Love calls flying in from all over the place.
Letters have arrived not just from other magic towers, court mage groups, and academies, but also from various famous knight orders, magic organizations, and spirit master alliances.
The requests were all the same, except for the Agni Magic Tower. They all wanted the next Bang expansion pack to be centered around them, and they were offering substantial rewards for it.
Frankly, it wasn’t an entirely incomprehensible move.
“It’s a natural opportunity to make their faces and names known.”
Who knows how much further Bang will spread and succeed, but at least in the Gias Territory, it will continue to hold a significant position. As more tourists flock to the Empire for Abracadabra, more people will play Bang to pass the time.
If there’s a chance to include their faces and names in such a board game, tourists, nobles, and influential figures will naturally come to know their names as they play Bang.
However, it felt a bit surreal that everyone was offering hefty sums, honorary positions, or even mansions for something with uncertain effectiveness.
Especially since the competition seemed even fiercer now.
“Frankly, most notable people are already in the character cards.”
In the base game, there are four archmages and other famous figures from the magic world. And in the knight expansion, there are grandmasters and master-level aura users.
To put it bluntly, the big shots have already been included, so now people are thinking, “Maybe I’ll be in the next expansion?”
Perhaps because of this, even smaller, lesser-known organizations sent letters. It seemed like they were shooting their shot, just in case.
But among all those places, including the Mage Association, Agni Magic Tower, and Natura Magic Tower, there was only one letter that caught my attention.
Wait, can this even be called a letter?
“Is this… tree bark?”
“Looks like it. There’s writing carved into it.”
Among the elegant and neatly written letters, one stood out like a sore thumb.
It looked like it had just been peeled off, with bits of bark falling off and sap dripping from the carved letters.
Just plain tree bark with writing on it, no magical treatment whatsoever.
But it bore a name that no one could ignore.
“…Diogenes.”
“W-wait, the real Beggar Archmage…?”
The only archmage among the eight who doesn’t belong to any magic tower or the royal court, and whose magic’s origin remains unknown.
An eccentric who, despite being an officially recognized archmage of the Empire, doesn’t belong anywhere and lives on the streets.
The Beggar Archmage, Diogenes.
Many search for him, but he’s only occasionally spotted in rags on the streets, and even then, he disappears in the blink of an eye.
Rumors say even the Emperor can’t find him. So why did he send me tree bark?
The bark had only one line carved into it:
<Tonight at 11:36 PM, the back alley.>
The sentence was crookedly carved, but the name “Diogenes” below it was written in a stylish font.
This sense of dissonance, the gap between the writing styles, seemed to perfectly capture who Diogenes was.
“Diogenes, huh…”
But what bothered me more was the name Diogenes itself.
The ancient Greek I know…
The name is the same as that of the beggar philosopher ‘Diogenes’.
…Of course, it’s natural to think it’s just a coincidence. He’s not a figure from another world, but a great man from the Earth I used to live on.
But is the name Diogenes that common? Is it just an astonishing coincidence that the ‘beggar’ philosopher and the ‘beggar’ archmage share the same name?
In the end, I had no choice but to meet him in person.
‘There was no mention of coming alone.’
I couldn’t bring along Olfin, Stella, or even Knight Roland.
Because it was already 11:33 PM.
‘He must have arranged to be found around this time.’
With only about 2 minutes left until the promised time, I had to move now to avoid being late.
If I miss this opportunity, I might never see him again. The beggar archmage I heard about in rumors was more than capable of that.
Still, going alone was a bit…
“Sally, Tiger. Let’s go.”
“Y-yes!”
[Growl…]
I woke up Sally, who had handed me the bark, and the water tiger sleeping next to her, and we left the room together.
Originally, Adela would have been here too, but even after more than a week, Adela was blatantly avoiding me.
‘At this rate, won’t she stay in the magic tower even if I leave?’
I thought I could apologize or talk if I met her, but since the high magician was determined to avoid me, I couldn’t even meet Adela by chance.
If I had known this would happen, I would have at least spoken to Adela, who was standing behind Olfin when Stella Varnicion came.
I thought I could meet her later, but it seems that ‘later’ is going to be too late.
‘Without Adela…’
We can’t play the board game that requires four people. Even Bang requires a minimum of four players.
It’s quite a serious problem, so I had to settle things with Adela before leaving the Arkhé Magic Tower.
With that determination, I headed out into the cold night.
Towards the distant, noisy back alleys of the Gias Territory.
In that place filled with faint light, silence, and darkness.
“You’re not late.”
“……!!”
A voice clearly came from the path I had just passed.
While I stood stiff, Sally and the water tiger reacted urgently, but by the time they turned around, the owner of the voice was standing right in front of me.
“First time seeing you. Outsider.”
“…Are you Diogenes?”
“If that’s not your own word, not a randomly made-up term, not referring to a philosopher from another world, and if it means my name, then yes.”
The beggar archmage, Diogenes.
His appearance was, in both good and bad ways, the very essence of a ‘beggar.’
He looked like a shabby old man overall. His hair was a tangled mess, his wrinkled skin covered in black spots and dirt, and what he was wearing could hardly be called clothes—more like rags.
Unlike other archmages I’ve seen, who were adorned with artifacts, he had no staff, not even shoes, just bare feet.
As he raised a hand to scratch his head, dandruff fell off.
Before realizing he was an archmage, I didn’t even want to get close to him.
“It’s fascinating.”
“Can you tell me what you find fascinating?”
“Forgive me for saying this, but despite your ragged appearance…I don’t feel any discomfort.”
“It’s not rude to call a beggar a beggar. It’s just stating the facts.”
“Still, it’s fascinating.”
But paradoxically, Diogenes was clean. You might think it’s nonsense, but that’s the impression I got.
First off, there was no foul smell. Even though his hair was a mess, and he clearly hadn’t washed, there was no body odor coming from Diogenes. It was strange, considering the stench I remembered from Sally, who lived in the back alleys and couldn’t wash.
Moreover, the atmosphere around him was also clean. You’d expect flies to be buzzing around, but there were none. Instead, there was a refreshing air around Diogenes, like the breeze of an open field.
And most of all, the dandruff that had just fallen from his head disappeared into thin air without hitting the ground.
He was truly a paradoxical person.
“As you find me fascinating, I also find you fascinating. I never thought I’d see an outsider again in my lifetime.”
“……What do you mean?”
“Haven’t you already heard from the Archmage? The poor soul who was buried under a cursed promise, half of their body turned into bricks.”
“………!!”
Outsider.
At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary word, but it was what the Brick Man in the imperial city had said to me.
──Oh, soul of the outsider.
And that.
It was a statement that pierced through the fact that I had died in another world and was reborn in this one.
Diogenes seemed to be the same.
‘No, more than that……!’
“Didn’t you just say ‘again’? What did you mean by that……?”
“I once had a deep conversation with Justinia. But it’s not something you need to worry about. After all, it’s a fate where we can’t meet even if we wanted to.”
“……Just how old are you?”
“I look exactly as I am. I just use some tricks, that’s all.”
As far as I know, Justinia was an emperor from over a hundred years ago.
If he’s been alive since then, both Olfin and Stella would fit, but at that time, they were just beginners in magic, let alone Archmages.
If he could meet the emperor of that time, does that mean he was already an Archmage back then?
Then just how long has Diogenes been alive?
“The conversation is straying. I have plenty of time, but not much. Outsider, I have a request for you.”
“A request for me……?”
“While living on the streets, I never felt any lack, but there was one thing I couldn’t shake off. Loneliness.”
“………Loneliness.”
“Now I’ve even come to regard loneliness as a companion, but in the end, loneliness can’t be a good friend. So, I sometimes look for ways to soothe it.”
“Don’t tell me……?”
“I’ve already tried a board game called Kill the King, but new methods are always welcome.”
So.
“I want to ask you to create a board game.”
“A personal commission……I see.”
“That’s right. And a commission always comes with a reward, doesn’t it? There are many things an outsider like you might desire……….”
Swish.
Diogenes picked up a fallen branch from the street and began writing on the stone pavement with its tip.
There was a faint light, but it was a dark night, and as the letters were engraved…
It wasn’t like I was gripping the branch that hard, but…
Surprisingly, the letters in the darkness sparkled and caught my eye.
“I’ll give you two things as a reward for your request, and one of them is knowledge.”
“Knowledge, you say?”
“Exactly. I’ll answer any one question you have. Even if it’s about… how to ‘go back.'”
“Go back? Wait, hold on.”
“How you take it is up to you, but I can also tell you the true meaning of going back.”
Just now.
What?
“And the other thing is magic.”
“…Magic?”
“Of course, I was planning to teach you, but… you seem to have absolutely no talent for it. It might be faster for you to just be reborn.”
“…………”
“So, I’ll teach that maid over there instead. After all, you two are bound by fate, even if it’s a bit red.”
“W-what?”
Sally, who had been standing protectively with a dagger drawn, suddenly made a dumbfounded expression.
Probably because of the word “fate,” but I’d like a bit more detail on what “red” means.
And you’re going to teach Sally magic?
“Is that even possible? No offense to Sally, but she’s just a trainee magician…”
“Of course, it is. Forcing her vessel to expand will naturally cause stagnation, but she’ll still be able to learn my magic without any issues.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s a very simple and easy magic. But don’t you want to ask more about the knowledge?”
“…………”
Of course, I do.
But I can’t exactly ask that in front of Sally or Water Tiger.
“…Since it’s knowledge I can only hear after solving Diogenes’ request, I’ll listen then.”
“Wise choice. Then let’s meet again at this time next week. Bring any board game you can play alone—”
“Wait a moment.”
“Hmm?”
“At least tell me what genre of board game you like so I can prepare a sample, right? So…”
*Rustle rustle.*
“…What’s this?”
“I figured it would be hard to get detailed requests from Diogenes, so I prepared a separate survey.”
“A… survey?”
“What genre you like, how many players it can accommodate, if probability-based elements are okay, if it needs to be replayable… I’ve prepared about 50 questions, so please answer them! It’ll probably take about 30 minutes. Oh, here’s a fountain pen.”
“…………”
