IQBSA 06

Chapter 06

“Those who cannot teleport shall not set foot in the Magic Tower.”

Those were the words left by Igfried Argent, the first Master of the Magic Tower.

During the ancient war between humans and mages,

mages scattered across the continent all gathered in ‘Dian.’

It was a legendary tower said to have been built by the combined power of the twelve archmages with the strongest magical power among them.

‘Known as the Magic Tower.’

Located in the middle of a stormy sea, the tower could only be entered via teleportation.

This signified that only mages were permitted entry.

It was only after the era of peace arrived that ordinary humans who couldn’t teleport were allowed in and out of the tower.

A gate connecting to the mainland had been created.

However, what must be remembered is that the gate opened only twice a day.

Once in the morning, once in the afternoon.

‘And today, both times have already passed.’

Now, before my eyes, the gate was nowhere to be seen, and only the vast sea spread out.

I headed toward the small hut where the gatekeeper lived.

“Yona!”

I knocked on the small window at eye level. A kindly-looking old man who had been dozing blinked in surprise and opened his eyes.

“Huh? Serpine?”

“Sorry for waking you, Yona. I had no choice; I have an urgent favor to ask.”

“What kind of favor?”

“Could you open the gate for a moment?”

At my words, Yona glanced up at the sky painted with an orange sunset and said,

“Open the gate? Now isn’t the time for that, is it?”

“But I need to get out of here without Loakin knowing. Just for a little while… Would it be possible?”

At my earnest request, Yona nodded in agreement after a moment of thought.

“I don’t know what it’s about, but if it’s you, Serpine, asking, there must be a good reason.”

The change came instantly.

The calm sea began to bubble, making an ominous sound.

Soon, as if parting the Red Sea, the currents split to both sides, revealing an arch bridge leading to the land.

“Hurry across.”

Yona left the door open and leaned back comfortably in his chair, closing his eyes again.

‘…Normally, I would have been stuck waiting in the Magic Tower until the gate opened tomorrow. Good thing I built a rapport with the gatekeeper.’

Serpine must have lived quite diligently.

Just how many bodies did she have? Even though the secretarial office was on the floor just below the top of the Magic Tower, she often came down here to keep Yona company.

It wasn’t an act done with expectation of reward, but thanks to it, the escape became much easier.

“Thank you, Yona.”

“…”

‘…Seems he’s already asleep.’

I left my thanks to Yona and adjusted my bag.

Then I stepped onto the sturdy stone bridge, as if it had always been there, hidden beneath the water.

‘Someday, I’ll come back here again.’

That is, if I survive the Empress Dowager’s clutches.

After all, even if my magic power is subpar, I am still technically a mage.

*Whoosh.*

As soon as I safely set foot on land, a powerful wave surged and covered the bridge behind me.

Leaving the now calm sea behind, as if nothing had happened, I set off down the road without lingering.

“Miss, wake up.”

At the coachman’s call, I opened my eyelids, which felt as heavy as stones.

“You said you were going to Erden Village, didn’t you?”

“…Ah, that’s right.”

I must have dozed off on the carriage after traveling all night.

I lightly slapped my cheeks to shake off the drowsiness, gathered my belongings, and got off.

[Erden Village.]

The letters written on the wooden signpost at the village entrance were worn and faded by time.

Erden Village, located on the border between the mage’s land, Dian, and the human residential area.

This was also the place where I had found my new home.

“…Let’s see.”

I took out a map and gauged the direction of the point I had marked with a pen beforehand.

It seemed I needed to go deep into the eastern part of the forest.

I walked past people busy with their morning tasks.

Soon, a modestly sized family home came into view among the dense thicket.

‘There it is!’

I had scouted out a house to hide in after escaping the Magic Tower, and it looked exactly as it did in the image orb I saw when purchasing it.

Finally.

After a grueling journey that lasted through the night, I had arrived at my own sanctuary.

Overcome with emotion, I ran and stopped in front of the house.

It was a two-story building, including a small attic space under the roof.

The sturdy wooden frame supporting the house and the solid plastered walls.

Except for the somewhat noticeable traces of age, the overall condition wasn’t bad.

A sudden flood of memories from countless late nights at work made my nose sting.

‘This is what I endured all that hardship for.’

…Or rather, what Serpine endured?

All the money used to buy this house was earned by Serpine through her hard work at the Magic Tower.

The Magic Tower paid well, and on top of that, Serpine took on private potion commissions, so she had a sizable amount in the bank.

I wasn’t filthy rich, but it was enough to live comfortably until the Empress Dowager gave up.

“…Hello?”

As soon as I opened the door, a spider descending on its web greeted me.

I waved my hand to roughly clear away the cobwebs and stepped inside.

Since the house had been left unattended for a long time without anyone living in it, the state of it was a complete mess.

“How am I supposed to handle the move-in cleaning for a two-story house all by myself?”

For a moment, I felt dizzy, but I steeled my resolve.

‘I am someone who endured three years in the Magic Tower.’

Thinking back on the time I suffered in the Magic Tower, there was nothing to fear.

First, I threw open all the windows in the house.

Then I grabbed a broom from what looked like a storage room and started sweeping everywhere.

The spring cleaning I started in the morning showed no signs of ending even as night deepened.

“Hah. I’m exhausted.”

Completely drained, I collapsed onto the bed.

I guess it was too reckless to push ahead with my poor stamina.

‘I could have avoided this ordeal if I’d just brought one person from the Tower to clean.’

Back in the Magic Tower, if I needed magic done, I could just ask another mage.

But since I was in hiding, I had to handle everything myself…

Times like this made me sad about my complete inability to use magic.

‘How can someone have absolutely no magic power?’

Remarkably, Serpine always received a shocking score of ‘0’ on magical power measurements.

They said it was extremely rare for someone with mage blood to have zero measurable magic like mine.

But what’s the use of complaining now?

It’s not like I’ll suddenly develop magic power just by whining.

Even after being busy all day, there was still a mountain of work left to do, making my head spin.

“I’ll just… do the rest slowly.”

I ignored the ceiling that looked like it would leak when it rained and closed my eyes.

So what?

I was now a carefree unemployed person with plenty of time.

Dark clouds rose over every mountain ridge, and thunder rumbled from the sky.

A large-scale subjugation operation was underway in the Baldeas Mountain Range.

The subjugation squad, out on a routine inspection, had discovered a new lair of monsters.

Thanks to the elite troops organized by the Empire, the area was filled with the relentless shrieks of monsters.

After the new power of magic awakened on this continent, these abnormally mutated creatures were several times larger than ordinary animals and boasted superior strength.

Furthermore, they possessed deadly poisons for humans, so even the Empire’s knights, who underwent rigorous training, had to fight tooth and nail.

Only the mission to protect the Empire’s citizens from these horrific monsters kept the subjugation squad going.

It was a scene of desperate and brutal slaughter.

In the midst of everyone fighting hard, covered in blood to the point of being unrecognizable, there was one person standing still as if in a different world.

It was the Magic Tower Master, Loakin.

Loakin was deep in thought.

All because of the bomb his secretary, Serpine Mirabell, had recently dropped.

‘…Why?’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand Serpine’s true reason for wanting to quit.

‘Hadn’t things been going well without any problems?’

Loakin thoughtfully stroked his chin.

Serpine was a capable secretary.

She was meticulous and perceptive, handling any task assigned to her flawlessly and proactively.

Most of all, the sleeping pills Serpine formulated were remarkably effective.

Even though he hadn’t expected much when he brought her on, Serpine exceeded those expectations, and her lack of magic power was never an issue.

If things continued like this, it would be perfect.

Then.

[Letter of Resignation.]

One day, that document suddenly appeared.

Recalling the indifferent pink eyes that had looked at him afterwards, Loakin’s face twisted with displeasure.

At that moment, a reddish halo appeared in the sky above.

Fireworks burst forth like sparks and began pouring down toward one spot simultaneously.

Massive fireballs crashed down onto the monsters’ bodies like falling meteors, and dozens of monsters screamed simultaneously.

A hideous, ear-splitting screech echoed throughout the entire Baldeas Mountain Range.

But in Loakin’s ears, shut off from outside sounds, only Serpine’s voice echoed repeatedly.

“I quit.”

Serpine suddenly says she wants to quit.

Why on earth?

‘Was the workload too much?’

But Serpine had never shown any sign of being tired.

If it was that hard, she should have said something sooner.

Why throw in a resignation letter out of the blue?

At first, he thought she had tossed it out lightly as a way of protesting the heavy workload.

He even turned a blind eye to her work stoppage, hoping she might change her mind after a rest.

But Serpine Mirabell still kept that resignation letter close, waiting for an opportunity to hand it in.

One day, she even brought sleeping pills that had changed horribly in taste.

It seemed she was determined to get herself fired.

“I quit.”

Recalling Serpine’s bombastic declaration once more, Loakin’s face hardened.

“Why are you suddenly acting differently?”

Why.

Loakin let out a low sigh, feeling frustrated as if something was blocked.

Had Serpine ever said such things before?

As he carefully mulled over his memories, someone suddenly entered Loakin’s field of vision.

“What are you doing here?”

A man clad in gleaming golden armor stood beside him, the long tails of his red cape fluttering in the wind.

He was the Crown Prince, the head of the subjugation squad.

Even for Lirenzo, currently the most powerful Swordmaster among humans, the traces of the grueling battle were evident.

His brilliant, golden hair, as if molten gold had been poured, was thickly splattered with dark red blood like an impurity.