Ch.40Meeting Place (4)

“Sigh…”

At first, I thought this person was different from the Red Tower Master I knew.

According to what was written on the forum, they were supposed to be confident, prideful, and moody—doing whatever they pleased.

Usually, people with such personalities tend to easily acknowledge defeat when they lose.

So that’s what I expected.

But when they actually lost to me, far from acknowledging it immediately, they showed such an ugly side that I thought appearances really couldn’t be trusted.

However…

“I apologize for earlier. It was completely my defeat.”

As soon as Ignius finished collecting his thoughts, he bowed his head and apologized, which surprised me.

“This is unexpected… You seemed quite dissatisfied earlier…”

“There are still many things I don’t understand, and I’d like to have another match…”

He silently bowed his head.

“I felt a wall that I could never overcome no matter what I did. It reminded me of when I was consumed by arrogance, thinking I had reached the pinnacle of fire magic, until Lady Eterna taught me a lesson.”

“…Wait, what did you say?”

Before, I thought everyone was lying.

I figured they were just saying the Red Tower Master was crazy and it was best not to mess with him—that kind of thing.

But…

‘No way…’

This guy…?

“You… challenged Eterna to a fight…?”

“Yes. It’s an embarrassing memory…”

The Red Tower Master bowed his head.

‘Is this guy completely insane?’

From what I’m hearing, when he became a great mage after reaching the pinnacle of fire magic, he was living in arrogance, not knowing how big the world was. Then he got irritated seeing Eterna, who was gracefully ruling the Magical Kingdom alone.

So he went straight to the Aether Tower, challenging her with “Are you really that good at magic? Let’s fight.” And he got completely destroyed.

“Please keep this story a secret…”

After that, he became someone who could objectively assess situations and people, and learned to humble himself before those stronger than him…

“If you became that kind of person, why did you attack me?”

“I didn’t know you were that strong… My eyes failed me.”

“…”

This guy is unbelievable.

I thought he was just crazy and attacked without thinking, but he’s saying he fought me because I actually looked weak to him.

‘Did I really appear that weak?’

I’ve never directly revealed my power in any official capacity.

Rumors have spread widely—like how I have enough power to split the ceiling of the Magic Tower, or how I rejuvenated all the elders of the Blood Tower… and those have been accepted as fact.

But even so…

“I haven’t been working much…”

I only started moving a bit during the past week. Just a month ago, I was doing nothing and staying locked in my room, so it’s not unreasonable that people’s perception of me had fallen.

Perhaps their perception of me had fallen even further than I thought.

‘I should start working properly from now on…’

I had many things I wanted to do in preparation for the Greatest Magic Tower Tournament anyway.

Things would improve as I worked.

I sowed these seeds, so it’s right that I should reap them.

I nodded to myself, thinking this.

“Unni!!”

As soon as I came out of the magic practice room, Irina ran to me and hugged me.

My complicated feelings from earlier melted away, and I greeted Irina with a smile.

“Irina, have you been behaving well?”

“Yes! But I was really surprised when the room suddenly exploded and collapsed. Still, I believed you would win!”

I chuckled and patted her head as she spoke with sparkling eyes.

This child’s words always make me feel good.

“H-how did this happen…?!”

Razak, who had approached me in the meantime, asked in a bewildered voice.

“I just taught him some manners.”

“W-what?!”

Razak exclaimed in shock, but I pretended not to care.

Razak was left speechless.

“What do you mean…”

I walked away, leaving Razak behind with a completely confused expression.

Ignius followed behind me.

“Um, Red Tower Master…?”

Razak shifted his gaze to the Red Tower Master, looking perplexed at his suddenly subdued behavior.

Honestly, I was surprised too.

I thought he would only act this way toward me and behave normally with others.

But for some reason, he was much quieter than before.

Anyone who saw the Red Tower Master without his proud smile and overflowing confidence would immediately call him an impostor.

That’s how different he was.

‘Hmm…’

Seeing him like this makes me feel a bit sorry.

Of course, all of this was his own doing, but still, seeing him so deflated and lacking confidence made me feel bad.

I sighed inwardly and called out to Ignius.

“Hey, Red Tower Master.”

“Y-yes?”

“Act like you normally do. Being like that will only cause more confusion.”

I understand he doesn’t feel like it after being overwhelmingly defeated by me, but seeing his usual crazy self would be more reassuring.

Of course, now that I know what he’s really like, this act won’t work on me.

But it might work on others who don’t know about this side of Ignius.

In other words, I was suggesting we keep what happened here a secret between us.

The Red Tower Master blinked, seemingly understanding my words, and cautiously asked.

“A-are you serious…?”

“Of course I’m serious, why would I lie?”

“This is completely different from what Lady Eterna told me… I’m honestly a bit shocked.”

I meant we should keep this quiet to avoid complications.

How badly did she crush his spirit for him to develop such PTSD?

I was dumbfounded, but I told him it was fine anyway.

He scratched his head for a moment, and then…

“If that’s what you want, then I’ll do it.”

“…”

He’s back to normal.

That’s quite impressive…

Even with my permission, it’s never easy to act with such thick skin.

He really is remarkable in his own way.

“By the way…”

I said I’d treat him as a guest, but I wasn’t sure what to do.

Normally, I’d offer food and have a conversation…

‘Hmm… should I bring in a professional chef?’

Most of the people in the Crimson Blood Magic Tower’s cafeteria are there to feed the Blood Mages, so I couldn’t ask them.

They’re not professional chefs dedicated to cooking for one person, and they have their own work to do, so it didn’t seem right to ask them to prepare food for entertaining a guest.

‘I don’t have a way to properly entertain him right now.’

Maybe I should just take him somewhere for tea and chat a bit before sending him back.

I’ve already gotten everything I needed from the Red Tower Master anyway.

He promised to repair all the damage he caused here and compensate for it, so there’s no need to be angry or demand more.

“Then shall we go up to my office? I don’t have a proper room to entertain you at the moment.”

The Blood Tower is a bit of a mess.

There are still mountains of things that need to be fixed.

I wonder what those elder bastards have been doing all this time…

“Ahem, then I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“…”

If he had maintained his proud demeanor even after losing to me, I would have just thought, “Sigh, what a madman,” and moved on. But seeing him return to that attitude the moment I gave permission makes him seem rather foolish.

I shouldn’t say that…

“Well then…”

“M-Midir!”

Damn it, what now?

Just as I was about to suggest going up, Razak, who had disappeared at some point, came running back, gasping for breath.

“T-the Green Tower Master… the Green Tower Master has come to visit!!”

“What?”

Why would she come here?

I was wondering why the Green Tower Master would suddenly visit, but my thoughts were cut short.

“There you are.”

I looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps.

And,

“…Seria?”

Seria Woodrin.

The green-haired girl I remembered from back then was standing there, just as I remembered her.

With her arms crossed, glaring at us.