Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 526

Chapter 526

Zeon blinked.

“What did you say?”

“Oh my! Maybe your ears got hurt while you were out. I’m pretty sure I said it very clearly.”

“My hearing is perfectly fine.”

“Then I’ll say it again. I decided to hand this building over to Lady Tesserina.”

Yoo Se-hee’s smile deepened.

Zeon asked with a look of incomprehension,

“Why?”

“Why else? Because I was paid a suitable price, so I’m handing it over.”

“Can you really give up a building that easily?”

In this era, buildings were absolute assets.

Even in the slums, a building of that size held tremendous value.

Like Zeon’s building, it was something that couldn’t be bought even with money.

Yoo Se-hee spoke as if it were nothing.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Is that so?”

Zeon wrinkled the bridge of his nose.

She was right.

There was nothing inherently impossible about it.

The real issue was what kind of price Tesserina had paid. But Zeon didn’t need to know that much.

Zeon looked at Tesserina.

“How did you come to trade with Yoo Se-hee?”

“Oh! Levin introduced us. Thanks to him, I was able to get a good property.”

“Didn’t you say you’d look in Neo Seoul?”

“That was the plan at first, but over there, it’s basically impossible to find a decent place.”

Neo Seoul’s population was already saturated.

There were no vacant buildings at all, like the one Tesserina had obtained. No matter how much money one offered or how many incredible items were put on the table, the chances of acquiring such a building were slim to none.

Under normal circumstances, neither the Goblin Market nor Sinchon could have secured such a building either. These areas were also densely populated. However, recently, thanks to the sand hardening agent, many houses had been built in the outskirts, creating some breathing room.

If not for that, no matter how many good items Tesserina had offered, they would never have handed over an entire building like this.

Yoo Se-hee handed the key to Tesserina and said,

“This building is now yours, Lady Tesserina.”

“Thanks! I’ll put it to good use.”

“Not at all. We got a great item thanks to you as well. If you have more items like that, come see us anytime. We’re always ready to buy at the highest price.”

“I will!”

“Then enjoy looking around the building. We’ll be on our way.”

Yoo Se-hee gave a slight bow and left.

Zeon watched the retreating backs of Yoo Se-hee and Black Lion for a moment.

Yoo Se-hee was whispering something to Black Lion.

He couldn’t hear her voice, but he could guess what she was saying.

‘No doubt she’s telling him to keep an eye on Tesserina.’

There was no way the item Tesserina, a dragon, had offered was anything ordinary.

Tesserina had said there weren’t many good items left in her lair, but even to Zeon’s eyes, there had been countless extraordinary items he had never seen before.

Some of them were so incredible that, if made public, all Awakeners would rush after them with fire in their eyes.

The item she handed over to Yoo Se-hee was likely one of those.

Given Yoo Se-hee’s personality, there was no way she would simply leave Tesserina alone after receiving such an item.

She would certainly monitor her every move and try to uncover the source of the item.

Yoo Se-hee was a troublesome person to get entangled with.

Unaware of this—or perhaps aware but unconcerned—Tesserina was simply delighted at having acquired a new lair.

“Ahem! Shall we go inside now? Let’s go in together, Zeon!”

“Alright.”

Zeon nodded and entered the building.

As befitted a slum building, the interior was extremely shabby.

Perhaps because it hadn’t been repaired in a long time, rain leaked in places, and large holes gaped open throughout.

Filth, scrap materials, chunks of stone, and rotting excrement were scattered everywhere.

It was hard to believe people had lived here until recently, given the wretched conditions.

Compared to the building Zeon had received, this one was several times more dilapidated and filthy, and the entire structure was rotten, requiring major reinforcement.

Zeon asked Tesserina,

“The building’s in pretty bad shape. Will it be okay?”

“Of course. Did you forget who I am for a moment? I’m a dragon. Problems like this can be fixed in no time.”

“With magic?”

“Yeah! Just watch from there. I’ll show you something impressive.”

With a confident expression, Tesserina walked to the center of the building.

After looking around the interior for a moment, she cast a spell.

“First, let’s clean up the inside. Clean!”

In an instant, a dazzling light burst from her entire body.

The intense light filled the filthy interior.

Like taking a shower, the entire ten-story building was washed by the light.

A moment later, the revealed scene was astonishing.

The entire building, once so filthy, had become spotless.

But Tesserina’s magic didn’t stop there.

“We need to fill the holes and reinforce the frame too. I’ve got something suitable for that.”

She rummaged through subspace and placed a large mineral on the floor.

Zeon asked with curiosity,

“What’s that?”

“Cortium.”

“What?”

“Just think of it as an extremely strong metal. Ordinary physical attacks won’t even scratch it, and most magical attacks just bounce off.”

“So it’s not from Earth.”

“That’s right! I brought it from Kurayan. If we reinforce the building with this, it’ll become a powerful fortress in itself.”

Tesserina immediately got to work.

“Transform! Reinforce!”

At her simple command, the cortium emitted a brilliant light.

Pure white light once again swept through the interior like a storm.

When Zeon opened his eyes again, the cortium was gone.

Instead, the building itself had changed.

The holes had been filled without a trace, and the once-unstable frame was now suffused with the same glow as cortium.

Zeon asked,

“Is it done?”

“Yep!”

“That was simple.”

“This is the true power of magic. Destruction isn’t the only answer, you know.”

“It’s convenient.”

“You can’t create something from nothing, but if you have the materials, reinforcing or repairing things is quick. So? Not bad, right?”

“It’s far beyond just ‘not bad.’ If Levin knew about this, he’d feel cheated.”

“Why?”

“He went through hell renovating the building his office is in to suit his taste.”

“Hmph! That’s the difference between humans and dragons. With magic, even difficult tasks are solved easily.”

“So you’re going to use it like this?”

“As if. Now I’ll remodel it to my liking.”

“That too, with magic?”

“Of course.”

Tesserina nodded and unfolded her magic once more.

She had already planned how to remodel the building from the moment she received it, so she moved without hesitation.

Since the frame and outer walls were reinforced with cortium, she could change the internal structure without worrying about collapse.

Each time she cast a spell, the interior layout changed dramatically.

She knocked through two floors at once to increase the ceiling height, and enlarged the windows to solve both lighting and the view.

“This will be a place to display my collection, this will be the library, and I’ll put the kitchen here.”

Tesserina remodeled the interior without restraint.

Her work continued late into the night, and Zeon watched her all the while.

‘A dragon’s lair in Neo Seoul? How would other dragons react if they found out?’

---

Jin Geum-ho’s daily routine was regular.

If nothing special happened, he went to bed at midnight and woke at five in the morning.

He spent an hour washing up and eating, preparing to start his day.

By Jin Geum-ho’s side was his secretary, Seo Tae-ran.

Her routine was exactly the same as Jin Geum-ho’s.

As his secretary and closest aide, her lifestyle pattern matched his perfectly.

While eating with Jin Geum-ho, Seo Tae-ran summarized and reported the information that had come in overnight.

“The West District’s movements are unusual.”

“Are they?”

“Recently, the inflow of golem-related materials has increased. It seems their golem research has progressed quite a bit.”

“They captured an S-rank golem recently, didn’t they?”

“Yes. They say it was captured intact.”

“What a waste.”

“Because of Heavenly Punishment?”

“Yes. If we had obtained an S-rank golem, Heavenly Punishment would have progressed much faster.”

“Isn’t it already fast enough?”

“It is. But it’s also true that it doesn’t quite satisfy me.”

“Then shall we try negotiating with the West District?”

Jin Geum-ho shook his head at Seo Tae-ran’s suggestion.

“No need. They wouldn’t comply willingly anyway, and it would only drag things out. It’s better to focus on Heavenly Punishment instead.”

“Then should we put in a request to Zeon?”

“Zeon?”

“I’ve heard that Zeon played an absolute role in capturing the S-rank golem. What if we ask him to capture another S-rank golem?”

“Hmph! Do you think S-rank golems are that common? Just finding one would take ages. Leave it. Even if we don’t move, their technology will eventually end up in our hands.”

Jin Geum-ho’s eyes were glowing gold.

Seo Tae-ran knew well that this phenomenon appeared when his Heavenly Eye was activated.

“Understood.”

Seo Tae-ran withdrew without mentioning Zeon again.

Jin Geum-ho focused on his meal.

This morning’s breakfast was steak and salad.

The reason he ate steak in the morning was because he had a lot to do today.

He needed to store up enough energy to last until late at night, which was why he deliberately ate meat from the morning.

Seo Tae-ran ate more than twice as much as Jin Geum-ho.

As a martial-type Awakener, her appetite far exceeded that of most men.

Seo Tae-ran finished her meal in pace with Jin Geum-ho.

As she wiped her mouth with a napkin, she spoke as if something had just come to mind.

“Ah! What about the groundbreaking ceremony?”

“The groundbreaking ceremony?”

“Isn’t it about time to start building the control tower?”

“A control tower groundbreaking ceremony, huh.”

“Shall we make it private again this time?”

“No. This time, make it as flashy as possible.”

“You want to hold it as a public event?”

Seo Tae-ran looked incredulous.

For the past ten years, Jin Geum-ho had hardly ever appeared in public.

Most events were held privately, and even important ones saw him appear only briefly.

Because of that, many citizens of Neo Seoul had never even seen his face.

Seo Tae-ran couldn’t understand this sudden change in Jin Geum-ho’s mindset.

“May I ask why you wish to make it public?”

“People’s memories aren’t very good.”

“Pardon?”

“If they don’t see you for too long, they forget. You have to show yourself once in a while to prove you’re still standing strong, so they’ll mind themselves.”

“Understood. I’ll plan the event in a way that showcases the city hall’s full strength.”

“Good.”

Jin Geum-ho smiled in satisfaction.

He didn’t particularly like showing off to others. But he knew well that sometimes, displays of power were necessary.

The control tower’s groundbreaking ceremony would be a perfect stage to demonstrate both his and city hall’s continued dominance.

“Heavenly Punishment should be completed by the time the control tower is finished. Push the researchers.”

“Yes, Mayor.”

Seo Tae-ran bowed deeply as she replied.

Jin Geum-ho wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth with a napkin and looked out the window.

For now, deep darkness had settled in, filling his vision with a dark blue night sky.

The pitch-black sky, devoid even of starlight, instilled fear in those who looked upon it.

Jin Geum-ho thought the sky resembled the night sea he had seen long ago.

The emotions of sailors navigating a sea swallowed by darkness must be like those of people living in this era.

The despair of having to push through a pitch-black sea in a tiny boat, unable to even determine direction, and the fear of sinking at any moment, leaving one paralyzed and helpless.

For sailors, their only salvation was a small lighthouse.

The lighthouse was a symbol of hope—that they were close to land and survival.

“I will raise a lighthouse in that sky that will never go out, so that all of humanity that survived on Earth can hold onto hope.”

Jin Geum-ho wanted to gift humanity such a lighthouse.

“To do that, I must die once.”