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Chapter 2
Part 1. The Northern Magic Tower’s Outer Residence
2. The Regression of a Certain Halfwit Magician
“Lili, what are you doing?”
At the sudden voice that pierced her ears, Liliope flinched and came to her senses.
“Why are you suddenly spacing out? Are you feeling sick?”
A glimmer of light returned to her unfocused purple eyes. The breath she had unconsciously been holding finally filled her lungs once more.
Liliope felt the blood begin to circulate through her numb limbs again as she slowly opened and closed her stiff eyes.
‘Huh? What? Why am I in a place like this…?’
The first thing to enter her vision was the light from a jeweled chandelier, sparkling brilliantly overhead.
Spread across the dining table before her were an ornate vase, metal candlesticks, and all sorts of sweet treats that children would love.
Liliope blinked her dazed eyes in bewilderment.
What had happened?
She had definitely been in a dark forest under pouring rain, but suddenly her surroundings had changed into a bright, warm interior.
“Oh, honestly. What is wrong with you? Can’t you hear your sister? Look over here.”
But it was still too soon for her to be surprised.
Before she had even regained her sense of reality, a sudden warmth touched her cheek.
Drawn by the strangely familiar voice and touch, Liliope slowly turned her head.
“…Sister Kali?”
Immediately afterward, a bewildered voice escaped her parted lips.
What appeared in Liliope’s field of vision was the face of a young girl wearing a worried expression.
Jet-black hair and deep purple eyes the color of perfectly ripened grapes.
Aside from her once-sharp eyes, which seemed capable of cutting anyone down, having become slightly rounder, and the traces of baby fat remaining on her formerly slender face, making her look young and innocent, the girl’s face was painfully familiar to Liliope.
Of course it was.
Because this girl was none other than Caliona.
But something was wrong.
Her sister… Her sister was definitely dead…
Liliope could still vividly remember the eerie sensation of touching her sister’s body with her fingertips when it had already gone cold.
Then how was Caliona standing right before her eyes?
And how could she be here looking so young?
“Ah… Am I dreaming right now?”
“What? Dreaming?”
At Liliope’s dazed murmur, spoken because everything felt so unreal, Caliona let out a little laugh.
“I suppose the food really is good enough to make you think you’re dreaming. It’s been a long time since we’ve had anything this delicious, hasn’t it? Still, you get stomachaches easily, so don’t rush. Start slowly with the warm soup so you don’t upset your stomach.”
She playfully pinched Liliope’s nose before turning back around and continuing her meal.
Young Caliona’s face wore a gentle, happy smile as she cut into a golden-brown pancake and spread butter between the layers.
The spacious dining hall wasn’t occupied by just the two sisters.
The room was noisy with children frantically devouring the mouthwatering food spread before them.
Liliope was so preoccupied with staring at Caliona’s profile that she paid no attention to anything else.
She didn’t know whether she was dreaming or had somehow gone to heaven.
But either way, seeing her dead sister alive and breathing right before her eyes felt nothing short of a miracle.
“Hey, hey, look at those girls eating.”
Unfortunately, Liliope couldn’t remain immersed in her emotions for long.
“Hmph. Anyone would think they’re princesses from some fancy family. You’re all orphans from the slums anyway, so why are you pretending to be so refined?”
A boy whose name Liliope didn’t know, sitting across the table from them, suddenly burst into loud laughter.
Then he carelessly threw the pie he had been holding and tearing into with his hands.
By an unfortunate stroke of luck, it landed with a splash directly in the bowl of soup in front of Liliope, making a complete mess.
“Lili! Are you all right? Hey, what the hell are you doing?”
For a brief moment, Liliope felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu, and Caliona immediately took Liliope’s hand and confronted the boy across from them.
He looked to be about fourteen.
The red-haired boy, who appeared to be around the same age as the sisters, didn’t even blink as he continued to sneer at them.
“Look at you putting on airs. Everyone else is busy filling their stomachs, but one of you is leisurely filling herself with nothing but boiled vegetable water as if she’s some noble lady eating a course meal, while the other is making a big fuss with a fork and knife over a measly piece of bread. Hmph. I guess you’re not hungry enough yet.”
“What does it matter to you how we eat?”
“Why wouldn’t it matter? You’re ruining my appetite by being so annoying right in front of me!”
The boy deliberately picked up a fresh loaf of bread with his bare hands and tore into it messily.
Caliona looked even more disgusted by the boy.
Apparently unwilling to argue any further, she ignored him and checked on Liliope instead.
“Lili, give me your hand. Ah, look at this! I knew it would turn red.”
Liliope silently watched as Caliona carefully wiped the soup splashed onto her hand with a napkin.
“It looks like you got slightly burned. Doesn’t it sting? Wait a moment. I’ll cool it down with cold water.”
Sister is worried about me…?
My sister… She’s being kind to me like she used to.
Suddenly overwhelmed by a longing that pierced straight through her heart, Liliope’s eyes grew red.
“Ugh. What the hell? Are you crying because a few drops of soup splashed on you?”
“Lili has sensitive skin! Look, it’s red because of you!”
“H-Hmph! You can barely even see it. Stop being such a baby.”
Even so, perhaps because he was slightly concerned, the red-haired boy kept sneaking glances at Liliope.
Caliona glared sharply at him.
But… what was this?
This situation.
This conversation.
She had vaguely sensed it just moments ago, but for some reason, everything felt strangely familiar, as though she had already experienced it once before.
“Boss, just ignore those girls and eat! The other kids are gobbling everything up, so there isn’t much bread with meat left!”
Even the words of the boys sitting on either side of the red-haired boy somehow stirred a distant corner of Liliope’s memories.
“Hey, it’s fine. They say that whatever banquet thing they’re holding later is supposed to be even better. So just eat enough for now.”
“A banquet? Boss, what’s that?”
“Didn’t you hear the person who showed us to the dining hall earlier? I don’t know either, but I guess it’s some kind of welcoming party. They’re probably planning to treat us lavishly because they’re so moved that a future Archmage like me has agreed to become part of the Northern Magic Tower.”
The moment the boy spoke with such arrogant self-importance, Liliope’s face went white as though someone had poured ice water over her.
A banquet.
The Northern Magic Tower.
Those were words she could never afford to overlook.
“Hmph. There’s no way an ignorant boy like you has what it takes to enter a Magic Tower. You’ll probably be kicked out soon after they realize they’ve made a mistake.”
“What? Who says that?! I was the boss of our alley! Everyone said I was the smartest one there!”
“Smart? It’s obvious what kind of person you are if you’re still playing street gang leader at your age.”
“P-Playing?! Take that back right now!”
While young Caliona and the boy bickered yet again, Liliope hurriedly raised her head and looked around.
It wasn’t long before goosebumps rose along her arms and the back of her neck stiffened.
No wonder the interior decorations had seemed strangely familiar.
This was the dining hall in the outer residence of the Northern Magic Tower—the very place where Liliope had eventually been expelled.
This was where guests who had just entered the Magic Tower for the first time were received.
Liliope had seen this place only once in her entire life, on the day she had entered the Northern Magic Tower while holding her sister’s hand.
But even now, that memory remained vivid.
How could she ever forget?
She had spent countless moments throughout her life remembering this very day and regretting it.
“No… I have to get out of here. Right now.”
There was no time to think about anything else.
Liliope abruptly sprang to her feet and grabbed Caliona’s hand.
