Solo Swordmaster

#176. This is the true form of Madou.

* * *

“Hmmmmmm.”

Boil the water and heat the teacup.

Put a spoonful of tea leaves in the teapot and prepare refreshments to drink with the tea and a book to read.

It wasn’t something an employee at a famous store would do during business hours, but Rubel didn’t care and was leisurely preparing for tea time.

It is the time when the morning is already over and noon is approaching.

At least there were no Englishmen or Londoners visiting the Magic Museum, which was not a restaurant or cafe at this time.

rattle!

“omg?!”

That’s why Rubel couldn’t help but be frightened when he saw the door that was suddenly wide open.

Rubel was so startled that she dropped the book she had taken out and reflexively aimed her cane at the door.

But what came back to him was a stern voice.

“How does this store treat guests?”

“…yes? You say you’re a guest?”

“then? Do I look like a robber?”

“Oh no. sorry.”

After hearing those scathing remarks, Rubel realized that the other person was an ordinary person and quickly apologized.

And only belatedly, I politely greeted him with a clearing of his throat.

“Welcome to [Orna’s Unraveling Magic Hall]. What mystery have you been looking for?”

“Before answering, there is something to check, but is this really the magician of the 27 genealogy of magic?”

“yes?”

“If only the signboard was hung like that, I’ll just leave, so let’s cut down on wasting time.”

“Ah… Ha ha ha. It seems like you’ve only seen a pretty low-quality magic hall so far.”

‘Looks like a tourist who got caught.’

Rubel let out a big laugh.

Tourists with strange fantasies in the 27 genealogies of Madou come to visit, and they are caught in fake magic halls targeting tourists.

Because it happens every day in this city.

“But rest assured. Our Mage Hall is the original of the true 27 genealogies of magic.”

“Are you sure?”

“of course. Now, just by looking at this mark of the Magus, you can tell that we are orthodox magicians, right?”

This place is different from the non-licensed magic halls that rip off tourists.

Rubel grinned as he showed the business license and license stamped with the seal of the Six Stars proudly hanging on the wall in front of the shop.

A normal tourist would die of admiration at the mere sight of this Magus seal.

“…Here too.”

“…?”

“What happened? It’s sure to be a waste of time, but let’s check it anyway.”

Whether or not he wonders why the customer’s stare has dropped even further.

A black-haired, cross-dressing woman who stood behind the customer and came forward put a small case on the display stand.

“Do you know what this is?”

“This…”

Rubel opened the case.

Then he checked the items inside and put on a puzzled expression.

“Isn’t it just broken junk?”

Maybe it was crushed by a rock. A piece of metal that was half-broken and fragmented, but even that was crushed, making it difficult to recognize the original shape.

Looking at it, the guest frowned and asked Rubel, who was confused.

“So you don’t know what?”

“Even if you ask me what it is… Oh, is it a broken item? Then you should go to the item repair shop, not the magic hall.”

“If you don’t know, that’s it.”

“Look at this? customer? customer!”

With that, it seems that the business is over.

A black-haired young man with a blue bird sitting on one shoulder immediately turned around and left the store.

And Rubel, who blinked at the crossdresser woman who retrieved the case and silently followed, muttered blankly after a while.

“…what the hell is it?”

* * *

[This is also a joke.]

“Who is it?”

[Well, to be honest, I think it’s too much to show something like that at the magic hall and ask for an answer.]

“What kind of a bunch of people. It’s even more disgusting that a place like that is putting up a signboard of the 27th lineage of magic.”

Limon snorted.

He might have seemed strange to Rubel.

However, in Limon’s eyes, Rubel, who was wearing a robe as a player and displaying the Magus’ seal as evidence of the original magician, looked more grotesque.

Even though it is a teenage guild, the history of Magus Guild is only a few decades now.

It was nonsense to receive the license of the 27th genealogy of magic from them.

“These madmen from the Magus Guild… have really remade London to their liking.”

[Well, that’s because it’s a teenage guild with 90% of all magical players. They might want to change their home base to their liking.]

“Didn’t the Infinity Guild do crazy things like this?”

[That’s because the Infinity Guild is so easygoing.]

Yuna-kyung shook her wings.

In fact, among the teenage guilds, Infinity was famous for being bland to put it mildly and, to put it bluntly, a hodgepodge.

This was because the conditions for joining the guild were relatively broad, as the guild leader, Lee Chun-gi, had an absolute skill to learn any skill.

On the other hand, in other teenage guilds, guild members were often biased according to the monarch’s inclination.

The Demiurge Guild, which is mainly for production jobs, and the Utopia Guild, where only divine players can join, Saint Guild Summoners and Tamers only.

It’s because I got a guild member by covering the skills I had.

Of course, the Magus, which only received magic players, was the same.

And it was a natural result that when people get together, the place where they live changes accordingly. Even more so if the back ship was a teenage guild that was the loser of this era.

“What did the Blue Dragon Clan do until their mainland became like this?”

“The Blue Dragon Clan has an agreement with Magus.”

“agreement? Could it be that they didn’t let this happen and that they helped out by the side?”

“I don’t know the details of the agreement. I’ve only heard of a few projects going on together after the agreement.”

“Did ‘that’ Blue Dragon Clan neglect this kind of thing just because of money?”

“Probably not because of the money, as the content of the business is the content of the business.”

“What kind of business is it?”

Limon made a suspicious expression.

No matter how much the Seven Dragons became a corporation, it was strange that the Blue Dragon clan accepted an agreement that even the Golden Dragon clan wouldn’t.

However, Wei Ling’s explanation completely dispelled his doubts.

“It’s a charity project.”

“…Ah, that’s right.”

It was a moment.

It was the understanding that ‘then it’s likely’ appeared on Limon’s face, which was full of doubts.

Of course, cynicism followed.

‘It’s still the same damn thing.’

Because he understood the general situation, Limon became more bitter.

Noticing his feelings, Yuna-kyung shrugged her wings and said.

[Team leader, don’t worry too much. It may have changed a lot from before, but anyway, it’s good because it’s Madou-like, right?]

“…I like it because it’s Madou-like?”

Limon made a strange expression.

Looking at Yuna-kyung with a face mixed with absurdity and patheticness, as well as an unknown mockery and cynicism, he suddenly asked.

“Na Kyung. Why don’t you think there are fewer people on the streets?”

[Come to think of it, I see. Is it because it’s lunch time?]

“No, it’s because it’s time for Madou to become like Madou.”

[Yes?]

Yuna-kyung tilted her head.

It seemed like there were fewer passers-by, but I couldn’t understand why it was so magical.

Instead of Limon, what answered her question was a single sound from the other side of the air.

Dang—

right after a strange bell sounded like a thousand pickaxes hitting iron, all over London.

The street suddenly became busy.

Passers-by, who were already few, hurriedly walked, peddlers hurriedly gave up their business, closed the doors one by one on the street, and drew the curtains on the windows.

So, while Yuna-kyung was watching while saying something.

No one could be found around them.

Dang-

“Hmm, if I raised it this much, it would look narrow.”

When Yuna-kyung suddenly sees an empty street and panics.

Limon headed for the nearby clock tower.

Then, after making Wei Ling pay the entrance fee, he said as he took the elevator installed inside to go up to the observation deck at the top of the clock tower.

“Take a good look. Because it will be soon.”

[Soon? What is that…?]

Dang- Yuna-

kyung couldn’t finish the question.

because I saw

The moment when the thirteenth ringing finally stopped the sound of the bell that was spreading in the air.

The panoramic view of London, which had been clearly visible even if it was cloudy a little while ago, was covered with fog in the blink of an eye.

Ssssss.

It was not a scene of a sudden change in climate or a thickening of fog.

In other words, a sinking ship.

Like a ship being sucked into the water with a hole in the bottom, the great city of London was swallowed up in fog.

And when all those changes are over.

Now there was no city left outside the observatory that was dotted with all sorts of fancy magic.

Only the outlines of a few spiers floated vaguely like the wreckage of a shipwreck above the sea of thick fog that made it impossible to see an inch of speed.

[…what the hell is this?]

“What is this? This is the true magician you have longed to see.”

Yuna-kyung hardened with her beak wide open like a child who saw a person for the first time inside a doll’s clothes.

Limon said sarcastically, like a grumpy grown-up giving her the reality.

And he quietly continued as he smelled the infinitely cursed scent of magic that spread out softly in the fog.

“It’s also the reason why only London was able to survive while other European cities were completely burned during the Demon God War.”

* * *

When the Demon God descended in the past.

The most thoroughly destroyed place was Paris, which was the place of descent, but other places were not safe.

The Demon God wanted more blood and sacrifices, and because of that, cities that prospered in Europe were targeted first.

When the demon who destroyed European cities one after another finally reached London, all the citizens of London were in despair.

But that despair was early.

It was because there were people who suddenly came out the moment the demon was about to burn London.

The 27 witches who have inherited magic for a long time from the Silver Age to the present day.

Originally hidden in the back of history, they came to the front to stop the demons and gathered each other’s strength and wisdom to revive a certain ancient magic.

That’s the London showdown.

It was considered one of the most powerful magics in history, considered a legend even in the Silver Age.

Thanks to that barrier, London was able to safely endure until Limon returned and cut down the Demon God.

It was for this reason that the British Empire was able to conquer all of Europe.

Other countries that lost their capitals and most of their major cities were forced to become economically and politically subordinate to the British Empire.

In that respect, the London match-up could be said to be a blessing bestowed on the British Empire.

…It means that it would have been so if the confrontation system had disappeared without leaving any side effects after defeating the demon.