Gift
Dolores Jade threw herself from the broomstick and stood on the meadow.
Unlike when she came by pulling a sky carriage, this time she came for private business using a personal transportation broomstick.
What she was looking up at was the Silence Tower.
From the typical tower shape stacked in a circle, a slightly reddish light flickered.
That was the Tower of Silence.
Dolores put away her broomstick and walked towards the gate of the Silence Tower.
As she approached, a huge stone door opened as if a giant was sealed inside, and a man came running hurriedly with his face soaked in sweat.
"I'm here, pant, pant, to meet the Tower Master of Wallin, pant."
"Why are you in such a hurry if you're running away?"
"I apologize. These days, there are so few people that there is no one to stand by at the front..."
Was it because of the massive reform?
Since she had heard about the situation at the Silence Tower, she could understand.
"So, what brings you here this time?"
"I came to see the Tower Master. I just stopped by, so please let them know I'm moving to the personal office."
"Yes? Then, it would be difficult for us..."
"First, just tell them."
The magician connected to the office by phone through a magic spell.
After a moment, he replied.
"Yes, if the Tower Master thinks it's better that way, they said to come up to the 82nd floor."
"Don't talk back next time. Got it?"
"I apologize, Tower Master."
The magician bowed his head in apology, and Dolores moved her steps towards the elevator.
Dolores Jade was a genius magician who had become a Tower Master at a young age.
The Tower Master of Wallin recognized her talent early on, and after graduating from the academy, took her in as an apprentice and raised her.
As a result of the fusion of knowledge accumulated over a long period, she became an "Archmage," the highest title that any magician could not help but acknowledge, and gained the ability to be recognized as the next Tower Master.
However, she also had her own troubles.
‘A gift as an apology for suspicion... A gift for the development of magical engineering... Which one is better?’
She was quite weak in casual conversations.
Though she could talk smoothly about various things in business conversations, she could not figure out how to continue the conversation when it came to everyday matters.
While contemplating in the elevator going up to the 82nd floor, she moved without even being able to come to a conclusion on such a trivial issue.
Dolores knocked on the door of the Tower Master's office in the Silence Tower.
"Come in."
A low voice came from inside.
As she opened the door, she saw a man with ash-colored hair and golden eyes working on the other side.
As Dolores tried to approach and speak,
"Wait a moment."
He stopped her.
It wasn't intentional. It was just a matter of bad timing.
Dolores stood still in her place and looked down at him.
'He really has changed.'
Not just a little, but quite a lot.
That's why Dolores felt more unfamiliar than familiar with him.
She remembered the way he had dealt with Friezia and felt tense alone.
How pathetic.
'Don't be nervous, Dolores.'
She was one who never backed down in countless nerve battles.
The Tower Master of the Silence Tower was nothing in the first place.
She stared at Reed, putting strength in her eyes.
"Master of Wallin's Tower, I heard you were coming up..."
Reed’s words were cut off, and his movements stopped.
Dolores was taken aback as well.
"...Why are you doing that?"
"I was just wondering if I did something wrong to you."
Maybe it was because she had strained her eyes too much, but Dolores' behavior felt like she was angry at him.
She left a bad first impression.
Dolores coughed awkwardly to gloss over the situation.
"Cough, cough... The Tower has become quieter."
"Of course, I fired 50 people."
"Disciples and magicians who were fired from the Silence Tower are all applying at other towers. You must have heard about that, right?"
"I have ears to hear, too."
Magicians who were driven out usually had no prospects.
If they were in the middle of a project and had some achievements, other towers would hire them, but there was no way the magicians of the Silence Tower had anything like that.
They only ended up in a miserable situation after being incompetent and just being stubborn.
"Deal with them more surely. Those guys will definitely crawl back up again. The project's confidential... "
"They're incompetent anyway. They have nothing but the ambition to establish themselves in remote villages and act as masters."
"Right. I was worried for nothing."
"It's advice from a Tower Master. I appreciate it."
"Well... After all, we should help each other as Tower Masters. Nowadays, official mages are getting too out of control."
There was competition among the towers, but the greatest enemy were still the official magicians.
"So... Is magic engineering going well?"
"Did you come to ask that?"
"Is there any other reason for me to come here?"
Dolores regretted her words as soon as she said them.
In fact, she wanted to say that she had come to give a gift.
'How silly of me.'
At her words, Reed stood up from his seat and walked over.
His golden eyes got closer and closer.
Her blue eyelashes fluttered rapidly like a startled butterfly.
"Um, what?"
"Follow me."
"Yes?"
"If you're curious, why don't you see for yourself?"
Reed took her to the research wing on the 80th floor.
The once cluttered equipment was now gone, and magic engineering devices were efficiently arranged.
"You haven't started the research yet?"
"Since the ordered goods haven't arrived, getting familiar with the equipment and devices is the top priority."
"It must have been hard to get these devices... I wonder when the Tower Master of Silence expanded his reach like this."
"I got them from the Black Sky Tower."
"...Black Sky?"
Dolores's chatter stopped.
Reed looked back at her, who suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Her face had a devastated expression.
However, it was just a momentary lapse.
Reid calmly explained to her.
"Don't worry. Black Sky gave me such a large amount of goods, so I paid her an equally large sum. I have no intention of falling for Black Sky's scheme."
"...Who said I was worried?"
Nevertheless, Dolores felt a little relieved inside.
Muttering that this was simply for the relationship between the Tower Masters, she followed him.
Dolores and Reed inspected all the magic engineering devices in the research wing.
As Reed came outside and pressed the elevator button, he said,
"That's the end. If there's nothing else, I'll escort you to the gate."
Since she came to see how magic engineering was going, her business was up to that point.
Given Dolores's pride, she would undoubtedly take the elevator down.
And the gift she intended to give would remain tucked away in her storage magic warehouse.
But she was a bit different today.
Freesia Vulcan Darkrider, the Tower Master of Black Sky.
She remembered the cheeky kid's words.
-May I take him?
A surge of emotion welled up, opening her mouth to speak.
"Um, well..."
As Reid waited for the elevator, he turned his head.
"What is it?"
"I... I also brought a gift."
"A gift?"
