Tower Master Minerva – 1

“So you’re the child Caecilia was so fond of?”

The woman called Minerva stood up from her seat. The first thing that caught my eye was her incredibly tall stature, on par with Claudia’s.

Claudia was taller than most men, and Minerva was similar to Claudia. They were either a finger’s breadth apart, or it was safe to say they were exactly the same height.

And that was all I could discern.

Long white hair reaching her ankles, her female gender. And finally, a faint outline of her face. The rest, though clearly before my eyes, was impossible to perceive.

“Would you stay still for a moment?”

Minerva, who had approached right in front of me without me even realizing how, let out a hum and began to observe me from various angles.

“……Truly unique. Mana and faith are in harmony with each other. It’s known to be impossible for them to coexist within a human body, isn’t it?”

Minerva circled around me, muttering something continuously. From what I could roughly overhear, the fact that mana and faith coexisted within me seemed incredibly strange to her.

For me, my stats just automatically increased when I allocated stat points, but people in this world probably had to undergo systematic training to raise their abilities, so it was understandable that she found it strange.

If you couldn’t raise faith after raising mana first, or vice versa, if you couldn’t raise mana after raising faith first, that would be a system with a lot of problems. At least within the BrDak series, that is.

‘Ah, come to think of it, I need to allocate stats too.’

Since I had given Lucia peace in the Abyss Dungeon and finally defeated the God-forsaken creature, the final boss of the DLC, I must have gained an enormous amount of experience points.

Even at a minimum, it would be 20, or more. With that many stat points, investing all of them into Strength and then immediately discarding the blood-stained sword for another weapon wasn’t a bad choice.

Soon, weapon enhancement would become possible in this city, so the time to put down the blood-stained sword was approaching.

“That’s enough, child. There was indeed a reason Caecilia would cherish you so much.”

While I was deep in thought about stat point distribution, Minerva seemed to have finished her observation as well, taking a few steps back. I couldn’t tell her expression, but her voice was definitely excited.

Minerva, who had been pondering something deeply, suddenly turned to look at Iris.

“Iris, would it be alright if I asked you for a favor?”

“Yes, Minerva-nim. What is your request?”

Iris replied with a tense voice. Minerva, unconcerned by Iris’s reaction, calmly walked over and linked her arm through my right arm.

“I’d like to borrow this child for a while.”

“……Delta, are you saying?”

Upon hearing those words, the first reaction from the Knight Captains was astonishment. Their various pupils widened in surprise.

As the astonishment gradually faded, the Knight Captains’ eyes slowly changed to a look of ‘What did he do this time?’ They seemed to think I had done something incredible again without their knowledge.

But this time, I felt wronged. After all, I had never done anything to attract Minerva’s attention in the first place.

I hadn’t brought her a magic book, nor had I taken the mage path, so why Minerva was acting like this was something I should be questioning instead.

“It’s no problem for us, but isn’t that something you should ask Delta directly?”

“Ask that child directly? You say interesting things. As a Knight Captain, can’t you give an order to a new knight to follow me?”

The Knight Captains’ faces changed to an ‘uh’ expression. It was an expression that made me wonder what kind of existence I was to those four.

“That is, that’s right, but……”

Iris showed a rare hesitant reaction. The reactions of the other three were similar.

Perhaps because they had mostly made requests or suggestions to me rather than giving orders, or more often, I had taken the initiative myself, they seemed quite unaccustomed to this situation.

Minerva looked at us, chuckling, then turned her head. It was in my direction.

“Since Iris says so, I suppose I’ll have to ask directly. What are your thoughts, my child?”

“I don’t mind either. Instead, may I ask for the reason?”

Except for the fact that Minerva had sought me out instead of me seeking her, this was merely an event that was bound to happen anyway, just brought forward a little.

There was no harm in granting her request.

“Of course, you may. Explaining every single detailed reason. Or explaining just the three biggest reasons. Choose whichever you prefer.”

“……I’ll choose the latter, please.”

I timidly chose the latter. I simply couldn’t bring myself to endure the aftermath of choosing the former.

If a person had that kind of personality, there was a very high probability that they would explain every trivial reason, completely draining the listener’s soul. My gut feeling was the source.

“Firstly, it’s because I’ve realized why Caecilia shows such interest in the child, secondly, it’s because you caused such a big incident in the Holy Kingdom that the Pope himself brought you here, and thirdly, it’s because the previous two reasons sparked my personal interest. Does that explain it?”

“Just a moment, Minerva-nim. The Pope himself brought the Knight Captains here? Really?”

Aurora, who had been quietly sipping tea in her seat, suddenly interjected into the conversation with a startled voice.

“Why would I lie about something like this? It’s true. The Popes, who haven’t even shown their faces for the past few years, for some reason personally used Divine Spells to bring the children here.”

Aurora’s golden eyes turned towards me. Just like the Knight Captains, it was a look of ‘What did you cause?’ She seemed to think I was the cause without even needing to hear the detailed circumstances.

I had nothing to say because I was indeed the cause. I subtly avoided her gaze. My demeanor, which clearly indicated I had something to hide, made Aurora’s gaze even sharper.

“I can take the child now, can’t I, Aurora? Don’t worry. It won’t take long.”

“……Why are you asking me that? You’ve already finished talking with Delta.”

“We’ve reunited after a long time, and we haven’t even had a proper chat, have we? If I were to leave like this, wouldn’t our Aurora’s heart ache terribly?”

“…….”

Aurora’s face flushed bright red. The hand holding the teacup trembled.

“I’ll be back soon, but don’t just wait aimlessly. Just let the children play among themselves for a while.”

A blue magic circle appeared beneath Minerva’s and my feet. The moment I realized that fact, the pattern glowed blue, and my vision was instantly dyed blue.

I felt the characteristic floating sensation of teleportation.

“…….”

The Knight Captains stood frozen in place, dumbfounded, looking at the spot where Delta and Minerva had vanished, leaving behind only a blue shimmer in the blink of an eye.

Their minds couldn’t keep up with the situation.

Tower Master Minerva, or Minerva the Eternal Mage, was a person very well-known in the Empire as a mage with immense prestige and power, second only to the Emperor, or even on par with him.

Such a person had suddenly appeared at Aurora’s mansion and dragged Delta away, claiming personal interest. It was only natural for them to be dumbfounded.

While the Knight Captains’ thoughts had stopped, several maids rushed in, tidying up the table, taking out new teacups, and arranging them at appropriate intervals, moving in perfect order.

Their movements ceased only after they had trickled the steaming green tea into each teacup.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you sitting? Are you going to keep standing there?”

Upon hearing Aurora’s words, the Knight Captains snapped out of their reverie. After confirming that all four of them had sat on the sofas at the places where the teacups were set, Aurora gracefully crossed her legs.

“How was the Holy Kingdom? Why did the Popes call you?”

“……There were quite a few incidents.”

“Because of Delta?”

Nod. Iris nodded her head. Aurora continued, her voice implying she already knew.

“It’s fine, explain everything. I’ve already finished all my work. I have plenty of time.”

It was a sentence that emphasized the word ‘everything’ particularly strongly.

The Knight Captains exchanged quick glances. Although Aurora had told them to explain everything, there was one incident among them that was slightly awkward to talk about to others.

Naturally, it was about Rije and Delta.

-Lord-nim says to tell everything, so can I say that you and Delta fucked?

-Do you think you can?

-What a shame. I’m sure she’d find it very interesting.

Rije and Claudia were acting as if they had a very big secret, even at a glance. It was almost as if they were trying to reveal it rather than hide it.

There was no way Aurora wouldn’t interject into such an interesting conversation, and Erica and Iris sighed deeply after confirming the curiosity in her golden eyes as she looked at the two.

The scenery changed the moment I closed and opened my eyes. I looked around.

“This is……”

“The top floor of the Magic Tower. It’s where I sleep.”

It was a space that wasn’t in my memory. The Magic Tower I remembered, Minerva’s Magic Tower, was a place that would make you curse involuntarily, with its twisted structure, malicious mob placement, and confusion magic that would fly at you when you least expected it.

I had never even imagined such a simple and peaceful space with a soft-looking bed, gently lit candles, a wooden desk with a few parchments on it, a wooden table, and moderately thick curtains.

Minerva, who had taken out a few cookies from the cupboard, returned to the table. Drrr, the chair slid back on its own. It was an invitation to sit. I obediently sat in that chair.

Minerva, who sat in the chair opposite me, placed the cookies on the table.

“I can get you something else, just say the word. Or perhaps something a little sweeter would suit a child’s taste better?”

“It’s fine. So, what am I supposed to do now?”

“Before that, there’s something I must tell you. If something comes, something must also go, mustn’t it?”

Minerva held up her right index finger.

“……Uh, I guess so?”

“It’s a natural principle, so don’t hesitate. In exchange for satisfying my curiosity, there are two pieces of information I will give you, child.”

Minerva, who had extended her right index and middle fingers, released the arm that had been propping up her chin and tapped her index finger.

“One is why Caecilia saved Aurora’s father, and why she neglected the atrocities he committed.”

Her words paused, and her finger touched her middle finger, leaving the index finger extended.

“The other is the true nature of the restoration magic cast on the castle.”