Chapter 67: The Wish Tower, IV

It was already evening as Louis dashed through the village at top speed, drawing attention from onlookers.

“Aren’t you the headman’s kid?”

“Where is he going?”

Many villagers recognized him because the outsiders staying with the headman had been a hot topic recently. Normally, Louis would bristle at being called “kid,” but today, he didn’t have time to care about such trivial matters.

He soon arrived at his destination.

Bang, bang!

His fists pounded against the steel door like a battering ram, yet there was no sound coming from within. Over the past few days, Dexter’s indifference had pushed Louis away, but this day was different.

Bam, bam!

“Grandpa! Grandpa, open up!”

Still, there was no response.

Louis raised his voice even louder. “If you don’t come out, I’ll keep banging until you do!”

Bam-bam.

“You’re really going to ignore me? Come on, open up! I have something important to discuss with you today!”

He continued knocking and shouting for fifteen minutes before finally getting a response from inside. The sound of heavy footsteps approached, and soon, the door flung open, accompanied by a loud exclamation.

“Hey, you little bastard! What are you doing at my doorstep?”

“What am I doing here? I called the tower lord”

“Get lost!”

“I just want to talk.”

“There’s nothing to say.” Dexter moved to close the door.

Having experienced this tactic multiple times, Louis wasn’t about to let it happen again. His hand shot out like lightning and grabbed the door.

Clang!

“Watch it, punk! You’re gonna hurt your hand if you don’t let go immediately!”

“Let’s just talk, seriously.”

With one hand on the door, Louis looked up at Dexter. Or rather, he glared at him. Dexter returned the glare without backing down. Sparks flew as their stubborn eyes met.

Dexter subtly tried to pull the door towards himself but…

Huh?

The door didn’t budge even slightly. Shocked, Dexter exerted more force, yet it felt like the door was bolted with steel bars.

What kind of freakish strength is this?

Despite his youthful appearance, Louis could effortlessly bend iron rods. A frail old man holed up in his study couldn’t hope to match that power.

As Dexter strained against the doorknob, Louis spoke up, “Oh come on! Even if you hate meeting people, this is ridiculous! I’ve been visiting for days, only to be turned away each time. Can’t you at least talk to me once?”

“I have nothing to say!”

“Don’t be like that. Let’s talk about Grandpa!”

“You impudent boy! Who told you I’m old? I’ve never had a grandchild as dim-witted as you!”

“Well, I’ve never met anyone quite as stubborn and set in their ways as you either.”

“What nonsense is this?”

“Let’s skip the irrelevant chatter.”

”…”

Louis’s curt responses made Dexter’s lips twitch.

This kid… How can he speak so eloquently?

Despite appearing to be only seven years old, Louis spoke with the confidence of a forty-year-old man well-versed in street smarts.

Crackling tension arose between them once more.

“Fine. What do you want to discuss?”

“The thing is…”

As Dexter finally seemed open to conversation, Louis let go of the door handle. It was his mistake.

Slam!

As soon as Louis let go of the door, it slammed shut with a bang. From beyond the door came laughter mixed with a gruff voice.

“Heh-heh! I have nothing to say to you. Leave now.”

“…” Staring blankly at the closed door, Louis realized he had been tricked, and his shoulders began trembling uncontrollably. His lips curled slightly, and he growled under his breath:

“Grandpa, should’ve opened this when I asked nicely!”

“You’re still here? There’s noth—cough.”

“…Don’t regret your decision later.”

Kri-kriii.

Louis slipped on brass knuckles made from dragon bones and stretched out his limbs. With each movement, the deadly sound of the bones grinding against one another echoed loudly. Preoccupied with preparing himself, Louis paid little attention to the coughing coming from inside the room. After thoroughly warming up, he faced forward and opened his mouth.

“I’ve already told you I regret it.” With that, Louis grabbed the doorknob and easily pulled it off with a pop.

“What? Why did this come off?” He casually tossed the knob aside. Meanwhile, the broken door slightly swung open. Delighted, Louis pushed it further.

“The…door…is…open…now! Grandpa, let’s talk!”

The door flung wide, but as soon as he saw what lay beyond, his expression darkened instantly.

“Grandpa?”

There on the floor lay Dexter, unconscious. Louis rushed to him anxiously.

“Grandpa! Wake up!” Despite Louis slapping Dexter’s face repeatedly, there was no sign of consciousness returning.

“Cough!”

The unconscious Dexter spat out blood. Realizing how dire his condition was, Louis hastily summoned healing potions from a pocket dimension. He urgently poured one down Dexter’s throat, but most of it dribbled out because Dexter remained unconscious.

“Dammit!”

Louis quickly cast holy magic. Using spatial-type spells to secure the potion and wiping away the blood with his hand, he finally managed to feed some to Dexter. Once about half the potion went down, Dexter’s condition stabilized somewhat. Relieved, Louis fed him the rest.

Gulp, gulp.

Seeing that Dexter’s erratic breathing had normalized, Louis sighed in relief.

“Phew… What a day.” Despite grumbling, Louis stayed put to monitor Dexter’s condition instead of leaving immediately.

“Ugh…” Dexter’s eyelids fluttered open to reveal the familiar ceiling above him as he regained consciousness.

The first emotion that hit him was anxiety.

Oh no… Again…

He had been fainting more frequently lately, and the intervals between each episode were getting shorter. It could only mean his time left on this earth was dwindling rapidly.

I’m running out of time.

As Dexter blinked and sat up, he sensed something different about himself this time around.

…I feel lighter?

Usually, after passing out, his body would deteriorate further, but now, he felt almost unnaturally buoyant. Although it should’ve brought him joy, instead, fear gripped him.

It seems my end is near.

He wondered if this was his body’s last burst of energy before death.

Just as he began sinking into melancholy…

“You’re dying soon, aren’t you? Why so glum?”

“What?” Dexter turned toward the voice.

There sat a boy on one of the chairs. Startled, Dexter jumped to his feet.

“You! How did you get in here?!” He asked, shocked.

Louis grinned and pointed at the door. “The doorknob broke, heh-heh.”

Dexter stared agape at the busted handle.

“Wh-what happened here?”

“Heh-heh, isn’t it weird? I just gave it a gentle tug, and it came off like this.”

Louis feigned ignorance as he scratched the back of his head under Dexter’s gaze.

“What is wrong with you?!”

“…”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“…”

“…I’m telling you, nothing happened!”

Dexter remained silent. Feeling slightly hurt, Louis avoided eye contact, thinking Dexter was interrogating him, but that wasn’t the case at all.

“You…” Dexter’s eyes were fixed on something.

It was the bloodstained sleeve of Louis’s shirt. As Dexter stared blankly, Louis hastily jumped out of his chair.

“I’m not sure what caused your condition, but you should be fine for now since I gave you that potion. Still, make sure to see a healer before collapsing again.”

“A potion…?”

“It’s quite expensive, so consider yourself lucky.”

Louis’s potion wasn’t just any ordinary potion; it was made from dragon extracts. Normally, Louis would’ve asked Dexter to reimburse him, but seeing how frail and pale he looked after his near-death experience, Louis couldn’t bring himself to do so.

Besides, I have plenty of potions.

Louis reached into his pocket as he headed toward the door.

“Since you’re still feeling under the weather, I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“…”

“Take it easy now.”

Just as Louis was about to leave…

“…Is there something you want to say?”

“What?” Louis turned at Dexter’s voice from behind him.

He looked slightly tense as he stared back at Louis from his chair.

“How many days have you been coming here and causing trouble? What is it that you wanted to tell me? And if it’s about selling our tower’s rusted sword, don’t even bother opening your mouth. I don’t want to hear any of it.”

This was unprecedented—Dexter had never shown such willingness to engage before. Louis responded with a smile.

“Fortunately, that’s not what I’m here for.”

“So then, what do you want?”

“I’d like to attempt the entrance trial.”

“The entrance trial?”

“Yes, I wish to challenge the entrance trial for the Tower of Wishes.”

At those words, Dexter narrowed his eyes, looking utterly incredulous.

“Do you understand what that entails?”

“What do you mean? It means I want to enter the Wish Tower.”

Something about this didn’t feel right, but Dexter decided to let it slide for now.

This audacious kid… Judging by his eyes, he seems to be up to something…

Over the past few days, Dexter had realized better than anyone else that Louis was no ordinary child due to all the trouble he’d caused him.

“Well…” Dexter pondered how best to handle this bold youngster, but not for long.

According to the longstanding rules of the tower, they could not refuse entry to someone seeking admission. Wanting to enter the tower itself counts as a wish after all.

However…

I can still deny access if one is deemed unworthy.

With that thought, Dexter smiled slyly and agreed. “Fine. Wait here for a moment.”

He swiftly left and returned with a piece of paper, which he handed to Louis.

“My gratitude for saving my life ends with this conversation and giving you the chance to take the test. Don’t assume I’ll accept you as my disciple just because you saved me.”

“Wow… That’s quite stingy towards your savior, isn’t it? Well, fair enough.”

“Inseok, stop complaining! Anyway, take this—it’s the entrance exam for the Wish Tower.”

“A written test?”

Dexter nodded.

“Solve these problems today, and if you succeed, I will accept you as my disciple at the Wish Tower.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes, but you must solve it on your own without any help.”

Louis’s expression shifted as if Dexter was daring him to try. The entrance exam Dexter handed Louis wasn’t something a child could easily tackle.

It might be too much for him, but considering his stubbornness…he won’t give up unless I do this.

Dexter had no intention of taking on another disciple since he didn’t have many days left. He simply lacked the time to mentor a young apprentice. Thus, he devised this plan to discourage the boy before him. As he watched Louis scrutinizing the paper intently, Dexter couldn’t help but smirk.

Yonseok

give it your best shot and see if you can solve this.

The equation Dexter had written incorporated some of his latest developments in holy magic formulas. Throughout his life, he had dedicated himself to researching talismans and creating various holy magic formulas for them. Since one never knew when, where, or how a trascendence might be needed, a deep understanding of multiple attributes was essential.

The formula Dexter presented to Louis involved two of the most complex unnatural properties: time and power.

He won’t be able to solve it without considerable knowledge of both attributes!

Dexter felt confident about this assessment. With that, he waved off Louis as if dismissing him completely.

“Well then, go ahead and try to—”

“Master Louis.” Dexter paused at the sight of Louis’s small hand thrust toward him.

“What?” Dexter looked down skeptically at Louis, who grinned widely in response.

“I’ve solved it already!”