I Will Not Fall For the Villain’s Flirtations - Chapter 45
As I stared at him with a horrified expression, this man, who must have sent his conscience to another planet in his youth, blinked innocently as if he didn’t understand the problem. His words left me speechless, and I glared at him in frustration.
“Don’t they care about security here? Is it okay to just walk around with an outsider like this?”
Of course, what I was worried about wasn’t the security of the Magic Tower. What if someone realized that I was a priest?
“It’s fine because they know you can’t do anything.”
“…It’s true, but it’s infuriating to hear it said like that.”
“I think one of the items on the menu today is ribeye.”
“…Ribeye steak?”
Oh, why did it have to be that?
“It’s a well-marbled cut that melts in your mouth. Do you really not want to go?”
“……”
This wicked man knew exactly how to handle me. I never thought my food preferences would be so thoroughly exploited.
The answer was obvious. I handed my priest’s robe to Keene and followed him with my head lowered as much as possible.
I knew no one here recognized my face, but I was still extremely worried. As I kept biting my lips out of anxiety, Keene nonchalantly offered a sort of consolation.
“Relax. If anyone gets caught, it’ll be me, not you.”
“What could you possibly get caught for?”
What could go wrong for someone belonging to the Magic Tower? At my puzzled look, he answered.
“Technically speaking, I’m skipping out on work right now.”
“Oh.”
Master of the Magic Tower! There’s a slacker here!
I wanted to see him get scolded by his superiors at least once. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t imagine it happening.
Of course, him getting scolded and working hard wouldn’t benefit the Holy Kingdom.
I had secured a promise that he would teleport me to the temple immediately if we got caught, but I still didn’t want to run into anyone. Luckily, once we got into the elevator near the training ground, we went straight up to the dining hall.
“I’ve never seen an unmanned elevator before.”
In my past life, automation was a given, but the elevators I’d seen so far were all manual, requiring someone to pull a rope. There weren’t many of those either, so climbing stairs was the norm. Seeing such advanced technology here was mind-blowing.
“It’s still too expensive for widespread use. But if we had to use manual elevators in a place with over a hundred floors, everyone would die.”
“That’s true.”
Over a hundred floors, huh? No wonder it’s called the Magic Tower.
The dining hall we arrived at reminded me of a typical corporate cafeteria from my past life. It was so ordinary that it was almost disconcerting.
The serving stations were divided by type of cuisine, with trays and utensils neatly organized on either side. Those I presumed to be mages lined up naturally, chatting with their colleagues. None of them exuded the dark, sinister atmosphere I had initially imagined.
They all just looked a bit tired.
“…I never thought the Magic Tower would look like this.”
Unlike the temple, at least on the surface, there seemed to be no noticeable hierarchical differences. The interior was also modern and stylish, unlike the somewhat archaic feel of the temple.
The dining hall, occupying an entire floor, had tables and chairs scattered throughout the spacious area. With floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides, the view outside was quite a sight. Since teleportation and magic circles were the main modes of transportation, there was nothing around the tower, and looking out the window, you could see the horizon beyond the quiet fields.
Just as I was starting to lose my sense of reality due to the futuristic interior and the external scenery reminiscent of virtual reality.
“What do you want to eat? The ribeye I mentioned earlier?”
Keene asked, handing me a small orb. The magic orb, small enough to fit in my hand, displayed the dining hall’s menu in mid-air.
“Even the menu here is cutting-edge.”
“It’s more efficient than the Holy Kingdom.”
I could understand why mages were so desperate to get into the Magic Tower. This was no exception for the Holy Kingdom. Ambitious individuals who valued success over religion often left for better career prospects, and the Holy Kingdom would fiercely denounce them as ungrateful heretics.
Despite carefully considering the menu, nothing seemed to beat the ribeye. Keene, as if expecting this, chuckled and led me to the left serving station.
After receiving that mouth-watering steak, we found a seat in the most secluded spot in the center. As we sat down, the chatter of the mages next to us caught my ear.
“Did you hear about the Small Arms Development Team 3? The atmosphere there is like a funeral.”
“Well, it makes sense. The prototype they worked on for over six months didn’t get approved. The Master isn’t even here often, yet he somehow pinpointed what was lacking like a ghost.”
“That’s why old Mullion ran off to the Holy Kingdom in a fit of rage. He must have been really desperate.”
It was a conversation that sounded like it belonged to ordinary office workers, completely different from the temple. I awkwardly poked at my food with my fork and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why?”
“Oh, it’s just… it’s so different from what I imagined.”
It was a world of difference. The Magic Tower seen from the Holy Kingdom and the Magic Tower seen from within.
Why do such ordinary people hate the Holy Kingdom so much?
“It’s hard to believe that people here are hostile to the Holy Kingdom.”
If a new Master hadn’t taken over the Magic Tower, perhaps the conflict wouldn’t have escalated this far.
Keene twirled his fork and answered dryly.
“If you look closely, most people here don’t really care about the Holy Kingdom. The Magic Tower doesn’t belong to any country, so there are people with various opinions.”
“But…”
“However, the Holy Kingdom has ostracized many. There are quite a few mages who have been cruelly treated after being ostracized. They hold a strong grudge against the Holy Kingdom, and even though they’re not the majority, their stance is so clear that the Magic Tower naturally follows.”
“You mean the heretics?”
He nodded at my question.
“Not just them. There are also dark mages.”
“Oh.”
I hadn’t looked in the mirror, but I guessed my face had gone pale. Dark mages had been demonized by the Holy Kingdom even before their relationship with the Magic Tower soured.
“They’re killers.”
Even I, who wasn’t a devout believer, thought it was justifiable to ostracize dark mages. The manifestation of dark magic required murder.
But.
“That’s not always the case.”
“What?”
“Although the success rate is low, high-level mages can become dark mages by reversing the flow of magic. There are also tribes born with innate dark magic. Rarely, it can happen due to genetic disorders.”
“……”
Talking to this man sometimes made me feel like a frog in a well. Surprised by this unexpected information, I fiddled with my fingers and picked up my knife.
“I see. I didn’t know that.”
Keene glanced at me, then, as he had done before, pulled my plate towards him and started cutting my meat. Just as I was starting to get used to it, I found myself staring at his handsome features, which still felt unfamiliar, and asked a question out of curiosity.
“Is that why the Master of the Magic Tower hates the Holy Kingdom? Because he was ostracized?”