episode_0083

Ariana, having passed through the city gates, recalled the dream she had in the Magic Tower.

It was the same place—the very spot that had changed her life.

The same place, the same person as back then.

Yet the height of their gazes had completely reversed.

“Kyle…”

Ariana, now a woman, stood before him once more, on the very ground where she had once made the young prince weep.

Rewinding Time – The Magic Tower

Though Ariana had been taken away, that wasn’t the end of it. Among the divided forces, the knights remaining in the Magic Tower were now pressuring Ellyn, issuing threats.

“What do you intend to do? Harboring the traitor Liel Frost—this, too, is an act of treason that cannot be overlooked.”

The knights were being unusually aggressive, not just because the crime was severe, but because their main goal was to tighten the leash on the Magic Tower once and for all.

The Magic Tower was, fundamentally, a gathering place for the finest mages—geniuses hailed as such in their own hometowns. The term referred to both the place and the organization itself.

The Tower was a golden goose that produced all manner of treasures, and a weapon more fearsome than any other. Thus, no amount of investment in it was ever wasted—except for one problem: it was uncontrollable.

The mages acted solely on their own interests, scoffing at national requests. The three kingdoms, desperate for their contributions, couldn’t even bribe them with money, and the mages regarded the powerful with open disdain.

Though the details of their secret, illegal research were unknown, the fact that it was happening at all was no secret.

But even the Magic Tower couldn’t stiffen its neck in defiance when accused of aiding treason. With negotiations already concluded among the leaders of the other nations, the kingdom was determined, this time, to firmly seize the reins of this unruly wild horse.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Answer us! How do you intend to take responsibility?!”

For the knights, this was a golden opportunity to vent their long-held frustrations against the mages—legally, no less. A knight, his face twisted in disgust, sneered and shouted.

This wasn’t mere thuggish intimidation. Given the circumstances, anyone would feel the pressure. But the Tower Master, having weathered countless storms, didn’t flinch. Instead, she brazenly pushed back with a question of her own.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Wh—what?”

Who else would we ask but you, the person in charge? As the knight stared at her in bewilderment, Ellyn spoke as if stating the obvious.

“You already knew everything before coming here, didn’t you? You must have been told what to demand if we were found to have aided Liel.”

Ellyn’s words were true. In exchange for pardoning the Magic Tower’s involvement with Liel Frost and covering it up officially, the kingdom had sent a contract outlining the terms—taking control of the Tower’s operations and dictating its future actions in meticulous detail.

This contract, delivered to Knight Commander Rudbelt, was now in his hands as he spoke with Ellyn.

“You’ve already decided everything, so why ask me?”

Well… that’s true, but… Why is she so bold about it?

Naturally, they had expected an answer like, “We apologize! We’ll comply with whatever you demand!” To be met with such defiance after being caught aiding a traitor—no one, not even the king who drafted the contract nor the old man watching from above, could have anticipated this.

Does she not care if the Magic Tower falls? Worse, she didn’t seem to believe the kingdom would dare dismantle the Tower in these dire times.

And she was right. The current situation was an unprecedented crisis for not just the kingdom, but all of human society.

The Empire’s greatest military force, the Knights of Flames, remained frozen solid, and the Holy Knights were in no state to be deployed to the battlefield. Even the kingdom, which had suffered the least damage, had suddenly lost contact with Cecilia Astrea, depriving them of a major asset.

With the demonkind’s invasions intensifying upon sensing their enemies’ weakened state, and the last hope—the Hero’s Party—now half-incapacitated, the frontlines were rapidly collapsing despite the illusion of peace.

Most of these events had been orchestrated by a single mage, leaving the leaders desperate. The only reason they could mount even minimal defense was thanks to the elves, unharmed and fighting tirelessly on the frontlines.

In such circumstances, losing the Magic Tower—their last reliable faction—would spell certain doom for kings and emperors alike.

“Hmm, I see. So, the higher-ups plan to use us in the war?”

Ellyn muttered as she skimmed the contract handed to her by the knight. Some mages protested, but she silenced them. After scanning the densely written terms further, she spoke again.

“This—isn’t the solution simple?”

“Huh? What do you…?”

“Just stop chasing Liel. You’re the ones who got hurt trying to capture her, aren’t you? Instead, apologize and ask for her cooperation. The Knights of Flames and the Hero’s Party could recover. With luck, you might even gain her aid.”

“We’ve already secured Liel Frost. Why would the kingdom need to make such a choice?”

“Who knows how long that ‘glory’ will last?”

Her provocative tone made the knight bristle.

“What do you mean by that? That sounds dangerously insolent.”

“A warning. My disciple is no easy opponent.”

Folding the contract and tucking it away, Ellyn addressed the knights watching her.

“I’ll give my answer later. Right now, there’s something urgent I must attend to.”

“Do you think you’re in any position to delay? Only by His Majesty’s grace are you not already under arrest—”

“Can you handle the consequences?”

“What?”

Ellyn’s demeanor shifted abruptly. Her previously gentle, composed attitude vanished, replaced by a voice colder and eyes sharper than even her infamous disciple’s.

“If you arrest me, I’ll have no choice but to respond not as the Tower Master, but as Ellyn Martina, an individual. Are you prepared for what follows?”

No one had ever imagined Ellyn could be this unyielding. The knights—and even the mages—stiffened, watching her in stunned silence.

Ellyn had intended to act rationally, but her patience had reached its limit. The disciple she had raised with all her heart, the one for whom she had even abandoned marriage at the prime age—Ariana was like a child of her own.

To see Ariana brutally subdued and dragged away—Ellyn couldn’t remain unaffected. The only shackle restraining her was her position as Tower Master.

If they strip me of my title and make me an enemy—so be it. Ellyn almost welcomed the thought.

Tap. Her magic staff, as tall as she was, struck the floor. The knights flinched back.

Excluding the anomaly that was Liel Frost, the Tower Master stood at the pinnacle of all mages.

If she were to act in earnest in this already precarious situation, the knights in the Tower—and the crumbling frontlines—would collapse entirely.

“……”

“If you won’t answer, I’ll take that as the end of this discussion.”

Having overwhelmed the knights with sheer presence, Ellyn turned her gaze to another of her disciples.

“Arhan.”

“Yes, Tower Master.”

Though he appeared older, Arhan was, in fact, ten years her junior—her disciple and the Deputy Tower Master.

“Since Liel’s presence here was exposed, there’s a traitor among us. That’s my conclusion.”

“Isn’t that too hasty? Jumping to conclusions risks internal—”

“And I believe that traitor is you. Am I wrong?”

Arhan fell silent under Ellyn’s piercing gaze. Her eyes held no doubt—she already knew.

Denying it is pointless. Ellyn was aware of the grudge even Liel herself hadn’t noticed.

“I only did what was necessary. Hiding her any longer would have caused even greater problems when discovered.”

“Rationalizing instead of lying? You just coveted the Tower Master’s seat, didn’t you?”

She saw right through me. That only stoked Arhan’s resentment further. She had known, yet still chosen Liel Frost as her successor over him.

“I served under you for twenty years. Didn’t I deserve it? That brat left the Tower, only to return after over a decade—and you’d hand it to her again?!”

“So that’s your true grievance? You didn’t want Liel taking your place?”

“If you pass the seat to her so easily, what does that make all my efforts?!”

“Deputy Tower Master. Was that not enough for you?”

“Spend my whole life under someone else? Scraping crumbs under a junior’s rule?!”

“Ambition is a precious drive. But you know this: the Tower Master must be the most exceptional mage. Can you honestly say you’d benefit the Tower more than her?”

Her words were a dispassionate recitation of facts. The brutal objectivity made it all the more unbearable.

Arhan, unable to retort, gritted his teeth. Ellyn delivered her verdict.

“Had Liel become Tower Master, the real authority might have fallen to you. She lacks your greed. But you threw away even that chance. Arhan, you’re excommunicated. You are stripped of your position as Deputy Tower Master and banished from the Magic Tower. Your selfishness has harmed the Tower—this punishment is lenient.”

“The Tower is suffering because you hid Liel!”

“Perhaps. But a traitor has no right to argue.”

Rule-breakers are punished. Oath-breakers are cast out. None of the mages, now aware of the truth, defended Arhan.

“Azul. You’re the new Deputy Tower Master.”

“M-me?!”

I don’t want this. Azul’s face screamed reluctance.

But Ellyn ignored him, assigning his first task.

“Send a letter for me. One accepting a proposal.”

“The contract from the kingdom? Addressed to His Majesty Gillnias?”

“No. To Lady Lirit of the Height Trading Company.”