Something Is Strange (2)
Something Is Strange (2)
"She hasn't been outside for over a month? The Gold Tower Lord Melina?"
"...That is correct."
Olivia stared at Seth with a dumbfounded expression.
The Melina she knew was someone who couldn't hole herself up in one place for a single day, let alone a month.
'...I didn't see this coming.'
Melina had a habit of going out to drink at least once a day. She'd said that at her age, she couldn't endure the stress otherwise.
Usually, that meant the Imperial Palace.
Given her age, no one could stop Melina even if she were to share drinks with the Emperor himself.
Who would dare stop a two-hundred-year-old granny when she said she wanted a drink with the grandson of her old friend's grandson?
"Really? She hasn't shown her face at the other Towers or the Imperial Palace either?"
"That is correct."
Huh...
Did that even make sense?
Seth asked, his voice tinged with hesitation.
"...Do you know the Gold Tower Lord?"
"Of course I know her. She's the strongest mage on the continent."
"That's not what I meant... Never mind, forget I asked."
Seth looked at Olivia, who had sunk into thought, with a strange expression.
'No matter how I look at it, they seem to know each other personally.'
He didn't know about other people, but if it were the witch before his eyes, it seemed entirely plausible that she was acquainted with Melina.
Seth had his reasons for reaching that conclusion.
A mage who had reached a certain realm was, without exception, advanced in age. This wasn't a stereotype but a conclusion derived from countless data points.
But Olivia was young. Mid-twenties at the most generous estimate.
And the same went for Melina.
Just as Melina preserved her physical youth with time magic, Olivia was likely maintaining her youth through some similar means.
'She's probably not ten thousand years old, as she claimed last time, but she has to be at least a hundred, give or take.'
If that weren't the case, her absurd strength simply didn't add up.
"Do you know anything else about Melina?"
"...From this point on, it will cost you."
"I'll tell you everything you want to know too. So hurry up and talk. In as much detail as possible, while you're at it."
Seth began his story.
The story of what happened at the Gold Tower a month ago.
*****
A month ago.
Galdur, the Red Tower Lord who had entered the capital for the first time in a long while, wore a face full of deep emotion.
"Hoooooh."
He couldn't even remember the last time he'd set foot in the capital.
"It truly has been too long."
Work at the Red Tower had been so overwhelming during that time that he'd simply lacked the capacity to visit.
It was a period of turmoil.
In recent years, the eastern part of the Empire had been unusually noisy. This was because the kingdoms located in the east had formed an alliance to seize control of maritime trade.
They hadn't crossed the line yet, so open conflict hadn't broken out, but the Empire, as the hegemon of the continent, couldn't simply stand by and watch trade dominance slip away. Thus, plans were made to pressure the Eastern Alliance.
The Red Tower had been assigned that role. Conveniently, the Red Tower was situated along the eastern border, making it possible.
Furthermore, since the Tower Lord Galdur was an Archmage, it was calculated that he could sufficiently defend the area even if the other kingdoms were mad enough to attack head-on.
In reality, that calculation proved correct.
'Still, it's only a stopgap for now.'
Galdur had turned ninety this year. Though he couldn't compare to his teacher Melina, when a person reached this age, a certain eye for reading the world naturally developed.
The continent's eastern region would be swept into war within a few years.
"May I enter? I've come to see the Gold Tower Lord."
"R-Right this way, I'll guide you immediately!"
No one in their right mind would block the Red Tower Lord's entry. Although Galdur belonged to a different Tower, everyone knew he had once been the Gold Tower Lord's disciple.
'Her only disciple.'
Pride fleetingly swelled in Galdur's expression.
The Gold Tower Lord's fastidious nature was still famous even now. In her entire life, Melina had taken only one disciple, and that disciple was Galdur.
Following the mage who was guiding him, Galdur slowly climbed the stairs. As he brushed his hand along the banister, memories of his childhood with Melina surfaced.
- You won't do either, Galdur.
It wasn't a pleasant memory.
- Tsk. And they called you a once-in-a-century talent...
Galdur's face contorted like a demon's for a moment. Fortunately, the mage didn't notice.
Galdur took a slow, deep breath. The rage that had flared up like fire subsided in an instant.
'I thought I'd forgotten all of that...'
As a Tower Lord, Melina was the best. But as a teacher, she was the worst human being.
She always demanded the impossible from him, expecting Galdur to grasp a hundred things after being taught a single one.
In the end, Galdur couldn't satisfy her.
- So, in the end, you were only that much, after all. I can't stand the sight of you any longer. Get out of my sight.
That gaze, as if looking at a piece of trash, remained a trauma for him even now.
Galdur had been seventeen at the time. After that day, Galdur's master changed from the Gold Tower Lord to the Red Tower Lord of that era.
And for the past several decades, Galdur had deliberately avoided Melina. There had been regular meetings among the Tower Lords every year, but this was only possible because Melina had been absent from every single one.
The reason he had returned to the Gold Tower now was simple.
'I am a bona fide Archmage now.'
To prove that Melina had been wrong.
He wanted to tell her that the boy she had cast aside back then had now returned as a full-fledged Archmage.
That was why he'd come back.
"This is it."
The moment he faced the door leading to the Tower Lord's office, Galdur felt his heart drop into his stomach.
- Don't even dream of leaving this room until you can use every spell in this book. And don't expect to rely on the elders like last time. I've made sure they can't help you anymore.
The trauma of his childhood rose up again.
"...Red Tower Lord?"
"I'm fine. Hurry up and announce my presence to the Gold Tower Lord."
"Understood."
Knock, knock.
A clear sound of knocking on wood echoed through the corridor.
"..."
Even after waiting for a long time, there was no answer. Without panicking, the mage knocked again, politely.
But there was still no response.
"...Gold Tower Lord."
The mage whispered very cautiously.
"...The Red Tower Lord is here to see you."
Galdur frowned. After the passage of seventy years, he'd thought a person like Melina might have changed at least a little.
Crunch.
'She hasn't changed a bit.'
Melina was still the same authoritarian human being, steeped in her own self-importance.
"Move aside."
"R-Red Tower Lord. If you do this..."
"I said move."
Ignoring the mage, Galdur yanked the door handle and flung it open.
It was dark inside. The only light came spilling in from the corridor where Galdur stood.
"Are you sure the Gold Tower Lord is in here?"
"Y-Yes. I confirmed it, most definitely..."
That was the moment.
Click. Click. Click. Click.
A strange sound came from somewhere.
"...Gold Tower Lord?"
Something caught Galdur's foot as he was about to step inside.
'A Magic Book?'
Only then did the interior of the office enter Galdur's field of vision. The office, which had always been immaculate, was, literally, a total wreck. It looked as if dozens of wolves had come through and torn the place apart.
"Wh-What in the world...!"
"You, go and fetch the other mages immediately."
"Ah, understood!"
Galdur illuminated the room with a flame. The light laid bare an even more horrific scene.
'...What on earth happened here?'
Fingernail scratches were clearly etched into the walls. They weren't from a monster. If they were, they wouldn't have been so shallow.
They were made by a person.
Galdur swallowed dryly without realizing it. A single possibility flickered through his mind, but he vehemently denied it.
The Melina he knew was someone with tremendous, unyielding ego.
Even if it meant biting off her own tongue and dying, she would never resort to such a meaningless fit of rage.
- My ears feel like they're going to rot. From now on, when it's just the two of us, don't let the word 'teacher' cross your lips.
The Melina he knew was...
Galdur took a few more steps forward and then froze in place.
Melina was on the office floor. Wrapped in a thick blanket, she was biting her fingers, nails torn away.
Her golden hair, once lustrous, was a dry, tangled mess, and her once-lucid eyes trembled ceaselessly, like those of a ruin.
"..."
Galdur was silent.
He couldn't accept the situation before him, no matter how he tried.
"My disciple, why on earth did you do it? My disciple, my beloved disciple... Why did you do it? Why on earth...? No, no, no, no..."
Flames ignited in Galdur's eyes.
"Th-This...!"
You couldn't be like this.
Others might not matter, but you, of all people, couldn't show such a disgraceful side of yourself.
"Gold Tower Lord! Pull yourself together, right now!"
Galdur grabbed Melina by the collar and hauled her up.
"What would the younger generations think if they saw you in this state! I don't know what happened, but get a hold of yourself, now!"
Melina's eyes slowly turned toward Galdur. The emotion contained in those golden eyes was unmistakably Killing Intent.
"...You bastard."
Galdur nearly let go.
"Bring my disciple here immediately. I have to bring her here and hear from her own lips why she did it."
Galdur's shoulders trembled.
"Gold Tower Lord, you don't have a disc..."
"Get out."
BANG!
In an instant, Melina blasted Galdur out the door. The mages who had just been coming up the stairs collided with him and tumbled wildly.
"Aaaagh!"
"Red Tower Lord! Are you alri..."
The mages couldn't finish their sentences.
From beyond the darkness, Melina was staring in their direction, having only turned her head.
Faced with the overwhelming bloodlust, the mages turned deathly pale.
"First Elder, bring my disciple here at once."
"Wh-What do you mean? Disciple? You, my Lord, do not have a disc..."
BANG!
A magically conjured blade embedded itself right beside the First Elder.
"Can you not remember either? My disciple, my beloved disciple, Libby. I must hear it. Why she did it, why she had to do it, I must hear it with my own two ears. So find her immediately and drag her before me."
"Uh, uhhh..."
"I'll take that as a sign you understand."
BANG!
The door slammed shut.
As if it would never open again.
*****
"...That is what happened."
Seth hadn't been at the Gold Tower at the time. But since he had heard the story directly from one of the Gold Tower's elders, the credibility of the information was, at the very least, certain.
Nevertheless, he still couldn't believe it.
For starters, the idea that the Gold Tower Lord had done such a thing simply made no sense.
'And on top of that, she's talking about a disciple.'
For the past fifty years, the Gold Tower Lord had not taken a single disciple. Not one!
And now, suddenly, she was demanding they bring her disciple to her?
It was no wonder that rumors of her having gone senile were spreading.
"...Hah."
"I acknowledge that, too. Frankly, there's more than one or two points where one could nitpick. However, it is true that the Gold Tower Lord has been barring all access to her office for a month and refusing all food and water."
"...Does every idiot on the street know about that?"
"That's an exaggeration. This information was passed among our kind in our own code..."
"So everyone who's anyone knows?"
"For starters, all the Night Crows know."
Olivia's brow furrowed.
Fucked.
If this was left as is, every regressor on the continent would find out that Melina had lost her goddamn mind.
"Hey."
"...I'm listening."
"Suppress that information."
"Silencing people isn't something you can do just by wanting it. It's already been a month, and the number of people who know is considerable..."
Olivia shot to her feet.
"Do you know there's a witch bitch among you nobles who made a contract with a Great Demon? Aren't you curious who she is?"
"..."
The look in Seth's eyes changed.
"I'll tell you. So, suppress that information immediately. If you can't stop it, then at least mix in some lies to sow confusion. At the very least, make sure it doesn't cross the border."
A flicker of amusement rose to Seth's face.
Did she really think the Night Crows would be crazy enough to spread information about someone of the Gold Tower Lord's stature beyond the border?
Of course, since a month had passed, everyone with any real influence already knew, but it was still high-grade intelligence that no one below the rank of marquis could touch.
After all, the mages of the Gold Tower would have to be insane to spread gossip.
In that case, he only needed to silence the nobles ranked marquis and above.
"Actually, silencing people is my specialty. Even if I have to resort to blackmail, I'll keep it contained."
"Good, and there's one more thing I want to ask of you..."
Olivia leaned in and whispered into Seth's ear.