The reception room door opened with a force that seemed to break it before the report even ended.
In the interior that should have been bright with the morning sunlight and blue mana pillars, a dark mass loomed ominously.
At the center was the Black Sky Tower Master, Freesia.
She walked towards them, emitting a deep red glow from her eyes.
"Where is that bitch?"
At her first greeting, Reed and Helios stared at her with stunned expressions.
"Don't you hear people talking? Where's that bitch?"
"Black Sky, greet and behave when you come."
"Oh, you two guys are nice. Where is she?"
The person she referred to with the curse was undoubtedly Dolores.
Seeing her more agitated than ever, Reed calmed her down.
"First, calm down."
"Calm down? Don't even think about stopping me. I'm gonna kill that bitch today. I never let anyone who touches my stuff live. So don't die with her and get out of the way right now."
"Then scold me. It's my fault because I told her to attack."
"Really?"
Freesia's eyes became even brighter and more ominous.
"Alright, I'll scold you."
Snap!
As soon as Freesia snapped her fingers, Reed's shadow climbed up his body.
"Reed, did you get too comfortable because I treated you well? Did it feel great being called 'Reed'? Huh?"
"I..."
"Shut up. Who told you that you could talk?!"
Freesia tightened the shadow around Reed's body.
She seemed to really want to kill him if he said anything more.
Freesia grabbed Reed's collar with both her small hands.
"From the moment we made a contract, your body is not yours. It's a body that should serve me and be used for me. How dare you use that body at your own will? There's a limit to tolerating your deception. I'll give you a proper warning this time."
At the moment when Freesia was about to use some kind of method.
"Stop it."
Snap!
The one who snapped his fingers was Helios.
Reed, who had been in front of Freesia, was now sitting on the sofa again.
It was the magic of the Sky Chamber Tower Master, Helios.
Freesia, who belatedly realized that she had lost her grip, glared at Helios.
"Helios...!"
"Don't act like a child, Freesia. I know your personality well, but now is not the time."
"You're favoring her again. You're such a lecherous old man. Do you like young ones that much?"
"Don't be ridiculous. If that's lecherous, you're even more so."
"I've always been that kind of woman. I'm on a different level from you, got it?"
"What a cultured woman you are."
As the conversation continued in an angry tone, it felt like Freesia was gradually calming down.
Her anger hadn't completely subsided, but the situation had improved since kicking down the door and spewing curses.
Freesia glared at Reed.
"It's none of my business that you're buddies with that girl. But if you dare to use your body without my permission again, I'll show you what it's like to suffer a pain you can't die from. Got it?"
"I'll keep that in mind."
Reed nodded seriously.
She didn't repeat her words as he seemed to be listening obediently.
Ironically, she just stared at him with a face that seemed even more displeased.
"We're discussing the situation with the Wallin tower master right now. Do you want to hear the current situation?"
"No, just looking at this guy's face makes me want to explode, so I'll go back."
"Then I should go back as well."
Helios also got up from his seat.
He secretly put the murky blood Reed had given him into his pocket and withdrew along with Freesia.
"Are you going to the rooftop?"
"Yes."
"Come down."
"Hmm... alright."
It was rare for Freesia to want to be with someone, so Helios obediently followed her.
As the two got on the elevator, Freesia began to speak.
"Do you know some areas where demons appear?"
"I do, but?"
"Tell me about a couple of places for now."
"...Are you planning to do research?"
He knew that when he ordered her to suspend all work for a while, Freesia wouldn't listen.
But for her to personally obtain research samples was an unusual thing, even for Helios who had known her for a long time.
Freesia glared at Helios.
"You better answer quickly before I change my mind."
"I'll welcome you with open arms if you cooperate."
"Close your arms. I'm coming in."
Helios told her about a few places where demons appeared.
After memorizing them all, Freesia took out her broom and climbed on.
"It's the first time you've been so cooperative."
"Don't get the wrong idea. It's not because I like you, or because I pity her, or because I've fallen head over heels for our Reed."
"Then why?"
The emotion that moved Freesia.
"I'm annoyed."
Freesia bit her lips.
The eternal girl of the Black Sky.
Her nature always remained that of a child.
"I've always hated being annoyed."
***
Tower Master meeting place.
Even though they controlled the information, it somehow reached the ears of the magicians, for whom information is life.
When they heard that the empire's workshop mages had demons mixed in, all the tower owners laughed.
But when they learned that Balchmidt's parents were demons, their laughter stopped.
It was because they knew that Dolores Jade, who had abandoned her name, was Balchmidt before she came to the tower.
The atmosphere of this tower master meeting was extremely tense.
If Dolores had participated in this tower master meeting, it wouldn't have been strange for her to be under concentrated fire.
Reed, who had heard everything, calmly played the role of the chairman.
"The empire claims to have completely erased Balchmidt's family. As if such a person never existed in the first place."
"That's only natural."
The empire's disgrace.
It was the biggest shame that couldn't even be recorded.
They atone for their sins with death and receive absolution through exile.
"So, what do you plan to do with the current Wallin Tower Master?"
A man sitting in the Wallin Tower Master's seat argued in response to someone's question.
He was Rudis Grancia Jade, who had become Dolores' proxy.
"The sin of deceiving and deluding us is great! As the Wallin Tower Master, we must enforce strict punishment."
"Everyone must think so, as long as they’re not in cahoots with demons."
Reed, the Silence Tower Master, nodded in agreement with that statement.
"Right now, she is my sinner. I will first take responsibility for the crime of trying to kill me."
"Then, as the current Tower Master and representative of the Wallin Tower, I demand the highest punishment for Dolores Balchmidt. Let's quickly punish the traitor."
"We can't do that."
The one who denied that was the chairman, Helios.
"Rudis Grancia Jade, the current Wall Tower Master is only a proxy. You haven't received all the authority. Dolores is still in the tower, and her position can only be removed through this Tower Master meeting."
"Our opponents are demons. They exist to destroy us. What reason is there to hesitate on procedure when we intend to eliminate them before they stab us in the back?
"Then bring the evidence."
Helios spoke firmly.
"The evidence that the Wall Tower Master has put us and the tower in danger. If you have that crucial evidence of her deceiving you, I will grant your request."
