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Chapter: 6
[QUEST: Bring food to the male lead, “Adrian,” who is locked in the basement and starving. (0/3)]
[QUEST: ??]
[QUEST: ??]
The items below were all marked with question marks.
It looked like they would be unlocked one by one once I completed the food quest.
Which meant I’d have to visit this terrifying boy at least two more times.
“It seems the lady will be looking for me by now. I think I should head out for today, so, um…”
Adrian glanced at me once with cold eyes, then turned over inside the iron bars, using straw as a pillow.
The sound of the chain bound to his wrist dragging across the floor echoed faintly.
It was as if he intended to pretend my visit had never happened and ignore me completely.
Well, in this situation, it was hard to expect anything from a little girl smaller than himself, not an adult.
Still, seeing a child so young looking utterly devoid of dreams or hope…
Even though I kept telling myself he was just a quest target, my heart couldn’t help but ache.
“I’ll definitely come back. Please wait.”
“……”
“Oh, right. I’ll leave this with you.”
I pushed the glowing orbs still floating in midair through the iron bars. The small, round lights began to spread a gentle glow across the straw-covered floor.
“The light will gradually weaken. But I’ll come back before it goes out completely.”
There was no reply. I turned and climbed back up the stairs.
I needed to meet Melisandra.
To avoid being poisoned to death—and to avoid being dismembered and murdered.
I had to make Adrian escape from that woman.
The central hall of the Mage Tower was as splendid and majestic as befitted the headquarters of holy magic.
It was decorated entirely in white marble, adorned here and there with motifs of the sun carved into straight beams of light.
They were the emblem of the Mage Tower, and of the Anatole family—the lineage of the Tower Master.
Even within the Mage Tower, few mages were permitted access to the central area, so only a handful of people wandered the vast space.
Among them was a boy reclining against a long bench.
With his eyes closed, he emanated a tranquility and sanctity that felt almost otherworldly.
The white garments draped over his body blended with his dazzling platinum-blond hair, enhancing his holy aura.
Shimmering golden particles floated around him.
His left hand rested on a crystal orb placed on the armrest beside the bench.
Within the faintly visible interior of the orb appeared the image of a girl with rose-colored hair.
“Lord Elios.”
A mage approaching him carefully spoke his name.
Delicate eyelids opened. The boy’s eyes were a deep gold, as though sunlight itself had been gathered and condensed within them.
At the same time, the golden particles floating around Elios were drawn into the transparent crystal orb.
The image of the girl inside the orb disappeared as well.
“Umbriel.”
The golden particles Elios manipulated so freely were crystallized mana compressed to extremely high energy.
Only mana of the highest purity took on a golden hue.
An ordinary mage would have to train for an entire lifetime just to control a fingernail-sized amount of that golden dust.
Yet the Tower Master used such immense power solely for the safety of humanity.
Mage Umbriel, filled with awe, asked,
“Is there… a possibility?”
Elios smiled in response.
“It was 0.6 percent. The probability that person would survive until ‘the Day of Fate—Doomsday.’”
“Has the probability changed?”
“Just now, it increased by 3.5 percent.”
“…! That’s quite a rapid increase, isn’t it?”
“The Day of Fate” meant nothing less than the day of annihilation.
Elios, the Mage Tower Master—who usually devoted most of his time to sleep or rest—had recently convened all the high-ranking mages of the Tower.
And he declared that humanity was facing a crisis.
Unlike ordinary dreams, the Tower Master’s dreams foretold the future.
His prophetic dreams had become humanity’s strength in facing countless crises over the past several hundred years—
Wars, plagues, natural disasters, famine.
But the crisis Elios foresaw this time was fundamentally different from all the previous ones.
A calamity so great that, if left unresolved, humanity itself would be wiped out.
The moment it would arrive, Elios named the Day of Fate—Doomsday.
“Great Tower Master, how are we to overcome this crisis?”
To the mages’ question, Elios proposed a method no one could have imagined.
That the Mage Tower, which possessed the power to save the world, would instead assist the movements of a single young girl.
Some mages expressed doubt and concern.
But most, like Umbriel, submitted to his will.
“Therefore, it is vital that I receive your utmost cooperation with my plan.”
“According to the Tower Master’s will, we mages shall do everything in our power to prevent annihilation.”
Umbriel bowed his head as he answered.
Beyond his symbolic meaning as a messenger of the heavens, Elios was the very origin and essence of the Mage Tower.
Magic power without equal.
A personality unbelievably humble and gentle considering his ability and status.
No one could imagine a Mage Tower without Elios.
Before leaving, Umbriel voiced a personal curiosity.
“That girl is…”
“Yes?”
“What kind of person is she? Is she cooperative with you, Tower Master?”
“Well…”
The Tower Master smiled.
Tap. Tap.
His pale fingers lightly tapped the crystal orb.
“She’s calculating, and she has enthusiasm.”
A faint worry crossed Elios’s face.
No matter if it was for saving the world, using someone’s survival instinct didn’t sit entirely well with him.
‘I’ll do the quests you give me, so you protect my life.’
Elios nodded to himself once more.
“As long as the reward is certain, she’ll become a tremendous force.”
“Yes.”
Umbriel bowed again.
The Tower Master’s choices were rarely wrong—so following them was enough.
Still…
He couldn’t help but worry, just a little, about how this unprecedented level of focus on a single human might affect the Tower Master himself.
Leaving the basement where Adrian was imprisoned, I ran back the way I had come.
Without even opening the map, I soon encountered people.
“Miss Rohesia!”
The servant who had guided me to the restroom came running toward me, out of breath. Around him, a group of people were frantically searching the area.
“Where have you been all this time? Whew… anyway, thank goodness. The lady was looking for you.”
Melisandra was in a nearby garden.
“You idiots! How could you lose that child? If you don’t find her immediately, every one of you will have your pay docked!”
A group of servants groveled around her as she barked orders, sending some toward the front gate and others toward the back garden.
I felt bad that so many people were suffering because of me. My life was at stake, sure, but still… docking their pay felt excessive.
“Lady Bellas, I’m right here!”
I hurried over.
Her expression—sharp as she berated the servants—turned toward me for a split second, then softened as if nothing had happened.
“Rosha. Where were you?”
“I’m sorry. I went to the restroom for a moment, and then I wanted to look around the estate a bit, so I stepped outside…”
“…And?”
“The ducal estate is so big that I got lost. I’m really sorry…”
For now, I had to look like a dejected little child. I bowed my head deeply, fidgeting with my fingers.
[SYSTEM: Due to Lv.3 ‘Deception Skill,’ the effect ‘Best Actress Award—You’ll Give It to Me, Right?’ is activated.]
…?
What? Why are you giving that to me?
Before I could even react, my facial muscles twisted on their own, my eyes drooping pitifully.
My nose stung as if a spoonful of wasabi had been shoved into it, and thick tears began to fall.
W-What is this…?
The duchess was just as flustered.
She let out a sigh, then crouched down to meet my gaze.
“Don’t cry, little one. Do you think I’d scold a precious guest like you?”
“R-Really?”
“Of course. It’s my fault for not showing you around the estate properly first.”
A pale hand with carefully manicured long nails was extended toward me.
“Come here.”
“Sniff… okay.”
Fortunately, Melisandra didn’t seem to connect my brief disappearance with Adrian.
The ducal estate’s layout was complicated, and the underground storage where he was confined was quite far from the main building. Without a map, it would’ve been nearly impossible to go there and back so quickly.
‘Well, I do have a map.’
I nodded while glancing at the minimap tucked into the corner of my vision.
“Stay for dinner, Rosha. The chef will grill some delicious waterfowl.”
I wondered if she ever bothered to prepare dinner for her own son, at least on paper.
Thinking of Adrian sitting there unable to eat even thin gruel made anger surge inside me again. Starving a child was just unforgivable.
“No! Thank you so much, but I think I should head back now, Lady Bellas. My father will be waiting for me.”
Suppressing my anger, I smiled brightly. For just a moment, the duchess wore a look like someone who’d finally shaken off an annoyance.
“Is that so? What a shame.”
“Yes. Thank you for inviting me today.”
“Then I’ll invite you again soon.”
Even if it was a bother to look after a child, in order to obtain the ‘Love Potion,’ she had no choice but to keep inviting me.
I smiled while touching the vial hidden in my pocket.
Just before getting into the carriage prepared by the Bellas family, I suddenly clung to Melisandra’s waist.
“Even if you don’t invite me, can I come visit to play? Staying at home is so boring.”
“Of course, Rosha.”
She patted my head halfheartedly, lifted me into the carriage, and closed the door for me.
Through the window, I saw her gentle smile.
“When you come to our house like this, it feels as if I’ve gained a daughter.”
“Hehe…!”
I waved at Melisandra until the carriage passed through the ducal gates.
And the moment she turned her back and went inside, I wiped the smile from my face and raised my middle finger instead.
Of course, no one saw it.
