Blue Rose (7)
"No, it's not here... not here..."
Ludis muttered as he rummaged through the pile of documents.
What he was looking for were flaws that could tarnish Dolores' reputation.
He thought that if there was even a rotten thread, he would catch it.
However, there was no way that the item he had been trying to find for three months would suddenly appear.
Bang!
Ludis slammed his desk in his office.
His hands were trembling, but that wasn't important.
There were only three days left until Dolores returned as the tower master.
'What will happen if she returns?'
It's simple.
He dies.
After hearing all the circumstances, she would undoubtedly try to kill him, and the leaders who had joined him would either be sidelined or purged as traitors.
Ludis held his face and let out a groan.
'I thought I was lucky when I went to the Kalton mountain for the test.'
Since he didn't receive the demon seed, drinking tea made from the Kalton mountain petals wouldn't have any significant effect on him.
The voice that gave him instructions saved his life once.
However, his luck ended there.
"I don't want to die..."
How much he had to endure to come this far, to swallow up this place?
Is he about to die in vain without even realizing his ambition?
What other options are left?
'Run away.'
Abandoning the title of 'Jade' from the Tower of Wallin, he would flee far away.
'Father... and my brother will definitely accept me.'
People still don't know that he has a connection with the demon race.
When he ascended to the position of tower master, he had done much for the Grancia Kingdom.
Blood is thicker than water.
No one can sever the ties of blood.
Believing in that, Ludis finally decided.
'Let's run away.'
Ludis didn't pack his clothes.
He moved calmly, dressed very lightly, as if going for a casual walk.
He stepped towards the exit.
As he got closer, he desperately suppressed the urge to run out.
"Acting Tower Master."
Someone called Ludis to a halt.
Normally, he would have been startled enough to jump, but fortunately, it wasn't noticeable.
"What's the matter?"
"I was wondering where you were going at this hour of the night..."
"Do I have to ask for permission to go somewhere as the tower master?"
"No, it's just a matter of record."
A simple record.
* * *
Dream big tl dot com
[Original Source – dreambigtl . com]
* * *
Yes, ever since the previous tower master, access records had always been thoroughly managed.
"I'll go for a walk and come back. I'll be back in 10 minutes, no, 20 minutes."
He inadvertently stuttered.
He glanced nervously at the secretary, wondering if she had noticed.
"Understood. I'll record it as such. But..."
"Huh?"
"Do you really need a wand just for a casual walk?"
The secretary glanced at the wand hanging on his waist.
The tower master's suit-like outfit had given him away.
If he had been wearing his usual robe, she wouldn't have known what kind of equipment he had.
'I must... avoid doing anything suspicious at all costs.'
Ludis pulled the wand from his waist.
"Ah, right, I don't need it. It's just extra weight and I might lose it. Just hang it on my storage rack."
"Understood. Then please go at your leisure."
The secretary turned her back, holding Ludis' wand.
Ludis let out a sigh of relief and walked towards the exit again.
'I'm out!'
He felt exhilarated.
His feet, which had felt stuck to the floor, now moved lightly as soon as he stepped out.
Ludis immediately began to sprint.
His destination was the Grancia Kingdom. It was a distance that would take at least three days by foot.
What does it matter?
If he doesn't want to die, he must run.
Thud!
"Ugh!"
Ludis' body collided with thin air and fell backward.
It was a dark night, but he could still distinguish the path ahead.
Ludis got up and checked with his hand what had blocked him.
As soon as his fingers touched, ripples appeared in the air.
"A magic circle...?"
It was a defensive magic circle or a siege magic circle.
Ludis searched for an opening in the magic circle with a sense of unease, but all the escape routes were covered with barriers.
'It's not working.'
Ludis ran back in the opposite direction from where he had come.
Thud!
His original path was also blocked.
After hitting the wall twice, Ludis finally got a grasp of the situation.
'A trap!'
It was a trap set by someone on purpose.
Where? And since when?
The thought crossed Ludis' mind.
-Please take your time.
When the secretary found him and let him go without any fuss.
He should have realized it when he was allowed to go outside without any suspicion since that conversation...
"You didn't even go beyond an inch of my expectations."
A man's voice cut through the quiet darkness.
Ludis turned his head.
On a night when the moon was unusually large, a pair of golden eyes were glaring beneath it.
It was anger.
"You, the master of the Silence Tower..."
He was walking out.
"I, I..."
"Did you go for a walk? Your walk seems to be a full sprint."
As expected.
That secretary was in league with the master of the Silence Tower.
She deliberately let him go and created this situation.
"I knew you didn't even have the courage to die. I also knew that someday you would run away."
Reed took a step closer, and with each step, Ludis retreated.
As he retreated, he reached the wall again.
Reed came closer and closer.
The golden eyes shone brightly in the moonlit night.
His suppressed defensive mechanism burst out.
"I am Ludis Grancia! I have royal blood running through me, so treat me as royalty!"
"Royalty?"
"I will return to the Grancia Kingdom. I will apologize to the master of the Tower of Wallin and never meddle with the Tower of Wallin again! So release me right now!"
Reed let out a hollow laugh.
"Don't you find your own words amusing?"
It was not enough for Ludis to try to persuade Reed.
Such a petty declaration only fueled Reed's anger.
In a situation where emotions should be more intense than ever.
Yet Reed didn't let go of his reason.
"You wanted to become the tower master by eliminating Dolores, didn't you?"
"......"
"Then try to defeat me right here, right now."
Reed showed his gauntlet.
It was a magical tool used by the master of the Silence Tower after the magical engineering reform.
Ludis placed his hand on his waist.
There was nothing where the wand should have been.
It was a natural situation since the secretary had taken it.
"W-wait! I don't have a magical tool."
"If you don't have a magical tool, then create one yourself or use your hands."
"Then it's not fair!"
At Ludis' outcry, Reed's hand gathered magical power.
The thing that formed in his hand was a fireball.
"A tower master should be able to overcome such a crisis on their own."
He threw the ball at Ludis like a baseball player.
The fireball flew like a fastball, heading straight for Ludis' vital spot and exploded.
Bang!
