The Book Eating Magician - chapter-184

The Northern continent… This was a fact which people living there
weren’t really aware of, but people from other kingdoms thought that
the North was closed off and gave off a dreary feeling.

It had already been hundreds of years since the two powers, Andras and
Meltor, were at war. This was an environment which couldn’t be compared
to the Central area, where many kingdoms coexisted, or to the ambiguous
south. The citizens’ sense of patriotism, as well as distance from
other countries, had to be strong.

However, it wouldn’t be a problem if the north was just closed off.

The problem was that one of the closed-off northern powers was the most
magically advanced kingdom on the continent, Meltor.

They were the leading magical civilization of this age. The Central
nations were sensitive to advanced culture and money, so they couldn’t
ignore Meltor. However, it was also difficult to join hands with the
Andras Empire.

“This time, the situation will change,” Meltor’s current king, Kurt
III, spoke while looking around at the crowd.

There were tower masters and senior magicians. There were also 12 people
of the court, led by the minister of domestic affairs. Additionally,
there were people who were influential in the city. Unlike the nobles of
other kingdoms, the leading people of Meltor were gathered in Meltor’s
palace.

There was only one reason why this gathering occurred every year.

“Starting today at noon, this year’s Magic Contest will begin.”

It was a place where new theories and items developed over the past year
could be shown; it was a paradise for magicians. The Magic Contest was an
annual event held in the magic kingdom of Meltor.

While the contest was held, the checkpoints of the city would loosen and
residents from other areas wouldn’t hesitate to come here. This meant
it would be a great event, but it was also a chance for spies from other
countries to enter.

“Red Tower Master Veronica.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Veronica responded to the call. The red robe
with a golden crest, the symbol of a tower master, fluttered because of
her magic power even though there was no wind blowing inside the room.

“As always, the Red Tower is in charge of the capital’s security.
Thoroughly manage and punish any disturbances that occur in the city.”

“As Your Majesty commands.”

Kurt nodded and opened his mouth again, “White Tower Master Orta.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The one who stepped forward this time was the
White Tower Master Orta, in his white robes and white mask. Orta waited
politely for his instructions.

“What happened to the reconstruction of the previous surveillance
network?”

“We consumed five times more manpower and materials, and managed to
expand the sphere of influence to all of Mana-vil. The consumption of
mana stones is great, but there shouldn’t be any problems until after
the Magic Contest ends.”

“Good. Don’t neglect to be my eyes and ears.”

As mentioned earlier, the Magic Contest was an important annual event for
Meltor and a good way to hide spies from other countries. In order to
break through Mana-vil’s surveillance system, Andras’ Shadow Knights
were dispatched, but it was human folly to fail many times.

According to one legend, the number of secret agents who died at Orta’s
hands had already exceeded three digits. This year, the song of the
unlucky spies would continue.

“Blue Tower Master, what is the weather like today?”

“It will continue to be clear, Your Majesty. The clouds will thicken
three days later, but there is no chance of rain.”

“Are there any complaints about the water supply or anything else?”

“Either way, there is no problem.”

The conversation with the king was quick and concise. The reason for this
was that Kurt III placed more focus on efficiency rather than
formalities. Kurt never talked to one person for too long. He didn’t
speak longer than one minute, and the shortest time was 10 seconds. It
was enough to confirm the instructions.

Therefore, Theodore’s turn was quick to arrive.

“Quattro’s captain.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Theodore stepped forward and raised a hand to
the chest of the unfamiliar uniform.

This was Quattro’s first mission since the formation of the magic
division, so William’s and Sylvia’s eyes shook lightly from behind
Theodore. Only Para could be found showing no interest if someone watched
her closely.

“I will place a slightly heavy burden on you and Quattro.”

“Please tell me.”

After hearing that it would be a heavy burden, they became slightly
worried. Theodore could feel the two people behind him trembling as he
listened to the king’s voice.

“Quattro, please listen to me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” The remaining three people stepped forward and
replied.

“You are to meet Elvenheim’s delegation, who will arrive at noon
today, and bring them to the palace. They are VIP guests of Meltor, so
ensure that there are few disruptions when guiding them.”

‘Welcoming the Elvenheim delegation!’

Two people were confused at the unexpected command, one person didn’t
care, and another person was convinced by it. Understandably, the
convinced person was Theodore. If he went to Elvenheim, he could meet
directly with the senior elves and high elves, so he was the right person
for this mission.

This was why Theodore raised his voice without any hesitation.

“On behalf of Quattro, we will do as Your Majesty commands!”

* * *

The four members of the magic division, Quattro, left the audience hall
after receiving the order from Kurt. It was already almost noon, and they
needed to prepare before meeting Elvenheim’s delegation.

“It was at the north gate?”

“Yes,” Sylvia answered instantly.

As they walked out of the palace toward the north gate, William didn’t
seem to like the muted atmosphere and approached Theodore.

“Excuse me, Captain,” William said.

“Yes?”

“Have you and the princess been to Elvenheim once before?”

“Yes, we stayed for around two weeks.”

A few days after arriving, Theodore had gotten embroiled in a battle
against a legendary grimoire. Thinking about the awful burning pain from
that time was enough to still make Theo shudder. While Theodore was
engrossed in his bad memories, William didn’t stop talking.

In retrospect, the next White Tower Master would’ve been a good
candidate for the Elvenheim mission. However, he wasn’t present.

Indeed, William complained while scratching his head, “Ah, I’m so
envious! I wanted to go, but I was already on a mission. At that time, I
really moved my feet to try and get there, but it was already solved.”

“Was there some reason why you wanted to go?”

“…Captain probably doesn’t know since you are popular, but all men
dream of seeing elves once! Stupid normies!”

“N-Normies?” Was it a new magic term? Theodore was confused by the
word which didn’t make sense, when his robe was suddenly pulled.
“Sylvia?”

“Don’t worry too much. That guy is a little weird,” Sylvia told
Theodore.

William would’ve been hurt if he heard it, but he was busy imagining a
beautiful elf. Turning away from William, who was laughing heavily, and
Para, who was silent, Theodore and Sylvia started talking.

“Theo, who do you think will come?”

“Let’s see…” Theodore thought for a moment before offering a
plausible answer. “It is pretty important, so I think a guardian will
come.”

“Oh, the one who keeps calling Theo, ‘Benefactor’?”

“Or maybe Ellaim might come. It might be a person we don’t know, but
it would be easier to send someone familiar. Maybe Sir Edwin will come?”

William suddenly interrupted the conversation, like he was interested in
their words. “Guardian? What is that?”

“It is an expression referring to an elven warrior. The two we saw were
both master level elementalists.”

“Oh, that is awesome! Is there any chance a high elf will come?”

Theodore frowned in response to William’s question. It wasn’t because
he felt uncomfortable, but because it was an unexpected possibility,
albeit not impossible. However, the possibility wasn’t high, so
Theodore didn’t hesitate to shake his head.

“They can come, but it is almost unheard of. High elves are the center
and pillars of Elvenheim. They wouldn’t appear just to announce an
alliance.”

“Is that so? I was looking forward to it…” William sighed with
dissatisfaction but accepted Theodore’s words.

Then around 30 minutes passed by. The four magicians exchanged words and
eventually arrived at their destination.

The north gate of Mana-vil was an inconvenient area for guests to enter
through, so the number of guards was low. However, common sense was
broken today as there were a huge number of guards.

“Stop! Please stop and identify yourselves.”

As the four people approached, a man dressed in armor stopped them
politely. The strap hanging from the shoulder indicated he was the leader
of the northern guards.

“I’m Theodore Miller, the captain of the magic division, Quattro.”

“Ah! It is an honor to meet our country’s hero!” The chief of the
guards looked at him with a fierce joy and saluted.

In the meantime, Theodore’s name value had gone up beyond his
imagination. Theodore returned the guard captain’s salute. “Did you
receive the command?”

“Yes! I was ordered to follow the directions of Quattro and to help you
with your mission.”

“Then I’ll ask for your cooperation, Captain.”

“Of course! Whatever you say!”

Thanks to the enthusiastic guard captain and his subordinates, Theodore
was able to arrange the area much quicker than expected.

The roadside stalls were put away, arranged for people to stay away from
this street. It was impossible for the measures they were putting up to
escape the public’s eyes, but then it was Quattro’s turn to act.

Para, who hadn’t spoken a word the whole time, gave a command,
“Build.”

She took out a staff from somewhere and pounded it on the ground.
However, the following phenomenon was really different.

Kukukukukung…!

The air vibrated. Then the ground sprang up suddenly and turned into a
greyish white wall, creating a border around the northern gate. It
wasn’t simply a clump of soil. The hard materials in the soil were
picked out and rebuilt to the desired shape and strength. It was alchemy
at a much higher level, so the magicians were forced to feel admiration.

“A-Amazing.”

“Umm.”

“Ohh…! That’s great, Yellow Tower Kid! You are still a little
young, but this is no wonder why you are the candidate for the tower
master!”

For the alchemist’s grimoire, Paragranum, this level of alchemy
wasn’t difficult at all. Para ignored William, turning away from his
loud voice. She might be cooperating with Theodore, but she had no
interest in the Magic Contest or Elvenheim.

However, at that moment…

“Hey, why are you ignoring me… Eh? What is this?” William was
grumbling at Paragranum’s blatant disregard when he suddenly asked a
question.

“Hmm?” He asked as if he was talking to someone, then turned to
Theodore and said, “Captain, they are almost here.”

“Oh, did the White Tower contact you?”

“Yes. It is a sound like an arrow, but you won’t be able to hear it
if you don’t know how to listen. I’ll tell you how at a later time,
so let’s talk about the message first.” William spoke like he
didn’t know himself. “Is there no need to open the gates?”

“Huh? What are you saying?”

“I don’t know. Is there another entrance besides the gate?”

“That’s impossible. Besides, tha-” Theodore firmly shook his head
when he stopped as he felt a sense of discomfort.

A few days ago, something about the walls had changed. Theo didn’t know
what had changed, but his senses warned him that something had. He looked
around at the wall and gate, and soon realized the reason.

‘The sky barrier… It’s turned off?”

In the present era, there were several sword masters who jumped tens of
meters in one step, as well as magicians who knew how to use flying
magic. Before them, the walls were nothing more than worthless structures.

Thus, the walls of the large cities in Meltor, including Mana-vil, were
equipped with ambush magic to deal with enemy infiltration. However, the
magic tricks on Mana-vil’s wall were currently turned off. No,
strangely enough, it was only the magic near the north gate which was
broken.

“Perhaps…” Theodore recognized the meaning and opened his mouth.

His blue eyes looked up at the sky. He realized that something was
approaching in the sky filled with thick clouds, then the sun revealed
its appearance.

It didn’t take long for the members of the division to recognize their
captain’s abnormal behavior, and they looked in the same direction.
Theodore was unable to see the details even while using Hawkeye, but the
homunculus’ eyesight exceeded that of humans and she grasped ‘it.’

“Eh, a lotus?” As Para mumbled, the object expanded. No, it didn’t
expand but came closer. It blinked a few times and crossed a few
kilometers every time. The faces of those who saw the unrealistic scene
were staring blankly like fools.

Like Paragranum said, it was a lotus. It was large enough to be compared
to a house, and the bud which hadn’t bloomed yet flew through the sky.

“I-I-It is descending?”

“Yes, it is descending.”

Theodore responded to the stuttering William as he waited for the large
lotus flower to come down. Despite its size, the lotus landed quietly
like it had no weight at all. There was no sound either.

No one opened their mouths. No one could speak. Everyone, including
Quattro, watched silently as the large petals slowly opened up.

Finally, the lotus bloomed. Then an elf emerged amidst the petals. He
found Theodore in the front and cried out, “It has been a long time,
Benefactor!”

It was as Theo had half-expected. He smiled and exchanged greetings with
Edwin, “Yes, it is nice to see you, Sir Edwin.”

This was a shocking sight, but he calmed down after seeing a familiar
face. Yes, the first person he saw was Edwin.

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“Um, I’ve heard a lot of stories, Theodore.” Ellaim, the guardian
of the Great Forest who had struggled against the 2nd stage Laevateinn,
appeared behind Edwin.

“…Sir Ellaim?” Theodore greeted Ellaim with a stunned expression.

There were two guardians? It was a sign that Elvenheim considered the
alliance important, but this was still too much. Theodore looked at them
and said, “Uhh, I didn’t know that two guardians would come.”

However, the two guardians looked at each other before Edwin shrugged and
replied, “I’m sorry, but the two of us are just escorts.”

“Huh?” For a moment, Theodore’s mind blanked.

There was only one type of person who would need to be escorted by two
guardians: the managers of the world tree, the Arv’s descendant. They
were the ones who could summon the elemental rulers in the Great Forest.

It was the high elves. They were the blessings of life which caused buds
to bloom on dead land, as well as produce fruits from withered crops.

“…My greeting is late.” A loud voice rang out from among the
petals, and the surrounding people all paid attention to it.

Just like quenching a dry throat with cool water, the refreshing voice
moistened their ears. Then the owner of the voice walked out from the
petals.

She had light green hair which appeared akin to fresh vegetation. Her
unfocused eyes gave her a mysterious atmosphere, while her white outfit
revealed her simple yet feminine curves. Slender arms were revealed, as
well as a curve to her chest which hadn’t been there before and a
softly curved waist which hadn’t been seen before.

“How have you been?” Her gentle smile was like warm sunshine.

Theodore could barely speak her name, “…Ellenoa?”

“Yes, Theodore,” Ellenoa, who had become a full-fledged woman, smiled
beautifully as she happily spoke his name.