Chosen by the Northern Grand Duke

Chapter 27: Tower (2)

The tower was long and thin.

Its height was impressive, but the ground it occupied was slightly smaller than the annex I lived in.

Yet, I suspected this tower was an ancient mage tower.

I was certain the Otherworld’s mage towers were special.

And why wouldn’t they be? They were communities of mages.

More scholarly, exploratory, and interactive communities of mages.

Not just any group of mages gathered together.

Each tower symbolized a different Origin. Mages with Origins in the same category banded together.

That’s how specialized mage towers were.

A tower symbolizing such a group would surely be special.

Though abandoned, its special traces would remain, even if not as grand.

‘This?’

But upon entering, I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

There was nothing.

The interior was narrow and empty.

Not even a single item to point out.

‘Abandoned?’

No. The empty interior was free of dust. Like the doorframe, it was periodically maintained.

The voices came from above.

“Let’s go up?”

Ellen, unwilling to give up, spoke to me as I searched every corner of the first floor.

“Let’s.”

I searched a bit more, then gave up with a nod.

It must be because it’s the first floor. Higher up, there might be something. Perhaps on the floor with the mage. Or maybe not.

Either way, I intended to climb to the top.

It was a tower I hadn’t seen in my previous life. It was worth investigating.

“But where do we go up?”

Ellen exaggeratedly looked around, asking.

There were no stairs. Her gaze was heavy, as if she thought I’d know.

‘I don’t.’

I pretended to be calm.

Even if I didn’t know, I had to act like I did. Even if I knew, I shouldn’t show too much surprise. To Ellen, I was that kind of figure. A teacher, a stimulant.

If I became useless to her, Ellen wouldn’t cling to me anymore.

The interior was slightly smaller than the tower’s exterior suggested. There was a hidden space.

I mentally compared the tower’s outer perimeter with the first floor.

‘Here.’

The left wall was slightly narrower.

Upon closer inspection, there was a faint seam running vertically from floor to ceiling.

Four handspans from the seam were two buttons. I pressed the upper one, marked with an upward arrow.

Soon, the seam parted.

The wall slid open smoothly, revealing it was a door, the seam its gap.

“Here, I think.”

I called Ellen naturally, as if I’d known all along.

The space beyond the wall was tiny.

It could hold five people at most, and it, too, was empty.

But on the wall were buttons similar to those at the entrance, arranged vertically.

Fifty-two in total.

I didn’t count them; the buttons were numbered.

“Floors, it seems. The tower has fifty floors.”

Two of the buttons were arrows.

Judging by their direction, they were likely for opening and closing.

“…Insane.”

Ellen was shocked anew by the height.

And realizing the purpose of this small room, she was even more stunned.

“This is an elevator?”

“Seems so.”

“We’ll have to break the ceiling to climb.”

The shock of a fifty-story elevator aside, this was an ancient, abandoned building.

With no one or beast to turn the pulleys, we’d have to climb through the ceiling.

Instead of answering, I pressed the close button.

The door didn’t close.

“What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, I pressed the button again, this time channeling mana through my fingertip.

The door closed.

“Huh?”

“It’s a magical item.”

“What?”

“The elevator itself is a magical item.”

The structure, capable of reaching the fiftieth floor, was a magical tool.

Ellen’s jaw dropped.

“Let’s go up one by one.”

I pressed the button marked “2.”

The sensation of floating hit as the elevator ascended.

It stopped quickly.

The distance between the first floor’s ceiling and the second floor’s floor was short.

We waited, but the door didn’t open.

“We must have to press it to open. Or someone outside presses an open button.”

Pressing the open button, the door slid smoothly.

The interior was similar to the first floor. I checked directly, but there was nothing special.

Click, click. A strange sound came from behind. Turning, I saw Ellen alternately pressing the open and close buttons.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s fascinating… Why isn’t it moving?”

“You need to inject mana.”

Unlike Ellen’s magical item, which worked without mana, this elevator wasn’t that special.

In other words, it was a common tool in the Otherworld.

“Do it.”

Ellen demanded like a child.

She found it fascinating.

Honestly, so did I.

If Ellen weren’t here, I’d have done the same.

“Maybe Serzila could make one too.”

“You can make it?”

Ellen’s eyes sparkled.

Her prejudice seemed to fade.

Or perhaps she had less aversion to magical items.

She’d been posing as a man with one since childhood.

“Unfortunately, I’m not talented at crafting.”

The sun was a very finicky Origin.

Unless an item was exceptionally sturdy, it broke the moment mana was injected.

“But I might pick up a crafting-talented mage someday. Like Kubel.”

“…”

Ellen didn’t respond.

Not affirmation, not denial. It felt like she was withholding judgment. Not a bad reaction.

I opened and closed the door about thirty times at Ellen’s request, then pressed the third floor.

We went out after pressing the open button, but the third floor had nothing special either. Nor did the fourth, fifth, or beyond.

But the voices, presumably from an Otherworld mage, were definitely getting closer.

“There are two.”

It wasn’t just a voice but a conversation.

The higher we went, the clearer the voices became.

At the thirtieth floor, my finger paused before pressing the open button.

The voices came not from above but from in front.

“Ah, ah.”

I called out softly.

The conversation beyond the door didn’t stop.

One voice was particularly loud, sounding agitated.

Thanks to that, they hadn’t noticed us.

‘The location helps.’

An abandoned tower in the boundary.

A place uninvited guests couldn’t reach.

Beasts attacking, maybe, but not people.

“Let’s eavesdrop for a bit. It’ll be valuable information.”

I whispered to Ellen.

“You said you can’t hide your presence.”

“This land is hiding me.”

A land dominated by fire’s mana.

My presence was buried in this land’s mana.

Proof was that the mages beyond the door still hadn’t noticed us.

I pressed my ear to the door.

Ellen mimicked my posture beside me, avoiding Aura to be safe.

“It’s frustrating not seeing. Can you crack it open a bit?”

“You talking to me?”

“You’re strong, aren’t you?”

Weak or moderate strength would make noise.

But Ellen, with Serzila’s greatest strength, wasn’t like that. She opened the door slowly and forcibly without a sound.

A finger-wide gap, enough to peek through. I pressed one eye to it.

“I’m not that interested.”

Ellen cared about their magic, not their conversation.

“Oh, he’s grabbing his collar.”

“…Move over.”

* * *

“Please!”

The mage grabbing the collar shouted.

He was large, bigger than Gullen but slightly smaller than Kubel.

The mage whose collar was grabbed was scrawny.

About Ellen’s size. Because of that, the grabbed mage dangled.

“Herbis of the Red Tower. I know this place serves as a relay for the Red Tower. And that you’ve been on duty for the past six months!”

The giant mage called the scrawny one Herbis, from the Red Tower.

“I’ve told you repeatedly, Jesult of the Ivory Tower. No comrades have used this place in the past six months. I haven’t received any information either.”

Herbis, despite being grabbed, remained calm.

“Ios died. By fire, no less!”

“That’s impossible.”

“Are you doubting Compaso’s eyes?”

The giant mage, Jesult, glared.

“Compaso, who was tracking Ios’s infiltration, told me he died by fire.”

“I’m not doubting Compaso’s eyes. I’m doubting there’s a misunderstanding.”

The collar shook back and forth.

Even so, Herbis remained defiant.

“Why would we attack the Ivory Tower?”

“Then prove it. We want to trust the Red Tower too.”

“I’ve told you several times. There are no Red Tower comrades infiltrating Serzila.”

Jesult’s hand trembled.

He let go of the collar, teary-eyed.

“Two are dead. Ios and Compaso! Both my friends and the future of the Ivory Tower!”

“Could it be another tower disguised as fire? As you know, the Red Tower is busy enough with prophetic searches.”

“It was clearly fire. Compaso’s eyes never failed.”

Jesult shook his head.

“I can say with certainty. The Red Tower has no reason to target the neutral Ivory Tower. We’re only grateful to you.”

“…”

Jesult wiped his face with his trembling hand.

By the time it passed his chin, the trembling stopped.

His teary eyes sharpened.

“If you keep this up, I’ll have to kill you.”

“Is that the Ivory Tower’s will?”

“I came here reporting everything I saw and heard.”

“The Ivory Tower won’t acknowledge it.”

“No matter. The Red Tower is already my enemy.”

Jesult took deep breaths.

Each breath made him larger. His leather clothes tore, and his thick robe fell off.

When the breathing stopped, Jesult’s head touched the ceiling.

His muscles were extraordinary. Less human, more like a human-shaped beast.

“Herbis of the Red Tower. I’ll break your neck and this watchtower together.”

“A fool like you can’t break the watchtower.”

Herbis flicked his fingers.

The friction sparked a flame.

Starting as a match flame, it grew to Herbis’s body size.

“Fire!”

Then, someone shouted abruptly.

Jesult and Herbis’s heads whipped toward the elevator.

“Real fire!”

A man in the half-open elevator looked greatly surprised.

Another was there, a woman staring at the man strangely.

“Oh.”

Meeting their eyes, the man opened his mouth.

Then, adjusting his clothes—short-sleeved—he extended a hand, as if to greet.

“Nice to meet you, Jesult of the Ivory Tower. It’s been a while, Herbis of the Red Tower.”

“…”

“…?”

Jesult’s gaze turned to Herbis.

Herbis blinked. It was a face he’d never seen.

“I’m Harad of the Red Tower.”

A name he’d never heard.

“If it’s Ios of the Ivory Tower, I killed him. With this fire.”

My fire flared.

Several times larger than Herbis’s.