“www”
“Alright. I’ll go in.”
“P-Pardon? No, no! You don’t need to go in! We just need you to check the barrier. The barrier specialist was unfortunately sent out on fieldwork, so we brought you here in their place!”
As I moved toward the door, Robel practically threw himself in front of me in panic.
His face, already pale earlier, was now even whiter—he looked genuinely terrified.
Earlier he had seemed exhausted… but now it was pure fear.
“Still, Robel, wouldn’t it be better to stop those two from fighting rather than fixing the barrier?”
“Well, yes… but even the high-ranking mages failed, so how could Your Highness possibly—! More importantly, if you get hurt, I will die. I will truly die. I really will.”
Robel shook his head frantically with a seriousness I had never seen before.
He even spread his arms wide, hugging the door like he was physically trying to block me from it.
Seriously… that far?
“Lady Lesha’s divine beast is not like ordinary ones. It’s practically overflowing with her prime-era mana—most mages can’t even handle it.”
“But if I go in, wouldn’t something get resolved? Isn’t that why you called me here in the first place?”
“W-well… Lord Kanak does at least listen when it comes to Your Highness… ngh. B-but still, absolutely not! It’s too dangerous!”
Robel muttered repeatedly that the situation involved a divine beast infused with the former Tower Master’s mana, making it impossible to deal with.
He kept chattering his teeth in fear while clinging to the door.
“At this rate, the tower will collapse… I’ll be fired… Lord Kanak’s misconduct will be exposed… and I’ll be dragged to the Magic Association and tortured day and night for being complicit in his crimes…”
“…You really don’t look okay.”
“I-I am fine… I’m fine.”
“Then I’ll just knock you out for a bit. This might hurt.”
“Pardon?”
Sorry, but I had no choice.
With a light flick of my hand—
Snap!
A thin arrow of light shot out with a crisp sound.
It struck Robel squarely in the neck.
“Don’t worry, Robel. You won’t be getting fired.”
Even if I didn’t say anything, Kanak would never let someone this competent leave his side.
…Probably.
Robel let out a small choking sound and collapsed to the floor.
After dragging his unconscious body aside, I quickly placed my hand on the door.
Zzzt.
A violent surge of mana sparked blue electricity across the surface, but I pushed my own power through it.
Slowly, the sealed door began to open.
The moment it did—
Kugugung!
Something flew straight toward my face.
I instinctively tilted my head and dodged.
It looked like debris from broken furniture.
Wow. That would’ve drawn blood.
“Hah— I dodged—”
Thwack!
Before I could even finish feeling relieved, something else flew in and slapped onto my face.
No time to breathe—
“…What the—”
I grabbed the thing stuck to me and immediately heard a furious screech.
— Kyaaaargh!
It hissed like a vengeful spirit, eyes rolled back in rage.
“…Romi?”
— Kyaaa… meow?
“You…”
It was Romi.
Why are you on my face?!
“Myaaang!”
The moment I pulled him off, the ferocious, bristling creature instantly turned into a harmless kitten.
His wild, almost demonic eyes returned to bright violet.
“Myaaang…”
He gave a cute little cry and then immediately burrowed into my fur cloak.
Only then did I finally see the room.
“…Oh my god.”
My one and only recovery bed—painstakingly designed so lying on it slowly restored mana—was burned to ashes.
The precious ancient books I had painstakingly collected were torn to shreds and scattered everywhere.
The luxury table, embedded with a pink diamond I had received as thanks for saving a Western princess, was split clean in half.
‘…My head hurts.’
But that wasn’t even the worst part.
The real issue was the man standing near the window—
about to throw an unconscious mage outside—
and that man was Kanak.
My disciple…
was definitely not supposed to be doing that.
“Stop right there.”
At my voice, Kanak clicked his tongue and threw the mage.
He precisely struck the unconscious Robel outside the door.
Robel, already lying there, let out a strangled scream.
“Robel, take that and get out. And if I see you acting like we can’t touch divine beasts again, I might actually kill someone next time.”
That line.
That attitude.
I opened my mouth in shock, and Romi peeked out from my arms, growling again.
“Sir Senior Mage! Please wake up!”
“N-no… I must… protect the divine beast… ugh… my back! The fourth vertebra on my lower left—!”
“Don’t fall asleep, sir! Don’t close your eyes! We’ll get you to the infirmary!”
Robel, crying, hoisted the senior mage and ran down the corridor.
Now that I think about it, that “senior mage” used to lecture endlessly about the “proper conduct of the Tower Master” when I was here.
‘I always thought he’d get hit one day… didn’t expect Kanak to be the one to do it.’
Honestly… part of me feels relieved. But still, throwing someone out a window?
While I was thinking that, Kanak approached and held out his hand.
“Thief. Give it here.”
— Hiss!
Romi immediately bared his teeth with a murderous cry.
If I hadn’t grabbed him, he would’ve lunged at Kanak’s hand.
“You see? That ugly face—definitely a corrupted divine beast. We should eliminate it immediately. Hand it over.”
“…Ugly face? Corrupted divine beast?!”
I finally understood why they were fighting.
Romi, who I had raised lovingly every day calling him cute and adorable, was suddenly being called ugly.
Of course he’d be furious.
And “corrupted divine beast”? Romi was literally revered as the king of divine beasts!
‘Still… this can’t be the only reason they’re fighting.’
Neither of them was saying much, but I could clearly feel it—
I, Lesha Anis, was at the center of this war.
As if sensing my thoughts, Kanak raised white flames in his palm—pure, blazing mana filled with killing intent.
‘So that’s what burned the bed…’
My precious mana recovery bed… I spent almost a week without sleep making that…
I sighed deeply and slapped Kanak’s hand away, pulling Romi tightly into my arms.
First priority: stop them from looking at each other.
“What corrupted divine beast. He’s just stressed out.”
It was obvious.
Romi had come because someone else was occupying the room that belonged to his master.
He was only trying to take it back for me.
And from Kanak’s perspective, unaware I was alive, it must’ve looked like a random attack.
Both sides were understandable…
But still—
“Whether it’s corrupted or not, you should put him down. You know divine beasts aren’t exactly friendly to anyone who isn’t their master.”
“Really? You’re not exactly friendly to mages either.”
“Thief, look at this. I’m also a victim.”
Kanak pointed at the bite marks scattered around the room.
He was clearly claiming he was also a victim.
Kyaang!
Romi responded angrily.
I looked between them suspiciously.
Kanak sighed and narrowed his eyes.
“You think I’m the one attacking the mages?”
“Weren’t you?”
“I only evacuated them in case that thing tore them apart.”
…So you evacuated them by throwing them out the window?
I’m losing it.
My disciple.
