qualified to participate in a conversation between royal families.”
The Emperor’s uncle. And the Emperor’s half-brother’s son. Then it seems like a conversation between members of the Imperial family.
As Rubin shrugged, the wizard gestured forward.
A path shrouded in darkness appeared in front of Rubin. As he walked forward, the lights behind him quickly went out. Rubin’s back was soon covered in darkness.
The end of the road. There was a spiral staircase that wound around the outside of the tower. If you were to climb the stairs to the top, an ordinary person would not be able to climb all the way even during daylight hours.
Is that what you mean by spreading the darkness? I thought that as I placed my feet on the stairs.
Kukukukukung.
As Rubin climbed the stairs and stepped onto the tenth landing, the stairs he had been climbing began to fold back one by one, forming a railing behind him.
On the other side of the wall, next to Rubin, where there had been only dizzying empty space, a stone railing appeared. Rubin placed his hand on the right railing and the stairs began to move. The spiral staircase slowly wound up.
Kukukukukung.
Behind where Rubin had walked, only empty space remained. Rubin, looking back with an indifferent gaze, suddenly became curious about the structure.
‘What about the stairs above?’
The entire spiral staircase is structured to be pulled upward from the bottom. If that’s the case, then the staircases that are wrapped around the upper floors should also be moving in the same way, but I couldn’t guess what happened to those stairs.
Rubin waited silently. He would know when he reached the top.
‘Mayor of Philimond and Attorney General of the Empire.’
And the Emperor’s uncle, Amret.
I have never met him. When Rubin ended his life in the annex with Roynenser and became an independent assassin, Amret was already dead.
However, I had heard enough about him from my mother. I knew the details of how he died and why he had to die.
‘He was worthy of death.’
Kukukukuku… … .
I felt the movement of the stairs gradually decrease. The sound also became smaller and slower.
Finally, the end of the stairs came into view before Rubin’s eyes. The moment came when the question he had just posed was easily resolved.
“hmm.”
The upper staircase was added to the outer edge of the top of the tower. So when the staircase was in operation and someone was going up, the upper part of the staircase was structured to expand the side of the top and expand the area. Naturally, when going down the stairs, the opposite was true.
‘Well, these stairs are only for the market.’
The top of the tower had become much wider as a staircase was added to the floor. On the other side, another building rose.
“I guess it’s over there.”
The lights came back on in front of Rubin, revealing a path that led to the entrance of the building.
Rubin walked out onto the road. Looking down, the bottom of the tower was far away. What if something were to happen up there? No one would be able to get up there unless they were a wizard.
There was also sufficient security personnel for the Minister of Justice. Across the high sky. Slightly above the top of the tower, a single Grandbird was spreading its wings.
Was it flying? No, it wasn’t. There was no movement of its wings. Grandbird’s eyes were also closed. It seemed to be asleep.
‘You floated it with telekinesis magic.’
To be able to float that gigantic creature with only magic. That wasn’t all. Right now, a company of Imperial troops was waiting on the Grandbird.
There are only a handful of people on the continent who can afford to have this many escort troops.
‘What kind of person is this?’
Before I knew it, I had arrived in front of a large door. I lifted the heavy handle and tried to knock, but the door opened by itself.
Kukukung.
A white hallway with a white carpet was revealed. In the distance, where the hallway turned, a light was leaking out.
There, he will be.
Amret’s living room was spacious. Almost too large for one person to use.
“Sit there. I’ll be finished eating soon.”
A large dining table, sofas, beds, walls lined with books, and a fireplace large enough to roast an entire adult troll.
Rubin sat down at the long table opposite Amret as instructed. Amret finished his meal without even looking at him.
Meanwhile, I looked around the reception room. Despite its size, there was a lot of wasted space. It was an overly sparse space for the Emperor’s direct lineage and the Imperial Justice Minister to reside in. There was not a single attendant to assist him.
Knock knock.
The wood-burning fireplace looked lonely. Rubin kept his mouth shut and waited for Amret to finish his meal.
Dalgrak.
Soon it was the sound of the meal being finished. A plate with half the food left rose into the air and flew towards the fireplace.
Clang!
The plate shattered into pieces, and the firewood spread sparks for a moment. The flames overflowed, illuminating Amret’s figure.
“… … .”
I hadn’t noticed it until just now, but Amret’s body was disproportionately fat. The flesh was lumpy and twisted on his large body, and the back of his neck was also protruding.
A body that could be mistaken for a monster just by its silhouette.
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He was bald, had pale skin like a sick person, and the veins on his face were bulging out. It was so grotesque that it was hard to believe he was human.
“Rubin Roinen.”
Amret turned his head and looked at Rubin. His eyes were bright yellow like a snake’s. He let out a low laugh.
“The moment I saw you, I thought time had gone back decades.”
“… … .”
“You look just like Siren when she was little. She had short hair back then, too. Just like you.”
Amret snapped his fingers. The teapot hanging in the fireplace floated up, then swung around to fill Rubin’s cup.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Of course.”
“What I mean is, how much do you know?”
Rubin’s face was slightly frowning, as if he was not satisfied with the answer.
“The Imperial Chancellor, His Majesty the Emperor, and my mother’s uncle. And… … .”
Amret raises his eyebrows as if telling him to continue.
“You are the 7-star archmage of the empire.”
Rubin remembered the nickname of Amret, which he had heard before his return, ‘The Telekinesis’. There are only five 7-star magicians in the world in the current era. Among them, Izada is the one who has reached the limit of telekinesis magic. Rubin knew the power of that power better than anyone else.
The Grandbird floating in the sky is also probably the work of Iza. The only person in the world who can keep a living creature of that size floating for a long time with a constant force that doesn’t wake it up is Amret.
Even now, this space is filled with dense mana. Each and every wave is so clear that you can feel it.
‘If it weren’t for Chloe, I would have passed out without being able to move.’
Amret laughed in an unpleasant way, as if satisfied with Rubin’s answer.
“You must be wondering why I called you.”
Nod. But Rubin thought that whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. He had planned to use the Armret to enter and exit the black zone from the beginning.
A pass to the black zone that only the mayor of Philimond can grant. Anyone can enter freely, so it would be more accurate to say that it grants the right to leave.
Anyway, that was the real reason he came to Philimond, and the reason he had to meet the mayor. He would have to think about what to say later, but Rubin was confident that he could get the pass.
‘What should I say first?’
But then something unexpected came out of Amret.
“Rubin, go into the black zone. I have something you need to do for me.”
Go into the black zone?
That’s what Rubin had hoped for. But he didn’t expect the market to be the first to give the order. That’s why he was suspicious.
For the first time, Amret stood up. His gait was unnatural and unsteady. His grotesque body turned toward the bookshelf. He pushed aside a few books and took out something hidden behind them.
“Do you like candy, Rubin?”
“… … .”
I thought there would be instructions about the black zone, but the conversation changed. What Amret found was a basket of biscuits and candies.
Amret sat down near Rubin again. He searched through the basket and found a piece of candy. He put it in his mouth. He chewed it and stared at Rubin with his eyes half-hidden by his collapsed eyelids.
“Have you ever had candy?”
“Yes.”
“When Siren was about ten years old, I gave candy to a child who stopped by the palace. I think it was the first time she had ever tasted it.”
It was a natural thing for a child of the assassination family. A childhood where one could not easily approach sweetness, could not enjoy a sense of fullness, and had to avoid leisure.
“That child’s expression was so vivid. She was cute. Hmm, no matter how I look at it, your assassination squad seems more brutal than the palace guys. Isn’t that right?”
Amret chuckled. Rubin didn’t answer. It didn’t seem like a question he wanted an answer to.
The laughter turned into coughing. Kuckle, kkuckle! Rubin raised his body to support him, but Amret waved his hand listlessly.
“Even if you believe you know what you will look like today, no one knows what you will look like tomorrow.”
Amret recited a sentence from his distant memory.
“Do you know this phrase?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a famous line from my favorite play.”
“I’ll look it up and read it.”
“Yes, that’s right. I won’t tell you the title so that you can study it. Just look through the books until you find that line.”
Why did he say that phrase? There must be a reason Rubin doesn’t know. Rubin waited silently.
“I’ve been sickly since I was young. My brother was born with a healthy body, but I wasn’t.”
At that moment, Amret’s teacup appeared before Rubin’s eyes.
He is the one who can sip teacups without moving his body. Likewise, he can take someone’s life. Rubin instinctively realized that the man in front of him was extremely dangerous. He was a man with power beyond imagination.
“Rubin, can you guess what’s inside my body?”
This was a test of sorts. A minimal test to see if Rubin was the kind of guy who would die among criminals the moment he entered the black zone.
But Rubin doesn’t know the answer. Then he has to find out the answer sheet the way the Assassin’s Sword Master did, even if it means stealing it.
‘Slowly. Carefully… … .’
Rubin spread his dark smoke wide. It was a pure crystallization of dark smoke, completely erasing hostility.
The target was Amret’s body. A thin, wide curtain of dark smoke slowly advanced.
‘Just a little more… … .’
At that moment, the teacup tilted over Amret’s open mouth. And through that gap, Rubin’s dark smoke began to flow in like smoke. Little by little, little by little. Quietly, like the faint morning fog.
‘It’s almost all in now… … .’
At that moment, the darkness was blocked. Having reached a dead end, the darkness lost its way. The directionless darkness’s words only meant extinction. The darkness soon dissipated without strength.
‘You noticed.’
Amret’s bright yellow eyes flashed. It was a beast-like agility that did not match his weak body. It was Rubin’s mistake.
“Have you forgotten the question, Rubin?”
He had to make up for his mistake. Rubin chose his answer carefully.
“… is the heart.”
“Hoo.”
Was that a satisfactory answer? Fortunately, it seemed so.
“That’s right. That’s pretty good for a kid.”
The sip of tea Amret had taken was merely a trick to disperse Rubin’s dark smoke. He was waiting for Rubin’s dark smoke to seep in. He had already figured out Rubin’s intention to touch the abnormal blood flow coming from his heart.
It wasn’t necessarily an answer that could be found only by touching the heart, but Amret anticipated and designed all of this. And he completely pretended not to know.
‘Amret… Regardless of his 7-star status, he is a sinister being.’
His bright yellow eyes turned to Rubin.
“I don’t know about the dark side because I’m not an assassin. I just know what makes me feel uneasy.”
“Your Majesty’s heart is beating irregularly.”
Amret placed his right hand on his left chest. He clenched his fist and imitated his heart. His clenched fist moved as if his heart was beating.
“When I was almost twenty, I had to have my heart removed. It was a necessity for my survival.”
It was only for a minute, but Amret’s heart was out of his body. Everyone believed that he was able to survive thanks to the help of the court wizard and the elven sages.
“At that time, I died, albeit briefly. But in the end, I came back to life like this.”
But that was a lie. The person who had the greatest influence on saving his life was Amret himself. At the moment his heart was removed, he cast a spell on the blood in his entire body, instantly freezing his body and heart.
It was a level of magic that would astonish even the court wizard and the elven sage. However, no one wanted to reveal this fact to the outside world. For incomprehensible political reasons.
“Before I had that heart surgery, I made a secret deal with those who held my life in their hands.”
For a moment, hostility appeared in Amret’s eyes.
“Put a spell on my heart. Put an explosive spell on it, powerful enough to blow up an entire city.”
