Chapter 71 — Return

1

(TL Note: If you’ve read the novel before I edited it, I misgendered Lupera as a woman. Lupera is actually a man, as stated in this chapter. Sorry, I should have avoided using a gender instead of assuming it.)

Manus was alone, investigating the tower.

Thanks to Black and White’s active cooperation, he was able to figure out where Lupera was.

It was on a lower floor than expected, and he thought it wouldn’t take long.

Three days passed like that.

‘Even with knowledge, this is pure grunt work. There’s nothing I can do about it.’

As the game became reality, much of this type of strategy became useless.

Human thoughts are full of variables.

If Lupera had a change of heart and moved, Manus would have to start searching from scratch.

He thoroughly searched the tower, collecting mana crystals while training Albion.

But today, too, there was no harvest.

Except for the cotton ball becoming more like cotton candy, it was all in vain.

“I didn’t expect it to take this long.”

Soon, he would have to start attending the academy.

Missing classes wasn’t just about losing attendance points.

He could miss out on course content and fall out of favor with the professors.

In fact, he had to be even more careful because he bore the Caesar name.

The more one has and the more attention one receives, the more people there are who envy and jealousy.

There would be plenty of people waiting for an opportunity.

‘I should wrap this up.’

Manus decided to end his search and return.

He wondered what he would say to the children.

Though unlikely, they too were human and would probably be disappointed.

He thought it might be time to give up on the notion of doing something alone.

Working together with others was still a difficult task for him.

Even in his past life, he had rarely solved problems by joining forces with others.

Returning to Black and White’s room:

“There were no results.”

“That’s strange. There shouldn’t be anyone who can escape our eyes.”

White furrowed her brow deeply.

Through their knowledge and abilities, they could sense ‘outside entities’ in the tower.

Tracking someone should have been a simple task.

Or so they thought.

This was the first time they had actually tested its performance, and it proved to be completely unreliable.

White let out a deep sigh.

“Hah-. I guess we’ve really been here for too long.”

“Indeed. It seems it’s time to adjust the device.”

They spoke while looking at a giant disc.

It seemed to be used for detecting outside entities, resembling a map of the universe.

This was a description that hadn’t appeared in the original work.

Manus, curious and with a spark of insight, asked:

“Have there been similar incidents in the past? I’ve read such records from outside.”

“Hmm-. To be honest, it’s possible. But we don’t really know.”

“Until you all appeared, there was no one who affected the Ziggurat. So, we had nothing to do.”

Black scratched his head as he spoke.

In short, it was a case of ‘we don’t know because we didn’t pay attention since there was nothing to worry about.’

White was slightly turning her head, pretending not to listen.

Manus could understand to some extent.

They weren’t human, nor did they particularly care about humans.

He simply nodded, concluding his inquiry.

“Anyway, we’ll help as much as we can for now. Lupera, was it? We’ll try to locate him by the time you return.”

“Understood. Take your time with the board games.”

“Hehe, thank you.”

Black smiled gently as he looked at the board games scattered on the table.

He had really bought a lot.

It was enough to keep them entertained for years.

This is where Manus’s sense shone through.

He had bought games full of variables.

Games of psychological warfare, brain teasers, and those with plenty of random elements.

These were bundles of variables that even Black’s eyes couldn’t predict.

“Just let me know anytime. I’ll teach you everything I know.”

“I’ll come to learn magic soon.”

“There’s more than just black magic, so come anytime.”

White grinned and waved her hand.

Manus nodded and turned to leave for the real world.

After he left, the two looked at each other and let out small sighs.

“How many years has it been?”

“Well… I think it’s been about 50 years.”

“That girl he brought seems useful too.”

Black nodded.

Honestly, it was quite surprising.

It was rare for such tremendous talents to appear consecutively in one era.

At least, it had been that way in the time these two beings had lived.

It was common for talents to emerge gradually over a generation, 30-40 years.

But there had rarely been such an explosion of talent in the same generation.

“It seems change is truly coming.”

“Hah-. How much longer do we have to stay here, really?”

“Let’s wait a bit longer. Perhaps-.”

Black visualized the image forming in his mind.

Young men and women coming to save them.

He couldn’t see who they were, as their backs were turned, but-.

“I have a feeling we might be able to leave this place soon.”

“Hehe, really? Are we going to be able to savor freedom again?”

Black smiled silently.

While it was uncertain if they would find freedom as she said, the possibility wasn’t entirely out of reach.

White, who had always been filled with discontent, began to show enthusiasm.

She strode forward, beginning to scan the tower again.

Just as her passion seemed to reignite, the dormant world was about to change.

Black felt utterly miserable about the reality of being trapped in this stifling place.

2

Manus woke up early and used mana to dispel his fatigue.

To visit the chairman’s office before class, he had to prepare at the crack of dawn.

It reminded him of the mornings when he used to work for a salary.

A face that always felt awkward to see.

If he had lived with this face in his past life, how would he have felt?

Ah well-.

The more he thought about the past, the more miserable he felt.

“Let’s go.”

Now, he just had to enjoy this life as it was.

Perhaps because it was a game developed in South Korea, the neatly arranged shoes at the entrance were quite impressive.

He couldn’t help but appreciate such details.

With his shoes on, his uniform was complete.

Click, as he opened the door, a corridor bathed in soft light appeared.

The red carpet gently muffled the noise, and the classic paintings visible with each step reminded him that this was indeed a fantasy world.

“-You’re going to school early too, I see.”

“…”

Suddenly, his steps halted at the voice from behind.

No, it was a voice that shouldn’t have been there.

He slowly turned around.

There stood a man with neatly cut red hair.

Wearing a tidy school uniform and holding a magic wand in one hand.

It was certainly a familiar face.

“Oh, you do remember me, right?”

“-Lupera.”

“You do remember. I thought you might not know since you seem to have little interest in others.”

“You were absent for quite a while.”

Suppressing the eerie feeling, he responded calmly.

Lupera laughed and continued speaking.

Manus wanted to grab the collar of the man speaking so nonchalantly, but he had to be cautious.

“Ah, I just went back home for a bit. My mother was unwell-.”

“I see.”

A sense of dissonance.

Feeling disconnected from reality, Manus started walking again.

Lupera, too, said nothing more and stepped into the magic elevator.

How to explain this feeling?

He had prided himself on knowing everything.

He had cleared this game dozens, hundreds of times.

Unlike him, those living here had the strength to overcome crises.

Perhaps that’s why he had been arrogant.

Believing he could do anything after being reincarnated as the strongest character.

‘This can’t be a dream.’

Clench-.

He clenched his fist.

The vivid sensation at his fingertips proved this wasn’t a dream.

Lupera.

“-Excuse me.”

“What is it?”

His voice came out stiff, filled with wariness.

Lupera flinched, surprised by the aggressive response.

Why was it?

Every action he took felt like an act.

“Could I perhaps borrow your class notes? I’d like to ask Alano, but I’m worried about causing misunderstandings…”

“I don’t have any either.”

“I— I see. Understood.”

For a moment, Manus saw a crack in Lupera’s expression.

It was brief, but certainly…

“As expected of a Caesar, I guess you don’t need things like notes.”

“No.”

Manus looked directly at Lupera.

He saw his eyes waver for a moment, but then they stared right back at him.

There’s an old saying.

Not all weak people are good.

The atmosphere emanating from Lupera now reminded him of that very sentence.

He had seen many like this before.

‘I wish it didn’t remind me of the old days.’

Pretending to be kind and good.

The type who acts weak, innocent, and troubled while engaging in political maneuvers.

In the past, he might have just endured it due to lack of power.

But now, it’s different.

Bearing the Caesar name, he couldn’t tolerate showing weakness to anyone.

That’s why he acts.

To devour the weak and ensure they never climb up again.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Ah, no-.”

“Since when were we close enough to chat?”

“…”

“Besides, you and I take completely different classes.”

Ah-.

Lupera nodded.

Then he bowed his head and apologized.

“S-Sorry. I just got carried away because I was glad to see you…”

“I haven’t built any relationships that I should be glad about.”

If they’re going to engage in behind-the-scenes maneuvering anyway.

If they’re going to badmouth him anyway.

He already knew it was much better to confront it head-on.

Sometimes being a bit, or rather, very eccentric makes life easier, as he had seen with his own eyes.

The door opened.

With a sound breaking the silence, the elevator doors opened.

“Go ahead. The student council president was worried. Report to her properly.”

“Ah, y-yes-.”

The sound of footsteps faded away.

Lupera let out a small sigh.

Once, twice.

He tried to move, but his trembling legs still wouldn’t calm down.

Caesar Manus.

A genius taking third-year classes.

Grind-.

He gritted his teeth in frustration.

It felt like an insurmountably high wall.

‘How am I supposed to break through something like that?’

It’s easy to say.

Perhaps it was because he had opened his eyes to his own slight strength.

He realized how high Manus had climbed, and how difficult it would be to reach that level.

He wondered if he could ever climb that high.

But he wouldn’t give up.

Now that he had a glimmer of possibility, he wasn’t about to entertain the idea of giving up.

He watched the back of that irritating head as he walked away.

‘First, let’s focus on what needs to be done.’

Putting the nobles in their place would come later.

Lupera hurried his steps to complete the task she had mentioned.

–TL Notes–
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