The Silence Tower, which was constantly developing technologies, was bustling with activity.
Although there was a reduction in staff due to the expulsion of rebellious magicians through reforms, more than 150 apprentice magicians and disciples flocked from various academies including Escoleia, bringing the total number of magicians to 238.
In addition, they were cooperating with the Hupper Kingdom for joint development, so in reality, they were working with over 300 magicians.
Moreover, the Orc Alliance led by Larksper had all the abundant resources of the Kalton Mountains, and they had secured all the development rights, so they had plenty of samples for new materials and research.
Kaitlyn's technology, Hupper's territory management, and the Orc Alliance's resources.
All three factors were aligned, and the progress of technology development was increasing day by day.
The one who secured all three was none other than the tower master, Reed.
When he was alone, he was a character whose qualifications as a tower master were doubtful due to his lack of abilities.
However, no one doubted his abilities after seeing the influence he had exerted externally until recently.
Perhaps he was considered a strange man among magicians.
His abilities were not outstanding, but the abilities of those around him were exceptional, and that was why they followed him.
But recently, something strange happened that could be said that his abilities were also exceptional.
"Wow..."
The magicians assisting the tower master gathered around, looking down at something in wonder.
It was a water spirit with a young appearance.
The body and appearance were around 10 years old at most.
It gave the impression of a mischievous girl.
This was because she was standing there with her mouth tightly shut, just staring straight ahead.
The researchers all looked down at the spirit as if it was fascinating.
"Is this spirit really... the one that the tower master contracted with?"
Reed had heard that question when he first introduced her, but he willingly answered it again.
"Yes."
The magicians looked at the spirit Reed had contracted with, their expressions showing disbelief.
It wasn't that they were ignoring Reed.
The elements Reed handled were fire and lightning.
Contracting with a water spirit, which was the opposite element, was an unusual event among magicians.
"It's fascinating. Miss brought a salamander with a big chin, and the tower master brought a water spirit in the form of a young girl."
No one was informed until it was announced, but Rosaria's salamander was already a famous figure.
Since Rosaria let her spirit roam around without releasing it, many magicians had already witnessed it, and the magicians in the tower master's research building had watched it closely enough to mimic its cry.
Fortunately, since that day, it had not undergone any attribute changes and was only treated as a peculiar salamander in appearance.
"May I ask what its rank is?"
"Looking at its size, it seems like a lower spirit, huh!"
The face of the magician who mentioned the lower spirit was pushed away.
The magician's cheek that was pushed away swelled up red, and at the same time, his entire face was soaked.
The magicians didn't see it, but a well-formed water bullet had hit the man's face.
Without a doubt, it was an attack by the girl spirit.
Grrr-.
The girl spirit, who had been staring blankly ahead, glared at each one of them, emitting an aura.
It was a fierce expression, like a guard dog tied up in front of a house.
Reed belatedly urged them as if he had forgotten.
"Even though it looks like this, it's a high-ranking spirit. It will be upset if you treat it as a lower one."
"A high-ranking spirit...!"
"Do you mean Aurel?"
Aurel manifests as a 2m tall woman.
She has a beautiful appearance like a statue of a goddess made of ice, but what was in front of them now was a girl who was at most around 10 years old.
The researchers who naturally thought it was a lower spirit and were observing it slowly backed away.
"No, it's a spirit called Orphi."
"Orphi...?"
"There are some peculiar ones among the high-ranking entities. This is one of the water spirits."
"I see."
"Orphi, I've never heard of it."
They were all magicians studying magic engineering.
Since their majors were either elemental or researching defensive spells, they only knew the basics about spirits.
Seeing a high-ranking rare spirit was a precious experience for them.
'In reality, it's a spirit king...'
The spirit introduced as Orphi was actually Orneptos who had shrunk.
The third condition he proposed was exactly that.
- When summoned, shrink to the size of Rosaria and pretend to be a different spirit.
It was an utterly humiliating proposal for the Spirit King Orneptos.
It was asking a race that boasted its existence and pride in size to kill its ostentation and abandon its pride.
Reed blocked any factors that could catch his lie when he made such a lie.
Orphi, the rare spirit he introduced, was a high-ranking spirit listed in the actual spirit dictionary.
Even if spirit summoners came, Orphi was a rare entity, so no one would think it was Orneptos even if a few features of Orphi didn't match.
"Today, I'm going to conduct research alone, so if there's nothing urgent, you can go home for the day."
"Understood."
It's rare to leave work at a set time, but it's very rare to leave work earlier than the set time.
The magicians left the lab with light steps without hesitation.
The only ones left were Orneptos and Reed.
"They seem rude."
Orneptos, who had been keeping her mouth shut, opened it again.
"What should I do if you attack the researchers?"
"Isn't it annoying? No matter how small I am, I get angry if a magician can't recognize my worth."
"So you didn't say anything?"
"I just didn't want to mix words."
The reason she didn't open her mouth was simply because she didn't want to mix words.
The reason her eyes were fiercely open was because she didn't like the sight of the magicians who were treating her like a child and marveling at her.
"But don't resort to violence."
"I'm warning you that your neck could fly off next time. And I haven't broken your conditions."
She needed to make an effort to get close to Rosaria, but she didn't need to get close to other humans.
That included Reed.
"It would be better to at least pretend to be friendly. If your reputation isn't good, Rosaria won't like it either."
"The world of humans is difficult."
Orphi looked up at Reed with an annoyed expression.
"You wouldn't have summoned me just to show me off like a simple animal, tell me why you called me."
"It's time to fulfill the first condition."
The first condition was to teach Reed about runes.
He pointed to the axe placed on the floating device to Orneptos.
"Since I'm small, it's annoying to float."
Her body, which was walking on the ground, floated in the air and observed the axe.
The first glance, which was sullen, became more serious as she looked at the axe.
"This is strange."
Orneptos muttered.
