The Crashing Tower Master
Dragon. "Augh..."
My head throbbed like hell.
Memories came in fragmented flashes, piecing together just enough to tell me I'd gotten blackout drunk last night.
Fresh air...
I pulled back the curtains to gulp down some cool morning breeze—and that's when it happened.
—Thud.
Something streaked in from beyond the distant mountains, plummeting straight to the ground right in front of my window.
"Eh..."
Guess I wasn't awake yet.
"Are you... cough. Are you there?!"
A clear, ringing voice called from outside. It was bright and high-pitched, like a kid's.
"Mm..."
It took a little while before I stepped out. I splashed water on my face, chugged some down, and polished off three or four chocolates—the ultimate hangover cure.
I popped the last one in my mouth and peered past the front gate. All I could see were the backs of the escort knights.
"Hmm..."
Through the gaps in their clunky armor, a thread of platinum blonde caught my eye.
Intrigued, I squeezed between the knights.
"Lady Ruen! It's dangerous—"
What I saw was a grubby kid whose gender was impossible to pin down. Middle-school age, maybe?
"Sniff sniff."
Even with swords at its throat, the kid didn't flinch, just twitched that tiny nose furiously.
"Ah! It's you...?!"
It sprang up like a coiled spring and grabbed my hand, words tumbling out nonstop.
"This magic—it uses natural mana, right? Wow... I tried replicating it with my own mana on the way from the capital to the North. Thought I was gonna die!"
Faint traces of mana lingered on the platinum-haired kid's body. Definitely the residue of levitation magic.
Knowing that spell meant they were from the capital's Golden Light Magic Tower.
The only person I knew from the tower was the Tower Master, who showed up in the original novel.
As I dredged up the description from memory, heavy footsteps approached from behind.
"What's all the commotion?"
Kian's voice. He'd clearly heard the noise from his first-floor room and wandered out, scratching his messy head. He looked as wrecked as I felt.
"Huh...?" "Oh, Kian! Long time no see."
They knew each other.
Kian narrowed his eyes at the intruder, brow furrowing, then started backing away slowly, mouth working soundlessly.
"Uh, uh... Elmaster??" "Yes! Long time no see!"
The Elmaster flashed a spotless, beaming smile.
"So this one is... the Master of the Golden Light Magic Tower?" "Yes, that's right!"
The knights' gazes shifted to Kian.
With the Elmaster answering for him, the knight sheathed his sword at the kid's throat.
"I'll fetch the Commander. Please wait just a moment."
The Tower Master—Elmaster—was hurriedly led by the knight commander, who'd gotten word, into Arwen's office deeper inside.
"Little mage, you wait too!"
The Elmaster waved cheerfully at me until the office door shut.
"Hmm..."
I knew the name. Elmaster, lord of the capital's Magic Tower.
The Tower Master's appearances in the novel were sparse but always tied to major events.
True to romance-fantasy form, there was the bit where she spotted the heroine's magical talent and took her as a disciple. She even briefly halted the rampaging light dragon...
And in the end... she died, right?
My hangover fog made it hard to recall more.
"Kian."
"Yes?"
They seemed acquainted, so I figured he'd know. I called to Kian beside me, and he jumped like I'd shocked him.
"What's the Tower Master like?"
Kian pondered my question for a beat.
"A mage, I suppose."
"Aha."
Clear enough.
Excluding me, all mages were a bit off in the head.
That gave me the gist of her personality, but something still nagged.
The novel described the Tower Master as a tall, suave, handsome pillar for the heroine.
But the Elmaster I'd just seen was a gender-ambiguous child.
Why the huge discrepancy...?
Arwen had deviated from her clichéd Northern Grand Duke role too.
As I mulled over the hazy novel details, the office door opened.
"Man... holding back the urge to bolt was tou—"
"Yriel."
At my call, the Elmaster turned with a blank stare. The smile vanished.
Her real name from the novel. The reaction confirmed it, but why the appearance mismatch?
"What did you just...?"
"Yriel, right?"
I repeated it, still pondering, and her eyes flashed. A staff materialized in her hand in an instant.
The blood-red tip aimed straight at my throat, golden mana swirling, primed to fire.
"Wha—?!" "Answer, or die. What's your connection to the lizards?"
Murderous intent rolled off her as she gathered more mana. Behind, Kian prepped an attack to intervene.
Hey, it was just a name!
I hadn't done anything!
Outrage or instinct—I unleashed a fierce shockwave.
—Krunch!
The blast gouged the Grand Duke's Castle interior, forcing the Elmaster back a step.
"What lizards?!"
Knights poured in from everywhere, surrounding the Elmaster and training swords on her.
She didn't blink, staff still locked on me.
"The only ones who know my name... are the ancient dragons."
She ground her teeth; I heard a crack from afar.
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
In that instant, I'd turned into a dragon alongside every reader of the original novel.
But I couldn't very well say, 'This world's a novel, and I know your name from it.'
Fuming, I stomped the ground.
"Can you swear an oath?"
Eyes wary, she still wouldn't lower her staff.
"I don't know the misunderstanding, but this mage is definitely no dragon."
The knight commander glared, chiming in.
My old hut-raiding foe. Not anymore. Kinda touching.
"Hear that?!" "Albert shook his head firmly. "But that arrogance fits—no self-respecting dragon would've crumpled when I drew steel at our first meeting."
My foe indeed.
She'd trashed my hut and my pride.
If I'd known back then how valuable I was, I'd have gone full scorched-earth...
Even now, aware of my genius, no time-rewind magic fixed that regret.
"...Truly no connection?" "Nope!"
No clue why she bought it, but I slapped a hand on my hip confidently.
"Then..."
She finally withdrew her staff.
Opening.
—Smack!
My next move was obvious. Platinum hair whipped as the Tower Master toppled backward. I couldn't help but chuckle.
⋯
*
⋯
"Got it?" "Mm... yes. We made the mana oath, and the punch confirmed—no dragon mana."
"Good. Let's get along."
Her "oath" was a brutal mana vow: lie, and you'd puke blood and drop dead on the spot. Wagering your core's mana.
No skin off my back—I sidestepped it anyway. Felt off.
Without a mana core, I just had to hold my breath.
"Whoa! You wrecked the castle too."
"You wrecked it, Lady Ruen."
"Tch!"
She wilted under my glare, head drooping.
Not entirely wrong, but self-repair magic had fixed it ages ago.
I beckoned Kian to untie the ropes binding the Elmaster.
She'd sworn no more attacks.
"Thank you. How've you been, Kian?"
Freed by Kian, she cracked her neck. Half a day trussed up—stiff.
"Yes, the North is fine. But... why come all the way here, Tower Master?"
Kian asked cautiously.
She propped her chin, thinking, then clapped as it hit her.
"Ah! Forgot."
Her gaze turned to me, innocent as if we hadn't just traded blows.
"Could you teach me how to use natural mana too?"
"No."
Firm rejection.