There was an old man leisurely sipping tea while an auction house was being smashed to bits by someone who was furious to the very tips of their hair.
Dressed neatly, his clothes were tightly fitted.
From just the wrinkles carved into his face, he looked quite old, but his physique could easily pass for someone in their twenties.
He was Kyle Danvers, a 70-year-old Archmage and advisor to the Imperial Archaeological Society.
Though he typically had the image of a frail old wizard locked away in a study, his consistent training had gifted him a rare muscular body among sorcerers.
“I thought they’d surrender after a month, but they’re holding on surprisingly well. I’ll have to give them credit for persistence.”
He thought of the ones fretting over the situation.
The Snow Country Exploration Team.
They were suicide squadrons that entered the Magical Realm, rumored to never return, in search of treasures. Many adventurers had tried, but only a few steps in and they would lose their way in the Snow Country, yet those madmen managed to uncover traces of ancient civilization hidden within.
Satisfied with their discovery, the leader of the Snow Country Exploration Team went missing, while the remaining members began the process of selling artifacts they’d brought back in carts to the capital.
One of them wrote a paper on the artifacts and ruins, submitting detailed records of what they had discovered for evaluation.
Kyle, as the advisor, had a sharp memory of the paper’s content.
He had seen all the records of what the ruins contained and what they had brought back.
It was the discovery of the century.
If this was made public, it would surely become a monumental find.
However, Kyle dismissed the evaluation and rejected the paper.
In a typical place, it wouldn’t matter, but after seeing the scenes inside the submitted materials, he had no choice but to reject it.
That place was precisely where Kyle had been searching for according to legend.
“They’ve had a far too successful venture; they should just hand over the artifacts…”
A few artifacts caught his eye.
It was simply labeled as a lamp in the paper, but that was clearly a lamp sealing a wish-granting demon.
Not to mention the potion swirling in green and red… that must be the essence of an ancient dragon, and the old hammer looking like it could kill a god.
These items should not be put up for auction.
At first, he considered just stealing them, but after hearing the thieves who went to the hideout of the returned Snow Country Exploration Team came out utterly foolish, he changed his mind.
The Snow Country Exploration Team was composed only of adventurers above gold plate rank, all of them with the stamina to break through the Snow Country itself.
They were far too strong to handle through brute force or any other technique.
Thus, he sent someone else to persuade them, but was met with refusal.
So Kyle did what he did best.
Using his power as an Archmage, he sent letters making it seem like they were from the Tower.
He ensured that the Snow Country Exploration Team’s paper wouldn’t pass, that it wouldn’t be auctioned off, and that no jewelry store would buy from them.
Having spent a fortune on equipment to break through the Snow Country, they were in a tight financial spot and he thought they would soon capitulate, but they were holding on for quite a while.
But ultimately, it was just a matter of time.
They would eventually run out of funds and surrender.
“I was already wanting to take care of them, and now it seems fitting. It’s a shame the most bothersome captain is out of sight, though.”
Kyle gritted his teeth at the thought of them.
In that moment, he confirmed that he had received a telegram.
“What’s going on at this hour?”
The sender was the archaeological society where he served as an advisor.
They contacted him every now and then when they needed advice.
It surely wasn’t something trivial.
When he read the telegram, Kyle doubted his eyes.
“The society has been attacked?”
The message saying that the society had been attacked was extremely brief.
—
Rushing to the society, Kyle was speechless at the unbelievable sight.
The society had been ‘destroyed’.
Thick doors and walls were neatly shattered, and the society’s executives were beaten black and blue, moaning in pain.
“Ugh… Master, you’ve come…”
“What in the world happened here?!”
One of them, Maximus, the society’s chairman, reached out towards Kyle when he saw him.
He was older and frailer than Kyle, looking like he could break if touched, yet surprisingly, he was still alive despite the obvious pain.
He had been thoroughly beaten without any serious injuries.
Before Kyle could shudder at the terrifying technique, Chairman Maximus spoke.
“The Gremlin… he has returned.”
“Wasn’t that guy missing…?”
“He has returned… He confronted us for breaking our promise… You must be careful, Master… Since you were there…”
In a voice that sounded like he was about to drop dead any moment, the chairman continued with great difficulty.
“He said he would crush everyone who broke their promises.”
“Maximus!!!”
That was the last thing the chairman managed before he collapsed.
He didn’t die; he just fainted.
“The Gremlin has returned?”
Kyle recalled his memories.
The Gremlin, the small guy who wielded a sword as big as him, rampaging through the capital — the captain of the Snow Country Exploration Team.
Claiming to be the granddaughter of the so-called survivor of the Snow Country, the idiot had recruited investors for the Snow Country, telling tales of treasures sleeping there, but he still vividly remembered the incident when he attacked the society and beat Kyle up.
In the end, the Snow Country Exploration Team seemed to have funded everything themselves without any investors.
“Right… The auction house! That place is in danger too!!”
—
The auction house was also in ruins.
All the guards were knocked out, and the owner was sprawled out in a mess.
The damage here was far worse than at the society, probably due to the armed forces present.
As he snapped back to reality, he realized his hands were shaking.
To pull off such brazen criminal acts in broad daylight was quite impressive, but he couldn’t shake the feeling it would end soon.
“But clearly, they’ve lost their minds. Did they think they could do this and not attract the empire’s peacekeeping forces?”
If a violent situation like this occurred in the empire, the peacekeeping forces would mobilize.
Standing against them would mean opposing the entire imperial army; he was curious whether they could keep acting so insolently before them.
The emergency buttons at the auction house and society had already been pressed.
The peacekeeping forces would arrive soon.
—
The purpose of the ‘Blue Hawk’ squad located within the capital is to prioritize maintaining order.
They exist to keep the capital, where the emperor resides, safe under vigilant watch.
Members regularly patrol the capital, and if issues arise in significant places, they can press the emergencyCALL button, lighting up the lamp in the barracks to rush out immediately.
No criminal could evade their watchful eyes.
But today, something felt different.
“Captain, we received an emergency signal from the auction house.”
“Oh, is that so?”
The captain of the elite Blue Hawk squad threw off his hat, hiding the lamp.
Light seeped out from under his hat.
“I see nothing of concern.”
“… Are you okay, Captain?”
His blatant neglect of the incident stirred unease among the squad members.
But the captain spoke nonchalantly.
“What are you rambling about, Lieutenant? There’s nothing to worry about if there’s nothing happening.”
It seemed like nonsense, but he was only saying that for the sake of the squad members.
The captain recalled.
Yesterday, the ‘Master’ shadow of the empire had appeared like a ghost in his office.
He hadn’t revealed his identity, but merely his presence was proof of his mastery.
“Tomorrow, emergency signals will come from the ‘auction house’ and ‘society’. Act oblivious to draw out the intruders in the capital.”
He felt a chill run down his spine just being present.
“Ah… Poor souls. They should have known their place.”
The captain offered his condolences to those who might be getting smashed somewhere.
—
“What the hell…!! Why is no one moving?!”
Kyle Danvers seethed with anger at the peacekeeping forces that hadn’t arrived despite his waiting.
Why in the world weren’t they coming? Surely, things weren’t broken down.
Fuming, he stormed into the barracks to demand why they weren’t showing up, only to have the captain come out himself.
“We haven’t received any communication.”
His expression was so deadpan it was unclear if he was doing it on purpose or had been given someone’s orders.
He wanted to throw insults right at his face, but left pondering what to do next.
“Okay. This is actually good. If they’re going to ignore the obvious, I can be thankful!”
If the peacekeepers couldn’t handle it, he had no choice but to take another route.
—
As soon as Kyle returned to the tower, he stormed into the other Archmages.
“C-Captain! We’re in serious trouble!!!”
He rushed in as hastily as possible, acting as if a great danger was looming, pleading to the other Archmages.
If he could use them to make the Snow Country Exploration Team into the enemy of the tower, they would be chased from this capital.
Not just that, they would be unable to survive anywhere the tower stood.
“Some crazies are attacking the tower!!”
“What? Attacking the tower? What kind of madman would do such a thing?!”
The Archmages resonated with his plea.
What could the Gremlin do in anger; making the tower its enemy would mean making Van Hoenheim, the master of magic, an enemy as well.
No matter how much a fool like him rampaged, he would only fall to someone greater.
“Their opponent is…!!”
At that moment, an odd sensation coursed through Kyle’s body.
It felt like he was floating in the air; he recognized it as a precursor to teleportation.
Suddenly, who was calling for him?
Kyle decided to dispel the spell and attempt to teleport the caster.
As the prelude to teleportation began, his great speed in casting the spell looked just like an Archmage.
But it didn’t work.
‘Did I fail to dispel it?! Could it be that…!!!’
Right after, two figures entered Kyle’s sight.
One was Van Hoenheim, the master of the magic tower he served, and the other… was someone dressed in horrifically strong anti-recognition armor whose identity was unknown.
Why was Master Hoenheim with such a dangerously looking individual? Why had he called for him?
Maintaining his composure as best as he could, Kyle bowed to Hoenheim.
“Uh… Master, what brings you to call me?”
“Kyle Danvers. You wrote the thesis about a civilization that may have existed in the ancient times, belonging to both the Archaeological Society and the Magic Tower, and you are the only one with the power to act under the name of the tower.”
Right after Master spoke, an overwhelming aura burst forth from the black-armored figure.
Kyle instinctively sensed something was wrong.
