Chapter 74: The Great Reunion

“Ark!”

“Father!”

Ark, who had used the teleportation scroll last, finally arrived at the designated location.

Seeing Ark appear, Evan, who had been trembling with anxiety, let out a sigh of relief and hugged Ark tightly.

“Are you alright? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

“Yes, I’m fine! But what about Sir Levan…?!”

Ark, unable to see Levan, could not hide his uneasy expression.

But only for a moment.

Before long, a brilliant light flashed and Levan also revealed himself.

“Sir Levan!”

As soon as Levan appeared, Ark was the first to rush out and greet him.

Levan removed his mask and spoke.

“Is everyone safe? No one’s hurt?”

“Yes! Thanks to you, Sir Levan! But what on earth just happened?”

After checking on Levan’s safety, Ark and the other Masterials began to barrage him with questions about the sudden turn of events.

Levan held up both palms and said,

“Now, now, let’s all calm down. I’ll explain everything. But before I get into it, there are some people I’d like to introduce to you.”

“People you want to introduce?”

“They should be about here… Just a moment.”

The place where Levan and the Masterials were was extremely dark, lit only by a single oil lamp.

So before explaining further, Levan fumbled along the wall and pulled a rope attached to it.

Bang!

A place everyone thought was just an ordinary wall swung wide open, flooding the room with sunlight.

The sudden sunlight made the Masterials squint and lose their composure.

That’s when it happened.

“Evan?”

“Huh?”

A familiar voice called Evan’s name.

Evan turned his gaze in the direction of the voice.

Through the dazzling sunlight, he could make out countless dark silhouettes that had yet to adjust to the brightness.

But soon, as his eyes grew accustomed, the figures regained their color.

And Evan felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

“Pa—Pascal…?”

“It’s really you, isn’t it? Evan, is it really you…?”

“Ledderer!”

“Lang!”

And that was just the beginning.

Names started flying back and forth from all directions.

The owners of those names were all Masterials.

The ones who appeared along with the sunlight were also Masterials.

They were other Masterials who had remained behind at Gald Castle.

“What… what is going on…?”

To see people he’d thought he’d never meet again calling his name before his very eyes, Evan could only stand there dazed.

Seeing his expression, Levan spoke.

“I apologize for bringing everyone here without warning, but we should at least greet one another, don’t you think? Welcome. This isn’t Gald Castle—you’re now in the Kingdom of Pesna.”

“The Kingdom of Pesna…?”

“Yes. And every Masterial you see before you also agreed to be brought here. In other words, all Masterials previously affiliated with Gald Castle are now here in the Kingdom of Pesna.”

“Huh, huh?”

“Is… is that even possible?”

“My goodness…”

“I can’t believe something like this could happen…”

The Masterials, wearing expressions similar to Evan’s, were all shocked by Levan’s kind explanation.

It was only natural—this was an unbelievable event for all of them.

Levan spoke.

“Sir Evan?”

“Y—Yes?”

“First of all, let me apologize for bringing you all here unilaterally. But under the circumstances, there was simply no other way.”

“Then… don’t tell me, the Gray Trolls—did you let them loose?”

“No, that really was a coincidence. Originally, I planned to bring you here by other means, but the sudden appearance of the Gray Trolls forced my hand. But could you take a look at this?”

Levan held out two sheets of paper to Evan.

The papers were assassination request contracts made between Repel and Black Hand.

“They’re assassination contracts. The Gald Tower Master, Repel, commissioned the assassin group Black Hand to kill you all. Of course, I’m included among the targets.”

“How did you…?”

“I took them from the assassins who came to kill me. No less than six of them attacked me. I barely managed to escape with my life.”

“What! Is that true…!”

Some of the Masterials, seeing the assassination request, felt their legs go weak and sat down where they stood.

Pascal, seeing this, spoke.

“We saw these contracts as well. That’s why we could no longer stand with the Central Tower Council. We decided to accept this man’s proposal.”

“So that’s how it was…?”

“That’s right. And… I’m sorry, my friends, that I couldn’t stand with you to the very end.”

Pascal.

He was the Masterial who changed his stance at the end of the royal trial—a dear friend to Evan, Ledderer, and Lang.

When Pascal apologized and bowed his head, the other Masterials who had turned away also bowed with him.

“Forgive our disgrace.”

“Hahaha…”

Separation.

And reunion.

There was no anger left between them.

Instead, there was only warm encouragement—an understanding of each other’s hardships and comfort for each other’s pain.

Unexpectedly reunited in an unforeseen place, the two groups of Masterials could once again unite their resolve, thanks to Levan.

At that moment—

“Looks like this is the perfect time for me to make my entrance.”

While everyone was embracing and shedding tears of reunion, a young man with his hands behind his back appeared.

It was Evergran, King of Pesna.

“That man is…?”

At Evergran’s appearance, Evan asked. Levan answered kindly.

“Oh, he’s the king of this country. And my dearest friend.”

“Y—Yes?”

“Welcome. I am Evergran Finriver, King of Pesna.”

Introduced as the king, Evergran’s presence made the Masterials hastily fall to their knees, tears of reunion still wet on their faces.

Seeing this, Evergran smiled familiarly and spoke.

“Please, all of you, raise your heads. I welcome you all, but there are those among you who have not yet decided whether to immigrate here. So I believe it’s still too soon for me to receive your formal respect.”

“N—no! Just being accepted here, when we have nowhere else to go, is more than enough… how could we not bow…!”

“Hm? Then does this mean that everyone here has agreed to settle in Pesna and become my people?”

At Evergran’s question, Evan glanced around.

Everyone’s faces were filled with determination.

Confirming their expressions, Evan nodded firmly on their behalf, then quietly knelt and bowed.

“We are eternally grateful, Your Majesty.”

“We are eternally grateful, Your Majesty.”

As Evan bowed, all the Masterials followed suit, offering their respects to Evergran.

All the craftsmen, united in heart and will, swore loyalty to their king.

It was a truly moving sight.

[‘Quest: Freedom to Faith’ has been completed.]

[Quest rewards will be granted.]

[You have gained experience points.]

It was then.

The Epic Quest, ‘Freedom to Faith,’ was now complete.

Levan approached Evergran and whispered quietly in his ear.

“Then I’ll leave things here to you. I still have some matters to take care of.”

“Leave it to me. I’ll have everything sorted by the time you return.”

“Then I’m counting on you, Evergran.”

“Don’t worry, just go.”

What a reliable friend.

Entrusting the aftermath to Evergran, Levan tore another teleportation scroll.

His destination: Gald Castle.

The reason for returning to Gald Castle was simple.

There were still some enemies Levan had yet to deal with.

A bright light enveloped Levan.

***

“What did you say?”

“Uh, that, um…”

Prison of the Swamp.

Cale shrank back as Wimalon pressed him for a report.

“So out of 221 prisoners, there are 6 dead, 42 injured, but a staggering 20 missing?”

“Y—yes, sir…”

“And all 20 missing are Masterials?”

“Y—yes…”

“Do you seriously think that makes sense!!”

“Hiiik!”

Even after going over it again, the statistics were utterly absurd, and Wimalon finally exploded.

It made no sense that the Gray Troll incident had left 20 missing—especially since all 20 were Masterials.

‘What on earth am I supposed to do about this?’

Masterials, as individuals, were marked with red tags and given special attention by the kingdom.

And now, not just one or two, but all 20 had vanished. This was an unmistakable state of emergency.

But no matter how much he tried to investigate their whereabouts, Wimalon couldn’t find a single clue.

Desperate for promotion, Wimalon had no choice but to make a decision.

“Cale.”

“Yes, Wimalon, Warden.”

“I’m correcting the record.”

“Sir?”

“Write this down.”

“Ah, yes, sir!”

“In the recent Gray Troll attack, there were 42 injured.”

“In the recent Gray Troll attack, 42 injured…”

“And 26 dead.”

“26 dead… Wait, what?”

“In the recent Gray Troll attack, there are no missing. All Masterials who disappeared are to be listed as killed by Gray Trolls.”

“B—but…!”

“What? Is there a problem?”

“N—no, nothing at all…!”

“That’s settled. The Gray Trolls caused chaos, and in the confusion, they devoured the Masterials. As for why those particular ones were eaten… That’s it! They were targeted for always sticking together.”

“…Understood.”

“When you finish the report, bring it to me for review.”

“Yes, Wimalon, Warden.”

A man blinded by his lust for promotion—Wimalon.

Because of him, Ark and the other 20 Masterials were now officially listed as dead.

Wimalon spoke.

“By the way, have you found that man?”

“That man…? Do you mean the man in the animal mask who defeated the Gray Trolls?”

“That’s the one.”

“I’m sorry. Like the Masterials, he also remains missing.”

“Keep searching. Never mind a commendation, I still don’t understand why he insulted me like that.”

“Yes, sir!”

With that, Cale hurriedly left the warden’s office.

***

‘What in the world is going on?’

The highest floor of Gald Tower.

There, the tower master, Repel, was anxiously biting his nails.

Because as soon as the Black Hand he’d hired disappeared, all the Masterials residing in the kingdom vanished as well.

That wasn’t all.

He’d secretly checked the whereabouts of the Masterials imprisoned in the Prison of the Swamp, just in case. As he feared, every single one of them had died in the sudden Gray Troll attack.

What a ridiculous coincidence.

That’s why Repel was trembling with anxiety.

He didn’t believe the string of events happening across the kingdom were merely coincidence.

‘War Mage! I’m sure of it! It has to be his doing!’

Nothing else made sense.

But why?

Repel could only feel more uneasy, unable to fathom the War Mage’s motives.

Just then—

Bang!

Crack!!

Boom!!

A series of loud crashes echoed from below.

What started as a faint rumble soon sounded like it was coming from right beneath his feet.

Startled by the sudden noise, Repel hastily grabbed his wand.

At that moment—

Knock knock—

“W-who is it!”

Boom!!

With his shout, the door exploded open.

As the dust settled, a man emerged from the cloud.

It was Levan.

Levan strode in confidently, Peron the Vice Tower Master slung over his shoulder.

Levan spoke.

“So you’re Repel?”

“Y—you!”

“Sending assassins after me, are you? Didn’t I tell you? The next time, I’d be coming for your head. Today is that day.”

“Y—you madman!”

“Trying to run? Hold!”

[Hold has been activated.]

Snap—!!

Levan, having already memorized the spell, cast Hold and bound Repel in place.

Then he tossed Peron off his shoulder onto the floor and spoke.

“Let’s see who’s stronger—you or me. The God of Duels will be the judge. Right, God of Duels?”

“Correct!”

“Eeeeeek!!”

In response to Levan’s question, the God of Duels cheerfully appeared, and upon seeing the god, Repel fainted on the spot—

Still standing, held in place by the spell.