Chapter 73
A heavy, sticky silence settled behind the wide-open door.
A silence so still it felt as if time itself had stopped.
The sudden stillness was broken by a faint crack.
-Clang.
Something like glass shattering rang out.
Glancing over, I saw a crack spread across the vice tower master’s monocle.
I couldn’t see it, but it looked like his mental state had taken a small hit too.
...Well, not my problem.
I shrugged and turned on my heel.
Where the tree that was supposed to be the World Tree had stood, only a yawning doorway remained.
Somehow I felt like a repair bill would come flying my way... well, if I just make it out to Dean Raymond, he’ll probably manage somehow.
“I think I’m basically done with what I came for, so I’ll be going now.”
What are the beds in the Magic Tower like, I wonder? Are they enchanted to help you sleep?
Ah, but before that, I’m hungry, so I should fill my stomach first...
“H-Hey! Wait!”
But my plan was blocked before I could even step over the threshold.
“Miss Lunaris, please wait!”
From behind me, hurried footsteps rang out like an earthquake, and in an instant dozens of mages blocked my way.
When I came to my senses, a wall of people in robes had replaced the wooden wall.
“What on earth was that spell just now!”
“You calculated all the formulas in your head? No, wait! You didn’t even draw a magic circle, did you? And you didn’t chant a spell either!”
“That’s not the problem! The mana in the air... the mana of nature moved under control!”
“So that’s why the ones sent to the academy never came back! They were keeping something this incredible to themselves?!”
The eyes of the mages surrounding me were all bloodshot red.
Shock and fear.
And an even deeper, almost manic curiosity.
The mages seized my sleeves and pant legs, thrusting their faces close and spitting as they began to fire off questions.
“Let’s talk! Ten minutes... no, five is fine!”
“Can I just shake your hand once? I want to feel the flow of mana even once!”
“Th-That spell you just used to call down the starlight... could you cast it on me too? I want to feel the mana of nature with my whole body... Hih! Heehee!”
Wrinkled hands and glittering eyes all jostled to thrust themselves toward me.
"...Ah."
Only then did I realize what I had done, and where I was.
There had been times even at the academy when I was tormented all day by a bunch of magic fiends.
Just thinking of the people who came charging at me while drooling whenever they saw me—actual drool, by the way—still makes me jolt awake with a yelp in the middle of the night.
And the place those magic fiends came from was this Magic Tower.
Ten-odd people had already been enough to give me a headache.
Here, there were dozens, hundreds of people like that all gathered together.
“D-Dean Raymond... cover me...”
I turned back to ask for help, but.
“Heehee... what did I tell you? This girl had already reached the level of a great mage long ago!”
Dean Raymond was letting out happy screams of his own, surrounded by another crowd.
“Of course she had the talent to earn the title of great mage on her own... perhaps I just gave her a little push? O-hohoho!!”
...What a useless person.
I was getting shoved this way and that, and just as someone was about to forcibly grab my arm...
[Ugh, so noisy.]
A gentle voice rang out through the clamoring mages.
It wasn’t a shout, nor was it a threat infused with mana.
Just a tired, languid voice, like a grandmother who’d just woken up mumbling to herself.
But the moment that voice rang out, the air in the conference room, noisy as a marketplace, settled down as if nothing had happened.
The mages who had been rampaging in excitement flinched.
The hand reaching for me froze in midair.
Soon, everyone’s gaze turned toward the door at once.
“This old lady was enjoying a rare deep sleep, so who on earth is making such a racket?”
It was a bent-backed old woman leaning on a worn wooden cane.
Her outfit was like she had just stepped out for a stroll around the neighborhood, a dirty shawl thrown loosely over a baggy robe.
But every time she walked forward, tapping the floor with her cane, tap, tap, the mages lowered their heads and backed away.
“So it was you.”
Before I knew it, the old woman had come right up to me and was staring at me with faded gray eyes.
“The cheeky young lady who brought the noise that woke my dream.”
The smile on her wrinkled lips strangely drew people in.
I blinked and asked.
“Are you the tower master of this Magic Tower, Grandma?”
Gasps of air could be heard here and there.
“Y-You rude... Calling her grandma!”
Hmm, is calling her grandma a bit much?
“If you were guessing she was the tower master, then you ought to be polite...”
“Hoho. Well now, that’s a title I quite like.”
Before Vice Tower Master Wilhelm could even redden and raise his voice, the tower master burst out laughing.
“It sounds much better than stuffy titles like tower master or great mage.”
She leaned on her cane and took one step closer to me.
“Yes, that’s right. I am Eleanor, the tower master who manages this Magic Tower.”
Then she gave me a wink with a mischievous expression.
“Don’t be shy. You can just call me grandma.”
“Yes, Grandma.”
I answered right away, without even a second of hesitation.
I don’t hold back on things like this, either.
“Oh my! Goodness! I can’t even remember the last time a cute, lively mage visited this dusty old tower.”
Grandma Eleanor shook her shoulders, laughing as if she’d taken an instant liking to me.
Just then, Dean Raymond, who had been standing off to the side, timidly cut in.
“Um... Tower Master. I’m sorry for making such a fuss while you were in the middle of an intensive period of research.”
At that, Grandma Eleanor waved her hand dismissively as if she didn’t care.
“Hmm? That’s fine. I was just asleep the whole time; what research?”
“Haha... in your dreams, the tower master’s laboratory and magic workshop are one and the same.”
“Come to think of it, how long was I asleep?”
“...Almost a month, I’m afraid.”
“Goodness. The time I sleep keeps getting longer and longer.”
Grandma smiled bitterly and massaged the back of her neck.
“At this rate, I wonder if next time I fall asleep, I’ll never wake up again. Hoho.”
“Haha...”
“The tower master really is something...”
Raymond and the other mages could only trade awkward smiles and look on cautiously, unable to laugh freely.
In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere sank heavily, and I glanced around for a moment before speaking up casually.
“Sleeping for a whole month sounds kind of enviable, honestly.”
“Hm?”
“I like sleeping best too. The academy’s on break right now, and if I could, I’d sleep straight through until school starts again.”
If possible, my wish is to sleep all the way until graduation.
At my sudden nonsense, Grandma Eleanor blinked for a moment.
Then she hugged her stomach and burst out laughing.
“That’s right, that’s right. At your age, sleeping a lot is the proper thing to do. That’s how you grow up nice and tall.”
Saying that, she slowly raised her arm and patted my head.
A rough hand.
But the feel of her hand against my hair wasn’t bad at all.
It had a strangely comforting scent.
“...Anyway.”
After patting my head for a while, Grandma Eleanor turned her gaze to Vice Tower Master Wilhelm on the platform.
The kind smile she had been showing me just moments ago was gone without a trace.
Instead, she shot him a frosty glare.
“What were you doing just now?”
“W-Well... I was verifying Miss Lunaris’s qualifications as a great mage.”
The vice tower master shrank back, breaking into a cold sweat.
Even that old geezer turns into a total shrinking violet in front of someone above him.
“I, I was preparing a few tests according to procedure...”
“Tests?”
Grandma made a hmmph sound through her nose and peered over at the gaping doorway.
“This musty smell of wood must be little Wilhelm’s magic... and the sparkling scent of starlight, could that be young Lunaris’s magic?”
“Do I need to reimburse you for the broken door?”
Scratching my cheek, I asked in return, and Grandma burst out laughing again.
“No need for that. Little Wilhelm will fix it himself, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Thank you.”
“More importantly, it’s truly beautiful magic. Starlight... a kind of magic I could only dream of.”
She looked at me with pleased eyes, then turned her head back toward Vice Tower Master Wilhelm.
“By now, I think her qualifications as a great mage have been fully proven. What more were you planning to make her do?”
“B-But, Tower Master! To prove her qualifications, at least five schools must recognize her, and more than two-thirds of all the Magic Tower elders have to agree...”
“Is that so?”
Grandma tapped her cane against the floor.
“Then first, I’ll cast my vote in favor as the tower master of the Magic Tower and the head of the Illusion School.”
She turned her gaze to Dean Raymond.
“Raymond, dear. You recommended Lunaris, so you’re naturally in favor too, aren’t you?”
“Of course! And the Elemental School I belong to fully supports student Lunaris as well.”
“There, that makes two schools already.”
Grandma Eleanor smiled broadly and slowly looked over the dozens of mages standing awkwardly around us.
“Could there be anyone here who objects?”
There was undeniable authority behind that gentle voice.
The mages shook their heads blankly as if they’d been bewitched.
“Hoho. See? Everyone says they approve.”
“Ugh...”
“If you think I’m being unreasonable, come find me anytime. We can sit down and have a calm talk.”
Vice Tower Master Wilhelm’s face turned ashen.
He swallowed hard, then bowed his head in silence.
“All right, it seems the troublesome part is mostly sorted now.”
Grandma Eleanor gave me a benevolent smile.
“By the way, dear, have you eaten yet?”
“No. I was just getting hungry.”
“That’s good. Then how about eating with me? It’s lonely to eat alone, after all.”
“Steak sounds good.”
“Hoho, you’re wonderfully straightforward.”
At my words, Grandma laughed like a child and took my hand.
“I happen to know a good restaurant. One that serves very good meat—so tender even this old lady’s gums can chew it.”