Tower of Observation (4)
Tower of Observation (4)
"As I mentioned, I primarily use Observation with an emphasis on foresight. That's because my unique ability is of the foresight type, and I have a high level of proficiency in astrology."
Ast, who had fainted and regained consciousness, continued with an explanation I hadn't heard before.
"By deploying observatories to increase the Authority's efficiency, I can achieve a degree of future foresight... but it's nothing more than glimpsing possibilities."
Seeing the future doesn't guarantee it will come true.
Bifurcation points arise depending on choices. The future Ast sees is merely one possibility.
That's why she ran the simulations repeatedly.
"To examine future situations and enemy information... So I excluded the interference of the Tower Masters, myself included, and the Savior."
The drain on the other Tower Masters was already substantial.
So she had deliberately not included our side's Tower Masters. It was a choice that also accounted for the possibility of the enemy remembering parts of the simulation.
"To be honest, I didn't have detailed information about the Savior."
[Back then, I hadn't even been born.]
"Yes... Observing someone who hadn't yet been born would have reduced accuracy, and I didn't include you in the observation in the first place. Even so, I did prepare based on some extrapolated content."
She observed vast possibilities and accumulated future intelligence. She built up numerous arrangements based on knowledge that was easily decades ahead.
While maintaining the world—Siyoram, the Association, the observatories—she established groups that would aid me later and also put direct arrangements in place for me.
Among those arrangements were my guardians.
'That means Professor Liana and Master.'
Professor Liana was invited as a new professor for the Ipchun Class, my class, the year I enrolled.
Master came in as the designated professor for special admission cadets.
"Because by the time you were summoned, Savior, we would have been in seclusion... I considered fairly complex conditions to narrow down the candidates..."
[Complex conditions?]
"I thought of the Hero Liana for spirit affinity... And the Hero Atra... for fundamental combat skills..."
Of course, she said she considered good character first.
I nodded at Ast's added remark.
I'd already heard the circumstances from Ariel, but hearing it in detail from the one who performed the observation made it clearer.
'Master did drill me harshly just days after we met, but...'
That was when she was sensitive about the issue with Senior Daera, and she gave the training diligently without any personal feelings.
If I hadn't happened to meet Ellia and Yeon-hwa, I probably would have met Professor Liana and Master first.
There were other small arrangements as well.
After the incident with Lee Ha-sol. The story that the Association, having identified my identity, had guarded me from afar without interference.
The story that they negotiated with the Tower Faith to control information so I wouldn't attract unnecessary attention...
'Ah, so that's why Yeon-hwa didn't know about my orphanage situation at first.'
Thanks to Lee Ha-sol's awakening, the orphanage received ample support, and I was treated with great care.
Neither I nor those around me knew that fact, because the Association and the Tower Faith censored it from the very beginning to prevent any undue attention.
'The Vice Headmaster sometimes came to check on me, too.'
That was something I realized last time while sifting through past memories. The Vice Headmaster came periodically to look after me.
From my time at the orphanage, and even after this body of mine went off and became independent.
She even came the day I first arrived in this world.
- No, no! What on earth...!?
When the rampage of Spatial Perception (the Authority of Space and Observation) made me flop like a fish until I finally passed out.
The Vice Headmaster, who had come rushing over in a fluster, helped me regulate my spatial perception.
In many ways, I'd been managed from places I didn't know.
"...The problem lay in the latter part of the simulations, though."
There was one miscalculation in the simulations that had brought many benefits. It was the fact that this body of mine, which hadn't even been included in the observation, had faintly developed a sense of self.
Dark clouds gathered on Ast's expression.
"That... it's really— uub?"
[Have a cookie.]
The moment she showed signs of digging a hole for herself, I quickly popped a cookie into her mouth.
Ast blinked and then chewed the cookie. I poured milk into an empty glass and slid it gently toward her.
Ast, whose throat had been clogged, picked up the milk glass, then suddenly turned bright red and quietly set it back down.
"......."
[.......]
At her truly profound reaction, I closed my mouth tight as well.
The mood we'd barely managed to steady with official talk had turned strange again.
Ticklish and somewhat...
"...Huu."
Ast, who had been studiously looking into the distance, cast her eyes downward.
Then she looked at the milk glass she was cupping with both hands, and her shoulders trembled slightly, as if some thought had crossed her mind.
[You said... the future doesn't necessarily come true...?]
"Huh!? Yes, y-yes..."
When the conversation entered a personal realm, Ast broke down again.
Her shoulders and hair rattled like a broken machine. The ample chest that rose and fell, bobbing into my observation range...
"...Eep."
[Gaah!]
No, this was an act of nature.
I definitely wasn't trying to observe. As if sensing my gaze, a flush deepened across Ast's face and neck.
[Ahem, now that the official business is over, this is fine.]
"What? Huh?"
Seeing that she was on the verge of another shutdown (fainting), I kicked my chair back and stood up.
Leaving Ast, who gave a startled flinch as if spooked, I began pulling cookie boxes out of subspace one by one.
Ast's gaze had been questioning at the first two or so, but as the boxes piled up, her mouth slowly fell open.
"C-cookies, why are there so many...?"
[I made a lot to give you.]
"What? How did you know I like cookies... Ah."
I'd asked Lady Gracia before coming.
Realizing that, Ast let her question trail off. I stacked the last box and smiled brightly.
[I made several types and flavors so you could eat a lot. It should be enough to last until the next time I send you some.]
"This much seems hard for one person to finish..."
Ast murmured in bewilderment as she stroked the mountain of cookie boxes. Then, she finally let out a small laugh and looked back at me.
"...Still, really... thank you. For giving me a gift like this..."
[If the price for receiving an Authority is cookies, I can pile them up like a castle for you.]
"Are we exchanging an Authority for cookies?"
Ast chuckled, covering her mouth.
At her quite natural smile, I grinned back and waved a hand.
The Authority of Knowledge manifested. A book flew up from my fingertips, its pages fluttering open, and it sucked in the cookie boxes, storing them.
[Just in case, I'll store them in the Authority of Knowledge. You can take them out whenever you need.]
"Cookie storage via the Authority of Knowledge... It feels too luxurious."
Ast giggled as she hugged the book she'd received.
Though she blushed again at the drinks I also took out... and the carton of milk.
I gently pressed Ast's back as she started having strange thoughts again, guiding her to sit on the sofa.
[There, there, now sit here.]
"Yes, ah, aah..."
Unable to resist my insistence, Ast flopped down onto the sofa.
I sat down beside her, keeping a respectful distance. Even Ast, who had been fidgeting, gradually relaxed as time passed.
I tilted my head back slightly.
My eyes were closed, but the night sky projected through Observation. Following my gaze upward, Ast's eyes sparkled for an instant with starlight.
[I heard you like stars, Ast.]
"Yes, I've always loved them since I was young."
At the mention of her favorite subject, Ast, who had been gazing up at the starlight, answered in a clearer voice.
"Did you... like the night sky or stars, Savior?"
[I used to see them sometimes in my previous world.]
When I became a shut-in and turned nocturnal, I ended up seeing them whether I wanted to or not.
When my head was throbbing, there was a certain fun in staring blankly and picking out the stars.
[But if I kept watching, they'd get a little scary, so I only looked for a short time.]
"Ah... yes... I know that feeling too."
Ast hesitated for a moment, then smiled and nodded, her lips slowly parting.
"Still, I loved the night sky. The way it glows so brightly against the darkness is really beautiful. Even if I can only ever see them with my eyes and never reach out and grab them, I liked that in its own way."
[Meteors fall sometimes, though.]
"...That's different."
Ast shot me a sidelong glance and gave a tiny pout. Soon after, using telekinesis, she pulled a few books from her shelf and handed them to me.
"These are books I wrote about astrology. Astrology has so many schools and interpretations... it's essentially a research compendium of astrology written in my own style."
[Wow, thank you.]
A book personally written by the Tower Master of Observation herself. I hugged the books tightly with admiration, and Ast let out a small laugh before holding out a stack of papers.
"It's a gift, hoping it might be of some help."
[...Oh.]
I quietly accepted the stack of papers. As Observation processed the contents, an exclamation of admiration involuntarily escaped my necklace.
It was a completely unexpected gift.
"I observed this after my seclusion as well, so the delivery was delayed... I'm sorry."
[Thank you so, so much!]
"Ah, haaak...?!"
My body trembled with gratitude. In the end, I pulled Ast, who was right beside me, into a tight hug to express my joy.
Buried in that soft embrace, I wrapped my arms firmly around her waist. Ast trembled as if she'd been struck by lightning.
"S-Sa-Sa-Savioooor...?!"
[Let's go stargazing together outside sometime.]
"......"
[It won't take that long.]
Three years at most. If it isn't over before then, my lifespan will run out first, anyway.
[We'll go with Ariel, Sierra, Gracia, and also Kkonnim.]
"...That would be... really wonderful..."
Before I knew it, her trembling had subsided. Ast, letting out a tense, unsteady breath, carefully stroked my hair.
I grinned and pulled away from her embrace.
[So just wait a little longer.]
"I won't just wait."
Shaking her head, Ast slowly reached out and brushed my hair.
"Though my body is useless... I'll do my best to help you, even from here."
[It would've been nice if you hadn't said anything at first.]
I pouted at her self-deprecating words, then finally, slowly, I lifted myself from the sofa and stood up.
[Then... see you next time.]
"...Yes."
Ast, who had stood up with me, hesitated before finally smiling.
It was a much softer smile than the one from a few hours ago. Satisfied with that, I activated the Authority of Space.
As a floating sensation rippled through my body, I waved my hand back and forth.
[The title 'Savior' is pretty embarrassing, so next time, please call me Lee Ha-yul if you're comfortable with it.]
My legs lifted off the ground. Just as my body began to blur, Ast, looking at me at eye level, let out a small chuckle.
"Yes... Lee Ha-yul."
[Hehe.]
A bright smile bloomed on my face at the much closer form of address.
Soon, a flash of light burst, and the flow of space swallowed me whole.
* * *
The sparkling light quickly dimmed.
Lee Ha-yul, who had been standing there, vanished without a trace.
His presence, moving from the Tower's inner core to the outskirts... and finally beyond the Tower itself, broke off.
"......"
Ast, who had been standing there blankly, looked around.
The dark night was spread out, as it always was.
Thanks to the starlight pouring down from the sky, it wasn't a world of absolute darkness, but seeing the same scenery for decades was bound to become tiresome, even repulsive.
"Huuuh..."
Ast preferred her home to the outside world.
She preferred resting comfortably at home to roaming about outside.
But paradoxically, Ast had rarely ever rested comfortably.
When she was born, it was already the Chaos Period after the Great Cataclysm, and without any decent background, she survived in the world alone from a young age.
She grew strong, but the world was still in chaos, still overflowing with danger.
Swept along by the era, she rose to become the Tower Master of Observation, but the moment she became a Tower Master, she observed the Outer-realm Tower Master and once again lost any chance to rest.
She had rushed around frantically preparing for the invasion, and then decades ago, she had shut herself away in the Tower as if holing up.
A place where she could spend time alone, in silence.
It was similar to the place she had longed for, but Ast couldn't rest at all.
She was afraid the preparations wouldn't be enough.
Alone in the Tower, she was terrified of being useless, preparing even one more thing. On days she made a mistake, the self-loathing made her wish she were dead.
It was a position far too great for someone like Ast.
[But if I kept watching, they'd get a little scary, so I only looked for a short time.]
It was just as Lee Ha-yul said.
At some point, she could no longer enjoy the night sky.
She was afraid to look at the stars. She hated looking up in case the Ominous Star might appear.
Imagining a future where she'd rack her brain trying to solve the appearance of the Ominous Star, only to repeat her mistakes, made disgust churn inside her.
[Let's go stargazing together outside sometime.]
"......"
[We'll go with Ariel, Sierra, Gracia, and also Kkonnim.]
Ast, who had been standing in a daze, quietly lifted her head.
The night sky, strewn with starlight, came into view.
It was the same night sky she had looked up at with Lee Ha-yul earlier. She rubbed her eyes and scanned the heavens, but she couldn't find the Ominous Star.
Will the Ominous Star not appear from now on?
"I don't know..."
She couldn't completely deny that possibility.
After all, an astrologer must never be certain of the future.
[Then... see you next time.]
But she didn't feel a great fear.
Ast, who had been touching the corners of her own lips, smiled softly. They lifted so gently that even she found it awkward.
- Ding!
That was when she was lost in sentiment.
A cheerful alarm rang in her ear, and strings of text scrolled up in her vision.
[The Tower Master of Harmonization covers her mouth with her hand.]
[Your feigned innocence is seriously over the top, too. What? You're shy because of people's gazes so it's hard for you? You, who cursed those blatant guys and traumatized them that very night, pretending to be all delicate...]
"Be quiet..."
Waving her hand to dismiss the text, Ast plopped down in front of her desk. A levitated book hid her flushed cheeks.
"I need to focus now... don't disturb me..."
Ast wasn't the sort to laze about just because she'd holed up in a Tower.
Especially now, after making a mistake with the Simulation, she had to help Lee Ha-yul even a little more and make up for her errors.
As she flipped through the book, Ast's gaze suddenly landed on the books filling her shelves.
The Authorities of Knowledge—emptied when she handed her research compendium to Lee Ha-yul and now filled with the gifts she received—lined the shelves.
Among those densely packed spines, she spotted the word 'Milk'.
"......"
Ast, her blush spreading down to her neck, lowered her head.