Magic Tower.
The undisputed best magic research institution and the forefront of human knowledge.
Geniuses on the level of Yulia are plentiful within the Magic Tower.
Every day, new magic is developed, improved, and then disappears.
Moreover, anything deemed useful in applied magic such as mana stones or magical tools is adopted without hesitation.
Those who live in the Magic Tower have no pride to speak of.
All value judgments are based solely on whether it aids in magic research.
Authoritarianism was completely discarded long ago.
Here, everything is evaluated and priced by skill and results.
Those who have visited the tower even once describe it as being filled with emotionless monsters.
Gulp “Just look at this bleak appearance…”
This is my second visit… or maybe my third?
Considering I’ve gone through this 12 times, it’s not a small number of visits.
I rarely had reasons to stop by the Magic Tower.
There’s no fortuitous event and no exceptionally strong individuals called ‘superhumans’ here.
There was no particular benefit to enticing these crazy folks who find the utmost pleasure in locking themselves in their rooms for nights on end for research.
“The White Magic Tower Master, huh…”
There are four types of Magic Towers.
Red Magic Tower, Blue Magic Tower, Black Magic Tower, and then White Magic Tower.
There’s not much significance to their names.
They are simply named based on the color of their outer walls.
The Master of each Tower holds complete authority over it.
Among them, the Master of the White Magic Tower…
It’s rare for internal matters to leak out, but the White Magic Tower is notoriously shrouded in mystery even considering that.
The research themes are unclear.
The number of researchers is the smallest among the four towers.
Yet, the research funding is the highest every year…
Strangely, despite the limited information, investments keep coming in from somewhere.
Even within the same Magic Tower, they’re putting in substantial funds into the White Magic Tower.
Outwardly, it appears that the White Magic Tower has the least prestige, but thinking about how money flows, it’s bizarre that the White Magic Tower is positioned at the top among the towers.
Rumor has it, half-jokingly, that the White Magic Tower is developing magic to annihilate the world.
Of course, that’s not true.
If it were, the other Masters wouldn’t just sit idly by.
It’s a well-known fact that Tower Masters place spies in each other’s Towers to gather information.
“Wow… So this is the White Magic Tower…”
Wow…
Crossing the mountain reveals the high cylindrical White Tower below the ridge.
Seeing its grandeur, Mi Jeong and the Nameless one gasp in admiration.
Not far off, one can also see the Red Magic Tower, Blue Magic Tower, and Black Magic Tower.
Although there’s a competitive atmosphere, there’s also a lot of interaction among them due to their closely connected roads.
‘What should I say? I’d prefer not to mention Alicia’s name if I can help it.’
After all sorts of antics, Alicia finally returned to Yerina’s side.
If I drop Alicia’s name here, it’d be all for nothing.
So, I’d like to avoid mentioning Alicia’s name and meet the White Magic Tower Master if possible…but…
That seems unlikely.
“Are you here to meet the Tower Master?”
“Yes. May I ask—”
“I’ll take you there.”
“…?”
However, the moment I reached the entrance.
A robust magician wrapped in robes stepped forward to guide me.
The front doors creaked open, revealing a long corridor clad in marble.
“Won’t you come in?”
“…I will.”
Without asking or questioning, the magician boldly strides ahead.
He turns back, shrugging his shoulders as we just stood there like dummies.
We collect ourselves and follow behind him.
“How did you know we came to see the Tower Master?”
“I didn’t know. The Tower Master ordered me to let you in, and I’m simply following orders. Please enter. This is an elevator, you see—”
“I know. It’s not exclusive to the Magic Tower.”
“Oh, really? It seems like it was invented just recently… when was it? Definitely during the empire’s height…”
“The elevator was invented 20 years ago.”
“Oh! Has it already been 20 years? I guess it has spread quite a bit….”
He mutters to himself, then suddenly claps his hands in realization as if he finally figured it out.
Judging by how he confused 20 years with recent times, it seems he has lost a lot of track of time.
His eyes are dull and devoid of life.
This guy… isn’t he Luna’s puppet?
“…What are you doing?”
“Pardon me. It’s become a habit to sense people’s heartbeats.”
Before I realized it, I placed my hand on his chest to gauge the sound of his heartbeat and the flow of demonic energy.
Completely normal.
As with Yulia, it seems those who are obsessed with magic default to this state.
“By the way, an official notice just came down. Everyone entering the tower must have their heartbeats checked. If there’s no heartbeat, they will be immediately arrested and sent to the Holy See…”
“Hm, hm. Nothing stands out.”
It seems measures against Luna have become widespread and institutionalized even in the Magic Tower.
After all, the impact of Cardinal Nicholas was quite significant.
If Luna sets her mind to it, she can impersonate a king or emperor and create havoc.
Since it’s a straightforward method requiring only a heartbeat check, Luna won’t easily be able to create puppets of high-ranking officials.
“But, by any chance… Are you the offspring of the Tower Master?”
“Yes?”
“Oh, no. My mistake. The Tower Master doesn’t usually receive many visitors, so I thought…”
It seems he mistook Mi Jeong and me as the Tower Master’s children.
However, for some reason, Mi Jeong puffs her cheeks a bit in slight sulkiness, getting even closer to me and taking my hand.
A cold sensation spreads between my fingers.
“This is the Tower Master’s study. You may enter without knocking. When leaving, just press the arrow button on that elevator and you’ll arrive shortly. When the door opens, press the button marked 1—”
“I know. I get it. Please go back to your own research without worry.”
“Oh. How did you know I was going to my research… Anyway, it was nice to meet you.”
He gave a quick and awkward bow before disappearing quickly.
It’s a given.
Among the magicians living in the Magic Tower, the only one who stops researching is a dead magician.
‘That was surprisingly easy to get here.’
I had heard that the White Magic Tower Master already knows I’ve come to see him.
Alicia wouldn’t have dropped a hint beforehand.
Or does he use some sort of magic to read minds…?
Feeling a bit tense, I grasp the doorknob and step inside.
Inside are machines I can’t recognize and huge mana stones or resembling monuments strewn about one side.
On the other side, books are messily piled up, and after digging through for a while, I finally spot an old man sitting comfortably in an armchair, wearing an eye patch.
Somehow, this old man feels oddly familiar.
“Wow, that sure took a long time. I almost dozed off. Maybe I need to change this old, slow elevator for a new one.”
“You are…”
“Hm? Have we met? That can’t be but… I haven’t left this Magic Tower in over ten years.”
The moment he removes his eye patch and shows his face, memories flood back.
This old man.
In my second playthrough.
He was the one who taught me magic for the first time.
“Why do you keep staring at me? Sit down, will you? It’s been a while since a precious guest came by.”
“Did you know I would come to find you?”
“I did. If someone like you isn’t coming to find me, there’s no reason to come to the Tower.”
“…”
His answers are infuriatingly ambiguous, and he sneaks away without saying much.
He sits in front of a shabby wooden table and pours me some oolong tea.
As I watch him, once again I’m engulfed by a sense of familiarity.
I’m sure of it.
That precise manner of pouring tea.
This grandpa is definitely the same old man I met in the second playthrough.
But I never would have guessed that he was the Master of the White Magic Tower.
‘What’s his true identity?’
There are so many suspicious aspects.
Setting aside how such a remarkable man pretended to be a homeless magician in a back alley during my second playthrough,
The biggest question is, why did he only appear in the second playthrough?
From the third playthrough to the twelfth, I went to the same place on the same day countless times in search of him.
But never once did I lay eyes on him, let alone find any trace of him.
As if he were a ghost.
It’s as if someone noticed my regression and inserted this grandpa only during the second playthrough.
Unless it’s the case that this grandpa somehow detected my regression…
‘That can’t be.’
That’s absurd.
Even if the system malfunctioned and the main heroines remembered previous playthroughs in a cataclysmic accident,
There is a certain consistency even within that error.
A verifiable basis.
And that is indeed one of the abilities provided by the system called ‘Relationship Chart.’
[Relationship Chart]
[Jill Diner: Blahblahblah… lengthy description…]
[Yulia Petenburg: Blahblahblah… lengthy description…]
[Yerina Frost: Blahblahblah… lengthy description…]
[Tay: short description…]
Just looking at this stands out glaringly.
The relationship charts for the main heroines like Jill, Yulia, and Yerina are ridiculously long while Tay’s is brief.
Not just Tay, but with Cornelia, Alicia, Mia, and others who aren’t main heroines, their charts are all short.
My conclusion is as follows.
Because the memories from previous playthroughs are carried over and blend with the relationship charts from those playthroughs, only the main heroines end up with such absurdly long charts.
In contrast.
What about this recently added old man’s relationship chart?
[Temurlen: Short description…]
It’s short.
Only a bit longer than Tay’s.
If he had memories of the second playthrough, it wouldn’t be this short.
Back then, that grandpa taught me magic while treating me quite harshly as if he had a grudge.
It seems he doesn’t remember any previous playthroughs after all.
More likely, he either read my thoughts through magic or foresaw the future, one or the other.
I feel somewhat relieved.
“Bringing two precious beings into my tower makes me uncomfortable… But you must have come with a request.”
The old man glances at Mi Jeong and me around the neck area.
While I can’t help but accept that Mi Jeong being a blood ghoul is now evident.
I’m surprised he even picked up on the nameless one trembling underneath my clothes, brushing against my collarbone with fine hair.
It may be meaningless to conceal anything in front of this old man.
“That’s correct.”
“Did you hear about it from Alicia?”
“That’s correct. I heard you’re an expert when it comes to human memory…”
“Ha ha ha ha!”
Suddenly, the old man bursts into hearty laughter.
He scratches his beard for a moment, then gazes at me with brilliant eyes.
“That child still doesn’t know me well enough. Memory? That trivial matter is not my specialty. The subject I, along with the White Magic Tower, delve into… is none other than the soul.”
Something seems off about the old man’s focus as he speaks.
It’s as if he’s peering into something inside me rather than at me.
