Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Experiential Learning (2)
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Fireball.
The incantation sounded so straightforward that it almost came off as childish at first glance, but the mana gathering at the Tower Master's fingertips was anything but.
'This crazy woman's for real.'
I grabbed the hand she thrust toward me and channeled reverse mana into it.
The clashing mana neutralized each other on contact.
"...Hmph."
The Tower Master twisted her lips into an arrogant, self-assured smile.
"It's been a while, my disciple."
"Casting spells without so much as a greeting? Even on the battlefield, we don't start like that."
"That quick and precise cancel. Ngh, getting countered after so long has me all excited. Care to do it again?"
"As much as it pains me to say this after summoning you here myself, couldn't you just leave?"
"Argh, too bad!"
One moment rude, the next flirty, constantly switching gears—this woman was one of my magic teachers.
I'd called her here for advice on whether Tiona could truly become a great witch in the future and, if so, how best to teach her.
The Magic Tower.
A shorthand for the towers where mages gathered to devote themselves solely to magical research.
Even now, with most human settlements under the Empire's banner, these were one of the special districts guaranteed unique privileges and autonomy.
And the one at the helm of such a Magic Tower was the Tower Master.
Every Tower Master was an eccentric. Without exception.
People who immerse themselves in a single field tend to become oddballs, whether it's natural sciences, philosophy, art, or craftsmanship.
Even those who start out relatively normal end up diverging from 'outsiders' in their values the deeper they dive.
Visiting a place where such people congregate feels like dropping into a world where common sense has been rewritten—everyone but you. If forging a legendary sword worthy of history books requires sacrificing your life, of course you'd offer it. That's just 'common sense,' right?
"But why'd you come so early? The date in your reply was still a week or two out."
"It just happened!"
Anyway.
I was about to introduce the Tower Master and Tiona when I sensed something off.
The usual Tiona would've piped up by now. Arthur, what is this woman!?
But the Tiona in front of me was blinking rapidly.
"...Huh?"
As if she'd just sensed 'something' unfolding in the air.
And as if her head was now full of questions about what it was.
"Hmm..."
The Tower Master took an interest in Tiona's reaction.
"Looks like I get why you wanted me to check her out."
"M-Me, you say?"
"Disciple, is this kid an idiot or something?"
"I'm not an idiot!"
I nodded to Cynthia, who was trembling and watching from the side. No need to worry.
Best to wrap up what we were doing first and make proper introductions after.
"The brownies still need finishing in the oven, so could you wait a moment?"
Brownies are baked in square pans and sliced into neat squares once done.
When I brought over the powdered sugar-dusted treats, the Tower Master was sprawled in her chair like she owned the place—more at home than in her own house.
"Yaaawn..."
She stretched her long, slender legs toward me.
"Disciple, rub my feet."
"No."
"Tch, kids these days have no future... Though I can't exactly say you lack conscience."
"I'm shocked you still have one."
"What do you take your master for?"
"What are your thoughts on the Research Ethics Committee?"
"Budget thieves!"
"See?"
Tiona swallowed hard, then sneaked her hand toward the plate on the table.
She was clearly distracted, unlike her usual self.
"So, disciple, no introductions?"
Tiona flinched.
"I was just about to."
I beckoned Tiona over.
"Master, this is Tiona Krishantimaiu. She can do Mana Breathing, and I've been teaching her basic Numerology and Elemental Magic lately."
And then.
"Tiona, this is the Pink Tower Master. One of the world's greatest witches. Address her as Lady Tower Master."
Tiona looked puzzled.
"That's it?"
"Yes."
"...Why not mention her status?"
"For mages, family lineage doesn't matter. Only master-disciple bonds do."
"Still..."
The Tower Master spoke up.
"Hey, Rollbread Girl."
"R-Rollbread Girl!?"
"Plenty of kids like you fuss over 'outside' hierarchies when they enter the towers, but I've never seen one adapt while clinging to that mindset. You're not even an apprentice yet, and you haven't formally started down the Magic Path, so I won't lecture you properly..."
The Tower Master snapped her fingers.
A pitch-black night descended.
The axiom that day is bright was denied.
Light vanished, and the table was swallowed by inky darkness.
In the utter blackness, a flame ignited in midair without a wick—a cherry-sized blaze that illuminated the Tower Master's face. "My parents were butchers. They slaughtered cows and pigs, drained the blood, gutted them, trimmed the meat nice and neat, and sold it. Their fathers before them did the same."
Another flame bloomed at her fingertips, forming a smooth, fluid shape that fire shouldn't take.
"But once I stepped onto the Magic Path, none of that mattered anymore. Got it, Rollbread Girl?"
Tiona gaped, speechless.
"...Hmph."
The Tower Master snorted at her, then flicked her hand again.
The darkness lifted, and natural sunlight streamed back in through the windows.
The Tower Master reached out, picked up a brownie from the pan's edge—the crispy corner piece, just like her—and took a bite.
"It's been ages since I had one of my disciple's treats."
"Still to your taste?"
"Delicious. You should make them daily."
"Sorry. Too much to do before she can enter a tower."
While trading banalities, I vibrated my mana circuits ever so slightly to converse unheard by others.
—Did I go too far? Mages on the Magic Path might ignore bloodlines but are strict about master-disciple hierarchies.
And Tiona wasn't my direct disciple—she was my disciple's disciple.
In wuxia terms, grandmaster-granddisciple.
A grandmaster meddling too much in a granddisciple's education might irk the disciple in between.
—It's fine. If anything, it was an experience Tiona desperately needed.
The Pink Tower Master—born not to nobility but to a family of beast-slaughtering butchers, yet risen to become one of the world's most dangerous and greatest beings.
She must have lodged in Tiona's worldview like a wedge.
"Um..."
Tiona hesitantly spoke up.
"I'll... be careful, Pink Tower Master..."
"...Yeah."
Beneath the wide brim of her witch's hat, the Tower Master's lips curved into a smile.
"B-But where is the Pink Tower?"
Tiona made a valiant, uncharacteristic attempt to keep the conversation going, but the Tower Master's fingers twitched at the question.
"...The tower I'm master of is near the southern ocean."
"The Pink Tower—"
"The tower I'm master of is the Blue Flame Tower."
"...?"
Tiona looked to me for help.
Lately, whenever she talked to others, she'd seek my aid more often—both she and they.
"...Just go with Tower Master."
"Then what's pink about it? Ah, your eyes are pink-tinged!"
"..."
Our young lady had improved a lot, but apparently not that much yet.
The Tower Master muttered.
"...I'm Pink."
"Master."
"Ugh, you only call me master in moments like this, it's infuriating..."
The Tower Master hid her face behind her broad hat brim.
"Pink Pink. That's my name."
Tiona blinked.
"...Pardon?"
"Surname Pink, given name Pink!"
Pink Pink either way—first-last or last-first.
Hence, Pink Tower Master. Or Tower Master Pink.
"H-How can a person's name—"
I clamped a hand over Tiona's mouth before she could finish.
Families taking colors as surnames weren't rare. Red, Yellow, Green, White, Violet... You could assemble a whole previous-generation team easily.
Naming kids after colors was uncommon but happened.
But identical given and surnames? Extremely rare.
And both being the same color? As far as I knew, only one person in the world.
No, there shouldn't be more than one.
Honestly, even one was too many, but I couldn't say that to her face—the living example.
"P-Pink lady, your parents must be—"
"Young lady!"
"No, no need to stop her. Honestly, I agree..."
A Tower Master of all people rubbed her face in exhaustion.
"Anyway."
A somewhat forced 'anyway.'
I got it, though.
The Pink Tower Master extended one hand forward.
"You too, stick out your hand, Rollbread Girl."
The now much more polite Tiona obediently complied.
The Pink Tower Master formed a ring with her thumb and index finger.
Like a soap bubble wand dipped in solution forming a film, a membrane of mana spanned her finger ring.
"When I say go, gather as much mana as you can at your fingertip and shoot it through this ring."
"Wh-What happens then...?"
"The ritual I've set up will activate with your mana."
She flicked a bit of mana from her other hand—a match-sized spark flared and died.
"Like this."
The Pink Tower Master grinned wickedly.
"If you can impress me... How about a recommendation letter for wherever you want?"
Tiona gulped and extended her finger.
"Th-Then... Here I go!"