The Tutorial Begins 05
Hanna watched the wooden sliding door open on its own with open fascination. While her translucent drone darted about, filming everything from the automatic door to the Magic Tower Branch lobby packed with all manner of magical tools, I headed straight for the counter.
For a Magic Tower, the first floor looked remarkably similar to the Adventurer's Guild. There was a counter, a beautiful receptionist, and tables full of people who'd come to conduct business. The only real differences were the complete absence of those grimy papers plastered all over a quest board, and the fact that everyone sitting at the tables was quiet.
"What brings you here today?"
Sitting behind the counter was, once again, a blonde beauty with blue eyes. Whether the higher-ups at both the adventurer and mage guilds had a blonde fetish, or the game company had simply recycled NPC models, I honestly couldn't say.
"We've come to test for magical aptitude."
"I see. Is it for her?"
"Yes. Please process the application."
Apparently she already knew my face, because her eyes went straight past me to Hanna. All those trips back and forth on commission work were paying off in convenience, at least. I slid a single gold coin across the counter, and she immediately started scribbling something down.
Hanna must have caught the gold coin and paperwork exchange on camera, because she came rushing over in a hurry.
"Uh… is the test paid?"
"Yes. You'll need to cover the cost of the reagent used to determine magical aptitude, as well as a gratuity for the mage assisting with the examination."
If Alice at the Adventurer's Guild was the warm, approachable type of beauty, this one was the sharp-eyed, high-handed variety. She answered as if the question itself were absurdly obvious, then tapped a device on the counter that looked rather like a gramophone horn and murmured into it.
"One guest requesting an aptitude test."
At the Adventurer's Guild, you had manure-smelling country bumpkins who couldn't even read the writing on old parchment correctly. Here at the Magic Tower, they were using magical devices that functioned like microphones and speakers. The gap between the two places was staggering.
Hanna seemed to feel it too. Despite the receptionist's unfriendly attitude, her eyes sparkled as she peered at the magical tools behind the counter.
"Please take the stairs over there up to the second floor."
The receptionist addressed the still-starry-eyed Hanna with a soft gesture toward the staircase behind the counter. Whether it felt like a polite dismissal or she was simply burning with the desire to become a mage, Hanna gave a small nod and hurried toward the stairs.
"Um, Roland?"
"Yes?"
"About the… examination fee…"
Hanna, who'd been leading the way up the stairs, gradually slowed her steps and glanced back at me. To an Advanced Adventurer like myself, a gold coin was pocket change for bar snacks. To a Novice Adventurer, it was something you could risk your life for and still never earn. Even without any foundational game knowledge, a big gold coin was bound to feel expensive.
"I'm not going to ask you to pay me back, so don't worry about it."
"A-are you sure? I feel like I'm imposing too much…"
Going into debt thirty minutes into starting a game clearly didn't sit well with her; her expression darkened. I glanced at the drone, which had abandoned the uninteresting staircase to film me instead, and answered with a slight smile.
"If Miss Hanna has the makings of a mage, then this is simply the cost of recruiting talent. And if she doesn't, she can always become an Advanced Adventurer someday and help out novice adventurers the way I am now. Either way, I don't lose anything."
"I see. Thank you."
Accepting her gratitude, I continued up the stairs. What greeted us was a clean hallway lined with neat wooden doors. Only one of them stood open, so there was no question where we needed to go. Walking down the corridor and stepping through the open doorway, we found ourselves in a thoroughly sparse room.
No decorations whatsoever. Just a single desk sitting alone in the center of the empty space, two chairs, a silver tray on the desk, and one bespectacled mage.
"Go on in. I'll wait out here."
"Okay!"
There was only one chair in front of the desk, so I stopped at the doorway and stepped aside to let Hanna through. Standing at the crossroads of whether she could become a mage or not must have made her nervous; she clenched both fists tight, then slipped through the door.
The exact moment she struck that fighting-spirit pose with her fists clenched, the translucent drone framed both of us perfectly. Game skill aside, her streaming instincts were pure pro-level.
A kind senior offering encouragement and a spirited newcomer full of fight — from a viewer's perspective, it was the kind of wholesome image anyone could enjoy without complaint. Anyone who'd attack people for being kind or hardworking was the sort of troll who hated everything in existence.
Hope she makes it as a mage.
A heavily armored knight up front, a mage in the back. Thinking about party balance, I could bring in a scout-type archer and a recovery-type priest, or double down on firepower by adding another mage. Alternatively, I could fall back into a support role based on my beginner-era experience and expand the front line, only stepping in when things got dangerous.
With me in the party as a given, the possible combinations stretched out endlessly.
"W-WAAAHHH—!"
I was still mapping out party compositions in my head when a thunderous scream erupted from behind me. Even knowing nothing dangerous could possibly happen inside the Magic Tower, I startled hard, yanked the door open, and burst inside. How was I supposed to stay calm when the first lead toward escaping this other world I'd found in ten years was screaming?
Of course, nothing dangerous had happened at all.
What I found was a mage staring at Hanna with cool, flat eyes, and Hanna herself with both arms thrown high in celebration — until she saw my face, processed the situation, and looked ready to die of embarrassment.
"…What's going on?"
"Congratulations. Miss Hanna's aptitude as a mage is quite exceptional."
"Ah. I see. Thank you."
"Yes, that concludes the examination. Should you ever wish to walk the path of magic rather than that of an adventurer, please feel free to visit the Magic Tower at any time."
"Um, I, uh… I'm sorry…?"
Only after I politely thanked the mage — who remained thoroughly businesslike whether or not someone was screeching like a dolphin beside him — did Hanna finally catch up to what was happening.
"It's quite all right. I've dealt with more than enough people who couldn't accept having no magical aptitude and caused a scene. A scream of joy is positively charming by comparison."
Realizing she'd essentially become the magical equivalent of a difficult customer at a local government office, Hanna's cheeks flushed bright red. Her eyes darted sideways and her lips twitched — she was clearly getting an earful from her viewers.
The Magic Tower's mages were notorious for being prickly, yet this one had let it go with a single look. That level of kindness had to be thanks to Hanna's looks. Leaving the mage's faintly regretful invitation behind us, Hanna — cheeks still burning — practically flew down the stairs and straight out of the Magic Tower Branch.
"People with magical aptitude have two paths open to them."
"…Two paths?"
I caught up with her, naturally matching her pace so the camera drone could frame us together, and began explaining gently to the girl whose face was still bright red.
"The first is joining the Magic Tower, just as that mage suggested. You'd undergo more detailed testing to pinpoint your exact aptitude, then enter the tutelage of a mage suited to your talents. It's similar to the relationship between a knight and their squire, or a blacksmith and their apprentice."
"Then the second would be becoming an adventurer?"
"Exactly. The other option is to become an adventurer. You hone your skills through real combat in the Tower rather than a research lab, and any magical knowledge you lack, you purchase from the Magic Tower with the money you earn adventuring. From the Tower's perspective, they're happy either way — if you join them, great; if you don't, they've gained a premium customer."
Someone with outstanding magical aptitude would inevitably become a Magic Tower VIP client through sheer speed of growth, even without joining. Conversely, someone without much aptitude would just end up as Office Slave Number One if they joined the Tower, and wouldn't have much purchasing power as an adventurer either.
The reason they so readily let talented people walk away was pure financial interest. For an institution supposedly devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, the Magic Tower operated like an organization that chased profit down to its very bones.
"So, Miss Hanna — what will you do?"
"Huh? …Oh, adventurer, of course. That's why I came to this city!"
She fanned her cheeks with her hand to cool them, then looked my way with a small smile. Well, knowing she was a streamer, it wasn't even a question worth asking. She smiled at the obvious question, then spoke up again.
"And maybe you should drop the formal speech…? You are my senior, after all!"
She held out her hand.
"Sure. Got it."
A handshake, then? The moment I took her hand, a message window appeared before my eyes.
Form a party by joining forces with streamer Han Sea
1/1 ※ CLEAR
Access privileges to streamer Han Sea's broadcast channel
Broadcast channel access… What is that supposed to mean?