Ch.94The Scent of Hometown…? (Interlude)

After thoroughly fleecing Erika for money, I somehow ended up touring the inside of the Iron Tower.

Honestly, I thought she would kick me out immediately after I extracted all that money from her, but it was unexpected.

“Of course, it’s a bit much that you took so much money, but it was money I had to pay anyway…”

That’s what Erika said, but she clearly couldn’t hide her regret.

I could tell by how her eyes kept darting toward me.

“This place is completely different from other magic towers…”

Other magic towers maintained their ancient feel regardless of technological advancement, but the Iron Tower was different.

At first, when they called it the Iron Tower, I thought it would look like a tower made of iron… which wasn’t entirely wrong, but it wasn’t what I had expected.

The Iron Tower looked like… a modern high-rise building.

And an abnormally wide and large high-rise building at that.

I never expected to see a modern skyscraper like this again, so I entered the magic tower feeling rather dazed. Until then, I had thought only the exterior would look like that, while the interior wouldn’t be much different from other magic towers.

I had to retract that thought as soon as I stepped inside.

‘Is this even possible…?’

They did a good job.

The office spaces looked like the companies I used to know, and individual rooms resembled the studio apartments I was familiar with.

While lower-ranked mages stayed in studio apartments, the higher you went, the more luxurious the accommodations became—two-story high-end apartments like those you’d only see in dramas. It gave me a sense of nostalgia.

The modern, sophisticated aesthetic unique to contemporary design stimulated my senses.

“Seems like you’re impressed?”

“Who designed it this way…?”

“Well… our tower’s architects, of course.”

“Are they possibly from another world?”

“I didn’t expect such high praise. Thanks for thinking so highly of our people.”

I was genuinely asking if they came from another world, but Erika seemed to think I was complimenting them for creating an architectural style with a sensibility completely foreign to this era. She was wiggling with joy.

It’s rare to see a superior so happy about praise from a subordinate, but since I had asked in all seriousness, I felt a bit deflated.

“I wasn’t exactly complimenting you, but anyway…”

Apparently, they weren’t from another world.

Still, the very idea of designing architecture this way impressed me.

It made memories of my original world come flooding back.

I approached the water purifier, filled a cup, and took a drink.

The refreshing taste of water flowed down my throat.

That familiar taste of filtered water…

‘What a strange feeling…’

It felt like coming home.

At first, I had shown obvious reluctance about walking around, wondering why I should bother, but now I was glad I came here.

‘Well… it’s not a perfect match…’

The fact that they used dimensional transfer devices instead of elevators showed how far it was from a modern company, but the architectural style itself was so similar to the era I originally lived in that I couldn’t help feeling nostalgic.

Anyone who came here would ask if the architect had lived on Earth—that says it all.

“Um… what do people usually do here?”

“Well… it differs by department… For example, the planning department comes up with ideas, then they’re designed, and there’s a separate place where they’re actually made. The upper floors are mainly where designers and planners stay. The factory for making magical tools is underground.”

That’s better.

It’s safer to manufacture things underground rather than up above.

“A factory… hmm…”

I wonder if my drawings are being produced somewhere around here.

From what I heard, there’s no need to create the drawings inside the Iron Tower, so they’re made elsewhere and uploaded to MagicPads.

‘Wait… why am I constantly worrying about this…’

Didn’t I decide not to care about this?

It’s not like my position would be endangered just because those things are circulating.

I might need to be cautious about the Blood Tower getting a bad reputation, but this sort of thing wouldn’t tarnish our image.

Just like how people who bring underground content into the mainstream are treated strangely, most of what people consume are everyday comics about me and Irina from the Blood Tower.

Or comics drawn based on recent events.

Honestly, I was quite surprised to see comics depicting my fight with Eterna.

Not only were they professionally drawn, but the portrayal wasn’t that different from what actually happened.

Given that Eterna is treated as a mythical figure in the Magical Kingdom, I expected them to depict me winning by exploiting some weakness, but I was shocked to see myself portrayed as overwhelming her.

Could it be that I’m also treated as a mythical figure within the Blood Tower…? No, I shouldn’t get my hopes up…

“Are all the comics sold throughout the Magical Kingdom through the Iron Tower?”

“They actually make good money. They’re not that well-known yet, but they sell surprisingly well in the Empire too.”

“…”

Even people in the Empire read them…

“As for the adult content… well, people who think that’s real are the ones with the problem, so you don’t need to overreact—EEEK!”

“That’s rich coming from you, the one who started the fire, don’t you think?”

“I’m sowwy…”

Her cheeks, stretched by my transcendent power, sagged.

“You’re so violent…”

Erika shed chicken-drop-sized tears with an aggrieved expression.

To cause such a big problem and then act sad about being treated violently…

Is this… what Average Irons are like?

“Haah…”

Sighing deeply at Erika’s pathetic behavior, I started looking around the Iron Tower interior, wondering if there was anything interesting.

Since Erika rarely showed interest in other departments, whenever we appeared, the mages disguised as employees would startle and begin watching us nervously.

‘There’s no need to be so cautious.’

Meanwhile, Erika was scanning the surroundings with eagle eyes, checking if any employees were slacking off.

After a while.

‘Huh?’

I spotted an employee chuckling while reading my comic.

At least he wasn’t reading something provocative like “Is It Rice Cake?”, but rather a cute comic featuring me, Irina, and some fictional characters. Still, I felt sorry for him.

Since he was essentially goofing off, if Erika saw him, he would surely face her wrath.

It would be best if he wasn’t caught, so I tried to lead Erika elsewhere, but…

“Hmm?”

Before I could say anything, Erika had already spotted the employee.

‘Oh no…’

This is bad.

“Um… Erika?”

Worried she might harm the employee, I called out to her before it was too late, but Erika ignored me and strode purposefully toward the employee.

“You.”

Well.

I don’t know what to expect.

Reading my comic during work hours is technically wrong…

“I see you’re a person of culture…”

“W-what?!”

“Is that BMT artist’s new work? Though they draw pure slice-of-life comics, that’s precisely what makes them valuable. You must be reading it for research purposes.”

“Y-yes, that’s right!”

Ah, he bit his tongue.

I’d be the same in his position.

It’s like being caught reading comics by the CEO while working at a comic company.

The mage, or rather, employee…? was trembling in fear, watching Erika’s expression carefully as if he might be fired at any moment. But Erika just looked down at him with a pleased expression.

“I’m not foolish enough to scold someone for reading comics for research. I’m just happy to see someone genuinely enjoying the work of an artist I’ve been keeping an eye on.”

So she’s kind to her own employees?

‘That’s strange.’

She seems sincere.

I’m not sure if she’s being genuine or not…

When I secretly checked Deep Forum, I definitely saw posts describing someone called “IronTowerBrat” who treated employees like slaves.

But here she’s showing such kindness?

‘It’s frightening…’

Does this mean she’s tyrannical behind the scenes but the kindest boss in public?

Knowing the truth, her behavior just seemed fake to me.

There’s a saying about this kind of person.

“Beware of people like this,” they say.

I made a resolution.

I would avoid getting involved with her—except for money.

At that moment, Erika, having said goodbye to the employee, emerged looking genuinely happy.

From Erika’s perspective, she simply loved slice-of-life comics.

But there was no way for Midir to know that.