Chapter 18

Chapter 18

After a moment, Reinhart pushed a crude dagger embedded with mysterious runes toward Valeta.

“This is my gift to you. Always carry it with you.”

Valeta briefly glanced down at the dagger before looking up with hesitation. “What is this?”

“If someone starts bothering you, just stab them in the eye,” Reinhart replied casually, as if he were inquiring after someone’s well-being. It was a rather cruel thing to say given his soft expression.

“That will kill them.”

“You have nothing to worry about, master. I’ll take full responsibility.”

Valeta picked up her tea, now cold, as she watched Reinhart leisurely swirling his own around. He pushed the dagger toward her again and smiled in satisfaction as it touched the hem of her sleeve. She sighed.

“Fine...” she said, sullenly. Valeta could resist as much as she wanted, but she knew it was futile.

Propping his chin on his hand as he watched her sip her cold tea, Reinhart gazed at her so intently that Valeta was finding it unnerving. She put down the teacup and snapped, “What?”

“Aren’t you curious about the runes on the dagger, master?”

“They’re just runes, aren’t they?”

“Yes, but you didn’t ask what they mean.”

Valeta was afraid to ask after seeing the smile on the magician’s face. He wouldn’t have cursed the dagger with some strange magic, would he? She gave a quick glance to the dagger, anxious.

“It’s not explosive, is it?” she asked nervously. Reinhart was more than capable of that. Of course he was. For the fact that he was none other than himself.

Reinhart burst into laughter, and Valeta turned her head to watch him. The combination of his beautiful face, paired with that bright laughter... He was glowing.

That face is dangerous.

Over the past ten years, Valeta had trained herself not to fall for his stunning smile. She still remembered the word she had whispered to herself every morning over the last ten years: “Never.”

She gave Reinhart’s crescent-moon eyes a hard look. He was the only person she knew who could have such a terrifying smile.

“To put it simply, it’s been enchanted with a spell that can remove a magician’s shield.”

“Shield?”

“When a magician feels like their life is in danger, they will form a shield around themselves. However, that dagger I just gave you has the power to break that shield.”

“Oh...”

“If you stab them in the eye, their magic will disperse,” Reinhart muttered, his chin still resting on one hand.

Wouldn’t stabbing them in the eye already kill them? Valeta questioned silently. At least the dagger was some form of self-defense. It’s better than nothing.

“Okay.”

Valeta rose from her seat. The room was beginning to feel stifling, and she wanted out. She could call the elementals to protect herself if she needed it. Seeing her rise from her seat, Reinhart did the same.

“Where are you going?”

“I want to take a look around.”

“Ah, of course,” he replied. “Call me anytime you want.”

Valeta gave him a glance before turning her head.

“I’ll be waiting, master.”

She closed her eyes, ignoring his words.

* * *

Valeta thought about leaving the room. Immediately, the room swayed and her surroundings changed. She found that she was no longer in Reinhart’s room on the top floor of the tower, nor in a hallway, but was instead standing before a large spiral staircase. Gray bricks lined the walls, dark and oppressive.

“Gene.”

She called for the elemental, but there was no response.

Whenever Valeta summoned the wind elemental, there was always a strong gust of wind, even indoors. But seeing as how there wasn’t any wind now, she could only assume that she wasn’t able to summon an elemental from inside the Magicians’ Tower. To be honest, she hadn’t been expecting to. She remembered reading something to this effect in the novel.

Did it say that elemental magic was impossible inside the Magicians’ Tower? Valeta thought as she carefully descended the spiral staircase. She couldn’t see any windows or doors. No matter where she looked, she only saw dark gray bricks.

“The eighty-sixth floor?”

After what felt like an eternity, Valeta came across something that wasn’t a brick wall. To one side of her, the staircase continued to descend, but on the other side, she saw a door engraved with antique designs. Above the arched door was a plaque that read “86.”

As she stepped closer, the door opened on its own and light spilled out, illuminating the dark staircase. Valeta first poked her head through the door before taking a careful step inside. She was immediately met with the smell of books. The room appeared to be a library, and there were several robed figures inside. Some were standing, browsing the shelves as if they were looking for material, while others sat reading books.

The moment she stepped inside, the door closed behind her. The girl stood at the entrance, slowly looking around the room.

It’s quiet, she thought. Her eyes narrowed and she quickly moved to hide between the bookshelves.

Though she didn’t need to hide, everyone else was wearing a robe that seemed to announce their status as a magician. Valeta, however, was still wearing her gown and fluffy slippers, and frankly, it was embarrassing.

“Did you see the new head of the Magicians’ Tower? He looks so young and pale.”

She stopped walking between the bookshelves when she heard someone speak. She stood there, holding her breath, listening for more.

“Don’t you agree? Think about it. Balteer didn’t have it easy trying to run this place, but then this guy suddenly flounces in, claiming that he’s the new head.”

“Is he really the new head of the Magicians’ Tower? The way he smiles makes him look stupid. On top of that, he brought a socoro into the sky room. Is he out of his mind?”

Valeta frowned. Socoro—an ancient word that magicians used to call those without mana. It was also an insult that meant that they were stupid. She remembered reading in the novel that the magicians used this word to establish their superiority.

“The sky room? Yep, he’s crazy.”

The sky room, the room she had just been in, was at the top of the Magicians’ Tower, with its walls made of transparent glass. It was the place closest to nature, and a room that was only given to the head of the tower. Only Caspelios, the watchman of the tower, and the head of the Magicians’ Tower were allowed to enter.

“I don’t like him. I can’t believe we have to listen to someone who’s still wet behind the ears.”

“I heard that he used to be a slave for some socoro noble. Even if he hadn’t awakened yet, how is it possible that the future head of the Magicians’ Tower could let himself become a slave like that?”

It’s not that he couldn’t run away, Valeta thought, he chose not to. He’d refused to run away even when she begged him to. And for what it was worth, he was the head of the Magicians’ Tower. That was why even Caspelios deferred to him.

They’re asking for it now. Valeta hoped that Reinhart wasn’t listening in to their conversation.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter,” she murmured quietly as she turned away. She couldn’t care less whether they lived or died. It had nothing to do with her.

From what she could recall, there was one incident in the novel that would turn the Magicians’ Tower upside down. A single magician had foolishly made a stupid remark, a slip of the tongue, but one that caused Reinhart to purge the tower.

Valeta knew that her captor would dispose of anyone who badmouthed him or talked behind his back.

But I don’t know the details because it was only a single line in the book. Again, it didn’t matter to her. I think the tower collapses at some point too. But why? Valeta couldn’t remember the reason but knew that Reinhart had been noticeably absent during that time. With a head full of thoughts, she left the library and continued down the stairs. After a while, she started getting tired.

“I don’t think these stairs are meant to be used.”

She was certain that the magicians were using a teleportation spell since she hadn’t bumped into a single soul on the stairs. But what could she do? Mana was required to make a magic circle, and Valeta didn’t have a single drop of it. She glared at the stone bricks all around her and lifted her head.

“Gene! Nereid!” she called, looking around the tower. Neither Gene, the wind elemental, nor Nereid, the water elemental, answered. There was nothing but silence. She felt no wind, no water, not even the slightest breeze or the smallest droplet. Valeta sighed before resuming her walk.

“Come to think of it...”

Now that the count was dead, who was looking after the slaves? Her father had owned a prison where all the people he’d illegally abducted, children included, were forcibly held before they were sold off.

I need to set them free.

She was sure that the people taking care of the prisoners would stop the second they were no longer getting paid. That meant it was only a matter of time before the slaves starved to death. Valeta was starting to get worried. She rubbed her temples.

Some time passed before she chanced upon another door. “The eighty-second floor...”

How would she be able to make it to the first floor at this rate? Valeta sighed. The door to this floor looked no different than the door on the eighty-sixth. As she drew closer to the door, it opened, the smell of grass wafting in her direction.

“Oh my goodness.”

She gaped, her mouth wide open. The door fully opened, revealing a vast field that was covered in grass and divided into sections. Each section had all manners of herbs and plants growing in it. She lifted her head and saw a bright blue sky with clouds floating around. The light from the rising sun was intense but not too hot.

Is this magic? Everything looked so realistic. Could I summon the elements here?

“Don’t you know that you shouldn’t be opening doors?”

Still mesmerized by the lush scenery, Valeta turned to face the voice that had just spoken.