Chapter 55
April got up from her bed and threw open the curtains.
Outside the window, sunlight streamed in, but all she could see were clouds, and looking down, the buildings below looked like tiny dots.
Once again, April truly felt that she was in the Tower of Magic—on the very top floor, the 999th floor.
It seemed that to move to another floor, one had to place a hand on the pillar and recite a spell.
If she failed to learn magic, she might be trapped here for her entire life, unable to move at all.
Thinking about that made her not want to look outside any longer.
Dressed in her day clothes, April stepped out of her room.
The other children were coming out of their rooms as well.
Chiwa had told them to gather in the circular area around the pillar in the center of the floor in the morning.
There were three living quarters on the 999th floor, and April, arriving late, had been assigned a single room.
The other children seemed envious of April’s private room, but she had been born into a noble household and had always had spacious private rooms.
What April wanted more than that was to become friends with her peers quickly, so she would have preferred sharing a room.
As she had expected, the children who shared rooms were already acquainted with each other.
Two by two, the children walked ahead, and April followed alone behind them.
“…You’re a noble, right?”
Suddenly, a girl with brown hair and a haughty expression turned around and asked.
She was definitely Anna.
“Ah, yes…”
April nodded, and
“I thought so…”
Anna muttered softly, and that was the end of her first conversation with April.
Anna then turned to the skinny Rize beside her and started discussing, “I wonder when breakfast will be served?” After that, the two never spoke to April again.
‘You’re a noble, right?’
What could that mean?
April pondered the question so much her head felt like it might explode.
The other four children seemed to be commoners.
She tried not to be biased, but their sun-darkened skin, unkempt hair, rough hands, and dirty fingernails seemed to reveal the harsh lives they had led.
Reflected in the marble pillar, April’s neat and clean appearance was strikingly different from theirs.
Chiwa was already standing by the pillar.
Chiwa looked at the children.
Although he smiled as if everything were fine, he was worried.
Chiwa was the “Minister of Education,” responsible for educating young wizards in the Tower of Magic.
However, most children born in the Tower naturally inherited magical abilities from their parents without formal lessons, so the position of Minister of Education was largely honorary, given to Chiwa, who had exceptional magical ability but a milder temperament than other wizards.
Teaching humans magic was a truly tricky task.
Of course, some wizards who left the Tower became professors at magical academies, but Chiwa had always planned to live in the Tower, so he had never imagined teaching humans.
He had no idea how to teach magic to these young humans.
Perhaps this was finally a chance for him to act like a true Minister of Education of the Tower.
With his naturally positive outlook, Chiwa shook off his worries and began to speak.
“You are here to become wizards. Then, what do you think is needed to become a wizard?”
Chiwa thought the first step was to understand how much the children knew about wizards. He stroked his beard awkwardly and asked in a composed tone.
“A-a cloak…?”
Aaron answered immediately. April had thought the same thing.
The wizards they had seen upon entering the Tower showed no intention of hiding their identities—they all wore cloaks.
“So, will simply wearing a cloak make you a wizard?”
Aaron had no answer to that. Having a cloak alone wouldn’t make someone a wizard.
“Maybe you need intelligence?”
Anna answered this time. Her sparkling eyes suggested she was quite smart.
“More likely than just a cloak. A good mind lets you accomplish many things.”
Aaron and Rize’s faces fell.
They were often scolded for being slow learners.
April felt pressured to answer as well and pondered what to say.
Wizards probably needed intelligence, but it couldn’t be the only requirement.
Talent? Persistence? Intuition? It seemed like the list of what a wizard needed was endless.
“A wizard needs magic.”
Kevin said flatly, with a tone of certainty.
Despite Aaron and Anna sneering at how simple his answer was, Kevin was confident in his reply.
“A wizard needs nothing else if they have magic.”
Chiwa considered Kevin’s words.
It seemed nonsensical at first, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that indeed, nothing was more necessary to a wizard than magic itself.
Kevin was the child who had immediately recognized Lukael’s magical power along with April.
When Chiwa saw Kevin’s magic amplification and told his father that Kevin had magical talent and should be brought to the Tower,
his drunken father waved him off, saying, “If one less mouth is on my hands, fine. Just take him,” without fully grasping the situation.
Kevin quietly packed his things and left.
Though all he brought was a single set of underwear, he smiled brightly at Chiwa, who worried that the father’s reaction might have hurt him, and bowed, saying, “Thank you for saving me from hell!”
The other children all had unfortunate backgrounds as well, but Kevin’s arms and legs bore visible scars of abuse.
Still, he carried himself proudly, as if he were no mere victim.
He believed that only when he grew strong could he escape his wretched father.
He was indeed special—he had the ability to amplify magic.
He was destined to become a wizard. His eyes blazed with ambition.
“Really? Then how can you use magic?”
“Th-That is…”
But Kevin couldn’t answer further. He had little knowledge of magic.
Having grown up in a slum, he had never truly seen magic before.
Chiwa, satisfied with Kevin’s flustered reaction, reached out and called out.
“Laxchir!”
A mop appeared in Chiwa’s hand, dancing across the floor as he moved his hand.
In truth, Chiwa himself didn’t know how humans could cast magic.
For Chiwa, born a wizard, magic was as natural as breathing.
The answer lay with these human children.
“‘Laxchir’ is the spell you chant when cleaning. Today, your task is to clean the floor of this floor.”
Chiwa had heard that some humans, to learn swimming quickly, were thrown into water. In order to survive, humans learned to swim desperately.
“If a child cannot clean with magic, they must do it by hand.”
Chiwa stroked his beard more leisurely this time.
This floor was as vast as an imperial palace, so cleaning it with only five children would be nearly impossible. It was a task only magic could accomplish.
“Laxchir!”
“Laxchir!”
“Laxchir!”
As soon as Chiwa finished speaking, the children began chanting “Laxchir” in unison.
But surprisingly, nothing happened.
The children continued to chant tirelessly, but no mop appeared.
Their voices grew quieter, and they began losing confidence.
Chiwa thought that perhaps teaching magic to humans was impossible.
Then April, extending her hand just like Chiwa, focused, and recited the spell.
“Laxchir!”
A mop appeared in April’s hand, moving back and forth, scrubbing the floor clean.
