[768] Breaking the Precepts (3)
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"This settles it cleanly!"
When Minerva tried to tuck the bond into her coat, Shirone snatched her wrist.
"Wait a moment."
"All right, all right. I was going to split it anyway."
"Why on earth do you need this much money?"
It was an amount beyond what any one person could reasonably spend.
"You just took over the department, so you don't know yet — do you have any idea how much it costs to run the Ivory Tower? The Corona Kingdom's revenue alone won't cut it."
"You're asking for money outright?"
"We didn't demand it, did we? It's a legitimate transaction. And South Eimond never came out at a loss."
Cutting forty percent from the budget would be fatal to running a country, but seen long-term it was like taking the nation's assets for free.
"You're the one who freed North Eimond. It's part of a Star's duty to calculate the consequences of their actions."
If North Eimond had been handed over without checks, the balance between nations would have collapsed.
'Even if it were left to the Church, it wouldn't change much.'
Shirone shrugged off her hand, pulled the bond back out, and waved it in front of him.
"If you're not going to take it, I'll keep it all."
"Do as you please."
From the Integrated Universe Administration's perspective, they only hoped the funds would be used for humanity's safety.
"Let's go back. We need to report to Taeseong."
They were walking toward the exit when someone stepped in front of them.
"What now?"
A fierce-looking young man blocked their path. The left side of his head was cropped short like an acorn, a scar etched near his temple. The other side was braided into dozens of ropes, and trinkets like beast fangs hung from the ends.
'A mage.'
He gave off a blatantly aggressive Spirit Zone that ignored anyone else's feelings.
"Hello. I'm Sky Wigo, a certified mage of South Eimond."
Minerva shot back immediately.
"I don't know you. What do you want?"
Wigo's face flushed; in South Eimond he was a mage no one failed to recognize.
'tch. You really don't know me?'
Hoping against hope, Shirone glanced back, but he just blinked with that innocent expression.
"How disappointing. Minerva—you're a senior, so I can forgive you, but Shirone, I expected you to be different."
Minerva looked baffled.
"Minerva? You—?"
Even Garcia, head of the South Eimond Mage Association, wouldn't address them like that.
Wigo seemed to realize he'd crossed a line; he immediately bowed.
"I apologize if I sounded rude. It's just that you two aren't like ordinary people to me."
"Why would we not be ordinary?"
"Well… I was a candidate for the Ivory Tower myself."
Shirone raised an eyebrow.
"A candidate?"
The slate of candidates Arte had mentioned earlier had been Ra Enemi, Nane, Jinseongeum, and Shirone — only those four.
"This time the Ivory Tower selected ten candidates. I was ranked ninth."
If true, his irritation made sense.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't know about the candidates either…."
Minerva cut in.
"Ninth-place Sky Wigo. An Unlocker who unlocked Immortal Function like you, and a scale mage."
When information began to flow, Wigo's lips curved into a faint smile.
"I'm honored you remember."
Shirone was surprised too.
"You knew?"
"Not exactly… But if you say the Sky family, they naturally attract more attention than other candidates. They're a world-class family of patterners, comparable to Miro's Adrias family."
Hearing Miro's name gave Shirone a sense of scale.
"Until Miro appeared, it was so close you couldn't say who was superior. Adrias leans defensive; Sky is aggressive. It's the difference between convergence and divergence."
Yolga of the Ardino branch, descended from Adrias, also boasted unmatched defensive strength.
"Patterning families study the principles of the world from birth, so their chances of entering Immortal Function are high. I imagine the Sky family got state backing."
"Hmm."
While Shirone mulled that over, Minerva asked again.
"But why us?"
Miro had become great because she was uniquely exceptional even among the great Adrias. Simply invoking the Sky family's name wouldn't make the Ivory Tower's Five Stars change their stance.
Wigo's face tightened, then flipped into an almost reflexive grin.
"Ha! Right. I'm just a mage who couldn't get into the Ivory Tower. But do you know? We never even had a chance to be tested."
He pointed at Shirone.
"I heard Shirone wasn't that different from me either, if Ra Enemi hadn't been the absolute candidate."
At the time, Shirone's candidate ranking had been fourth. He'd been grouped with Nane and Jinseongeum by Kar score, but luck had favored him.
'I can see why you're angry.'
The fact that Kar score wasn't absolute had already been proven by Shirone's rise to the Five Stars.
'He passed Nane and Jinseongeum and became a Star.'
He was at the Yahweh level now, but during the test Shirone's power had been far below his present self.
'If I'd been given a chance…'
Wigo believed that if all ten candidates had taken the same tests, the result would have been different.
"Ah, I see."
Mischief glinted in Minerva's eyes.
"Sometimes opportunity is everything. So what do you want to do? A duel to the death? Winner becomes a Five Star?"
She took cruel pleasure in stomping down a sprout that grew too tall.
"I'm not that foolish. I don't particularly care for the Five-Star position."
Wigo bristled at Minerva's dismissiveness.
'The gap is already set.'
He'd been denied the greatest chance for growth simply because he hadn't surpassed five of the world's best students.
'Father—'
When Shirone reached the Yahweh level, Wigo's father Cassia — now part of the Sion Project — had told him:
—Think of Shirone as nonexistent.
The moment you acknowledge him, all the mages in the world would lose their drive to be the best.
'You're going to let it happen again?'
It would be like a generation dashed by Miro a generation earlier.
"I'm not going to be stubborn. Shirone's skill is proven simply by being one of the Ivory Tower's Five Stars."
Minerva looked crestfallen.
"So what do you propose?"
"How about this: instead of magic, we settle it with avatar technique."
Depth of realm.
"Oho? Now that sounds interesting."
Wigo's unexpected aggressiveness rekindled hope in Minerva's eyes.
'Quite belligerent. As expected of Sky.'
Like a beast waiting for its leash to be loosened, he was visibly anxious for Shirone's permission.
"Shirone, do it. It'd be unkind not to respond to such polite courtesy, wouldn't it?"
Do it, do it.
Minerva's hunger for a good show prompted Wigo to add, "To be clear: this isn't a mere challenge. If Shirone's capacity is as great as they say, perhaps he can understand the narrow pride my family's upbringing instilled in me."
He was saying he couldn't accept being passed over.
'At least in depth of realm I'm not behind. I'm the Sky family's strongest patterning weapon.'
Not that Cassia taught him to think that way, but Wigo, third generation under Miro's shadow, felt his family's pressure keenly.
"I understand the sentiment, but…."
Shirone finished his thought and spoke.
"Sorry. I don't want to fight you."
Minerva was even more disappointed.
"Why not? Don't you feel for Wigo? Stars don't come along every day—just do it for him."
Minerva's true motive was painfully obvious.
"Don't butt in and be quiet. Since when did you start caring about other people's affairs?"
Wigo fixed his gaze and spat out, "…Can I call that running away?"
"Yes, that's accurate. I don't want to win, and I don't care if I lose to you."
Wigo ground his teeth.
"Of course you would say that."
He'd already enjoyed the view from the highest summit; he could hand it to someone else and come down.
'That cannot be tolerated.'
What he couldn't accept was someone occupying the pinnacle without being pulled down. Concession couldn't replace that.
"I'll say this as well."
Shirone turned and saw Garcia bow his head deeply — a rare gesture.
"I'm sorry. I don't think anyone needs to feel the sting of defeat here."
Garcia stepped forward.
"Wigo is a global talent. Though he didn't become a Star, the Republic is very proud of him."
"Association President."
Wigo relaxed at the senior's words; Garcia was years above him in rank.
"The enemy you should fight now isn't us, but the demon within your own heart. We fully understand the profound meaning of being one of the Five Stars."
Garcia looked at Wigo.
"Wigo worries about the world no less than any of us. He's human — he's been stopped by a wall he hasn't yet tried to climb. Helping him scale that wall is the way to support someone who will become a core power for humanity."
Minerva closed her eyes and nodded.
"Good point. For someone like Wigo, well—"
Shirone cut her off.
"I can't promise it will help."
"It will."
Whether Shirone humbled him or Wigo actually defeated Shirone, the knot in his chest would at least loosen.
'If it's an avatar-technique duel, the latter possibility exists…'
Garcia knew better than anyone what temperament Wigo's avatar would have.
"All right."
As Shirone consented, all three of their gazes fixed on him with sharp intensity.
"But—"
Now Shirone was sincere.
"If you want to pit this against that reason, I won't hold back either."
"That's what Wigo and I hoped for."
Minerva thought, 'Of course I do too.'
Shirone sighed as if he'd heard that inner voice, then moved.
"Where shall we do it?"
"The bureau building has too many eyes. The Sky family's main estate will be private enough."
Garcia's suggestion considered the Five Stars' dignity, but on the other hand it was like staging a duel on enemy turf.
Shirone didn't care.
"Fine. Let's go there. We don't have time — I'd prefer to start immediately."
Shirone left the bureau first. Wigo glanced at Garcia and clenched his fist.
"It's done!"
The Ivory Tower where the world's greatest mages gathered — and among them, the Five Stars at the pinnacle — had offered him a chance.
"A chance to win has come!"
Minerva gave Garcia, who was following Wigo out, a pat on the rear.
"Well done, very well done. What's gotten into you? You actually did something useful for once."
Garcia didn't reply.
"Shall we make a bet? Winner gets a wish granted. Let's buy something on the way. You have to eat while watching a show like this."
'I really hate this woman…'
Garcia still didn't answer.