“Senior, are you looking at the Witch Note again?”
“Huh? Oh……”
“Did another exclusive order come down to Section 2 again?”
“No. I’m just sending a message to a friend.”
Shien was the ace of the Intelligence Department Section 2.
The fact that a commoner-turned-mage who had just passed her apprenticeship was in charge of one of the administrative departments of the Magic Tower in her 5th year after entering the Tower was proof that her career was just as splendid.
A leader of the 170th class, as the Golden Horseman, she had won the Magic Tournament in her first year, and since then, she had blasted her way through the Tower’s 39th floor.
If she hadn’t joined the Intelligence Department, she might have been aiming for higher challenges by now, gifted as she was.
Deciphering obscure magic texts was faster than flipping through pages with her hands.
However, it was an evening after a day like any other.
Shien’s fingers lingered on a page of the Witch Note, deep in thought.
“You know, Lilibel.”
“Yes?”
“How do I look in this outfit? I’m thinking of sending it to a friend.”
“…Kuh, what’s this?”
Lilibel, her roommate and a member of Section 3 of the Intelligence Department, dropped the hotdog she was munching on the pillow upon seeing the photo Shien showed her.
Seeing her white fabric turn red was like seeing her own idol gradually becoming more bizarre after the Round Table meeting, so she buried her face in it.
“You look like a pr*stitute.”
“W-what are you saying!? I bought it because my last undercover investigation was at a ballroom! Though it was too eye-catching in the end, so I couldn’t wear it.”
“Why would you send that to someone else? And covering your face too.”
“W-Well….”
Unable to bring herself to say, “It’s for making it look like a post for the forum.”, Shien trailed off.
Since sharing contact information with Clark, she had been constantly sending messages.
At first, she would ask about what happened during the day or things she was curious about, but it was all a monologue, and he didn’t even show he read them.
On the other hand, if she asked like this, she would get a reply within a second.
====
TrainingIsTheBest: Can I upload the dress I bought last time to the forum?
TrainingIsTheBest: (photo)
SuperconductorSilverHairedGirl: No
TrainingIsTheBest: Why? I want to show off…
SuperconductorSilverHairedGirl: Show off with a receipt
====
Initially, even a conversation with no substance felt good as long as they were talking alone.
But as time went on and his responses became lukewarm, her frustration grew.
As Lilibel said, today’s photo she sent was so provocative that she even felt embarrassed herself to the point her mouth went dry.
Nevertheless, in response to Clark’s attitude of ignoring it, Shien sent messages without fail, determined to get a reply this time.
====
TrainingIsTheBest: By the way, you said you went up to the 2nd floor last time.
TrainingIsTheBest: Have you decided on a school?
TrainingIsTheBest: I can introduce you to one I know.
TrainingIsTheBest: I know all the way up to the closed counter and the exclusive passage for personnel on the 2nd floor.
TrainingIsTheBest: Hey
TrainingIsTheBest: Are you ignoring me again?
TrainingIsTheBest: If you keep doing this, will I have to ask for permission? I’ll just keep writing the same three posts over and over!
====
From the perspective of a user familiar with the forum, it was cute.
But surprisingly, the last sentence, which was almost a threat, seemed to get through.
A reply came from him shortly after.
====
SuperconductorSilverHairedGirl: Then come and see for yourself
SuperconductorSilverHairedGirl: On 17th Street, where they’re conducting Mystery aptitude tests
====
After checking the contents, Shien hurriedly got up from the bed and sat in front of the vanity.
Lilibe, who was in the upper bunk bed, was surprised to see her preparing for a late-night outing and asked.
“Where are you going?”
“I-I forgot I had an important appointment!”
“Huh? Senior?”
Ignoring her junior’s bewildered expression, Shien grabbed her sword and headed outside.
It didn’t take long for the magic elevator to arrive at the Intelligence Department office located on the 21st floor.
*
The “Starting Floors” from the 1st to the 10th floor of the Magic Tower are the nurturing grounds of schools to welcome apprentices.
Here, apprentices learn about Mystery and hone their own weapons to challenge the “Great Labyrinth” on the 10th floor.
So, the first thing I had to do when I set foot on the 2nd floor was to choose a school.
Since Agnes invited me to the Magic Tower as her ward, I naturally should choose the Haeju School, but I had no intention of holding her hand and entering together.
Contrary to her boasts, when I actually opened the lid, it turned out that Haeju might not have any talent at all.
And above all, I didn’t want to attract attention.
I’ve seen many guys who wanted to stand out with petty talents since my adventurer days, only to lose their lives in the process.
Rather than making a fuss, I could just quietly learn Mystery and come out.
For years, I’ve been running the forum without anyone, not even the Tower’s leadership, suspecting my identity. It was in such situations that my resourcefulness shone.
Thanks to that, despite countless posts guessing my identity every day, not a single one had reached the correct answer.
====
[Assuming he is not the Tower Master, what school do you think the Administrator would belong to?]
To operate the forum, you would need at least an understanding of dimensional separation up to the 8th degree.
And to establish a large-scale magic stabilization zone in the Magic Tower, alchemy and astrology are essential.
As for elemental skills, well, considering the last Dark Mode incident, he is definitely above the level of a high-ranking magician of Lusria, a flash type.
In this case, the most likely direction would be summoning, right?
— If they collect Witch Notes every year in the Research Department and burn them, but the forum doesn’t disappear, could it be that?
— It seems like alchemy to me. It’s my intuition.
— It could be spirit. To enter the spirit world, you need to be sharp in dimensions.
— If he does that, the forum would go crazy.
ㄴ There’s absolutely no way it’s Haeju. There is only one branch, Aitar, and its founder has already given up climbing.
ㄴ Yeah, the rest of them probably haven’t even set foot on the upper floors? So, even if it’s elsewhere, it can’t be Haeju.
ㄴ Haeju is a crime~
ㄴ It’s not a crime, lol
====
====
[The reason why the Administrator can never be from the Divine School]
Administrator: Because they serve me?
— LOL
— Ripped
— Just Goat
— I have no choice but to admit this, lol.
— Let’s just exclude one for now.
====
====
MeteorIsIceMagic
[School Hint?]
Elemental magic is the best.
Among them, Glesia is the best of the best.
And Meteor Ice Magic is the coolest.
Administrator said that too
— IceMeteor: I think so too.
ㄴ MeteorIsIceMagic: Agreed, agreed.
ㄴ Right on time.
ㄴ Seriously, put some effort into your answer, lol. You just copy and paste everything.
ㄴ Where did you even get another Note? Lol
— But didn’t the Alchemy School win at the Magic Festival held five years ago?
ㄴ Is that true? I heard that the Astrology School raised objections and eventually overturned it.
ㄴ Later on, it got swept under the rug because the winner was absorbed into the Intelligence Department.
====
====
[Let’s just assume the Administrator is definitely the Tower Master.]
Excluding Haeju and Divine,
If there’s a magician who exceeds the 8th degree in summoning, alchemy, astrology, and elemental magic, then that’s the Tower Master, and that’s a natural disaster.
What else is there to consider? From now on, no one will argue that the Administrator isn’t the Tower Master.
— From today? You’re so conceited.
— Can’t we include spirit too?
====
It was an unrealistically tangled narrow alleyway.
This was the 2nd floor of the Magic Tower, where the gates for recruiting new members of the schools were abundant.
Some of them required specific conditions to be met or recommendations from within the school to be accessed.
Accessing the Haeju School, in particular, usually required unique methods as it was generally difficult to approach.
“W-wait!?”
While I was looking at the Witch Note under a gas lamp that glowed blue from the combination of volatile gases, Shien approached.
She seemed to have hurried down, with lightly flushed cheeks and attire different from usual catching my eye.
“You’re wearing a skirt?”
“Uh, yeah? It was just in the closet. Doesn’t it suit me?”
“It does, but… No, it’s better than usual.”
I was thankful that she didn’t dress up as a member of the Intelligence Department.
From now on, I had to avoid exposing my identity as much as possible.
I hadn’t expected her to draw attention with a dress that looked like she was going on a date, though…
‘She’ll probably run better than me even in that outfit.’
In one of the maze-like alleys, there was a desk for testing the Mystery aptitude of apprentices and guiding them to the appropriate school.
Unlike the other schools’ gates, no matter which path you took, it led straight to the same place.
In other words, if you didn’t have a school in mind or couldn’t identify your talent, you would be guided accordingly.
As I walked straight to that place instead of to other gates, Shien, who was sticking by my side, asked cautiously.
“You didn’t have any place in mind?”
“No.”
“Then you didn’t receive any invitations?”
“How was it for you?”
“Me!? I was just… confused, haha.”
That’s right.
There were more magicians coming down from above than apprentices sending group love calls to over a hundred schools.
From long ago, she was a brilliantly shining jewel that everyone wanted to get their hands on.
If she hadn’t been from the Intelligence Department trying to overthrow the forum owner, I might have tried harder to get closer to her than I am now.
“Do you usually not get good evaluations at the guidance desk?… Should I introduce you to a place I know?”
“It’s fine, I’ll finish quickly and come back. If there’s something you want to eat later, I’ll buy it for you.”
“Re-really? From you? You suddenly called me out at this time, so I thought…”
I left her outside, looking somewhat touched, and headed to the desk alone.
A wooden building reminiscent of the Adventurer’s Guild. When I didn’t enter, a female employee greeted me with a very professional smile.
“Hello. Are you here for the Mystery aptitude test?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a school in mind? You can also choose from the seven major schools or specify a particular branch.”
“Haeju School.”
In a very short moment, the female employee froze upon hearing my words.
Like a bank clerk when a robber enters. The reason was simple.
The Haeju School is the most unpopular school in the Magic Tower.
Every year, it produces wanted criminals notorious throughout the empire, and any meager support funds are all swallowed up by bounties on the graduates’ heads.
Thus, apprentices who wanted to join the Haeju School in the Magic Tower were one of two things.
“Um, do you or any of your family members have any health issues?”
“No.”
Either to lift a curse on someone else or themselves…
“Um, are you being threatened by someone? If so, I can connect you with someone in charge…”
“I came here of my own accord.”
Or sometimes, they were dragged in by a short ghost wandering around the cafeteria with a pitiful look, given food unknowingly, and ended up being dragged along.
If one were to join the Haeju School through such a route, they would be relentlessly pursued by the Magic Tower administration throughout their ascent.
They needed to be cautious as they were potential threats who could suddenly change into curse casters.
“Because I just really like Haeju.”
“Aaaaaah! Securityyyyy!!!”
If you wanted to be free from such treatment, there was a better way, as I did now.
“What, what!? Is it already over? What’s the noise from inside…!?”
“For now, let’s run.”
As soon as I heard the female employee’s scream, I stepped outside. Then, I grabbed Shien’s hand and ran straight to the opposite side, saying:
“They’ll find us over there.”
