Ch.45Into the Master’s Memory (2)

Spring.

‘……I can’t see it.’

Melina’s expression remained tense.

What on earth is truth? What is it that doesn’t allow even a fragment of itself to be seen?

It’s difficult. Far too difficult.

Knock knock.

“Master of Golden Tower. All the apprentices have gathered.”

“……I understand.”

Melina rose from her seat. At times like this, she needed to do something to clear her mind.

There were four apprentice magicians in total. All of them were visibly nervous. Of course they would be.

The woman before them was the idol of all magicians, one of the humans who had reached the pinnacle.

“These are them. Let me introduce them one by one……”

Melina raised her hand, cutting off her secretary’s words.

Her gaze was fixed on a girl standing at the very end.

She was young. Perhaps nineteen at most?

Yet the magical power she possessed was vastly superior to the other magicians.

But that alone wouldn’t have caught Melina’s attention.

That face with its slight smile.

Confidence? No. Arrogance? Not that either.

It was composure. An emotion that no magician should possess was present in that girl.

That was what piqued Melina’s interest.

“You there, what’s your name?”

“Olivia.”

Melina’s eyes narrowed.

“……Olivia.”

She remembered it.

Melina turned her body around. There was no need to check the others.

They were small fry who would be expelled before they could even be appointed as formal magicians.

‘I wonder how far that one will climb?’

It was their first meeting.

*****

Thud.

“Whew, heavy as hell.”

Olivia carelessly dropped Melina onto the floor. Nearby, shattered pieces of ice were visible.

Traces of her sincere conversation with Kiel from a few weeks ago still remained. When she placed her hand on Melina’s head, a familiar message window appeared.

[Regressor, you have subdued ‘Melina Diviae’ without killing her!]

[You have acquired Clue #2!]

A smile bloomed on Olivia’s face.

“Yes, that’s how it should be.”

Regardless of regressor benefits, knocking someone out was clearly the right answer.

[Clue #2]

[Memory of Imperial Year 990]

– You can peek into Melina’s memories once.

‘990? When she first entered the tower?’

It was the time when she had graduated early from the academy and was working as an apprentice magician.

Unlike other magic towers, Golden Tower was exceptionally meritocratic. Nobility meant nothing; magicians without skill were not acknowledged.

No, if you lacked skill, you couldn’t even become an apprentice at Golden Tower.

A place where only the best of the best gathered. A graveyard of geniuses. That was Golden Tower.

‘I wish I knew exactly when this was.’

Whether it was when she first entered the tower, when she was appointed as a formal magician, or when she became Melina’s secretary and footstool.

Just knowing that would be tremendously helpful.

Olivia stared at Melina trapped in ice.

‘……What should I do this time?’

Kiel and Melina were different cases. She had been friends with Kiel, but with Melina, she had a master-disciple relationship.

Both had the same negative 100 likability, but the reason their attitudes differed was probably because of that.

Being betrayed by a friend and being betrayed by a disciple have quite different nuances.

The master-disciple relationship among magicians is different from that in modern society. Since they teach arcane knowledge researched over a lifetime, they take great care in selecting disciples.

Skill is a given, but they must also be promising, have good character—literally everything that can be considered is considered.

‘In the end, it means they have to like you.’

That’s right. And that process of ‘being liked’ is frustratingly difficult.

Moreover, we’re talking about being appointed as a disciple of Melina, the continent’s strongest archmage. How high would the bar be?

‘When I think about how I struggled back then…..’

It’s different from Kiel’s case. Back then, having a conversation itself was easy.

This time, even exchanging words won’t be simple.

But what choice do I have?

Olivia placed her hand on Melina’s head.

I have to do this.

To survive.

*****

“Your job as apprentices is simple. First……”

Olivia opened her eyes. A magician at the podium was enthusiastically talking about something.

It was a familiar face. Travis, the chief magician of Golden Tower.

He was in charge of educating the new apprentices.

“You there, don’t take notes. I don’t know your name, but if you can’t remember this much, you might as well give up now.”

“Yes, yes sir!”

Travis had no intention of being nice to the apprentices. He had his own research to do. He had no time to teach newcomers.

He rather hoped the newcomers would get exhausted and drop out. Then he could focus on his research.

‘This is really early on. I wonder if I’ve met Melina yet?’

Olivia looked around. Melina wasn’t visible. But she must be somewhere.

After all, this was inside Melina’s memories.

[Olivia]

– Level: 55

– Occupation: Intermediate Frost Magician

– Title: Academy Valedictorian, Golden Tower Apprentice Magician

Things had become much simpler, and she had become much weaker. It was expected, but it still hurt.

Of course, even in her current state, she could defeat that magician Travis. If she used any means necessary, she could even defeat the elders.

But that was it.

The current Olivia was far too weak.

‘There’s not much I can do like this.’

She couldn’t create a dramatic display that would surprise Melina. To impress her with magic, she would need to be at least an advanced magician.

[Reward for acquiring 2 clues is provided!]

[From now on, the timer will only run when you are with the regressor!]

[Time remaining: 5 minutes 00 seconds]

The fortunate thing was that the timer wasn’t decreasing.

‘I have plenty of time to think.’

How could she catch Melina’s attention?

The first thing to do when entering a memory was to highlight her existence.

By doing so, she would make the Olivia from the massacre timeline and the current one seem like different people.

This part wasn’t actually that difficult. She just had to do exactly the opposite of what she did in the massacre timeline. But that wasn’t enough.

‘I need to make myself the victim.’

She needed to portray the Olivia from the massacre timeline as a terrible person, and herself as a tragic heroine.

This was the most important part.

Even Kiel, who had swung his greatsword without hesitation, had calmed down and backed off.

“That’s all for today.”

As soon as Travis finished speaking, one apprentice raised her hand. She was clearly a noblewoman who had been raised in luxury. But at least within Golden Tower, she was at the bottom of the hierarchy.

“If it’s not impertinent, may I ask one question?”

Travis didn’t hide his annoyance. He checked his wristwatch and nodded.

“I’ll give you 30 seconds.”

“Why are our seniors so busy? Is it to raise their level of mastery? Or does Golden Tower hold monthly seminars?”

“What a stupid question.”

Travis frowned.

“Listen carefully, rookie. If you want to boast to the world about how great you are, leave for another tower right now. That kind of thing is utterly useless here. Our only goal is truth itself.”

The noblewoman flinched. Travis didn’t even pay attention to her as he headed for the door.

“And I’m not your senior. Know your place as an apprentice.”

“……!”

Slam!

The door closed. The noblewoman’s body trembled. She probably hadn’t expected to be insulted to this extent.

Olivia watched the scene from behind and secretly marveled.

‘Wow, how did I ever become friends with people like that?’

She was impressed with her past self.

She hadn’t realized it when watching through the screen, but experiencing it directly, she saw they were completely heartless.

There’s a saying that a tower follows the nature of its master.

So the reason Golden Tower’s magicians became cold-blooded was all because Melina was a sociopath obsessed with truth.

Anyway, that’s how it was.

“Tsk.”

Olivia clicked her tongue and rose from her seat. She didn’t need guidance. She knew the layout perfectly.

She wouldn’t forget a path she had walked thousands of times.

Olivia climbed the stairs. And at the same time, she thought.

How could she imprint the existence of Olivia on Melina?

Melina was someone who had no interest in anything other than truth. The reason she remained as the Imperial Tower Master was because the Empire provided the most support, not for any other external reason.

It all came down to truth.

So in the massacre timeline, she had proposed:

– If you take me as your disciple, I will reach the truth in your place, Tower Master.

Melina had accepted this.

Because even to Melina, Olivia was a genius, and at that time, Melina was desperate enough to grasp at straws.

She must have wanted to see the truth by any means necessary.

But she couldn’t use this method now. Not only could she not demonstrate such prowess at a mere level 55, but it also wouldn’t distinguish her from the massacre timeline.

‘It would only backfire.’

Then what should she do?

How could she make an offer more enticing than that?

Olivia went straight to the top floor. Her destination wasn’t Melina’s office. Literally the top floor, the roof.

There, with nothing but a golden roof, a ladder, and the sunset in sight, sat one person.

At the same time, the timer began to run.

[Time remaining: 4 minutes 59 seconds]

Melina didn’t even turn her head. She simply had no interest.

When Olivia approached right behind her, only then did she issue an order to leave.

“Go away……”

“Truth.”

Melina turned her head sharply. Anger rose on her face.

It was a look that said, “How dare you speak of that in front of me?”

“How dare……”

But the next moment, Melina’s eyes changed to a look of disbelief. She blankly stared at Olivia’s hand.

There was a paper with a magic circle drawn on it.

Just a piece of paper.

A paper scribbled on by a mere apprentice magician who had just entered the tower.

“……”

But on it was a fragment of the truth that Melina had so desperately sought.

Having researched for hundreds of years, she knew. The few words scribbled on that paper, those few lines, were worth more than all the gold in the world.

Olivia stuffed the paper into her pocket.

She couldn’t use magic. But because her understanding remained intact, such an extraordinary feat was possible.

“How did you……”

Olivia smiled.

To become a tragic heroine, one must first become an irreplaceable existence.

Only then would they yearn for her when she disappeared, and feel the void more acutely.

Olivia was certain.

“I can help you.”

Melina would absolutely be unable to refuse this offer.