Rosaria (3)
Just as Reed was about to start his new studies, Phoebe and Rosaria reached the first floor.
The first-floor hall was full of magicians trying to erect pillars and spectators who came to watch.
It was enjoyable content in a place where the smell of mana numbed their noses.
Erecting pillars.
In other words, it was content that could be called a display of magical prowess among magicians.
It was a kind of test to show how good their mana sense was, much like a game that involves hitting a ball attached to a rope with a hammer to ring a bell hung from a high point.
[T/N: High Striker]
The event took place once a month when the mana pillar became unstable.
Most of the people gathered to test their strength before tidying up.
Rosaria, who had been blankly watching, pointed to the place where the crowd was gathered and asked.
"Who are they?"
"They are the magicians of the tower. They work in this tower and are subordinates of the Tower Master!"
Contrary to what she thought she would like to hear, Rosaria cocked her head at the word "subordinate".
"Tower Master?"
"The Tower Master is, uh… Rosaria's father, or rather, Papa!"
"Papa is the Tower Master?"
"Yes."
Rosaria thought for a moment.
And then, lifting her head again,
"Is it a good thing?"
"It's the best."
Then Rosaria laughed heartily and waved her hand.
She didn't know the difficult part right now.
If it's good, it's good!
"Ah, it's starting now. Take a look!"
"But I can't see…"
With Rosaria's small stature, she couldn't see the show even if she tried.
"Ah, in that case…"
Realizing her own thoughtlessness, Phoebe picked her up.
Phoebe put her head between Rosaria's legs and carried her on her shoulders.
"Up you go! Now you can see… Ah! Don't touch the horns, miss!"
"Hehehe."
Rosaria smiled innocently, grabbing Phoebe's horns for balance.
Phoebe couldn't even complain and left her be.
The awkward atmosphere subsided, and the pillar erecting began.
A man entered the magic circle engraved in the center of the hall and closed his eyes to concentrate.
The magic circle responded to his concentration, and a pure white light began to rise.
Vooom-.
With a resonating sound, the blue light scattered across the floor soon gathered together.
The first floor became a solid pillar.
And, like a thermometer, the distinct pillar of light gradually climbed toward the sky.
Finally, the ascending pillar of light stopped around half of the tower.
"Hans, 45th floor!"
"Hey, it reached a little bit of the 46th floor, right? Let's just round it up to the 46th floor."
"Do you really want to cheat like that?"
"I don't want to lose 100 UP over something petty... You're so stingy."
The magicians, measuring their power while placing small bets, scatter the pillars they've erected.
In this way, they spent time learning about each other's growth.
"How about it? Fun, isn't it?"
Holding onto Phoebe's horns, Rosaria replied,
"Can I try too?"
"Do you want to try?"
"I want to try it!"
Young and enthusiastic, Rosaria exclaimed,
"I want to create a sphere like Dad. A blue sphere!"
"A blue sphere... you say?"
"It suddenly appeared in his hand! It was amazing!"
Phoebe couldn't understand what Rosaria was talking about.
In the end, Rosaria wanted to try erecting a pillar, so Phoebe focused on that.
From Phoebe's perspective, it was too much for Rosaria to try erecting a pillar.
'I can't even feel her mana...'
The pure child had no aura of mana that magicians usually emitted.
Phoebe doubted whether Rosaria could even feel the mana, let alone create a pillar.
Normally, she would have told her to wait for the next time.
"Let's give it a try."
But Phoebe was different from others.
If she wanted to try, why not let her try once?
Erecting a pillar was literally testing the power of <Mana Sensitivity>, which gathers surrounding mana.
It wasn't a particularly dangerous task for those who couldn't sense mana.
"Excuse us."
With her unique drawling voice, Phoebe carried Rosaria through the crowd.
"Who's that child?"
"Who brought her in? Don't they know outsiders aren't allowed in the tower?"
"Who on earth... Gasp!"
The magicians frowned and commented until they saw who brought her in, and then their words were cut off.
"Deputy Tower Master?"
The magicians were used to calling her Deputy Tower Master since she had managed the tower operations in Reed's stead.
She was a figure ranking second in the hierarchy, with power and magical abilities nearly as strong as the Tower Master himself.
Phoebe stepped forward and explained to them.
"Ah, this child is the Tower Master's child."
"The Tower Master? He has a child?"
"Not by blood, but, what do you call it... Ah, an adoptive daughter!"
"That Tower Master?"
Since it was Phoebe, Reed's personal secretary, who said it, it must be true, but they looked at her with disbelief on their faces.
It was hard to believe that Reed, with his personality, would have an adopted daughter.
Phoebe glanced at Rosaria's reaction, but she seemed to have no interest in anything other than the pillar-erecting area.
Phoebe asked the next person in line for permission.
"Excuse me, this young lady is interested in pillar-erecting and would like to give it a try. Would that be alright?"
"Ah, yes! If it's the Assistant Tower Master, then it's no problem."
A man responded with a crisp voice.
Phoebe smiled awkwardly and expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you. Miss, you can go up there and try."
"Okay!"
Rosaria had seen several people do it, so she could imitate them to some extent.
She stood in the middle of the magic circle with her short legs.
Seeing her, the magicians began to murmur.
"Can such a little girl really erect a pillar?"
"She's so cute. Maybe she thinks she can do it because she saw others do it once?"
"They're just letting her try because she wants to."
"I bet she won't even make it to the first floor."
While some found her bold attempt cute, most of them did not look kindly upon the naïve girl's simple amusement.
Rosaria stood in the middle of it all.
Pillar-erecting was a very simple task.
By concentrating, the engraved magic circle responds to the focus, gathering scattered mana in a specific pattern.
Gather mana and shoot it upward to build the pillar.
That was the basis of pillar-erecting.
However, Rosaria hadn't even heard of such concepts in passing.
She didn't sit and close her eyes to concentrate like the other magicians.
Since she didn't even concentrate, there was no way the magic circle would react.
There was no one expecting anything from her, who lacked even the basics.
Rosaria looked up at the sky through the faintly glowing blue mana.
She could see the blue mist-like clusters swirling and rising to the ceiling.
The swirling blue mist danced brilliantly in her eyes.
In Rosaria's mind, there was only one thought: the sphere that her adoptive father, Reed, had created.
The blue sphere that beautifully spun and condensed in his hands.
Rosaria reached for the sky.
She wanted to gather the mana that fluttered like threads.
She wanted to gather them and show off.
She wanted to be praised.
It seemed trivial, but that single-mindedness was what awakened her talent.
She stretched both her hands towards the sky.
"Blue sphere!"
The magic circle exploded.
