The Tower Master's Proposal
I stared at him, stunned. He was still wearing that benevolent smile. But his eyes burned with intense curiosity. If I gave the wrong answer here, there was no doubt he would do something to me.
When I couldn’t respond, the heroines must have grown impatient, because they started giving me advice through the chat window.
As expected. They immediately gave me usable excuses, and I cheered inwardly. Then I shrugged with a deliberately relaxed expression, as if the question were the most obvious thing in the world.
“I didn’t detect any magic.”
“…”
“It’s just that, for a living human, your mana seemed abnormally low.”
“…Oh?”
“That was simply too strange. Well, it was just a hunch.”
I continued speaking as calmly and indifferently as possible.
“I thought that perhaps because your mana is so vast, the way you tried to hide it perfectly… ended up producing the opposite effect.”
Based on what the heroines had told me, I spoke as naturally as I could. That for a living human, his mana felt unusually faint.
The Tower Master narrowed his eyes and stared straight through me. A suffocating silence stretched between us for a moment.
“Hahahahaha!!”
The Tower Master burst into hearty laughter once again. This time it was even louder than before. And once again, it was filled with genuine amusement.
“Remarkable. Truly remarkable! You’re the first person to ever see through my magic like that. As expected… the rumors about your talent were true.”
He nodded with a somewhat impressed expression, then gestured toward the officetel.
“Does it make sense for someone as esteemed as myself to be standing in a place like this? Why don’t we go inside and talk?”
It was less a suggestion and more a command. His tone implied, How dare you keep someone of my stature standing out here?
I also found it burdensome to keep facing such a heavyweight out in the open. Anyone watching would think the scene was extremely strange.
“Of course. I’ll treat you to some tea.”
I turned naturally and began guiding him inside. The entire elevator ride up was filled with a strange tension between us.
Ding. Click.
I opened the front door and led him into the living room.
“Please, make yourself comfortable.”
I moved to the kitchen and started brewing coffee. When I glanced back, the Tower Master was sitting on the sofa, looking around the interior of the house as if he were seeing something fascinating.
Hiss—
The coffee machine sounded unusually loud. I brought out two mugs and headed back to the living room.
“Sorry, I only have coffee.”
“Not at all. Thank you.”
The Tower Master took the mug in his hand and slowly savored the aroma. Then he took a sip.
Slurp.
He took another sip while staring straight at me. His gaze was wordless. His eyes. They were so blatantly intense it was as if he were saying, I will burn your image into my memory.
It felt like he was weighing every single part of me. I did my best to appear calm, holding my mug and refusing to look away from his gaze.
How much time had passed? After a long while of silently sipping his coffee, the Tower Master finally spoke.
“So, I heard you subdued my daughter.”
“…”
“And that you thoroughly humiliated her in front of everyone.”
Was he angry? Or was he testing me? It sounded like he was asking why I hadn’t apologized yet.
But instead of answering hastily, I stayed quiet and waited for him to continue.
“…That child, Ri-en. It’s largely my fault for spoiling her too much.”
His voice carried a faint note of self-mockery. It sounded like he was regretting his past actions.
“As you know, she was born so adorable, wasn’t she?”
“…Yes, well.”
“On top of that, she grew up carrying the burden of being the Magic Tower’s successor. I wanted to let her live freely in every other aspect. Before I knew it, her habits had become terribly spoiled.”
“…”
“Everyone feared me, the Tower Master, so no one dared treat Ri-en carelessly. No matter how arrogantly she behaved or how unreasonable she was, they all just bowed their heads.”
That was when it happened. A strange light flickered in the Tower Master’s eyes as he looked at me.
“But you were different.”
“…”
“You pointed out my daughter’s arrogance and even crushed the magic she was most confident in, showing her the difference in skill.”
And then his gaze. The way he looked at me was filled with a sticky, intense longing. It was the look of someone who had discovered something incredibly precious. He didn’t even try to hide how badly he wanted it.
At this point, even I could tell. Just as the Archmage had said, he was desperate to keep me close as family. There was no way I could miss a desire he was displaying so openly.
The Tower Master leaned his upper body slightly toward me and asked,
“I’ll ask you directly.”
“…”
Gulp. Even though I knew what was coming, I swallowed dryly without realizing it.
“Can you take responsibility for my daughter?”
“Excuse me?”
“Exactly as it sounds. I need a man who will become Ri-en’s husband and guide that child onto the right path.”
“Wait, hold on—”
“Don’t you understand? It means that in the future, the Tower Master will become your woman. All the power, wealth, and authority of the Magic Tower will be at your feet.”
The Tower Master kept talking without any intention of listening to me. Become Ri-en’s husband. Guide her onto the right path. In return, you will gain the Magic Tower itself.
I had known about it, but hearing it directly made it sound even more absurd. Are you seriously telling me to take in the guy who treated your daughter like that because he’s the first one to ever do so?
The chat was in complete chaos. Half the comments said I should accept. The other half said it was still too soon, that I should push back and save it for later. The opinions were split exactly down the middle.
I glanced at the flood of messages from the corner of my eye and stroked my chin.
The Magic Tower. It’s definitely an incredible offer.
The person in question, the Archmage, was desperately opposing it more than anyone. Just as she said, even if I accepted right now… would I really be able to fully take advantage of the Magic Tower’s special position? They would probably look down on me.
…Yeah. I should follow the Archmage’s advice on this.
Just like I had with Kim Soyeon. I decided to follow the Archmage’s opinion this time as well.
“I’m sorry, but I must decline.”
“…Oh?”
The Tower Master’s smiling face froze exactly as it was. He clearly hadn’t expected to be rejected.
“Yes, it would be a lie to say I’m not tempted by the Magic Tower. But I already have a woman I share my heart with. So I don’t think I can take responsibility for your daughter.”
I spoke quite firmly. I already have a woman. Therefore, I cannot accept Ri-en.
Any normal father would have exploded in rage here. Or at the very least, looked disappointed and stormed out. That would have been the normal reaction.
But the Tower Master looked at me with an expression of genuine confusion and asked,
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“…Excuse me?”
“If you already have a woman you share your heart with, then you can simply take my daughter in alongside her.”
For a second, I doubted my own ears. Take her in alongside her?
“A true hero is not satisfied with possessing only one woman, is he? A man of your caliber could embrace two, or even three women, and no one would find it strange.”
He spoke boldly, without a single trace of shame. A hero shouldn’t be bound to just one woman. So what was the problem? He asked as if I were the strange one.
“Haa…”
I let out a long, dumbfounded sigh and pressed my forehead.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know much about the world of the Magic Tower, or rather, your world, Tower Master.”
“Hm?”
“This is South Korea. According to the laws here…”
“…According to the laws?”
“Polygamy is illegal in South Korea.”
It was an unchangeable fact, no matter how much he tried to force the issue. The Tower Master stared blankly into space with a dazed expression, as if he’d been hit by something.
The Tower Master stared vacantly into the air for a long time, his lips moving silently.
“Illegal… you say.”
He stroked his chin, looking deep in thought. Watching him, I casually took another sip of coffee. Since I had already brought it up, there was nothing he could do about it now.
That was when it happened.
“Hmm…”
The Tower Master let out a low hum, then looked at me with a flash in his eyes and said meaningfully,
“Then, if that problem is resolved.”
“…Yes?”
“If that so-called illegal issue is resolved, may I take it that you will accept my proposal?”
“Wait, hold on. What?”
I widened my eyes in disbelief and asked again. Resolved? Did he not understand what I was saying?
“Just a second. This isn’t the kind of problem that can just—”
“Excellent! That was a very interesting answer.”
But the Tower Master stood up abruptly, as if he didn’t need to hear the rest of what I had to say. He wore an extremely deep, satisfied smile as he spoke.
“I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation today. Thank you for treating me to such excellent coffee.”
Without any lingering attachment, he walked toward the front door.
“We will meet again soon, son-in-law.”
“Hey, wait! Listen to me—!”
Click. Slam.
“…”
A heavy silence settled over the living room. The lone mug sitting on the table. I stared blankly at the front door before letting out a hollow laugh.
“What the hell was that?”
Quite some time passed. It was evening, and darkness had begun to settle. To relieve my boredom, I mindlessly flipped through channels with the remote and muttered,
“Guess I’ll go to the tower and train again today…”
…This just in. After close cooperation between the Korean Hunter Association and the Master of the Magic Tower, Ings Berclere…
On the TV screen, the Tower Master stood confidently at a press conference, smiling. I stared at the sight and muttered in disbelief.
“…Is he serious?”