Chapter 39
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: The Tower Lord's Trial
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I pushed the students completely to the rear and found myself a quiet spot.
The stars of this battle were those mages, not me or the students.
From the envious glances the students kept stealing at the mages beside me, it was clear they lacked the ability to join in.
I sometimes forgot, but students were just students.
If I overlooked that and threw them into the fray, it would end in disaster.
‘Even Elin would crumble easily without the front line holding.’
So this was field observation for the future.
Nothing more than a “look and learn.”
‘Even if it weren’t for that…….’
My gaze turned to the Tower Lord, who was at the forefront, pushing back the front line.
An elderly mage, who should be weary in her later years, was unleashing a ferocious aura.
The kindly grandmother who had smiled gently just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.
In her place stood a ruthless mage, leading the charge to freeze the magic beasts to death.
The Tower Lord needed to end this crisis with her own hands, no matter the sacrifice.
She was the ultimate overseer of everything that happened in the tower.
Even if it was an act of God, that responsibility didn’t vanish.
‘With great responsibility comes great authority…….’
But as the price, failure to shoulder it could shake her position.
Especially with so many eyeing the Tower Lord seat.
‘That’s why I can’t intervene.’
This was her chance to re-prove her qualifications.
It wasn’t just my issue; the Tower Lord wouldn’t welcome my participation for the same reason.
If I swooped in and resolved it, she’d lose her shot at proving herself forever.
Eventually, she’d have to step down under pressure.
“That won’t do.”
She was still reasonable enough, so I had to let her keep the seat for now.
Truth be told, if there were no issues on my end, I’d have just observed from afar.
Precisely, training Elin in this low-risk zone—that was my intended limit.
That would’ve been the perfect minimal interference: the tower scrambling to fix the problem under my pressure while preparing for the tunnels, and it would’ve painted a fine picture.
‘If not for that one exception, that would’ve been plenty.’
Pushing to the heart of the contamination wasn’t in the original plan.
Even in the source material, the tower had the ability to handle it themselves, though delayed.
They prioritized security over purification, but according to the setting notes, another week would’ve done it.
The tunnels would’ve burst before then and doomed them, but now, with no security concerns, resolution was straightforward.
Yes, if not for the botany professor’s involvement.
‘Otherwise, they’d fail.’
“Wow…….”
I turned at someone’s exclamation.
The tower’s mages.
White robes billowing as they froze everything in sight.
At the contamination’s core, the magic beasts twisted into grotesque threats, so they compromised by freezing those burrowing underground.
The violet earth turned white in an instant.
Frost crackled with the snap of breaking ice, only for new layers to coat over.
Advancing like that left no grass blade or lifeform unscathed.
The frozen ground repelled life as much as the violet earth did.
“As expected of the Snowfield Magic Tower…….”
One student let out an awed murmur.
Layered frost turned to ice sheets, freezing the land solid.
When thick snow piled atop, the violet vanished, leaving a pure snowfield.
Hundreds of mages unleashing massive-scale magic in unison.
Impressive to young students, no doubt.
Even Elin stared, transfixed—no further explanation needed.
I, on the other hand, was unimpressed.
‘Still not showing?’
It was about time……
I closed my eyes.
I didn’t want a new Tower Lord either.
That’s why I’d deliberately held back.
My eyes shifted to Isel.
She noticed my gaze and fidgeted, but what caught my eye was the sword she held.
‘Enchanted blade.’
Overkill as compensation for the lab accident.
Isel might be purely thrilled, but a tower-certified sword wasn’t handed out lightly.
‘Wants to build ties with me, huh.’
Sitting as professor didn’t mean I’d be one forever.
At core, I was an asymmetric strategic weapon roaming the borders, drawing protest letters the moment I stirred.
A treasured national blade that could sweep magic beasts solo in seconds, cherished by the state.
Reasons abounded, but a master’s movement counted as military action.
Reality meant even immense power couldn’t run wild freely.
So, even if I renewed my professorship, I figured I’d return to major duties eventually.
Thus, ties with me clearly benefited the Tower Lord.
Her position unstable, Isel’s sword-breaking sulk as an excuse, and compensation as a perfect pretext……
‘Asking me to watch favorably.’
Handing Isel that pricey thing was meant in that vein.
She’d probably give Elin something similar. Other students…… something suitable.
‘Received a gift, so I owe a favor in return.’
In the distance, the tower mages steadily advanced the front.
Hail-laced snowstorms filled the violet land, leaving even the fiercest beasts helpless.
Aerial predators waiting to snatch were battered down by raging blizzards; burrowing earth dragons froze solid, unable to pierce layered frost.
Rampaging beasts baring claws and fangs fared no better.
No matter their hideous forms or massive sizes, the moment they neared a mage, merciless cold rimed their bodies.
They ended as frozen statues, totems showcasing the mages’ magical might.
Naturally, the students saw the tower mages anew.
One figure earned a reevaluation……
The students all turned to Aiden, slouched indifferently.
Radia too, but the professor felt nothing still.
Even after this spectacle!
The students whispered among themselves.
Too many incidents to ignore: him dismissing the tower mages outright, openly chiding even the Tower Lord.
All in public.
“Maybe he’s actually amazing?”
“He’s a master. Just looking at historic masters’ feats in the records…… they waged wars solo…….”
“That guy?”
One phrase pierced the students’ doubts.
That guy?
Pale white skin, golden-blonde hair shimmering with light, sharp eyes and twin ice-blue jewels for irises.
Tall stature and broad shoulders suited a model more than a master.
But the real mystery: he didn’t look strong at all.
Not bottomlessly profound, but like a leisurely idler.
The history buff couldn’t tear eyes away, then shook his head.
“…History’s exaggerated, right? You know?”
“Could be.”
“I can hear all of you.”
The agreeing students yelped and fell silent.
Radia eyed them pitifully, then took in Professor Aiden.
Bored with the world.
Fleeting sparks of interest faded like a stomped cigarette butt.
‘Not hard to understand.’
Intellectually, they knew it was the tip of the iceberg, but unable to see beneath, they mistook the surface for all.
A little thought revealed his greatness easily.
And what’s easily known is easily forgotten.
‘Why would someone like that take interest in me?’
He’d told her to choose.
But what choice was that?
‘No clue.’
Radia watched as sudden vitality lit Aiden’s face.
Fresh emotion, absorbed like beholding elegant art.
Deeply ominous.
What could captivate him in this barren hell?
As Radia faltered at the discord—
Chaos erupted among the frontline mages.
The storm consuming violet earth halted; frost advanced no further.
Before the stalled mages, the ground crust flipped slowly.
Frost fixed to the earth shattered; thin icy sheets flew high.
Vibrations reached even afar as frozen soil crumbled, cracks splitting to reveal something thrusting out.
It looked like……
An arm.
One woven from charred deadwood branches.
Vast at several meters alone, yet not all—bracing the ground, it heaved up a body.
A colossal shadow from an immense frame.
─GRRRRRRRRRRAAAAA
With a guttural belch, the risen behemoth loomed dozens of meters tall.
“What?”
Radia denied the sight unconsciously.
Others fared no better.
Radia reeled as common sense shattered like tofu.
No other way to describe it.
What the hell……
‘What the hell is that?!’
Panic spread instantly.
Terror encroached, chills wracked bodies.
Students shrieked in shock.
The tower mages facing it closest suffered worse.
But the Tower Lord hastily raised an ice wall forward.
Crystalline, gem-hard ice sprouted everywhere.
Rising as a line from the ground, concentrated and crisscrossing.
Then it shattered into countless shards.
Glittering glass-crystals, exquisitely beautiful.
If not laced with blood.
It might have stayed beautiful.
BOOM!
Right after the violet-earth-born titan swung its massive arm at the mages—
An explosion followed, students rejecting the scene.
Those ice crystals had looked sturdy from afar.
Up close, utterly reliable……
‘Gasp…….’
Radia swallowed, staring in disbelief.
The struck zone held many mages.
Please, no casualties—the promising ones must’ve devised something new.
The waiting students prayed for the mages’ safety.
But contrary to hopes, something collapsed with a roar in their ears.
The titan’s trailing arm whipped again—KABOOM!
Crystals crumbled, snow billowing upward.
Dense snow-fog obscured vision, clearing to reveal scattered craters and bodies.
Panic, screams, chaos, disorganized rout, wild magic barrages.
As spells pelted the titan uselessly, it seemed to mock with bodily gestures in lieu of a face.
Radia crumpled, face tear-streaked.
“What the hell is this?”
Students trembling as shattered beliefs failed turned to Aiden.