To the Magic Tower (3)
Natasha called over a knight. She tossed me—still reeling from shock—toward him and ordered him to assist with the tower registration process.
“See you later,” she said, waving her hand with a bright, cheerful smile as if sending me off. I left her behind and followed the knight.
“Follow me.”
The place the knight led me to was an old-fashioned district where blue vines and moss decorated the walls everywhere.
“Where are we?”
“The Personnel Management Bureau.”
What caught my eye was the sight of snowman-like creatures waving their arms and legs like humans, wandering among the people. When I widened my eyes and looked closer, I realized they were dolls made of paper. Little snowmen crafted by layering white drawing paper in three dimensions. Their torsos had plump, short limbs that looked like sausages, and their round faces had black eyes, noses, and mouths.
The fun part was that each snowman had a different expression and appearance, and their scarves, hats, and gloves came in all sorts of styles. There wasn’t a single identical snowman among them. Walking paper snowmen! How amazing.
“Whoa.”
I had already thrown my resolution to not look like a country bumpkin out the window. The more I looked, the more fascinating they were, so I poured out my admiration without caring who saw.
Those snowmen waddled around on their stubby penguin-like legs, moving so adorably that I actually thought about taking one home to raise. They were that cute.
“What are those snowmen?”
“Paper golems.”
So there were golems that looked like this too. The only golems I’d seen in picture books were stone golems made by fitting rock chunks together like Lego. In my head, the word golem automatically brought up the image of a stone golem. That was it. But paper snowmen? Robot golems made of paper?
This is exactly why people need to learn things.
You have to see and experience a lot! Only then does your perspective expand and your imagination grow richer. The knowledge I’d gained from books was merely the tip of the iceberg compared to what this vast world contained. A sigh of realization escaped me.
If I hadn’t come to the Heavenly Moon Tower, I would have died without ever seeing these fascinating new things. How terribly sad that would have been. Or wait—since I wouldn’t have even known they existed, maybe it wouldn’t have been sad at all?
“Are these golems only in the Heavenly Moon Tower? Or do other magic towers have them too?”
“Obviously they’re only in the Heavenly Moon Tower. They were personally designed and produced by the highest authority in our tower’s golem manufacturing field.”
Oh ho. Original signature golems, huh?
“Do those golems each have names too?”
“The golems are each assigned code names. They don’t have names like that.”
“Then what are these golems for?”
“They handle errands and miscellaneous tasks for their respective departments.”
“Then they must be able to talk too? Do they think like people?”
“Their intelligence isn’t the same as a human’s. It’s at a level where communication is possible and they can carry out commands without issue.”
“Ah. So they’re set up to play the role of smart idiots.”
I wondered what principles went into making them. They said magic dealt with space, so how exactly were golems born through their relationship with space? I was unbearably curious. My desire to study magic burned so fiercely that I felt an impulse to run over to one of those snowmen right then, tear off its paper sheets one by one, and dissect it.
I wonder what it would taste like? Would it be like eating snow ice in the middle of winter? It probably wasn’t ordinary paper but some special material. Would it melt in my mouth like snow?
My curiosity multiplied endlessly.
This is so fun! It’s thrilling!
Just pondering all sorts of things about magical entities and letting my imagination run wild was so delicious that my mouth started watering.
“I want to eat it. Slurp.”
“Even if you’re hungry, hold on just a little longer. Once the registration is finished, I’ll show you to the cafeteria, so until then…”
“Ah, it’s not because I’m hungry. I was talking about the golem. I got curious what the paper skin of a snowman would taste like. Aren’t you curious, Sir Knight? Do you happen to know what flavor it has?”
“……”
The moment he heard my words, the knight—who had been walking a step ahead—stopped dead in his tracks. He turned his head slightly to look at me and raised one eyebrow. When he saw me staring at the golem and licking my lips, his facial muscles twitched as if he were looking at an openly bizarre person.
Why is he reacting like that?
“Is there something on my face?”
“…No.”
He probably found it too direct to say outright, so he was expressing it in a roundabout way. Well, I suppose my appearance was pretty terrible after rushing out of my hometown in a hurry.
Is there still dirt from digging potatoes stuck on me?
I rubbed my face dry to shake off any sand or dirt that might be there and patted my cheeks. The knight, who had answered in a curt tone, swung his cloak and strode forward again with long steps.
The knight was a woman. She had long silver hair with a faint blue tint, tied up high in a tight ponytail. Her hair color went perfectly with her blue eyes. Unlike me—a colorless human—she seemed to be a person sculpted entirely from shades of blue. A deep blue uniform and cloak. A scabbard flowing with pale sky blue. A clear, upright voice that fell sharply like the tip of a blade piercing the air. An atmosphere as cold as ice.
She looks blunt, but she’s actually quite kind.
At first glance she seemed emotionless and icy, but she answered every question without showing any annoyance. She seemed like someone with both kindness and consideration. Maybe that was why Natasha had entrusted her with guiding me.
She’s on a completely different level from the knights I saw in the village. Is she from a high-ranking noble family?
Having lived my whole life as a native of a barony, my basis for comparison was limited to my hometown. Even though they all held the title of knight, the difference between the knights of the baron’s castle and the woman before me was so vast it felt wrong to even compare them.
My hometown was such a humble territory that there were only three knights in total. One was a tin-can knight who had rolled around as a mercenary, luckily obtained some used plate armor, and strutted around acting like a real knight. He had done so much thuggish behavior during his mercenary days that extorting money from men, women, young and old was routine. He frequently ate without paying or got drunk and caused trouble. Of course, that rumor eventually reached the baron’s ears and he was kicked out of the territory not long after.
He was remembered as the worst knight for a long time.
The second was a wandering knight who had sworn loyalty to the baron. He was the type of sycophant whose ambition to become the lord’s son-in-law was so strong that he spent every day glued to the baron, flattering him nonstop. He was such a passionate brown-noser that he even performed clownish tricks at the baron’s birthday banquet to please him, completely throwing away his pride and dignity.
He wagged his tail at the baron so much that everyone called him the Bell Knight.
The third was at least somewhat decent.
He was the one who followed the squire-to-knight appointment career path.
He was the third son of a neighboring baronial family and the only noble among the three knights. Because he was from a noble background, he had quite the polished appearance. When he first arrived, everyone had cheered, thinking, “Finally, a proper knight has come!” But he was ridiculously cowardly. He trembled even when dealing with a petty criminal who had sneaked into the village. The anecdote about how he saw a large wild boar, mistook it for a monster, and wet himself in fear became a legendary drinking story in the village’s history.
I wondered how someone with such pathetic guts had trained with the sword, but it turned out that during his squire days he had nearly been dismissed several times, and his father had used money to smooth things over. However, as nature dictates, spilled urine cannot be blocked with money. Unable to endure the shame, that knight ran away in the middle of the night two days later.
Hmm. Now that I think about it, there wasn’t a single normal knight back then.
In contrast, this woman…
She’s a real knight no matter who looks at her!
An overwhelming presence that could not be approached. A dignity that radiated noble grace. A soldier’s solid gait. An intense yet restrained aura. Steadfast eyes. She was the first person I’d met who truly deserved the modifier “knight-like.”
You know how it is—there’s that lofty aura that can’t be obtained unless you’re born with it. Someone like me, who came from a beggar background, couldn’t even imitate it. Even I, who knew nothing about the world of knights, could tell that she existed on a completely different level from ordinary knights.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
See? She immediately noticed my gaze that had been fixed on the back of her head the whole time.
Does she have tentacles on the back of her head…?
How did she know? They say highly skilled warriors possess superhuman senses. Did she notice purely through sensation? The other knights probably wouldn’t even dare to glare at the back of her head with their eyes. I didn’t know who worked with her, but thinking about their situation made me feel a natural sense of sympathy for those faceless people. I too had gotten caught every time I glared at old man Altrong’s back and gotten scolded, so I used to vent my curses into thin air.
Come to think of it, I wonder if the old man is eating well. He probably lost his appetite because he felt it was a waste of the bribe he fed the baron’s steward.
“May I ask your name, Sir Knight?”
“Why are you asking my name?”
“You’re the first person I’ve met since coming to the tower. And you’re helping me with my registration. It seems only polite to at least know your name. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.”
“Lyn.”
It was a surprisingly elegant name for her strict-looking face.
“My name is Juno. Knight Lyn.”
“I see.”
Even though we had exchanged names, she simply stared straight ahead and continued walking in silence. Lyn had been kind enough to answer my questions during the walk, but my name never once left her lips.
* * *
After arriving at the Personnel Management Bureau, I had to rush around so much that I almost thought we were doing an office tour. I filled out various documents including my personal information sheet, had interviews with department managers, and underwent several other tests. Before I knew it, nearly two hours had flown by.
If I had been an impatient person, I might have passed out during the registration process and moved straight on to the procedures for the afterlife tower. But even that long stretch of time was enjoyable for me. Why?
Finally!
I looked down at my palm. The brand-new, warm apprentice mage ID card sparkled as if greeting its owner, proudly showing off its lovely appearance.
I’m an apprentice mage now! And not just any apprentice—I’m an apprentice of the Heavenly Moon Tower!
According to the explanation from the Personnel Management Bureau staff, an apprentice mage was similar to an intern in my previous life. In terms of hierarchy, it was the lowest position. As literal apprentices, we were required not only to learn, train, and refine magic for personal growth, but also to perform a certain amount of practical work assigned by our respective departments and accumulate activity records and achievements.
I haven’t decided which department to join yet, though.
Surprisingly, apprentice mages had the right to choose which department they wanted to enter. Since I still lacked information about the departments, I planned to ask Natasha for details and decide after gathering enough information.
“Now that the registration is complete, I will guide you to your lodging.”
Lyn spoke as we descended the bureau’s stairs. It seemed her temporary guiding duty was to deliver me all the way to the dormitory.
“Knight Lyn. There’s somewhere I want to go before the lodging. Could we stop there first?”
“Where?”
“The library. To be honest, I’ve been dying to look around it since earlier.”
At those words, Lyn glanced at the large backpack slung over my shoulder and asked,
“While carrying that heavy load? It would be more convenient to drop your luggage at the dormitory first and then head to the library.”
“It looks big, but it’s not actually that heavy. Compared to carrying firewood and water buckets, this is nothing. Besides, the tower is so vast that it would take quite a while to reach the dormitory. I don’t want to waste time going back and forth. I’d rather spend that time in the library reading even one more page of a magic tome.”
I was curious about what the dormitory looked like, but if I had to pick my top destination, it was undoubtedly the library. To me, whose thirst for magical knowledge had reached its peak, that place was practically an oasis. It was only natural for a thirsty camel to seek an oasis. In truth, I had been holding back the urge that had been making my whole body itch with impatience since earlier.
Ugh, I’m dying to go to the library!
Lyn looked at me with slightly raised eyebrows as if she didn’t understand. Soon, perhaps sensing my desperate need for the library, she gave a small nod.
“…Understood. Then we’ll go to the library.”
Great. Next stop is the—huh?
Just as I was cheerfully taking a step forward, something strange happened. My vision suddenly flipped upside down. Almost simultaneously, I felt my body floating in the air.
“Hold on tight.”
“…!”
By the time I realized that Lyn had hoisted me over her shoulder like a piece of luggage and leaped onto the high roof of the management building, everything had already unfolded. Before I knew it, I was soaring across the sky.