CH 64

The next morning after a hectic day, Lily gave me an unexpected message.

“They need to get Dante to the capital as soon as possible?”

I tilted my head.

Even if it was enough to spend a night roughly in it, most of the Magic Tower was still a messㅡI wondered if he had driven out all the magicians and played by destroying the Magic Tower by himselfㅡI heard yesterday that they wouldn’t be able to stay here for long.

To say that they shouldn’t only meet Dante, but also take him to the capital, maybe.

It seemed that someone in the capital was looking for Dante.

“Come to think of it, you said you came from the Imperial Palace.”

“Yes. My brother made a delegation to the Magic Tower.”

“Hmm.”

Lily’s older brother must have told her to bring Dante to the capital, to be precise, to the Imperial Palace. Hearing this makes me realize once again that Dante is the Master of the Magic Tower. Not anywhere else, but even the Imperial Palace…

“If you came from the Imperial Palace and your brother made a delegation, then Lily’s brother must be a member of the Imperial Family.”

That too, of a pretty high position. I didn’t have to add anything behind it.

“…Yes.”

I thought the answer was a bit late, but is it because of the mood?

For a moment, an ambiguous, close-to-embarrassment, to put it mildly, smile appeared on Lily’s face, then it disappeared. In that instant, even though something felt uncomfortable, Lily was back to her usual kind expression.

Did I see it wrong? Before I could tilt my head, Lily continued.

“So please help me a little.”

“…?”

What do you want me to help with?

“To take Dante to the capital?”

“Yes.”

Cancel the fact that her kind expression returned. Lily had a very determined expression on her face for no apparent reason. Was asking for help something she had to say so resolutely?

But how can I help? If Dante wants to go, he will, and if he doesn’t want to go, he won’t. It’s not that I can drag him. Dante is the one who needs to go, but why are you asking me?

Is there any reason for Dante to refuse to go to the capital in the first place?

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand the meaning of the request, but I nodded my head.

***

I5.

Ivan looked at the blocks of ice blocking the cracks in the Magic Tower.

The condition of the magic tower was more serious than he thought. It wasn’t enough that it wasn’t properly managed, even the majority of the walls were broken everywhere, and the lighting and decorations, as well as the floors and ceilings, weren’t safe.

The same was true of this place where Ivan was standing now, which looked like the library of the Magic Tower. He could barely infer the fact that it was a library by looking at the endlessly high ceiling and the bookshelves that seemed to reach the ceiling all around it, but that was all.

A few collapsed and knocked over bookshelves, and thousands of books spilled out of the bookshelf and filled the floor. The rare old books that were hard to find even after searching the whole continent were torn to shreds and turned into garbage, and the papers were lying in the dust, occupying a meaningless place.

Since the tables and chairs used by the magicians of the Magic Tower were in pieces beyond recognition, Ivan had to carefully step into the space. In the middle of nowhere, with everything overturned and even the windows broken, with no space to step on.

He eventually found dried bloodstains all over the wall and put on a stunned expression.

“…Wow, to this extent.”

It was a gruesome, grim landscape. Although he heard that there were many foolish people attacking the Master of the Magic Tower in his own tower, apparently forgot for a moment that he’s a transcendent.

There were bloodstains in the hallways, on the stairs, and the least in the rooms. There was no body, but the traces of attack magic and someone killed were clear everywhere.

So many people were aiming for the Master of the Magic Tower, so maybe they were killed because of that. And the Master of the Magic Tower dealt with all these people alone?

“…”

Ivan imagined for a moment if he was in the same position as the Master of the Magic Tower, yet he felt terrible and forced his thoughts to stop.

Yesterday and today, for a brief moment, he thought that he had let go of his tension towards the Master of the Magic Tower and forgot about ‘that’ Master of the Magic Tower for a while. It was clear that he did so because the said person showed a completely different appearance when he was in front of Ei.

The Master of the Magic Tower, who was once called crazy, was truly endlessly strong. To the point where he endured in a dark place and faced countless assassins alone in a glance.

That must be why he had killed so many enemies in the war.

While taking a backward step to get away from the scenery, he suddenly felt a presence.

“Gasp.”

(fun fact ivan gasped while stuttering)

“…”

Whoa, his heart almost stopped when he looked back unintentionally. Ivan held his thumping chest and exhaled rapidly. Rustle, his foot, which stopped hastily, stepped on a piece of glass.

Wondering since when he was here, the Master of the Magic Tower with a cold face was standing right behind him. He glanced up at the taller Master of the Magic Tower and as soon as he met his gaze, he quickly lowered his eyes. His eyes were so cold that he seemed to freeze to death.

After a long silence, the Master of the Magic Tower quietly opened his mouth with an expressionless face.

“I have a question for you.”

“Ques, pardon? Ah. Yes, please ask. W-Whatever.”

Why does he think the Master of the Magic Tower has gotten scarier than anything he’s seen in the war? The Master of the Magic Tower didn’t care about Ivan, who stuttered like an idiot.

“…Ei.”

However, he hesitated for a moment.

“Did Ei say something when she entered the Magic Tower?”

“…Pardon me?”

When Ivan couldn’t understand his words at once, the Master of the Magic Tower opened and closed his mouth with a nervous expression.

For a moment, his gaze landed on the bloodstained wall.

“Didn’t she say something when she saw the inside of the Magic Tower?”

He added a word with a small sigh.

“…I asked if she said it was scary.”

Ah.

Only then did Ivan understand the words of the Master of the Magic Tower. So now, is he asking if Ei wasn’t afraid to see the inside of the crumbling Magic Tower, the traces of battle, and blood?

And as soon as he understood that, Ivan had to manage to hide his naturally subtle expression.

“No, there was nothing like that.”

Sister Ei being afraid of something? I can’t imagine it at all. The Ei that Ivan remembered was just angry.

To the point where she didn’t have time to care about anything else but one person.

However, as soon as he heard Ivan’s answer, he sighed lightly, probably not knowing that fact. It was a sigh mixed with a bit of relief, as if his anxiety had been relieved.

He wasn’t thinking that perhaps Sister Ei was afraid of bloodstains and that she might even be afraid of the person who made those bloodstains, was he?

Because of Ei’s nonchalant face that came to his mind once again, Ivan’s expression kept trying to be subtle.

“…She wasn’t scared. Well, she did say that the mage tower is a mess.”

Scared my ass, she clicked her tongue as she cleared the stones from her feet. Even the walls with bloodstains were just glanced at and she inadvertently passed over them.

And most of all, if she were scared, she wouldn’t have had an expression that seemed to bring cold windㅡthat, too, just an expression.

Ivan shook his head involuntarily when he heard a small muttering, close to talking to oneself.

“Really?”

The Master of the Magic Tower looked around, then looked at Ivan again. With a face where even the slightest shade that remained was gone.

The very moment when Ivan flinched at the clearer eyes than ever before.

“Huh?”

Whoosh, it was a while for the golden glitter to sweep across the floor in an instant.

Suddenly, magic circles appeared everywhere, and the wind blew relentlessly.

Ivan involuntarily raised his arm and covered his eyes, which were hurt by the fierce wind and the glowing magic circles floating. The whole interior shook wildly, as if it had been swept away by a storm.

Although he didn’t know exactly, Ivan, who had only a shallow knowledge of magic during the war, noticed that most of the magic that the Master of the Magic Tower cast wasn’t of a normal scale. Of course, his magic skills weren’t at an ordinary level. But still…

How can he put on magic so fast? Ivan thought, squinting as the wind blew.

No magician would be able to draw out huge mana without preparation or draw multiple magic circles in the blink of an eye.

Since magic eventually requires calculation, it takes time in any way, and it’s impossible to draw more than three magic circles in a short period of time even for highly skilled magicians.

However, not only did he use a huge amount of mana in an instant, the Master of the Magic Tower continued to increase the number of magic circles. Amid the ceaseless twinkling of gold and a strong gust of wind that made his head dizzy, Ivan opened his eyes wide as he checked the landscape in his field of vision.

A space filled with the magic of the Master of the Magic Tower. The space, which had been a mess up until now, was returning to its original state as if turning back time.

Broken and fragmented objects were automatically put together and regained their place, and torn and damaged books entered the bookshelf one after another.

A magic circle that filled the inside and floated, also a purple wind that created a whirlpool containing sparkles and flowed slowly. In the middle of it, everything went back to its place and became clean as if nothing had happened.

When the bloodstains disappeared, the pieces of ice blocking the cracks shattered and shattered, and the last book that couldn’t be entered spun around before returning to its original place.

Ivan realized that the space he was standing in had changed immeasurably.

A place in which one can’t even recall the scenery of a moment ago, and finally match the word ‘Magic Tower’.

The endless ceiling and the bookshelves that seemed to touch the ceiling finally stood there, revealing their grandeur. Carpets on the floor with intricate patterns engraved on them, too many books to read at a glance, desks and chairs standing neatly and polished.

It couldn’t be, but it was as if the entire time of this space had been turned around.

For a moment, he was distracted by the scenery that really seemed to be made of magic itself,

After casting the magic, the Master of the Magic Tower, who had been standing still, moved slowly.

As if he had forgotten that Ivan was there, he walked quietly and approached the window where the sunlight came in. Then he raised his head and looked at the morning sky for a while.

Soon, he smiled very faintly.

“How is it.”

The Master of the Magic Tower turned around and looked at Ivan.

“Do you think Ei will like it?”

With a smile of joy.