Chapter 742
[A new quest has been created!]
[Sudden Quest, [Unknown Death] is forcibly accepted!]
[Unknown Death]
Archmage Siegfried Bassman, who had been in seclusion, has met his death for an unknown reason.
However, everything has a cause.
Find out how and by whom he was killed.
Difficulty: Transcendental.
Restriction: Jin Taekyung.
Mission: Uncover the truth about the death (Incomplete)
Success: ???
Failure: ???
I stared at the quest window floating in the air.
The name written on the first line told me that this corpse—one that had met a gruesome end—belonged to one of only three archmages in the world.
‘Siegfried Bassman.’
Also known as ‘Hero’ Siegfried.
The greatest Hunter ever born in perpetually neutral Switzerland, and an archmage who displayed outstanding talent in summoning and Barrier Magic.
If Magic Johnson was a War Mage specializing in actual combat and killing, Siegfried was one of the rare scholarly types who delved deeply into Magic itself.
At least, he was—until today, when he was found dead in his hideout.
“Was he like this when you first arrived?”
At my question, Magic Johnson nodded with a grim expression.
“Yeah. At first, even I couldn’t believe it. I checked several times before I accepted that the corpse was Siegfried.”
“What about regular contact?”
“After he went into seclusion, I only contacted him once or twice a year—and even then, I had to try about ten times before he’d finally respond, long afterward. This is also the first time I’ve visited this place. He was so reclusive that he hated visits like that.”
“Then the last contact was…”
“Hmm. Probably about three years ago.”
“Three years ago. I thought it’s been almost ten years since he went into seclusion.”
“When we last met, just before his retirement, he gave me a communication artifact he made himself. He told me to use it if there was ever an emergency.”
I took the artifact Magic Johnson pulled from his pocket.
As if proving it had been made by an archmage’s own hands, it held a considerable amount of Mana—a crystal ball about the size of an adult’s fist.
‘Normal radio waves or communication would’ve been impossible in this space, surrounded by layers of Barriers. He probably intended it that way.’
I’d never met Siegfried Bassman in person, but his reputation was that of a complete shut-in.
He not only avoided people’s attention and interest to an extreme, but he was also an obsessive geek who had to dig into and dissect any field that caught his interest.
“I sent him messages every Thanksgiving and Christmas, but starting three years ago, there was no reply. I knew his personality well, so I thought that was just how he was. He was also uncomfortable with people praising him as a hero, and he disliked media attention, so he often devoted himself to long-term research even after the Great Cataclysm ended.”
It was hard to make sense of it.
An archmage who’d gone into seclusion to avoid the world’s gaze, meeting such a gruesome end in his own hideout.
But one thing was certain.
“It can’t be a normal natural death. Even if he died for some reason, his body couldn’t have ended up like this in just three years.”
It would probably be impossible even after three hundred.
Would the hideout of a shut-in archmage—whose hobby was Magic research and whose specialty was staying indoors—run on gas or electricity?
This huge cave, which could only be entered by breaking through the Barrier, was saturated with all kinds of Magic. A space where everything, including temperature and humidity, was perfectly controlled.
And yet there was no trace—or stench—of naturally rotting decay from Siegfried’s corpse lying before me.
‘This is just… dried out. As if all his life force was drained by something.’
I’d never witnessed a death this mysterious, not even in Murim.
That only made it worse.
How, exactly, had he met his end in his own hideout?
And how deeply was this archmage’s death tied to my enemies?
“Michael Silbert. And the Prophet.”
The two most likely suspects.
Magic Johnson, catching the meaning behind my mutter, spoke in a serious tone.
“If I had to choose between the two, I’d pick the former without hesitation.”
“Why?”
“At least there’s a clear connection. Given everything so far, Michael Silbert clearly knows ‘the Sky’ is unconscious. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be joining hands with terrorists and doing something this insane.”
It was a plausible hypothesis.
Siegfried had created Area A, hidden within the Ares Guild headquarters, so he could have learned the truth about Cheon Tae-min’s condition in the process.
But…
“I’m asking because I genuinely don’t know—was Siegfried closely connected to Michael Silbert while he was alive?”
“That’s…”
“Then what are the chances he leaked that level of classified information to him?”
Magic Johnson, hesitating for a moment, let out a strained groan.
“Not much. No—you can assume there’s none at all. The number of people who had any relationship with him was very small, including me. And there was only one person he openly said he sincerely respected beyond a simple acquaintance.”
I felt like I knew the name without hearing it.
“Cheon Tae-min.”
Magic Johnson nodded and continued.
“That’s right. Siegfried sincerely respected him. From my perspective, after talking to him about it, it was almost an emotion bordering on worship. In the past, he even mentioned him in a media interview.”
“Ah, I think I know what you mean.”
I vaguely remembered that interview, too.
For well-known Hunters, all kinds of information had been compiled into documents online, and Siegfried Bassman was one of them.
It had been a big topic at the time, since it was unusual for him to do a media interview at all—let alone speak of someone else with that much emotion.
“Perhaps… that’s why Lee Jeong-ryong asked Siegfried to create Area A.”
Team Leader Choi Minwoo, who suddenly spoke up, continued slowly.
“Siegfried Bassman was a master in that field and kept a narrow circle. And he deeply respected my maternal grandfather, so he would have kept the secret.”
Magic Johnson gave a small nod.
“That’s true. Even I, one of the closest to him, knew nothing about Area A. No—I never even imagined that friend would accept a request from anyone.”
“At least Lee Jeong-ryong’s judgment about secrecy was correct. However, if it wasn’t a leak, then the question that remains is…”
“How did Michael Silbert learn that fact?”
I muttered and examined the corpse again, leaving no gaps.
I was looking for signs of possible torture, but even with every sense sharpened, nothing changed.
‘If this wasn’t just a lizard-style tail cut, there had to be a reason to kill him.’
There was no clear reason, yet the most likely suspect remained Michael Silbert.
Finding out why would be the first step toward bringing him down.
‘There’s definitely something. Something…’
I repeated it to myself and stared at the corpse for a long time.
Frustration swelling in my chest, I lifted my head—and saw someone standing there.
More precisely, it was a monster in human form.
“Why are you striking a pose there? You’ve been quiet for a while.”
Skeleton King, arms crossed as he pondered something, frowned.
“Be quiet, you stupid human. This body was in the middle of deep thought.”
“What kind of bullshit are you thinking about now?”
“Can’t you feel it?”
I paused and asked back.
“What?”
“This space. The concentration of Magical Power is higher than elsewhere.”
If Skeleton King had meant Mana, I would’ve refuted him immediately.
My Energy Sense was superior to anyone here, and I hadn’t felt anything strange at all.
But Magical Power was a different story.
Skeleton King was an S-Class monster. When it came to Magical Power, even I couldn’t match him.
“Big human. Didn’t you feel it?”
At Skeleton King’s question, Magic Johnson scratched the back of his head.
“Not as much as you, but I did feel it. I just didn’t think it was particularly strange.”
“You’re infinitely stupid compared to this body. Why?”
“This place isn’t just a house. It’s also a laboratory equipped with everything Siegfried wanted. If you search just one warehouse, you’ll find mountains of corpses from all kinds of monsters, and Magic Crystal Stones.”
“…Huh?”
Now that he mentioned it, he was right.
Just as purifying sewage doesn’t make it perfectly clear, the same goes for Magic Crystal Stones and monster corpses.
No matter how much purification is done, a minimum amount of Magical Power remains.
Siegfried’s hideout was filled with things that contained every kind of Magical Power just from turning your head, so the concentration was bound to be high.
“I know what you’re thinking, but even if the reason for the high concentration is monsters, nothing really changes. If a monster killed Siegfried, there should have been traces of a fight.”
“…Uh, uh?”
I was an idiot for expecting anything.
I muttered as Skeleton King blinked at Magic Johnson’s perfectly logical rebuttal.
“You fucking idiot.”
“How dare this wicked human!”
“Be quiet before I separate your jawbone. I’ll overlook the fact that you even tried to think.”
“How dare you interfere with the investigation. I already feel like my head is about to explode.”
The Demon Realm was far away, and the fist was close.
At that moment, as Skeleton King shut his mouth with a sullen expression, Team Leader Choi Minwoo—who had been persistently examining the corpse—clicked his tongue softly.
“If it was an assassination, there should be at least some wounds left, but there are none. It’s clean.”
“Then…”
“At least in my common sense, that leaves only Magic.”
Even Magic Johnson, an archmage, looked troubled.
“Even though I specialize in attack Magic… I’ve never heard of Magic like this. It’s far more complex and evil than the kind we use. If anything, it’s closer to that friend over there.”
At those words, that “friend,” who’d kept his mouth shut, frowned.
“This body only breathes resentful spirits into dead flesh. I don’t know about such evil Magic.”
…
…
…
Isn’t that already evil Magic?
But if he said he didn’t know, there was nothing else to say. And he wasn’t an ordinary monster, so there was no reason for him to lie.
‘Damn it. It’s definitely him.’
Michael Silbert.
That name kept circling in my head.