Chapter 43
Helene nodded firmly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“The Tower of Magic is surrounded by a barrier. For someone without resistance to magic, even breathing there would be difficult!”
The mages had put up that barrier, claiming that they didn’t want to mingle with “inferior humans.”
Even April, who had some ability to amplify mana, worried about how she would cope with the magical resistance she had never truly experienced. For Helene, who had no mana whatsoever, going there was no different from walking to her death.
Despite Lucael and Chiwa’s objections, Helene didn’t waver.
“No matter what, you can’t send a ten-year-old girl off alone!”
Of course, Helene herself was afraid of venturing into the unknown—the Tower of Magic.
But…
She looked at April.
No matter how afraid she was, it couldn’t be scarier than what a ten-year-old child would feel.
Worried that they might try to separate them by force, Helene clutched April’s travel bag even tighter.
Her resolve seemed unshakable.
Lucael let out a dry laugh.
So this is what it means to be human.
Creatures who cling to unseen, intangible things.
Motherhood? Love? Friendship? Whatever it was, he had heard that humans would even stake their lives on it.
No point in arguing further—it was clear persuasion wouldn’t work.
In the end, if foolishness brought suffering, it would be hers alone.
“…Then let her come.”
Chiwa gasped in shock at Lucael’s words.
But knowing that the Tower Master never went back on his word, Chiwa could only sigh before transforming again into an eagle.
This time he grew into a massive eagle, large enough to fill nearly half of April’s room.
“Please, ride on my back.”
Helene helped April climb onto Chiwa’s back, then sat behind her.
She wondered if this was what it would be like to ride in an airplane—though the lack of any safety measures made her uneasy.
Nervously, she gripped the base of his wings.
As Chiwa began to beat his wings, Helene squeezed her eyes shut.
Then, with a rush, they soared out through April’s window into the open sky.
It felt like riding a wild amusement-park attraction—rocking up and down, side to side.
Helene cracked open her eyes.
Above, below, all around—the endless blue of the sky stretched out.
It hadn’t even been thirty minutes since April had voiced her wish, and already it had come true.
Unlike Helene, too tense to properly look around, April couldn’t take her eyes off the vast expanse of heaven.
Her green eyes sparkled with the reflection of the boundless blue.
Then April looked down.
The entire Herssen Empire unfolded beneath them.
The grandest palace in the Empire, Rephea’s imperial palace. The great ducal residence. The mansion where her godfather, Blaine, lived.
And towering above all was the great temple her sister Liriana often visited.
Everything looked like miniature toys.
After gazing at the land for a while, April turned her eyes forward—straight into a puff of white cloud, which they pierced in an instant like smoke.
Helene had been right.
Flying in the sky truly was the best!
At last, their flight ended at a hill just outside the imperial walls.
While Helene staggered from nausea, April leapt about joyfully across the hilltop.
At its center stood an ancient tree, said to be over a thousand years old. It was so massive it seemed the size of a house.
There was even a famous ghost story: when a woodcutter once tried to cut it down, he came to his senses to find his own axe pressed against his leg.
“Where exactly is the Tower of Magic?” Helene asked.
Lucael pointed at the tree.
“The key is here.”
Key? Helene looked around. But aside from the oversized tree and some weeds, there was nothing on the hill.
She even searched beneath the weeds, but found nothing resembling a key.
“You must walk around the tree three and a half times to the right, once to the left, once more to the right, and finally a third of a turn to the left.”
Three and a half times around?
Chiwa figured it would be quicker to show than to explain. He circled the tree three and a half times to the right, once to the left, once to the right, and then a third to the left.
Nothing seemed to change… but when Helene lifted her head, she froze, clapping her hand over her mouth.
“The… the Tower of Magic…!!”
Everything else was identical to the Herssen Empire.
But in place of the imperial palace now stood a colossal, needle-shaped tower so tall its peak was swallowed by the clouds.
“…Everything else is an illusion. I was too lazy to create a whole new landscape, so I simply mirrored the human world.”
“So in other words… you just copy-pasted the Herssen Empire, right?”
“Copy… paste? Is that some sort of spell?”
Rather than answer, Helene looked around again.
It was indeed the same as the Empire—the sunlight, the wind… but the air was strangely different.
Suddenly, her breath caught. She clutched her throat and collapsed.
Lucael’s cold voice rang in her ears.
“…You are the one who insisted on coming.”
As he had warned, this was no place for a human without magical resistance.
The mages had even set up a special barrier to prevent humans from entering.
Sighing at the trouble, Lucael watched her sink to the ground.
Though she had never experienced it before, Helene thought this must be what mountain sickness felt like—airless, crushing, as though her body had grown unbearably heavy under alien gravity.
“Helene!”
April rushed to her side, supporting her.
Unlike Helene, whose face was pale and drenched with cold sweat, April—blessed with innate magical talent—looked perfectly fine.
“…Can you walk?”
What a joke. Instead of being a protector, Helene had become nothing but a burden.
She tried to pretend she was fine, forcing herself upright, but she barely managed a few steps before stumbling.
April slipped Helene’s arm over her small shoulders.
“…Stepmother, don’t pretend to be strong.”
Embarrassing as it was, leaning on April made breathing easier, and the heaviness in her body eased.
And when their bodies touched, it was as if she could finally draw air again.
Chiwa, observing the flow of magic, cried out in realization.
“Of course… April’s magical resistance is transferring to you!”
Indeed, standing close to April, Helene seemed to be absorbing some of her resistance.
To test the theory, Chiwa lifted Helene’s arm off April’s shoulder—and instantly, Helene sagged like a lifeless rag, gasping for breath.
Helene grabbed April’s hand.
“W-what are you doing!”
“Well, leaning on a ten-year-old isn’t very dignified. But holding hands is better for both of us, right?”
April’s hand was small and soft, almost squishy in Helene’s grip.
“…Ugh, I told you not to come!”
But as much as she complained, holding hands really was the most comfortable.
It felt like some kind of penalty game.
It was embarrassing enough to walk hand-in-hand with her older sisters, Liriana or Zeina—but with Helene?
April pouted.
“Your hand is all sweaty!”
“Ha! That’s your sweat, not mine!”
“You two really are such a loving mother and daughter. Hahaha!”
Completely oblivious to the complicated Emeldia family situation, Chiwa’s cheerful remark made Helene force an awkward smile.
Helene glanced around.
It was true—the rest of this world was nothing but illusion.
The streets and houses mirrored Rephea exactly, yet there wasn’t a trace of life.
It felt like stepping into an apocalyptic novel or film.
So all of this was fake property? Then where did the mages actually live?
“They live only in the Tower. Forgive me for saying so, but ordinary mages are so arrogant they detest even walking upon the ground.”
Catching her searching gaze, Chiwa explained.
So it was true—mages really did regard humans as another species.
‘Seriously, what snobs. Aren’t they human too?’
Helene stuck her lip out in annoyance.
