NOVEL NEXT Chapter 50
EP.50 Resti Elenoa (1)
Raniel van Trias, the Ashen Master.
Of course, Resti is a talented mage. Her talents were recognized by the Ashen Elder.
She learns quickly.
At her young age, she can already draw advanced circuits.
She was born with the talent of a Summoner.
Moreover, it was the Elder who recognized her talent at a glance, a recommendation from the Ashen Mage Raniel. There’s no room for doubt about her abilities.
This isn’t just a matter of absolute standards.
Even in relative terms, it doesn’t change that Resti is a high-level mage.
Currently, there are two people mentioned as candidates for the next Master of the Tower, the Ashen and the Black: the Summoner Belnoa and the Battle Mage Lac.
– They are unparalleled geniuses.
– They will decorate the future.
Many admire their abilities.
However, when comparing them to Resti, she is always the first to be mentioned.
– Their levels are different.
– At that age, commanding both a familiar and a spirit… only Gletus the Betrayer could do that.
She possesses such talent. Even when assessed relatively, her abilities are not lacking.
However.
As relativity often goes, evaluations vary depending on the criteria.
“Disappointing.”
“……”
A casually spoken word clenches Resti’s throat.
“You had a month’s grace period. To be precise, a month and a half. But given the academy’s schedule, let’s assume it was just a month.”
In the highest level of the tower, among the Elders.
Six seats arranged along a semicircular platform.
Out of six, four are filled.
Two seats remain empty.
The Elder Rosel, who raised the previous Master of the Tower, and the oldest Elder, Gileon.
“Is this all the research you’ve done in a month?”
A cold voice echoes in her ears.
There’s no trace of emotion in that voice. Resti slowly raises her head.
“……”
Four Elders are looking down at her, and their gaze holds no expectations.
A month’s worth of research.
Results completed at the cost of sleep, yet the Elders’ gazes are icy.
Thud.
One Elder taps the table with their finger, seemingly bored. Someone rests their chin in their hand, while another even yawns.
“There was only one piece of research in a month. And I’m not even satisfied with the outcome.”
Resti bows her head.
“I heard you’re maintaining the top spot at the Apuria academy? Yes, you’ll have to do that. Given how pathetic your research results are, at least you should excel at that, right?”
“It’s laughable to be sitting in the next Master of the Tower’s seat while attending the academy···.”
Laughter is heard.
“Looking at you now, it seems only right for someone of that caliber.”
Resti lowers her head even further.
With the Elders’ mocking laughter, a pile of documents lands thud before her eyes.
It seems like there are no signs of having read them properly.
They lay crumpled, as if deemed unworthy, rolling beneath her feet.
“……”
Resti bends to pick up the papers.
She kneels, sorting through each page one by one.
“I miss five years ago.”
“That kid… no, that person turned the magical world upside down every ten days, let alone a month···.”
“Isn’t it our fault for not being able to hold onto that person back then? More precisely···.”
“It’s also due to the owner of that empty seat.”
The Elders chatter among themselves.
Resti is no longer in their thoughts. She picks up all the papers and briefly bows her head.
No Elder receives that greeting.
Just as Resti is about to leave the room…
“The Elder has aged. Keeping such a half-wit in the next Master of the Tower seat.”
A word that stops Resti in her tracks. Her fingers gripping the papers tremble.
“Raniel van Trias.”
Someone utters that name.
That name again. One she’s heard so much it has become tiresome, almost unbearable to hear.
Raniel.
If it were Lord Raniel…
At your age…
Raniel, Raniel, Raniel…
“……”
Resti bites her lip.
Moving with heavy steps, she lets the Elders’ laughter wash over her. Her deeply bowed head shows no signs of rising.
It’s always like this.
No one sees her. They’re all searching for someone missing, someone who’s no longer in this place.
It’s been years since then.
For Resti, the tower is no longer a place of dreams. It has transformed into a stifling place she doesn’t want to return to.
I really hate this.
Blood trickles from her clenched lips.
With her head still bowed, Resti exits the tower.
—
2.
“Allen.”
“What is it, Professor Rania?”
At my call, Allen peeked out, pausing from roasting coffee beans.
Allen was a barista from an alchemical workshop. In other words, he was the owner of the café inside the Apuria academy where I had become a regular.
I asked him.
“Don’t you have a day off, Allen? Isn’t it a holiday today?”
Recently, Apuria had entered a short break. So, I assumed the café would be closed too.
But lo and behold.
Just in case, I came to the school and found the door open. I rushed in, placed my coffee order, and sat by the window…
Wait, does this guy even have holidays?
That question suddenly popped up.
Though the closing time was a bit early, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him fully take a day off.
As I waited for his response, Allen stopped roasting coffee.
“…That’s a good question?”
“Excuse me?”
She countered my question with one of her own.
Her tone sounded oddly low.
“Why am I not able to take a break, Professor Rania?”
As she smiled, Allen’s eyes appeared distant. She seemed to have some unavoidable circumstances.
Is someone bothering her?
I couldn’t figure it out.
I tilted my head and replied.
“Uh… I don’t know?”
“…Doesn’t matter if you don’t.”
Allen grumbled and resumed roasting coffee. I glanced at her for a moment, then shifted my gaze back to the window.
The shiny window.
Beyond it, Apuria looked serene.
Must be because it’s a holiday.
With no students wandering around the academy, it felt strange. Only a few teaching assistants occasionally scuttled about.
In the old days, I would have been startled, but now?
Teaching assistants usually roam like that.
Having seen it so often over the past month, I’ve gotten used to it. There’s nothing strange about it.
With my chin resting on my hand, I sipped my coffee through a straw.
The warm sunlight shining down on Apuria is no different from when I first visited this café a month ago.
That unchanging scenery oddly gave me a sense of stability.
After seeing battlefields every day where the terrain changes constantly, this feels unfamiliar.
Looking at the unchanged scenery made me reflect on what daily life was like. Memories of the past five years came flooding back.
In the midst of those idle thoughts, I caught sight of someone in the corner of my vision.
It wasn’t a professor. Nor were they part of Apuria’s administrative staff. It was an elderly man dressed in a suit. His attire and demeanor exuded elegance.
Of course, that type of outfit wasn’t rare. It was common to see. What caught my attention was something else.
It was the cane the old man held.
That cane was given to only six people. And one of them was in my possession.
It was given to me by my Master.
Originally, the six of us, including my Master, were the only ones who had that cane. The fact that the old man is holding it indicates he is one of the Elders of the Ashen Tower.
The old man approaches me.
Standing before me through the glass window.
In that moment, I recall the Elder’s name.
Elder Gileon.
The oldest Elder of the Ashen Tower is watching me through the glass.
—
3.
Tap, tap.
The sound of the cane hitting the pavement reverberates. Once, this cane was used to cast magic. It burned beasts and laid the foundation for the Ashen Tower.
However, that’s all in the past now. The cane is now only used to support the advancing old body. It serves merely as a tool to help him move.
Time has no mercy.
Gileon feels a bit bitter at this truth.
He struggles to remain young, but his body only ages. He could prolong his life with elixirs, but he doesn’t wish for such a crude extension.
He lives according to his station.
Satisfied with what he has, he hones and sharpens it.
He doesn’t covet anything that exceeds what’s due.
That has been Gileon’s lifelong belief.
However, now even that belief shakes.
When a lifelong conviction begins to waver, finding the reason isn’t difficult.
Because what he has dedicated his life to is starting to tremble.
With a sigh, Gileon thinks.
Currently, the Ashen Tower is unstable.
The Ashen Tower he devoted his life to. He senses its trembling.
Because of the issues surrounding the next Master of the Tower.
Resti Elenoa.
Of course, Gileon does not doubt Resti Elenoa’s qualities. After all, she was the one personally appointed by the Ashen Elder.
Moreover, she possesses the talent of a Summoner.
Though she may not match the previous Master of the Tower, that girl has sufficient qualities to lead a tower.
The problem isn’t with Resti herself.
It’s the gaze of others directed toward her. Everyone doubts her abilities.
At the heart of that skepticism are the Elders.
Elders and other old-era mages endlessly question her capabilities. They use the Ashen Mage as an example, tearing down her achievements.
It’s inherently wrong to use the Ashen Mage as a comparison.
In the face of what the Ashen Mage has built, no achievement can stand unshaken. The legacies of past Tower Masters will also be challenged.
Gileon knows this.
But other mages are oblivious. More accurately, they know but pretend not to. Thus, they are merely chasing the remnants of someone who has already left the tower.
A mage must always look forward.
They should bury the past and explore the unknown.
However, the current Ashen Tower is not doing that.
The present Ashen is reminiscing about that splendid time five years ago, stumbling through the past.
This shouldn’t be the case. Ideally, the next Master of the Tower should lead this, but…
Due to the excessive faction wars and pressures from the four Elders, the power of the next Master of the Tower is weak.
That perception alone is already problematic.
The next Master of the Tower lacks power.
The Elder is not in a position to lead the tower.
Rosel feels jaded and has half-exited his position.
Only he remains.
How should he resolve this situation?
Gileon has known the answer for a long time.
Resti, I’m sorry, but… bringing in a new next Master of the Tower would be the right answer.
Though he knows the answer, he couldn’t act on it.
He needed a new mage who has the justification to succeed the Ashen Mage, Raniel.
Until now, such a person hasn’t appeared.
But now is different.
Tap.
Gileon extends his cane one last time.
He stops in front of a café.
“……”
Inside the café, a girl is seated. Gileon watches her through the glass. She gazes back at Gileon.
With ashen hair and blue eyes.
A girl with a resemblance to someone.
Gileon remembers her name.
Rania van Trias.
Rosel’s adopted daughter and his second disciple.
It couldn’t be better to have a connection to Raniel. There’s no one more related to Raniel than her. Now comes the next question.
Does she have the qualifications?
Gileon recalls the achievements she’s rapidly accumulated.
Those accomplishments sufficiently prove her worth.
Ashen Mage, Raniel van Trias.
She has the qualifications to be his successor.
Only this child.
Gileon resolves his decision.
For the first time, he reaches out for something beyond his realm.
For the sake of the Ashen Tower, to which he has devoted his entire life.
—
Author’s Note:
I managed to maintain a five-day weekly serialization…!
Even amidst countless assignments.
Even during the crazy final reports, I did it…!
Hehe 