Chapter 41: Tail Catching (3)

Elaine and I went to see Grace.

“Oh, Luke. It’s been a while. Congratulations on passing the second evaluation.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

Grace greeted me with a warm smile.

Moments like this made me feel accomplished.

A soldier welcomed by both the Head of the Escort Knights and the Northern Duke?

If I let my guard down, my shoulders might puff up with pride.

Fortunately, I managed to keep my composure.

After all, the conversation I was about to have with Grace required me to remain focused.

As expected, Bill was standing politely by Grace’s side.

Although he still appeared somewhat tense, his expression was noticeably brighter than before, indicating he had

also passed the evaluation.

“What brings you here with Sir Elaine, despite your busy schedule preparing for the combat test?”

“I heard you’re heading to the Snowflower Tower to craft a Bingjeong weapon. I believe I can assist with the design

process, so I’d like to accompany you.”

“Won’t that take time away from your evaluation preparation?”

“I had planned to rest today to recover from the second evaluation. Also, I believe discussing the future of the North

is more important than my personal evaluation.”

“Ha ha, so you’re saying you can make significant contributions to the future of the North?”

Yes.

Finding Bingjeong.

Giving Bill ideas and training him before recommending him to Grace.

Saving Elaine.

And even tracking down the spy hidden somewhere in the Snowflower Tower.

If that’s not making significant contributions, I don’t know what is.

“Very well, let’s go.”

“?”

That was unexpected.

I had planned to reveal the truth by showing him the Obsidian when he inevitably questioned my request to join.

But Grace readily agreed, leaving me a bit bewildered.

“You look surprised.”

“…A little.”

“If it’s important enough for you to visit me despite your busy schedule, I should at least hear you out. Besides,

you’re not one to act without reason.”

Am I really that impressive?

Grace’s generous nature played a part, but still, to have gained the trust of the Northern Duke?

If Elaine hadn’t knocked me back to my senses earlier, my ego might have inflated right then.

Thanks to Grace’s permission, I was now heading to the Snowflower Tower with them.

However, my position was somewhat ambiguous.

Technically, I was still temporarily exempt from escort duties.

If I suddenly resumed my escort duties, it would raise eyebrows. I planned to accompany them to the Snowflower

Tower and then resume preparing for the knight exam.

Besides, I wasn’t in my usual armor since it was my day off.

Yet, it didn’t make sense for me to accompany Grace as a guest and be guarded by the escort knights.

After all, I was still a member of the first unit of the Escort Knights.

Elaine came up with a suitable solution.

– “Then how about Luke escorts the craftsman? Since they know each other, it would be less burdensome for the

craftsman, and it would reduce potential complaints from the other knights.”

– “That sounds reasonable.”

The escort knights’ primary duty was to protect Grace, so it made sense for me to handle Bill’s safety.

It was an unconventional arrangement, but no one would be disadvantaged by it, and it showed consideration for

Bill, a civilian. Grace approved the idea.

It worked out well for me.

After all, my main reason for coming to the Winter Palace was to see Bill, so now I could talk to him along the way

without drawing attention.

“Whew, it’s a relief to have you around.”

“See? Now you realize how amazing your younger brother is?”

“You’ve got a point. You said it’s been less than a year since you joined the military, right? How did you manage to

end up in such an important position?”

“Because I’m capable.”

I maintained humility in front of other knights and seniors, but with Bill, it was easier to joke around since we didn’t

have a strict hierarchical relationship.

“Capable, indeed. You keep bringing in rare materials.”

Bill nodded seriously, acknowledging my words.

Ironwood, obsidian, and now Bingjeong—no wonder my words didn’t sound like mere jokes to him.

“So, does that mean my next weapon will be free?”

“I’ll give you a fifty percent discount.”

Even now, he wouldn’t budge from his principle of never offering anything for free. I guess I’ll have to show off some

tricks with my Seolhan Sword at his shop later. Maybe then I could get a seventy percent discount.

However, this wasn’t the topic I originally intended to discuss with Bill, so I changed the subject.

“Is this your second time visiting the Ice Crystal Observatory?”

“That’s right. I haven’t been there since His Grace took me before. It’s not exactly a place I’d go on my own.”

“How was it? The Snowflake Tower you’ve only heard of in rumors.”

“Wow, it was fascinating. Everything—the walls and decorations—glistened softly, like being inside a giant icicle. It

felt truly mystical. But everywhere you looked, there were mages. It was a bit intimidating.”

“I’ve been there just once myself. It’s certainly beautiful. Did you see the bird flying around, created with frost magic?”

“Oh, I did! I wondered what kind of bird could look that transparent, and then I found out it was made with magic.

What an amazing skill. Ugh, seeing things like that makes me realize I’m better suited to wielding steel. Magic makes

my head spin.”

As Bill’s story about the Snowflake Tower unfolded, I smoothly shifted to the main topic.

“When I went, there were mages in blue robes from the Snowflake Tower standing near the Ice Crystal. Did you see

them too, Bill?”

“Yeah, there were a lot of them. But when I went, there were mages in robes of other colors too.”

Bingo.

This was the information I wanted to hear.

The purpose of the infiltrator’s planned attack in the novel was to disable or weaken the combat capabilities of the

Snowflake Tower.

The most valuable treasure and weapon in the Snowflake Tower right now is the Ice Crystal.

For an infiltrator, destroying the Ice Crystal would undoubtedly be the primary objective.

Therefore, I planned to list all the mages Bill saw near the Ice Crystal as potential suspects.

Previously, Sophia had mentioned that it wasn’t difficult for foreign mages to stay at the Snowflake Tower. If they

were planning an attack, the first step would be to scout who was near their primary target, the Ice Crystal.

“Other colors? What colors were they?”

“Hmm… I don’t remember all of them. But there were red, brown, and green robes.”

Mages signify their affiliation to a particular magical school or tower through the color of their robes.

It’s kind of like how university students wear their school jackets.

Snowflake Tower mages typically wear blue robes adorned with a snowflake emblem. Even mages from different

magical schools, like Sophia, usually wear blue robes if they reside at the Snowflake Tower.

But red, brown, and green robes clearly weren’t from the Snowflake Tower.

‘I’m not a mage, so I don’t know which colors represent which school or tower.’

Still, most mages choose robe colors that reflect their magic type.

‘Red probably means fire magic, and green could be nature magic.’

Since Bill didn’t remember all the colors, there might have been more.

However.

‘These colors are bothering me.’

I was glad I insisted on coming to the Snowflake Tower.

There was something suspicious about that list of colors. It gave me a whiff of a clue—something only a reader of the

novel could sense.

As expected, Duke Grace was greeted by Dariel, the Tower Master of the Snowflake Tower, upon our arrival.

Dariel greeted not only Grace but also Bill.

“Oh, you’ve come too! I heard from Sophia that you’ve been doing well in the knight exams. That’s impressive! Has

the magic class been helpful?”

“Yes, thanks to Elder Sophia’s teachings, my mana control has improved greatly. It’s been a big help.”

“Really? That’s good to hear. Hohoho.”

Dariel laughed heartily, clearly in a good mood.

His friendly attitude was like that of a future father-in-law greeting his daughter’s suitor. But I felt no guilt

whatsoever.

It wouldn’t be polite to respond negatively when the Tower Master asked about Sophia.

Besides, it wasn’t like I was leading Sophia on or deceiving Dariel with sweet words.

The old man was simply making assumptions and getting excited on his own.

I was already in a relationship, and the person Sophia was interested in wasn’t me, but—

‘Ugh.’

I kept my expression neutral, but inside, I winced.

Anyone else would see me as expressionless, but I knew.

Elaine was sulking. She must have noticed the subtle shift in atmosphere when Dariel’s mood brightened after I

praised Sophia.

Normally, I’d think, “You’re the one who’s in danger, not me.” But maybe because we were meeting after nine days, I

felt a twinge of guilt this time.

I understood why Dariel was making such a fuss.

While I was taking the knight exams, Sophia had returned to the Snowflake Tower.

Her assignment at the Winter Palace had been to assist me, so once I left, she had gone back to her original research.

Dariel must have asked her about her time at the Winter Palace.

If Sophia had mentioned Elaine favorably during their conversation, Dariel, unaware of Elaine’s secret, would have

jumped to conclusions.

That explained why he was welcoming me more warmly than before.

In his mind, he probably thought he had secured a good connection for his daughter.

We followed Dariel’s lead as he guided us down to the fifth underground floor.

Even though Bill had visited before, he still looked around curiously. Using the pretext of guarding him, I also

observed my surroundings.

…Because honestly, I still found this place fascinating too.

When we reached the fifth underground floor where the Ice Crystal was stored—

“Oh my, Your Grace.”

A familiar face greeted us.

A blonde female mage, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and glasses.

Sophia recognized us and approached with a polite bow, greeting each of us in turn.

“Mr. Luke, I heard you’re about to take your final exam? Congratulations in advance.”

“Ha ha, thank you.”

How many times have I heard congratulations and words of encouragement today? And all from prominent figures

of the North.

I felt a bit embarrassed, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

After all, hearing words of congratulations is always a welcome experience.

In that sense, meeting Elaine first was truly a stroke of luck.

Thanks to her, I was able to hear the first words of congratulations from her.

This current Ice Crystal Weapon project has four key figures.

The blacksmith, Bill.

An elder from the Mage Tower specializing in enchantment magic.

The master of cold magic, Darel of the Snowflake Tower.

And Grace, the investor and the one who will test the weapon.

While the four of them were engaged in their discussion, Elaine, Sophia, and I stood a step back, waiting.

I was carefully timing when to step in during their conversation. Elaine was guarding Grace. And Sophia?

“Sophia, what are you doing here?”

“I don’t have much to do. I just came down to greet His Grace, the Grand Duke.”

That made sense. After exchanging pleasantries with Grace, she subtly positioned herself next to Elaine.

If she’s that free, she could at least try to find the infiltrator in the Snowflake Tower that we talked about last time.

“Who are those people? Their robes are different from the Snowflake Tower mages.”

Feigning boredom, I asked about the nearby mages.

As Bill explained during our trip here, I saw red robes, green robes, and even striped robes that looked like

patchwork clothing.

“Ah, they are mages from outside. I mentioned them last time. Since ice crystals are such a rare mineral, many came

out of curiosity to see it.”

“Is it okay to publicly display the ice crystal, even though it’s a treasure of the Snowflake Tower?”

“Mages are the type to cause trouble if you don’t show them something. It’s better to allow limited access like this.

Only Snowflake Tower mages can participate in the research.”

I pretended to be interested as I scanned the mages’ faces.

While I couldn’t discern a traitor just by looking, life experience had taught me to identify people with shady

appearances.

Based on that instinct…

‘The man with the mustache in the red robe looks overly ambitious. The elderly woman in the green robe seems

impressed. And the striped robe guy seems to be deep in thought, as if troubled by something.’

Of course, one of them could be acting. But for now, none of them appeared particularly suspicious.

I decided to take it a step further and ask Sophia about each of them.

“The one in the red robe specializes in fire magic, just like me. He was expelled from his previous Mage Tower for

playing with fire—literally.”

“Wow.”

His history sounded like that of a potential terrorist, but he didn’t seem like someone suited for covert operations.

“The woman in green is a renowned master of nature magic. She’s been researching ways to cultivate greenery in the

North for over thirty years. Thanks to her, we can now grow many green plants here.”

It didn’t seem like her either.

If a mage of her caliber had betrayed the Snowflake Tower, it would have made headlines in the story.

“What about the striped robe? Most mage robes are a single color.”

“Striped robes symbolize alchemy. He was originally supposed to participate in the ice crystal weapon project.

However, he collapsed from overwork during his research and only woke up this morning… Yet, he’s already back to

exhausting himself with more work.”

Considering he made it onto the project team, he didn’t seem like a suspect either.

So, that eliminated three potential suspects.

But there was still one more.

Bill had previously mentioned the various robe colors of the mages.

One of them was missing from this gathering.

“Speaking of robe colors, I’ve been curious about something.”

“What is it?”

“What school does a brown robe represent?”

“A brown robe?”

Sophia tilted her head at my question, then fell silent for a moment to think before answering.

“There’s no particular school associated with a brown robe. It’s commonly worn by independent mages from the

western regions. Have you seen one before?”

Bingo.

I might have found a lead.

Because brown robes…

Were the uniform of one of the villain factions in Brave Road.