Chapter 8.
A late night at the Magic Tower.
A dark figure crept cautiously up the stairs toward the top floor. A man, his face hidden beneath a black hood, glanced around nervously.
He swiftly approached the door to the top floor chamber and slowly reached out his hand.
Crackle—
A faint ripple pulsed from the spot his hand touched. It was a barrier cast by the Master of the Tower, Duke Melize Evgenin.
If he were to force the door open, a loud alarm would immediately notify Duke Melize.
“විවෘත කරන්න…” (Vivurtha karanna…)
(Open…)
Carefully sliding his finger toward the door, the man began to chant in a whisper. The magic flowing from his fingertip gradually seeped into the barrier.
Moments later, the infiltration of mana ceased.
“…Almost done.”
His voice was laced with satisfaction. He swiftly disappeared from the scene.
The dark night was still, and no one had awakened yet.
***
“Finding a job isn’t easy in this world either.”
I muttered to myself as I dropped a stack of papers onto the desk.
Unbelievable—this was already my eighth rejection!
For nearly two months now, I had been frequenting the library daily to learn about this world’s knowledge and systems, and searching for work with help from a few kind mages in the tower.
“That’s why I keep saying, Edel, it’s not so bad to stay in the Magic Tower and slowly research for a long time.”
Tez, a high-ranking water-type mage who had been organizing books nearby, stroked his beard and said in a kindly tone.
Tez was a unique mage who, despite being high-ranking, preferred reading in the library over working in his private lab. Most mages preferred to hole up in their labs and never come out.
Maybe because I was young enough to be his child, he had kindly extended a helping hand when I asked for help.
“I’m not really a magic nerd like you, Tez.”
“A magic… nerd? What’s that?”
“It’s just a thing! A good one!”
“Hoho, must be one of those young people’s expressions, huh? Hohoho!”
“Haha…”
“But I bet the Tower Master would be quite disappointed to hear that. She already misses seeing you as it is.”
‘Yeah… which just makes me feel guiltier.’
After all, I wasn’t even the real Edel. It felt wrong to be so loved in her place.
Just like Tez said, if I told Melize I wanted to leave, she’d likely be saddened.
I still remembered the first time I’d spoken to her through the communication orb. The look in her eyes was full of affection.
That day too, I had been writing yet another embellished résumé while flipping through books in the library, the communication orb around my neck like always.
Beep—beep-beep—beep!
“What’s that sound?”
“-…Ed… Edel? Edel, can you hear me?”
“Whoa! That scared me!”
The mechanical beeping had me puzzled for a second, but then a familiar yet unfamiliar voice came through.
Startled, I dropped the book I was holding.
“Oh, Edel! What were you doing to be so surprised?”
“Melize!”
It was Duke Melize Evgenin, the Master of the Tower and the one who had rescued Edel and brought her here.
“Nothing bad, I hope?”
Slowly, the elegant figure of a woman—somewhere near middle age—began to form in front of me. It was a function of the communication orb.
Before long, a tall woman with neatly parted, dark blue hair and bright green eyes appeared before me in a clear, life-like image.
She gazed at me—no, at Edel—with concerned eyes, clearly deeply fond of her.
‘So this is what Melize is like…’
She was the most powerful archmage on the continent, capable of using all magic types, and the Master of the Magic Tower. But she looked at me like a parent checking on a child left home alone.
It made my heart swell.
Maybe it was because I was now in Edel’s body, but the affection and respect Edel had for Melize seemed to have passed on to me as well.
“Oh, I’m fine! Really! How’s the investigation going, Melize?”
Now I could see why Edel hadn’t wanted to worry her. Why she’d always tried to smile brightly in front of her.
Ugh. This makes it so much harder to tell her about the mages who’ve been bullying me.
Flushing slightly for reasons I couldn’t explain, I quickly picked up the book I’d dropped and clutched it to my chest.
Melize, watching me silently for a moment, soon smiled gently and responded.
“It’s harder to find traces than I expected. I’ll finish things up here, then stop by the nearby mana stone mine.”
Melize was working to break the curse and simultaneously searching for the cult’s base of operations.
“I see.”
“I’ll see you soon, Edel. How’s the prince doing?”
“No problems at all. The crystal chamber is intact, the preservation magic is stable, and the prince is still peacefully sle—uh, I mean, doing well!”
“That’s good to hear.”
I almost said something ridiculous, but thankfully, she didn’t press. Edel probably wouldn’t have blurted out that the prince was handsome, so I was safe.
“Oh, by the way—”
“Yes?”
“I did feel a slight, very slight difference in the barrier’s mana signature. It was barely noticeable, though.”
The thought had just popped into my head. I wasn’t exactly an expert in drawing barriers, but I had been checking the pulse of the magic daily with my finger, so I could at least sense minor changes.
“There were no alerts, but I’d better check it myself. Hmm, it’s been over two months since I last inspected it personally.”
Melize furrowed her brows thoughtfully.
“I’ll hurry back. See you soon, Edel!”
“Yes, Melize!”
Her image faded away, leaving behind her ever-gentle smile.
“……”
I wanted to tell her: Just hold on a bit longer. The Saintess will appear soon and help. But that wasn’t my role.
I was just an extra, quietly watching from the sidelines.
It was a little sad not being able to say anything, but it couldn’t be helped.
‘Even if I leave the Tower, I could still contact her from time to time, right? She won’t be too sad, will she?’
Even for Edel, who had left her body in my care—I could at least do that much.
‘But first, I need to figure out how to get out of here.’
Recently, Tez had introduced me to a friend from his academy days who now worked as a professor. He even sent a recommendation letter with a kind note, but the response was…
“Well, he did say he’d contact you if a researcher position opened up.”
“That’s usually a polite way of saying no.”
“Haha, no no. I know that friend. He’s the type who’d just say no if he meant no.”
Yeah, right. In Korea, that’s a 100% guaranteed rejection. I sighed in frustration.
I thought I’d written a pretty good self-introduction… maybe it just didn’t work here.
“Well, here’s hoping. Either way, thank you so much, Tez. You even wrote me a recommendation letter—I feel bad!”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. It was just a few lines.”
“Still! I’ll definitely repay you someday!”
I didn’t know how, but surely an opportunity would come someday.
“Alright, alright. If anything else comes up, I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you!”
He really was a great guy! If I could, I’d give him 200 points out of 100!
I thanked Tez and gathered my rejection letters and applications. Time to check on the prince again.
‘I should go over the letters and applications again later.’
I’d applied to quite a few places, so I might be able to figure out what I was doing wrong. It was time to approach this strategically.
Heh. Don’t underestimate a battle-hardened job seeker.
Rejection couldn’t crush my resolve! I clenched my fists again, filled with determination. I would keep swinging that axe until someone gave me a chance.
“And when they do—oh.”
“Well, if it isn’t the Tower Master’s prized student.”
As I turned the corner of the hallway, someone appeared—Intermediate Mage Benyamin. The rat-faced mage, Mikel, was with him too.
After I’d basically blackmailed them using Melize’s name, both of them had mostly stopped causing trouble.
Ugh. Why now, of all times, when I was in a good mood?
I turned my head and bowed slightly.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
I tried to breeze past with a half-hearted apology, but Benyamin grabbed my arm.
“Off to the top floor again?”
“Yes, why?”
I gave him a confused look. For some reason, there was a strange gleam of amusement in his dead-fish eyes. What was up with him?
“Heh. Well, keep at it.”
He chuckled unpleasantly and walked off. That weird, villainous line only made me more uneasy. It felt like he was messing with me.
‘Well, his face alone is unpleasant enough.’
Still, I wouldn’t have to see him again once I left. No point stressing over it. That was one thing I’d learned from my working life.
Tonight was going to be a busy one. I had to prepare for my next attempt!
I hurried off again in the direction I’d been heading.
