Chapter 53: Ominous Signs (3)

Jewel Tower.  

Narrowly, it refers to the massive structure built by wizards, and broadly, it denotes the vast plains stretching hundreds of kilometers around the tower.

To the south lies the Frien Empire, and to the west, the Solerion Theocracy.

Despite lacking almost all the elements necessary to be considered a proper nation, it was strangely treated as one.  

Its history dates back at least several hundred years.

A group of wizards seeking higher levels of magic sought guidance from the High Elves living in the World Tree Forest but were expelled for breaking their rules.

They wandered south of the World Tree Forest and eventually settled there.  

There were many reasons they chose not to return home but to settle there, the greatest was the existence of the Labyrinth.

Beneath the land south of the World Tree lay an immense, unfathomably large Labyrinth.

The wizards discovered that within the Labyrinth slept countless rare resources alongside numerous dangerous monsters.

They agreed to use the Labyrinth to advance magic.

The tower they built became the Jewel Tower.  

Originally established with the pure intent of research and magical development, that purity could not last forever.

Most resources obtained from the Labyrinth existed only within it.

Monopoly over these resources became monopoly over wealth, naturally causing the Jewel Tower’s influence to grow excessively across the continent.

Among the great powers, the fame of the Jewel Tower rivaled that of the Frien Empire and the Illium Kingdom.  

However, not every nation was friendly toward the Jewel Tower.

The most famous rivalry was with the Solerion Theocracy, which shared a border to the west.  

As its name suggests, Solerion was the continent’s only theocratic state devoted to the sun god Solatio.

At its height, all nations on the continent followed the sun god’s doctrine, and Solerion was called the heart of the world.

Even now, when religious skepticism has spread across the continent and religion’s influence has greatly waned, no one is unaware of its name.  

The problem was that the Theocracy had consistently persecuted wizards from long ago.

The doctrine of the sun god saw wizards as servants of demons, and magic itself as a blasphemous forbidden art created by those demons to tempt and destroy humanity.

This view was independent of a wizard’s personal nature; therefore, all wizards were to be purified by fire according to the doctrine.  

Coincidentally, as the wizards built the Jewel Tower and rapidly gained power, the Theocracy began to decline.

While the Theocracy feared that attacks on the Jewel Tower might anger the High Elves, the balance of power had already reversed.

The Jewel Tower, holding power, actively spread religious skepticism and demonstrated the utility of magic, whereas the Theocracy, resting on generations of established authority, responded sluggishly.  

Some questioned this historical flow.

Why did the Theocracy respond so weakly even when their survival was at stake?

And why, after gaining power, did the Jewel Tower not invade but leave the Theocracy alone?  

No clear answers emerged, and time kept moving forward.  

—

“Damn it. Those crazy bastards are at it again.”  

Delos Rohan, a senior-level mage unlucky enough to be assigned to border patrol duty for a week by lottery, let out a long sigh as he looked at a group camped just beyond the border.  

“They’ve been there three days already… Shouldn’t we at least fire warning shots to drive them off? I think a field decision like that would be fine.”  

“What did you say? A field decision? If the elders catch wind of you doing something rash, you’ll be the one taking the blame.”  

“Uh… hehe.”  

“Don’t laugh. Before you go firing warning shots at those faces.”  

Beyond the border, on the territory of the Solerion Theocracy, soldiers armed with longbows openly shot arrows toward the Jewel Tower.

It was a strong provocation where a local skirmish could easily break out on the spot, but the border mages merely glared in displeasure while maintaining magical shield barriers to block the arrows.  

Officially, it was known that the Jewel Tower and the Theocracy were on bad terms, but the reality was more complicated.  

Magic development required much trial, error, effort, and time.

When materials from the Labyrinth were insufficient, the Jewel Tower mainly obtained needed materials from the Theocracy.

In exchange, the Theocracy gained economic benefits from trading these Labyrinth resources.

Although they outwardly kept each other in check, internally, they tacitly exploited one another based on costs and benefits.

In some ways, it was one of the closest relationships among nations.  

However, a minor problem at the Jewel Tower had disrupted resource supply, breaking this balance.

The signs had appeared recently, and now the situation had surfaced.  

“Since we can’t know what’s happening inside the Labyrinth here… They say it’s nothing serious, but I hope this gets resolved soon.”  

Facing east toward the Jewel Tower, Delos Rohan muttered with a mixture of emotions, praying for peaceful days to return quickly.  

***

After entering the territory of the Jewel Tower and resting at the first village, Zion and his group reviewed their plans.  

It was confirmed that the magic used to control monsters by Benya in Wecos was definitely created at the Jewel Tower.

Their goal was to precisely identify the cause that allowed such magic to be developed and stop all related research.

Confronting them directly would yield no proper answers, so they decided first to gather information by visiting the surrounding areas.  

[Even though ordinary civilians who aren’t wizards probably won’t know much, doing nothing won’t help.]

[Sometimes rumors floating among civilians can surprisingly be helpful, brother. We need to collect and analyze information carefully to find the truth.]

[Wouldn’t it be faster to just capture someone involved and interrogate them until they confess?]  

[Yumin, I told you to relax, but that doesn’t mean cross the line, okay?]

[If it were Naia, she probably would have done that… But it’s certain that the Jewel Tower wizards did something bad.]  

[…That’s true. I can’t argue with that.]  

As Frey said, gathering information wasn’t easy.

The first village they visited was too far from the Jewel Tower, and they knew nothing about its situation.

The second village was no different.

Only after striking out in the third and fourth villages did they finally receive plausible information at the fifth village.

However, it wasn’t what they expected.  

“You say monsters are overflowing?”  

“I don’t know the details exactly… but recently a merchant from a village near the tower said so. The wizards try to keep it quiet, saying it’s nothing, but it’s actually a huge mess. People nearby can’t even sleep properly, never knowing when monsters will spill out of the Labyrinth.”  

Though unexpected, it was useful information.

Above all, it reminded them of the incident in Kornika.

Back then, Benya had tried to control monsters with magic but lost control due to the arrival of Pride, causing a disaster with monsters rampaging in the city center.

The wizards here might be in a similar situation.  

“We can’t just take this at face value… Let’s visit a few more villages to gather more info. If similar reports keep coming, we can consider it true.”  

[I agree.]

“Then let’s do that. But we should hurry. If monsters are really overflowing from the Labyrinth, the longer we wait, the more people will suffer.”  

The carriage raced fiercely across the plains.

After a week of gathering more information, they judged the rumors likely true.  

“Hey, did you hear? The Theocracy guys caused a ruckus again at the border.”  

The real problem was that another rumor had started circulating—one they couldn’t ignore.  

“Shh! Be careful what you say! You know the mages crack down hard if they even hear talk about the Theocracy.”  

“What, do mages have ears like ghosts? How would they know if we quietly talk among ourselves? Besides, isn’t your son working as a carpenter in a village near the border? Aren’t you worried?”  

“You damn fool. Of course I’m worried! I’m just keeping quiet so the mages don’t notice! What are you starting this fight for?”  

That night, gathered in their lodging, the group organized the information each had collected.  

[Though everyone’s hesitant to speak out of fear of the crackdown, it seems this has been going on openly for quite some time.]  

[To be exact, the Theocracy is stirring up trouble, and the Jewel Tower is ignoring it to avoid unnecessary conflict.]  

[Well, it’s ridiculous to cause a fuss with just bows and spears in front of mages.]  

[But it’s the Theocracy, right? In novels, such nations usually use white magic well. Don’t they have anything like that?]  

[I don’t know. Zion will explain later.]  

Ignoring the idle chatter of the awakened ones, Zion offered his thoughts, “Is there a chance this could escalate into war?”  

[I can’t say there’s no chance. But since we haven’t witnessed anything firsthand and don’t know exactly how bad the relations are between the Theocracy and the Jewel Tower…]  

“If we could scout a bit, we could find out for sure. It won’t take long. If necessary, I’ll go.”  

At Soares’s offer, Zion hesitated.

He desperately wanted to prevent a war if possible, but first, solving the matter at the Jewel Tower was urgent.

After barely coming to a decision, Zion shook his head and set their course.  

“I think it’s important to go to the Jewel Tower to verify the truth about the overflowing monsters in the Labyrinth and the monster-controlling magic. As for scouting… if the border conflict intensifies, then we can reconsider.”  

Yuria and Soares agreed.

War was a political matter tangled with complex interests, something a single individual couldn’t stop.

Even if stopped once, war would never disappear from the world.

Extremes aside, as long as humans exist, form nations, and live, war can happen anytime, anywhere.  

“Everyone’s worked hard until now. Starting tomorrow, let’s head straight for the Jewel Tower.” Zion naturally wrapped up the meeting.

After light goodbyes, they parted for their rooms and resumed their journey toward the Jewel Tower early the next dawn.