The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-156

Blaine, the Hail Magician.

- If you ever need to visit Aquarius, use this invitation. Being unfriendly to outsiders is an unfortunate custom of the Magic Towers, after all.

While recalling his memories of Blaine, Seol also tried to recall his memories of the woman next to him.

“Are you… Fryn?”

“I am! You remembered me?”

“You’ve changed… quite a bit…”

It wasn’t just ‘quite a bit’. She changed so much that Seol would have believed if Fryn called herself a shapeshifter.

She had gotten rid of her pigtails and the glasses that made her eyes look small. Now, she had long, luxurious hair and big eyes.

“I’ve changed, haven’t I? It's because I don’t have to do exhausting work anymore, I can go back to the tower.”

“Should I… be congratulating you for it?”

“Well, it isn’t bad news, is it? You have no idea how hard it was for a delicate girl like me to sleep outdoors for so long,” said Fryn, feigning tears.

It was evident to everyone in the carriage that she was joking around.

She then followed up with a friendly laugh.

“But… you’re exactly the same as I remember you.”

“I’m the same?”

“Yeah! The aura of a hero I felt when I first met you, it’s still there! I knew I had an eye for people.”

Blaine cringed as Fryn made a fuss.

“You have no idea how much of a headache she was, asking every day about when you’d be visiting the tower, Snowman. So, on that note, when will you be visiting?”

"Next time, if I have the chance..."

Seol's response was weak, but Fryn didn't mind at all.

"It's fine! We're joining the meeting this time anyway."

Hearing that the Aquarius Magic Tower was joining the meeting, Seol had more questions.

“But… Why is Aquarius joining a meeting about Libra matters?” asked Seol.

"It's not just us, though. I'm pretty sure every magic tower in Zodiac has a representative."

Frannan nodded after hearing that.

"Yeah. I doubt they're here to assist us directly, just to advise, but... even that is a huge help."

Fryn raised a finger.

"I've heard from various sources that apparently, this discussion will involve an unprecedented number of different organizations, from all societal levels!”

Blaine glanced at Frannan to read his expression before stopping Fryn.

“Fryn, this incident involves Master Bornuil going missing. It is not a light matter. Do not forget to be mindful of your actions.”

“Ah… okay…”

But instead, it was Frannan who laughed to lift the mood.

"Hahaha! No need to dampen the mood too much. Who knows, maybe Bornuil just got dementia. You can be mindful once everything's confirmed. It wouldn’t be too late then, anyway. But anyway, Blaine..."

“Yes, sir.”

“Have you not become an Aspect Magician yet? I thought you’d be the one to become the youngest ever Aspect Magician.”

"How could someone as foolish as me dare to dream of becoming one..."

"Haha... you make me wonder if your humble nature is intrinsic or something you picked up."

Fryn interrupted in an upset tone.

"Aspect Magician Frannan! It definitely isn't because Master is lacking in skills! It's just that the other Aspect Magicians are so incredible that..."

"Well, that's something I'm well aware of, too. Those old farts are practically the poster children for stubborn magicians. But achieving something like that so early will only lead to stress. You'll just end up with wrinkles and complain all the..."

- I still have no idea why Veil accepted a bastard like you when it only ended up causing him more stress.

Frannan, who had been laughing along, suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence.

Though everyone noticed that something was off, no one mentioned it.

The carriage continued its journey, and naturally, due to the considerable distance between Timbrian and the country's border, they had to spend nights here and there in the open wilderness.

“Woah… what kind of meat is this?” said Fryn.

Fryn and Blaine were in awe of Seol’s cooking.

However, Chameli, who knew the truth behind Seol’s dishes, wore a worried expression.

"...In the scriptures, there is a verse that says knowing everything is more of a curse than a blessing. The fate of the scholar Myolu, whose soul was inevitably taken by a demon before dying in pain, proves this,” said Chameli.

“Huh? Why are you mentioning that all of a sudden?”

“...Regardless, let’s talk about something else.”

As the carriage continued its journey, one day, while Fryn and Agony were asleep...

"I know we're heading south to cross Adeline's border and reach the Libra Tower, but... do we have plans for what comes after that?"

"It will be decided at the meeting. The most likely outcome is for us to continue southward."

“Hm…”

“For now, let’s just worry about crossing the border first. I’m worried that we’d be the last to arrive at this rate.”

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

After a few more days, Seol arrived at the southernmost point of Nevenia, at its border. However, he had also encountered a brief setback.

“What the hell is this?!”

“This is quite…”

“Hm…”

There were countless people in line to cross the border, to the point that it was impossible to see the end from where they were.

Seol grimaced in response.

‘This is… going to take longer than I thought.’

It would clearly take a long, long while for the entire line to pass through inspection. It could even potentially take days.

“Wh-what should I do, sir?” asked the coachman.

“...Let’s go to the front of the line and see what happened. If we wait for the line to clear up, we’ll just be making the guests arriving at the Libra Tower wait.”

In truth, this decision also came with its own risks.

Moving to the front of the line would also take considerable time.

If more people were to appear while they were on their way to the front, it would take even longer to pass inspection and cross the border.

And as the carriage neared the front of the line…

“Woah, woah! Hold on, stop!”

“Who the hell is this?!”

“Just give me a moment. Listen to me!”

The carriage suddenly halted as voices could be heard from outside.

It was dangerous for a carriage to stop abruptly, so this wasn’t a common occurrence.

“S-Sir Frannan, he…”

“Hey, you inside. You’re the one in charge, right?”

Tap, tap…

The man tapped on the carriage door.

“Why don’t we have a chat?”

“Y-You little…”

The coachman was about to angrily shout at the man, but Frannan stopped him.

“It’s alright. What is it?”

“I came to offer you a proposal. You’re trying to cut in line right now, aren’t you?”

“......”

"It's obvious. A shiny carriage with cute girls inside... You're probably from some rich noble house, thinking you can bribe the guards to pass through inspection more quickly."

“And if I am?” asked Frannan back, amused.

"Then you picked the wrong time. And that method's been blocked off for a looong time. Anyone who ever took money had their heads taken off."

"...Really?"

"I sure am!” said the man before continuing, “Transferees have appeared out of nowhere and are traveling wherever they want. Merchants and mercenaries smell money in the air and are on the move. The number of people trying to cross borders has increased fivefold. If you're only going to wait in line, it's going to take you roughly two days to pass inspection."

“Hm… so?”

"What do you think about this? We'll include you in our party. It's our turn soon, after all."

“Ah, I see…”

“At just the low, low price of 50 gold coins. I’m not even asking for a lot, don’t you think? It’s our turn soon too.”

The coachman huffed in fury, clearly restraining himself from unleashing a tongue-lashing only because of Frannan's order.

Seol also saw a few options.

[[A mysterious wanderer has offered to help you cross the border. How do you respond?]

1. Wouldn’t that be the same thing as cutting in line?

2. Let me pay instead, Frannan.

3. We don’t need to listen to him. There’s nothing that money can’t buy. I’m sure even the guard will let us through if we pay him 50 gold coins.

4. 50 gold coins is nothing. Let’s just pay him and cross quickly.

5. (Don’t do anything.)

……]

Seol chose to do nothing.

He chose to believe in Frannan, who was essentially the leader of this party.

“...50 coins is a bit steep.”

“Huh? Are you kidding me? I’d be letting you skip two days of waiting!”

- This dude’s trying to cheat Frannan LMFAOO

- He’s trying to be Frank Abagnale.

- Who the fuck is that? LOOOL

Frannan smiled and declined the offer with a gesture.

The man, angered by the disrespect, began grinding his teeth.

“Next time, it'll cost you 80 gold coins.”

“Oh, the price went up so quickly.”

“It’s called interest.”

“It seems like you and I live in quite different worlds,” scoffed Frannan.

“Don’t make me laugh.”

Frannan’s carriage passed by the wanderer, straight toward the inspection checkpoint.

“Argh, seriously! Just let us through!”

“There is an order to things. What the…”

The chaos at the checkpoint couldn’t be described in words.

The guards were clearly overwhelmed by the crowd which only seemed to increase.

And that was exactly why they were more than furious when Seol's party cut through the lines and proceeded to the front.

In truth, it was a perfectly understandable reason to be upset.

“Halt! Who the fuck…”

Click.

Frannan opened the doors to the carriage and stepped out.

“We’re in a rush right now, could you please pass us first?” asked Frannan.

"Please, return to the back of the line. I'll let this slide, but there's a limit to how much I'll tolerate."

Slide…

Frannan pulled out something from his pocket.

It was a broach, one with a unique design.

“Hm?”

“Even if I have this?”

"A magic tower emblem... so you were a magician. Even so, I still cannot allow you to pass. This line is..."

The wanderer who had made the proposal to Frannan earlier began to laugh loudly, clutching his stomach.

“Hahahahahaha! Would you look at that?! What? A magician? Wow, you were some incredible magician! But… Are magicians any different from us? Hm? We all walk on two feet. You shouldn’t act like that!”

Frannan showed his patience.

“Look closely.”

“I did look closely. You just can’t—”

Before the guard could finish his sentence, an individual who appeared to be in charge of the checkpoint was drawn in by the commotion.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t you working?”

"It's because this magician keeps trying to cut the line and pass through..."

“There are still magicians who act like that? When does he think this is? Let me handle… uh… huh?”

“Please, he’s not listening at all—”

“Hey.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Where the hell are your eyes?”

“It’s… on my face…?”

“Are you sure they aren't on your ass?”

“...Excuse me, sir?”

“Or did you leave them at home? Look for them again.”

The guard, noticing something strange, started to falter.

“I-I… I don’t know why you’re acting like this, sir…” said the guard.

"That's the Aspect Magician emblem, you fool! Haven't you learned that ranks above Aspect don’t have to go through border inspection according to the international treaty?"

“......”

“Answer me.”

“I did learn that, sir.”

The captain of the checkpoint approached Frannan, carefully observed the emblem, then returned it with a bow.

"I apologize for the discourtesy. In fact, we even received a letter of cooperation, but it seems it hasn't been properly relayed to our lower-ranking guards. I'll take responsibility for this oversight."

“Haha… you don’t need to go that far. Good work.”

Frannan patted the captain’s shoulder then whispered something to him.

“Understood!” answered the captain.

“Well then…”

After Frannan’s carriage passed through the checkpoint, the captain turned around to the wanderer and slowly approached him.

"It's troublesome when you disrupt the peace at the checkpoint. Please return to the back of the line."

“Wh-what? How could that be?! And how did I disrupt the peace?!”

“Then are you claiming that an Aspect Magician of Libra lied? If you really want to make an issue out of things… there are plenty…”

“A-An Aspect Magician of Libra?!”

“So, what would you like to do?”

The wanderer looked around but it was to no avail.

"If you could please create some room for my carriage to back away... I will return to the end of the line," said the defeated wanderer.

“A good decision. See? You could do it.”

* * *

A few days after crossing the border, the carriage had fully escaped the city and was traversing the open wilderness.

As Seol gazed out at the vast lands, he was lost in his thoughts.

‘Ah, right. The towers were quite far from the cities, weren't they?’

All goods were periodically imported into the towers through trade.

Given that each tower was as vast as a city, a significant amount of trade also occurred within them.

“We will be arriving soon. If you’d look over there…”

As the coachman continued, everyone in the carriage looked outside.

“The tower! It’s the Libra Tower!”

“I see it over there.”

“It’s my first time seeing the Libra Tower! Woah… Master! It’s much cooler than the Aquarius Tower.”

"The Libra Tower does look the best. I'll take you to the other towers later too."

"That's a promise!"

“Once you reach a higher level.”

“...Too far.”

As they drew closer to the tower, they felt a sizzling sensation of mana. It was clearly the Tower's barrier, designed to defend against outsiders.

“It seems that we’re not last, at least. There’s a carriage over there as… huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

"It's nothing. I must be seeing things."

“What is it?”

“Just… look over there.”

The party in the carriage turned to look in the direction that the coachman was pointing.

“Wh-what is that?”

“Is that a monster?”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It’s a baku!”

Baku.

They were monsters that resembled rhinos, quite violent creatures that you had to run away from if you encountered them.

However, someone riding a Baku was heading toward them.

“Huh? Huuuh? It’s… getting closer to us?”

“What should I do, Sir Frannan? It’s way too close already.”

“How interesting. Keep going,” growled Frannan.

“Yes, sir.”

Rumble Rumble…

Brrrooooo!

The baku let out a horrible shriek as it approached.

While Fryn was terrified and shaking, the others were all curious about who the individual riding the baku was.

‘Who could it be?’

Well, first, judging by their robes, they were far from ordinary.

After all, they were massive, to the point that the robe couldn’t hide it.

Rumble Rumble…

The baku closed in on the carriage, riding right alongside it, and the mysterious person finally spoke up.

“We’ve arrived at similar times, that’s a relief.”

“Huh? Who is that?”

After hearing his voice, Frannan was confused, and the others shared in his confusion, as they had no idea who it was.

However, Seol was the only one to stick his head out of the window.

"This voice... don’t tell me," Seol said.

"Yes, it's me," came the reply from the robed master of the baku.

The others in the carriage were shocked.

"A-A troll?"

"It's a troll!"

"Mael!" Seol shouted, welcomingly.

[The requirements have been met.]

[Helper ‘Mael, the Star Child’ has appeared in this Adventure.]

[Helper ‘Mael, the Star Child’ will join you in this Adventure as an ally.]

Mael, who had grown a small beard, calmly gave Seol a smile from atop the baku.

“It’s been a while, Snowman!”