In Lee Sungmin’s previous life, Scarlett never died. She had a reputation as the Red Tower Master until he had died in the dungeon.
At this point, however, there was no telling what would happen.
Months had already passed since Lee Sungmin died in the past life’s timeline, and Lee Sungmin knew nothing about what would happen from now on.
‘And the timeline hasn’t even properly followed the past one.’
It had been changed several times. Solitary Blade Dokgo hadn’t killed the Sect Leader of the Volcanic Sect, and he hadn’t turned into a vampire either.
Baek Sogo, who was to have died in the dungeon to Wijihoyeon’s doppelganger, hadn’t died and was saved by Lee Sungmin, himself.
Several events aside from those had already changed.
And it was all the butterfly effect from Lee Sungmin’s existence.
If Lee Sungmin had lived the same life as his previous life, his current life might have passed by without much thought and any meaning to it. Yet, that wasn’t what he had done.
Perhaps what Kim Jonghyun was doing right now, was ultimately caused by Lee Sungmin in the end. Though, it could be a hasty conclusion to come to.
Still, Lee Sungmin did not completely dismiss the possibility. He had already met Kim Jonghyun several times, and Lee Sungmin had ended up here because of those encounters.
“What are you thinking about?”
Scarlett, who came into the restaurant with him earlier, asked, tilting her head.
Lee Sungmin shook his head, putting down complicated thoughts for a while.
[I was thinking about Kim Jonghyun.]
It was a subject that was sensitive to both of them, so he answered honestly.
Scarlett’s reaction was a bit more violent than expected. Her eyebrows wriggled in annoyance, and the fork in her hand was crushed by her grip.
He was a bastard in her mind. She was thoroughly enraged at whatever he was plotting, since it had brought her down here when she wanted nothing to do with him.
[… Have you figured out what he’s aiming for?], she asked.
[Not yet… Nothing is certain. Obviously, it’s not like I could just walk up to Kim Jonghyun and ask him about it. But, I’m making some guesses. All the villagers he killed had nothing in common except for the fact that their bodies were sewn together and their hearts were ripped out.]
Scarlett clicked her tongue, putting down the fork that had been crushed in her palm.
[I’m sure he did it for a reason. Since ancient times, the human heart has been the most explicit and easy-to-use offering in terms of magic and sorcery rituals.]
[An offering?]
[Yeah, an offering for magic and sorcery rituals. Other Dark Wizards in the Black Tower mentioned the possibility of Kim Jonghyun summoning a demon into the mortal world.]
[Wait, you mean a real Demon from another dimension?]
[Yes. I don’t know the details as I am not a Wizard in the branch of dark magic, but it’s definitely a plausible idea. I don’t know the concepts or spells that would make such a thing possible, but certainly he has the tool to make the impossible, possible. The Grimoire.]
Scarlet made a perturbed expression and grumbled, scratching her hair. It was still a mystery, but all the possibilities that could be thought of, were dangerous and inhumane.
Even with the consultation of the other Dark Wizards of the Black Magic Tower, their only conclusions came out to be the same : Kim Jonghyun was dangerous.
Human sacrifice, hearts, Arcane Dark Magic. There was only a limited list of topics these 3 ingredients led to. And none of the results could be pretty if Kim Jonghyun was unhindered in his plans.
[Until Arbeth had been corrupted and turned into a Lich, the Wizard Guild had two twin books of arcane magic. The Grimoire and the Weiss. However, the Wizard Guild, after reading just a little bit of the book’s contents, determined they should never be interpreted further.]
[How come?]
[Because it was too dangerous. The magical knowledge contained within those two books, if interpreted, would bring great catastrophe since they were not meant for humans to ever use. Arbeth may have escaped with the Grimoire when he became corrupted, but even with all of his knowledge in Dark Magic, and several years living as an undead, could not interpret the magic contained within it.]
Lee Sungmin was not familiar with the names of the two books containing arcane magic.
Still, Scarlett’s attitude made him realize just how dangerous the situation truly was with Kim Jonghyun.
[Ms. Scarlett, do you believe that… the subjugation force will succeed?]
[Succeed…. we could do it. Actually, I don’t know. I think we have enough troops. The Murim Alliance, The Holy Church, The Magic Corps. We’ve even decided to recruit some of the most talented mercenaries from the Mercenary Guild. I’m joking, but with this much force, we could even catch a Dragon.]
At Scarlett’s words, Heoju laughed inside Lee Sungmin’s shared conscience.
[Catch a Dragon? What a load of nonsense. This kind of power and force? They wouldn’t even be capable of ripping its wings off.]
‘Is a Dragon really that strong?’
[I don’t mean to boast about them and say they were all that, but they were indeed much stronger than a measly bunch of humans.]
[You ended up being killed by humans, too, though.]
[That’s true, but…… Hmm. That’s strange to think back on it now. Why did I get hunted down by the humans in the first place?]
Lee Sungmin was only teasing him, but Heoju took it seriously.
Now that it had been brought up, he couldn’t remember why. It was almost as if he were purposefully avoiding even thinking about it deeply. Heoju sensed something might be off.
[That’s weird… I can’t remember why……is it because it was the moment of my death that I forced myself to not remember?]
Heoju himself, thought it was strange. For him, he never truly knew why he was put down by the humans or even how he had died. It didn’t make any sense at all to him. All he knew was that he was sealed. But he couldn’t remember how he had died.
Even a Dragon, a mysterious and supremely magical existence, was something that didn’t bother Heoju, and he felt strong enough to tangle with them. Yet somehow in the records, it was known that he was sealed by humans. How could humans, even the strongest of them all, fight on par with Dragons, let alone subdue him?
How did he die? Heoju recalled what Oslo had told him separately.
His death was unusual in many ways.
[If we have this many troops, it would only make sense to be able to take down Kim Jonghyun. Don’t you think so?]
[…. Maybe. I don’t know but I feel something is dangerous about it. Don’t you think so as well?]
[I know. Kim Jonghyun has always been unsettling for me, and although logically it makes sense that we could take him down with this much, I don’t know why I feel so nervous about it. I honestly still want nothing to do with it.]
[Then we can run away instead, right?]
Lee Sungmin looked at Scarlett with a strange expression on his face. If she felt nervous or that something was dangerous like he did, why didn’t she run away already?
Maybe it was because she had to do so in her honor as a Tower Master. When Lee Sungmin asked her if that was the case, Scarlett narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
[Honor? Don’t be so silly. I hate such cringe-worthy things like that. I don’t want to be killed for such a stupid reason!]
[Then why don’t you just run away with me?]
[I want to……! But I can’t run away. I swore an Oath to The Green Tower Master for a favor, and with it, he told me that he wanted to cash in on his Oath by having me join the subjugation force.]
[Why did you take such an Oath?]
[I needed some help on some magical research I had back then, but only the Green Tower Master could help me. In exchange for his help, I decided to do that old creep a favor one day. Damn it…of course I regret it.]
Scarlett grumbled and scratched her head. Of course, there was a desperate need for the help of the Green Tower Master’s knowledge at that time she had sworn the Oath.
She just felt full of regret.
After a light meal, Lee Sungmin and Scarlett left the restaurant. Currently, she and other Magic Tower Masters rented a lavish hotel in the city and were lodging themselves there.
“You said you were going to get some fresh air, and it’s already quite late.”
On the first floor of the inn, an old man in a spacious and long robe was sucking on a pipe.
He opened the door and smiled at Scarlett, who came in.
“I’m just late because I was meeting an old friend.”
[It’s the Green Tower Master.]
Scarlett sent a message to Lee Sungmin, answering the words of the Tower master. Lee Sungmin bowed his head toward the Green Tower Master.
“It’s an honor to meet you.”
“What glory? It’s an honor to meet a dying old man these days is it?”
“Why don’t you stop acting like a fucking creep and say something normal. Anyways, leave me be, I’m working on the magic research of immortality for you.”
Scarlett grumbled as she spoke to the Green Tower Master.
“Well, isn’t that just every man’s dream? To achieve immortality without dying or giving up one’s humanity? Heheh…”
“You’re freaking me out.”
Scarlett grabbed Lee Sungmin’s arm, trying to ignore the creepy Green Tower Master’s actions.
“Hey, there’s a remaining room, right? Thankfully, this friend of mine said he would help us out in the subjugation of Kim Jonghyun.”
“Your room must be quite spacious, so why don’t you share that instead?”
“It’s not like that you old creep.”
“Hahaha! You’re still young, so you’d better enjoy your youth a little bit more.”
“Please stop talking bullshit, I’ll fucking kill you. Just answer the question, do you have any spare rooms or not?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Lloyd?”
“…. I should have done that earlier.”
Scarlett grumbled and took Lee Sungmin upstairs.
The top floor of the five-story inn had the best rooms of the inn, and four of the Tower Masters, including Scarlett, and the head of the Magic Corps, were staying there.
Scarlett stood in front of Lloyd’s door and knocked on it.
“Who’s he?”
Lloyd looked at Lee Sungmin standing beside Scarlett and asked. Scarlett’s attitude toward Lloyd was calm and courteous, completely opposite to how she treated the Green tower Master.
Lloyd nodded when he heard the explanation from Scarlett about how Lee Sungmin was her acquaintance.
“There’re no rooms left though…… are you against sharing a room?”
“Do you know what rumors will spread if I share a room with a grown man that nobody knows?”
“If you don’t like it that much, I’ll try and ask the inn next door if they have any extra rooms. Is that okay?”
“I don’t care.”
Although he was acquainted with Lloyd, Lee Sungmin did not give Lloyd his true identity.
The main reason was because Lee Sungmin didn’t want to trouble Lloyd further with more problems than he could already handle, as Lloyd was tasked with a lot of things for the subjugation force details.
After leaving Lloyd’s room, Scarlett glanced at Lee Sungmin.
[Will it be okay?]
[What do you mean?]
[The inn next door where we’re heading to, is the inn where the Murim Alliance warriors and the warriors of the Muron Family are. Are you sure you’ll be alright with that?]
[It doesn’t matter. I don’t plan on getting in any trouble with them, and there’s no real way I can get caught unless I allow myself to be.]
Lee Sungmin briefly thought about camping outside the outskirts of the city, but it would draw too much attention to himself, so he decided against it.
It would be better to just stay calm in an inn, even if it was with a group of enemies that were hostile with his true identity.
It was unlikely they would arouse any suspicion to someone who was there to help, especially if the person was with the Red Tower Master.
There were quite a few rooms booked in the inn they went to. Most of them were for the Murim Alliance warriors and the Murong’s family heirs,
The Murong Family patriarch, Murong Dae, was staying in the inn along with the youngest heir, Murong Chae.
Although Murong Chae was only 15 years old, he had the best skills among other kids his age group. The Patriarch was no exception, as he was known to be as strong as the Namgung Family’s Patriarch, Namgung Baek.
In addition to them, they had brought 50 of their finest warriors along with them to the city of Edor.
‘And… there’s also the drunkard, Chigweol’
It was not only the Murong Family who led the forces from the Murim Alliance and their family here. Chigweol, now known as the ‘open drunkard’, was leading the forces here.
Lee Sungmin recalled the time he had met Chigweol in the dungeon before he had been called the ‘open drunkard.’
He didn’t have a negative impression of Chigweol, rather it was unfortunate that Chigweol had lost his arm and become an alcoholic. Yet, Chigweol had saved his friend, Baek Sogo, by forcing her to leave when he asked him to take her away from the dungeon for him.
He didn’t resent Chigweol for any reason, despite Chigweol displaying hostility on the behalf of his duty, being the leader of the forces here for the Murim Alliance.
It was thanks to him that his friend could live, and for that, Lee Sungmin was grateful.
Not only that, but Tang Ah-hui, from the Tang Clan, was here.
Lee Sungmin didn’t have any significant impression or actions to go off of when judging Tang Ah-hui. She was there when he was in the Forest of Temptation and when he had visited the Shaolin. Yet, the two of them had never talked or gotten acquainted with each other, so he didn’t know her that well.
‘I remember her pissing herself at the Forest of Temptation though.’
Lee Sungmin smirked at the so-called prestigious family heir, pissing herself, staining her dignity in the Forest of Temptation.
When Lee Sungmin entered the quarters of the inn, he could hear a cry and sounds of weapons in the courtyard, yet no fighting.
It seemed like a group of people were performing something. He was curious, but he didn’t feel the need to go and see it for himself.
“I’ve heard from the Gold Tower Master.”
As Lee Sungmin entered the hall on the first floor of the inn, a middle-aged man approached him and spoke, as if he had been waiting for Lee Sungmin, to arrive.
The martial uniform the man was wearing, was closer to clothes that one would wear at a funeral rather than in preparation for the oncoming subjugation. Lee Sungmin examined the clothes and the embroidery that had the Murong Family’s insignia stitched on.
Lee Sungmin measured his level by looking at the man’s internal energy levels within his dantian.
‘Namgung Baek is stronger than him.’
It was different from the public’s perception of his level. Lee Sungmin bowed his head.
“It’s an honor to meet the Sword of Purity from the Murong Family.”
“You’ve completely hidden your level.”
Murong Dae, the Patriarch of the Murong Family, mumbled as he stared at Lee Sungmin.
“I can’t see through your level. You’re a… at the threshold between the Peak Realm and Transcendence. Do you belong to the Murim Alliance?”
“I’m just a wandering adventurer.”
“Is that so?”
Muron Dae gazed deeply at Lee Sungmin with admiration.
He couldn’t quite grasp the level of Lee Sungmin, but he could to some extent. However, that was only to a certain degree as Lee Sungmin limited what his internal energy levels would indicate.
Murong Dae nodded and spoke,
“If you have a chance someday, let’s try and have a spar together.”
“It’s an honor.”
Murong Dae seemed to have put aside his suspicion of Lee Sungmin’s mysterious level.
Lee Sungmin bowed his head once again after receiving the room key from Murong Dae.
Lee Sungmin’s room was upstairs. While walking up the stairs, Lee Sungmin encountered a man in shabby clothes.
The man had only one arm.
“Good evening.”
The man showed his teeth and laughed as he greeted Lee Sungmin warmly.
It was the ‘open drunkard’, Chigweol.