The Mage Tower Becomes Home
For Yuna, the Mage Tower might just become a new home.
At the moment, Yuna was touring the Mage Tower alongside Arhen. The tower stood ten stories tall in all, and its first floor held a general store stocked with everyday necessities as well as an information desk.
"This is the first floor, where you'll find the shop for anything you might need. They sell magical tools here too, so let's take a look, shall we?"
When Yuna followed Arhen into the shop, she was stunned by its sheer size.
"Wow... Teacher, this place is enormous. I don't think there's a single thing they don't have."
"Indeed. Mages have always been a reclusive lot, prone to keeping to their own kind. That's why they rarely step outside—they prefer to handle everything from within the tower."
The moment Arhen stepped through the entrance, a tall woman with pink hair came to greet her.
"Welcome! Oh my—Lady Tower Master, is that really you? How unusual, seeing you come here in person. And who might the little miss beside you be?"
At being called a little miss, Yuna's cheeks puffed out in indignation.
"I-I'm not a little miss!"
"For your information, little misses are the only ones who puff up their cheeks like that. Zaira, this is Yuna, the girl who's about to become my disciple. Yuna, this is Zaira, the owner of this shop. You two will be seeing plenty of each other from now on, so be sure to greet one another properly."
At Arhen's prompting, it was Zaira who offered her greeting first.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuna dear."
"N-nice to meet you too, Zaira."
No sooner had Yuna returned the greeting than Zaira swept her up in a hug and nuzzled her cheeks against hers. Seeing that Yuna didn't care for it, Zaira quickly apologized.
"Yuna dear, I'm sorry—did I startle you? You're just as adorable as my own daughter, and your auntie got carried away. Forgive me."
"Uuu... no, it's okay. Really. But Zaira, you have a daughter too? I want to meet her!"
"My girl? She's away at magic school at the moment, but your auntie will introduce you someday, I promise."
"Really? You have to! It's a promise!"
"Of course. Let's hook fingers to seal it."
And so the two of them linked their little fingers and made their vow. Leaving Zaira behind them, Arhen and Yuna finished exploring the first floor and arrived in front of the elevator.
"Wow, Teacher, what's this? It's so big!"
"This is called an elevator. Apparently it was a means of transportation from the world where my own teacher once lived."
"That's so amazing! I want to ride it at least once!"
"You will—you'll be riding it plenty from now on. Allow me to teach you."
As Arhen showed Yuna how to use the elevator, she guided her through every corner of the Mage Tower.
"Now then, Yuna, look here. This is the tenth floor—the very top of the Mage Tower—and my personal office."
Arhen's office held a table for entertaining guests, a set of sofas, and bookshelves filling three full walls, every shelf crammed tight with books. And by the window stood the desk where Arhen did her work.
"Wow~! Teacher, I think it's wonderful."
"Doesn't it just? I had it built specially, summoning master craftsmen for the job."
Arhen then reopened the door they'd come in through and headed into the room immediately to the right.
"This is my bedroom. And there's one more room next door—starting today, that will be your quarters. Care to take a look inside?"
"Yes! Let's look right now."
But when Yuna opened the door to the right-hand room, she found it stuffed full of materials, clearly being used as storage. Her face fell at the sight.
"Hic... I'm... I'm supposed to live in here? It's fine. I can put up with it."
Arhen stood there, utterly at a loss as she surveyed the state of the room.
"No... that's not it. I distinctly told him to clean it out. That brat Yurien must have bolted... Yuna, come with me. Right now."
"Huh? Where are we going?"
"To hunt down the coward who skipped out on cleaning this room. He's no elf for nothing."
And so the two of them stormed the room directly below, where Yurien resided.
"Hey, you brat! I told you to clear out the storage room, so why is it still full?"
"Seriously, has no one ever taught you any manners, sis? At least knock."
"A little brother who won't listen doesn't deserve to be knocked for."
With that, Arhen advanced on Yurien, who shrank back in terror and tried to flee.
"And just where do you think you're going? Yuna, guard that door well."
"Huh? Um... yes..."
"Waaah! Hey, the girl out there—Yuna, was it? Sorry to spring this on you when we've just met, but could you help your big brother out here?"
"Uh? Um... well, you see... I'm sorry!"
And so Yuna slipped quietly out of the room, closed the door behind her, and covered her ears.
"WAAAAAH! Sis, I'm sorry, I was wrong, spare me! WAAAAAAH!"
Yurien's screams echoed throughout the Mage Tower. Thirty minutes after Yurien received Arhen's "mental readjustment," the door finally opened.
"I'll let it end here for today. Do better from now on."
"Do better? What's there to do better... You know there are no men around here anyway."
When Arhen shot him a withering glare at that remark, Yurien hastily changed the subject.
"Hiih! A-anyway, Sis—is that little girl over there the disciple you were talking about?"
At Yurien's sudden question, Yuna snapped to attention, bowed politely, and introduced herself.
"Hello. My name is Yuna. I'm the disciple of Archmage Arhen, who lives here."
"Oh! What a well-mannered child. So you're capable of raising one like this, after all, Sis."
Enraged by the remark, Arhen slammed Yurien's head into the floor.
"Gwah! Sis, do something about that temper of yours! Would you really kill your one and only little brother?"
"A little brother like you is unnecessary."
"So cold..."
Listening to the two of them bicker, Yuna let out a small laugh.
"You two seem really close."
"We are. We've survived by leaning on each other, after all. But Yuna—is it true that you really destroyed a demon?"
Faced with Yurien's question, Yuna hesitated before answering.
"Um... honestly, I'm not sure myself. I saw my mother and father's bodies, and then I collapsed. I don't remember anything after that."
At those words, Yurien and Arhen both sank deep into thought. It was Yurien who spoke first.
"Sis, from where I'm standing, this looks like a mana runaway. What do you think?"
"I think the same. Judging by Yuna's condition at the time, every trace of mana had vanished from her. That means she expelled all the mana within her body—something that simply shouldn't be possible under normal circumstances."
"Most likely... the way I see it, Yuna's survival instinct gathered every last scrap of her mana and obliterated the demon, and the shock of it knocked her unconscious."
"I see. Even I would have been shattered if a demon had killed my parents."
When their discussion wound down, Yurien walked over to Yuna. And then he pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Yuna, it's been so hard on you, hasn't it? When things get rough, don't bottle it up—you can lean on us grown-ups. Believe it or not, that terrifying sister of mine and I are both mages too. Lean on us any time you need."
At those words, Yuna began to sob and buried herself in Yurien's arms.
"Thank you for comforting me, Sir Yurien. From now on, I'll work really hard."
Yurien patted her gently on the back, soothing her.
"There, there. Just get strong at your own pace. My own disciple is about your age, you know—and she's frighteningly strong. And you'll be learning from my sister, who's even better than I am, so you'll grow incredibly strong too. So don't you worry."
"Yes... thank you, Sir Yurien."
"'Sir Yurien' sounds far too stiff. You can just call me Big Brother Yurien."
Hearing that, Arhen pried Yurien off of Yuna and stepped in between them.
"Yuna, that man there is fully qualified to be called 'old man.' From now on, you may address him as such."
"O-old... 'Old man' is way too harsh! If I'm an old man, then you're an old lady, you know!"
"You're dead, you brat. Just you wait."
Watching Arhen bear down on Yurien, Yuna called out with a laugh.
"It's nice to meet you! Uncle Yurien!"
"Ha, likewise. Looking forward to having you around, Yuna."
And so was the first meeting between Yuna—and Albert—and their future teacher, Yurien.
++++++
Meanwhile, in the Secree Duchy, a hooded woman was undergoing an inspection at a checkpoint.
"You there, hooded girl! Lower your hood and show us your face and identification."
The woman being called out was Noah. Ever since the demon incursion into Arcana had ended in failure, she had been at the end of her rope—and so she had come to the Secree Duchy to see Erich.
"H-here... you go..."
Noah pulled back her hood and presented her forged identification to the guards.
"Hmm. Your name is Nia, and you've come to the Secree Duchy for sightseeing?"
"Yes... I heard this is one of the three great ducal houses... so I wanted to see it for myself..."
For Noah, this was the first conversation she'd had with another human being in ten years, and she was terribly nervous. The guard studied the ID for a long while, comparing it against Noah's face.
"Hmm, I don't see anything suspicious. You're through. Next!"
Once through the checkpoint, Noah asked the people around her for directions to the ducal castle and finally made her way to its entrance.
This is it... the ducal castle where Erich is being held. But I can't get in...!!
Indeed—the entrance to the Secree family's castle was under constant watch by an overwhelming number of guards, day and night.
No!!! Rescuing Erich will take a great deal of time. For today, I must turn back. With what I am now, I can do nothing! This is the moment to retreat.
And so Noah took a room at an inn near Secree Castle and was eating her dinner there when the other patrons in the dining hall began to murmur.
"Hey, hey, look over there—it's Lady Iris!"
"Whoa... incredible... she's genuinely gorgeous..."
"But what's she doing out at this hour? Coming home to the manor now?"
"Beats me, but judging by the direction she's headed, it looks like she's coming from Helena Cathedral?"
"Huh? I had no idea Lady Iris was a follower of the Helena faith."
The chatter of the adventurers in the dining hall caught Noah's attention, and before long she spotted Iris through the window, passing in front of the inn.
"Excuse me... pardon me..."
"Hm? What can I do for you?"
Curiosity got the better of her, and Noah went over to the adventurers who had been talking to ask them.
"It's just... today is my first time in the Secree Duchy, so... who is that young lady?"
At her question, the adventurer turned to Noah and answered.
"Ah, Lady Iris? If it's your first time in this city, I suppose you wouldn't know. She's the Duke's daughter."
Hearing that, Noah was visibly stunned and asked again.
"Wh-what??????!! Whose daughter, did you say?"
"What, you didn't hear? The Duke's own daughter. Her name is Iris Secree."
"Um... then, by any chance, do you know the name of the Duke's husband?"
"The Duke's husband? If I remember right, his name was Erich? Ah, right—Erich Secree, that was it."
At those words, Noah bolted out of the dining hall and rushed straight toward Iris.
