TM-Chapter 44

The End of the Party

The senior wizards initially thought our team’s victory was because of Izel, but they quickly learned the truth.

Because Meldini was talking like crazy. Even now.

“Caleb, that friend is by far the most talented individual I’ve seen among all the students and professors during my 35 years as a professor at Magic University! Today I not only witnessed Chantless casting and Ultra-high-speed casting simultaneously, but I also saw the genius tactical judgment of deceiving three professors in an instant. It was truly at the level of an art piece! If only he hadn’t been taken by Isilof, I would have……”

Spit flew in all directions from the Halfling professor’s mouth, so nearby wizards hurriedly moved away.

Instead, they started approaching me one by one.

“We’re thinking of leaving now.”

When wizards leave a party, they greet the host and exchange farewells with other wizards one by one.

This kind of networking is important in wizard society.

And now they’re including me in that circle. Even though I’m just a beginner compared to senior wizards.

“Congratulations on your victory, Caleb.”

“You’re still young and a freshman, but you’re a proper wizard.”

“Your future looks promising.”

“Who would have thought you’d beat Professor Meldini’s party.”

“Here’s my business card. If you’re interested in magic stone processing business, please contact me.”

I also politely greeted them.

“Thank you. Take care.”

When I was in university in Korea, I was voluntarily a loner, but here I decided to live as a social person.

There’s nothing bad about looking good to others.

“Caleb! You’ll receive a gift from the head of the family, right?”

Meldini approached with the professors and asked.

“Yes. I will.”

I have to stay until the end for that. Edward is currently busy seeing off guests, so he doesn’t have the time to take care of my gift.

“I see. That’s unfortunate. I was going to offer you a carriage ride if we left together.”

I’m sorry about that too.

It’ll take quite a while to walk to the dormitory.

“Well then, see you next time. Today was really enjoyable.”

Meldini said goodbye and left first.

“Professor Isilof is really envious.”

Professor Hailey also followed Meldini.

Enver winked at Izel and left the mansion.

Now the party was over.

After the guests rushed out, what remained in the lobby were the Berten family members, me, and Yernil.

“I’ve prepared gifts in the reception room upstairs. Caleb, let’s go together.”

Edward guided us to the elevator.

***

“Caleb is really amazing……”

Since Meldini left, the fangirling(?) role changed hands.

“To even beat the professors!”

Abisson excitedly shouted from the wheelchair that Clarence was pushing. His face turned bright red.

“When my legs are healed, please do it together again with me! I want to clear it too. I’ve never cleared it even once.

“Have you played the game before?”

“Yes. Because……”

Abisson answered cheerfully.

“Father made it for me to practice labyrinth exploration!”

Wow.

What Meldini desperately begged to borrow as university educational material was originally for your personal tutoring?

No, Abisson…… What kind of life have you been living in this house?

“When the labyrinth erupted 12 years ago.”

Clarence said while moving.

“The Berten family also suffered tremendous damage. Many of our relatives passed away too.”

“……”

“After holding funerals and everyone was deeply immersed in grief, there was exactly one cheerful person, and that was Abisson.”

Ah.

I can imagine what kind of picture that was.

“Abisson was six years old then. He was still too young to understand death.”

“……”

“Our family recovered a bit faster thanks to Abisson. Of course, the sadness didn’t completely go away, so even now there are times when tears come out.”

Clarence patted Abisson’s head.

“Now I’m sick and tired of losing family or friends.”

“……”

“Bringing Abisson back saved our entire family. Caleb. Thank you once again. Yernil too.”

“Clarence.”

Edward, who was walking ahead, looked back with a grin.

“If you tell everything like that, I won’t have anything to say when I go in.”

“Ah.”

“It’s as Clarence said, Caleb.”

Edward opened the reception room door.

“Nothing would be too precious to give to you two. However, treasures that are too valuable could actually be poison for a wizard and archer who still remain in the lower levels of the labyrinth.”

Though I already received the legendary compass from Meldini.

“I very carefully selected things that are appropriate and useful for you two right now.”

Edward handed each of us a luxurious box, one to me and one to Yernil.

Inside were magic artifacts along with quality certificates.

Mine was a ring.

[Ring of Transcription]

▶This product has been confirmed by the Magic University’s appraisal department to contain magical power and has received a ‘Magic’ grade.

▶This ring grants the wearer the 1st-grade practical magic ‘Transcription’ to their Memory Book. (Does not consume spell slots.)

And what Yernil received was a wrist guard.

Like the wrist guards used by boxers, it was a black guard that tightly wrapped from below the thumb to half the palm and the wrist.

[Crossbow Wrist Guard]

▶This product has been confirmed by the Magic University’s appraisal department to contain magical power and has received a ‘Magic’ grade.

▶This wrist guard grants the wearer the ‘Guard Repositioning’ skill.

▶When operating a crossbow, it can fire magical bolts.

Not bad.

He gave Yernil something that fits her even better than I thought.

And the Ring of Transcription I received isn’t bad either.

‘Transcription’ is the magic Professor Hailey used when transferring the escape scroll to her blank scroll.

Edward happened to mention that story.

“Inside a maze, only one escape scroll can exist, so the original disappeared while using transcription, but originally it’s not like that.”

I know too.

If you use ‘Transcription’ on a blank scroll, the scroll gets duplicated. Without restriction on the target scroll. Even resurrection scrolls can be duplicated.

“However, since blank scrolls themselves are quite rare items, scroll duplication isn’t simple.”

But we already have one blank scroll. The one we got from the treasure room of the previous labyrinth.

And transcription magic isn’t only used for scroll duplication.

“This magic can copy text anytime as long as there’s blank paper and target text. So it’s quite convenient and versatile.”

“I’ll use it well.”

I put on the ring and expressed my gratitude to Edward.

“And this.”

This time Edward handed me a check. For 200,000 gold.

“It’s the game victory prize money. Five times the appraised value of the wrist guard and ring you two bet.”

Kya.

Honestly, it’s such a large amount that my hands are shaking. This isn’t an amount you can earn in the early stages of the game.

“Heuk……”

Next to me, there was a sound of breath being taken away, and when I looked, Yernil was frozen like a surprised squirrel. She quickly put down the wrist guard she had been struggling to put on her wrist onto the table.

Right.

That guard would be much more expensive than your slave days’ body price. Yernil.

“And there’s one more thing I want to give you.”

Edward extended his hand again.

But this time it was empty.

“My handshake is the most expensive thing in Soren.”

A confident smile appeared on the family head’s lips. Coming from someone of his stature, even such words don’t feel like boasting but sincere.

“If difficult situations arise in Soren in the future, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

I shook hands with Edward.

***

“This way! Shh!”

Izel took charge of seeing us both off, then changed direction in front of the elevator.

“Follow me.”

And she guided us to the first guest room at the end of the 2nd floor corridor.

Click.

After entering the room, she locked the door and closed the windows too.

“Owl’s Hunt.”

After even casting noise suppression magic.

“What I’m about to tell you is something even our family members don’t know.”

Izel began her story.

“You asked me why I cooperate with the Magic University’s professor club, right?”

“Yes.”

“It’s correct that it’s to obtain information about the deep layers. And the reason I want to go to the deep layers is……”

Izel, who had been tightly wrapping up that secret, finally reveals it.

Honestly, I didn’t expect this either.

“To kill the Labyrinth Master.”

***

The incident that became the starting point of that determination occurred when Izel was fifteen years old.

At that time, she was a prodigy who consistently ranked first in her entire school at Magic University’s affiliated academy.

Behind that ability were her parents and grandfather who provided full support, and the possessors from Magic University who secretly approached her and taught her new grimoire binding methods.

Outstanding appearance and natural talent, a powerful family and mysterious friends.

Izel Berten was confident that she would soon become Soren’s greatest wizard.

Until that evening when screams were heard at the mansion’s entrance gate.

“Izel! Izel!”

She had never seen her father Edward so agitated.

Father shouted with a terrifyingly frightening expression.

“Take your siblings and go to the warp device!”

“Why…… Why?”

“Right now- move-!”

Father pointed his magic wand at Izel.

“Silent Night!”

While chanting several spells in succession.

“Wizard’s Sanctuary.”

“Wise Guidance.”

“Swift Steps.”

“Dad……”

To Izel, who was sobbing in fear, Edward hesitated while trying to cast another buff.

His body trembled violently, then suddenly rotated 180 degrees to aim at the ceiling.

“Particle Decomposition Beam!”

A 7th-tier magic erupted.

At the same time, ‘that thing’ also broke through the ceiling and invaded.

A 2-meter knight-like creature with billowing black smoke.

That monster, heavily armored in black iron, held the flat side of a massive great sword like a shield and……

Kwang!

Blocked the particle decomposition beam.

“Hurry and run away-!”

Father yelled again.

“Edward!”

Someone was running up the central stairs from the first floor.

“Grandfather!”

It was Izel’s grandfather. Crimhild Berten. The old man who was the head of the Berten family at that time……

“Traveler’s Dimensional Gate.”

Created a magic dimensional gate next to Izel.

“Run away, Izel!”

Grandfather shouted.

“The labyrinth has erupted……”

Thud! With that sound, grandfather’s words couldn’t continue to the end.

Because the shadow knight’s swinging massive great sword had cut off grandfather’s neck.

“Father-!”

Enraged Edward rushed toward that monster, and terrified Izel jumped into the magic dimensional gate.

12 years ago.

The hell that unfolded that day destroyed 40% of the Berten mansion’s buildings.

Additionally, it killed 47 employees of the mansion, and took away from Izel the nanny who had raised her since childhood, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, uncle, and two cousins.

Her parents and siblings barely survived, but for a while, the sound of wailing didn’t cease in the household.

‘Is it because of me?’

Holding the hand of Abisson, who was smiling innocently and playing around without knowing anything at the funeral hall, Izel felt completely drained.

A solid seed of guilt took root in her heart.

‘Why did the abyss monsters come to our house?’

Actually, that reason had nothing to do with Izel.

After Henry, who was already a target, was eliminated, the abyss monsters were simply tearing through the entire city looking for other possessors.

The number of monsters that entered the Berten mansion was below the city average considering the mansion’s site area.

Izel knew that too.

Still, it felt like her fault.

‘Because I was friendly with the possessors.’

Because she learned new grimoire binding methods from them.

‘That’s why the abyss monsters came to our mansion.’

She wept every day with secret guilt.

Fortunately, those tears didn’t look awkward to others.

There wasn’t a single person in the household who wasn’t crying.

***

“But I don’t think that way now. I’ve overcome that guilt now.”

The way she overcame guilt was by clearly defining an enemy.

“Because the really bad thing isn’t the possessors, but the Labyrinth Master.”

“……”

“Everyone is completely mistaken. Or they’re pretending not to know on purpose.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re putting all the blame on the possessors! No one……”

Izel said.

“No one thinks about killing the Labyrinth Master and getting rid of the labyrinth! Do you know why?”

I think I know.

Of course, lack of ability would be the first reason. Eliminating the Labyrinth Master isn’t easy. Even if attempted, the probability of failure is much higher. Plus, it’s Developer difficulty.

But the reason they don’t even attempt it is because of another reason.

“Because the labyrinth makes money.”

The labyrinth makes tremendous money. Most of the magic artifacts, treasures, and legendary items on the surface came from the labyrinth.

“So everyone wants to keep having this. Even after experiencing that disaster 12 years ago, they still do. Even……”

She said.

“Even our father.”

“……”

“The Berten family is rich so it’s fine, but he scolded me saying we shouldn’t have such dictatorial thoughts from the perspective of the social leadership class, considering how many people make a living from the labyrinth. He said I understand being sad about losing family members, but I shouldn’t make city-level plans based on personal emotions.”

Destroy the labyrinth.

Not a single person agrees with that argument. Labyrinth city Soren has been addicted to the sweet nectar the labyrinth provides for too long.

Suppose a country like Saudi Arabia had an oil explosion that caused major damage to a city.

Could that country completely abolish the oil drilling industry?

Absolutely not.

The labyrinth is more than oil in this city. It’s a source of infinite ‘wealth’ constantly gushing forth.

Even countless adventurers of various classes who don’t use Memory Books gain superpowers and grow through the fountains inside it.

‘The labyrinth is the alpha and omega of this city. Closing the labyrinth would be the city’s self-destruction.’

People said that.

But Izel didn’t give up on that dream.

“My goal is something no one in Soren wants. If I succeed, I might be executed on the streets of Soren.”

“……”

“Still, I think the labyrinth should disappear.”

“Then does the Enver Club also want to eliminate the labyrinth?”

“No!”

Izel shook her head as if frustrated.

“Those people…… They’ve concluded that they can’t beat the Labyrinth Master.”

I see.

Honestly, it is difficult.

Even I restarted the game several times based on Turn-Based Master difficulty standards.

Let alone, isn’t this Developer difficulty?

If the Enver Club has roughly grasped the difficulty levels and knows that this is the highest difficulty among them, it’s rational not to join Izel’s plan.

“So I’m betting on Caleb. The reason I’m telling you this is exactly that. I……”

Izel said.

“……I have no comrades in my dream……”

But I’m curious about something.

“Then those possessors in the Enver Club won’t join your plan, but they still give you deep layer information?”

“Yes. They even encourage it. They have no intention of stepping forward themselves, but they say maybe I could pull it off, telling me to try once, shouldn’t I avenge my family members……”

Those bastards.

No, I understand being scared of going to the deep layers to meet the Labyrinth Master, but they shouldn’t grab a kid like this and use guilt to encourage her to go to the deep layers.

Those guys must have tried the Abyss of the Labyrinth too, right? Even if it was low difficulty.

Then they should know that Izel isn’t ready to go to the deep layers yet.

Wait.

But there’s another strange point.

Someone like Izel, the eldest daughter of the Berten family, would be an important chess piece even in the Enver Club, so why are they trying to send her to the deep layers?

If it were me, I would never waste her like that. If sent, she’d die 100%, and it would become harder to use the Berten family’s backing.

But why……

“If we kill the Labyrinth Master.”

Izel provided one additional piece of information.

An extremely important one.

“The possessors can go home.”

***

There’s a stone tablet that Professor Dalstream discovered in the labyrinth during his research.

In the ancient text written there, there’s such a story.

“When the Labyrinth Master dies, the labyrinth will close, the war between the labyrinth and the otherworld possessors will end, and the possessors will lay down their fake bodies and return to their original world.”

That’s why the Enver Club wants to send Izel.

To them, Izel is a precious resource, but still, their home is more important.

It doesn’t matter if Izel dies.

If they can obtain information about the Labyrinth Master.

If they can get even one step closer to home.

It doesn’t matter if Izel dies.

Because new chess pieces will appear.

For example……

“Caleb.”

This is really absurd.

“They’ll probably try to use you too. You’re not a possessor, you’re an excellent wizard, and your labyrinth knowledge is considerable. They probably thought you’d be suitable as a deep layer adventurer.”

The reason the Enver Club decided they had to secure me before Black Dog.

To make me the second Izel.

Geez.

There’s a limit to being mistaken.

No matter how much I’ve been acting like I’m not a possessor, those guys who don’t even know about Red Cloud or Soul Sanctuary want to use me……

“It must not have been an easy decision to reveal such a secret, thank you for courageously telling me.”

“……”

Izel gulped and swallowed.

“My plan is finished just by being leaked. But I told you anyway. Are we on the same team now?”

“Yes.”

I extended my hand to her.

“We’re on the same team now. Please take care of me.”

My handshake is the most expensive thing in the Abyss of the Labyrinth. Izel.