Ch.37The City of Three Magic Towers. Ortus (3)

Anyway. After receiving the payment for completing the request, I finally decided to accept.

In this city tightly controlled by mages, if I want to raise my rank, whether I like it or not, I ultimately have no choice but to get on the good side of the mages, right?

When I accepted the request, the Guild Master said he had already given the Conjuration School a heads-up and told me to depart immediately. Having nothing else to do at the moment, I headed straight for the magic tower of the Conjuration School as he instructed.

As for the spatial storage… well, I could buy one later.

With that thought, I rode my horse toward the magic tower, and indeed, befitting a magic tower, the aura emanating from the entrance was extraordinary.

Strangely, there were no guards at the entrance to the tower, but seeing a faint barrier-like thing near the entrance, it seemed some kind of protective shield had been put up.

As I entered through the barrier, I felt a gelatinous texture, which disappeared as I passed through—it felt like entering the inside of a slime.

Squiiish!

With a soft, squishy sound, I came inside, and the people in the magic tower looked at me with mystified eyes.

“Look over there. He’s carrying a sword.”

“Doesn’t seem to be a mage.”

“…”

Indeed. It’s probably not common for individuals of other professions to enter the magic tower, which is considered the exclusive domain of mages.

At most, it would only be family members or relatives of students, like parents, so my appearance—wearing chain mail and carrying four swords—must seem quite strange to them.

But… I’ve experienced such gazes before.

I clearly remembered the looks adults gave me when I was dirty, weak, and even younger than I am now.

As I approached the main gate, there was some kind of black curtain hanging over it. When I tapped it with my finger, the curtain immediately began to bubble up.

[Who are you? You don’t look like a mage…]

Good heavens. A talking gate?

To be honest, I was quite surprised, but soon remembering the request I had received, I answered that… ‘talking door.’

“Viktor.”

[Viktor..?]

“I’m here on a request. I heard you needed an instructor and teaching material?”

[Ah. You must be Professor Felice’s guest. Just a moment…]

The talking door fell silent again, then its form collapsed as a person walked out.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Fermer. The gatekeeper of this magic tower.”

“I’m Viktor. An adventurer.”

“…Not much for manners, are you? Well… it doesn’t matter. In any case, it’s not my concern… Give me your hand for a moment.”

When I extended my hand, he took out a small vial from his pocket and dropped its contents onto my hand. It didn’t seem to be ordinary water, as it quickly absorbed into my skin upon contact.

“What is this?”

“Hmm… You could call it a kind of access pass. It’s water imbued with magical power. At least while you’re working here, you’ll be able to come and go freely.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

“Well… it’s magic.”

I entered through the door and looked around the inside of the magic tower.

Aside from the signature tall building… the first thing that came to mind was…

“A library?”

“This is a research facility. What else did you expect?”

“A massive magic circle.”

“Ha! I thought the same at first.”

Fermer chuckled and guided me to the room of someone called ‘Professor Felice.’

*

Knock knock!

“Professor! Are you there?”

-Who is it?-

“It’s me, Fermer. A visitor has arrived. Sent from the Adventurer’s Guild. About the request.”

-Ah! Just wait a moment.-

Clatter!

With a loud noise, the door opened, and I met a woman slightly shorter than me.

She looked to be in her early twenties or late teens, but judging by her aged voice, her true form was probably that of an old woman.

“Good work, you may go now.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Fermer gave me a nod before leaving, and I looked down at the professor as I spoke.

“Are you Professor Felice?”

When I said that, she narrowed her eyes and looked at me.

“Speak respectfully.”

“If you tell me your real age, I’ll speak respectfully.”

“Actually, I prefer casual speech.”

“I thought so.”

If I were to speak respectfully to her, I would attach “auntie” or “granny” at the end of every sentence instead of “professor” or “doctor.”

I entered her room, which displayed various fossils.

“These are fossils I’ve collected during my adventures, all quite rare.”

“I see.”

It wasn’t particularly strange.

Mages are beings who always crave more knowledge, and there’s no profession better suited for finding new things than that of an adventurer.

“So… I’d like an explanation for that absurd phrase ‘instructor and teaching material.'”

“Ah… about that. I’ve recently taken on some new disciples.”

“Disciples?”

“They’re all promising talents, but the problem is that I’ve never taught disciples before.”

“You’re a professor. Surely you have teaching assistants or aides to help with classes?”

“Well…”

Professor Felice hesitated before explaining the situation to me.

The truth was that she was a researcher who didn’t need to take on disciples, but there’s a limit to everything, and she had somehow offended the Archmage of the tower, resulting in her being forced to take on disciples.

And as punishment, she wasn’t allowed to hire teaching assistants or aides, which is why she had to employ me.

“….”

“Well. That’s how it is.”

“I heard you were a professor capable of assisting the Archmage.”

“In terms of skill, yes.”

“Damn it. So I’ve come all this way to be not just a scapegoat in some political game, but a lackey to a scapegoat.”

I wasn’t so much angry as I was dumbfounded.

Honestly, when I heard “magic tower,” I expected some high-level political maneuvering beyond my comprehension, but it seems these seekers of wisdom are no different from elementary school principals or professors.

“Well, at least you’ll get some eye candy.”

“Eye candy?”

“Yes. They’re all girls, and pretty ones at that.”

“And strong in magic too?”

“That’s right. They’re the strongest among their peers.”

Felice continued to vouch for her disciples’ strength.

At that moment, I became curious about something—specifically, how strong was Evelyn, whom I had killed.

“Felice. I have a question…”

I explained the situation to Professor Felice, and after hearing my explanation, she rubbed her chin and answered.

“Hmm… so she cast three spells without incantation…”

“Yes.”

“Then she was likely a Spell Caster trained in rapid-fire spell casting. They specialize in casting spells without incantations in quick succession.”

“No incantation and rapid-fire…”

“In exchange, the spells they can use are extremely limited, but if you can’t counter their magic, few are as strong as they are.”

“Then what about Evelyn?”

“Well… considering she was in combat, I can’t say for certain, but she probably wasn’t that strong of a mage.”

“Huh. Is that so?”

“To begin with, if she had been a strong mage, you would have been dead already, wouldn’t you?”

I couldn’t argue with that.

Although I’m naturally tough, when I was first struck by lightning, I truly thought I was going to die, and if I hadn’t had a potion, I would have certainly burned to death when hit by the fireball the second time.

“Well, at least you’ve killed a mage before. Even if those girls have strong pride, they won’t be able to look down on you too much.”

Saying that, she sat down and showed me several photographs from her desk drawer.

“Are these your disciples?”

“Mmhmm. What do you think? Aren’t they pretty?”

“…”

Rustle… rustle…

Honestly, the concept of “pretty” was foreign to me.

I had only experienced contempt and abuse from women.

Being kicked for smelling bad, mocked for being a beggar, even having salt thrown at me for being a nobody with no roots.

And these weren’t even things done by adults. They were done by children not even ten years old.

I know the true nature of women better than anyone.

A kind that tries to hide weakness with viciousness.

The natural enemy of men, holding the non-negotiable hostages of pregnancy and childbirth.

With these thoughts, I memorized the faces of the five students before handing the photos back to her.

“Well… if you think they’re pretty… I guess they are… I’m just an adventurer, so… I can’t really say anything specific?”

“…Just say they’re not your type.”

She sighed and gave me a key with “Building C, Room 202” written on it.

“This is the classroom where lessons will be held. Don’t be late; be there by 9 AM.”

After pocketing the key, I asked her one last question.

“Felice. Just to be sure, your disciples… they have decent personalities, right?”

“….”

Felice’s expression rapidly grew uncomfortable, and I sighed before responding.

“…Just tell me they’re nice.”

“Um… sorry. I can’t say that even as an empty platitude.”

“…”

Shit.

I have a feeling I’m going to be electrocuted every day.

I felt that ominous premonition crawling up my spine as I left the room and headed back outside the magic tower.

The reason was simple.

No accommodations were provided for non-regular employees like me.

If it weren’t for the promotion assessment, I would have grabbed Felice by the collar and demanded a room key.