MTIC 05

Chapter 5

A carriage bearing the Magic Tower’s emblem—a red dragon ascending toward the heavens—entered the capital of the Hagran Empire.

The citizens of the capital widened their eyes at the rare sight of a Magic Tower carriage.

“Wow! I actually get to see a Magic Tower carriage! I must be lucky today!”

“I was feeling terrible just a little while ago, but now I can’t help smiling.”

The citizens who saw the carriage broke into smiles regardless of age or gender.

Anyone who was a citizen of the empire could not help but like the Magic Tower.

After all, it was the first Tower Master of the Magic Tower who had turned Hagran into a land of peace.

Furthermore, the Magic Tower had always worked to provide its people with a better quality of life through magic.

The magical streetlamps standing throughout the streets, refrigerated storage units made using magic stones, and countless other conveniences—

Most of the things that improved the quality of life for the empire’s citizens were magical products created by the Magic Tower.

Of course, those products were quite expensive, making them difficult for ordinary citizens to afford.

However, the Magic Tower also produced affordable versions so that common people could use them as well.

“Wow! People are waving at us!”

“Let’s wave back!”

The warm welcome from the citizens made the inside of the carriage noisy as well.

Lulu and Lara poked their heads out of the window and waved.

When the children waved enthusiastically, the citizens cheered.

They shouted excitedly at the adorable appearance of the young mages.

“Ahem.”

Jack, who had been watching the two children, cleared his throat and subtly turned his gaze toward the window.

Then he cautiously raised his hand.

He seemed to desperately want to join in.

When the people responded to his wave, Jack’s cheeks turned slightly red.

Miel smiled faintly as she watched the three of them.

She had experienced this kind of welcome countless times whenever she visited one of the empire’s major cities.

But Lulu and Lara had only recently become members of the Magic Tower, so this was their first time receiving such a welcome.

Jack had also spent a great deal of time traveling outside the empire, so he probably had not experienced it very often either.

As Miel watched their adorable behavior, her gaze shifted toward the luggage compartment at the back of the carriage.

Inside were materials collected from dangerous areas throughout the empire.

The request they had received this time was to gather ingredients for a high-grade healing potion that could be obtained from monsters.

Ordinary citizens were afraid of monsters.

Their strange powers and terrifying appearances filled people with fear.

The client who had commissioned this request was likely no different.

Of course, he possessed noble blood and would therefore be capable of dealing with monsters himself, but there was no reason for him to personally seek out and confront such unpleasant creatures.

Moreover, the task required traveling throughout the entire empire, so the busy client could not afford to handle it himself.

So he had no choice but to entrust the job to the Magic Tower, even if it meant paying a hefty commission.

Besides, his wealth must be practically inexhaustible.

Miel naturally thought of their client because the carriage had already arrived in the area where he lived.

But why does he need the ingredients for medicine? Is someone in his family sick?

Miel shook her head vigorously.

I shouldn’t dig too deeply into it. I might end up getting involved in something complicated for no reason.

Instead, Miel poked her head out the window and looked around at the scenery that had changed.

At the center of the capital, once they passed through the enormous gate set into the middle of the towering walls, a magnificent sight unfolded before them.

The buildings, sparkling so brightly under the sunlight that they were almost dazzling, were beautifully composed of white and gold.

Reliefs of lions, the symbol of the Imperial Family, adorned the exterior walls of the buildings.

Not only that, but cool streams of water poured from the mouths of lion statues at the central fountain.

Around the fountain grew lush trees that remained green throughout all four seasons.

Beside them, flowers that bloomed according to the season scattered their fragrances through the air, while ornamental plants meticulously maintained by the gardeners displayed their beautiful colors.

“Wooooow! It’s so pretty.”

“It’s huge! There are so many buildings. One, two, three, four… How many are there?”

When the Magic Tower carriage entered the Imperial Palace, Lulu and Lara could not stop marveling at everything around them.

The two children stared open-mouthed at the palace and pointed at various places.

Jack, sitting beside them, was equally busy staring around the Imperial Palace with wide eyes.

The only calm person inside the carriage was Miel.

This was not Miel’s first visit to the Imperial Palace.

Long ago, when she had traveled around with her father, she had come to the Imperial Palace and even met the Emperor in person.

So rather than being surprised by the magnificent sight before her, Miel smiled warmly as distant memories from her past came to mind.

“Welcome.”

Just then, the carriage stopped and its door opened.

The people who had come to welcome the Magic Tower’s guests were palace attendants.

The oldest-looking man among the neatly dressed attendants bowed respectfully.

The other attendants followed his lead and bowed as well.

Miel and the other three returned their greetings before getting out of the carriage.

“Mages, thank you for coming such a long way.”

The four of them followed the attendants.

Eventually, they arrived at the White Hall.

Located to the east of the main palace, the White Hall was, as its name suggested, entirely white.

Not only the exterior but also the interior was covered in white.

Various Imperial treasures displayed at regular intervals contrasted beautifully with the white surroundings and delighted the eyes.

The four were guided into a reception room in the White Hall.

Refreshments had already been prepared there.

The attendant explained that the Imperial Head Chef had personally put great effort into preparing the refreshments to welcome the mages.

Once the attendant left the reception room, Lulu, Lara, and Jack could no longer resist the feast of luxurious desserts.

The three of them immediately attacked the food.

Apparently, they were quite hungry, because they hurriedly stuffed themselves with cookies, cakes, and all kinds of other treats.

Amid all this, Miel sat comfortably and sipped her tea.

The tea, which had given off a sweet aroma, was unexpectedly bitter.

Perhaps it had been made slightly bitter because it was meant to be enjoyed alongside sweet desserts.

Miel quietly set down her teacup.

The bitter taste lingering in her mouth made her crave something sweet.

But not one of the desserts in front of her.

She wanted something refreshing and sweet.

…I want an apple.

A shiny, bright-red apple naturally appeared in her imagination.

The apples of this world were incredibly sweet, unlike anything she had tasted in her previous life, and they were Miel’s favorite food.

She loved them so much that she could probably go several days without eating a proper meal as long as she had apples.

But she had not eaten an apple for the past few days.

After completing their request, they had come straight to the Imperial Palace without stopping by a village.

“Apple…”

While Miel was thinking about apples and simply savoring the thought, the door to the reception room opened.

The attendant who had guided them earlier entered once again.

“His Highness has arrived. The representative from the Magic Tower…?”

“That would be me.”

At the announcement that their client had arrived, Miel immediately jumped to her feet.

While the other three were still completely absorbed in the desserts, she quickly gathered the medicinal ingredients and followed the attendant.

Miel wanted to finish the job as soon as possible.

I’ll finish this quickly and go buy some apples.

Even as she followed the attendant, Miel could not stop thinking about apples.

Troy de Hagran, Crown Prince of the Hagran Empire, was in a particularly good mood.

The monster subjugation had ended successfully, and he had just received news that the request, which was originally expected to take three months, had been completed an entire month ahead of schedule.

Thanks to this, his only younger sibling, and the empire’s sole princess, Revina, would be able to get out of bed.

Revina had been unusually frail since birth.

She often suffered from minor illnesses and had collapsed from anemia several times.

Fortunately, however, she had never suffered from any serious disease.

But one day, Revina suddenly became lethargic.

She lost interest in everything in the world, stopped eating proper meals, and slept for more than half of each day.

She did not even show any interest in Penny, the Imperial Family’s beloved dog, whom she had adored more than anything.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the Empress summoned physicians to examine her.

But they could not determine the cause.

It was a botanist who discovered the cause of Revina’s illness.

A terrifying plant called Bedmoon.

It made weak creatures lethargic, causing them to sleep all day until they eventually passed away several months later.

Revina had contracted the illness after touching a Bedmoon that had naturally grown in the palace garden.

Bedmoon was a beautiful blue flower with crescent-shaped petals.

But if a creature with the immune system of a young child touched it, the poisonous flower infected them with a disease that caused extreme lethargy.

In the past, children who did not know about its dangers would touch the flowers and eventually die.

As a result, Bedmoon had been burned and eradicated throughout the empire.

But the plant possessed such tenacious vitality that one had somehow grown in the princess’s palace garden.

When the Emperor learned of this, he severely punished the gardeners of the princess’s palace for neglecting their duties.

Then he immediately ordered the botanist to reveal a way to cure the illness.

The botanist trembled as he wrote down the ingredients needed for the medicine.

Every single ingredient could only be found in dangerous regions inhabited by monsters.

Crown Prince Troy intended to personally lead soldiers into those dangerous regions to obtain the ingredients.

But just then, monsters suddenly began appearing along the borders.

The monsters caused tremendous damage to villages near the border and brutally slaughtered the citizens.

Troy had no choice but to quickly gather knights and soldiers, form a monster-subjugation force, and head toward the border.

Before leaving, he visited the Magic Tower and commissioned them to obtain the medicinal ingredients.

He did not reveal the details.

He simply asked them to handle it as quickly as possible.

The empire was already in chaos because of the monster attacks, and Troy wanted to prevent news of the princess’s illness from spreading.

I don’t particularly trust the Magic Tower, but when it comes to monsters, they’re practically experts…

Troy was not particularly fond of the Magic Tower.

Even if the Grand Sage had helped the empire back when it was still a kingdom, Troy questioned whether the Magic Tower really needed to be given enough authority to stand beyond even the Emperor’s reach.

If the Magic Tower ever harbored ulterior motives and rebelled against the empire, the consequences could be disastrous.

However, both the citizens and the Imperial Family regarded the Magic Tower as heroes.

Even his own father, the Emperor, liked the Magic Tower.

When Troy had said that he had no choice but to commission them, the Emperor had replied:

“If it’s the Magic Tower, I trust them more than the Imperial soldiers. They are experts in this field.”

As expected of experts, they had worked quickly.

They had completed the task a full month earlier than the promised three-month deadline.

If Troy himself had led the soldiers to gather the ingredients, it would probably have taken even longer than three months.

Furthermore, if he had simply sent soldiers to different regions to obtain the ingredients as quickly as possible, the soldiers themselves might have ended up being defeated by the monsters.

Even if I don’t like the Magic Tower, I should at least acknowledge their achievement.

Above all, this was for none other than his only younger sister, Revina.

He intended to generously reward them in recognition of their accomplishment.

Since I’m in a good mood, perhaps I should add another jewel to their payment.

Yes. It’s not as though that would hurt. I’ll just think of it as sharing some of my wealth with the people.

Troy smiled.

Still, he intended to skip the formal thanks.

I’m paying them to do the job. Is there really any need to thank them?

Just as he was thinking this, there was a knock at the door.

“Your Highness. Someone from the Magic Tower has arrived.”

“Let them in.”

The person who entered through the door was a small figure with a hood pulled over their robe.

They were wrapped up so completely that Troy could not even determine their gender.

His brows naturally furrowed.

How dare they appear before a member of the Imperial Family dressed like that?

Troy opened his mouth, intending to say something.

“Pleased to meet you, Your Highness. My name is Miel. I have come from the Magic Tower.”

The delicate-looking woman removed her hood and greeted him.

At that moment, Troy froze with his mouth slightly open.

The moment his eyes met her jewel-like golden eyes, the world seemed to turn upside down.

The rigid guest room suddenly appeared to be filled with fluttering flower petals.

It felt as though he had been transported to a garden overflowing with flowers.

At the same time, a sweet fragrance wafted through the air and tickled the tip of his nose.

Then she raised her small hand and tucked her short silver hair behind her ear.

Troy’s heart began pounding violently.

Thump. Thump. Thump.