The Archmage Doesn't Believe in Word Spirit (3)
"Ah, Senior Bella. Hello!"
Spotting Senior Bella waiting for me across the way, I greeted her. Thanks to my newfound connection with Leon Sodus, I'd finally gotten a proper chance to say hello. Bella Sodus—another genius mage in our party and a senior who'd left the Magic Tower long ago.
"Oh, you don't have to call me 'senior,' Tower Lord. I left the tower ages ago, after all."
She smiled with a kind expression, waving her hand bashfully as if embarrassed.
"No, Senior. Considering your talent... the tower's decision back then was a hundred times wrong. Please, let me call you senior."
Every time I saw her magic, respect welled up inside me unbidden. To achieve that level of mastery on her own after leaving the tower... Even among the geniuses gathered at the Magic Tower, her skill was standout enough to earn my admiration. Her self-developed multi-overlapping spells demonstrated destructive power on a truly awe-inspiring level.
"Oh, come on, it's fine."
"It puts my mind at ease if I do. Senior."
"Hehe, alright then. Junior."
With a graceful smile, she began chatting amiably with me.
"Didn't you resent the tower's decision? As the Blue Tower Lord, I believe that past choice was gravely mistaken. I apologize on their behalf."
Speaking as the representative of the Blue Tower, I sincerely apologized for the old mistake.
"Hehe, that's all in the past. I'm fine now. Though back then... I did resent being cast out quite a bit."
My braced self for an outpouring of resentment deflated emptily; she brushed it off like it was nothing.
"'Back then'... meaning it's different now?"
"Yes, just 'back then.'"
Her face took on a wistful look, as if lost in reminiscence of the past.
"I wasted my days regretting lost opportunities, living in anger."
"Lamenting the chances and youth stolen from me, I squandered my life. I was a slave to regret."
"...How did you overcome it?"
Despite her exceptional talent in magic, she'd been expelled from the cradle of knowledge for utterly unreasonable reasons. If I'd been in her shoes, wouldn't I have lived my whole life suppressing hatred and regret? Unable to hold back my curiosity, I asked. If it had been me, I probably would've stewed in resentment forever.
"Because now, I don't regret being chased out of the tower due to that forced marriage."
"Pardon?"
"In fact... I'm glad I was expelled early and could marry sooner."
Her unexpected answer continued.
"What? But Senior, you hated that marriage more than death..."
"Yes, I did. Desperately so."
She reminisced about her past pain with a calm expression.
"It was a forced marriage to someone I didn't want... but I came to truly love the child born from it."
"And thanks to marrying early, wasn't I able to meet Leon sooner?"
Her golden hair sparkling, Senior Bella beamed with the gentlest of smiles.
"Eugh, just for that?"
It seemed Senior had a tendency to dote on her son a bit excessively.
"It's not 'just' that, Tower Lord... no, Irina Junior. Leon is incredibly special to me now."
She began confessing her feelings like a declaration of faith.
"The marriage itself was something I hated enough to die over, so for a moment, I even projected that hatred onto Leon... but that was truly foolish. Leon is my greatest happiness."
"I wandered a bit, but thanks to leaving the tower, I found my true happiness. Hehe."
She blushed and fiddled with her ring, grinning bashfully. Her smiling face held not a trace of shadow.
Seeing her propping up her massive breasts with her arms, a silly phrase I'd heard recently came to mind. The ridiculous joke that a mage's breasts were "mana pouches." Looking at her, a new hypothesis popped up.
'A mage's breasts aren't "mana pouches"—maybe they're "maternal love pouches"...'
...What the hell am I thinking? Even though I came up with it, it's a truly idiotic thought. Probably caught that dumb mindset from messing around with Young Master Leon so much. I shook my head vigorously to clear the nonsense and observed her instead. She gazed at the ring on her finger like it was the most precious thing in the world.
Hmm, so even her unhappy marriage ended up working out in the end? The "true happiness" she spoke of must be Leon Sodus, right? I found myself a little curious about it.
"I'm a bit jealous, Senior. Can I find happiness like that too?"
It was a genuine question born of curiosity. In my life so far, nothing had felt as joyful as magic.
I couldn't easily imagine a happiness greater or more precious than it.
She scanned me up and down like appraising my whole body, then grinned brightly.
"Hmm, well, looking at what you're wearing now, I think you'll find it in no time!"
...Yeah, wearing this outfit was definitely a mistake.
"Ugh, this outfit really... is it that weird?"
Seemed like I'd fallen for Young Master Leon's prank again. He said Senior would rate it highly if I wore something this vulgar and odd—believing that idiot was my mistake. Though I was 70% sure it was a joke.
"Ah, not weird at all. It suits you perfectly, Junior!"
As I sighed, praise came pouring in.
"...Really?"
She didn't seem like she was lying or teasing. With a deeply sincere and kind voice, she explained the outfit's merits.
"It's so practical—your breasts are always accessible for touching. And it emphasizes your cute figure!"
"I-I never thought of it that way."
'Breasts that are easy to grope... is that a merit...?'
In a way, it could be an advantage. Lately, Young Master Leon groped my breasts every time we met. Reducing the hassle made it pretty practical, didn't it? Senior Bella pointed out merits I hadn't even considered.
"Th-thank you for the compliment...?"
"Yeah, did Leon recommend it? It's adorable."
She grinned knowingly, praising me.
"Hmm... I guess so...?"
Maybe it wasn't a prank after all. Maybe it was decent...? The warm atmosphere chilled in an instant with an unexpected remark.
"You look just like Leon's sex slave."
That casual addition from her did it.
"...Senior, even you can't joke like that..."
Time to get serious. Even if it's a joke, there are lines you don't cross. This outfit was just light clothing good for pranks, not something to facilitate sexual harassment—definitely not.
She let out a short "Ah."
What, just regret over a slip of the tongue? That's why you have to watch your words. Once spoken, you can't take them back.
"What do I do? Sorry, Irina... I misspoke."
"Yes, please be careful from now on."
"I couldn't help it... I didn't realize Irina wasn't 'complete' yet, so forgive me just this once?"
"...? Alright...?"
The apology felt oddly off, but... I accepted it. She quickly owned up to her mistake, and it didn't feel malicious.
Our meeting had that slight awkward slip in the middle, but overall, it was a pleasant time of fellowship. The common ground between two mages was vast indeed.
"Hehe, I had a great time today, Irina Junior."
"Me too, Senior. Can I visit again tomorrow?"
"Of course. By then, I hope you're 'complete.'"
"...?"
Exchanging slightly cryptic farewells, I headed back to my lodgings and ran into Young Master Leon on the way.
"Ah, Young Master Leon!"
"Hello, Tower Lord."
"Hehe, call me Irina sis."
"Pfft, with tits that small, what sis?"
He squished my small breasts, expressing his delight by playfully groping my body.
"Eek, who greets like this? Normal people get mad at sudden pranks like that, you know?"
"Come on, it's you and me, Tower Lord."
Leon smoothly stroked around my nipples with both hands.
"Hehe, that tickles, Young Master Leon."
It felt a little good, sure, but there was also a faint sense of wrongness. Were we always this close...? Well, close enough to accept pranks like this, I guess...? No displeasure, so maybe I felt a strong affinity for him too...? His innocent playfulness continued, and soon my breasts were being nibbled and sucked.
*Smack* "Like this, *slurp* maybe they'll grow a bit?"
Kneeling to match my height, he latched onto my chest like a baby, sucking with his mouth as he toyed with me.
"Eek...♥ It tickles...♥ That's enough pranks for today!"
I pushed him away from my breasts and returned to my room. As I walked off, he called out boisterously from behind: "Grow 'em by tomorrow!"
Really, if he cut back just a little on these petty, naughty pranks, we could have much more serious conversations. Grumbling, I made it back to my lodgings—and realized I'd spent less time on "prank cleanup" than yesterday.
Specifically, the aftercare.
'Huh, I wrapped up the prank more easily than expected.'
If I'd been in my usual clothes, I'd have had to redress and fix my appearance—annoying. But this outfit? No such worries. Handy, in a way.
"Alright, I've met Senior, so time to change back to normal clothes..."
As I went to switch to my regular attire, I caught my reflection in the mirror and froze.
"Oh my, so this is how I look..."
I instantly understood why Senior had slipped up. It was blatantly slutty.
"Even as a joke outfit, it's pretty damn lewd..."
"Young Master Leon's... sex slave...?"
Ugh, embarrassing delusion I shouldn't dwell on. It was just prankish skinship; Young Master Leon and I weren't in any sexual relationship. Just close friends who joked around.
"...I can't just take it lying down."
No rule saying only he gets to prank. A mischievous idea popped into my head, and I smirked while channeling mana.
"Just you wait, Leon Sodus...!"
He'd get a fun surprise tomorrow, no doubt.