LTTH C88

Chapter 88

Hansol let out a long breath and folded over the table as if a storm had finally passed. Even though it was the Tower Master who had led the entire negotiation from start to finish, Hansol felt as though all the strength had been drained out of him.

“Are you all right?”

The Tower Master conjured a cool drink from thin air and set it gently before Hansol. Every time Hansol watched it happen, he couldn’t help thinking: magicians really were all-purpose beings.

—or perhaps it was just these two who were exceptional.

He stared at the clear glass filled with chilled juice. The weather had shifted from autumn toward winter, but this was exactly the kind of drink Hansol preferred.

“Truly, this is a problem.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I can’t very well keep Hansol-nim tied up inside the Tower forever, yet what am I supposed to do?”

“—khff!”

Hansol almost spat out the juice that had just slid down his throat. The Tower Master’s expression was the usual calm mask, but the words spilling from him were dripping with regret. Hadn’t they already settled the issue of Hansol becoming a Tower mage last time?

Wiping the cold sweat forming along his brow, Hansol forced himself to stay composed.

“I agree. If he’s tied to the Tower, I can stay with my darling too.”

“No—”

“Well, I don’t know about that, but Hansol really does need to rethink his criteria for ‘danger.’”

“Kassie… you too?”

Hansol felt almost offended. Their negotiations had gone well, hadn’t they? They’d secured safety, closed deals worth astronomical amounts, and even arranged protection from multiple nations’ Hunters as well as the Tower Master. From Hansol’s perspective, everything had concluded neatly.

“Hansol-nim’s greatest flaw is that he can’t look away from anyone who needs help. For your own safety going forward, we must address this.”

“We did agree that you would accompany me, didn’t we?”

“This time, yes. But there may be situations where I cannot join you. And James—despite everything—is an American Ranker. He cannot enter foreign nations freely. As for that magician… he could go, but I doubt any nation would welcome an unidentified Hunter entering their territory.”

The way the Tower Master continued without pause made it clear just how much he had been holding back earlier during the international meeting.

Hansol truly knew their worries came from a place of care. But foreign associations also had sense. No one would dare treat Hansol lightly now. To offend the Messiah was to lose the greatest strategic advantage of their age.

Just look at the Korean Hunter Association president—thrown out without a shred of hesitation.

Hansol had also begun to think differently about his position.

“I’ll be fine. At the very least, they didn’t seem as idiotic as the Korean president.”

“Well… they are national representatives, so they’re not fools.”

“And besides, I can at least protect myself now.”

Protect only himself? Hardly. Hansol had protected the entire country of Korea.

The Tower Master seemed to realize that as well. His expression softened, and he lowered his head slightly. Perhaps he had been meddling too much.

“…My apologies. It appears I overstepped.”

“Not at all. I know you’re only worried about me.”

To Hansol, the three before him were the people who cared about him most. Their words never felt bothersome, only warm.

—though sometimes they were… a bit much.

Even that, Hansol found himself accepting gladly. In a Korea where he had no one to rely on, the Tower Master and James had become the pillars he leaned on. Even if James was American by nationality.

“Come to think of it, Kassie—are you fine not returning to England?”

Kassie’s entire reason for following him had been to help with Hansol’s revenge. And that had been largely resolved with the defeat of the wooden monster. Plus, now that Hansol had inherited part of the system’s authority, the picture had become clearer.

He had survived alone that day because of the system’s arrangement. His level being frozen at 1 had also been the system’s design. A desperate countermeasure against an extraterrestrial invasion. Even though that same system had triggered the gate break that destroyed England.

Same—yet different.

The system that gave Hansol authority felt decidedly more… human-friendly. Odd a combination as that was.

“Well… nothing seems wrong in England yet.”

“And now that the magic circle has been repaired, you can travel freely, right?”

Even if England’s coordinates weren’t pre-registered, Kassie had arrived here once. He could easily mark the Tower as a new coordinate point. With that, he could come to Korea anytime he wanted. And Kassie certainly had the mana to move the circle alone.

“There’s still the coordinate of the Korean Association, since I came with Hansol earlier…”

“…!”

Good heavens. Kassie said something truly catastrophic with such a calm face.

If Kassie used that coordinate every time, he would appear directly inside the Korean Association.

Hansol immediately shot a desperate look at the Tower Master.

“The Tower! The Tower has a teleport circle too! Could he register that coordinate…?”

It was a request that could easily be considered rude. Hansol realized it the moment he said it.

“Not a problem at all. I don’t like that magician, but if Hansol-nim wants it, it will be done.”

Even such an impolite request was accepted without the slightest change in expression. Although the two magicians clearly disliked each other, thankfully neither seemed the type to let emotions override their work.

“Thank you. Truly.”

“You’re welcome.”

Hansol smiled back at the Tower Master’s gentle expression.

“…To be honest, I do need to visit England once. I need to adjust the magic circle, and I need to update Isaac on everything that happened here.”

“Then just go, right?”

It wasn’t as though returning meant he could never come back. He now had a safe, reliable route. Yet Kassie hesitated, his body language full of unspoken concerns. Hansol tilted his head. Was there something he didn’t know?

“Is something wrong?”

“Wrong… yes. I think there might be.”

Kassie stared into the empty air as if ordering his thoughts, then met Hansol’s eyes. His blue irises shone like glass beneath the sunlight. It was a different kind of blue from James’s—clearer, colder, more luminous. Hansol found himself briefly captivated.

“If I leave here, I feel like I’ll lose something.”

“…Lose what?”

“You.”

“I’m staying in Korea. And of course, if England needs help, I’ll go there too.”

Hansol had no intention of abandoning England. It was his second home; Kassie and Isaac were important people. Even if Kassie didn’t ask, Hansol mentally planned to visit regularly.

“If you’re not in front of me, you’ll just give your attention to someone else. If someone needs help, you won’t be able to ignore them.”

Well… he wasn’t wrong. But what did that have to do with anything?

“That’s why the other magician and the tank are glued to your side, right? Look away for a moment and someone will snatch you away.”

So in their eyes, Hansol was like a one-year-old puppy prone to getting into trouble the moment you blinked?

Hansol reevaluated his entire life for a brief second.

“They say distance makes the heart grow distant. So unless we go together, I’m not returning to England.”

There was no reality where Hansol would ever abandon England, or Kassie, or Isaac. What was making Kassie so uneasy?

“Then—what if we go together?”

“Together…?”

Hansol recalled the previous incident where James and the Tower Master had teleported together but were separated. Would it work this time?

—or wait.

The system is what separated Kassie’s England from the original timeline.

And Hansol now held that system’s authority.

Then—surely—it should be possible.

Hansol’s eyes brightened.