IQBSA 05

Chapter 05

When the Silodian Ducal family was annihilated, the female lead Ramona was outside the city walls.

Ramona had received a hint from her cousin Izard to flee alone, and she barely escaped with her life.

Running for dear life, she eventually reached the mages’ land of “Dian,” and by chance, managed to enter the Magic Tower disguised as a cleaner.

The one who helped Ramona in her time of crisis was the Tower Master, Roakin.

Roakin met Ramona while she was cleaning the tower and fell in love at first sight.

So even though he noticed her true identity, he hid and protected her in the tower.

It was also Roakin who helped Ramona safely reach the imperial palace when she went to rescue the Crown Prince.

If not for Roakin’s teleportation, Ramona would have been captured and killed before even reaching the palace.

“……So that kind second male lead and that crazy bastard are the same person?”

Now that I thought about it, the original novel was practically a scam.

To me, Tower Master Roakin Argent was nothing but a tyrannical boss.

‘Is he only kind to the female lead?’

Even so, treating people so differently was just heartbreaking.

‘This is exactly why you stayed a second male lead—with that personality!’

What good was all that effort protecting Ramona?

Ramona chose the Crown Prince, Lirenzo.

‘Looks matter, but they’re not everything.’

There’s no way you could hide that self-centered, volatile personality forever.

Ramona must have noticed too, and that’s why she went to the true sweetheart, the Crown Prince.

“Sigh. So how am I supposed to get out of here now?”

He’d burned my resignation letter, smashed the door in anger…

If I tried to quit again, I’d probably be reduced to nothing but bones.

As I lay slumped over my desk, anxiously fiddling with the calendar, I heard commotion from outside.

“What’s going on?”

Looking out the window, I saw armed mages gathered in the square.

Derek, the Commander-in-Chief of the Magic Tower Forces, stood at the front, organizing the ranks.

“Come to think of it… the subjugation expedition is today, isn’t it?”

How could I have forgotten even with all the chaos?

I belatedly recalled the original plot I’d been neglecting.

From today, a survey team would be dispatched to the Baldeas Mountain Range.

The Baldeas Mountain Range was the monsters’ largest stronghold and an area under the Empire’s special administration.

The Empire formed a subjugation force every year for regular inspections of Baldeas, and the Magic Tower forces were always included.

“Is Roakin going too?”

Caris had said Roakin had recently been making excuses to avoid all cooperation orders.

…Something about not feeling well?

After my call with Caris, when I asked why he wasn’t going on the regular inspection, that was the answer Roakin himself gave.

‘But judging by how strongly the Imperial Palace protested, he probably couldn’t easily skip this inspection.’

When I couldn’t spot Roakin through the window, I went down to the square and asked Derek.

“Derek, where’s Roakin? I haven’t seen him around.”

“The Tower Master departed ahead of us, so he’s not here. We’re the rear guard.”

When did he leave? He could have at least told me he was going.

He really must have been angry.

“He went to… Baldeas, right?”

“Yes.”

Derek looked at me as if I’d asked something obvious.

But soon his gaze shifted from me to someone else.

“Levin! Hurry up!”

No sooner had Derek spoken than a group of mages led by Levin appeared.

I’d wondered why Derek was moving separately from Roakin—it seemed there’d been issues with these people that required him to take charge of the rear guard.

“Yes! Coming, coming!”

“When are you going to cure that terrible habit of being late? You only learn when your life’s on the line.”

“Just curse me to die already.”

“Shut up. What makes you think you can talk back?”

At Derek’s tiger-like ferocity, Levin whimpered and pouted. Derek paid no mind, checked the roster, and said:

“Looks like everyone’s here. Let’s move out.”

At his words, colorful teleportation circles rose beneath the mages’ feet, and they began to vanish one by one as if evaporating.

“Wait! Take me with you!”

Even Levin, who’d been lingering at the back, finally left, leaving the square empty and desolate.

“……”

Standing alone in the abandoned square, I thought to myself.

Those who’d departed for the Baldeas expedition today would return in three days, and the Tower Master was no exception.

‘Roakin Argent isn’t in the tower!’

This was undeniably the perfect opportunity to escape.

If he refused to accept my resignation even at the cost of my life, I’d have no choice but to run away secretly…

‘I absolutely cannot miss this chance!’

I immediately ran to Eliser’s room.

Eliser possessed powerful magic but was afraid of blood, so he never went into actual combat.

Today, he’d surely be holed up in his room crafting artifacts.

Knock, knock. Sure enough, after I knocked, I heard Eliser’s voice along with a clattering sound.

“Come in!”

“Whoa!”

As soon as I opened the door, something flew straight at me, and I quickly ducked.

“S-Serpine! Are you okay?”

Eliser rushed over in a fluster, checking on me anxiously.

“Mmm, I’m fine.”

I straightened up and looked at my feet to see what had been thrown.

‘Wow, that would’ve been bad if it hit me.’

An unidentified object lay scattered on the floor, completely shattered.

Eliser scratched his head awkwardly and picked up the debris.

“Th-this shouldn’t have happened—how strange……”

“……What were you trying to make?”

“It’s an artifact that automatically shakes a cat toy. There must be something wrong with the design—it can’t handle the weight and keeps flying off and—”

Eliser’s eyes suddenly lit up as he launched into an enthusiastic explanation.

‘……Fans and their obsessions.’

Sorry, but given my situation, I didn’t have time to sit around listening to Eliser’s stories.

I waited for an appropriate break in his speech before speaking up.

“Right, I’m sure it’ll work once you fix the design. Anyway, is the bag I asked for ready?”

In planning my escape from the tower, I’d asked Eliser to make me a bag with spatial expansion magic.

What was the point of having the tower’s best artifact crafter by my side if not for times like this?

“Oh, I finished that a while ago! But where did I put it……?”

Eliser went over to the cluttered pile of artifacts and started searching for the bag.

I carefully stepped around the debris scattered on the floor and followed him.

Eliser’s room was filled with all sorts of miscellaneous artifacts, with barely any room to step—it truly looked like the room of an eccentric inventor or a mad scientist.

“Found it!”

Eliser shouted as he excavated the bag like he was digging up a ginseng root from the earth.

He cheerfully brought the bag over and handed it to me.

“Here! But…… what do you need a bag for all of a sudden?”

For someone who was arguably the empire’s most oblivious person, it was a surprisingly sharp question.

“Oh, just… something I need.”

“I see. Understood.”

Eliser nodded as if he’d received a satisfactory answer and didn’t pry further.

As I’d said before, mages were extremely individualistic and had no interest in others.

It was very likely he’d just asked out of politeness without being particularly curious.

‘Sturdy and nice.’

After confirming there were no defects, I carefully stepped around the debris again and made my way back out.

“Eliser.”

I paused, about to close the door, and called out to him.

“Yes?”

Eliser, who’d already settled back into his workspace, poked his head out.

‘……Should I tell him or not?’

There was something that only Eliser in this tower didn’t know.

The truth about Lucifer’s runaway incidents.

‘You know, the truth is Lucifer runs away to avoid you.’

I’d noticed it because Lucifer always seemed to disappear whenever Eliser went looking for him.

Following him around constantly, bothering him, using him in artifact experiments…

In a way, it was only natural that Lucifer ran away.

Even though Lucifer clearly showed his annoyance, Eliser didn’t seem to notice at all.

“Never mind. Thanks for the bag.”

“Oh, don’t mention it.”

Eliser tilted his head briefly but soon gave a bright smile and waved goodbye.

No need to hurt that innocent child’s feelings.

‘He’ll realize it on his own someday.’

I shook my head and closed the door.

Back in the secretary’s office, I quickly began packing.

‘Busy, busy.’

Even with spatial expansion magic, the bag had its limits—it couldn’t hold infinite items.

And since the weight wasn’t completely negated, I had to carefully select what to bring.

“Hmm, I’ll only take the essentials.”

Clothes, toiletries, defensive artifacts…

After adding the recipe book as the last item, I tied up the bag.

‘Did I forget anything?’

As I opened the drawer to check, I saw the resignation letter enshrined in the back.

“……Really insane.”

The memory of the burning resignation letter sent another chill down my spine.

I put down the bag for a moment and sat in the chair.

It would probably be best to provoke the Tower Master as little as possible.

Instead of the resignation letter, I took out a clean piece of paper beside it and wrote a letter.

Now everything was perfectly prepared.

As I carefully opened the door, a dark room with no lights on greeted me.

A chilling cold even lingered in the empty, masterless room.

I pulled my clothes tighter and slowly made my way through the darkness.

Thanks to the faint galaxy pattern shimmering on the ceiling, I felt as if I was walking through the night sky.

Walking in a dreamy daze, I soon reached Roakin’s desk where he conducted his work.

‘Sorry, Tower Master.’

No matter how cowardly it was to run away secretly, I had no choice.

If I stayed like this, I’d die at the Empress Dowager’s hands. I had to prioritize saving my life first.

‘Stop your pointless stubbornness and do what you’re supposed to do.’

Soon the female lead would come to the tower.

Right now the Tower Master was all fired up about keeping me, but once he met Ramona, his interest in me would naturally fade.

‘Won’t he not even notice I’m gone?’

With a woman he loved, what did a secretary—easily replaceable—matter?

Besides, once he posted a recruitment notice, applicants would flood in ready to start immediately. Any one of them would make a far more capable secretary with much stronger magic than me.

I’d already calculated all of that.

‘Goodbye to this poor extra’s fate.’

This insignificant villain’s extra bows out here.

As I set the letter down and left, I exited the original story right here.