Chapter 101: The Sorcerer’s Feast

The wicked sorcerer had succeeded in their plan.

Of course, this was merely a metaphor drawn from a story.

There was no way I was truly wicked.

It was just the way the narrative flowed.

Reality was different from stories.

I wanted to make that clear to Hao.

And so, I engraved that lesson into him.

She was drawn into my plan, anchoring their faith into the form of a ring and bestowing it upon my doll—Hari.

Yes. Up to that point, everything had gone perfectly.

I had secured four rewards in my grasp—the tower’s stability, the protection of the treasure, points earned, and the acquisition of a new power.

But stories always had variations.

There was a well-known tale featuring a beautiful woman, an honorable swordsman, and a wicked sorcerer.

Despite how much sorcerers despised that story, it had spread so deeply among the weeds of common folk that it could not be eradicated.

Yes, that story had reached every corner of the empire.

And as with all widely spread tales, it had undergone countless variations.

The swordsman sometimes became a humble village youth.

The genders of the characters were sometimes swapped.

In some versions, the wicked sorceress was moved by the swordsman and became his new lover.

Of course, the person who spread that last version was burned by the very sorceress it described, whose appearance was an exact match to the character in the tale.

I had seen it with my own eyes during my time wandering the continent.

At any rate, throughout the empire, numerous versions of that tale existed.

And among these different versions, new characters were sometimes added.

You could call them “allies”—those who aided the protagonist in moments of crisis.

‘And what kind of ally did the weeds of the world most often imagine?’

It had to be someone with an absolute power, capable of helping the protagonist overcome an insurmountable obstacle.

The weeds knew such an existence well.

A god.

At the moment of crisis, the heavens would open, revealing a divine presence.

And that god would deliver righteous judgment upon the wicked sorcerer threatening the protagonist.

The scale of these events varied depending on the story.

But the crucial detail remained the same—the wicked sorcerer could never oppose such power.

I was no different.

In the play we had staged, an unexpected god had appeared—one I had never accounted for.

A god who twisted all of my plans.

But unlike the stories, this god did not punish the wicked sorcerer—me.

On the contrary, the god rewarded me instead.

Once again, reality was different from fiction.

And now, that god sat right before my eyes.

I carefully observed her.

Her golden hair shimmered, imbued with magic, casting a radiant glow.

Her emerald-like eyes sparkled as they focused on the plate before her.

Professor Irien.

Right now, it was her lunch break.

She delicately raised her fork.

Long strands of noodles curled around the prongs.

She cautiously brought the fork to her lips.

As she slowly closed her eyes and began to chew, a faint smile appeared on her face.

Seeing that made me instinctively smile with satisfaction.

She soon swallowed and twirled her fork around the noodles once more.

The utensil was infused with her magic.

She carefully adjusted the flow of magic as she grasped the strands.

That was how she ate those noodles—because they did not fully belong to this reality.

I gazed down at the bowl.

The noodles within emitted a faint glow.

Between the glimmers, they wavered, appearing as if they might vanish at any moment.

If not for the magic I had embedded into the dish, they would have long since dissolved into nothingness.

I had poured everything into anchoring them to reality.

Through that process, I had gained some insight.

Professor Irien took another bite.

She gently tapped her feet against the floor, her cheeks flushed with warmth.

A deep satisfaction was evident in her expression.

I gave a small nod.

The past few days, I had meticulously refined that dish to preserve its flavor.

It was a token of gratitude for her.

She looked at me.

Her cheeks were puffed out as she continued chewing, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

She tapped her fork against the noodles.

Since the fork carried no magic, it simply passed through them, clinking against the bowl.

She moved the fork around before speaking.

“This tastes really strange… but I like it. I didn’t expect you to refine it this much, even though I was the one who got the ingredients. How did you make this?”

“It’s all thanks to you, Professor.”

I bowed my head deeply.

‘If I had to assign a score to this dish, how many points would it be worth?’

‘Ten thousand? No, that wouldn’t be nearly enough.’

‘A hundred thousand, then?’

‘No. Given the source of the ingredients, even that would be insufficient.’

‘After all, she had personally selected them—directly from the Sky’s Ring.’

I thought of the Sky’s Ring, likely weeping in pain from the parts that had been torn away.

There was no helping it.

The professor’s will was absolute.

She had wanted to taste something akin to what Hari consumed—mental energy from the students she feasted on.

And the best possible substitute was the Sky’s Ring.

When I subtly brought up the idea, the professor had retrieved the ingredients without a moment’s hesitation.

And it was my responsibility to prepare the dish.

That high-dimensional ingredient had emitted such overwhelming magic that I could not even touch it with my bare hands.

If I had tried, my body would have dissolved on the spot.

But I possessed an item bestowed upon me by the professor.

With its aid, I had been able to refine the ingredient flawlessly.

I pulled a small knife from my robes, gripping it with both hands as I respectfully offered it to her.

Professor Irien took the knife.

I straightened and watched her.

She stared at the blade for a moment, then blinked in surprise.

Her gaze shifted to me.

Her pupils wavered.

“You… turned this into a cooking knife?”

I shook my head.

‘A cooking knife?’

That was far too simplistic.

“It’s not a cooking knife. It’s a carving knife.”

She gazed at me blankly.

I reached out carefully, and she placed the knife back into my hands.

I examined the blade, now tinted with golden hues.

The flow of magic both inside and outside of it was mesmerizing.

Simply holding it sharpened all of my senses.

I tucked it away and gestured toward the bowl in front of her.

Her eyes followed my hand.

I spoke softly.

“With this knife, I was able to completely separate the magic from the ingredient. What remained was a faint mental essence. I then added a few enhancements, kneaded it into a dough, and shaped it into noodles—like a kind of pasta. Can you feel the happiness in its taste?”

Professor Irien slowly nodded.

I placed another dish in front of her.

A bowl of sauce, glowing with radiant light.

She lifted it and poured it over the noodles.

The sauce melded with them, solidifying their vague form.

She raised her fork again and pierced the strands.

“This sauce was made using the extracted magic. It contains another layer of happiness. You’ll find the taste even more complex than before.”

She twirled the noodles and took another bite.

A soft pop sounded from her mouth, and her eyes widened.

“I had Hari help make the sauce. I infused a bit of the story you witnessed with Hao.”

“…It’s even better. It feels like my mind is overflowing with happiness.”

She closed her eyes and savored the taste.

When she opened them, some time had passed.

She glanced at me.

“So… what is that kid doing now?”

I focused my mind on my chest.

A faint connection, distinct from the others, ran through the shadowed branches.

It was linked to Hari.

She was in the infirmary.

I let out a small, wry smile.

“She’s with Hao.”

“Hmph. As she should be.”

The professor smiled in satisfaction and nodded before returning to her meal.

I could finally understand a little of the reason why.

The magic flowing from the sword coursed through my body.

Somehow, the flow of that magic felt slightly similar to the professor’s.

***

It didn’t take long for her to finish her meal.

She smiled in satisfaction and ushered me out of the room.

I headed straight to the infirmary.

It seemed I would have to perform another cleansing.

The first thing I saw upon entering was Hao, lying on the bed.

He was completely limp, unconscious.

I sighed as I looked at him.

This was already the fourth time this week.

Beside him stood Hari.

The girl, who had been staring intently at Hao, turned to look at me. In her violet eyes, a faint flicker of familiarity surfaced.

She pointed at Hao with her finger.

“Wait just a moment. I’ll cleanse him right away.”

I immediately activated the infirmary’s magic and directed it toward Hao.

It was the cleansing spell.

Gradually, Hao’s consciousness began to recover.

To check the results, I summoned a mirror bug.

[ Mental Score: 88. The suppressed score is recovering. Cleansing is in progress, so please maintain a stable posture! ]

Everything was normal.

I gave a slight nod.

Seeing that, Hari smiled faintly and patted Hao’s head.

The white halo floating above his head shimmered slightly.

With that, Hao’s mental score dipped once more.

Even as his consciousness was slowly being consumed, his expression remained serene.

I clicked my tongue softly at the sight.

Ever since Hari had settled in the tower, I had announced the second rule to the students.

The others followed it well, but this guy refused to heed the warning.

Every time he saw Hari, he followed as if enchanted.

Perhaps that was why Hari always had his sights set on him.

Compared to others, he blocked his way far more frequently.

Hari would consume his mind once, then drain him again even while he was being cleansed.

It seemed like he was exactly to Hari’s taste.

Hari continued to gaze down at Hao.

The emotions in her eyes rippled through his magic, and I could instantly recognize what it was—hunger.

Mira had once looked at me with those same eyes.

“I’ll examine your body for a moment. Stay still.”

Saying that, I approached Hari.

She nodded.

I lightly channeled magic to check her body.

No abnormalities.

She still did not fully belong to reality.

Her form had shifted into something closer to a spirit than a doll.

This was the result of the professor binding her to the tower.

It was also a characteristic of the halo above her head.

I had originally intended to bind the halo to a doll’s body.

The professor, however, sought to bind a body to the halo.

As a result, Hari was no longer just a doll.

The term “halo” suited him far better now.

This was a miracle brought about by Hao.

The magic that formed the celestial halo could never have succeeded without his profound faith.

Hari carried within him a distinct potential—the possibility of becoming another treasure.

The professor was not pleased with this outcome for no reason.

While too insignificant to be stored in the treasury, he made for a perfect pet-like spirit to be raised within the tower.

That was why the professor had set him free, allowing him to grow by feeding on the tower’s magic.

For Hari, consuming the minds of others was nothing more than an instinct—her nature as a celestial halo.

She was a being created from the faith and spirit of the Celestial Halo Order.

It was something akin to a hobby.

That was why she had claimed the first floor as her hunting ground.

A miracle like this would never happen again.

I looked at Hao, still wearing a blissful expression in Hari’s arms.

His expanded consciousness already belonged to something else.

The perfect score of one hundred that she had once reached—Hari now resided there, leaving an unerasable trace.

***

One day, Hao would retrieve his lost memories.

The professor was looking forward to that day, eagerly amused by the prospect.

At last, Hari finished her meal.

With that, Hao’s score was fully restored.

The infirmary’s magic began awakening his consciousness.

He let out a groan and slowly opened his eyes.

His unfocused gaze seemed to briefly meet Hari’s, but at that moment, Hari melted into the air and vanished.

At the same time, the connection through the shadow tree was severed.

Hao clutched his head and pushed himself up.

“Where… am I?”

“You’re in the infirmary. You ignored the warnings again. I found you collapsed and brought you here.”

“I’m sorry. I must have caused you trouble, Evron.”

At that, I shook my head slightly.

Hao blinked a few times before looking down at his hands.

Then, he let out a wry smile.

“I wonder why… Even though I know it in my head, I keep following him.”

Judging by the situation, it was only a matter of time before he ended up here again.

I shook my head slightly.

At least cleansing didn’t drain his strength.

After all, this wasn’t an issue stemming from contamination.

No—perhaps that made it worse.

That might be why Hari could devour him so freely.

Well, it wasn’t really my problem to begin with.

“Since you’re awake, I’ll be going now. Get some rest before you leave.”

I spoke to Hao.

The thick scent surrounding him had faded considerably, leaving only a faint, refreshing aroma lingering in the air.

As I watched him dazedly nod his head, I stepped out of the infirmary.

***

The matters of the tower were finally settled.

Now, it was time to take care of my own business.

I sighed at the weight pressing down on my chest.

Climbing the stairs, I made my way to the workshop.

As I opened the door and stepped inside, I saw Mira.

I stopped in place.

She was dressed in a deep crimson dress, gazing into a mirror.

Through the reflection, our eyes met.

Mira lifted the hem of her dress slightly and spun half a turn.

As she moved, the fabric rippled with a subtle magical glow.

She turned to me, a soft smile gracing her lips.

“So, how is it? Does it suit me?”

“…Yes. You look very beautiful.”

I gave a small nod.

She beamed in satisfaction and approached me, gently taking hold of my arm.

Then, she led me in front of the mirror.

“Why did you dress up like this?”

I met her gaze through the mirror and asked.

She smiled playfully.

“Because I want to be loved.”

She placed a hand over my chest.

“These days, you sigh a lot because of your assignment. So I thought I’d help. After all, Evron, you don’t seem to understand love very well.”

A faint scent of roses emanated from her.

The fragrance made my heart beat a little faster.

There was definitely enchantment magic woven into it.

I let out a small cough.

Assignments.

I hadn’t expected that word to come from her again.

I thought she had stopped teasing me about it.

Looking into Mira’s eyes through the mirror, I saw mischief and curiosity gleaming in them.

I couldn’t deny her words.

To create a doll capable of love—

That was the professor’s assignment for everyone.

And I had yet to find a clear answer.

That was the reason for the emptiness pressing against my chest.