Chapter 44
Upon returning to the Purple Magic Tower, Tower Master Yuna was fidgeting restlessly.
To explain more specifically, she had a strangely red face while pressing down on the hem of her skirt with one hand, bringing her thighs inward, moving very cautiously, and looking up at me with wide eyes, fidgeting incessantly.
Because she was trying so hard to press down her already short skirt, the top of it was halfway up her pelvis instead of sitting on her waist. As a result, a glimpse of her lower abdomen peeked out between her skirt and top: fair, white skin.
I cast the Self Sexual Desire Suppression Magic once again. Thankfully, it allowed me to remain calm.
“Why are you acting so timid?”
“Uh, well, because you said it might suit me…”
“…Huh?”
“N-Nothing! Did you have a good trip to your hometown…?”
“Ah, well. It wasn’t bad.”
I confirmed yet again that my home environment wasn’t good in my previous life, and it didn’t seem to be any better this time around either. More importantly, however, was the suspicion of human trafficking tied to the Purple Magic Tower.
Pink-Haired Lesbian explained that the chance of the entire Purple Magic Tower being involved in human trafficking was incredibly low. The first reason was that if such large-scale movements had happened, wouldn’t the Imperial Defense Bureau have obtained intel on it?
The second reason was that they didn’t particularly need humans anyway. It’s not like they were Black Wizards or anything. Although frankly speaking, about 70% of the research conducted in the Purple Magic Tower did require human subjects—like studies on turning happiness into pain.
The reasons provided by Pink-Haired Lesbian didn’t entirely wipe out my suspicions. It was, in fact, that the only thing that’s certain is that nothing is certain.
And if I had my doubts, all I had to do was ask.
Getting all tangled up over misunderstandings by whispering behind backs would just create a trifecta of regret, obsession, and exhaustion. So, I decided to throw a straight ball at the fidgety Tower Master.
“Tower Master. You’re hiding something from me, right?”
“N-no! I-I’m not hiding anything?!”
Even admitting she was hiding something wouldn’t have seemed as obvious as now. Her face looked like someone who had too many things she felt guilty about and didn’t know where to start. I sat on the office sofa and tapped my knees.
Recently, the Tower Master had gotten in the habit of dangling on some part of my body like a sloth whenever she was bored, so I prepared a spot for her to cling to this time as well.
“Let’s sit and talk for a bit, shall we?”
“Uh, um, I think it’s a bit awkward… S-so I’ll just stand over here!”
…
It’s true that it can be a bit strange for an adult man and woman to be too close together. Even so, I felt a bit sad. It was like when a puppy that always begs to play suddenly says “I don’t want to play” and scampers away. Doesn’t that chill you to the bone just a bit?
What’s worse, she wasn’t a cute little animal; she was a person. It wasn’t just emptiness I felt, it was genuine fright. What did I do wrong? Did she get upset because I went back to my hometown with just Pink-Haired Lesbian?
I started to overthink.
No, stay calm. Just ask one question at a time. The Tower Master wasn’t like an ex-girlfriend who plays a game of “Guess why I’m upset.” If I took it one step at a time, my unilateral misunderstandings would be cleared up.
I wanted to confirm two things. The human trafficking suspicion concerning the Purple Magic Tower and how the Tower Master truly saw me.
Choosing the Purple Magic Tower had certainly been my decision. I remembered that clearly. I liked Tower Master Yuna. I could feel a genuine familial love coming from her. But how did she view me?
The differences in our social status were stark. I was a child of commoners, and she was of noble birth. The disparity in our capabilities was also evident. She was an Archwizard who had achieved sublimation, while I was just a lowly wizard who hadn’t even undergone metamorphosis.
Honestly, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she thought of me like a pet or toy. When viewed through that lens, many things suddenly made sense—such as that overly intense physical affection, which sometimes made me wonder if she even saw me as a man.
If that was the case, then it would be natural for her to hide things from me.
The favor that the weak received was merely sympathy which could be withdrawn at any time.
In this life, it seemed to be the same situation. Wasn’t the child from a rural village, who merely farmed potatoes, sold by his father because he was considered worthless?
I felt fear.
I had spent nearly a decade with the Tower Master. The courage to ask her something so direct came from the trust built over the years. Stay calm. We had spent enough time together—I thought we were close.
Let’s not get lost in negative thoughts by myself. Suspecting alone was not like me. Moreover, the chances of approaching the truth would drop significantly if I stayed quiet. I had to ask. About human trafficking, how she viewed me, purchases, my father who sold me, the hillside slum, and, oh—ex-girlfriends, family…
As my mind spun into a dizzying whirl, my mouth took on a life of its own.
“Do you perhaps buy other men regularly?”
“?!”
“No, I mean—what I wanted to ask is, do you, uh, like me, Tower Master?”
“??!!!!”
“So, what I mean is, do you happen to be collecting people without me knowing…”
“!!!!!!!!!!”
===============================================================
I was currently in the middle of an emergency Nadenade treatment.
Seeing me babble nonsense while my eyes spun, the Tower Master issued a Code Yellow alert signaling I was Out of Control. She suggested I lie down on her lap, and I promptly complied.
I lay in a position where I could see the Tower Master’s belly and thighs, but she, unusually sensitive today, warned me in a sultry voice with a little stutter, “I’ll kill you if you don’t turn your head the other way this instant!” So, I had no choice but to turn outward.
The Tower Master’s hand brushed through my hair. She caressed it carefully before suddenly getting playful and tying it up. My hair transformed into a palm tree and then returned to normal.
An oddly ticklish sensation struck me, causing a tinge of embarrassment.
Completely absorbed in playing with my hair, the Tower Master hummed a tune while braiding it. I wondered how my hairstyle was turning out.
Feeling the need to disrupt this awkward yet tender atmosphere, I spoke up.
“Can I touch your calves?”
“What’s with that ambiguous request?!”
“They say when negotiating, you should start big!”
“You weren’t planning to ask something even more trivial, were you?”
Surprisingly, it seemed she was okay with it, so I gently started to knead the back of her calves. It wasn’t meant to be anything serious, just that touching something soft feels good. Kind of like squishing slime.
“…”
“Hey!”
As if I were lightly petting her fuzz, it made her giggle, and a Yuna-Punch came to bonk my head. I swiftly switched back to massage mode.
Watching her stay still, it seemed she enjoyed it. A quick glance confirmed the Tower Master was half-closing her eyes, focusing straight ahead. Cloud-like puffs floated around her.
I hesitated a bit, then calmly shared the story of what occurred in my hometown. I also mentioned my suspicion that the entire Purple Magic Tower might be involved in human trafficking. This was almost the same as asking her to her face if she was trafficking humans.
Should the Tower Master actually be a human trafficker, I would be treading dangerously thin ice. Asking the mafia if they were criminals while standing right in front of them would likely get you a bullet in the head. Nevertheless, I wanted to voice my concerns, so I did.
While unburdening my thoughts, I discovered what worried me most.
I didn’t want to be abandoned.
I liked this life. Even if she acted a little quirky sometimes, I liked the Tower Master who cared for me. So much so that, even if she were a wicked Dark Wizard who kept living sacrifices, I would want to at least understand her.
So please, I implore you, if only we could continue to hang out together in whatever form—
“ELRELELELLE.”
“HEUAAAAAAH!!”
Caught up in sentimentality, the sudden reverse ELRELELE knocked me into a state of terror. When something resembling a tentacle dashed into my ear, I thought Tower Master was finally showing her true colors and was about to can my brain.
I understood that this event was supposed to be meaningful!
It wasn’t supposed to be romantic, yet it should have been sweet. But the Double-Layer Sexual Desire Suppression Magic had an accidental side effect: stripping me of desire left only horror. It was genuinely frightening.
The Tower Master trembled seeing my pale, shaking face.
It appeared she might have been wounded emotionally; she’d likely tried so hard to lift my spirits, only to find her efforts met with a thriller-type response. I was in brain freeze, utterly flummoxed. Where on earth did I even start explaining this?
“Why, why do you hate it so much?! Your expression was so weird even though I tried my best!”
“No, I mean, it’s not that. I have the Sexual Desire Suppression on, so—”
“You had that kind of spell on you. No wonder!”
“T-Tower Master, wait, just a second. That’s a really bad idea! Don’t break the spell!!”
Slap.
With a light flick of the Tower Master’s hand, all my Sexual Desire Suppression Magic shattered. Memories flickered through my mind like a panorama: riding on my shoulders, sleeping together, bathing together, the contours of her body I had vividly felt in all five senses—
“Ah.”
“Y-You’ve got a nosebleed!”
“Ughhhh.”
“W-Where’s the t-tissues?!”
To exaggerate by 30%, I thought I was going to die from excessive bleeding.
===============================================================
Was shattering the serious atmosphere really a tradition of the Purple Magic Tower?
After bathing and enjoying a steaming cup of herbal tea, we sat facing each other at the table; poised—after all, it was time for cultured and dignified conversation.
I cast the Sexual Desire Suppression Magic once again. Knowing that double-layering only led to side effects, I opted for a single layer this time.
Slurp.
“The tea is quite fragrant, Mademoiselle.”
“The t-tea tastes quite good, umm… M-Mister?”
“You haven’t even taken a sip yet.”
“…It’s what we always drink!”
Slurp.
After blowing on it and taking a sip, the Tower Master spoke.
“It’s not that I’m hiding anything. But the things I do hide are good for you too.”
“So you’re admitting to the human trafficking allegations against the Purple Magic Tower?”
“That’s not it. At least, ever since I became the Tower Master, buying slaves for experiments has been prohibited. I’ll investigate the village and the Purple Magic Tower. If someone really is gathering people, that person will become a cactus.”
Imagining how she planned to transform someone into a cactus was oddly frightening.
In her eyes, I could see heavy emotions swirling slowly. She truly hated the idea of buying and selling people.
I felt a wave of relief. So the Purple Magic Tower wasn’t a den for human trafficking after all. I eagerly wiped Question No. 2 from my mental whiteboard. I was happy. Now, only Question No. 1 remained: Someone from the Purple Magic Tower or someone impersonating them has been consistently receiving people.
“If the culprit is amongst us, whom do you suspect within the Purple Tower?”
“I don’t want to jump to conclusions. They’re all family. Rather than pointing fingers at someone, I plan to set a trap. There’s a possibility of impersonation, after all.”
“And what if you’re backstabbed and hurt in the process?”
“I’m strong, so I’m fine! I’ll win against anyone!”
There was a hint of coolness in her words filled with certainty. Just how strong must she be to declare, without a shadow of a doubt, that she could triumph? I decided to trust the Tower Master to handle her side of things.
“Now, onto the second matter.”
“Huh?”
“You have an inkling of why my head is strange, don’t you?”
“…Wasn’t it just that your head was always nuts?”
Seeing how she avoided the question made me wonder if it was something I shouldn’t know.
“Yes.”
Her answer was firm. Yet, a glimmer, bright as a star, danced in her gaze. When I continued to stare, the Tower Master blinked slowly like a cat. If we were to interpret it loosely in cat language, it meant we were lifelong partners.
Was she asking me to trust her?
Hmm.
I chose to trust her.
In that spirit, I playfully asked her, “Will you save me even if I don’t do anything?”
“Yep, I will.”
“But why?”
“Because you’re my first friend.”
“…”
“The people at the Purple Magic Tower were scared of me before you arrived. They viewed me as something more distant than a human being. Even though we were in the same tower, they just did their own thing. I, too, deliberately chose not to approach them.”
“But you were cute even from the first meeting.”
“Y-Yeah, thanks to you, we were both able to joke around and share stories.”
“I only remember the research though.”
“Right, about that research. You went around telling everyone sob stories to collect data for sessions. Or, when you gave out ‘One-Time Wish Vouchers’ to scan body data…”
“I struggled retrieving all those! I had a headache making excuses to Senior Scarface, who insisted we do a body swap just once!”
“Are you shy and using this as a diversion?”
“…Yes.”
Friend—she called me a friend.
Yuna said it was thanks to me, but strictly speaking, I was the one receiving help all this time. Even now, I was still relying on her, was I not?
The simulation I’d long desired was already completed. Now, all that was left to do was occasional maintenance and gradual updates while enjoying my TRPG hobby.
I had so much I wanted to show. The essence of TRPG lies in the ability to experience worlds together in a tabletop setting. With the simulation, this could be broadened even further. I could show the ocean to those who had never seen it, provide families to those without one.
If they dreamed of being heroes, I could make them one. If they aspired to be knights, I could grant them strong bodies. A lover for those seeking love. A fierce opponent for those in search of battle.
And slowly charming the prince and princess to obtain a Dragon Heart would be the cherry on top. With almost limitless energy, it might even be possible to establish an enduring ‘server’ like in a fantasy game novel. I could even create an entire Open World.
But those were practically things already achieved.
Thus, that section where I would fill out my life goals remained blank.
Even if I couldn’t repay the kindness tenfold, I wanted to return at least as much as I received. I thought about how it would be nice to be of assistance to Yuna, who had always been there for me.
To keep this thought alive, I wrote it down in the highest corner of my mind, a place that could never sink beneath the surface.
Soon, I would head to the Academy. I would be separated from the Tower Master for a time.
While there, I pondered what I could do to help her. Then it hit me. What a wizard needed most was a larger budget. The more popular the Magic Tower was, the more budget it would receive.
“You’re not having some strange thoughts, are you?”
I should lure the Academy students with some viral Illusion Magic.
Creating wonderful memories for their school days would also be great. After all, my head was brimming with countless ideas for fun events! The Tower of Trials, Hidden Pieces, Tamagotchi-like Illusion Pets, even suspiciously suspicious martial arts manuals.
===============================================================
“Your Highness.”
“Next, I will explain the power dynamics within the Academy. There are two major factions: the Gold Faction and the Rose Insignia Faction. The Gold Faction is centered around the best disciple of the Gold Tower Master, who is a key figure backed by the overwhelming wealth of the Gold Magic Tower—”
“Your Highness!”
“The Rose Insignia Faction is also known as the Nobility Faction, largely consisting of the Duke of White Purity’s only daughter and formed as an Anti-Gold Faction group. Despite lacking financial resources, they hold unique leadership and a large heart—”
“Your Highness!!!”
“Stop interrupting the flow, you crazy wizard! What is it now?”
The Second Prince Irid looked down at me with an irritated expression, even crossing his legs. I was definitely taller than him even while seated—how was he looking down at me? Was this a secret technique of the royal family?
I wore a genuinely curious expression and inquired, “Why do I have to listen to all this?”
“Because someone like you needs to understand the power dynamics of the Academy to avoid stirring up trouble.”
No, that didn’t cut it. This was mere cat curiosity, much like a seven-year-old boy’s infinite barrage of “Why?” until he got proper answers!
Determinedly, I started raining down “Whys.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll be able to fulfill your duties as an Academy professor without being fired if you stir up less trouble.”
“Why?”
“Because only then can we utilize your abilities to bolster overall strength and practical experiences for all students in the Academy.”
“Why?”
“Helping strengthen the Academy’s overall power elevates the Empire’s national power while also solidifying your standing within the Academy.”
“Why?”
“Having a firm position at the Academy ensures long-term employment while allowing you to meticulously monitor and capture any Black Wizard spies lurking within.”
“Wh—wait, seriously, why is that?”
“Because I ordered you to.”
“Ah.”
So, that’s why the conditions sounded so favorable—it wasn’t just a fun excursion to the Academy!
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