Riella, Tower Master of the Purple Magic Tower (3)

"Saintess!"

A girl with twintails came running and threw her arms around me. Ever since we'd grown close, she latched on the instant she spotted me and refused to let go. Honestly, it was a little much. Part of me wanted to peel her off, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Today was so hard..."

Her voice was thin, her shoulders slumped. Her whole body was telling me how exhausted she was. I wasn't a good person, but I wasn't nasty-tempered either. At times like this, comfort was the decent thing to do—not pushing her away.

"Just rest for a bit."

I gave her back a light pat, and the arms around me tightened a little.

"Thank you. Would it be all right if I called you Sister from now on?"

"......"

Sister. Something about the word made my insides itch. It wasn't a word I wanted to hear. Not yet.

"Let's wait until we're closer."

Give it about three years and maybe it'll be fine. For now, a gentle refusal was the right answer.

"So what did you do that wore you out so much?"

"My sister chewed me out something fierce. She said how was I supposed to serve as a Sage when I don't even have the basics down, and just kept tearing into me."

Erin had been waiting for the chance to vent.

"She blows up at me every time she sees me. I'm really trying my hardest, too..."

"That's pretty harsh."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Right?"

I played along just enough, and the bright smile her gloom had been hiding came spilling out.

"I wish you were my real sister, Saintess."

Still clinging to me, Erin kept pouring out one complaint after another.

"What's your schedule like today?"

Then, out of nowhere, she asked.

"I was just going to sit around and zone out."

"If you don't have anything to do, want to come see the magic library with me? There are so many interesting books."

Asking with those sparkling eyes was cheating. I couldn't turn her down.

"Let's go!"

Erin grabbed my hand and started pulling me along.

"Where do you think you're going?"

But then a spoilsport stepped out and blocked our path.

"Ah... Sister..."

"Have you finished memorizing the magic circles?"

"I was going to do it later."

"Do it now."

"Okay..."

Crestfallen, Erin trudged back to her room.

"Clitia."

The lecture's arrow swung toward me this time.

"Don't indulge her."

"Erin is trying."

"She's trying because she's still nowhere near good enough. She's not strong like you or the Hero."

Riella glared at me with a piercing, narrowed look, making no effort to hide the anxiety trembling underneath.

"You're that worried?"

She flinched at my words, then let out a long, heavy sigh.

"I have to send her off soon. How am I supposed to just sit back and relax?"

Like leaving a child alone at the water's edge, I supposed. The day Erin would start serving as the Sage of the Hero's party was right around the corner. Of course she was anxious.

"Keep a close eye on her for me. The Hero's a lost cause. You're the only one I can ask."

"Leave it to me."

I made the promise with all the conviction I could muster, just to put her at ease. Never knowing I would one day watch Erin die, powerless to stop it.

I stared at Riella from the center of the auditorium, where magic circles glowed with a brilliant light. Her remaining eye sent a frigid look my way. Her face was scrunched up much like usual, but the air around her was heavier. She was genuinely trying to break my will. The hostility rolling off her wasn't all that different from when she'd been raining bombardment down on me.

I needed to face her with everything I had. I had no intention of backing down either.

"How about the loser keeps their mouth shut?"

I offered the wager with an easy air, and fury flooded her already crumpled face.

"You're that sure you'll win?"

"You already know. You're weak."

"......"

A jab at her pride and her nerves. I did tone it down as much as I could, though. We were friends, after all.

"I'm not who I used to be. You think I became Tower Master for nothing?"

"When I came at you earlier, you couldn't even respond properly. Want me to tell you how many chances you had to counterattack while you were getting bombarded?"

"...Forget it!"

Riella shook her head wildly and jabbed a finger at me.

"Fine. I accept. If I win, you don't go anywhere near the Sage."

"Deal."

I wasn't going to lose anyway. I nodded with exaggerated emphasis, packing that meaning into the gesture.

"If I win, you actively participate in the Sage's mental training."

"As long as you don't cross the line."

"Of course."

The terms were set. All that remained was to decide the winner.

"You go first."

The strong always yielded the first move to the weak.

"Clitia. Don't regret this."

In that instant, the light radiating from the magic circles snuffed out all at once.

"I just finished mapping out all your weaknesses."

Chains burst from the many magic circles and surged toward me. There were too many to dodge, so I didn't bother wasting the energy. I simply watched as they wound around my body and bound me in place. I could always just tear them off with brute force.

"You think this is going to work?"

"Just wait."

The chains all pulled taut at once. The bindings tightened, restricting my movement even further.

"Your body is monster-tier, but your mind is ordinary. Isn't that right?"

She wasn't wrong. Under ordinary circumstances it was a weakness that might as well not exist—but against a mage, the story changed. There were countless spells that attacked the mind. And Riella, as a Tower Master, would be especially skilled at developing and applying magic.

"This is going to feel completely different from before."

Electricity flowed through the chains and into my entire body. My consciousness wavered, just slightly. It wasn't my body being shocked. It was my mind. Physical toughness meant nothing without the mind to command it. An indescribable agony made the world swim before my eyes.

"I'm not done yet."

A long black rod appeared and drove into my left shoulder. There was no pain—instead, a nauseating discomfort welled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up inside me, as if something were rummaging through my body. Then the rod vibrated violently, and something poured in.

"A carefully curated selection of curses. You know what happens when you inject them into the body through a medium, don't you?"

The curses' potency would skyrocket. Strong enough to leave aftereffects for the rest of my life.

"Are you really going this far?"

"No hard feelings. Try to understand."

Vicious curses pressed in on my body. My vision was cut off. Sound was sealed. Strength wouldn't enter my limbs. How many curses had she packed in? Every sense was completely blocked. It felt as though my body and mind had been fully isolated from each other, my consciousness sitting alone in the dark. And through it all, the current from the chains never stopped flowing. Even stringing thoughts together was becoming a struggle.

It was like being locked in a dark torture chamber, suffering. Helplessness crashed down and pinned me in place.

This was the Tower Master of the Purple Magic Tower, all right. She'd moved me to a place where the magic favored her and driven me into a corner, without even giving me a chance to trade blows. A mage through and through—her relentless, unending assault was vicious and merciless.

If this kept up, I would lose for certain. A smile slipped out on its own.

Should I just sit here and take it?

The thought crossed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my mind for a moment, but in the end I leaned toward giving it everything I had. Giving up wasn't the ideal form of defeat. And wasn't the whole point of the mental training I wanted to put the Hero's party through to teach them to fight to the very end without giving up?

Get out of this.

I shook off the temptation and drew up my mana. The mana I pulled forth filled the hollow where my senses had been.

Power overflowed—no, it flooded. Fierce enough to tear down every barrier and transcend the limits of physical force.

"Riella. That's an eighty."

I raised both hands and seized the empty air. The flow of mana filled my grip to bursting. I poured every ounce of my strength into shattering it.

Mana twisted. The world convulsed. Space itself was ripped apart.

My senses returned. Sparse trees and a whispering breeze greeted me. We were on the mountainside of Mount Ellepub.

"Lady Clitia! You're back! I was so worried!"

Sun-bask chattered away at full volume. It was a welcome worthy of a victory salute.

"I won, didn't I?"

I approached the staggering Riella. Up close, I could see she was soaked in sweat from head to toe.

"...When did you figure it out?"

Illusion magic. Everything I'd been seeing was a false reality Riella had crafted with her spells.

"From the moment you showed me those old memories. Why'd you do that?"

It had been so sudden. Though I had enjoyed feeling like I was meeting Erin again after so long.

"I was trying to make you feel guilty so you'd change your mind. I didn't expect you wouldn't care at all."

Riella bit her lip, her whole face twisting.

"I'm disappointed. I feel pathetic for trusting you with Erin... agh!"

She was talking nonsense, so I rapped my knuckles against the crown of her head.

"What are you..."

"Even as she was dying, she smiled so I wouldn't suffer."

That girl had been dignified to the very end.

"She asked me, please, not to be sad. It was her last wish. I have to honor it."

So I wasn't sad. I was sorry I couldn't protect her, but I wouldn't cry. Because that was what Erin had wanted.

"......"

Riella couldn't say a word. She sank to the ground.

"Riella."

I sat down beside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her and spoke carefully.

"If you really hate it that much, I'll look for a gentler approach."

My conviction that I was right hadn't changed. You had to slam into a massive trial and shatter before you could learn how to keep fighting without giving up. But I didn't want to force my views so hard that I made one of the few friends I had suffer. A compromise somewhere in the middle of our two positions. That would be enough.

"This is why Erin only ever listened to you."

Riella smiled faintly. Sunset light, hidden until now behind the mountain range, finally spilled across her face and warmed the smile.

"Thanks for being considerate."

"In exchange, cooperate with the mental training."

"I'll help even if I have to use my authority as Tower Master."

I'd gotten her agreement. All that abuse of body and mind had been worth it.

"What's this new Sage like?"

She seemed to have calmed down some, so I asked casually.

"The Hero's an absurd genius. Is she like that too?"

"No. She's a super-genius."

What is that even supposed to mean. Too serious to be a joke, too ridiculous to be the truth.

"Say that again."

"A super-genius."

Still dead serious. So not a joke, then.

"How good are we talking?"

"Don't even get me started."

Riella shook her head slowly from side to side.

"Talent-wise, she's the kind of prodigy who'd surpass me within a year."

"......"

I let out a hollow laugh and clasped my hands together.

"O noble Sun, are you actually planning to kill the Demon King this time?"

At any rate, the Hero party's future was bright. And my own future—the one where I'd stand against that Hero party—sparkled just as dazzlingly.