Chapter 51: Selling an Experienced Rookie (2)

“Lady Elcia, I have a question.”

“Oh ho. It’s unusual to have a sage asking questions—feels quite peculiar.”

“This might be a bit of an impertinent question.”

“It’s all right, go ahead and ask.”

“Well… I heard that your husband passed away. What does that feel like?”

At my question, Lady Elcia’s expression turned troubled.

I immediately apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it’s just that it’s a startling question. It caught me off guard.”

Indeed, it was a somewhat rude question.

But I had my excuses.

“Well, your daughter said it would be okay to ask such questions…”

Just to be sure, I had checked with Viscountess Jamie, and she said Lady Elcia would scoff and curse her husband if asked such things.

“That girl… just because she’s a 6 Circle doesn’t mean all 6 Circle mages are the same. I spoiled her too much, so now she tries to match me at every turn…”

Lady Elcia muttered something frightening under her breath.

Better not to pay attention to that.

“But why are you suddenly curious about that?”

“I’m leaving for Laguna tomorrow.”

“So, I came to buy provisions and travel supplies.”

I briefly explained to Lady Elcia why I was going to Laguna, leaving out anything related to the Empire and focusing on Talio, Lord of the Magic Tower.

“I see. A letter, then.”

“But I just don’t really understand that kind of sentiment…”

Duke Helpion and Lady Titania’s love letters were about a common emotion—love—so it was easy to write.

I had even experienced a light crush at the Academy.

But letters sent to a deceased wife by an old man… I had no sense of how to approach that.

So the one person who might be able to explain similar feelings was Lady Elcia.

“I’m telling you, I almost wanted to die.”

What?

Lady Elcia, isn’t that a bit sudden?

“I loved my husband. I left the Magic Tower because I fell for him—a mercenary.”

“So you used to be from the Magic Tower.”

“When I was young, I only cared about studying. After graduating from the Magic Academy, I naturally joined the Magic Tower. I reached 4 Circle at 25, and it was around then that I met him.”

Lady Elcia’s voice slowly drifted into her memories.

“He was a young, capable mercenary of 21. Despite his age, he was the attack battalion commander of his mercenary band.”

There was a strange fragrance in her voice—nostalgic, tender, and yet sorrowful.

“I fell in love at first sight. Not just me—he felt the same. We spent a lot of time together, and I left the Magic Tower three months later.”

She bragged about being competent herself.

I’d long suspected Lady Elcia was quite shameless.

“I had only known studying, so traveling the world was such a joy. We did many things—hunted monsters, explored dungeons, visited famous sightseeing territories. He grew steadily and eventually formed his own mercenary band, and I reached 5 Circle.”

“Was that around the time Jamie was born?”

“Yes. About five months after I left the Magic Tower.”

I see, Jamie was born after five months… Wait.

That timing sounds strange.

“You just got kicked out of the Magic Tower because of a little reckless fun, didn’t you?”

“Those without any sense of romance say things like that. Like my daughter.”

This lady really…

Give me back my sentiment.

“For twenty more years, we wandered. I reached 6 Circle, even took part in the Demon King subjugation. Then I came here following Duke Helpion. He died one year after that.”

According to Lady Elcia’s story, it was truly an unfortunate accident.

No one’s fault—just tragic misfortune.

They were returning from dealing with monsters when territorial disputes broke out among the monsters.

To evacuate his mercenary band, he sacrificed himself.

“Until we returned to the territory, I thought of nothing. Survival was all that mattered. But when I came to, there was no one left to share trivial conversations.”

Lady Elcia set down the now empty teacup.

Her hand had been trembling slightly since earlier.

“I think of him on special days—happy or sad—but that only lasts a moment. What scares me is when thoughts come unbidden in everyday life.”

“Did you open the grocery store because you decided living was better than dying?”

“I didn’t make it myself. People made it for me. I was just drifting day by day, and every day kids would come by. It made me think I hadn’t lived badly. I talked with them, bought things they brought, sold things they needed. That’s how this place came to be.”

“I see.”

“I’m not sure how much this will help the sage, though.”

“Not at all. It’s been very helpful. Thank you for sharing such a difficult story.”

I was truly grateful for Lady Elcia’s insight into how to write the old man’s letter.

Just as I was about to wrap up, Lady Elcia gave a meaningful smile.

“Do you really think so? Heh heh.”

“Hm?”

“Talio, Lord of the Magic Tower, has been famous since he was young. Heh heh. Has it already been 25 years since she left? You’ll have a hard time.”

“What did you say?”

“That old man fought endlessly with his wife while alive. They constantly battled with magic, breaking hundreds of buildings. Heh heh, writing that letter will be quite the ordeal.”

What is that?

Isn’t it supposed to be about a man tenderly longing for his late wife, pouring his feelings into a letter with a book as a gift?

But Lady Elcia just laughed without another word.

Her hand no longer trembled.

Finally, the day came to depart for the Magic Tower of the Kingdom of Laguna.

No one came to see me off.

It was a busy time, and I was also moving discreetly.

I had said my goodbyes to everyone yesterday.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

I steadied my slightly nervous heart.

We wouldn’t be traveling by ordinary means.

I gazed at the enormous magic circle etched beneath the old man’s staff.

An 8 Circle long-distance large-scale spatial teleportation magic circle.

A Kingdom-level ultra-long-distance spatial teleportation spell that 6 or 7 Circle mages wouldn’t dare attempt.

It was a luxury only enjoyed by kings or emperors of a nation.

“Yes, the others seem mostly ready, too.”

“Ready…”

Alice, fully equipped, nodded slightly.

Three of us would be traveling together.

One was Alice.

She was to serve as my escort and attendant at the Laguna Magic Tower.

Being a direct disciple of the head maid, she had diligently learned maid duties, so she would be helpful.

…Though sometimes, when she blankly wore an expression of utter boredom, I wondered if she was really working hard as a maid.

The other unexpected companion was Chechil.

“The brat has Mana’s Blessing. Hey, why don’t you become my disciple?”

The old man had found Chechil along the way and invited him to join the Magic Tower.

After some hesitation, Chechil glanced at me and agreed to go.

I didn’t know why he looked to me first.

“Then, let’s go.”

The old man lightly stamped the ground once after confirming we were all present.

Though the motion was light, the effect was tremendous.

The air around us screamed sharply.

Mana from all over the world gathered into the circular magic circle.

Soon, just like when I accessed the Akashic Record, I felt my body break down into tiny particles.

Within that, only a vague consciousness remained, sensing I was vanishing somewhere.

After a brief moment, we found ourselves in a completely different landscape.

A tower about ten meters tall was nestled within dense foliage.

Vines naturally climbed the tower’s outer walls, and trees of similar height grew thickly around it.

A nature-friendly tower.

That was my first impression.

“Ugh… welcome back.”

Startled by a voice that sounded like it was on the verge of death, I turned toward it.

A huge man was there to greet us, apparently having received prior notice.

He gave off the vibe of the Darenberg Mercenary Captain I had seen before.

Two meters tall and covered in bulging muscles, but his robe marked him as a mage, oddly mismatched with his warrior-like appearance.

But looking closer, he seemed to be in very poor shape.

Dark circles under his eyes extended to his cheekbones, and his hair looked like it hadn’t been washed for over a month, giving him a disheveled appearance.

Now that I think about it, that musty smell—could it be coming from that robe?

Where had I seen such a sight before?

Somehow, it felt familiar.

“Is it that you can only speak in that ‘ugh’ noise? Tch. The experiment?”

“It’s done…”

“The data?”

“Extracted…”

“The lectures?”

“Well, I’ve done two, but one was canceled…”

“What?”

“The homunculus for the experiment was acting strange…”

“You didn’t check that properly?”

“Sorry…”

“Tch, fine. Come in for now.”

Ah, now I know where I’d seen someone like this.

Back in the Academy, seniors who were famous for their academic excellence but chose graduate school with the professors would often reappear looking like this.

Some scholar-mage once said the Magic Tower was another name for graduate school.

Those who messed up at the Magic Academy were dragged to the graduate school of magic.

Right.

I had arrived to write a letter to the deepest hell that mages could go to.

It had only been two days since arriving at Talio, Lord of the Magic Tower’s domain, but I had already come to one firm realization.

Lady Elcia definitely left because life at the Magic Tower was pure hell.

This was no place for humans.

All day long, it was nothing but magic study and experiments, experiments, experiments, experiments…

What kind of noble life for a mage is that?

It was just slavery.

To make things worse, even in this slave life, there were strict hierarchies.

“Ughahaha… Slavery? That’s a bit harsh.”

“For starters, maybe fix that reaction that’s neither a laugh nor a groan if you want to gain trust?”

“Then ughhh…”

So instead of laughter, it became a groan.

I looked at Jason with a dumbfounded expression.

When I first arrived at Talio’s Magic Tower, Jason had come out to greet me.

Despite his burly, warrior-like appearance, he was the senior mage of Talio’s Magic Tower.

Though called senior mage, his actual power was only 3 Circle.

He was carrying sacks full of experimental materials on both shoulders as he moved along and happened to accompany me as I went to see Lord Talio.

“What’s that?”

“Ugh, it’s experimental materials to modify plant growth hormones to control growth speed and outer shell hardness.”

He explained, but I didn’t quite understand.

Seeing my expression, Jason chuckled.

“You don’t get it, do you? If we make a reagent from this and spray it on weeds, they grow to the size of a shield in 10 seconds and can block two or three arrows.”

“Oh. That’s really amazing.”

“Amazing, yes, but to make that reagent, you have to boil these materials with a special process for 120 hours ughahaha…”

“A special process?”

“Keep stirring, add samples at the right time…”

Jason rambled on, but to sum up—

That was a reagent made by grinding humans into it.

“Wait, is it slavery or not? No, I’m a disciple of Talio’s Magic Tower. Yeah, pride!”

Despite his words, his self-esteem seemed to be slipping.

While joking like this, we arrived at Lord Talio’s laboratory.