After Han Gilju of the Daesung Guild was punished, the player crime rate in the free city of Mariacne plummeted rapidly.
For ordinary Connect residents, expulsion from the city was a severe punishment, as it often led to a miserable end at the hands of monsters, bandits, or slavers. But players were different.
Even if they were expelled from a city, it didn’t mean they couldn’t play the game. However, being imprisoned meant they could literally do nothing.
“With the city’s crime detection rate already nearly 100%, I’d better stay in line.”
“For now, it’s best to keep a low profile in the free city.”
Players held their breath. The powers held by city mayors were well known. They could grant immortality to a designated individual within the city.
They could suppress the use of skills that consumed mana for anyone other than the designated individuals. They had the ability to detect crimes in real time, along with the criminals responsible.
Consequently, whenever a player harmed a resident, the city guards somehow always showed up immediately. Previously, punishments were limited to small fines, forced labor, or expulsion, but now there was imprisonment.
It was natural for players to be cautious.
“To think you’re even supporting prison expansions. Thank you so much, master Raul.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. As partners, this is the least I can do. Also, maintaining public order is essential for a city with many visitors, is it not?”
“You’ve been a great help this time. Please let us know anytime you need anything.”
As Raul was about to leave after exchanging farewells, another thought crossed his mind, and he offered further advice.
“Ah, and by the way, you might receive a message from the temple, asking you to refrain from overly harsh punishments for outsiders.”
“Hmm. That’s problematic. Just when we thought we’d found a solution…”
“Don’t worry too much. Although we sentenced five years as an example, in reality, it’ll suffice to imprison them for just one month. Tell the temple the maximum sentence will be six months.”
“Is that so? Honestly, I’m not sure if a short period will be effective… And I wonder if the temple will agree.”
“It’s sufficient. Trust me. I’ll contact the temple separately as well.”
With Raul’s assurance, Mayor Egendore seemed relieved.
‘One month is enough.’
Anyone who’s played games knows what falling behind by a month in a real-time competitive game signifies.
And six months without access?
99.9% of players would quit the game. Even if they returned, they’d be far from achieving rank.
‘Well, those with immense wealth will be unaffected, but this is enough.’
Connect offers beginner packages, growth packages, and other boosters, making it theoretically possible to catch up on lost time. However, connect was not just about levels and stats.
The experience and skill proficiency gained through actual gameplay couldn’t be bought with money.
‘If not, every guild master would have been a ranker in my past life, but that wasn’t the case.’
Regardless, even if the sentence period is shortened, imprisonment will prove highly effective in deterring crime. And if they committed crimes on the mainland instead of in the free city…
‘I won’t even need to lift a finger.’
The lords wouldn’t stand by idly. In a free city, players might be spared from execution due to the protection they receive, but in the actual territories, no such leniency existed.
It wouldn’t take long for many players to realize what kind of entities medieval nobles truly were.
‘Well then, let’s head to our next destination.’
Raul had spent nearly a month touring various free cities of different nations, signing new investment agreements with mayors, and suppressing large guilds.
Meanwhile, some Purple Guild members had managed to pass the Tower of Graduation. Additionally, Purple Guild achieved the first successful completion of the party play and guild-exclusive raid trials.
If it looked like another guild might snatch these accomplishments, Raul had planned to participate directly. Thankfully, that wasn’t necessary.
‘Gathering only the top rankers and geniuses of the past life, achieving this was a given.’
If they couldn’t manage something as trivial as the Tower of Graduation on their own, Raul’s substantial investment of time and resources in supporting them would be meaningless.
As the Purple Guild led the way, other players began to achieve their own graduations, finally spreading out into the world one by one.
*
“It certainly feels different.”
Bernard, adjusting his glasses as he accompanied Raul on an outing, remarked.
“Indeed. Many mages believe that mage towers should have unique and original designs.”
Nakia, who had also returned to the city after some time, explained with a nostalgic expression, sharing what she knew with the group.
Buildings with strange and peculiar structures were set up in a seemingly irregular yet oddly systematic manner. They were in the magical city Krystilen, the capital of the Leslie Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Magic.
Raul walked through the mage tower district within the inner city fortifications, accompanied by his comrades Nakia, Bernard, Kane, and Pierce.
Unlike the capital of Rubin Kingdom, Thurium, which had buildings no higher than four stories, Krystilen was filled with high-rise buildings reaching up to ten stories.
“People often think of mage towers as very tall structures, but the reality is a bit different.”
Nakia pointed to the most conspicuous ten-story building.
“At a glance, this would appear to be the largest mage tower, but it’s actually a mid-tier tower. The truly large mage towers tend to be built lower.”
“Is there a reason for that? That tower certainly stands out the most.”
Bernard asked curiously, and Nakia replied with a smile.
“It’s easy to think that way, but once you understand the origin and structure of mage towers, you’ll change your mind.”
She tilted slightly to point at a hexagonal building about five stories high.
“How many floors do you think that building has, Master?”
Raul knew the answer but responded appropriately to boost Nakia’s enthusiasm.
“Judging by the height, windows, and exterior, I’d say it’s just a five-story building, right?”
She laughed lightly and explained.
“It’s natural to think so, but in reality, that building has over twenty floors. Including the underground levels, it’s said to have thirty floors in total. The term ‘mage tower’ refers to buildings where the internal space is expanded through various magic arrays like spatial expansion, spatial compression, gravity magic, and reinforcement magic.”
She pointed back at the taller building.
“So that ten-story mage tower built to the height limit might actually be the least skilled one.”
“I see. That explains why the branch mage towers were all relatively low.”
Kane, glad to glean new information, even scribbled notes in his notebook.
‘Indeed, people from the Ruben Kingdom have little to do with magic.’
It became apparent when even a skilled informant like Kane had limited knowledge about mage towers. The very reason Raul visited this place with his comrades was to bolster their lacking ‘magical’ capabilities.
“Ah, it seems we’re here.”
Nakia pointed to a seemingly ordinary three-story building.
Being surrounded by bizarrely shaped mage towers (an upside-down flower vase, a bowling pin, a long star, a beast’s head shape, among others) made this building stand out all the more.
“This is my first time visiting here as well, so I’m quite nervous.”
Nakia stopped to adjust her outfit.
“Don’t be too nervous. After all, sir Gray isn’t here today.”
Indeed.
The place Raul and his group visited was the Leslie Kingdom branch of the ‘Gray Tower’ established by the Great Sage Gray.
The abilities of the mages affiliated with such a famed tower and its influence were significant, but they were known for their limited external interactions.
Since they rarely took on external commissions or guests, it was understandable that they didn’t concern themselves much with their building.
Despite this closed-off nature, Raul pressed the bell without hesitation.
‘I’ve already informed Sir Gray.’
Though it had been quite some time since they last met, Raul frequently communicated with Gray through magic communicators.
The frequent conflicts with the imperial intelligence bureau and Raul’s keen interest in the newly arrived outsiders in Connect necessitated these contacts.
Ding, clink.
The iron gate unlocked, presumably due to a prior notification about their visit.
Creak.
The hinges of the iron gate squeaked as if rusty. As they pushed it open and walked through, they could see the real entrance of the three-story building beyond a modest-looking garden.
“They’re a bit unfriendly.”
Pierce spoke for the first time. With no guards or guides, just walking through an empty garden probably unsettled him.
Given their experiences in the Ruben Kingdom, where they were often warmly welcomed right at the gates, it wasn’t an unreasonable feeling.
“Think of it as fortunate. Many closed-off mage towers wouldn’t even respond to the bell.”
Mages engrossed in their research often disliked visitors, especially in non-commercial mage towers. After some struggles, they opened the wooden door to the building and were greeted by a somewhat indifferent-looking individual at the first-floor counter.
A man in his fifties, dressed in a tattered robe with a half-burnt beard and soot-stained face, suggesting that he had been experimenting just moments ago.
“Are you Young master Raul and his party?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Please wait. The Mage Chief is currently away. If you’re hungry, help yourselves to something in the pantry.”
Having said his piece, the mage urgently activated a teleportation spell right there and disappeared to somewhere.
“Hm, quite skilled. That’s not an easy spell to cast successfully.”
He seemed to be a mage of at least the 5th circle. It appeared that the mage was temporarily sent down to handle their reception due to the lack of a dedicated receptionist.
“Make yourselves comfortable while waiting. A ‘moment’ for a mage can be quite long.”
Seeing Raul’s gaze, Nakia shrugged as if to agree with the statement. And just as Raul mentioned, it took an hour of waiting in the first-floor lobby before the mage who had gone out returned.
“My sincere apologies for the long wait.”
The mage, who introduced himself as Elmer, bowed slightly, looking very apologetic.
‘He doesn’t look like a typical mage.’
His outfit was a business suit rather than a robe, and his well-groomed hair made him look more like an administrator or businessman than a mage.
“Ha ha, does it seem strange that I don’t look like a mage? Many people are surprised by that.”
But in reality, he was the Chief Mage of the Gray Tower, a 6th circle master of great skill.
“Ah, it’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but in the tower, there’s no one else who can handle guests normally, let alone someone with social skills, besides myself. So, I end up dealing with external matters.”
He introduced himself again as the head of the ‘Management Support Department’ of the Gray Tower.
‘Just how are the personalities of the mages in this tower that a 6th circle mage has to…’
Usually, such trivial matters were handled by apprentice mages or, at most, a 4th circle mage. It was surprising to see someone of his skill level taking on such duties.
“Well, the Tower Master doesn’t particularly care about the affairs of the tower. Aside from occasionally bringing in new talents, the staff doesn’t increase, so I have to manage these tasks myself. It would be great if you could speak to the Tower Master about this, Young master Raul.”
He went on to complain about how only a few, including himself, were concerned with the financial management and operation of the tower, and that it was tough to sustain the hundreds of members.
“Seriously, if it weren’t for the mana stones and cores you provided through the Tower Master, we might have ended up on the streets!”
No wonder he seemed so especially friendly and cordial towards Raul—there was a reason.
“You’re really putting in a lot of effort. I’ll certainly speak to Sir Gray about it.”
“Oh, will you really? Thank you, thank you so much!”
The over-50-year-old mage bowed repeatedly, tears glistening in his eyes, making Raul a bit uneasy.
‘This person doesn’t seem quite normal either.’
Worried that the mage might burst into tears, Raul quickly changed the topic.
“Have you looked into what I requested?”
Mage Elmer, regaining his composure, clapped his hands.
“I was just out for that matter. Here.”
He gestured in the air, and a thick stack of documents appeared. The title on the topmost page read ‘List of Mage Towers Facing Bankruptcy’. Raul’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the documents.
(To be continued…)