Chapter 302: Magic Tower, Again (1)
Still, in the Sanctuary of Time, Epherene was thinking and staring blankly into the air. She sometimes fell into these moods. Even while eating, studying magic, or writing her thesis, she suddenly lost her mind…
It was probably because of the incident four days ago. No matter how hard she tried to forget, it wouldn’t leave her mind.
“So, Deculein was embraced in your arms?”
Idnik asked while eating fries. Epherene snapped to her.
“…Huh?”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t understand.”
Idnik’s eyebrows smirked. Epherene shook her head quickly.
“W-What?”
“You said you embraced Deculein.”
“…What? T-That, you know. He just fell.”
Epherene began fiddling with her fingers and looking down at her arms without realizing it. She caught Deculein as he fell. His weight pressed down against her…
“…Oh. You’re blushing.”
“What?! When? I’m not!”
Epherene shouted and grabbed her face. Idnik chuckled.
“Haha. Why do you act as if you like the Professor?”
“Like?! What are you-!”
She jumped up and practically ran to check on Julie’s condition. There was no problem.
“…I think we just have to wait two weeks.”
“Then it’s over?”
“Nope. Two weeks later, when it’s ready. I will infuse more time energy. Then, maybe something big will happen.”
“Something big?”
“Yes.”
Epherene said, playing with her hair.
“The time in this space will be intertwined or, well… something like that. Anyway.”
Then she grabbed the documents that were lying on the table. They were papers covered in various calculations and procedures.
Epherene said.
“We have some time left, so I’ll stop by the Magic Tower for a bit and then return. It’s okay, right?”
She was still publishing papers in academia. Of course, they were looked down upon and despised.
“Huh? Why are you asking me?”
“No. Not you. This little knight.”
Epherene pointed to the little Keiron on the table. He was the very reliable escort knight who would protect this Sanctuary until Julie awoke.
“It’s okay, right?”
-Yes. It’s okay.
“Yes. Oh. By the way.”
Epherene sneaked up to Idnik and asked in a very low voice.
“What about the… Demon Blood?”
“The situation has improved a little, but the repression will continue. There are a lot of people with bad feelings toward the Demon Blood. And there are too many Altar informants in the Empire.”
But Idnik responded loudly.
—I only carry out the duty of protecting this place.
Keiron didn’t seem fazed as Idnik continued.
“…Do you think Her Majesty Sophien was the only one who stirred up the Empire? No. The altar has spies manipulating and instigating public opinion on the outskirts of the Empire. Because of them, the Demon Blood suppression will last for a while.”
They might react a little harshly given the desert situation hadn’t gone their way. At that, Epherene nodded.
“When Allen arrives, I will go and do some work at the tower for a while.”
“What work? You will be caught.”
“…The tower is a big place. I won’t get caught. And, these days, the tower is suspicious.”
“Suspicious?”
“Yes.”
The tower was suspicious. Epherene unfolded a map of the continent.
“I also stole this from the professor.”
“Don’t brag.”
“…Not only does this map show our location, but also magical phenomena such as earthquakes and tsunamis, right? It’ll show the location and degree.”
Deculein’s continent map. The performance of this close-to-artifact object was astounding.
“By the way, there was an earthquake in Annihilation, you know?”
And, very coincidentally.
“At the same time, there was an earthquake in a completely different location, at the magic tower.”
“It is a rare coincidence.”
“Yes. This could be a coincidence. But its intensity and mana concentration are the same. Without the slightest difference.”
“…”
Idnik frowned.
“Anyway, isn’t it strange that the intensity and the concentration of mana are the same? So, how could this be? I pondered, calculated, and tried everything. But, there was only one conclusion.”
Epherene said with a small smile.
“They’re connected. Annihilation and the tower. For whatever reason.”
* * *
After returning from the desert to the Empire, I returned to the magic tower.
-Professor. Do you hear me?
As soon as I sat down, Sophien’s voice came from the crystal ball.
“Now, I am the chairman.”
—…Chairman. Do you hear me?
“Yes. Your Majesty. I see you are short of breath, so are you in the middle of training?”
-Yes.
Sophien was freed from her ban. At least, that was how it looked with Vision. Thanks to the fact that she realized what emotions were without anyone’s help. Now that she has been able to peer into the deepest part of her own heart, she is no longer controlled by Quay’s defense mechanisms.
“I’m glad you’re not acting lazy.”
—…Right.
Sophien responded bluntly.
—Anyway, I’m already perfecting my sword skills. Next is magic.
“We will select a magic professor from the Magic Tower and send it to the Imperial Palace.”
-What?
It wasn’t like her to be caught off-guard.
—Why are you sending another one?
It was a pure question, which wasn’t like her either. I said with a smile.
“I don’t know all types of magic. Magic is divided into classes and attributes, so different professors have different specialties. One magic professor’s area of expertise may be completely new to another. Thus-“
—No need. You come.
“That’s a waste of Your Majesty’s magical talent.”
—…What about my magical talent?
Sophien’s voice softened.
“Your Majesty is gifted with every attribute, every line. Perhaps you can reach the pinnacle of whatever line Your Majesty desires. Therefore, you must learn from professors of as many different attributes and classes as possible.”
—…
Sophien went silent.
“I will select the best professor possible and send them to Your Majesty. If you learn well and master everything perfectly, then I will come to you for the exam.”
—…Exam.
“Yes. It is a test only for Your Majesty.”
—…
Sophien didn’t answer. She just hung up.
“…”
I put my chin on my hands for a moment and thought. Of course, this was the best way for Sophien’s magic to advance. No matter how much knowledge I had of various types of magic, it would not be as practical as sending someone who could express it.
However, it wasn’t just for that reason.
“…A cactus.”
I looked at the cactus by the window. It seemed to be wriggling, and the flower buds on top like a headband were kind of cute, so I kept glancing at it. Every time I looked at it, I could feel Sophien’s emotions.
“Who would think I would be shaken by just one present?”
I shook my head. It must be because Kim Woojin and Deculein were mixed.
Ding, dong—
Just then, the doorbell rang.
—It’s Louina. Chairman, would you like to go down to the third floor now?
It was Louina.
* * *
The third floor of the tower was an ordinary lecture space. It was part of the lowest level where new wizards usually took classes and occasionally conducted simple experiments.
“Why did you call me here?”
“Don’t you remember the old days? When we took classes here.”
“I don’t.”
Louina frowned.
“Well, anyway. Here you go.”
Louina pointed to a corner on the third floor, to a decent-sized classroom. I frowned.
“Don’t laugh; just explain.”
“…You seem to have acquired a particularly bad personality?”
Louina snorted.
“Look through this glass. They can’t see outside anyway.”
“…”
I looked into the classroom.
“It’s our new part-time instructor, for now.”
As Louina said, there was a part-time instructor. She wrote diligently for seventeen wizards and explained new concepts with her long black hair fluttering like obsidian behind her…
“It’s Sylvia. She’s back. That child.”
I grew quiet.
“Right, it’s a secret for now. As you can see, she’s in disguise.”
Black hair and black eyes. She wore a luxurious suit, and round glasses rested on the bridge of her nose.
“What do you think? She looks very different, right?”
Now, she exuded a cold and intellectual atmosphere. It was truly an excellent disguise, so much so that I couldn’t even remember the former Sylvia.
“Now, her name is Sephine.”
“Is there a reason for the change?”
“She said something about starting from the bottom and getting a fair evaluation.”
Louina chuckled.
“She asked me to keep it a secret from you too, but I broke it. But looking at your reaction now, I don’t think you would’ve recognized her if you met her in the corridor?”
At that, I nodded.
“Yes. Her disguise is good.”
I wouldn’t know it by looking at her. I just don’t pay attention to the part-time instructors. No, I wasn’t in a position to meet with a part-time instructor in the first place.
“Is teaching all she wants to do?”
“Yes. She said she would just teach.”
“…Louina.”
“Yes.”
“I will issue an official letter to all magic professors in all classes, all attributes, through the Magic Tower.”
“…All the magic professors?”
Louina asked with a puzzled tone. I answered.
“I will select a magic professor to teach Her Majesty. I will do the examination myself…”
I paused for a moment and watched Sylvia.
“Until then, can a part-time instructor be promoted into a professor?”
“It’s impossible. It’s hard to get a full-time job like that.”
Louina chuckled.
“Let’s leave Sylvia be like that… and now, more important than that.”
Louina’s expression quickly hardened.
“There is a little problem with the tower. Well… should I say it’s a faction issue?”
* * *
“…Stupid students.”
After class was over, Sylvia sat in the classroom. Her head felt dizzy.
“How could they not understand this?”
The name of Sylvia’s lecture was the Seam of the Four Elements. To put it simply, it was a theoretical lecture that taught how to naturally connect properties such as water, wood, fire, and wind and helped one to use composite property magic better.
“How could they be so stupid?”
Seventeen students. Among them, at most, one person understood the lecture. They were wizards who had passed the Imperial Magic Tower exams, but they were hopeless.
“…”
Sylvia looked down at the class curriculum she had written herself. If they behaved like idiots from the first class, it would go only downhill from there, and she would have to edit it.
Sylvia hadn’t slept for a week preparing this curriculum.
“…Haah.”
She let out a small sigh and glanced at the wizard board for staff members.
Beep- Beep-
The alarm went off just in time. When she opened the board, a message immediately popped up.
[Sephine. When class is over, return the classroom key to the 10th floor.]
[I will ask you later about the first lecture. Be careful with your course evaluation. I will share with you a list of some tricky noble wizards.]
Lecture evaluation is the main enemy of part-time instructors and the biggest obstacle to regular contracts. Sylvia put the wizard board in her bag and left the classroom.
“…”
Part-time instructors didn’t have offices, so she just wandered around the halls of the tower. They were packed with new students, however.
-Oh. What course did you sign up for?
-I don’t know. I just signed up. But I failed to apply for admission.
—It’s annoying. No, why don’t popular lectures increase the number of participants?
“Where should I rest?”
Silvia wandered around the tower while listening to their conversations. There were no more classes today, and she had no home to return to. She secretly left her father. Of course, she had a room in the dormitory as a part-time instructor, but she didn’t want to go back right now.
So…
[Magic Tower Library]
Sylvia looked at the nameplate and smiled. As soon as she opened the door, the smell of paper filled her nostrils.
“…Haah.”
She’d been away for some time so there must be a lot of new books.
‘I will read you all. I will read every single one of you.’
Sylvia went straight to the reading room for employees.
“Foreign instructor, Sephine. Confirmed.”
“Thank you.”
Students and outsiders weren’t allowed to enter, so she presented her ID to the staff at the entrance. The reading room for employees was dark and calm, and there weren’t many professors, so Sylvia enjoyed some quiet as she perused the shelves.
“…?”
A sign reading ‘restricted access area: no access other than authorized professors’ in one corner of the room stood out. For some reason, there seemed to be a lot of rare books around there…
Sylvia looked around.
Creak-
At that moment, the restricted access area door suddenly opened, and a professor stepped out. Was his name Pedel? He was a professor in the field of destruction that is very popular these days. He was a supernova published in the last issue of the Wizard Journal.
Click-!
He locked the restricted access area door.
Click, click-!
After he checked the lock three times, she watched him leave. What was in there to require them to lock the door so tightly…?
“?”
But, right then, a certain person crept by the wall of the reading room and snuck around to the door. It was a familiar idiot.
“What is she doing?”
Epherene. She glanced around but didn’t notice Sylvia. Then, she broke the lock of the restricted access area. The lock was cut quietly, but the steel frame fell with a loud thud.
Clank—!
Astonished, Epherene stamped her feet.
“She’s really stupid. That’s amazing.”
While Sylvia admired this display, Epherene muttered to herself, ‘what the heck,’ and went inside.
“…Why is she doing that?”
Sylvia decided to follow, using the pretext of punishing stupid Epherene.
