Chapter 63: Explanation
Unedited*
They turned one after another to look at Class F... now Class E.
Lucius returned their gaze.
"I hope Class D accepts by tomorrow. Whether it’s the demoted Class C or Class D Leader itself." Lucius declared firmly and looked at the old man. "We can leave."
He’d challenge Class D, no matter what!
This guy is crazy!
’He’s completely crazy!’ thought the elderly judge.
However, he felt a surge of excitement... It had been a long time since a student had appeared who was not only crazy but also talented.
’And this is the trash from the Asturias family? Hehe, I think you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, Asturias family. It seems to me that your trash is more talented than your precious son,’ he thought.
The old man followed Lucius, leaving Class E—now Class F—in shambles on the floor. They ended up exactly like the Agility Golem that bordered on being illegal.
Shattered into pieces, with no ability to recover anytime soon.
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"This Golem is truly well-made..." said a judge who was closely examining the golem’s construction alongside his colleagues.
He looked at Lucius. "You’re an excellent class; I truly believe you can climb all the way up to Rank C. But how did you do it? These two weapons are fully equipped and seem as if they were custom-made for this golem."
Lucius frowned, simply nodded, and said nothing.
"Ah, don’t worry," the old man interjected, noticing that he was concerned about revealing these things. "Although we’re scholars, we belong to the Hall of Judges. We’re independent, and nothing we see or hear will ever leave our lips. We’ve taken an oath before the president and all his people."
Lucius nodded again.
’Everything I did falls within the standards of an academic setting, so it doesn’t really matter that much...’ he thought.
He didn’t want to reveal it to prevent anyone from leaking it, but he knew about the Hall of Judges. Technically, they are the courts of justice for the entire country. They have a long history and a reputation as independent entities.
He looked at the golem again.
"Actually, those weapons were created specifically for the golem. Knowing in advance that we’d have to create a golem in the end made me decide to work on them with that in mind. It saves a lot of time."
"A risky move," said the judge, surprised. "The foresight required is impressive. But it’s not a good decision when facing higher-tier classes."
"I think it’s a good decision; we just need to understand the context of the battles," Lucius interjected.
The judge considered this for a moment, but couldn’t give him an answer because he didn’t yet know the ins and outs of this golem.
"If you can help us understand how you did it, I, as an elder of the Hall of Judges, will help you whenever you need it," said the elderly judge.
Lucius had already prepared a response to that. He intended to decline the offer.
But the old man spoke before he could. "You may not know this, but when you go to the capital, you’ll face a lot of red tape. It’s not the founding families who govern there, but the president and the ministers. Assistance from the Hall of Judges is what will help you get through it. Besides, in case even we can’t help, I’m friends with some good guilds—I can recommend one to you."
’Even if we can’t?’ Those words alone made Lucius take it seriously.
Bureaucracy on the Great Islands had never been a problem for him. In Gaia, it practically doesn’t exist. There’s only the strong ruling over the weak.
The rich man’s money rules over the slaves.
But there is no politics. In Gaia, the one whose power surpasses that of others reigns supreme.
However, there are countries where this is not the case. They tend to be places where there are no overly powerful people.
Indeed, this island is one of those places.
In the absence of S-Ranks, politicians and their landholdings are beginning to play a significant role. Families like the Lakesides, for example, are so deeply entrenched in their landholdings and ministerial positions that it is extremely difficult for an A-Rank—who is already struggling against others of the same rank—to remove them from the picture.
And if even the Hall of Judges—despite its prestige—cannot intervene in many matters in the capital, it gives a glimpse into the kind of problems that exist there.
This wasn’t new. His older brother had already complained about it more than once to the family when he was a child.
That’s why relying on a guild might be unavoidable. But a guild...
’Only Ouroboros could give me what I need to grow. But, from what I know, Thalion is under pressure from foreigners. It’s impossible for an island as large as the Island of the Sun to ignore a Rising Star, so relying on him isn’t an option,’ he thought.
In the end, he was forced to nod in agreement with the old man.
"All right..." He walked over to his golem and, with a few taps, disassembled it.
The first thing to fall to the ground was the heavy armor... It wasn’t attached to the body, but it had numerous mana veins running through it.
The only connection between the armor and the golem’s actual body was two small, stretchy mana veins that didn’t snap even though the armor was pulling them downward.
"I think you can see its secrets now." Lucius laughed and picked up the two magical tools in his hand.
First, he showed the support tool.
"For this tool, I simply took advantage of the slope of a star-shaped plate and the golem’s gears. That way, I was able to install it not only as protection but also as a sensor."
"A sensor?" one judge immediately asked.
"Yes. Do you remember that I added Perception and Detection to his buffs? He doesn’t cast them on the golem—he casts them on himself."
"D-did it have that use?"
"Of course. Perception and Detection are used as sensors in magic," Lucius recalled.
In fact... it was used that way, but they had no idea it could be used that way—at all!
"So that’s why the golem was so precise..." said the old man, recalling the moment of the strike. Seeing Lucius’s smile, which confirmed his suspicion, he spoke again. "I understand the sensor part, but what I’m most curious about is still that power. As I understand it, you used the power of the mana mark to your advantage, but why was it so fast?"
At this, Lucius laughed and kicked the armor. "Can’t you see? This armor is fake."
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