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I stood on the rooftop of a shabby building in the corner of the eastern district and quietly chanted a spell.

With a whooshing sound, the feeling of the ground beneath my feet disappeared…

And my body began to slowly rise towards the moonlight, as if gravity were reversed.

Another advantage of reaching the 4th Circle,

The manifestation of common magic.

Levitation, which could aid in combat through enchantments or haste, or contribute to creating familiars or magic circles by extracting mana.

This was the reason why mages from the 4th Circle onwards were considered full-fledged.

It wasn’t for nothing that aspiring young mages from ancient times strived to reach the 4th Circle. Once they reached it, they were recognized as capable anywhere.

Of course, I was one of those cute youngsters. Even with all my effort, I couldn’t break through the 2nd Circle, making me the most hopeless of them all.

Lost in reminiscence, I ascended higher into the sky. Being in a secluded corner of the city, no one noticed me.

Soon, the entire eastern district of Khaoto came into view.

Suddenly, lights flashed, and the dark streets were instantly painted orange. It seemed the nightlife district was opening for business.

The sounds of laughter and occasional sword fights mingled together.

I observed the fantastical street, filled with gangs, hostesses, thugs, merchants, the disabled, and the ordinary, from the perspective of a bystander.

I had roughly identified the locations of Bayern’s businesses.

However, I couldn’t find the Bayern family’s main house, which seemed to be located further away from the streets.

* * *

I descended to the ground and headed west.

The lights of the nightlife district gradually faded, and a black building without any windows appeared.

[Vanilla Sky]

Creak—

As soon as I entered, the pitch-black interior was enveloped in a yellow light. The pale young man I had seen before was dozing off, but upon noticing me, he smiled.

“It’s been a while since you’ve been here.”

His tone was friendly, but I couldn’t help but feel it was insincere, whether it was my fault or his. Come to think of it, the world is full of things I don’t know.

“What would you like tonight? I suppose the Dream of the Night would be good for you?”

I just realized something. It’s his fault. His mouth is smiling, but his eyes aren’t.

When I shook my head, the insincere guy’s eyes widened slightly.

“Oh. You want to pick a rare star? You’ll need a reservation fee to see the stars.”

I met the insincere guy’s gaze with a smirk and asked,

“Something else.”

“Yes?”

“I want to talk to the black mask I saw last time.”

The insincere guy paused for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter as if it were amusing.

“Hahahaha.”

“What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. A black mask?”

I didn’t answer and just stared at him. The moment I confirmed the insincere guy’s lips curling up on both sides, I went straight to the point.

“I want to buy information.”

As I spoke, I glared intently at the insincere guy’s face. But he didn’t change his expression and asked,

“Young Master. Young Master Ruin.”

His voice seemed slightly subdued.

“Why are you acting like this today?”

“How about you answer my question first?”

“Haha, of course. If you have any questions, just ask. Did you find a hallucinogenic herb you want? What information can I bring you?”

The insincere guy kept smirking, so I smirked back. Laughter is contagious, after all. Anyway, it seemed like the insincere guy would just keep beating around the bush if I said anything more, so I made a decision.

“Forget it. I’ll take the Dream of the Night.”

“An excellent choice.”

I passed by the insincere guy, who bowed deeply in an exaggerated manner, and went up to the second floor. I felt a prickling sensation on the back of my neck.

* * *

As I went up to the second floor, the hazy smoke of hallucinogenic herbs and loud shouting washed over me.

Today, as always, the place was full of people staggering under the influence of drugs, collapsing, laughing maniacally, and fighting amongst themselves.

I took a seat in the middle of the circular hall and fell into thought.

‘It seems I was right.’

The insincere guy’s reaction showed he was definitely hiding something. He had been smiling the entire time, but his lips twitched for a moment when I mentioned “information.”

The hallucinogenic herbs were a distraction.

The underground auction was a distraction.

The real moneymaker must be somewhere else.

There was no way those who only ran an underground auction could see through 『Magnus’s Illusion』.

What could they be secretly dealing with in this remote place, with a strange building structure and even distractions?

“…”

The most likely possibility was “information.”

Information could sometimes be more dangerous than any divine relic.

Of course, this was just my speculation.

Given the insincere guy’s nature, he wouldn’t bat an eye and would continue lying even if I kept asking. In his eyes, I was just a naive kid who could only play tricks, so it was natural.

Then, was there no way to confirm it?

‘Hmm.’

I slowly looked around, observing the drugged-out madmen. Thinking back, it was quite strange. Even though I was brutally beaten here before, no one tried to stop it.

What was even stranger was when I dealt with the Bayern guys. No one intervened, whether I killed them or not.

Why was that?

If word got out that Block was beaten up here, Vanilla Sky would be in trouble too.

There could only be one reason for this.

They had something to rely on.

The confidence that Bayern or Dark Soul wouldn’t dare question what happened inside [Vanilla Sky].

I suddenly became curious. Would they really not care what happened here?

…Really?

Whir—

I rotated one of the rings on my heart. Just then, a druggie who looked like an unbridled buffalo stopped in front of me.

“Hey, weakling.”

As I briefly looked around, the buffalo spoke again.

“Who are you looking at, you bastard?”

I pointed at myself and said,

“Are you talking to me?”

“Yeah, you. You weakling. You look older than me, so get lost if you don’t want to get beaten up.”

I was momentarily stunned, feeling like I had just been slapped twice in the back of the head.

First of all, I was offended that I still looked weak.

Moreover, this buffalo guy looked at least thirty, and he was saying I looked older than him?

I turned to the woman next to me and asked,

“How old do I look?”

“Why are you asking, honey? You still look young. Very young. Hoho.”

Damn it.

I was quite annoyed because the woman, who looked at least ten years older than me, was touching my thigh and laughing.

Meanwhile, the buffalo had come right up to my face.

“I’ll give you three seconds. Move.”

The buffalo, with his eyes narrowed, grinned and looked at the woman sitting next to me. He stuck out his thick tongue and licked his lips, truly living up to his name.

I raised one corner of my mouth and said to the buffalo,

“I don’t want to, buffalo.”

The buffalo, as if he had misheard, started poking his ears.

“What? Say that again.”

“I said I’ll move.”

“I must have heard wrong.”

“I’ll move, so go eat some hay.”

The buffalo, who had been fiddling with his ears, rolled his eyes and shouted,

“This crazy bastard wants to die!”

I grabbed the buffalo’s hand as he lunged at me and twisted it.

“Krrrk!”

Then, as I grabbed the buffalo’s head to teach him a lesson… what’s this?

Slippery—

The buffalo’s hair was greasy with oil. I can’t stand it when others are dirty, so my temper flared up twice as much.

I immediately shot a fireball at his head.

Fwoosh—

Perhaps because of all the oil, the buffalo’s head instantly burst into flames like a firework.

“Aaaaagh!”

Bam— Boom—

Surprisingly, the druggies gathered around stood up and started dancing and cheering for me. It seemed they saw the buffalo’s burning head as if someone had lit a champagne bottle on fire and was shaking it.

“Wooooo!”

Caught up in the cheers, I grabbed the burning buffalo by the scruff of his neck and spun him around like champagne before coming to my senses.

“I got carried away by the excitement.”

I extended my senses again and looked around, but I still couldn’t sense anything strange. Did it really not matter what happened here?

…Let’s see how long that lasts.

I had no intention of holding back. This wasn’t a fight between me and the buffalo.

This was a full-fledged battle of pride between me and the insincere guy.

The first round was a draw, so the second round was definitely my turn to win.

I intentionally started trembling as if I couldn’t control my anger. Then, I shouted at the top of my lungs, so loud that the second floor echoed.

“How dare a mere buffalo insult me!”

I opened all the circles in my heart.

Whir—

All four rings rotated, resonating with the surrounding mana as if sucking in the air.

In that state, I closed my eyes and visualized the ground around me being overturned.

“A fissure that splits the earth, Earth Break”

Crackle—

A crack appeared on the round table where our hands met, splitting it in two…

Then, hairline cracks spread across the surrounding marble floor, and soon a massive fissure began to form across more than half of the second floor.

[4th Circle Earth Attribute Magic, Earth Break.]

Although the range of the magic was relatively small, its destructive power within a confined space was considerable. Especially when manifested in an enclosed space like this.

“Woohoo! Cough. Ugh!”

The druggies swayed their hips to the shaking, unable to tell if it was the building or their own bodies that were trembling.

Only when the flying marble shards pierced their butts did they scream.

* * *

As time passed, the cracks in the floor deepened. In that chaotic space, I exuded my presence with my whole being.

At that moment, I spotted a mustachioed man who looked calm among the druggies. He definitely wasn’t there before.

His face was unfamiliar, but his attire seemed familiar.

It was the same clothes worn by the guys in white masks, and he was looking at me with a relaxed gaze as if he was out for a stroll.

‘What?’

I wondered why he was so relaxed despite looking unremarkable, and then I realized the reason.

Something flashed in the mustachioed man’s hand, and a sharp needle flew towards me like a ray of light.

Whoosh—

I immediately cast Wind Barrier in front of me, and a faint crack appeared. At the same time, the tip of the needle poked through the center of the barrier with a thud.

‘Poison?’

Seeing the sticky smoke rising, it was clear that the needle was coated with poison. I carefully removed the needle and faced the man.

“Easy there. I’m afraid of needles.”

There was no answer. Only another flash of light and another poisoned needle flying towards me.

“I said I’m afraid of needles.”

As I used Wind Step to retreat, the druggie behind me was hit by the needle instead. He stood there, convulsing, then stiffened.

‘A paralyzing poison.’

“Quite effective. But are you mute?”

The mustachioed man remained silent. Instead, he kicked off the shaking marble and plunged into the crowd of druggies. He moved surprisingly fast.

The mustachioed man quickly disappeared among the druggies. All I could see around me were druggies.

But who am I? The Mad Magician never lost a target once they were caught.

I closed my eyes, extended my senses, and ducked as soon as I felt a controlled movement. Then, chanting the spell for Fire Arm, I soared upwards.

“Cough.”

The flames engulfing my arm singed the man’s mustache. I grabbed his neck as his pupils wavered.

“…Ugh. How, how did you?”

I immediately jabbed the poisoned needle I had pulled out earlier into his neck and said,

“Because I could smell your foul stench among the shaking druggies.”

The mustachioed man convulsed and then stiffened.

I dragged him towards a specific location. I had already figured out where he had appeared from.

A wall blocking all sides.

Crack—

As soon as I slammed my body against the solid wall, the space rippled, and a new passage appeared. It was the same structure as the passage I had stumbled upon while wandering around before.

‘It seems to be an illusion-type.’

Judging by the absence of mana fluctuations, it was probably a space distorted in advance by an artifact during the building’s construction.

After following the stairs inside the passage for a while, I suddenly came across a single iron door in a narrow, enclosed space.

Creak—

As soon as I pushed the iron door, a yellow light enveloped my eyes.

Sitting at a table, the insincere guy stared at me with an expressionless face.

I kicked the (former) mustachioed man I had dragged along and said,

“I want to buy some information.”

———-