Dark Fantasy Normalized – Chapter 54

**Title: What the hell, Gerhen, is that you again? LOL**

**Content:** When I see those damn criminal kids using magic, half of them are made by Gerhen, LOL.

I checked the conversation keywords just in case, and it’s [Conversation Keywords: Gerhen Driedder].

Of course, it’s there like it’s the most natural thing in the world, legendary, legendary, LOL.

-: Gerhen? I’m pushing towards the Gray Mage Tower now, and this guy shows up as the head of some noble faction?

Is he also a black magician or something?

-: What, a black magician? Does Gerhen look like a devil to you?

-: For real, LOL. Gerhen can copy incident quests without using any black magic, you know?

-: I think I saw one too, LOL. Was the person you saw born?

-: No, it was Koran.

-: Who the hell is Koran, LOL?

-: For real, I haven’t seen Koran before, right?

-: Where did you find him?

-: I saw him making drugs for money in Todilan.

-: Wow, exporting from Bondales to Todilan, huh?

-: It’s already a saturated market for mages in the crime industry because of Gerhen, yeah.

-: Gerhen is like a ray of light in the crime industry, which always suffers from a shortage of mages. Ughhh.

-: What did that Koran kid do to ruin his life?

-: Gerhen had mages he collected outside the tower, and when this guy reported a pretty decent result to Gerhen one day, Gerhen just submitted it to the tower with a name change.

And on top of that, they framed him to send him to prison so he couldn’t argue against it.

-: Ah, as expected, clean and neat handling by Gerhen.

-: Stealing results like a pro, LOL.

-: How is he able to continue being a master while being so busy with all of that?

-: He’s just playing the game, you know?

-: Clear moderation of strong and weak.

-: He only messes with absolute nobodies and keeps cozying up to nobles with status, you know?

-: Those with families who are really nothing in the tower can get kicked out for “being on Gerhen’s bad side.”

-: Speaking of which, wasn’t Didoa the one who worked the hardest to scheming against him?

-: Didoa?

-: Yeah, that one.

-: It’s probably true. Gerhen invested a ton into Master Tulan, you know?

Trying to make his own people when Tulan was doing well without any backing.

-: It was Gerhen who organized the squad to hunt down Didoa after killing Tulan, right?

-: Ah, Gerhen is all about protecting his own, huh?

-: He can’t stand seeing others ruin their lives like it’s breathing, LOL.

──────────

Ricir.

It had been a few days since he uncovered the black magician who had been hiding in the tower.

Numerous mages gathered in one place in the tower’s courtyard.

They gathered in response to Gerhen’s request, backed by the noble faction of the Gray Mage Tower.

Gerhen addressed the crowd.

-: The honorable scholars.

-: A mere outsider, someone who can’t even stake the name of their family, should not meddle in the affairs of our tower.

-: Especially while ignoring the rules of our tower!

-: Everyone knows that our wise mages resolve all issues occurring within the tower through legal procedures.

-: By trial.

-: Tulan. That person should have undergone a trial.

-: Not for that person’s honor, but for our honor!

-: No one should judge another without a legal procedure within our tower.

-: No one! No one should pass judgment on others without a legal procedure within our tower.

-: Honorable scholars.

-: The actions of that outsider challenge the authority of our tower.

-: Yet they publicly acknowledge and commend that person’s actions in the name of the tower!

-: If we do not uphold the regulations ourselves, who will hold the regulations of our tower dear?

-: It’s like spitting on our own faces!

-: Honorable scholars.

-: We must never take this matter lightly.

-: We must uphold our authority and rules.

-: I daringly represent you all.

-: Please lend me your strength.

The scholars applauded Gerhen’s speech.

Of course, not all of that applause was sincere.

Some scholars feigned clapping and chatted with their companions.

Some wore indifferent expressions, while others smirked.

“Those clapping—do they seriously agree with what he’s saying?”

“I don’t want to believe that morons like them are scholars of the same tower as me.”

“What he says sounds nice, but it’s obvious with just a bit of thought.”

“After defeating the black magician and uncovering the black magician’s identity, are we condemning it as a violation of regulations? What, is our tower some kind of black tower?”

“Haha! You’re right.”

“I bet even those clapping know how ridiculous Gerhen looks right now.”

“Still, you have to flatter him… You know he’s always annoying, and I can only imagine how much worse he’d be right now.”

“I guess he still has some strength left in him… eek!”

“Let’s go.”

Gerhen gazed blankly at those people from the platform.

‘Damn, how did it come to this…’

And he lamented the current position he was forced to gaze at helplessly.

Originally, Gerhen had boasted of being among the most powerful of the masters as the head of the noble faction of the tower.

Normally, there shouldn’t be more than five figures he needed to worry about within the tower.

But now.

He was even worried about the lower noble scholars he normally wouldn’t even care about.

It wasn’t just because he had been manipulated by a black magician.

With most masters amicably manipulated by the black magician, there was no reason for him to be criticized at all.

In other words, it was merely a pretext.

“Tulan. It’s said that one of the prominent sponsors during that person’s time acting as a master was Master Gerhen—”

“It’s evident from simply looking at the papers he submitted.”

“I was curious, so I applied to view them, right? The name of Master Didoa, who was practically running that research, seems to be nowhere to be found, and all I see is mention of Master Gerhen?”

“The person in question is probably just twiddling their thumbs, while third parties amicably share the results…”

“Gerhen. If all those papers with your name suddenly start feeling suspicious, am I being overly sensitive?”

“We can’t just define that carelessly.”

“This needs a trial.”

“Ha ha ha!”

All this served to shed light on Gerhen’s past actions.

Gerhen’s authority was noticeably declining, and this was merely the beginning.

‘That bastard…’

Gerhen immediately devised a strategy, reaching one conclusion.

Ricir. No matter what happens, the public achievements of that outsider must not be recognized.

Moreover, his achievements must be thoroughly denied.

At least that was the only fortunate thing, maybe.

Gerhen already had several records of driving out his political enemies or prey from the tower and society.

Dragging others down.

One of Gerhen’s definitive strengths.

“But who exactly is that guy?”

“What, was it Ricir?”

“He managed to pinpoint the black magic that even the masters hadn’t caught on to right away, and he was able to defeat it.”

“Isn’t that something only a high priest of the order or a master of white magic could do?”

“I do think it’s possible the white magic masters could do it…”

“But then again, could they really?”

“Or how about this? What if that man is actually in the same realm as Tulan?”

“What?”

“Like, a fellow black magician, or a betraying comrade who knew Tulan’s plan and wanted to use him…”

“You crazy woman…”

“Hehe, just kidding. Just kidding.”

“That’s an interesting perspective.”

“Anyway, to think he’s of unique color… it’s still pretty exceptional, even considering that.”

How to approach this incident.

Gerhen had already made up his mind about it.

***

A vast underground prison located beneath the Gray Mage Tower.

In one of the iron cages housing something dangerous or a living thing for some reason in the tower, the black magician Tulan was imprisoned.

Having her blue heart, the source of mana, destroyed, she could no longer hear the voice of her ‘parasite’ master.

Her once luminous eyes now stared blankly into space.

Then, suddenly, a spark flickered back to those eyes.

“Is this really how one who claims to be the tower’s master behaves?”

An unofficial visit, not recorded.

Gerhen stood before the bars, speaking to Tulan.

“I guarantee you one thing. You will die. The tower will soon conclude its investigation and interrogation, wrapping up the incident, and your identity will be handed over to the order. Even I cannot intervene in that process. However, as I said, I can create a road for you.”

“You want me to say that Ricir is a betraying comrade, huh?”

“Exactly.”

Tulan hung her head and groaned.

A cracked voice. Melted skin.

The form of Master Tulan, once captivating in the hearts of many tower scholars, was utterly gone.

“A compelling proposal, I’ll admit. But will our tower scholars believe that? Trusting the words of a black magician and executing the hero who defeated the black magician— that’s something even the simplest village folks wouldn’t do.”

“There are fools who know little and those who know much yet still act foolishly.”

“What?”

“I’ll lay down the straw. You only need to throw in a little spark.”

You crazy bastard.

Tulan let out a snicker.

That was all there was to it.

She didn’t bother asking Gerhen for motive or reason.

After all, her life was already over.

If she could embarrass that vile man in her last resort, that would be all the better for her.

***

“Why aren’t you eating?”

Spread out in front of Risir were steaming hot drinks and foods.

Perrin was deeply upset that Risir wasn’t eating the feast he had arranged and was keeping it aside.

Risir barely managed to soothe Perrin and was heading out with Pamon as Melthas and Perrin saw them off.

Just as they were nearly at the main gate, crossing the tower’s courtyard.

“Are you…?”

A group of mages was waiting for them.

At the forefront of the group was Gerhen, who spoke.

“Master Melthas. You must hand over that outsider’s identity immediately.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Risir’s group exchanged bewildered glances.

Risir spoke.

“Are those friends of yours? The noble faction you find annoying, I mean?”

“…Yes.”

“Is it allowed to attack like this just because you find someone annoying? Aren’t you supposed to be noble folks?”

“It is shameful. But be careful. He’s a tricky one to move without proper measures.”

Melthas immediately revealed his wariness towards Gerhen.

Melthas understood that Gerhen had been actively working in various ways lately to secure his position.

All for the purpose of denying Risir’s achievements.

Even Melthas hadn’t anticipated such a move from Gerhen.

Causing a scene in such a crowded place.

“Gerhen, what is going on here?”

“As for the main point, we had some successes in Tulan the Black Magician’s interrogation.”

“What?”

A mage from the group stepped forward under Gerhen’s guidance.

She was affiliated with Gerhen’s faction, appointed by the tower to oversee the interrogation of Tulan the Black Magician.

“Tulan the Black Magician has shared new information.”

She began reading the contents outlined in the document with a calm demeanor.

“…Huh!”

By the time her reading concluded, Melthas let out a scoff, as if to demonstrate.

“You’re saying that everything related to that black magician Tulan was merely part of a plan to infiltrate the tower with the person named Risir? So, Risir is a puppet of the black magician group!? Are you out of your mind, Gerhen!? What kind of nonsense are you blabbering!?”

“I know there’s a bit of absurdity to it.”

“Then stop this ridiculous farce immediately!”

“No, that can’t be helped. Since the sinner has confessed, we have an obligation to verify the truth.”

“That’s not your discretion!”

“Right. It’s everyone’s discretion.”

“…!”

Melthas gazed at the group standing behind Gerhen.

The group of higher noble magicians who followed Gerhen were not people Melthas could treat carelessly.

“We must correct the regulations of the tower right now. I advocate for the immediate opening of a trial on behalf of the mages of the tower.”

“What kind of…”

As time went by, the surrounding gazes, attention, and interest increased.

Melthas’ expression turned to one of confusion as he faintly caught onto Gerhen’s intentions.

It was just about time.

Gerhen was about to take out the item he had prepared.

Then, there was a commotion from behind the group that turned their backs to the main gate.

“Master Didoa, what on earth-”

Someone in the group murmured in confusion.

Didoa had just finished talking with a cleric and passed through the main gate.

She was a middle-aged woman adorned in white contrasting with her black eyes.

On her chest hung a symbol distinguishing her from ordinary clerics.

“…!”

Gerhen’s eyes widened in disbelief as he understood the meaning of that symbol.

It was none other than the mark of the high priest, symbolizing that she had the authority to represent the order.

‘Why is a cleric from the order here!?’

Gerhen barely managed to calm his racing heart and stepped in front of her.

“High Priest of the Order. Please stop right there and state your business.”

No matter the order, they could not step uninvited into the tower.

Except under very specific circumstances.

“I’ve received information that a black magician is hiding out in the Gray Mage Tower.”

“Just that alone doesn’t give you the right to interfere in our tower’s matters.”

“That’s correct. But we are here to carry out proceedings following the request of witness Master Didoa.”

That was a direct request from a superior.

“…!”

Gerhen’s expression became one of shock.

He immediately glared at Didoa.

“Master Didoa! Don’t you have any pride as a magician!? This is something that happened within our tower! We should be resolving it with our own strength!”

Didoa tilted her head with her characteristic impassive expression.

“Hasn’t it already been resolved?”

“…!”

For a moment, Gerhen was left speechless, but he rallied himself quickly.

‘Calm down.’

The number of onlookers was increasing.

His plans were still valid.

Gerhen pressed a document forward and explained the circumstances of the incident.

‘This may actually be good.’

The clergy of the order had just as much confidence in their affiliation as the mages of the tower.

They said it loud and clear.

They had received information about a black magician hiding in the Gray Mage Tower.

So, they had left the order with a special mission for the far-off Bondales.

Yet, a mere wandering magician replaced their role entirely.

Like some mages of the tower, they had to wonder about the capabilities of this wandering magician.

And now, coupled with the testimony of the black magician?

Gerhen waited to see the high priest’s response, filled with expectation.

“…”

Those black eyes moved toward the wandering magician—

Risir.

“…!”

In an instant, her black eyes seemed to turn white, filled with intrigue.

The high priest spoke toward Risir.

“I ask you. Is the content in that document true?”

“It is not true.”

Gerhen snickered inwardly.

The order’s inquiries and interrogations were notoriously vicious.

It would be hard enough to avoid suspicion from a cleric, and yet, this utterly nonchalant reply was unexpected.

Gerhen’s heart raced with excitement, feeling like a breakthrough was finally in sight.

Then.

Upon hearing Risir’s apathetic answer, the high priest turned to Gerhen and spoke.

“She claims it’s not true.”