‘Ah, are we starting now?’
Chichik! As light entered the crystal ball, the woman sitting at the table adjusted her voice.
The slightly lifted corners of her eyes, contrasting with her lack of enthusiasm, hinted at a strong personality. Twirling her purplish hair with her fingers, she turned towards the screen.
This was Herhe Solon from the Frantz family, known for their debts.
‘Feel free to ask me anything you’re curious about. Do you have a boyfriend? None of those pointless questions, please.’
The video was from a program called ‘Current Ranking of the Most Notable Magicians in the Magic Tower’ organized by the Living Department five years ago.
First place was Tower Master, whose fame still echoes, and second place went to a rising star from the Magic Festival, but neither agreed to interviews.
Herhe, who had placed third at the time, participated as a panelist, sharing her thoughts and answering a few questions from the anchor.
‘Why did I appear? They promised to pay if I did. You know that, right? Aside from the Haeju School, our Summoning School is the most lucrative place in the Magic Tower.’
‘The summons coming out of magic circles? That’s not free. We have to contract with manufacturers for weapons and summoning beasts, and the insurance premiums are ridiculously high because of the risk of damage…’
‘There’s a reason why we can’t just use Meteors recklessly. Imagine dropping a boulder from someone else’s mountain and finding out it’s their ancestors’ tomb, huh?’
‘That day, it almost escalated into a war between families.’
‘Summoner of the Waves? Sure, we can call whatever we want, but the fact is that Lake Trafalgar in the common area belongs to us. We’re left with only water, shouldn’t we at least irrigate it?’
‘No wonder Summoners are dying out. The rankings keep rising, but families are running out of money, so I haven’t dated or had a marriage consultation at this age…’
‘…I’m getting annoyed just talking about it. I’m the one who should be asking, why are they filming this nonsense?’
Despite its premature ending due to low ratings after just one episode, the crystal ball containing this record was left gathering dust in a corner of the warehouse.
The warehouse was located right next to the staircase currently being used as a temporary lounge by the Haeju School.
“Our little sister, huh! Despite her sharp tongue, she’s actually kind-hearted…”
“Well, I guess there were circumstances.”
“She’s good at climbing alone, always obediently giving her allowance, and even went to work briefly at the common area to earn money…”
“We’ll assist in finding her traces within our Haeju School. Oh, a contract period of 30 years should be fine for now, right? We can extend it by 10 years each if we agree upon expiration.”
“What if she gets injured or becomes too ill to work midway? Or worse, what if she dies?”
“We can mitigate most pains with curses, and if she dies, well, there’s another contract here; if signed, necromancers will greet her in the underworld and bring her back to work…”
“…”
Listening to the detailed story and boasting of his younger sister, Toby wiped away tears and signed the contract on the second day of the Summoning Investigation Committee’s convening.
*
“Excuse me. Are you just going to keep sitting on the floor here?”
“I was told not to move an inch from this spot.”
“By whom?”
“Lady Vina Nethania de Niflheim. Do you have some business with her?”
“Tsk…”
The magician who had circled around the stone floor and bit his tongue was the same user I had talked to yesterday.
Anyone else would have no idea that their life was saved thanks to me.
The meeting room was even noisier today, with voices leaking through the giant door. While a thorough investigation was being conducted on the fragments of the Gate of the Underworld, I took out the sword I had found in the treasure room last night.
The sword, reflecting sunlight and still sending messages to my account, had a torn notebook piece tied to its handle.
The contents written on a finger-sized piece were the last scribbled words of her ID and description of how she ended up in this situation before her body stiffened.
====
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: Alive
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: Here!
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: H-Herhe Solon
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: To a comfortable place
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: Come and help me
====
She attempted to combine the available characters to explain who she was and how she ended up in this situation, seemingly indicating that she had transferred her soul into the summoned sword and survived until now.
Everything seemed fine, except for the unsettling discovery that I was the owner of the administrator account. The location tracking function was locked to prevent others from using it. Presumably, it was an error resulting from the encounter between the summoner’s soul from another dimensional system and the torn note fragment.
A Gonick named Herhe Solot, alias ‘SolSol’, confined in the silver sword, seemed to have missed someone they had met after five years, as they constantly shouted.
====
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: Forum
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: Security upgrade
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: Administrator.
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: Help me.
====
“Sorry to break it, should I throw it somewhere deeper?”
====
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: Help!
TrappedOnThe44thFloor: Sol Sol! Alive!
====
But you’re a sword, aren’t you? Useless compared to a spear.
My wrist remained stiff, unaffected by any sense of feeling.
Keeping the sword with me would only complicate matters, and returning her to those who knew her might risk revealing my identity.
Therefore, burying her in a place where few would ever lay hands on her seemed the cleanest option.
— Help me, Administrator!!
“Eh? No need for that. You’re already cold, just resting in the wardrobe. Or how about the bottom of the lake?”
– Nope! Nope!!
“Is that not to your liking? Then how about I send you to handle the forum boards? You can stay up all night engaging in forum discussions, which would be great. On sunny days, I’ll occasionally leave you at the forge to get you sharpened.”
It seemed like SolSol was trying desperately to appeal to me, perhaps sensing my annoyance.
The blade trembled, creating a small crack on the stone chair’s edge.
Revealed within the distorted summoning circle was a partially visible piece of women’s underwear.
I wondered if this was a treasure hidden from her human days, and unexpectedly, I heard a proposal.
— Storage in the dimension!
“You mean to use it as an inventory?”
— Possibly!! Delivery is possible!!!
“Hmm…”
I briefly recalled the existence of a points shop.
While creating boards scattered troublesome users, it was generally a good system.
Most users made efforts to avoid self-blocking by forming an attachment to their IDs.
The frequency of creating dummy accounts had significantly decreased compared to before.
With SolSol, I could deliver more meaningful rewards.
Despite not knowing her exact abilities, the ability to command a summoner up to the mid-level was a significant merit.
“Let’s think about it until we leave the Void.”
— Disappear!! Administrator, help!!
“Ah, but will you order the forum tasks?”
— …
“If you perform well, we might find a way for you to return to your original form.”
The Sword of the Administrator.
Quite a splendid naming, upon reflection.
I resolved to take SolSol with me, anticipating the day we’d enjoy a grand day for the forum.
Now, if only this tedious meeting could end so I could go home.
Just as I thought that, the tightly closed door swung open, and high-ranking mages poured out.
Like a waiting dog seeking its owner, I searched for Vina to come out. But instead, Christina approached me first.
Her mischievous gaze fixated on the ice cake placed on my lap.
“You’ve almost broken that?”
“Yes, if I break it before leaving the Void, Vina will grant me a spell.”
“A spell? Are you talking about the essence of Niflheim’s magic?”
Come to think of it, Vina used similar expressions.
I nodded, and Christina looked even more puzzled.
“You’re quite indifferent. Do you know what it means for a pure-blooded mage to grant a spell?”
“Does it have a special meaning?”
“Of course! Granting someone complete access to the unique verses that form the foundation of magic means tarnishing the essence preserved since the cradle!”
“Can you provide a simpler analogy?”
“Well, um… Oh, there!”
Christina’s finger pointed towards Vina approaching.
The calm-faced woman swiftly approached this way, pushing aside a man who followed closely behind.
“He’s Vincent, the third-ranked noble of the Undra family. He’s quite esteemed in elemental magic, several notches above Fluvia.”
“I see.”
“For a pure-blooded family to grant magic is a sort of transaction with individuals like them. It’s about continuing the lineage and securing a new cradle, in simple terms, mixing blood.”
“…”
“Especially from Vina’s perspective, the Hundred Families are beyond reach, let alone lesser pure-bloods. What on earth is he thinking… Vina! Come here right now!”
A pure-blooded mage was somewhat beyond the realm of humans.
They lived for centuries without aging or diminishing in magical power.
They pursued pure lineage solely for greater magical achievements and never included just anyone in their lineage.
I examined Vincent, a potential candidate.
He was discussing ownership of the Void, looking quite anxious.
‘Could we exclude Lake Trafalgar from Niflheim’s activities this time?’
‘That is something I cannot decide of my own will.’
‘It’s not just about asking for compensation. If we establish a good relationship, there could be future alliances through marriage.’
‘Vina! Do you have any thoughts at all? Oh, sorry. Let’s talk for a moment.’
As Christina intervened, he stepped back with a grimace.
Watching him fidget with a Witch Note, I recognized a familiar ID.
‘MeteorIsWaterMagic’.
He was the leader of the bees behind the train incident and my impersonator.
‘Should I confront him here?’
The situation was perfect.
The place was crowded, and he was clearly a prestigious senior magician of the Hundred Families.
However, just as I approached him, the Sword of the Administrator at my waist suddenly trembled.
“Sol?”
— Kill!!!!!
Suddenly, the sword at my waist trembled.
