Episode 79. The Future of the Black Tower (3)
The first night we encounter upon entering the Black Tower.
Killian gave them one of the empty rooms on the second floor. Rubin rested and observed the view of the Black Tower spread out through the window.
Flowers were blooming in the street flower pots, and adorable puppies were running around here and there. This was a well-built city in itself.
Rubin, looking at the street, had a strange feeling. How could it be so clean? It even seemed peaceful, unlike a city ruled by a necromancer.
“It’s midnight.”
Kuze spoke from the side. But the underground city was still as bright as day. It was due to the artificial light created by magic.
‘Is it the white night?’
I had spent a summer in the northern part of the continent before my return. The northern summers were almost night-free, and now was just like that.
That’s why. All the windows in Killian’s mansion are equipped with thick sashes. The way they lower like walls when you press a button is something you often see in regions with white nights.
“Grow up now, you guys.”
Killian walked down the hallway and spoke to the door.
“Oh, and I’ll tell you in advance, you two will both go to Yorick’s mansion with me tomorrow.”
“Why are you going?”
“Think of it as a meeting between the unit commanders. It’s just a place to have some small talk.”
“What should I pay attention to?”
“Well, for now, don’t worry about Yorick. He’ll like you. He’ll see you as great talents for his kingdom. But I don’t know about the other captains. Those guys are the ones who are wary of me.”
Three lieutenants, excluding Killian.
I tried to recall each scene one by one.
A death knight with purple skin. A large warrior who wields a spear as a weapon. And a wizard with a small stature.
“Among them, there’s a guy named Pkin.”
“Pkin?”
“He’s a wizard. He’s someone Yorick especially cherishes. He’s a very vicious bastard, so don’t get involved with him.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
At that moment, the sky that had been shining brightly outside the window suddenly darkened. Soon, a series of clanking sounds could be heard. It was the sound of some houses lowering their shutters.
Killian also walked to the window and rolled down the shutter. Kuze asked as he saw the inner window being closed as well.
“What’s going on?”
“Yorik just fell asleep.”
Is it because the underground city is covered in darkness when Yorick falls asleep? But why do you insist on lowering the blinds? When Kuze tried to ask, Killian waved his hand and walked away.
“If I explain everything to you, it will be too long, so just go to sleep.”
“I think this is something you absolutely must know if you’re going to stay here.”
In response to Kuze’s question, Killian simply gulped down the bottle of Oakum.
“You only need to know what I tell you. You don’t need to know anything else.”
Killian just walked out into the hallway. Kuze, who was watching his back, smiled bitterly. The sight of the eccentric drunkard suddenly reminded him of someone.
“I wonder if Master Kun will become like that when he gets old.”
As if recalling the past days when he had been tormented by Kun as a vassal of the Croquis family, Kuze frowned and playfully shook his body.
“That makes sense.”
At that moment, Killian, who was walking down the hallway, shouted loudly.
“I can hear everything, so you’d better stop swearing at me, you little Royenser!”
He had amplified his hearing with the dark smoke. Kuze was startled and was about to respond, but Killian interrupted him.
“Anyway, you stupid little brat. You can’t even pull out one Roynenser properly! Tsk tsk.”
“… … .”
Rubin smirked as he looked at the bewildered Kuze. Then, he widened his gaze and sensed Killian’s movements.
‘Where are you going?’
Killian’s footsteps stopped in front of a small room at the end of the hallway. The door opened cautiously. It was a room filled with a smoky atmosphere.
“… on the left.”
Killian was checking the sleeping child’s condition. Was his breathing even? Was his expression not bad.
After confirming that there was nothing wrong, Killian went into his room, sipping a bottle of alcohol.
“Still, I think it’s better than Master Kun.”
“I know.”
“By the way, it’s getting dark outside, so why is everyone rolling down their windows?”
It was definitely not meant to block out light. So maybe it was for security? What is certain is that only a few houses, including Killian’s, had it like that.
“What is the reason?”
Rubin seemed to know a little, but he was tight-lipped.
Little by little, the outlines of what the night at the Black Tower meant and what kind of person Yorick was in the city he had created were being drawn.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
The day will come when you can confirm it. Rubin answered only to that extent and closed his eyes.
Kuze fell asleep right away, but Rubin still had one last task left to do, as he always had.
-You’re a little late today.
‘Let’s get started right away.’
The inner training ground. Rubin was finally able to rest his tired body after three or four hours of sword fighting with Haneke.
The next day. When the blinds went up again, it was already daylight. Outside the window, a peaceful and sophisticated cityscape spread out again.
At about noon, Killian took the lead and headed towards Yorick’s mansion.
Meetings attended by the unit commanders were held periodically, but there was nothing new or developing each time.
All I do is drink and hang out for a boring afternoon. I immediately understood why there was such enthusiasm for a sudden event like yesterday.
Yorick reminisced about yesterday’s brawl, laughing for an hour straight.
“Kekekeke, Luden. You don’t have to be afraid of dying. I’ll revive you as my servant as soon as you die.”
He meant to make me a Death Knight. It was a terrible thing to say, but he let it slide. Even as Yorick’s strangely grown claws slid across his face, Rubin remained expressionless.
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‘I said there were three in total.’
Rubin turned his gaze and glanced at the lieutenants standing next to Yorick.
“… … .”
A pale man with a large double-edged axe on his back. The one glaring at Rubin with soulless eyes was a Death Knight.
A creature that can only be used by 5-star necromancers or higher. I could feel the ‘negative mana’ of an indeterminate level coming from it.
Next to him was a large man holding a huge spear. His name was Sorkin, I think. Killian said that he was the most reliable of the subordinates. He was not only incompetent in martial arts, but also not very smart.
However, the shape of the spear he was holding was particularly striking. The tip of the spear was rusted red, the shaft was pitch black as if it was soaked in blood, and there was even a faint magic rising from the tip of the spear.
It was clearly a weapon made of ‘negative mana’. It was an unholy weapon with power that was the exact opposite of the Noble Phantasm made of ‘mana’.
‘It’s a plague spear.’
Memories from before the regression came back to me. It was a magic weapon that could melt flesh like snow with just a touch. It seemed difficult to deal with.
‘Where is Pkin?’
The wizard whom Killian had considered a person of interest was nowhere to be seen. A quick glance inside Yorick’s mansion revealed only servants moving about busily.
“Pkin, that kid was the last to be promoted to captain, but he’s a bit more dangerous than the other two.”
That was Killian’s comment. He was the one who exterminated the wizards here.
It was two years ago that Pkin entered the Black Tower.
At that time, there were ten magicians in the Black Tower. They may have chosen the shadowy side, but they were not bad magicians. They were all living within the Black Tower with a certain degree of recognition.
A mere ten days. That’s how long it took Pkin to obliterate them all.
Killian said that he could have done it in one day if he wanted to. The reason he didn’t was because he wanted to please Yorick by killing only one person a day.
“Yorik. Where did Pkin go?”
Killian asked. Even to him, the fact that Pkin wasn’t there seemed strange.
“Sent it up to the ground.”
“To the ground?”
“Amret, is that old man finally losing his mind? He sent me his number two days early.”
He said he went to collect the lottery numbers for the death row inmates that will be drawn this week.
“okay?”
Killian blandly dropped the topic of Pkin.
Although Yorick intercepted the ‘Tears of Givenrat’ that Amret had been longing for, the two still had not broken their symbiotic relationship like that of a crocodile and a crocodile bird.
Amret’s position is that he must proclaim the truth that criminals must be punished, and Yorick’s position is that he must instill the illusion that no matter what crime one commits, one can live without punishment if one is lucky.
For both of them, the death row lottery was a kind of ‘business’ that was too valuable to be done away with.
‘The mission to get the lottery numbers is said to be done by Pkin himself.’
This is a part where you can get a glimpse of Pkin’s majesty and Yorick’s trust in him.
furthermore.
‘Pkin may have been given the task of eliminating Killian by Amret.’
It was a natural inference. According to Rubin’s knowledge of the future, the person chosen in this death row lottery was Killian.
In preparation for Killian’s backlash, it was only natural that they would have hired someone who could definitely eliminate him. That person was Pkin.
‘When will you come?’
In many ways, he became curious about Pkin’s appearance. Rubin endured Yorick’s attention and waited for Pkin quietly.
An hour had passed.
While the dancers were dancing wildly in front of Yorick amidst the noisy music, a man strode across the stage towards Yorick.
It was Pkin.
He had a small body, just like the one I saw in the arena. Unlike a wizard, he had many scars all over his face. At first glance, he looked like a low-ranking soldier on the battlefield.
A scar started from the corner of his right lip and continued to his earlobe. Rubin watched the scar at the corner of Pkin’s mouth move every time he spoke.
“Look at this. I guess it was a good thing I checked in advance.”
Pkin whispered this in Yorick’s ear and handed him a piece of paper with the number of the death row inmate he had checked in advance.
“Ahem… … .”
Yorick pursed his lips and looked down at the paper. Soon his eyes turned to Killian.
“Killian.”
“why?”
“Your physical condition is not bad these days, is it?”
A meaningful question, even for Rubin. Did Killian notice?
“You saw me yesterday. Do I look rusty?”
“No, of course not… I meant that I was looking forward to this draw as well, so don’t misunderstand.”
“I have a lot of worries.”
Killian took a sip of Oakum without thinking much of it.
Another reason why Killian’s nickname is the Beheading Captain.
Sometimes, a convict chosen by lottery escapes. Most of the time, they are caught by the crowd, but the most certain pursuer is Killian.
No one knows that he was once the leader of the Assassin’s Blade, but Killian was no different from a ghost rat here, seeking out any target and cutting off its head.
This was the reason why Killian was both respected and feared by the locals.
“Oh, and you. Luden. That cute little servant.”
“Yes, Yorick.”
“You must assist him well from the side. He is a noble person even if you look like that.”
Rubin crouched down and answered instead.
Just then the show ended. As the dancers retreated, Rubin was able to see the front of Pkin, which had been hidden.
“… … !”
Rubin doubted his eyes. But when he looked again, it was clear.
“What are you looking at? You little rat.”
“Oh, sorry, I’m sorry.”
Rubin crouched down again, acting bewildered. A secret laugh escaped his lips.
‘Found it!’
A purple bracelet that spiraled up Pkin’s forearm and gave off a splendid light. It was Glayton’s bracelet.
‘He had it.’
The wizard Pkin, who wiped out ten wizards without a trace, has revealed the reason why he was able to do so.
If you have Glayton’s Bracelet that can read the spells of the opposing wizard, then it’s not a problem if you have a hundred people, not just ten.
