“The Security Department has finally confirmed that the two large-scale power outages are unrelated to the demons. It seems that now is the time for facility maintenance rather than evacuation.”
“What about the traces of battle in the Dark Forest?”
“There were no traces of magic, and no casualties were reported among the apprentices attending the lecture on ‘Potion Brewing for Alchemy’ at that time. Moreover, predicting such acts resembling terrorism falls within the jurisdiction of the Intelligence Department…”
Just to be safe, the head of the Security Department took his seat after suggesting hiring adventurers to increase security on the first floor.
Then, the Intelligence Department head, who took over, justified that they were in the midst of a very important operation, making it difficult to allocate resources to the Dark Forest incident.
Of course, their operation, which involved infiltrating the forum, was a failure and yielded no results.
It was evident from Shien’s dark expression that she was not pleased.
“This is strange. It seemed like a sure bet…”
“What was the basis for that?”
“No organization can appoint someone with a bad attitude as a Sub-Manager. I never cursed and was always a model user, no matter who you ask.”
She clicked her tongue.
That’s why you didn’t make it. Sometimes you have to act crazy and stir up trouble to get noticed.
Even these “losers” were once notorious troublemakers on the forum.
I had to persuade and cajole to make them.
Anyway, as it stands, it seemed unlikely that the Intelligence Department would figure out my true identity for the time being.
However, devoting one’s life to the forum meant a life far from that of a great magician as described by the Magic Tower.
I nudged Shien’s leg, who was lost in thought, without voicing my doubts.
“There were only two newly appointed sub-managers. Moreover, one of them had hardly any activity, indicating that there must have been a candidate from the beginning. They must have figured out our intentions from the start and weeded us out…”
“But what about the bet?”
“The bet!?”
“I said. I’ll grant you one wish.”
With my name engraved on the monument, I stepped onto the second floor, and since she hadn’t become a sub-manager, it was my victory.
I snatched the Witch Note from Shien’s embarrassed hands.
“This is confiscated. Don’t use it anymore.”
“What!? No!”
“Why?”
“Without this Note, there are so many inconveniences! I can’t even look at the map, I can’t use the request board, and sometimes I receive missions from the Intelligence Department through this!”
The Witch Note was originally a magic tool made by the Research Department.
Even now, in the Magic Tower, where there are many unexplored areas and many secrets to uncover, it’s a means for magicians to ensure their safety and share information.
Without it, life would be inconvenient, and even if I confiscate it, she could pick up another Note through different channels. It would be like a mere speed bump.
After much deliberation, I set a different condition instead.
“Then don’t write posts on the forum. No, you said you use the request board, right? Then get my permission every time you write a post and upload it. Don’t do anything weird.”
“R-really…?”
Instead of the administrator account, I added the information of another alt-account I used to the Note and handed it back.
Through one-on-one messages, if the content she wanted to post on the forum didn’t sit well with me, I planned to delete it immediately.
This way, I could prevent her from engaging in Intelligence Department activities while minimizing the negative influence she receives from the forum.
However, she, who had become the object of pre-censorship, swallowed her saliva several times and asked cautiously.
“Personal messages…! Will you read them every time I send them to you? Regardless of how many per day?”
“You look strangely happy? You don’t write posts that often anyway.”
“Well, you didn’t tell me this when I was an apprentice! Anyway, I get it. I will definitely, definitely contact you!”
With her mouth slightly agape, she couldn’t take her eyes off her Note.
Yet she had told me not to look at the note during meetings.
Thanks to that, I had to divide my busy time even further, but this would allow me to better understand the trends of the Round Table and the Intelligence Department. It was also advantageous for me.
Since we were on different floors, we wouldn’t be able to meet often after this.
In comparison, the role of dormitory supervisors in the relatively less important Lifestyle Department usually involved four people taking turns participating in the Round Table.
“But hey, Clark. Is this ‘SuperconductorSilverHairedGirl’ really your ID?”
“…”
I responded to Shien’s question about the friend’s information added to her Note with silence.
Until the end of the meeting, she was confused, muttering, ‘Why on earth?’
*
====
Administrator
[Here is the list of newly appointed Sub-Managers for this year]
- SuperGeniusBlondeGirl
- SwaggeringAwesomeGuy
Despite knowing it’s a tough position, both of them willingly volunteered.
Please support them so they can manage the forum diligently.
— Beam
— Aim high and beam
ㄴ Stop wishing, just support lol
— Volunteer lol
— Ah, anyway, since they unblocked themselves with their own hands, it’s considered volunteering
— They seem excited from the start, so I don’t think this part will last long~
ㄴ Ah, bad remarks~
====
====
[Are you a new troublemaker?]
I’m a rogue user who wakes up at the crack of dawn with a taste for furry things and wants to share it with the entire forum.
Let’s get along well in the future
— Are they already popping out one by one? Haha.
— This new guy is proudly saying he’s a bad guy. lol.
— It’s a mess. I guess I’ll have to block images for a while.
— Ugh, furry out
— Sub-Managers!! Work quickly!!!
====
====
SuperGeniusBlondeGirl
[……]
……
— Oh, is it really you? lol
— Seems like you have a lot to say lol
— Can’t even grasp the concept, this is quite shocking
— Have you already met with the Administrator?
ㄴ I’m really curious about this? What did you two do when you met?
====
====
[They’re just meeting for self-promotion]
If this is the case, they won’t pick a Sub-Manager next year haha.
Anyway, the lifespan of the parts is at most one year, so there will probably be a chance to meet before then, right?
— Well, if he really met the Tower Master, that concept fanatic wouldn’t be able to shut up.
— We should have spilled the beans and gone to the forum right away lol
— AstronomicalCemetery: No, the two really met. A fox-like b*tch pushed her breasts. He even smelled her and she even confessed in front of the tombstone.
ㄴ Another broken clock.
ㄴ Are the astrology disciples kidding? They just put anything on Libra.
ㄴ Anyway, that’s not going to be the right result. The information about the Tower Master is too valuable, so even if we offer something, we can’t tilt the balance.
ㄴ Yeah, it’s almost like future sight, just wasting my lifespan.
====
The tumultuous round of appointments has ended.
As a result, only Mariel was recruited, but two people were added.
This is because I also registered an alt-account that I usually used for sniping.
This was to prevent all the attention from focusing solely on her, and also a measure taken because if there were too few active appointees, the trolls would rampage even more.
We had unintentionally shared each other’s secret wishes, but after some time had passed, Mariel didn’t seem to mind at all.
When asked why, she replied, “There have been countless organizations trying to bring down the Tower so far, and the Supervisor doesn’t have the power to do that anyway.”
The only difference from before was that she occasionally came looking for me, even for trivial matters.
When the wheel of her chair fell off, I went to fix it and heard a familiar voice outside the door.
‘Ahh! Supervisor!!’
Now she even attaches my name like a curse when she screams.
Checking the forum, it seemed like she had been hit by a tactical nuclear bomb in a single shot.
Although the view count was 0, the post had already been deleted.
Confirming that her abilities were indeed optimal for managing the forum, I went inside.
“Did you find it?”
“My eyes! My eyes hurt!! Horrible pictures stuck in my mind won’t go away!!”
“Let me fix the wheel first. Move aside.”
Mariel was sitting in the broken chair, falling backward onto the floor.
I left her there and focused only on fixing the wheel.
Perhaps because the dormitory had warmed up, she had been wearing too thin clothes in the dormitory for a while, so it was difficult to place my eyes.
Despite having an unusual hairstyle, mannerisms, and a personality that was even odd for modern standards, combining appearance and physique, she had an overwhelming hardware rating of 4 points.
For reference, according to my standards, Vina’s appearance alone was rated 5 points.
That’s because when you add up all the other scores that determine whether you deserve to be given the Sub-Manager role, the total score converged to a negative value.
“Supervisorrrrr, are you there?”
“Yes, are you alright?”
“I need a bit of support. I think I need to wash my face…”
In this peculiar manner, the distance between us seemed to decrease slightly.
It felt like she was leaning on me, expecting me to provide support for her arms and waist soon.
I pushed aside distractions and escorted Mariel to the bathroom, then sat on the bed and turned on my Witch Note.
I granted permission for new Sub-Managers to post on the administrator-exclusive bulletin board.
If you combine the existing three, forum management would become a little easier than before.
Then, I could comfortably continue climbing.
====
— Administrator: We’ve appointed two more, so it should be easier now. But the rest of you should occasionally lend a hand too.
ThunderLightningEmperor: Got it. But seriously, Administrator, are you really thinking of hosting a gathering?
— Administrator: A gathering? You mean an event? Judging by how you guys are behaving, I’m not particularly enthusiastic about it.
— BlessingsToYou: I messed up… Once this expedition is over, I’ll just focus on managing the forum for real (╥﹏╥)
— Administrator: I’m not asking you to do as much as before, so no need to apologize. Once the schedule is set, I’ll announce it here later.
— OwlOwlOwl: Hoot hoot
— Administrator: But seriously, Owl, you’re a real disappointment.
— OwlOwlOwl: …
====
When people are busy, they might neglect their online activities for a while.
I’m not a nosy person, but it’s not in my nature to touch personal matters anyway.
However, I wasn’t pleased to see those obsessed with online activities only when they were busy with such trivial excuses as breaking down upper floors or embarking on expeditions.
“Supervisor, are you still out there?”
“Yes.”
“Could you pass me a towel? It’s in the second drawer of the wardrobe.”
“Sure.”
At Mariel’s request, I closed my Witch Note and stood up.
And instead of concept, I started looking for a towel, digging through piles of underwear in the closet where there was chaos.
*
“Here it is.”
The Commander of the Knight Order of the Empire pointed towards the fortress shrouded in darkness.
In the mountain range where every tree had withered, only death lingered, and the twisted power that sucked in life converged to a single point.
The Knights of the Holy Spirit, armed with consecrated armors, hesitated to step forward.
The fear in their eyes was engraved by the unimaginable calamity they faced.
“No one in the Knight Order has ever encountered such evil in their lifetime. Even our Archbishop failed to lift the horrifying curse hanging over the mountain range and barely managed to save his life.”
“…”
“If you, the Head of the Divine School, aid us in this expedition, our Empire will actively engage in exchanges with the Magic Tower in the future. If you wish, we can even offer you a position in our Order… Sage?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I received an urgent message.”
Cecilia folded the location note and tucked it into her sleeve.
The Sigils, crafted to enhance the power of Sacred Arts, were great, but the lack of pockets was a flaw.
However, now wasn’t the time to worry about such trivial matters.
The Holy Knights, who had driven the ‘Enemy of the Sun’, one of the four Four Great Calamities that had taken root on the continent, to the edge of the Valieta Mountain Range, were preparing for their final assault.
“Thank you for your consideration. However, I’m not here for that particular reason.”
“Then why…?”
“Basically, magicians aren’t interested in quelling disasters. If I were still the same as before, I would never have left the Tower, but… well, my thoughts have changed.”
In the past, there was a time when she, who was actively engaged on the forum, received a plea from the Administrator to stop indulging in it and live her life.
She, who accepted the advice of the great magician more than anyone else, ventured out from the tower and wandered the continent.
As a result, the magic that had been latent within her evolved further, and the teachings of the Holy Spirit became even clearer.
However, now she had reached a point where she was neglecting the forum in contrast.
“I see you’re upset, so I think I’ll call it a day and get ready to leave. Speaking of which, there’s a gathering, I don’t know when it will be, but I’m looking forward to it… Hehehe.”
With a smile, she recalled the Administrator’s last chat, then she moved to the cliff upon hearing the priest’s announcement that the altar was ready.
The sky was still filled with dense darkness, accompanied by the eerie crimson glow of the shattered fragments of the sun.
To enter the domain of the spirit that had absorbed the blood of all creatures in the mountain range, they needed to restore it to its original state first.
“Alright then, if everyone’s ready, let’s begin the invocation.”
Removing her blindfold, she spun around and stretched her hand towards the sky.
Gradually, the overwhelming magic of one of the Seven Sages, encompassing the entire mountain range, began to align the fragmented sun in the sky.
