The Garden of Rest
By the time the sun had risen and quite a bit of time had passed since dawn, it was around morning.
I had taken a break from the carriage and had breakfast, and I had kept running until then.
According to Uncle Simon, we had already entered the territory of the Rigel Dukedom.
That meant there was not much distance left to the castle.
I felt like I had overlooked something.
Everything had gone smoothly so far, which was good, but I felt like I had overlooked something.
'What was it? I felt like I had overlooked some decisive thing.'
The reason I had come after Dalek was because I had business at the Ebonic Tower.
Other places naturally grew Megirurun and harvested it, but the Ebonic Tower shipped out Megirurun stably.
Let me think. I overlooked something. I overlooked something...
Then, when I realized what I had overlooked, I felt too pathetic for myself and lowered my head while letting out a light laugh.
'I really fell for it. I didn't even notice this beforehand.'
"Is there something the matter? Did the mood of the young master's sudden change last night come to mind?"
Simon, the butler of the Rigel family.
Simon smiled broadly and saw me bowing my upper body deeply and asked.
Of course, even if I thought about the sudden change, I would react like this.
I let out a long sigh, then lifted my head and looked out.
"Where is the Ebonic Tower?"
Of course, after arriving at the Rigel Dukedom's territory, there was a way to get the Megirurun by being properly received and treated.
But thinking that the Ebonic Tower would easily hand over such expensive materials was looking at the world too easily.
I didn't know how long it would take from Rigel Castle to the tower, and I didn't know how long it would take at the tower either.
Although it was four days of rest, time was tight, so I had to hurry.
"If it's the Ebonic Tower, it should be around here. Please wait for a moment."
Simon took out a map and was trying to gauge the position with his finger when Dalek, who had been looking out the window, lightly patted my shoulder.
And he pointed to the window on the opposite side from me.
"It's that. The Ebonic Tower."
The tower was visible not so far from the carriage.
Compared to the three towers, it was clearly smaller in scale, but it definitely looked like a tower rising high into the sky.
There was still half a day and a half left. Plus, subtracting the time to return to the capital, it was at most three days.
Considering everything, it was essentially two days.
It looked leisurely at first glance, but I couldn't be too relaxed about it.
Moreover, if I got any other materials here, it would take a bit more time.
So, I stood up from the slowly moving carriage and opened the door.
"Dalek, Uncle Simon. I'll go from here. Because every hour counts."
"What, what are you trying to do?! I was going to prepare a carriage to the Ebonic Tower tomorrow anyway...
The wind that came in through the open door swept through the carriage.
While my hair was flying, I grabbed the door and put my foot on the carriage's step.
"Then you'll be late. If the job goes well, I'll go to Rigel Castle first!"
I didn't know the location of Rigel Castle...
I would ask at the Ebonic Tower. As long as I could get the materials, that came first.
I waved my hand to Dalek and Simon, who looked panicked, and jumped down from the carriage.
Since it was a distance of about an hour's walk, this was a little more comfortable.
"Go straight! Don't worry about me!!"
Whoosh.
The wind enveloped me, and the carriage I had left continued moving forward.
My landing was perfect. The knowledge about the fall technique was still valid.
Because I had rolled around on the ground, the academy cloak I had put on got dirty, but
It would be fine if I washed it.
Clothes are meant to be worn.
***
The path to the Ebonic Tower was more difficult than it looked.
On the well-maintained road inside the carriage, I hadn't noticed when looking up at the forest.
Surprisingly, the forest was dense and vegetation covered the ground, similar to the forest where I, as a woman, had rolled my feet.
'Is it because the environment is different? There are a few plants I haven't seen.'
I bent my waist and looked at the grass that caught on my shoes.
It seemed like a plant I had seen several times. As I slowly observed the grass and thought, it was a plant mainly seen near battlefields.
'Seeing it in a place like this, it's strangely pleasant.'
However, the climate is quite different from battlefields and here. The soil would be very different too.
Well, there might be conditions I don't know that greatly affect the growth of this plant, and I thought about it no further and continued walking toward the tower.
After walking about an hour and thirty minutes, the tower rising high toward the sky came into view.
I came out near the tidy roadside path toward the tower and started walking toward it again.
A small village. Or rather, near the tower, there were a few buildings smaller than a village, and a few people seemed to be living there, but...
They seemed to be people related to the tower. I thought they were probably the families of researchers.
They were not only outsiders but also glanced at my appearance, which was wearing the academy uniform.
Since I was a stranger, it made sense that they were unfamiliar.
That aside, how did they even enter there? I hadn't entered the tower before.
Fortunately, my concern didn't last long. The door of the tower opened, and several mages from the tower walked toward me.
Several mages in brown robes stood in front of me as if they had been waiting and bowed their heads.
"Are you from the Rigel family? We were waiting. You came early, is there something that happened?"
We were waiting. And seeing you bow your head with manners, you had been given advance notice from the Rigel family...
No, it didn't seem like that. The carriage hadn't even arrived at the castle yet.
"No, I'm not related to the Rigel family at all."
While shaking my head from side to side, they glanced at each other and seemed to be in momentary confusion.
For a moment, they seemed to exchange glances, and then one old woman, who looked like the representative, spoke to me.
"Then, what business did you come for? At the moment, our tower is in the middle of an important experiment, so entry for outsiders is prohibited."
"I came as a student of Farnike Academy, and Professor Remediela told me to get the materials."
I didn't lie at all.
It wasn't an official matter, but it was true that I heard from Professor Remediela to get Megirurun.
"But the student's cloak is blue. You're not from the Knight Faculty, are you?"
"Professor Remediela teaches classes in the Knight Faculty too."
I grabbed the end of the cloak and showed the Farnike Academy emblem.
It was a little dusty, but I shook it off, and it was no problem for proving my identity.
The old woman at the front stared at me for a moment, then opened her mouth.
"Yuria."
"Y-yes?!"
"I'll entrust you with guiding this student."
The brown-haired girl who had been at the back came out, pushing through the crowd.
And soon they turned their backs to me first and entered the tower, and only the girl named Yuria and I were left at the entrance.
'Since I confirmed that the person sent from the Rigel family wasn't him, I'm being neglected.'
Well, it made sense.
How could a single student be treated equally to an envoy from the Rigel family?
Yuria, that girl, seemed like a newcomer just by looking at the atmosphere.
The girl had one yellow emblem on her robe.
"Then, will you enter? It's my first time meeting a student from Farnike Academy."
"Me too... well, it's my first time coming to the tower."
Looking at her, she seemed about the same age, so I didn't hold back. She looked like she was around twenty.
Entering the tower at just over the age of majority, she looked immature, but a mage who received quite a bit of ability?
"Then, shall we go in first? It's rude to leave a guest outside."
'She's more sociable than I thought.'
For now, I entered the inside of the tower under Yuria's guidance.
***
The Tower.
There are countless towers in the world, but they all have one thing in common: they conduct research related to magic.
Naturally, it was a job that many mages, especially those from the academy, would eye.
It was a place where they competed to be at the forefront in creating new magic or new theories.
"As I said, my name is Yuria! What about you, Sir Knight?"
"Lir Ostrom."
"You're from the Knight Faculty? A student from the renowned Farnike Academy."
While walking down the corridor, Yuria chatted nonstop.
During that time, I saw countless mages doing various research through the door gaps.
Magic that sucked used mana in the air into flasks.
Shoes equipped with magic tools that spread shields on the ground.
Among the various things, there was even one that used mana instead of chalk.
Just by looking at the variety of magic I saw while following Yuria down the corridor, there seemed to be more than dozens.
"Right, what materials did you come to get? Lir."
"I came to get Megirurun. Here, I heard that getting Megirurun at the Ebonic Tower is easy."
With that, Yuria showed reluctance.
"Um... if you came to get Megirurun, it's not a good time to come right now...