Ch.117White Tower Master (1)

“Thanks for the autograph!”

“It’s nothing.”

After my brief reply, I patted Diana’s head as she smiled brightly.

I hadn’t originally intended to pat her head, but her pure smile naturally made my hand reach out.

“Are you okay where I hit you earlier? I’m worried I might have hit you too hard.”

“Huh? Oh, I’m completely fine! I’ve always been super healthy!”

“Still, please come here for a moment.”

While I found Diana’s spirited response endearing, I was about to take out some healing potions from my spatial storage.

After all, I had hit her hard enough to knock her unconscious, despite using a technique.

Since Diana wasn’t as sturdy as a dragon, I thought it would be better to provide some first aid.

I was planning to treat her with potions in advance, but seeing Diana’s condition, I had to stop in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Hehe, I told you I’m tough!”

“I… guess so?”

Diana’s condition was so perfect that it was hard to believe she was the same person who had just been knocked unconscious after being hit in the face.

‘How is this possible?’

I wasn’t unhappy that Diana was fine, but honestly, it was a difficult situation to understand.

If she was truly sturdy enough not to be injured, she shouldn’t have fainted in the first place.

[Hmm… maybe she just fainted from shock?]

‘Is that theoretically possible…? Can someone not know their own condition?’

[Well, I wouldn’t know that.]

[I never thought I could use True Words with my body either.]

‘Hmm, I suppose…’

Though there was no evidence for this theory, it was strangely convincing.

Diana had been truthful in everything she told us, and she didn’t seem aware of her own abilities.

‘Between that and her rank being higher than expected, she’s quite mysterious in many ways.’

I thought I’d like to have a proper conversation with Diana once we finished our business at the Magic Tower.

Of course, we didn’t have time for leisurely conversation now, so we had to part ways.

“Well then, we’ll be going now. Please stay in your room with the door closed until this matter is resolved.”

“Okay! Got it. But don’t forget to give me that autograph for my mom when it’s all over!”

“Of course, it’s a promise. But Diana, you have to keep your promise to me too, okay?”

“Of course! I’m a good kid!”

Giving Diana my autograph wasn’t difficult. In fact, I had already given her one of my signatures.

In that situation, my reason for not giving her a second autograph right away was both insurance and resolve.

It was insurance to prevent Diana from running outside, and a resolve to end this situation with minimal casualties.

With that, I was able to mentally prepare myself for what was to come.

* * *

After sending Diana back.

Before we started moving in earnest, we first addressed our conspicuous attire that didn’t fit in at the Magic Tower.

“Kitsune, wear this too.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s not like I’m buying it anyway.”

It would have been nice if I carried various outfits, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

While I did carry spare clothes, neither Kitsune nor I had much interest in fashion.

As a result, the only clothes in my spatial storage were my adventurer outfit and Kitsune’s traditional kimono-like attire.

Either would be too distinctive to move around quietly in the Magic Tower.

So what could we do?

We had to politely borrow some clothes.

[I don’t see how theft can be polite.]

‘I didn’t break anything, did I? I’m planning to pay for the clothes once everything is over.’

So what we were doing was closer to buying on credit rather than theft.

It felt somewhat one-sided, but given the situation, it couldn’t be helped.

“If anything feels uncomfortable, please tell me right away. We won’t have time to find other clothes later.”

“It feels a bit unfamiliar since it’s my first time wearing such clothes, but otherwise everything is fine.”

Kitsune jumped lightly in place to confirm there were no issues with the clothes.

To my eyes as well, there seemed to be no problems, so we could proceed as planned.

“That’s good. To continue explaining our plan, the first thing we need to find is a magic book.”

Our ultimate goal was to dismantle the Black Pillar and deal with its instigators.

With time being short, I wanted to cut down the Black Pillar immediately, but it wasn’t as simple as it sounded.

The Black Pillar’s power was an issue, but the unidentified collaborators were an even bigger problem.

‘I wonder how many people helped erect the Black Pillar…’

Setting up a new pillar that hadn’t existed before was no easy task.

Establishing a pillar required initial funding, supporters to back the new pillar, and ultimately the approval of the Tower Master.

With the Tower Master and Vice Tower Master away, the approval might have been bypassed, but the rest was still essential.

At least three pillar owners likely collaborated.

“That’s why we should prepare everything we can before fighting. It would be even better if we could find allies.”

“I’m not sure how well we can find reinforcements in the middle of enemy territory…”

“Difficult or not, we have to try. No matter how much stronger we’ve become, we can’t handle four pillar owners by ourselves.”

In terms of raw strength, our current opponents weren’t as strong as those we faced in Gagap.

The enemies we encountered then, whether dark mages or Titans, boasted power close to godhood.

The problem was that while our opponents might be weaker, our own forces had diminished even more.

‘We used all the information we could and had luck on our side back then…’

Thanks to that, we were able to gather the maximum forces available at the time: dragons, Titans, gods, and heroes.

On top of that, we could use the God-Slaying Sword that still refuses to be withdrawn.

‘I’m not expecting as much help as in Gagap, but we still need to find allies, though I’m not sure how well that will go.’

I was making plans, but with the Magic Tower being a place full of variables, I couldn’t help but worry first.

That’s why I wanted to secure what we could definitely obtain first.

“If we make a wrong attempt at recruitment and combat starts immediately, we might not get what we need.”

For that reason, we headed to the Magic Tower’s library first to find a book on clone magic.

There was a minor incident when Kitsune, who was carrying Kirara, received a warning from a security golem about the prohibition of pets, but it wasn’t a major issue.

“Frey…”

“Hmm, I didn’t think of that. I thought it would be fine since summoned creatures are popular these days.”

Since Kirara was a shikigami, not a summon, she couldn’t be unsummoned.

As a result, there was no natural way to conceal Kirara in a place with many mages watching.

It was also awkward to leave just Kirara outside, so I had no choice but to have Kitsune and Kirara wait in front of the library.

“For now, please wait here.”

“Kerung.”

“Understood…”

Kitsune made a face like an abandoned puppy, but it wasn’t a major problem.

Probably.

Leaving Kitsune behind, I entered the Magic Tower’s library and walked to the location I remembered.

The place was covered in dust, as if it hadn’t been managed for a long time, irritating both my and Lilly’s airways.

“Cough, cough… ugh… what kind of place is this to have so much dust…?”

“Well, it’s where books deemed useless are collected.”

This was a place for books that weren’t worth burning but were far from practical magic texts.

As a result, even the golems managing this library judged it outside their maintenance range due to energy waste concerns.

“You know quite well about books shelved in a place like this.”

“I was searching for hidden pieces, just in case.”

I did find several useful spells depending on the situation, but overall it was a bust.

Most of those useful spells had simpler alternatives.

As I was talking and searching for the magic book among dozens of books on the shelf, I had to stop.

“The book on clone magic was definitely… shelved here.”

“Um… it’s not there?”

There was a trace of someone having taken just one book from among the shelved books.

In other words, someone had borrowed the magic book containing the clone magic spell, which could be considered garbage magic.

“Well, seeing a book borrowed from here is really rare. I’m quite surprised.”

While it was a major blow to our plan, it felt like spotting a shiny Pokémon in the wild—a truly peculiar feeling.

* * *

Her dislike for people meant that my becoming friends with her was close to a coincidence.