Chapter 122: A Rather Plain Name
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122: A Rather Plain Name
“Hmm, what should I do about this?”
Ravi Sateria, guilty of a serious crime (attempted). A spectacular show of a prostrate apology.
“Ravi, you look quite comfortable.”
“W-well, what else am I supposed to do?! This is the default for a cat!”
She had dropped into a dogeza to beg for forgiveness, but since she was a cat, it didn't look much different from her usual self. In fact, she looked incredibly relaxed. Meanwhile, Lady Renart Lymain was watching her with great interest.
“I’m sorry...! I just wanted to go to Roanmarie so badly...!”
To be fair, she hadn't actually done anything wrong yet. Besides, the Teleportation Gateway didn't work that simply. It wasn't as if you could just hurl yourself in and expect to be teleported to Roanmarie.
Weight and volume had to be properly calibrated, and adjustments were needed on the receiving platform at the other end. The other side was only prepared to receive two people; if Ravi had pushed her way into the active Gateway as planned, she might have been flung off to some random location on the surface.
“Ravi Sateria, was it? Come here.”
“Yes...? Ah, where to...?”
“Onto my lap.”
Thanks to the influence of our VIP, Lady Renart, the three of us were in the Gateway waiting room together. Ravi had been on top of the table, performing her apology in a very cat-tasticly comfortable—no, purr-fectly relaxed—position.
When the Lady pulled her chair back slightly and opened her arms, Ravi cautiously hopped down onto her lap. Even though she had become a cat through a skill, Ravi still wasn't capable of those agile, cat-like movements.
She carefully stretched out her front paws and settled onto the Lady’s lap. Renart then brought her arms together and gave Ravi a warm squeeze.
“What does it matter if a cat plays a little prank? You said you wanted to go to Roanmarie?”
“Yes, yes!!”
After skillfully cradling the feline Ravi in her arms, Lady Renart turned her chair to face me.
“Aven, what is your relationship with Miss Ravi?”
“Ravi is the appraiser who looks over my skills. She was also the first one to appraise the skills I have.”
“Hmm? So she isn't an explorer?”
“Haha... No, she isn't.”
Cradled in the Lady’s arms, Ravi stayed still, not even letting out a meow. She was being held belly-up while her chin was being scratched vigorously; I could see the sheer panic in her eyes.
“And how did you come by such a skill?”
“T-that’s because I was curious about the Labyrinth...”
The Lady asked while stroking Ravi’s brow with her thumb. It was almost unheard of for an ordinary appraiser to enter a Labyrinth alone. It was even rarer for one to enter frequently enough to acquire a skill. Of course, in Ravi’s case, she had just been unlucky enough to get stuck with it despite spending very little time inside.
“Well, fine. Can you not return to human form right now?”
“A-ah, no! I probably can...”
“Probably?”
“I’m not very proficient with transformation magic yet...”
Still, she was much better than before. She said she succeeded about eight times out of ten now, which was a massive improvement.
The Trasforma she had successfully performed in front of me was actually her first time succeeding with transformation magic. Currently, Ravi’s cat form was her default, and her human form was the transformed state.
Because she had left all the clothes she was wearing inside the Labyrinth when she first gained the skill, she had unintentionally ended up naked back then. This time, however, since she was transforming after having put on clothes, she would still be dressed even if she used Trasforma to become human.
“Very well. If you want it that much, I shall take you along.”
“R-really?!”
“Originally, three of my servants were supposed to board along with Aven and myself. Leaving one behind won't be an issue.”
“Ugh... Then I feel so bad...”
“Oh, Mother. You’re right. We’d feel too guilty, so let’s just leave Ravi behind.”
“Y-Yoo Eon?!”
It seemed the Lady was quite the cat lover. Still, to minimize variables, it was better for her to be in human form on the Gateway.
“Trasforma!”
—Vrrr.
With a halo of white light, Ravi’s feline body flashed for a moment.
“Ho.”
“Oh.”
Then, a bright burst.
“I-I did it!”
She was wearing the white sleeveless sundress I had bought her before, along with thin slippers. The Lady looked Ravi—now human—up and down, her eyes narrowing slightly. Intimidated by her aura, Ravi shrunk back, looking down and stroking her own arm.
“Is... is my outfit too disrespectful?”
“Hmm.”
The Lady remained silent for a while before looking at me and speaking.
“Aven, is she not a minor?”
“Ah.”
* * *
Surprisingly, it had been two years since Ravi’s coming-of-age ceremony. In this world, the 17th birthday marked that ceremony, which meant Ravi was currently 19 years old. By Korean standards, she was fully an adult.
“Truly... with this body?”
At the question that felt like it was asking, 'Are you really claiming to be an adult with that physique?' Ravi pouted, looking utterly dejected.
“I’m sorry for being so tiny...”
“No, no. I didn't mean it like that. I meant... you’re so petite and charming.”
“Okay...”
Regardless, it was a relief that she was being allowed to go to Roanmarie. We left behind the minor incident of some poor soul in Calax, who had been scheduled for a business trip to Roanmarie but was bumped by a last-minute bidder, likely wailing in gratitude toward Ravi for the unexpected time off.
“Commencing operation!”
Bzzzt—
Along with the short sound of an electronic short circuit.
—Eeeee...
Tinnitus rang in my ears as if I’d been hit by a flashbang, and the world turned white.
Instinctively, I reached out to catch Ravi, thinking she might fall, but since she was small and her dress was sleeveless, I ended up grabbing her bare neck.
“Ack... Yoo Eon...”
“Oops.”
The Lady, seemingly unfazed, simply closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and immediately started moving. After doing a quick fix on my own eyes and ears which were still reeling from the flashbang effect, I picked up Ravi, who was sprawled on the floor.
“Ravi, are you okay?”
“I-I can’t see anything!”
“It’ll get better in a moment. Try blinking slowly.”
Since there were others who needed to use the Gateway, we cleared the area first. Unlike the Gateway platform in Calax, this one was located inside a building, so I couldn't tell what the outside was like yet.
“Aven, and Miss Ravi. Follow me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Since her vision hadn't recovered yet, I took Ravi’s left hand as she rubbed her eyes and followed slowly behind Lady Renart.
As we were about to leave the room containing the Gateway’s main platform, someone at the entrance approached us with a pen. The Lady, accustomed to this, casually took the pen from the employee and checked off that the five people, including the Lymains, had arrived without issue.
As we walked down a long hallway, I listened to the Lady speak.
“Once we step outside, we will be in Roanmarie. We plan to stay for two weeks. If you have urgent business, you may pay the fee yourself and return to Calax early. Over the next two weeks, I will have people check if any Gargoyles appear at the auction house. However, Aven, if a bidding war breaks out and the price becomes pointlessly high... unfortunately, we will have to give up.”
“I understand. I’m already so grateful that you’re doing this much for me.”
The basic premise of this trip to Roanmarie wasn't that she was buying a Gargoyle specifically for me, but rather that she was purchasing one as a profitable commodity and would let me have the wings.
If the price rose so high that there was no profit left even after processing and reselling it, there was no reason for her to buy it. Of course, the people actually going to the auction house would be subordinates from the Golden Glove Syndicate.
“Regrettably, I have only secured one lodging. Since you are an unexpected guest, I trust there will be no complaints.”
“Not at all, Mother. I was planning to pay for my own lodging. I can't believe you’ve gone this far for us.”
I had intended to handle it with my own money, but when had she already looked into a place for me to stay in Roanmarie? She was truly reliable.
“Ravi, give her a belly button bow, quick.”
“A belly button bow...?”
“Fold your hands like this. Now, a 90-degree bow.”
“T-thank you so much...!”
The Lady looked quite pleased as she received Ravi’s formal bow. I could see her tail, which usually remained still, swaying ever so slightly.
“Ahem... Yes. It is not a cramped space, so I expect you to coordinate well. I will assign someone to you in case I need to contact you. That is fine, yes?”
The person she was assigning would apparently stay at the lodging. Did she expect that person and me to share a room if Ravi hadn't come along?
“I have no plans yet, but there may be a call, so refrain from staying away from the lodging for long periods.”
“Understood.”
After the long explanation through the hallway, we took the stairs leading to the surface. There weren't any windows around, so I wondered if it was just the nature of the station, but it turned out we were underground.
And so, I saw it—the first city other than Calax in my life in this world. A sanctuary for mages and one of the super-giant Labyrinth cities housing one of the three unconquerable Great Labyrinths.
“So this is... Roanmarie...”
“Woooooah...!!”
Vibrant, colorful buildings were visible through the windows. It was quite different from Calax, which, despite the existence of magic, was dominated by wooden and stone buildings with a medieval feel.
This place was literally a sanctuary for mages. Buildings of various styles that looked like they were straight out of a fairy tale stretched high into the sky, far taller than those in Calax.
“It’s beautiful! So beautiful!”
As soon as we reached the surface and a window came into view, Ravi pressed herself against the glass as if she were about to phase through it. I peeled Ravi’s cheek off the glass and followed the Lady, and then the real Roanmarie finally came into view.
“Whoa.”
The first thing that shocked me was the sky.
I can see that person’s underwear.
There were quite a few people floating and flying in the sky. Living up to its reputation as a sanctuary for mages, it seemed almost everyone knew how to use magic.
On the streets paved with clean stone, brooms were dusting off dirt by themselves, and owls carrying scrolls in their talons soared through the air.
As we stepped to the side, a carriage from the Lymain family was already waiting.
“I have a schedule to keep, so I shall depart. Explore to your heart's content, but return to the lodging before it gets late. I will contact you if there is progress on the Gargoyle purchase.”
“Yes. Thank you, Mother.”
“Thank you so much! Uh... Mother?”
“Why are you calling her Mother, Ravi?”
“T-then what am I supposed to call her?!”
“...Mother. You may call me that.”
In any case, we had arrived.
The home, sanctuary, and heaven of mages. Or... the Seoul of this world. Et cetera.
A place bustling with people, where the development of magic-related technology was the fastest. Magic was woven into every corner of the city, to the point where they said once someone lived in Roanmarie, they could never move to another city.
“This is incredible.”
Far off in the distance, at the northern edge of Roanmarie, stood a massive tower soaring toward the heavens.
Its pointed roof seemed to touch the clouds, and a blue flag fluttered at its very peak.
“That tower is...”
“It’s amazing!! To think I’d see it in person...!”
“Do you know what that is?”
Ravi was so excited she shook her head vigorously as if the answer were obvious.
“Yoo Eon! You don't even know that?! Every mage should know it!”
“I’m not a mage, though.”
With a triumphant expression, Ravi planted her hands on her hips and declared:
“It’s the Great Cathedral of Knowledge that pierces the world! The ‘Mage's Tower’!”
“The Mage's Tower...!”
Huh.
“It’s a rather plain name.”
“Well, everyone just calls it the Magic Tower for short.”
Day 1 in Roanmarie.
Learned of the Magic Tower’s existence.