# 19
Contrary to expectations, it wasn’t the middle of a forest filled with dangerous monsters. Jin-ha blankly looked up at the massive tower standing less than 100 meters away.
‘He must have done this.’
Not only could he adjust the size of the portal, but he could also change its location at will.
When Jin-ha glanced at Seo Ji-seop who had followed behind, he wore a calm expression as if he had known all along. He deliberately hadn’t told Jin-ha. Perhaps it was revenge for all the trouble Jin-ha had put him through.
Jin-ha shook his head and looked for the leader among those guarding the other side of the portal. Fortunately, “that man” wasn’t there.
Among people dressed in exotic attire, a neat young man with short hair and glasses stepped forward. With a picture-perfect smile, he bowed slightly toward Jin-ha.
“We’ve been waiting for you, Mr. Lee Jin-ha.”
* * *
There were no more riddles.
As if all the previous riddles had truly been just an invitation to summon Jin-ha, the young man began guiding the group as soon as he saw Jin-ha’s face.
However, Jin-ha had to separate from his group along the way.
“Don’t worry. I’ve selected a nice guest house for you.”
Jin-ha calmly nodded at the man who had introduced himself as Legas, the secretary of the Master who owned the Magic Tower.
“Shall I carry your luggage?”
“It’s fine, Mr. Legas.”
“No, just calling me by my name is sufficient. You are the Master’s guest, Mr. Lee Jin-ha.”
“Then please don’t call me that either…”
“I will handle things my own way.”
Legas smiled brightly as he cut off Jin-ha’s words and began walking ahead. His attitude was resolute and elegant, making it impossible to ask why. Jin-ha felt very uncomfortable being the only one addressed as “Mr. Jin-ha,” but he pretended to agree and quietly followed.
After walking a few steps, Legas gestured toward the box in Jin-ha’s hand and spoke with a friendly tone.
“That looks like a magical device.”
“If by magical device you mean a machine that operates using magical stones, then yes. In our world, we call it an artifact.”
“Is that item related to the Master’s request?”
“…Music.”
Jin-ha hesitated as he recalled what Seo Ji-seop had said earlier.
“It’s a device that plays music.”
“Music…”
Legas made a subtle expression. It occurred to Jin-ha that perhaps the man didn’t actually like music, but since he had already brought it, there was nothing he could do.
If the man disliked it, he would just have to dispose of it.
With a composed expression, Jin-ha followed Legas through the tower’s main entrance. He had expected something special since it was called a Magician’s Tower, but it wasn’t particularly so. There was a reception desk in a space that looked like an ordinary building floor. The only unique aspect was that the entire first floor was open and spacious, with nothing placed there except the reception desk.
However, that impression changed as soon as they ascended to the second floor via the central staircase.
“Ah…!”
The chaotic interior of the tower was fully revealed as soon as they reached the top of the stairs to the second floor.
A staircase in the middle of the corridor, corridors that inexplicably ended abruptly, massive doors floating in mid-air with no apparent way to reach them, arch-shaped bridges connecting different parts but with iron bars in the middle making them impassable, and more…
It was a scene where it was difficult to say whether paths existed or not.
Legas calmly walked along a corridor that appeared to be cut off. Though the path was clearly broken, as Legas walked, a path formed in front of his footsteps, extending continuously.
“…Magician…”
Jin-ha unconsciously murmured and then closed his mouth in surprise. Though he hoped it hadn’t been heard, Legas seemed to have caught it, as the corners of his eyes curved in a smile.
There was nothing he could do if Legas mocked him.
On Earth, magicians were simply people who used skills classified as magic. They were masters of magic that had clear limitations in how they could influence the world, like Ice Bolt, Fire Ball, or Bubble Bomb.
But the magician before his eyes now seemed completely different from any magician he had known before.
“This way, please.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“The inside of the tower is a space with complex corridors and staircases arranged irregularly. Guests are only permitted up to the second floor. I advise against wandering freely in other areas.”
“Advise? Just an advisory?”
When Jin-ha, being a government employee, questioned this irresponsible notice with bewilderment, Legas burst into laughter.
“If you intrude into those other spaces and die, it’s your own responsibility.”
“Own responsibility…”
“In exchange, as payment for using the tower for suicide, your soul becomes the property of the tower.”
In the direction Legas pointed, pale, ghostly figures were moving in line, carrying baskets.
Are those really human souls?
While Jin-ha was unable to continue speaking, Legas had reached a space that looked like a large cage. Hurrying closer, the cage door opened automatically with a clatter.
Beneath the floor, which was intricately carved with beautiful patterns, lay a cliff of unfathomable depth. Structurally, the area below should have been the ceiling of the first floor.
“Now we’ll go up.”
As Legas entered the cage behind Jin-ha, it was lifted upward without a sound. There was no mechanical noise or the sound of chains winding. And amazingly, there was no characteristic gravity sensation like when riding an elevator to the upper floors of a tall building.
Judging by how quickly the scenery before his eyes was being swept downward, the cage was clearly ascending… How was this possible?
It was as if magic was claiming to transcend physical forces.
Moreover, thinking about it, Legas hadn’t pressed any buttons. There must be some method of designating a destination that Jin-ha couldn’t see.
Jin-ha lamented once again. If only he could use his Information Eye right now…
While Jin-ha was trying to visually gather information about what was happening, he could only be surprised once more when the cage finally stopped. Perhaps he wouldn’t have been shocked if the outside had been somewhere above the clouds.
But it was a sandy beach.
“What on earth…”
As he stepped outside, his shoes sank into the fine sand. The sensation was too vivid to be an illusion.
Jin-ha was speechless as he looked up at the long, stretched beach and the glimpse of sea beyond it. It was a real sea with waves occasionally washing in.
He had entered a building, taken something like an elevator up, and arrived at the sea. How was this possible? The power of magic hit him with full force, beyond his imagination.
“This way, please.”
When Jin-ha turned at Legas’s voice, an even more perplexing sight awaited on the opposite side of the cage door.
“…Are all magicians’ rooms like this?”
When Jin-ha finally couldn’t hold back and asked, Legas burst into laughter.
“No. This is the Master’s unique taste.”
Jin-ha felt somehow relieved. The sight of large bookshelves, desks, and cabinets sparsely arranged on the sandy beach felt somehow abnormal. The furniture obstructed the view and blocked the path.
Yes, like a maze.
“…”
Jin-ha quietly marveled as he followed Legas. Expensive reagents and jewels were carelessly placed on the furniture that acted as walls in this bizarre maze. And not just one or two items. A candy jar on one side of a cluttered desk was filled with pearls.
Additionally, books were piled higher than the bookshelves on the floor, and objects that were clearly artifacts were half-buried in the sand.
Legas skillfully guided Jin-ha, who occasionally slowed down with wide eyes, moving through the bookshelves and leading him to a bed draped with an elaborate canopy.
It was a canopy that looked like multiple layers of thin fabric cascading down. Jin-ha instinctively glanced inside and startled at the sight of a broad back protruding from under the white bedding. Dark purple hair, wet as if soaked in water, was disheveled across the muscular back.
Legas approached and woke the man who was sleeping face down.
“Master, please wake up. It’s already midday.”
“…Shut up.”
The man slightly raised his head while still lying face down, then dropped it back onto the pillow. Then, as if he had a headache, he made groaning sounds as he pressed his large hand from his temple to his forehead.
“What is it?”
As Legas was about to say something, the man waved his hand dismissively. A crystal glass and a bottle of alcohol flew from a cabinet, opened their lids on their own, and poured a drink into the glass.
As the man reached out for the glass, Legas intercepted and snatched it.
“You shouldn’t drink at this hour.”
“Give it back.”
“You also have appointments today.”
“Me? That can’t be right.”
The man half-raised his body with a puzzled look, then lay back down. As if he had tried but really didn’t want to get up.
Legas sighed deeply and shook his head.
“You have a guest.”
“A guest?”
Only then did the man turn his head toward Jin-ha, and upon discovering him, smiled brightly.
“Well, you’ve finally come?”
With a joyful eye smile, as if welcoming a close friend he hadn’t seen for a long time, the man extended his hand toward him. A muscular arm, unsuited for the profession of a magician, reached out to Jin-ha. Unconsciously drawn by that call, Jin-ha moved in that direction.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
