Chapter 205
Chapter 205
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: Eloise Arin (2)
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Eloise Arin.
The youngest of the prestigious Eloise family, a girl with a haggard appearance.
“……I.”
Her limbs were as skinny as a starving beggar’s.
It was a wonder she could even walk around.
“Someday, I’ll destroy the Magic Tower. I’ll burn it all down.”
The girl muttered those shocking inner thoughts that anyone who heard them would be appalled by.
Step by step.
She slowly walked across the plaza on the 18th floor of the Magic Tower.
It had been so long since she’d gotten some sunlight.
Her skin was incredibly pale.
Even her unkempt, unwashed hair couldn’t hide her stunning looks.
“Hey, look at that girl. Why’s she so skinny?”
“They’re not starving her somewhere, are they? She’s got a refined look to her…… Wait, hold on! That emblem……?”
“It’s the Eloise family emblem symbolizing flames. Oh…… so she’s that library ghost?”
“Library ghost?”
“Yeah, the one who’s supposedly stuck in the archive and never comes out.”
“Oh, her.”
The crowd buzzed.
Some recognized her, but Arin didn’t care.
She was used to it.
From a young age, huge expectations had been placed on her.
When she took her first steps.
When she learned to speak.
Even when she learned the language left by “Ancient Magic.”
- You’re destined to lead the Eloise family one day.
- You’ll become the Magic Tower Lord, standing above all other families.
- So, work hard. No, working hard isn’t enough. You have to excel. This is a place where only the excellent survive.
Pressure.
Everything was pressure.
But what could she do?
She’d been born into a world that piled pressure on her.
She just tried her best to survive and meet those expectations.
- Hm?
- Is that all you can do?
- Heh, how did the Eloise family end up with such a dullard…….
Those were the words of her first teacher.
For some reason, they sounded like a death sentence to the girl.
She got a rough sense of what kind of life lay ahead for her.
Her teachers kept changing.
From retired old professors to elder-level ones.
Renowned authorities in the magic world visited, but.
- Heh, I don’t think this is working.
- Sorry, but I doubt she’ll even make it into the tower, let alone graduate.
- I’ll stop here. This is as far as I teach.
- Wouldn’t this child’s happiness lie elsewhere?
They all gave up on her one by one.
The world’s biggest dullard.
That’s what every mage called Arin.
- ……Useless girl.
- Shame of the family.
- Go to the Magic Tower. And don’t come back to me until you graduate.
The world was terrifying.
She was just a little less talented than others.
Why did they treat her so cruelly?
It was the same after entering the Magic Tower.
“Hey, hey, that’s the Eloise family idiot.”
“Tsk tsk, so what if she was born with a silver spoon. Her skills are trash.”
“She doesn’t even try.”
“I thought she did try?”
“Nah, she doesn’t. Think about it. No way she’s really talentless, right? With that famous Eloise blood? She just coasted on her status and ended up like this. Who’s to blame?”
Her classmates’ gazes were ice-cold.
“Don’t act like you know me.”
“Don’t embarrass me. Just live like you’re dead. I never had a youngest like you.”
Even her siblings in the family turned their backs on her.
Also.
Grit!
As she kept walking, Arin ground her teeth.
‘Andrew Patrick.’
That detestable bastard.
He bullied her relentlessly for no reason.
And he’d even demoted himself to F-Class just to keep tormenting her.
‘The truth is.’
She’d become the library ghost because of him.
That’s what led her to create a secret room so deep even Patrick couldn’t find it.
“…….”
Arin’s eyes trembled.
Andrew’s bullying was like she was his sworn enemy from a past life.
Neither the professors nor her family.
Could stop it.
No, they didn’t stop it.
Truth be told, for years now.
The world had turned its attention away from her.
So Arin.
Starved herself.
Spent nights and days poring over books.
She’d heard the Magic Tower’s archive was a repository of knowledge from the primordial “Ancient Magic.”
Even Tower Lord Gospelheim hadn’t fully conquered 1% of it.
‘Surely.’
There had to be a way to solve her problems.
“……I.”
Step, step.
The walking girl clenched her fist tight.
‘I’ll raise my power.’
She gripped so hard that blood beaded on her delicate palm.
‘And wipe out the tower.’
A world where only talent mattered.
A world where without ability, you couldn’t even find happiness.
Arin saw that towering tower as the reason such a world existed.
‘If my misfortune…… or the misfortune of those like me…… comes from the tower…….’
Then a tower like that.
Was better off gone.
* * *
The Eloise family’s annual event happened once a year.
Its purpose was unity.
The family head hosted it, gathering family scholars who’d toiled for the year to drink and dance.
‘Ugh, I really don’t want to go…….’
Arin hated this event with a passion.
It made her shiver.
Everyone there looked down on her and scorned her, and who could blame them?
But still.
There was one reason she had to attend.
‘They renew the emblem and hand out allowances.’
It was unique to the Eloise family.
They gave allowances based on yearly grades.
And renewed the emblem symbolizing Eloise with the family head’s magic.
She needed money for magic experiment materials.
And the renewed emblem to access the 22nd floor archive, a privilege of the four great families.
“Oh my, who’s this? Isn’t it our little youngest, Arin?”
“What’re you pretending for? You’re not still thinking of her as same blood as us, are you?”
“Come on. I’m just surprised. How does she keep showing up to these events with that level of skill?”
“Yeah, right. Let’s go in. Don’t want her bad luck rubbing off on us.”
“Bad luck?”
“What else? The kind that makes talent vanish. Heh heh.”
Even now.
Family members spotted her passing by and ignored her.
“…….”
Step, step.
Yet Arin’s expression didn’t change.
She was already.
A master at ignoring that crap.
Literally immune to disdain.
‘Right.’
Just like last year.
Skip the festival.
Grab the emblem and money, then leave.
‘The money’ll be peanuts, though.’
Better than nothing.
She still had to eat to live.
The girl closed her ears and heart as usual.
She used to cry sadly in situations like this.
Now, not even tears came.
Was she immune?
Or had her heart been torn to shreds so much there was nothing left to tear?
Strangely, it didn’t feel sad.
- The Eloise family awards ceremony will begin shortly.
- Esteemed guests, please take your seats.
Before long.
The hired host’s voice announced the start of the event.
Naturally, Arin huddled at the farthest table’s edge.
The ceremony was simple.
The family head appeared, gave a light greeting.
Offered words of exhortation like “work hard.”
Then awarded emblems and money by rank.
- Next, Eloise Elina, promoted to S-Class this year! Please come forward!
Clap clap clap clap!
Tiresome applause and the family head’s personal awarding.
The Eloise family, as one of the four great houses, had money to spare.
So their children received allowances that would make others whistle in envy.
But.
- Now, finally.
- Ahem, Eloise Arin! Please come forward!
Silence.
Not a single clap.
The girl found it curious.
You’d think at least one would pity her……
But this was nobility. This was Eloise.
More ruthless to the talentless than anyone.
“…….”
Biting her lip hard, Arin stepped onto the stage.
She felt the family head’s cold gaze.
“So, I hear you’ve been holed up in the Magic Tower archive lately?”
“……Yes, Family Head.”
The girl bowed her head.
“Family Head…….”
There wasn’t a speck of kindness in the family head’s quiet mutter.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Arin.”
“……Yes, I know.”
“Know what?”
“Last year too, you said you didn’t want rumors of heartlessly abandoning family. That’s why you give the emblem and allowance. I…….”
Blood beaded on her bitten lip.
“Am not Eloise.”
Her blood was Eloise.
But her skills weren’t.
Therefore, she.
Was clearly not Eloise.
That was the family head’s creed.
“Good that you know. That’s enough.”
“…….”
The allowance the family head handed over was shockingly just one gold coin.
Equivalent to ten silver coins.
Barely enough for a month’s living.
“Since you stay in the archive and don’t come out, this should suffice.”
Others got at least two hundred, up to five hundred.
And she got one gold coin.
“……Yes.”
Arin quickly took it.
What mattered to her wasn’t the gold, but the renewed emblem.
“Stay quiet like now. Live like you’re dead.”
“Yes, I’ll keep it in mind.”
Like a beggar.
Her steps descending were.
Incredibly heavy.
* * *
“…….”
Naturally, she skipped the festival.
Emblem in one hand, single gold coin in the other.
Arin, clutching them tightly with her bony fingers, walked the plaza again.
Today’s gold coin.
Would all go toward emergency rations and magic experiment supplies.
‘Let’s go.’
Hurry back.
And read books again.
Overthinking just depressed her.
Only burying herself in the archive and reading chased away these stray thoughts.
‘……Never give up.’
Her sole goal.
Was destroying the tower.
And bringing ruin to the Eloise who scorned her.
And the four great families.
Tap, tap, tap! Tat-tat-tat!
Her steps quickened.
As if hiding her pounding heart, she stared at the ground and walked fast.
Thud!
She bumped into someone.
“Eek!”
Was it because she hadn’t eaten?
Even a light impact choked her breath, and she fell flat on her butt.
“……Who.”
Looking up at the sky, Arin saw.
A black-haired man.
‘What?’
Normally, you’d apologize or get mad.
Do something.
But the man just stood there blankly staring at her.
No, more like lost in some dream?
‘What?’
Weirdo.
Frowning, Arin stood back up.
“Phew.”
She didn’t even have the energy to get angry.
If she were any other Eloise child, this would warrant a huge fuss.
But she lacked the strength.
Or the mood.
“It’s fine. You can go.”
As she resumed walking.
“Wait.”
The man grabbed her wrist.
His grip was so strong she couldn’t pull away.
What’s with this guy.
Snapped out of it?
“Eloise Arin. I need to talk to you.”
“You know me?”
Well, duh.
In the Magic Tower, it’d be rarer not to know her.
The girl let out a faint sigh.
“I have nothing to say to someone I don’t know. So let go of my arm.”
“……Someone you don’t know.”
The man grinned.
“I’m your supervising professor. Heard of me? The new prof who just started. Shall we have that meeting?”