CH 19.1

I looked at the bed. 

Shael also stared blankly at the bed.  Then she wrinkled her forehead and said, “I want to leave.”

“No. The curse of the Mage Tower has already begun.”

It was as I said, the curse of the Mage Tower had already begun. Even if the Azbel family’s magical power could suppress the magic tower’s curse, that and her being cursed were two different things. Because Shael, who had only recently learned magic, was extremely lacking in magic skills.

“I don’t care!”

Kikiiik…

It was the sound of Shael opening the door as she left her room. 

I had no choice but to follow her. My vision slowly got dark. My sense of hearing also diminished. However, I was able to regain my senses again through my magic. Of course it also consumed a huge amount of mana, so, I could only keep it up for a very short time.

Thump!

It was the sound of Shael hitting her head against the wall when she lost her sight. It sounded like it was incredibly painful.

“Eh…”

I quickly grabbed Shael’s hand, that she was using to cover her head in confusion and dragged her towards the room. Fortunately, I was able to enter the room before my mana was exhausted.

“Are you okay?”

“No. I feel sick in my stomach.”

Shael struggled to speak. Her breathing was strained and she was gasping for air.

Of course, I was also quite spent. It was near impossible for even experienced guides to guide someone in the Mage Tower by holding their hands. Because they too would lose their senses at some point. 

It was the same with teleportation magic. The inside of the Mage Tower was very wide. A clear destination must be prepared in advance before traveling long distances with teleportation magic. If you use teleportation magic without a clear goal, you’d just end up wandering around the Mage Tower, and losing your senses in the end.

Shael must have realized that, and she let out a sigh. Then she looked at the bed and said.

“I have never slept without a bed.”

That was natural. Shael had grown up lacking nothing all her life. So she would never give up the right to sleep on the bed here as well. She was actually trying to get me to concede. 

But would it be right for me to give up just because of that? No, it was natural not to do so.

“Me too.”

It contained the meaning that I would not yield! 

Shael pouted, as if she was annoyed. It was because Shael also knew how stubborn I could be. Although she could be quite stubborn as well, I would not lose to her.

“What do you want to do first?”

I changed the subject. It was too early to go to sleep anyway.

“How about sleeping?”

“Isn’t it too early to go to sleep?”

Shael awkwardly nodded her head.

“Ah, it’s too early to go to sleep.”

The villainess answered with a flustered expression. Apparently, Shael felt ashamed at the matter of going to bed early. I couldn’t understand the villainess’ way of thinking as usual. But wasn’t it a bit strange if someone had a habit of sleeping this early? Even children stayed awake till this time.

The villainess sure does sleep a lot. As I looked at Shael strangely, she pointed at something and said.

“What is that?”

What Shael pointed out was a bundle of cards. It was a game in which each player would hold two bomb cards and ten normal cards, and then each player had to drew and discard each other’s cards. In that way, the first person to lose all the bomb cards would be the winner. It was a good way to pass the time.

“How about we place a bet. The loser gets flicked on the head?”

“…!”

Shael nodded her head as if she had been waiting for that. She then started passing out cards.

“Mmm!”

Shael coughed. As soon as my gaze went to her mouth, she swapped one of her bomb cards with a normal card. She was obviously cheating. 

Then she said. “Let’s do it in threes.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Of course, she never won. It was thanks to the Vision Magic that I had been using since earlier.

Originally, I would have done it in a fair way, but didn’t Shael also cheat?

Thuttt!

“Aaah!”

It was a clear, crisp sound that showed just how empty her head was.

***

“Oh, I should be able to sleep well now.”

It was still not the time to sleep. But it seemed that the villainess had reached her limit.

Shael lay down on the bed. She was a very quick to do that. She must have done that to claim the bed before me.

Of course, I also lay down next to her.

“What are you doing?”

“I am going to sleep. Is there a problem?”

“No.”

Shael didn’t even glare at me. It must be because she was aware of what would follow.

“Could it be that you want to sleep on that cold floor?”

Actually, the floor wasn’t that cold. But, there was no way the villainess would accept that.