Chapter 617 - Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

Their claims of arresting and escorting us were quite trivial; in reality, the mages seemed uninterested in Shei and me. Even when I secretly undid the ropes and played cat's cradle, they didn't notice. [Telling me to go quietly only for you to start playing tricks!] Shei, unable to resist anymore, chastised me, which says it all. The gate of the Magic Tower opened automatically. As soon as we stepped inside, the door shut and the chamber began descending very smoothly. Is this an elevator? While the military also had elevators, the Magic Tower's was unrealistically smooth and fast. I couldn't even feel we were moving. How much time passed like that? Bored of the string figures, I looked around and asked. "How far are we going down? We might just cut through the floating citadel at this rate." "Ha." "Hehe." "Pfft." 'Such ignorance...' Three different chuckles directed at me. What's their problem? I just asked. Why are they surrounding me and laughing? Being surrounded and ridiculed reminds me of the PTSD from my school days. Not that I experienced it, but I had read someone else's mind who had been ignored by Lankart. "...Something's strange." Shei, who took my words seriously, stared intently at the ceiling. "We're definitely going down, but the direction keeps changing." "What? How can the direction change if we're going down?" "I don't know. But it definitely did. What's happening...?" "It would take too long to explain. Explaining how this floating citadel moves to the ignorant is pointless." The Green Tower Lord arrogantly interjected, making my explanation unnecessary. Seriously, if you're not going to tell, just don't say anything. "The ignorant have eyes just like ours. You'll have the opportunity to observe and understand the floating citadel too. But only the opportunity." "What kind of opportunity?" Ding. A small chime signaled our arrival. The Green Tower Lord opened the elevator door with her umbrella, saying: "The opportunity to witness and understand this mystery." As I beheld the scene outside the elevator, I immediately understood why the Green Tower Lord had been so dramatic. Once upon a time, philosophers—those freeloaders eating off ideas—roamed the world, and ridiculous flights of fancy were given form and shape. There were people who believed that beneath the surface of this land lay another world. They claimed the round earth was merely an eggshell, and we were merely bugs crawling over it. They believed that a true civilization, protected by the planet's shell, dwelled inside the earth, standing upside down just like us—a baseless rumor popular at one point. Now subjects of ridicule, if those philosophers could rise again and see this spectacle, they would surely be overwhelmed. A vast cavern. In this spherical world, many mages walked along the walls. Mages stood upside down like bats, using their staffs to move along the ceiling. Inverted trees grew like stalactites, reaching from the ceiling downwards. When someone fired a spell, the spherical object traced an inverted parabola heading toward the ceiling. They weren’t suspended; the applied direction of gravity was different. A perpetually maintained reverse gravity pushed everything outward, from the center of the floating citadel. Bodies pushed out by anti-gravity used the walls and ceiling as floors. This allowed people to live with their feet on the walls and ceiling too. Which is up, and which is down? Naturally, up is the center of this floating citadel, and down is everywhere else. The tower seeming to pierce the floating citadel’s center emitted an almost solar-like light, dominating gravity—a true sky. Not the empty vastness simply named "sky," but a truly omnipotent, mighty presence as the sky. YW9peUx5cktZYXhyU2hzY1VsMkQ0Uk9qK1RPd0IyUURFQkEwT3ZYbFo0QlA2ODR1ejREQjFqK3hXR2gwT1IrYQ Even for Shei, seemingly her first time seeing this, her mouth was slightly agape as she absentmindedly murmured. "So this is what the floating citadel looks like." Huh? Aren’t you a Regressor? How have you never visited such a famous and important place as the floating citadel? "Have you never been to the floating citadel, Shei?" "Well..." "Of course not. Without guidance, an ignorant person couldn’t find their way here, and even if they did, there’d be no reason to let them in." I wasn’t asking you nor about this current cycle. Why so pretentious? I swallowed back my words hard. Normally, I would have teased and provoked her, but it’s pointless right now. Because, the mages’ self-righteousness was as securely rooted as the deepest of convictions, mocking would only earn me their derision. If I were stronger or could control the atmosphere among those around me, I could have exploited their flaws. But they were all mages, proud of their learned knowledge, considering me a different species altogether. Any critical remarks would have no impact. In situations like this, questions are better than mockery. They can satisfy their vanity and my curiosity simultaneously. "But you brought us, mere ignorant ones, into the floating citadel, right?" "The reason you get to enter, even as captives, is paradoxically thanks to Lancart Spendry. It's awkward to either dismiss or accommodate those ignorant beings he brought along." The Green Tower Lord's response was slightly reluctant. I sensed an ambivalence in her heart. Discomfort and unease toward Lancart, who roamed the world as he pleased. Her disdain toward his immense power obtained at such a young age and the possibility that his unique magic might hold insights far deeper than expected. Hmm. Is that the feeling here? I casually probed further. "Our situation? What makes it awkward?" "That's none of your concern." "But it concerns us, doesn’t it? Is it something you can't disclose? Or is it because we, being ignorant, wouldn't understand it?" It wasn't exactly either one—it was more like a capricious reluctance. I had intentionally asked while already knowing the answer, and realizing she had no reason not to respond, the Green Tower Lord simply decided to answer. "Officially, Lancart holds the position of a federal investigator. He has the authority to escort individuals deemed necessary by the federation to the floating citadel. Even if those individuals are ignorant of magic, like you." "Wow, Lancart's climbed up the ranks since I last saw him. But then why was he expelled?" "As I mentioned before, descending from a height far beyond the floating citadel is prohibited." The Green Tower Lord replied with a rather displeased expression. "The floating citadel is the center of the sky, and meteors that fall from the universe naturally gravitate toward the core of eternity. Most small and insignificant meteors, like you ignorant ones, stop at the citadel's surface and become part of the brickwork. However, occasionally larger meteors that could potentially harm the citadel are identified, and the citadel's defense magic activates." "Large ones? It was just the three of us that fell." "You really have no idea, do you? Being ignorant, I suppose." She kept throwing the word 'ignorant' around like an insult. Her words were laced with disdain as she dismissed me with a disdainful laugh. "A person-sized meteor is large enough. If it were to fall unchecked, it could easily destroy a village on the land below. So, it has to be shattered with defense magic before it lands." "You mean the magical beam Lancart dodged?" "The defense magic is a multi-attribute magical condensation round meant for meteors. It's not designed to account for unique magic... but there's no means to penetrate his unique magic, even with other methods." At that last addition, she seemed deeply perturbed. The Green Tower Lord shook off her lingering discomfort and headed toward a large building. "If three person-sized objects are falling, it means one of two things: meteors, or intruders. In either case, the issue calls for me, the final defense line of the citadel, to act. My unique magic doesn’t discriminate between meteors and people—it severs." "Wow, so you were dispatched because of Lancart. You’ve been working hard due to unforeseen duty." "A perceptive ignorant one, aren't you? You'll need to be, if you want to survive this citadel without knowing the secrets of magic." The place we arrived at was a particularly striking building, even within the floating citadel. Almost mocking human engineering, this building was thicker at the top than at the bottom, dangling dozens of rooms like branches from a tree. It looked as if a strong shake would send those rooms tumbling down. What is this? Don't the architects of the floating citadel know the laws of gravity...? Or are the laws of gravity different here? Regardless, the Green Tower Lord stopped in front of the strange building and removed a gem from the necklace around her neck, inserting it into the door slit. A magical circle engraved on the rock door gleamed, a green light flashing before the door rotated and opened upwards and downwards. "This is the Department of Security. You ignorant beings will be detained and interrogated by the warden. Comply quietly; you won't be harmed." "...Detained? You're detaining us?" The mention of detention sharpened Shei's demeanor. Yet the Green Tower Lord was unfazed by her reaction. "Ah. Perhaps it’s better to call it protection. Freedom is akin to lawlessness. If you ignorant beings, who have no experience with the floating citadel, were to roam free and accidentally cause harm or get harmed, it would be an issue for both you and me." Surprisingly, she meant that sincerely. She genuinely believed that Shei and I might be in danger if we roamed outside. Every word dripped with superiority. It was as if they were forcing a sense of deprivation onto those who couldn't wield magic. The floating citadel was indeed a mysterious and magical space worthy of such awe, but... “Hmm. You and your precious floating citadel.” And that's why Shei's thoughts stood out so much. Reading her thoughts, I widened my eyes. “You who fell to the ground from a single strike of the Sword Saint, causing a grand river disaster!”