Chapter 128
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 128
"Woof, woof!"
White Dog glanced at me cautiously.
I pushed another stack of scrolls toward him while pointing at the corpses of magical beasts scattered around us.
"If you don't want to end up like that, you'd better listen to me."
After the threat, I even flashed him a smile.
"Woof, woof!"
And true to form, the dog was quick-witted and clever, just like Namia Loapi of old. He sniffed urgently, then immediately crouched down.
"Ah, you want a ride? Fine. You've got good instincts."
I climbed onto the massive dog at once.
My first impression hadn't been great, given how he'd tried to deceive me by playing dead.
But the moment he grasped the hierarchy between us, he listened well and showed such keen awareness that it was almost like....
'Like Kibon.'
The moment his name crossed my mind, my heart ached.
Throughout my life, Kibon was the only person I'd felt truly comfortable with.
That comfort had gradually transformed into affection, and affection had blossomed into something that made my heart flutter.
He was the first person precious to me besides Huan Loapi Sr.
'I hope you're not sick on the day of the Saint Kairo Banquet.'
I nestled into the dog's soft fur and let my thoughts wander.
'I wish we could have danced together at least once....'
Kibon probably would have danced beautifully.
'And I still have so many meal vouchers left unused....'
Crown Prince Kiaros had given me plenty of meal vouchers, and many remained. I missed the way Kibon would calmly say "next time, let's go here" as if they were all his own.
'Or maybe we could have taken another walk through the Imperial Palace....'
The Imperial Palace had many beautifully decorated places scattered throughout.
But since it was essentially a stranger's house to both Kibon and me, it felt awkward to suggest wandering around aimlessly.
'There's so much we never got to do together.'
When I thought about it, most of my memories were of working him to death in the office.
Even amid the fleeting glances we exchanged within that office, he remained so composed....
'I thought he'd always be by my side.'
He was only a three-month intern, a foreigner with poor command of the Empire's language, yet I felt that if I merely said "don't go," he would never leave me.
That's why I was never desperate about anything. I thought we had all the time in the world.
'But then again.... Kibon was always by my side. It was I who left.'
Even after coming to the Imperial Palace, he would rush to me the moment I tugged the signal cord.
Imagining that sight, tears welled up slightly in my eyes.
"Hey."
So I whispered to the White Dog carrying me.
"Your name is...."
"Woof, woof!"
"Let's call you Kibon."
There was no reason to be confused.
After all, I would never see Kibon again.
"Woof, woof!"
"That's right, Kibon. Let's go!"
I stroked the back of Kibon's neck, swallowing back my tears, and forced my voice to sound more cheerful than I felt.
"I'll take care of all the monsters blocking our path!"
And so we began racing through the Maze at an incredible speed.
There were monsters blocking our way, but it didn't matter.
"Activate!"
"Screeeeeech!"
With attack scrolls, everything could be solved.
"Kibon, if it gets too far, don't turn back. Just destroy straight through the Maze walls."
"Woof, woof, woof!"
With firework scrolls used skillfully, even the Maze walls could be shattered.
It wasn't for nothing that the Gaejo Faction had once tried to use fireworks to cause casualties.
"Let's keep doing well from here on out, Kibon."
This dog—he hadn't chosen to become an experimental subject.
He'd probably just been caught while passing by and ended up like this.
Looking at him, he was cute and quite intelligent.
'Under different circumstances, he might have become a beloved pet.'
Or perhaps he'd been forcibly separated from his original owner.
I felt an unexpected kinship with him.
I hadn't chosen this either. I too had been forcibly separated from someone I wanted to be with.
"Fellow experimental subjects..."
Kibon stared at me intently before barking once more.
* * *
The deeper we advanced toward the Temple's center, the more monsters roamed the Maze.
It also meant the Tower Master's pace was slowing down.
The Tower Master moved carefully, using an invisibility scroll.
'This requires far more mana than I anticipated...'
There was a reason invisibility scrolls hadn't been commercialized.
Ordinary mana reserves couldn't sustain them. Only someone of the Tower Master's caliber could hide their body for even a few minutes.
'I wonder if I can hold out until I reach the Temple's interior...'
It was as he cautiously moved forward.
Distant explosions began echoing—boom, boom, boom, boom.
'What... what is that?'
The Tower Master pressed himself against a wall covered in ancient script in surprise.
The explosions that had been coming from far away were drawing steadily closer.
Each boom was followed by the agonized screams of monsters—screeeech.
'It's heading toward me?'
The Tower Master swallowed hard.
The sound grew louder and louder.
As if the destination were me myself....
Cold sweat broke out unbidden. It was the moment I decided I had to run.
"Screeeeeech!"
The monsters lurking nearby collapsed in an instant.
With a tremendous crash, one of the Mazes crumbled.
The Tower Master's jaw dropped in shock.
Floating in the air was a magic circle.
'This can't be happening!'
The Tower Master felt dizzy and pressed my forehead.
At this moment, there was only one thing I could think of.
'A monster using scrolls! How many experiments has the Gaejo Faction conducted?'
I hadn't passed along information about the Reconstruction Faction Headquarters to Crown Prince Kiaros.
It was because I was worried about Aran and my son-in-law inside.
But if there were monsters using scrolls... wouldn't I just need to hand this over to the Imperial Servants and destroy everything?
'Don't come to your senses! Don't worry about conscience! Act irrationally! Think only of my blood relatives!'
The Tower Master quickly composed myself.
After slapping my own cheek once, I used an invisibility scroll again.
It was when I was about to pretend I knew nothing and enter quickly.
"Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof!"
A large dog's barking began.
The Tower Master immediately crouched down and lay flat. Since I had used an invisibility scroll, my form wouldn't be visible.
'Just pass by... hurry and just pass by....'
But the dog's barking from above didn't stop.
As if saying "it's right here," the dog continued barking persistently.
Only the large paws of the dog circling around the Tower Master came into view.
'What is this? A monster that hunts intruders?'
Meanwhile, my mana was reaching its limit.
I had been using invisibility scrolls continuously without time to recover mana.
At this rate, my form would gradually become visible, but I couldn't move because that large dog wouldn't leave.
That was when it happened.
"Kibon? Why are you hovering around here...."
A slow yet precise voice was heard.
"There's no one here...."
A frail voice trembled, mixed with sobs.
"Could it be... could it be that this is... the Tower Master's last moment?"
"Woof woof woof!"
"...Really?"
"Woof woof!"
"You're not messing with me, are you? Tell me you're not."
"Screeeech!"
Then came the sound of something heavy dropping to the ground as the voice's owner leaped down.
The Tower Master, who had been pressing himself flat against the floor, furrowed his brow and tilted his head in confusion.
"...Ugh... Ugh-ugh... Ugh-ugh-ugh...."
A sobbing sound echoed from nearby.
"This can't be... I came as fast as I... as fast as I possibly could...."
Only then did the Tower Master realize who the voice belonged to.
That voice was....
"Ugh-ugh, sob... It seems this is the central area with many monsters around... You must have fought valiantly until the very end...."
It was Namia Loapi!
The Tower Master was about to rise and reveal his presence when——
Just then, his mana ran out, and his body began to shimmer back into visibility.
'No! This posture is far too undignified!'
Here I was, pressed flat against the floor in a defensive crouch!
And Namia Loapi was convinced I had 'fought valiantly until the end'!
The last time we'd met, I was grappling with the Empress, showing off my muscles in front of her.
Compared to that moment, this position was utterly pathetic. And then——
"No, Tower Master! Tower Masterrrr!"
Before I could even gather my wits, Namia Loapi threw her arms around me.
By then, my mana had completely depleted, and the invisibility scroll's effect had ended.
"No, no, nooooo!"
Namia Loapi embraced my prone form and began to weep bitterly.
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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