Chapter 172

Eye of the Typhoon (2)

The Mage Tower of the Iris Kingdom was a gathering place not only for mages from across the world, but also for countless scholars.

Physics, alchemy, mathematics, engineering, medicine, and more—academic fields involving the natural sciences were directly or indirectly connected to magic, so scholars visited the tower frequently.

The Iris Kingdom had used this to its advantage, establishing close diplomatic relationships with numerous countries. Thanks to that, even the Empire couldn’t afford to disregard the kingdom.

These days, the Mage Tower’s influence was growing stronger by the day. With the Mage King Kadir at its head, even the king had to remain mindful of it.

If something happened to such an institution, it was equivalent to the entire Iris Kingdom entering a state of emergency.

"Tell me, Mr. Mage. Do you know how old I am?"

"You’re a demon. Judging by your wrinkles, I’d say you’re at least two hundred."

"Correct. I have witnessed 231 New Year’s mornings. I have survived from the Age of Strife all the way to this modern age, when ball games are popular. Do you understand what that means?"

"It sounds like you’ve seen all manner of bizarre things."

The blue-skinned demon scholar nodded at the mage’s response.

Demons were a race comparable to elves, and their lifespans were similarly long.

Their average life expectancy was approximately three hundred years. However, most demons died before reaching the age of two hundred.

Before various ball games were developed, they had spent practically every day fighting one another, even going so far as to start wars between nations.

Even though many failed to live out their natural lifespans, they still lived roughly twice as long as humans. The breadth of their experience couldn’t be dismissed.

"Indeed. Yet this is the first time in my entire life that I have seen anything like that."

"I imagine everyone looking at it right now is thinking the same thing."

"I suppose so. Then allow me to ask you one question."

The demon scholar gestured toward something with a tilt of his head.

He was pointing at the Mage Tower floating in the sky.

It wasn’t merely the tower itself that had risen. The surrounding earth had been torn from the ground and lifted along with it.

It resembled a farmer pulling a radish from a field, only for an entire mound of soil to come up with it.

"What in the world do you think that is?"

The Mage Tower—the symbol of the Iris Kingdom and what many called its true heart—was floating in the sky.

Most of the mages and scholars inside had hurriedly evacuated after the unexpected incident.

If there was one fortunate aspect to the situation, it was that the tower had stopped midway instead of continuing to ascend to the very edge of the sky.

Of course, it was still high enough that everyone had to crane their necks to see it.

The mere thought of what would happen if it fell was horrifying.

"Is there truly no one who can explain what happened?"

Meanwhile, some mages still remained inside the Mage Tower.

As the tower’s administrators, they held various positions of considerable responsibility.

They had originally intended to hold a meeting concerning the sky whale, but circumstances had changed.

They now needed to decide how to respond to this unexpected crisis.

"If anyone conducted an unauthorized experiment inside the Mage Tower, speak up now."

"Do you truly believe an unauthorized experiment caused this?"

"What else could it be? Do you genuinely consider this a naturally occurring ’disaster’?"

No one refuted the elder’s observation. His reasoning was sound.

Although mana and magic existed in this world, common sense still applied.

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, lightning strikes, and similar phenomena were classified as natural disasters.

Some disasters had once been attributed to the wrath of the gods, but advances in science had revealed that most were natural phenomena.

However, the current levitation of the Mage Tower was anything but natural.

"Even if this was artificially induced, we must determine its cause."

"You’re right. If we can understand even part of it, we may find a way forward."

"If anything at all comes to mind—no matter how insignificant—please share your opinion."

Thus began a meeting to resolve the present crisis.

However, no viable solution or explanation for the cause emerged.

The Mage Tower might have gathered the greatest minds in the world, but this phenomenon defied conventional wisdom.

There was one person, however, who observed the situation with unusual silence.

"Hmm..."

It was Kadir, seated neither at the head of the table nor directly beside it, but somewhere in the middle.

Although he had stepped down from his position as the tower’s supreme authority, he was still effectively the most influential person present.

For someone like him to remain silent meant that something was on his mind. The current head of the tower, seated at the head of the table, therefore addressed him.

"What do you think, Lord Kadir?"

"I find it fascinating. And frightening at the same time."

Fascinating, yet frightening.

As everyone puzzled over those cryptic words, Kadir continued.

"Judging solely by the Mage Tower’s current appearance... it resembles a floating castle."

"A floating castle?"

"It was Lord Aragon’s favorite castle."

"But that’s only a legend. Even though ruins believed to belong to the floating castle have been discovered, there’s no evidence that the fortress ever actually floated..."

"Given that the Mage Tower is currently soaring through the sky, it seems rather unlikely that it was merely a legend."

Kadir had a point.

They already had a mountain of matters to discuss regarding the sky whale, yet now they had inadvertently confirmed that the floating castle had truly existed as well.

It was wonderful that their potential research topics had multiplied so dramatically, but such matters would have to wait until the current crisis was resolved.

"Then what do you believe caused this situation?"

"Hmm..."

Kadir gently stroked his beard and sank into thought.

Everyone waited for him to speak.

They believed that Kadir, the wisest mage in the world, would surely know the reason.

’...What excuse should I give them?’

And just as they believed, Kadir knew exactly what had caused the present situation.

He knew it all too well.

The instant he realized that the Mage Tower was rising into the sky, he had rushed back to his laboratory.

There, he had seen it clearly.

The golden stone shining brilliantly within the translucent barrier—the sky whale’s ambergris.

He had somehow brought the ambergris under control, preventing the Mage Tower from rising endlessly.

No.

To be honest, he wasn’t even sure whether he had truly controlled it.

Could a mere human mage of the modern age possibly control an artifact from the mythical era?

’At least no one realizes that the ambergris caused this phenomenon.’

Kadir alone knew its cause.

Ambergris had occasionally been mentioned during the discussion, but the suggestion was always dismissed.

For one thing, he wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate to mention the gallery amid such a serious crisis.

Moreover, even if it was a substance originating from the mythical era, it was difficult to believe that mere whale feces could cause something like this.

’More importantly, I can never let anyone discover that I’m All-Father.’

One wrong move could expose his username.

He didn’t mind openly identifying himself in the gallery. No one there believed him anyway.

Reality, however, was different.

If people discovered the identity behind his fixed username, his life would become troublesome from that point onward.

Was it because he had embarrassing private activities to hide?

Absolutely not.

’I can’t possibly throw away the opportunity to research all of this by myself.’

There were all sorts of rare research materials he would receive from Grylls in the future.

The very thought of having to share those materials with other people was utterly abhorrent to him.

Late in life, Kadir had rediscovered his insatiable thirst for knowledge.

And that thirst compelled him to remain silent.

The ambergris alone represented several years—no, several decades—of potential research.

Kadir agonized over the matter before deciding that his first priority was to resolve the present crisis.

"I have lived for many years, but even I cannot determine the cause of this phenomenon. However, as the Tower Master said, it is far from natural."

"So you also believe this was caused by someone conducting an unauthorized experiment, Lord Kadir."

"Something along those lines."

"Even if it was an experiment, lifting the entire Mage Tower would require an enormous amount of mana..."

"Do we possess an energy source of that magnitude?"

"If we consider the Mage Tower itself an energy source... would it not be more than sufficient?"

The incident had been caused by someone’s unauthorized experiment.

There had to be a source for the energy lifting the Mage Tower into the sky.

Since the tower housed some of the greatest minds in the world, the investigation slowly—very slowly—began to make progress.

But the further it progressed, the drier Kadir’s throat became.

At this rate, he might find himself confronting the worst possible outcome.

Not only might they discover the ambergris, but they could also uncover the existence of the Immortal King stored in his refrigerator.

’I must remove myself from the list of suspects somehow.’

After the first meeting concluded, Kadir returned to his laboratory.

The first thing he saw upon entering was the brilliantly glowing ambergris.

Why had it activated?

And by what principle was it making the Mage Tower float?

The problem was that, as an object from the mythical era, it couldn’t be handled carelessly.

What if he made one wrong move and caused the Mage Tower to plummet straight down?

’Wait. I should calculate that too. How high has the Mage Tower risen?’

Kadir began writing equations on the blackboard.

He calculated the altitude of the airborne Mage Tower and the potential consequences of its fall.

Furthermore, the Mage Tower was an institution packed with experimental equipment and vast stores of energy.

’If the Mage Tower crashes in its current state...’

He reached the conclusion that the impact would cause destruction comparable to a meteor strike.

Moreover, the Mage Tower was located in the capital of the Iris Kingdom.

If it fell, the Iris capital would be obliterated in an instant, and the Iris Kingdom would be destroyed along with it.

The Meteor Storm spell, infamous for its power of annihilation, would almost be preferable.

Meteor Storm could at least be defended against. There was no way to defend against this.

’...Oh, Aragon.’

All-Father stared at his own calculations, frozen like a stone statue.

No matter how many times he recalculated them, the precise figures might differ, but the answer remained largely the same.

If the Mage Tower fell, the capital of the Iris Kingdom would be destroyed at the very least.

Flash! Flash!

Oblivious to Kadir’s distress, the ambergris merely continued to shine brilliantly.

Kadir turned away from the blackboard and stared at it.

The ambergris was only the size of a fist.

How long would its effects last?

The instant that concern entered his mind, the ambergris began to change.

Crumble—

It was only a tiny amount, an almost imperceptible amount, but part of the ambergris crumbled into powder.

Nothing in the world lasted forever—not even an object from the mythical era.

Kadir’s face went deathly pale.

’I’m... fucked.’

But he couldn’t simply stand there doing nothing.

He pulled every book concerning the mythical era and sky whales from his shelves.

There were so many that they formed towering piles across the floor.

Ordinarily, he would never have attempted to read such a broad collection of material all at once. But given the gravity of the situation, he couldn’t afford to be selective.

’I must uncover the answer. No matter what it takes.’

In truth, the easiest solution would be to obtain more ambergris from Grylls.

Realistically, however, that would merely be a desperate attempt to delay the inevitable—nothing more than adding time to a ticking bomb.

He needed to understand the underlying principle somehow. Only then could he prepare for future disasters.

’I must draw even a little closer to divine knowledge.’

Kadir had already been a mage who far surpassed ordinary humans.

But now, quite literally for the sake of survival, he was setting foot within the domain of divine knowledge.

’Wait. Then what happened to the Forest of Four Seasons? Grylls has a piece of ambergris even larger than this.’

Grylls suddenly came to Kadir’s mind.

The piece in Grylls’s possession was far larger than Kadir’s. Could everything truly be all right there?

He had placed it in his subspace backpack, but surely some sort of change must have occurred.

Kadir himself had placed his sample inside a translucent container for safekeeping, yet this had still happened.

He hurriedly accessed the gallery.

It was currently in an uproar, with users calling the airborne Mage Tower the "Flying Mage Tower," the "Tower in the Sky," and all sorts of other names.

Kadir searched for a post from Grylls, wondering whether something similar had happened to him.

[Tried burying the ambergris underground.]

He found a post with an ominous title.

Grylls had buried the ambergris underground—an utterly outrageous thing to do.

Still, Kadir was desperate enough to grasp at straws, so he opened it immediately.

Title: Tried burying the ambergris underground

Wild Grylls

(Photo of ambergris being buried underground)

I wanted to see what would happen if I buried it, but nothing happened.

So I’m right to just keep this around as a toy, right?

Nothing had happened.

For Kadir, the answer was maddening.

His Mage Tower was floating and throwing everyone into chaos, yet absolutely nothing had happened to Grylls?

He couldn’t tell whether the Forest of Four Seasons rendered even the ambergris ineffective or whether it was the exact opposite.

’Th-Then what about Praise the Sun? Didn’t he receive some as well?’

Kadir wasn’t the only recipient.

Praise the Sun had apparently received some ambergris too.

Title: Ah, that was fucking fun

Praise the Sun

(Photo of a disheveled bed)

This was a first for both me and my wives, so we all had a great time. Hahaha.

We should do it again. I still have quite a lot of ambergris left.

└ All-Father: Did you turn all of it into incense?

└ Praise the Sun: Yeah. Why?

└ All-Father: Nothing unusual happened?

└ Praise the Sun: Nothing happened. Oh, do you mean having fun with my wives?

The answer frustrated Kadir for an entirely different reason.

He closed the gallery and returned his attention to reality.

’I must discover the answer...!’

Thus began the tale of a human mage challenging divine knowledge.

Around the same time, in the Forest of Four Seasons—

"Come on. Just close your eyes and eat it once. I want to know whether eating it will make you fly too."

"Get it away from me."

"I’ll give you something delicious if you eat it."

"Bad man. Very bad man."

Grylls was conducting an experiment on Kkobong.

Faced with such terrifying injustice, Kkobong displayed remarkable linguistic ability as it resisted.

While one person desperately devoured every scrap of knowledge he could find, another was approaching the problem with the most primitive reasoning imaginable.

"Just bear with it once. If you think about it, Fastsloth ate some too."

"You are bad man. Snake tongue."

"Where did you even learn an expression like that?"

And without assuming the slightest bit of responsibility, at that.