Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Aspiring to Join the White Tower
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"You want to join the White Tower?"
"Yeah."
Join the White Tower, of all things.
And Lena, the only daughter of the current head of House Silvermont, no less?
"Why?"
Lena's bombshell declaration was so baffling that Jeon couldn't help voicing his confusion, even as he nodded along to her response.
Sure, the White Tower had a prestigious reputation, but that only held weight among ordinary nobles.
She was the sole daughter of Alexar Silvermont, the second most powerful man in the Langley Kingdom.
If she just sat back and did nothing, she'd inherit the Duchy of Silvermont someday.
What could possibly be missing in her life that she'd want to join the White Tower?
No, setting that aside, it was impossible from the start.
Even ignoring House Silvermont, what mad family would send their only heir off to a distant foreign land?
Not somewhere nearby or within the same kingdom, but far away in another country?
It was absurd.
"You've gotten stronger since coming to this tower, right? So I'll get stronger here too!"
Of course, Lena had her own reasons.
But they weren't convincing in the slightest.
"Lady Lena, what are you..."
Risar, who had overheard, looked utterly bewildered and tried to talk her out of it.
"No! I have to join the White Tower!"
"Lady Lena, the Duke will never allow it."
"I don't need his permission. I'll just join anyway."
"What on earth are you saying..."
Risar tried to soothe Lena's stubbornness on this ridiculous point, but it was no use.
'Here she goes again.'
Lena's unique brand of stubbornness—what Jeon called her "childish tantrums"—wasn't something that bent easily.
"Even this visit to the White Tower was an unprecedented exception granted by the Duke."
"I know. So he just needs to make one more unprecedented exception."
"Haa... Lady Lena..."
Risar, trying to dissuade her, clutched his head at her unyielding stance.
'I thought she'd improved a lot.'
Lately—or more precisely, since meeting Jeon—Lena's outbursts of stubbornness had decreased significantly.
She used to run away from home like it was a monthly event, but she hadn't done it once since meeting him.
Of course, her stubbornness hadn't vanished entirely.
'If anything, she's been showing it more around Jeon, like playful whining or acting spoiled.'
The truly immature, nonsensical behavior she directed at others had shifted to mere pouting in front of Jeon.
Jeon didn't see it that way himself, but that's how it appeared to Risar.
'Well, this time... it's probably because of Jeon too.'
So her current stubborn fit was likely tied to Jeon as well.
After all, her hard work to reach the 4th Circle had been to visit the White Tower and see him.
'Whether it's love or friendship, I don't know... but being caught in the middle is tough.'
Thus, Risar pondered how to handle the situation.
Meanwhile, Jeon asked the stubbornly insistent Lena,
"You want to join the White Tower to get stronger?"
"That's right."
"Hmm... But you know as well as I do. If you just barge in, it won't just be Alexar—it'll cause a uproar in the entire house."
"Well..."
Lena, who had been rigidly stubborn against Risar's words, softened slightly at Jeon's.
But if he opposed her outright here, she might not listen even to him, so Jeon tossed out a small compromise.
"So convey your wishes directly to Alexar. If he approves, join the tower. If not, return to the family."
"That's impossible!"
"It depends on how sincerely you convey it and how well you persuade him."
"Ugh, that sucks."
"Your tantrum about forcing your way in sucks too."
Lena wilted a bit at Jeon's words but couldn't refute them.
As he said, stubbornly pushing forward without regard for the family if Alexar refused was no different from ignoring the house entirely.
'She dislikes Father, but not the rest of the family.'
Besides, while Lena harbored some resentment toward Alexar, she didn't feel that way about the entire Silvermont Family.
So despite some grumbling, she didn't strongly object to Jeon's suggestion.
"Hoo..."
Risar, watching this while holding his forehead, let out a quiet sigh of relief.
It made sense—Lena yielding so easily was only possible because it was Jeon.
'Jeez.'
As someone who had served her since she was very young, Risar felt a twinge of emptiness, but he harbored no real complaints.
'Jeon fills a void that neither I, the Duke, nor anyone else in the family could. That's why it's possible.'
In any case.
They decided to follow Jeon's proposal: clearly convey her opinion to Alexar and let his decision determine whether she'd join the White Tower.
The method was simple.
The tower operated a building called the "Mana Post Office," which allowed long-distance message delivery via mana.
Anyone could use it for a fee, making it a tidy profit source for the tower.
'Their technology is impressive, but it hasn't caught on with the masses.'
The elevators in the main White Tower or their construction methods wouldn't pale against Jeon's previous life on Earth.
Yet long-distance communication, commonplace there, was inconvenient here—and costly.
'The recipient needs the setup too.'
It was like Earth with payphones in only a few spots.
"Haaah..."
Upon arriving at the Mana Post Office, Lena let out a long, tense sigh.
"Couldn't I just join first and report it that way...?"
"Of course not."
As the moment to speak arrived, a nervous Lena made another absurd suggestion, but Jeon shot it down firmly.
'Obviously not.'
Truth be told, Jeon had proposed this direct confrontation, but he didn't expect Alexar to approve.
'If she doesn't get scolded too badly, that'll be a win.'
Jeon knew the Silvermont family's situation well.
He was certain Lena joining the White Tower was impossible.
Flatly refusing would spark backlash, so he'd devised this to break her stubbornness by invoking not just Alexar but the whole house.
"Ugh... Please let it work..."
Still, Lena poured her heart into drafting the mana mail to Alexar, clutching at straws.
She even cradled her head in agony midway, showing her desire to join was genuine.
'Why go this far...'
Jeon had grown stronger since arriving at the White Tower—it was true.
Researching with Ralph had expanded his magical knowledge, he'd gained the new artifact Lunareake, and thanks to the Door of Awakening, he'd broken through to the 4th Circle after stalling.
In a short time, his growth was ridiculous.
'But it was dangerous too.'
The dungeon foe was a 7th Circle archmage allied with the Ruin Church.
No exaggeration—it was a near-death battle of battles.
His merits earned him the Door of Awakening, reaching 4th Circle and two new rune magics.
But rationally, dying then would have ended everything.
'I got lucky.'
Even befriending Ralph and researching together was luck.
Surviving the life-or-death fight and using the Door as reward—all luck.
So Jeon saw joining the White Tower and growing stronger as separate issues.
'Whatever... she'll be rejected anyway.'
Of course, these thoughts were futile.
Alexar's reply would surely demand her immediate return home, with a scolding before that.
And so, after much deliberation, Lena sent the mana mail.
"Please, please, please..."
The sender herself bit her lips and nails, awaiting the response.
A minute passed—feeling like a year to Lena.
"The reply has arrived."
A response from Alexar came quicker than expected.
But though it arrived, Lena hesitated to check it.
"Hup! Hooo... Hup! Hooo..."
After several deep breaths to calm her trembling heart, she finally opened it.
"Uh... it says it's approved?"
"What?"
The reply contained something entirely opposite to Jeon's expectations.
"Hm."
Clink.
The ice in the glass clinked lightly, as if responding to the man's voice, thick with boredom.
He took a sip from the glass of strong liquor and ice, then gazed at the subordinate prostrated before him.
"Is that the entirety of your report?"
"Y-yes, yes! Th-that's right!"
At the man's question, the subordinate flinched and pressed himself flatter to the floor.
"So, everything you have to report to me is that it was all a failure, and everyone died... Is that it?"
"I deserve death!"
Thud thud thud!
The subordinate slammed his head against the floor in response.
Blood flowed from his cracked skull, staining the ground, but terror overwhelmed the pain, leaving him trembling.
"Curious, though."
"Pardon? Wh-what do you mean?"
"I heard Valkazar and Kairon kidnapped all those Silvermont bastards. So any rescuers would be just the dispatch team from the White Tower... and those two lost to them?"
"Y-yes."
"Did the senile Tower Master or Vice Tower Master make a move?"
"According to intel, it was just the dispatch team members..."
Thud.
The man set down his glass at the subordinate's words.
"Incompetent."
It was a rebuke, but the subordinate couldn't reply.
The moment the glass hit the floor, his master's blade severed his neck, sending his head rolling.
"I heard the White Tower rats have bulked up lately..."
The White Tower.
And the organization Baek-eun inside it, plus Silvermont's mages.
They'd always been thorns, but lately, more so.
He'd brought Valkazar and swayed Kairon to crush them all at once.
"Should have smashed them before they grew."
Long ago, before Baek-eun became the White Tower, they'd felled one of the Church's apostles.
They'd secluded afterward, and with frequent imperial conflicts then, the Church hadn't pressed hard.
But emerging as a tower within the Empire made direct action awkward for the Church.
'A bit more patience, and such nuisances won't matter...'
It was bad timing, with the Church still conserving strength.
But the man couldn't sit idle.
"Time to move myself."
He'd delegated to subordinates while focusing on his own affairs.
Now, he felt the need to act personally.
Swish.
With that, he set down his empty glass and rose.
It was time for something more entertaining than his old hobby of strong liquor.