Chapter 6
‘I came to check whether you’re keeping your promise to keep your mouth shut. I was wondering if you might be harboring any other ideas.’
‘…And what happens if I do have other ideas?’
‘Well. I suppose you’d find out if you tried.’
‘…Forget it. In this world, I’m the person who values my own life the most.’
Claude would drop by from time to time, just to make sure I was still safeguarding his secret.
Whether his claim of “just checking in” was true or not, I was honestly relieved that he always left quickly.
That sudden visit had happened a few days ago, but today, for some reason, things were unusually quiet.
I didn’t waste this rare peace. Slipping out of my room, I walked slowly down the corridors of the mage tower.
‘You’d better watch that mouth of yours. And it’d be even better if you stopped hanging around me altogether.’
It seemed Claude wanted to dampen my interest in him—but unfortunately for him, it had the opposite effect.
If anything, my curiosity about Claude had only burned more fiercely.
What exactly is Claude hiding?
A mana crystal concealing immense power, and that ominous crimson mana…
Nothing added up cleanly.
I’d never been the type who could endure leaving my curiosity unsatisfied. There was no way I was backing down now.
To the point that even the eccentric Theodore had cautiously warned me.
‘Curiosity can be the beginning of growth, but it can also grab you by the ankle. You need to know when to retreat.’
Theodore’s warning had been unusually serious, but it didn’t really sink in for me.
If something could be abandoned just because it felt frustrating, then it wasn’t curiosity—just a passing thought.
In this dull, stifling mage tower, something genuinely interesting had finally appeared. How could I possibly give that up so easily?
Absolutely not!
But then… who do I even ask about this?
I’d already tried probing Claude directly earlier and only managed to irritate him.
Which meant the only person left was…
“Hey, would you look at that? Isn’t this our elusive disciple?”
…The damned master of the mage tower himself.
No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than Theodore came running toward me from afar, waving enthusiastically.
Just looking at his overly energetic figure made me want to sigh already.
Still, I decided to be grateful for his timely appearance and walked toward him at a leisurely pace.
For some reason, he looked absurdly excited as he scurried over, closing the distance between us in no time.
…Our tower master really does work hard.
In the past, I would’ve scolded him for running around so pointlessly.
But now that I understood him a little better, I chose not to poke at him.
“Eunice!”
Theodore stopped in front of me and stared intently for a moment. Then, unlike usual, he slowly curled one corner of his lips upward.
As I was thinking how strangely irritating that smile was, he spoke.
“Looks like our Eunice has taken quite a liking to the newcomer, huh?”
Dropping his usual playful tone, Theodore scratched at my nerves with a cynical voice.
I’d always thought he was only good at joking around, but moments like this made it clear—he really was the master of the mage tower.
So he’s been watching everything while pretending not to notice?
As the tower’s master, this place was essentially the palm of Theodore’s hand.
Which meant he knew that Claude and I had been crossing paths unusually often lately.
That was precisely why I’d once told Claude that wandering around the tower so conspicuously was pointless.
The only place that offered any real privacy was one’s own room. In other words, everything else had happened squarely under Theodore’s watchful eye.
It’s only when he gets serious like this that I’m reminded he’s actually the tower master.
Because I was so used to dealing with him casually, his sudden seriousness caught me off guard.
Maybe today we’ll finally have a proper conversation for once?
Without realizing it, I looked at Theodore with a faintly tense expression, waiting for him to continue.
Sensing my anticipation, he didn’t drag it out.
…No—before he even parted those red lips, his mouth seemed to curl into that annoying grin again.
“I ask you to play with me, and you ice me out completely!”
“…?”
“And now you finally get it, right?! How exciting it is when a new guest shows up in this boring old mage tower!”
As if to confirm my expectations, Theodore launched right back into his usual nonsense.
“…You came all this way just to say that?”
“Of course! Watching you get rejected by Claude over and over and still not give up—it reminded me of myself. I was so moved I nearly cried!”
…Ah. I really should’ve known the moment I saw that smug curl of his lips.
Only then did I relax, shaking my head.
“See? You’re ignoring me again! I came because I was worried about you!”
Pouting, Theodore jutted out his lips in complaint, clearly hurt that I wasn’t taking him seriously.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I told you before, Theodore.”
“Hm?”
“You’re really bad at lying.”
“…Huh?”
“Even today, you were just coming to watch me and Claude again, weren’t you? But when nothing interesting seemed to be happening, you decided to come find me yourself.”
“Ah. Was it that obvious?”
Instead of denying it or making excuses, Theodore accepted it immediately, as if he’d been waiting for it.
I shook my head again at his shamelessness.
“Yes. Extremely. You should practice hiding your expressions more.”
Claude, Theodore… why were both of them so terrible at hiding their feelings?
Honestly, neither of them seemed to have much experience with proper social life.
Back in my day!
Even if you wanted to smash your damned boss over the head, you still had to smile and laugh politely to their face!
A mere mage openly talking back to the tower master like this? Unthinkable!
Tsk, tsk. How do those two expect to survive outside the tower?
While fretting over their futures, I turned my gaze back to Theodore, who was watching me with keen interest.
He said nothing, clearly waiting for me to speak.
As if he already knew I had something I wanted to ask.
But a mischievous impulse took hold, and instead, I clamped my mouth shut.
In the heavy silence that followed, the one to surrender was—naturally—Theodore.
“…Don’t you have something you want to ask me, Eunice?”
“Oh my, how did you know?”
I put on a tone of mock surprise, utterly devoid of sincerity.
At my affected voice, Theodore let out a pained groan.
“…You’re really a terrible disciple, Eunice.”
At this point, it felt like I’d completely taken over this mage tower.
Without any particular destination, Theodore and I wandered through the tower together.
I disliked being cooped up in a small room, and for Theodore, moments like these were practically the only chance he got to breathe fresh air.
So from time to time, we would simply stroll around the tower aimlessly.
And today, we even had the perfect snack to accompany our walk.
Though that “snack” happened to be…
“What? Claude even sucked up to you, Theodore?”
“When did I ever say it was sucking up?! It wasn’t!”
Our new toy—no, our new family member, Claude.
If Claude had been here, he probably would’ve glared at us with those ferocious eyes of his.
Fortunately, he wasn’t, so we could chatter freely without restraint.
“No, it’s just shocking! Claude, with that icy face, buttering up our tower master! You really do live long enough to see everything.”
“I told you, it wasn’t sucking up….”
“What did he say? I’m dying of curiosity.”
Ignoring Theodore’s whining completely, I focused solely on Claude’s supposed flattery.
Beside me, Theodore muttered pitifully, “I said it wasn’t sucking up….”
“He was sincere! You know that! He’s not the type to spout empty words!”
“Oh, of course I know.”
That the Claude Theodore cherished so much was, in fact… someone perfectly capable of saying empty words when it suited him.
I swallowed the rest of my thoughts, worried Theodore might actually burst into tears.
“How could I not know?”
“….”
“That our tower master got thoroughly fooled again today.”
If anything, the problem was that I’d launched an even more devastating attack.
“No! He meant it! He said he’d admired me for a long time and wanted to enter the mage tower no matter what!”
“Yes, and that’s exactly the suspicious part—the first half. Obviously the bait. The second half is the real point—”
“Tsk! You’re just trying to drive a wedge between us, but it won’t work! He was sincere! Unlike you, he said he truly respected me!”
That damned relationship—I don’t even care!
I couldn’t bring myself to say that outright and instead took a step back.
“…Ah, yes. Sorry for not respecting you.”
In the end, today’s argument concluded without a victor.
Having taken emotional damage on multiple fronts, Theodore spoke to me in a drained voice.
“You… stop talking nonsense and go bring that Claude brat to my room.”
“What? When you have such a convenient spell like teleportation, why should I—”
“It’s because I’m too mentally exhausted thanks to you to use magic! So go, right now! I’ll be resting in my room!”
…In other words, I was so annoying that he wanted to make me do some physical labor out of spite.
“Yes, of course. If it’s our tower master’s order, I have no choice but to obey.”
I replied in an intentionally teasing tone, and Theodore looked on the verge of actually crying.
“…You’re really awful.”
With a deeply wounded expression, Theodore retreated into the distance, and I headed toward Claude’s room as instructed.
Hmm. Hearing all that from Theodore just makes things even more suspicious.
What on earth had Claude entered the mage tower for?
Lost in thought, I soon found myself standing in front of Claude’s room.
As I reached out to knock, I noticed the door was slightly ajar.
What’s going on?
Claude, of all people, leaving his room so carelessly?
Was he all polish on the outside but empty-headed on the inside?
It was in the middle of such pointless thoughts that—
“Ugh….”
A dangerously provocative sound brushed against my ears.
“…Did I hear that wrong?”
But as if to prove I hadn’t, a sinister aura seeped out through the crack in the door.
I froze in place, fear gripping me.
There was nothing in this mage tower that frightened me—except when it came to Claude.
Faced with this suspicious, ominous guest, a wariness I’d never felt before surged up.
…Should I run away right now?
I hated leaving my curiosity unresolved, but I hated losing my precious life even more.
My life was important.
Even thinking that, I stood there, unsure of what to do.
As dark crimson mana slithered toward me, that dangerous sound came again.
“Ugh!”
The moment I heard that dizzying groan, my mind went blank.
Claude is in danger!
I didn’t have the luxury to think anything through.
All that filled my head was the certainty that this moment was extremely dangerous.
In the end, I forgot my resolve to value my life and grabbed the doorknob.
“Claude! You can’t die!”
If nothing else, at least some last words—!
With that, I flung the door open in a panic.
Having no idea what awaited me on the other side.
