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Chapter 13
“……”
“Ma. Tower. Lord!”
He called again, stressing each syllable, but Seoden’s voice only echoed through the empty air. There was no change inside the wardrobe.
Soon, a vein popped on Seoden’s forehead.
“If that’s how it is, I have no choice but to burn this wardrobe down.”
The moment flames gathered in his hand, a rustling sound suddenly came from the previously normal-looking wardrobe. The scene before his eyes distorted.
The illusion magic hanging over the wardrobe vanished, revealing its true form—and the person sitting on top of it.
Golden hair that shone like spun gold, blue eyes, and a face like a perfectly carved statue.
The man sitting on the wardrobe was none other than Astor Magicos, the Tower Lord Seoden had been searching for.
“This wardrobe is expensive. If you want to pay for it, it’ll cost quite a lot.”
Astor waved his hand as he spoke. With a single gesture, the flames on Seoden’s hand disappeared instantly.
“Anyway, you managed to find me, Seoden. Your tracking magic is improving day by day. I’m really proud.”
Astor smiled proudly and patted Seoden on the shoulder.
Seoden gritted his teeth.
“Yes. Thanks to the Tower Lord… I, an attack-type mage, have been forced to improve my tracking magic skills for no reason.”
“No need for thanks. Improving a great mage is the Tower Lord’s duty.”
Astor’s infuriatingly casual tone made Seoden’s face crumple.
After all, Seoden had spent days and nights without proper sleep trying to find the suddenly vanished Tower Lord.
The entire Magic Tower had been turned upside down, yet Astor was acting so calm. If he could, Seoden would have grabbed that shining blond hair and yanked it.
But he knew. Before his hand even reached him, Astor would send him flying.
With a sigh, Seoden followed Astor into the reception room.
“Do you even know how chaotic the Magic Tower has become? You disappeared without a single word. And you even disrupted tracking magic!”
“Yes, I did. But I knew. I knew my proud disciple Seoden would find me. See? You’re standing right in front of me now.”
It seems your tracking magic has improved even more thanks to this.
Astor smiled lightly and sat on the sofa. His smile was so refreshing that Seoden’s mind briefly went blank.
Don’t be fooled by that face.
Seoden shook himself awake.
“What exactly are you doing in the Pentium Empire? You didn’t even make an official visit—you came in secretly, like a spy. You know very well what kind of rumors could spread if anyone finds out.”
He wasn’t just an ordinary mage. He was the Tower Lord. Every word and action of his represented all mages, carrying enormous weight.
Especially a secret visit like this could raise suspicion—accusations of wrongdoing or violating treaties prohibiting interference in other nations’ politics.
“I know. That’s why I’ve been moving carefully while hiding my identity. Until recently.”
“Until recently… don’t tell me…”
Seoden’s eyes widened, and Astor avoided his gaze slightly.
“There was something that came up. So I told only two people my identity. Or maybe three now.”
“You revealed your identity? To two… no, three people? Who are they? Don’t tell me they’re nobles or royalty?”
Astor remained calm, but Seoden panicked.
If they were royalty or high nobles, Seoden felt like he might faint.
Seeing his disciple’s shocked expression, Astor casually brushed it off.
“…Don’t worry. Nothing serious happened. More importantly, Seoden, I found something interesting.”
“Now is not the time for interesting things… what is that?”
While rubbing his aching temples, Seoden froze.
In Astor’s hand was a silver pocket watch, carefully held like a precious artifact from the Magic Tower.
Astor handed it over carefully and signaled for Seoden to examine it.
“Take a look. It’s a strange object.”
Seoden turned the pocket watch over in his hands.
“Strange… aside from the fact that it has an eternal time-stasis spell, it doesn’t seem that special.”
Items like this were common in the Magic Tower. So it didn’t seem like something the Tower Lord would call interesting.
Seoden looked up in confusion, and Astor crossed his arms and let out a nasal hum.
“Hm, disappointing. Is that really all you can see?”
It was a tone that subtly provoked Seoden’s pride.
Seoden narrowed his eyes and examined the watch again.
Then his eyes slowly widened in shock. His mouth dropped open as excitement filled him.
“Th-this… is this real? I saw this correctly, right? This is a real ancient magic circle, isn’t it?”
Only then did Astor smile in satisfaction.
“That’s right. A magic circle drawn by the Primordial Mages, now long gone. Even I have never seen such a powerful protection circle in my life.”
The protective magic engraved in the pocket watch.
It was not ordinary protection magic. It was powerful enough to even bring back the dead.
Even though magic was advancing day by day since the founding of the Magic Tower, life-related magic had barely developed. That was because it belonged only to the Primordial Mages, who were close to divine power.
And that great power was now contained within this pocket watch.
It was no wonder Seoden was stunned.
With trembling hands, Seoden held the watch and asked:
“T-this… such a precious item, where did you get it? Don’t tell me you secretly came to the Empire just to obtain this?”
“No. That’s not it. I came to the Empire because of rumors that the Marquess of Bayern family discovered a massive mana stone cave. But that turned out to be false. I just happened to find this while dealing with that.”
“Just happened… this is an incredible discovery. If we study this magic circle, it could bring huge progress in healing magic.”
While Seoden looked at the watch with shining eyes, Astor suddenly reached out and took it back.
“No research. It belongs to someone.”
“Someone? Even so, we should buy it! We could pay any amount!”
“No need. This magic circle is too long sealed away. It can’t be taken out.”
“Can’t be taken out… so it’s a sealed magic circle?”
“Yes. It’s been left alone for so long that it became heavily sealed. The magic circle exists, but no one can use it.”
“Ah…”
Seoden looked stunned.
Astor also felt regret. It was the first time he had seen such a powerful magic circle.
But even his power could not break the seal.
So he would simply return it to its owner—paying back his debt to the Blante young lady.
He did not know if she would remember, but long ago, she had once helped his younger sibling in a difficult situation.
Because of his shy and quiet personality, his sibling was often bullied by nobles. The Blante young lady had helped him then.
It may have been a brief moment of kindness for her, but for his sibling, it was something special.
“Her name was Ariel. She’s the young lady of the Marquess Blante family in the Pentium Empire. Brother, next time you go to the Empire, take me with you. I want to meet her again.”
“I think… I could become friends with her.”
It was the first time his younger sibling, who had never had a friend before, said there was someone he wanted to be friends with.
That pure, happy smile was something he had never seen before.
But that became the last.
His sibling never met Ariel again, and after being cruelly abandoned in love, they died in an accident.
At the sudden memory of that horrific event, Astor’s expression hardened.
But soon, he returned to his usual lazy smile.
“…Tower Lord, isn’t it a bit of a waste? Couldn’t you at least try—”
“No. I’ll return it to its owner. Who knows? Maybe the seal will break once it returns to its rightful place.”
A powerful ancient protective magic circle.
For the Blante young lady, who had been left alone as if abandoned in an empty field, such protection might be needed.
Even if it was currently sealed and meaningless.
And perhaps it could even happen—maybe one day, when she truly needed protection, the seal would break like a miracle.
Astor spoke firmly to the disappointed Seoden.
