Chapter 44
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Brothers from the Magic Tower
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"Lexion!"
Philomel called out to Lexion in a delighted voice.
"I just saw you the other day, but it feels like ages. Great to see you, Phil."
Lexion replied, his eyes widening. But he wasn't alone.
"Whoa! So you're Philomel?"
The brown-haired man with him came bounding over excitedly.
"And this is...?"
Philomel asked, looking puzzled.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Cadin! Your big brother! Well, technically Lexion's the eldest, but just think of me as the oldest! I'm the most reliable of the bunch! Wow, this is like a dream come true! I've prayed since I was little to have a little sister, and now my wish has come true!"
The man who introduced himself as Cadin spun around Philomel, words tumbling out in a rush. His green eyes sparkled brightly.
"...Haha. Nice to meet you too."
Facing these four men, Philomel could only manage that much.
In the end, with Lexion and Cadin joining them, five people gathered around the table under the canopy.
"So, what brings all four of you here?"
"Didn't Tower Master Rguin tell you?"
"What do you expect? He always leaves out the important parts."
"True that."
From Lexion and Cadin's exchange, it seemed Rguin had zero credibility with any of his three sons.
The utterly untrustworthy father spoke up.
"Quiet down. Introduce yourselves to Phil first. You're all so cocky, she must be mixing you up."
"You think so?"
With those distinct personalities, she doubted anyone with eyes could confuse these three brothers...
Lexion started the introductions first.
He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to Philomel.
"We've already introduced ourselves, but I'm Lexion. I work in the Magical Artifact Management Division at the Magic Tower. Here's my card."
"Oh, thank you."
The small card bore Lexion's name along with the title "Tower Master's Secretary and Chief Mage of the Magical Artifact Management Division."
Cadin went next.
"I'm Cadin! If it's okay with you, I'd love for you to call me big brother!"
"...I'll try."
Philomel replied with a lukewarm expression.
"Idiot. No one asked for your wish list. Introduce yourself properly."
Jeremiah clicked his tongue from the side.
Cadin grinned shamelessly and added,
"I'm the second of us three brothers. And this grumpy guy is my little brother, Jeremiah. He's got a bad personality, but deep down he's actually kind of ni— Aack!"
Jeremiah slowly ground his heel into Cadin's foot, cutting his long-winded introduction short.
Finally, Jeremiah gave a curt self-introduction.
"As you've heard, I'm Jeremiah."
Once the three had finished, Philomel asked the question that had been nagging at her.
"So, what brings you three here? And how did you even get into the Maze Garden?"
Lexion answered as the representative.
"As for how we got in... we just hopped the fence like normal."
"...Pardon?"
That was anything but normal.
The maze walls made of thick hedges towered two heads taller than an adult man. Even someone athletic wouldn't dream of scaling them if they had a shred of sanity.
'Not to mention, this is the imperial garden.'
They'd be asking to get hauled off in a body bag for trespassing.
Lexion continued.
"As for why we're at the palace... to become court mages, I suppose?"
"Court mages..."
Philomel's recent conversation with Nassar sprang to mind.
Come to think of it, he'd mentioned traveling with three mages applying for court mage positions. And the number matched the brothers she'd just met.
No...
'It wasn't a coincidence.'
These three were the mages who'd come to the capital with Nassar.
"We'd all planned to apply at first, but Jeremiah dug in his heels and refused."
"Why the hell would I do that? I didn't even want to come here. I returned to the Magic Tower because of some 'emergency,' and they dragged me along by force."
Cadin slammed the table at Jeremiah's grumbling.
"Our little sister appeared! If that's not an emergency, what is? I've dreamed of having a sister forever! I rushed here mid-fight with a giant wyvern, and I don't regret it one bit!"
Rguin plugged his ears with his fingers and complained.
"Ugh, so noisy. Someone shut him up."
"Impossible without force. Otherwise, we wouldn't have reinforced the Magic Tower's soundproofing barriers."
Lexion replied calmly.
Whoosh!
In the end, Cadin only stopped talking after a beam of light from Rguin's hand struck his mouth.
"Finally quiet."
"Mmph mmph."
Bound not just at the mouth but all over by strands of light, Cadin rolled on the ground, groaning.
Jeremiah looked down at his brother with pitiful eyes and said,
"Lexion, so how'd the interviews go?"
"I passed, of course. Cadin barely scraped by."
"Passing that idiot? The court mages must all be blind."
"I thought he'd fail for sure when he grabbed the interviewer by the collar. Lucky for him, the communication stone position has low requirements."
"Tower Master's son and disciple assigned to just channeling mana into communication stones. If word gets out, Rguin's reputation will hit rock bottom."
"It's already there. Nowhere lower to go."
Whoosh!
"Fun times. Keep talking."
As the same light shot from Rguin's hand, the two shut their mouths.
Philomel felt a bit dazed.
It was hard to believe they'd come just to get jobs at the palace.
But then why?
"...Anyway, congrats on getting what you wanted. I'm glad I got to see all your faces too."
Philomel suppressed her confusion and offered hollow pleasantries.
Lexion replied leisurely.
"We've definitely seen your face now, so our main goal's achieved. We became court mages just to meet you, after all."
"Mmph!"
Cadin, rolling on the ground, somehow managed an agreeing noise.
"Pardon? Hold on. How does meeting me connect to becoming court mages?"
"It stems from a little misunderstanding, actually."
Lexion began explaining calmly, without so much as glancing at Cadin.
"We heard the rumor that you'd been arrested by the security forces and dragged to the capital, so we thought you were being transported as a prisoner with no chance of escape."
"Mmph!"
Cadin made another agreeing sound.
"Tower Master Rguin rushed off to see you first, but we couldn't teleport here because of the barriers. So we figured we'd pose as court mage applicants to get inside."
"Such a hassle. Just leave it to Rguin."
"Who'd trust him to go alone into the heart of the empire?"
He parried Jeremiah's complaint and continued.
"Then this morning, we got a communication from Tower Master Rguin saying you weren't locked up and were doing fine. Not what we'd expected, but since we were already here, we went through with the interviews."
Philomel, who had been listening quietly, raised a question.
"You could've just requested an audience to see me."
Considering Nassar's visit today, she wasn't barred from seeing outsiders.
Lexion chuckled and held up two fingers.
"There are two reasons we went for court mage positions."
"What are they?"
"We prepared for two scenarios. First, if you wanted to leave but couldn't. In that case, being on the inside makes it easier to get you out."
"And second?"
"If you wanted to stay here of your own will. The palace isn't a place we can come and go freely, so we'd need to become court mages to see your face often."
"Mmph!"
"Cadin seems to feel the same."
Seeing their smiling faces, Philomel was stunned.
It didn't make sense that they'd become court mages for something like that. They were siblings, sure, but they'd only known each other for a few days. She was meeting Cadin for the first time.
"What if I'd said I was heading straight to the Magic Tower?"
Philomel asked in a trembling voice.
"We'd resign the next day, obviously."
The dream job countless mages coveted suddenly seemed so trivial.