IQBSA 16

Chapter 16

“Hello?”

As I stepped inside, I saw bookshelves covering the entire wall, tightly packed with thick registers.

In one corner of the room, a middle-aged man with a gaunt build and a stern-looking expression was muttering to himself while doing a crossword puzzle.

It was Karel, the personnel manager of the Magic Tower.

Even though I approached, making my presence known, he didn’t react, so I opened my mouth to greet him.

“It’s been a while, Karel.”

Karel suddenly shoved the magnifying glass he had been holding to the newspaper right up to my face. Then, squinting his eyes as if to get a better look at who I was, he said.

“……Serpine Mirabel?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“I heard you quit? Are you back now?”

“Well, it’s hard to say I’m fully back, but I suppose you could see it that way.”

“Hmph. What are you here for?”

Apparently finding my answer unsatisfactory, Karel asked in a wary voice.

Even in the Magic Tower, which was full of eccentric mages, Karel was renowned for having the most cantankerous disposition.

So I normally would have avoided coming here, but right now I wasn’t in a position to be picky.

Wasn’t someone targeting my life? I needed to figure out how the original story was progressing and whether any problems had arisen.

“I’m looking for someone. Could I take a quick look at the janitor personnel register?”

I tried to put on the most docile attitude possible, careful not to offend Karel.

Karel snapped the newspaper he had been looking at shut and glared at me with sharp eyes.

“Do you think this is some kind of information agency!”

I was startled by the sudden thunderclap of a shout.

If it’s not allowed, just say it’s not allowed—why did he have to yell out of nowhere?

‘…What a temper.’

Still, since it wasn’t a completely unexpected reaction, I calmly racked my brain.

I recalled once hearing a rumor that Karel liked shiny things. Hoping it might help facilitate a smoother conversation, I unfastened my earring and placed it on the table.

“What’s this?”

Karel withdrew the magnifying glass he had been pointing at me and held it over the earring, asking.

“It’s a magic stone.”

To be precise, it was a danger-detection artifact, but I added an explanation that I thought would tempt Karel.

It was rare because it had a danger-detection function, but I knew that alone wouldn’t be enough to pique his interest.

The magic stone, which served as the power source for the artifact, was quite valuable, so I emphasized that point.

However, Karel didn’t look pleased; instead, he stared at the shimmering magic stone with an unreadable, serious expression.

‘…Was this not it?’

Hmm, I heard this from a reliable informant, but it’s strange.

‘Could it be… that this isn’t enough?’

Wanting something more than a magic stone just for showing a janitor list—wasn’t that a bit unscrupulous?

Finding it absurd, I was about to take my earring back when, in the blink of an eye, the table was empty. And I saw a book being pulled from a shelf far away and flying towards me.

‘Wow, it was true.’

Rumors of corruption, like reassigning personnel at will, had already spread. Judging by this, I suspected he also took bribes to let just anyone in when hiring.

No wonder the female lead was able to infiltrate the Magic Tower so easily in the original story.

Soon, a thick book landed on the table with a heavy thud, kicking up a cloud of dust around it.

“I don’t usually show this to just anyone, but I’m showing it to you because you’re someone who knows things. If you go around blabbing its contents, don’t expect to stay safe!”

Karel scolded me, cradling the book as if it were a treasure.

“Of course. I’ll keep that in mind.”

He was holding onto it so tightly that I practically had to wrench the book from him. What I had to remember was that this was just a janitor roster.

The book seemed to contain the names of every janitor who had ever passed through the Magic Tower. I flipped through the pages diligently, heading for the most recent dates.

Since there probably wasn’t any fool who would write down their real surname when they were from a family accused of treason, I focused mainly on first names.

I figured the name was probably fake too, but by cross-referencing it with entry and exit records, I could roughly narrow down the candidates.

‘Hmm….’

All sorts of names flashed by, and the name written near the end had red ink scratched heavily through it.

This was a mark of expulsion. It meant that for some reason, they had severely displeased Karel and would never be able to work in the Tower again.

I tried to make out the letters hidden beneath the fiercely scratched-out line.

‘Xenia Belling.’

……Is this the person?

“Excuse me, was the janitor who suddenly disappeared named Xenia?”

In response to my question, Karel ground his teeth and said.

“That’s right. That inconsiderate brat! She begged and pleaded to let her work, and then she disappeared without a word, causing me no end of trouble!”

“I’ve never heard of the Belling family before… Where was she from?”

“How would I know that!”

‘Why is he getting angry and making a fuss? If you don’t know, just say you don’t know….’

“If you’re done, get out.”

Karel irritably unfolded his newspaper and immersed himself in his crossword puzzle. His intention for me to stop bothering him was blatantly obvious.

Not daring to call out to him again, I had to retreat with only a single name in hand.

“……It seems like it’s probably her.”

Given the circumstances, it seemed likely that Ramona had used the alias ‘Xenia.’

‘If Xenia is indeed the female lead, why did she disappear?’

According to the original story, the female lead was supposed to meet the Tower Master, Roakin, and go to the Imperial Palace together.

But if she vanished before even meeting Roakin, the story would take a very strange turn.

Had the original plot gotten twisted because Roakin chased after me instead of meeting Ramona at the right time?

I had expected the plot to deviate somewhat when I escaped from the Tower.

But it didn’t make sense that a single extra would cause the female lead and the sub-male lead to miss their meeting.

‘Did she already leave for the Imperial Palace with the request document?’

It was a plausible hypothesis.

The female lead, having no one to turn to because the sub-male lead was distracted by something strange, embarked on her perilous journey to the Imperial Palace alone.

With the assassination request the Empress Dowager had sent to me in her possession.

‘That would explain why I couldn’t find the request document—Ramona had already taken it.’

Regardless of the truth, one thing was certain.

The female lead had disappeared.

“This is a problem….”

I had intended to ask Ramona about the Empress Dowager’s schemes when I met her. Ramona, who played a key role in bringing down the Empress Dowager, would surely know the details of her plot.

I had expected to naturally meet her when I came to the Tower, but her disappearance was a real setback.

‘……Should I try tracking her?’

I briefly considered requesting help from the information guild, but it didn’t seem like a good idea.

Finding a fugitive hiding their identity in this vast empire was no easy task. Even for a seasoned pro, with only two days left until the Founding Festival, finding her within that time was nearly impossible.

‘She’ll show up on her own on Founding Festival day anyway, right?’

I didn’t know the exact timing, but Ramona appears at the Imperial Palace just before the Founding Festival and awakens the Crown Prince.

And on the day of the Founding Festival, she brings the Empress Dowager’s request document before the Emperor and exposes her misdeeds.

The most important event in the original story where Ramona makes a grand reappearance is the Founding Festival, and since that was just around the corner…

Rather than poking around in dangerous places, it would be better to wait for her at the Imperial Palace.

I recalled the conversation I’d overheard between Roakin and Deric earlier.

‘They said there’s an emergency meeting at the Palace tomorrow.’

……I’ll have to say I’m going too!

By now, the meeting with the elders would be long over.

I hurried out of the hallway and headed towards the top of the Magic Tower.

—

* * *

Through the window facing outside, the sunset-dyed evening sky was visible.

“…….”

On my way up, I paused for a moment and looked outside.

The panoramic view of the Magic Tower, standing tall like a solitary island in the middle of the sea, came into my sight.

Fierce waves crashed against the stone walls, built as solidly as a fortress, sending up white spray, and the cries of seagulls gliding peacefully across the sunset echoed serenely.

‘The view is truly amazing.’

I had once thought that if I made a lot of money someday, I’d like to live in a house by the sea. It was almost laughable that I was fulfilling that unachieved dream from my past life in this way.

‘The original Serpine would never have seen this scenery.’

That thought sent a chill down my spine. I was in too precarious a situation to indulge in sentiment, so I shook off my thoughts and continued up the stairs.

I confidently opened the door and entered, but was baffled to find the room empty.

“……Tower Master?”

Where had he disappeared to in the meantime? As I looked around for any trace of Roakin, a pair of cat eyes glinted in the darkness under the bed.

“Lucifer, when did you get in there?”

Whether Eliser had come looking for him again or not, Lucifer had crawled under the Tower Master’s bed and was curled up in a defensive posture.

*Gyaooo—*

It was a threatening meow, as if telling me not to come closer.

Since the Tower Master wasn’t in anyway, I decided to pretend I hadn’t seen Lucifer and was about to leave when I caught a glimpse of a human form behind the canopy.

‘…What’s that?’

I looked up at the brightly lit chandelier on the ceiling and tilted my head.

The Tower Master was usually very sensitive; he couldn’t sleep deeply if there was any light. If he was tired enough to lie down in bed, he would have turned off the lights. Something was odd.

With a careful hand, I pulled back the canopy.

There, I saw Roakin slumped against the headboard, his body leaning as if collapsing.

His head was thrown back, and he was breathing roughly; he certainly didn’t look like he was sleeping. He was still wearing the formal uniform I had seen earlier, fully dressed.

“……You’re not asleep, are you?”

I asked softly as I carefully approached the bedside. Roakin frowned and painfully forced his eyelids open.

His eyes, which had been like high-purity amethysts, were unusually clouded. His complexion also looked poor overall.

“……Tower Master, are you feeling unwell?”