Ch.112Tower of Magic – 1

‘Somehow, being cooped up in the mansion is more exhausting.’

With that thought, I stretched. Something sharp ran down my spine, then scattered somewhere as my regenerative ability activated.

Thanks to this damn regenerative ability, physical fatigue couldn’t accumulate, so the tiredness I felt now was purely mental.

Considering everything that had happened at the mansion lately, it was understandable why I’d be mentally exhausted.

First, there was the fact that Serena refused to stay at the royal palace and insisted on remaining by my side.

Her reason was that she had killed several times more black blood monsters than all the other royal knights combined.

Serena could march forward alone, regardless of their numbers, slaughter dozens of black blood monsters at once, and return unscathed.

With such overwhelming power, support from the royal mages or high priests—even strategies and tactics—were all meaningless, making her solo missions possible.

Meanwhile, dispatch teams composed of other personnel had incredibly complicated deployment processes.

When reports of black blood monsters came through the crystal ball, they first had to assess the scale of the threat. If it seemed too large, they had to quietly leave the matter to Charlotte or Serena.

Even if the threat was manageable for them, collaboration with high priests was practically essential for exterminating black blood monsters.

‘The problem was that priests were being mobilized everywhere, not just for black blood monster extermination.’

No matter how much priority was given to the royal knights’ requests for collaboration, physically impossible situations were bound to occur.

For instance, when all the high priests were temporarily away on other assignments.

Even if recall orders were issued to the priests as quickly as possible, the extermination would inevitably be delayed.

As such delays and hiccups accumulated, the gap between them and Serena widened considerably.

The royal knights, having witnessed Serena’s true abilities with their own eyes, couldn’t raise any objections when they heard her absurd declaration of strike.

‘My plan to find an opportunity to remove her from the royal knights completely fell apart, but that couldn’t be helped.’

Even now, my desire to keep Serena by my side remained unchanged.

Charlotte was the type who would abandon everything, even her position as king, to follow me if I asked, but she was still a queen who needed to rule the kingdom.

There were countless things in this kingdom that relied entirely on Charlotte’s abilities.

The teleportation gates connecting major cities, devices for detecting counterfeit currency, crystal balls for long-distance communication, and so on.

It was obvious what chaos would ensue if those suddenly disappeared.

Christine had requested to stay away from me, saying she would be with me forever on the day I finally ended my immortality.

That left Serena. Someone who could be left alone, but was in an awkward position to actually do so.

As a result, Charlotte, greatly displeased by Serena sticking so closely to me, came to the mansion and engaged in a battle of nerves with Serena all day long, with me caught in the middle.

This was the second cause of my mental exhaustion.

They exchanged all kinds of insults and mockery, bringing up incredibly petty things that made me wonder if such trivial matters were worth fighting over.

Usually, Charlotte was the one to start the quarrels, and Serena would retaliate.

Among their reasons were somewhat understandable ones, like who I talked to more or smiled at more, but there were also utterly pointless ones like whose hand I held first or whose food I ate more of.

I couldn’t help but wonder if this was truly a quarrel between the Blood Queen at the pinnacle of the kingdom’s power and a knight whose abilities rivaled hers.

The reasons for their fights were childish, but the level of insults and mockery they exchanged was astounding, making it even more absurd.

If they had just fought with words, it might have been tolerable, but both had personalities that could lead them to draw swords or cast magic circles at any moment, so I couldn’t leave them unattended no matter how trivial the dispute.

‘Of all times, the frequency of black blood monster appearances had to drastically decrease.’

Strangely, after Serena cut down the enhanced form that day, the frequency of black blood monster appearances dropped to almost nothing.

If the frequency before the enhanced form’s elimination was 100, now it was less than 1.

Thanks to this, Charlotte could leave all the kingdom’s affairs to her doppelganger and stick close to me without any hesitation. The growling matches with Serena were just a bonus.

Therefore, the peace I was enjoying now had come after almost a week.

‘I should never again complain about having nothing to do because it’s too peaceful.’

This peace was possible because Charlotte had returned to the palace after receiving a report from a lord of a southern city about a vast forest being completely devastated.

According to the report, an area almost the size of an entire city had disappeared.

Of course, she didn’t forget to send a murderous glare toward Serena until the very end. The lord who had to submit such a report at this timing was simply unfortunate.

“Where shall we go now, my lord?”

And Serena, who had become the victor in her own way, was following behind me with a triumphant expression.

Serena’s attire was different from usual. While she used to wear modest cloth garments and leather pants, now her outfit was a bit more revealing.

For starters, her top was a sleeveless garment made of leather and cloth.

Considering that Serena’s usual tops covered at least to her elbows, this was an exceptionally high level of exposure for her.

As a result, her toned, muscular arms and shoulders were completely exposed. It seemed like if she raised her arms just a little, her clean armpits would be fully visible.

Part of her side hair hung down to her chest. I wondered how she had been hiding such long side hair until now.

The buckle on her abdomen tightly cinched the area below her chest. This made her already modest chest look even more pitiful, but I decided not to mention it. It was a consideration for Serena.

Above all, the pants she was wearing now were close to very short hot pants. Because of this, her fair thighs were almost entirely exposed up to her hips.

Leather boots covering the middle part of her thighs prevented her bare legs from being completely visible, but the fact that only parts of her thighs were exposed actually made it more alluring.

She still had World Eater, which emitted an ominous aura, at her waist, but even taking that into account, Serena’s beauty was beyond imagination.

So it was only natural that she attracted attention from those around us.

Men couldn’t take their eyes off Serena, and even women passed by while casting glances filled with jealousy and admiration.

One fortunate thing for the men looking at Serena was that, unlike Charlotte or Christine, she didn’t immediately gouge out eyes or blow up heads just because someone looked at her.

If those gazes had been directed at Charlotte or Christine, this area would have already become a scene of terrible slaughter.

Of course, Serena was just the same in that the moment someone’s gaze contained not simple appreciation but lustful desire, something would immediately get destroyed.

“I don’t have a specific destination in mind. I just felt drained being cooped up in the mansion.”

“Then, I shall follow you, my lord.”

“I haven’t even said where I’m going yet.”

“Whatever your destination may be, it matters not to me. I will follow you regardless, so why ask?”

My purpose for coming outside was truly nothing special.

As I just said, I needed time to recover after mediating between Serena and Charlotte until I was completely drained.

So it was true that I had no specific destination in mind.

By the way, I currently have a perception-hindering spell cast on me. That’s why no one wonders why I’m next to Serena despite all the attention focused on her.

The source is, of course, Charlotte.

Since it was cast by Charlotte herself, it was quite different from ordinary perception-hindering spells.

It only allows people to vaguely sense that someone is there, but prevents them from remembering any information related to my identity.

Face, voice, height, body shape, even clothing.

But Serena doesn’t have this spell on her. It’s not for any special reason; Charlotte just didn’t want to cast it on her.

As a result, Serena is receiving all the attention from passersby.

If she were wearing armor proving her status as a royal knight, it might be different, but right now Serena is in completely casual clothes.

At a glance, she looks no different from an ordinary adventurer with a decent sword at her waist, so people can stare at her without hesitation.

And if someone crosses the line, their head will immediately fly off.

“…Ah, come to think of it, it’s about time I checked on those kids. Let’s go see them before they start acting up on their own.”

“You mean they dare to act up in front of you, my lord?”

Serena’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Not in the way you’re thinking. It’s just… how should I put it, a kind of tantrum. Wanting attention.”

Serena wore an expression of incomprehension.

“Then, where are we going, my lord?”

I smiled slightly while ruffling Serena’s puzzled head.

“The magic tower.”