Marco Toweo got his first job working in kitchens as a teenager. That experience sparked his interest in cooking, and he spent the years honing his talents until, two years ago, at thirty, he finally opened a small store in his name on Ravigion Boulevard. He was also the husband of a beautiful wife and father of two children, and although inside he still felt like a child, he did everything possible to assume the role of breadwinner for the family without question. Every time he felt wronged, he would hold on, and if he couldn't take it anymore, he would go somewhere away from others to vent his frustrations alone, and then return home as usual.
But today...
«Ahhhhhh!»
When he came to his senses, he was already halfway up a flight of stairs with a scream tearing his throat, surrounded by countless people.
«Today we conquered the Magic Tower!».
Those words were what brought Marco Toweo back to reality. At that moment, he realized that he was side by side with barbarian warriors, people he had never imagined having to interact with in his life. Not only that, but he was running straight towards a wizard who could easily stop them all with magic. He finally remembered where he was.
The Magic Tower...
He had seen this place from afar his entire life, but had never entered. How had this happened?
As he continued up the stairs, a wave of barbarians pushed him from behind, the answer appearing in his mind.
«Yandel! Bjorn Yandel is leading thousands of barbarian warriors to the Magic Tower!»
The famous hero, Bjorn, son of Yandel, had turned out to be as incredible as all the rumors said. Seeing him in real life was exhilarating and electrifying. He seemed to radiate an unstoppable aura, his mere presence preventing anyone who stood in his way from even trying.
«These people are magicians who made illegal commissions for the hearts of barbarians through the black market!».
The hero's powerful statement in the square made Marco's heart race for the first time in a long time. Before he knew it, like the rest of the crowd, he was also raising his voice and shouting at the Magic Tower. Yeah, thinking back, that's definitely when it came together.
«Una b-barrier...!»
«What do we do?»
«What do you mean?»
But how did it end up here? It wasn't like someone like him would be of any help here in the first place.
«You just have to break through it!»
«¡Raaaaah!»
Everything he did, he did to keep his family safe and happy, so why was he suddenly following these people down the stairs like he was a younger man with nothing to lose?
Hit! Hit! Hit!!
A wall made of magic blocked his path. «Baron Yandel, stop! This is as far as it can go!», shouted an arrogant-looking wizard from beyond the translucent barrier.
Hit!
As if he hadn't heard him, Bjorn Yandel continued brandishing his hammer. As he watched him closely, Marco finally realized something.
«Boss! You can't go through magic like...»
«Haven't I told you everything before?
"...¿Which?"
«If you can't get through something, it means you're not strong enough yet!»
The reason he ended up here was actually quite simple.
«But I am-we are-strong...!»
Because this man was strong.
¡Un crack!
Strong enough that, no matter what stood in his way, he broke through it and pushed forward.
«The barrier is cracking!»
And Marco wanted to see it. Even though today's quest might be just one of the many harrowing adventures this man conquered in his life, and even if Marco couldn't do much to help him on his journey...
¡Ba-dump!
I wanted to see him at least once.
¡Craoaash!
The giant. Bjorn, son of Yandel.
I wanted to see what this man was made of.
***
The Magic Tower, home to the most valuable subjects of this kingdom - its magicians - had never been invaded despite its long history and was therefore considered an impenetrable fortress.
I, however, did not agree.
Impenetrable? They only say this because no possible invader had ever had reason to assault it.
The Tower was an organization made up entirely of mages, which meant that its team did not take into account the delicate balance between damage and tanks. Although the different types of magic that made up its defenses were difficult to pass through, it was by no means impenetrable.
What's more, not everyone seems to agree.
Right now, justification and public opinion were on my side. Since the Magic Tower was made up of hundreds of different schools with their own interests, many of the wizards present didn't even bother to step forward to stop me even though I was technically leading an invasion.
«Don't get in our way! We only want criminals».
Many of the schools that were not directly involved in this incident simply closed their lab doors, waiting for the storm to pass. Still, many wizards came forward to stop us, as they could not bear the thought of being humiliated by some conceited barbarians. However...
Your launch was interrupted, huh? Bad luck.
Most of the wizards in the Magic Tower were investigators, so they were not used to battle. Instead, they spent the day trapped in their laboratories, studying magic and magical theory. It would be ridiculous to expect them to perform at the same level as battle mages. Not only that, but they also had another big disadvantage against them.
«...Master! Let's burn them all! Before they break the barriers!»
«We can't... Don't you see?» Next to the barbarian warriors who were breaking into the Magic Tower was a group of civilians who had joined their cause.
«Master! They are not civilians. They're just troublemakers!»
«We have already received an official notice from the military. We are prohibited from harming any civilians».
«But... We won't last much longer if this continues! They've already come this far!»
«...We just have to hold on a little longer, until the military arrives. Then victory will be ours.»
Thanks to the civilians who joined us, the mages were unable to use their best weapon: area-of-effect attacks. Instead, they could only cast defensive spells.
[You have launched Balancing. The damage you deal with blunt weapons has increased significantly in proportion to your Muscle Strength].
Thanks to that, we were able to climb the stairs floor by floor while crossing the barriers that were placed in our path.
«...Dirty savages! You will regret».
The wizards we captured were tied with ropes and made our prisoners.
«Bjorn! Go up! We will continue searching this apartment!»
With each floor we climbed, some warriors stayed behind to look for the wizards on our list.
«Ainar, don't look at any of the schools that weren't listed until you've checked all the others.».
«Hey? But those bastards could be hiding in another school!»
«Do it last.»
There was a chance we could search the entire tower and not find a single criminal on our list anyway. I also wanted to avoid antagonizing other innocent schools. What we had already achieved today would be enough for those wizards to tremble in their boots every time they crossed paths with a barbarian for the rest of their lives.
But I have to make sure I don't cross the line here. If I do, all the schools in the Magic Tower could end up joining forces against us, which could end up being a big headache in the future.
«Remember, you can't kill anyone. You can only capture them. Understood?»
That's why he continued to emphasize it whenever he could. If we killed all the wizards we encountered, they would brand us as violent intruders without just cause.
Are we already on the thirtieth floor...?
As my march towards the tower continued, I encountered even more barriers.
«It's the baron! The baron is here...!» Behind the translucent barrier was a group of magicians looking at me nervously. «Baron! Turn around right now! Do you know how many laws you have broken?».
Again, they tried to persuade and curse me at the same time. Unfortunately for them, I wasn't planning on stopping yet.
¡Crack!
I hit the barrier with my hammer. After about ten hits, it began to slowly crack. However, I realized that the higher I went, the stronger the barriers became. And that wasn't the only bad news.
«Boss! The royal army! The royal army has arrived!»
Military reinforcements had arrived. They had appeared sooner than I expected.
They must have received orders to deploy the moment we set foot in the city... Damn. This place is unnecessarily efficient when it comes to things like this.
«Out! Drop your weapons and surrender, warriors!» It seemed that the magicians had also heard the news, because they were encouraged and began to shout at us again from beyond the barrier, seeming much more confident. It made sense. Even if we tried to continue razing, the royal army would surely stop us before we could conquer the entire tower.
Okay. That's all, then.
Just in time, the barrier blocking the staircase to the next floor broke. The wizards who had been trying to keep her with their mana came up in terror, but the warriors managed to capture a few.
«Cacique! What do we do?»
«We have to go higher, quickly!»
Now that the military was getting involved, the warriors were starting to get restless. However, I stopped our attack on the next floor and gave new orders. «Bring me all the criminals we've captured so far».
«Okay! We will bring you here!»
We had done the best we could. From now on, it depended on chance. If we had been able to find at least one of the criminals on the list somewhere on the lower thirty-one floors of the tower, then that would make things a lot easier for me going forward. At the same time, however, things would get much more difficult if we didn't.
Suspired.
What was the result?
«Bjooorn!» It didn't take long for Ainar to appear on the stairs. As if boasting a successful hunt, he held three wizards by the back of the head with one hand: Extelin Flacco of the Mailen School, Mohilo Ostquin of the Bebektalt School, and Kuol Memendrick of the Ulters School.
One of them was not one of the twenty-two magicians he had appointed before the crowd. Not that that was a problem. So I hadn't listed them all. If he had said all their names, then he would have given them all time to escape to safety.
«Well done, Kharon, Ainar.»
I asked them if they had had trouble subduing them, but they said it hadn't been much of a problem. For some reason, these guys didn't try to escape the tower and hid in their own schools.
It's a shame we couldn't find the bastard my heart asked for. But I can settle for this.
In the end I would put my hands on him. In fact, everything we were doing now would help us get closer to that goal.
«This is a misunderstanding, Your Honor!»
«We will soon know if that is true. What is the situation below, Ainar?»
«The warriors are blocking their path, but they won't last long. When I was downstairs, the soldiers had already reached the fourth floor».
«We'll have to get going, then». I activated the crystal ball recorder I was carrying and looked around, drawing the attention of a man nearby. It was a civilian who had followed us to the thirty-first floor.
«What's your name?»
«I'm Marco Toweo, Your Honor!»
«Marco Toweo. I will remember. Now, I have to ask you a favor». I handed him the crystal ball. «Can you stand there and hold this? Make sure you hold her so that she records both my face and hers».
«It would be an honor! But... Can a normal person like me really be entrusted with such an important task...?». He trembled, clearly afraid of screwing up.
I patted him on the shoulder with a smile on my face. «I trust you». I trusted him much more than my fellow barbarians. How was he going to give one of them a delicate device that he had never used in his life?
«Marco Toweo», I repeated, taking a moment to memorize his face and name.
«...Leave it to me!».
Now that he had found my camera, it was time to hurry up and begin the interrogation. Although this place was packed with wizards, there was no need to drag one here to cast a verification spell on us. I already had mine.
[You have activated No. 7234: Wrong Trust.]
I had been able to empty my inventory quite a bit lately, but this was an item I had lying around that I had been wanting to use.
«Extelin Flacco, Mohilo Ostquin, Kuol Memendrick», I said, looking at the three tied magicians in front of me. «Now, repeat it. Has there been any misunderstanding here?».
When they were first arrested, they kept shouting that they were being wrongfully accused, but now their mouths were shut. They knew it was impossible to lie when this topic was active. His silence was proof enough. However, for the sake of clear proof, he needed a verbal response.
«You are accused of treason».
I tightened the leash, and they immediately started barking. «...T-betrayal? That's ridiculous!»
After all, it was hard to hold your tongue when you were accused of something that could result in the execution of your entire family.
«N-I have never committed treason. I haven't even thought about it. Do you see how I'm responding to you? That means it's the truth».
The magicians quickly defended themselves, casting sidelong glances at the crystal ball that registered them. It was obvious that my mention of betrayal had scared them.
«But your intentions were the same, right? Is it not true that you joined forces with those of the traitors of the empire?»
«Join forces with them...! I... I just made a request...»
Unfortunately, just as one of them was about to give me the answer I was looking for, things broke down when someone abruptly interrupted us.
«Enough, Baron Yandel».
His deep voice reverberated throughout the floor. As he spoke, a magic circle appeared on the ground as if drawn by an invisible hand and began to emit blue light.
Step step.
I turned my head in the direction of the sound to see an old man coming down the stairs. It was the first time I had seen him, but I recognized him at first sight. He was the Master of the Lengman School and the third brother of Duke Kealunus. In other words...
«Teshelan Lengman Kealunus».
It was the Lord of the Magic Tower.