“Then I’ll be on my way. I still have much to take care of.”
“Yes. I look forward to seeing you again. Please make sure to pass along my regards to His Highness Aseraian.”
The Master of the Magic Tower, and the younger brother most beloved by Crown Prince Aseraian.
Though Cheion had long since left the Imperial Palace and lived solely as the Tower Master, anyone familiar with him knew. The Emperor and the Crown Prince never disregarded a single word he spoke, and even now, their favor toward him remained unchanged.
Cheion was the only person who could move both of them.
“I will.”
No one understood that better than Cheion himself. He was well aware that people didn’t approach him merely because of his position as the Tower Master.
As always, he maintained a perfectly composed smile that revealed nothing.
“You seem quite familiar with him?”
Only after the head of House Ellesia had left did Ceres finally speak.
“Not particularly. We just know each other by face.”
“Even so, that’s still closer than people who only meet through work, isn’t it?”
“...What?”
“More importantly, what exactly is this ‘work’ we’re supposed to be doing? Or was I the only one who wasn’t informed?”
“W-Wait a moment. That’s...”
At Ceres’s pointed remark, Cheion recalled his earlier conversation with Count Creel and hurriedly tried to explain.
“I only said that because I was worried he might trouble you for no reason!”
The moment it became known that they were close, he could imagine what kind of situation she might be dragged into.
“It’s fine. Why are you going so far to explain when we only met through work?”
...Ceres.
“Let’s not get too close moving forward either. We’re only acquaintances who met because of work.”
...You really hold grudges.
Leaving the still-flustered Cheion behind, Ceres shifted her gaze toward the direction where the head of House Ellesia had already disappeared.
“But...”
“Yes?”
“Why is he wearing a fake?”
“A fake? What do you mean?”
“No, never mind.”
Despite Cheion’s question, Ceres didn’t take her eyes off Creel Ellesia. More precisely, her gaze rested on the ring on his right hand.
“That’s strange.”
The ring of the head of House Ellesia.
Only by inheriting that ring from the previous head could one be acknowledged as the true head of the family. It was a strict family law that even the Imperial Family couldn’t interfere with.
If I didn’t see it wrong...
That ring is fake.
.
.
.
Chapter 12: To the Magic Tower
“Did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“You know the Bakura boss from that incident? They’re saying no one knows who took it down.”
“Yeah. Apparently, they didn’t even take the mana stone.”
“So the rumor was true?”
As always, wherever people gathered, the noise followed.
Today, every mercenary in Delasi First Street was talking about the same thing:
The Black Forest outbreak from a few days ago, and the question of who had taken down the Bakura boss.
Since no one had come forward, the mystery only made people more curious.
“Are they insane? Do they even know how much that’s worth?”
“Exactly.”
“So how much is it worth?”
“How much? At least fi—”
“Fi? What’s ‘fi’ supposed to be?”
“Ghk!”
At some point, a new voice slipped naturally into the conversation.
“I said how much. Five gold? Fifty?”
No way... it’s not five hundred, right?
Startled, the mercenaries turned their heads.
Ceres was suddenly right next to them. She stood far too close, staring intently at their mouths with an unusually tense expression.
“I asked how much the mana stone from the boss is worth!”
Something in her gaze felt almost desperate. The mercenaries answered without thinking.
“A-at least over 5,000 gold, probably.”
“Yeah. If you find the right buyer, it could go higher.”
“...How much again?”
“F-five thousand.”
“That five thousand... you mean the five thousand I’m thinking of?”
“Y-yeah.”
“......”
...5,000 gold.
For a second, Ceres looked like her entire world had just collapsed. Then she slowly turned around.
When she staggered toward the kitchen, everyone watched her with puzzled expressions.
What’s with her? Is she upset because the owner hasn’t shown up?
5,000 gold...
By the time she stepped inside, her eyes began to glisten.
“That can’t be right. It was just a rat boss. Just a stupid rat boss...”
She had never imagined the mana stone from the corpse she left behind would be worth that much.
Since when did a rat boss become something so valuable? Were you always worth that much?
“My lady, are you alright?”
“No.”
Not at all.
At the maid Jay’s question, Ceres dragged her hand roughly over her face.
Back when she lived as Grace, she had never worried about money. The Ellesia family was wealthy to begin with, and the payments she received from nobles and royalty in exchange for her healing were astronomical.
And that wasn’t all. It was said that the annual support sent by the elders of the family alone could rival a national budget.
Because of that, she hadn’t paid much attention to the value of mana stones. Whenever monsters were hunted, she simply let her subordinates divide them among themselves.
But 5,000 gold?
That was enough to cover this month’s interest with plenty left over!
Should she go back and claim it now?
“I killed it. Hand over the mana stone right now!”
“...I’d be lucky if they didn’t think I was insane.”
Who would believe that? Even she wouldn’t.
Ah, if my butler finds out about this...
It would be a miracle if he didn’t cry tears of blood.
“Why didn’t you take it when we needed every coin we could get?!”
“You’re always like this, Lady Grace. I keep telling you to take an interest in other things!”
It felt like she could hear her disciple’s voice in exasperation.
D*mn it.
“C-Ceres, should I take over?”
Seeing her stagger, Mark, whose arm was almost healed, quickly stepped in to take her place in the kitchen.
“...Yeah. Go ahead.”
Ceres pulled off her apron, dragged herself to a corner table, and flopped face-first onto it.
She really can’t do this.
My 5,000 gold...
Thud.
“...?”
Ceres, who had been quietly wiping her tears, lifted her head weakly at the sound of someone sitting across from her.
Cheion had his chin resting on the table, blinking slowly. When their eyes met, he smiled as brightly as ever.
Why is he so good-looking even at a time like this?
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you like this?”
“Don’t talk to me. I don’t have the energy.”
“Are you sick?”
“My heart hurts so much it’s aching.”
Try losing 5,000 gold in an instant. See how long your will to live lasts.
“Why does your heart hurt?”
“Cheion.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you have 5,000 gold?”
“Of course I do. Why? Want me to give it to you?”
“...You’re the worst.”
Right. Of course he was a rich Tower Master.
Watching him casually pat his pockets like he might actually hand it over, Ceres dropped her head back onto the table.
Geez, what’s wrong with him? Who just carries around 5,000 gold like that?
“What? Do you need money?”
“You always need money.”
“How much do you need? Is 5,000 enough? I told you, I’ll give it to you.”
“...It’s fine.”
She might not have understood the world very °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° well before, but there was one thing she had learned.
Nothing in this world came for free. One way or another, you always ended up paying for it.
“Ceres.”
“What?”
“Do you remember the promise you made to me?”
“What promise?”
“When you broke my recording orb.”
“Ah.”
She remembered.
In exchange for breaking it, she had agreed to grant him a favor later.
Fixing the recording orb wasn’t the issue. Turning back time made that simple enough. The real problem was that the recording itself was gone.
Of course I erased it.
If Cheion tried to show that to Kainel again, it would only cause trouble. And if he found out she deleted it... that would be a whole different mess.
But for now—
Better to hear what he wanted first.
“So what’s the favor?”
“Do you want to work as my secretary?”
“No.”
Ceres immediately dropped her head back onto the table, as if there was nothing more to hear.
“Hey, why not?”
“Why do you think?”
She already knew he lived however he pleased, but this?
Secretary wasn’t some casual position you could hand out to anyone. And this is the Tower Master’s secretary we’re talking about.
“At the very least, aren’t your subordinates capable?”
You said it yourself that the Tower runs better without you.
Shouldn’t you be hiring someone competent instead of dragging along someone like me, who doesn’t even understand the basics of magic?
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