Chapter 143
There is a proverb that says a single word can pay off a debt of a thousand pieces of gold, which goes to show just how important words are in human relationships.
Why else would there be people who rise to high positions through flattery alone?
From that perspective, Zeni-ah’s talent seemed quite considerable.
Whether her words were sincere or not was unknown.
“Arian Phrygi-ah, I am currently working as the Magic Tower master’s secretary.”
Arian introduced herself and reached out a hand to Zeni-ah.
She was trying hard to hold it in, but it wasn’t working well, as the corners of her mouth were twitching uncontrollably.
Having been complimented on being pretty, she couldn’t help but feel good.
“I’m Zeni-ah.”
Zeni-ah grabbed Arian’s outstretched hand and shook it lightly up and down.
It was a greeting that one could never imagine between a Duke’s young lady and a commoner.
It was likely because Arian was open-minded enough to treat anyone without prejudice, regardless of who they were.
Having finished the brief greeting, Arian shifted her gaze toward the magic engineering device.
More accurately, she made eye contact with Seri-ah, who was inside it.
“I am Arian Phrygi-ah, the Magic Tower master’s secretary. I’ve heard the story from the Magic Tower master, so I roughly know your situation.”
“I’m Seri-ah. As you can see, I’m like this, so I don’t think I can shake your hand.”
“It’s fine. Handshakes aren’t that important anyway. Let’s do it later.”
While Seri-ah and Arian were exchanging greetings, Franz handed the sandwiches he had brought to Zeni-ah.
“Here, your lunch. As I said, I bought the same sandwiches you had for breakfast.”
“Thanks. But why are there three?”
“My secretary suggested I buy an extra one if you liked it, but if you think there will be leftovers, you can give it back.”
Franz reached out his hand as he said that, but Zeni-ah slyly hid the sandwiches behind her back.
She could have just said she would eat it, so was there really a need to go that far?
Well, it wasn’t something to really care about anyway.
After that, Zeni-ah handed one and a half sandwiches to Seri-ah, and the two began their meal.
Once again, the two ate with sauce smeared around their mouths, as if it were delicious.
If advertisements existed in this era, they would have been the perfect models for a sandwich commercial.
Arian spoke to Franz, who was blankly watching them.
“When was this place built? The formulas engraved in this space seem to be quite an old style.”
“Deliaspi Dyne was built during his days as the Magic Tower lord. It seems all the Magic Tower lords before me failed to discover it because a considerable level of sealing magic was placed on it.”
“I suppose that makes sense then. He must have used it as a personal research lab, right?”
“It seems he conducted human experiments to cure Mana Petrification Disease, though it looks like he ultimately failed.”
“I see…”
Arian trailed off.
She probably had a lot to say, but was holding her tongue.
Franz, who couldn’t possibly not know what she was thinking, added to his words.
“I have no intention of making it public. It would only cause unnecessary confusion. And the achievements he established are real, too.”
“Still, it’s a bit of a shock…”
The fact that a mage with such great achievements has committed such evil deeds must be shocking.
Even if Franz, a transmigrator, didn’t fully grasp it, Arian, who was born and raised in this world, would feel it much more deeply.
“Ah, come to think of it, I’m thinking of having them do some appropriate work in the Magic Tower. Is there any suitable vacant position?”
“If you want to put them in office work, we can fit them in anywhere. Can neither of them use magic?”
“Well, it’s a bit long to explain. First off, Zeni-ah has talent. I haven’t been able to check Seri-ah yet.”
“Just saying 'talent' is a bit vague…”
“She’s a unique magic user who also uses 7th Circle Magic and can even do multiple deployments as long as she has enough mana.”
Arian’s expression went blank for a moment upon hearing Franz’s words, and then she tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand.
It was likely causing confusion because her apparent age and the magical rank she had reached were too different.
Even Franz, who had dealt with all sorts of geniuses, had been surprised by her talent when he first saw her.
Even when compared to Arian right now, she would only be slightly lacking.
“What about her attribute…?”
“I know it’s dark magic, but I don’t know if she has talent in other attributes.”
“Then you can just fire the head of the Dark Magic Department and sit her there.”
“I told you to think about it because I don’t want to do that…”
Firing an old man who had spent his entire life entrenched in the Magic Tower was realistically impossible.
He had a tight grip on that department in his own way.
It wasn’t like he couldn’t do it if he forced it, but he didn’t want to go out of his way to cause chaos.
But if he just put her in the Dark Magic Department, it felt like she would completely overwhelm everyone with her skills alone.
“Since it’s come to this, why doesn’t the Magic Tower master take her in as a disciple? You still have a spot for a direct disciple, right? I’ll place Seri-ah appropriately in an office position.”
“My disciple…?”
It was a method he had never once considered.
He hadn’t had the luxury to do so in the first place.
When he was young, he was busy learning magic; after entering the Magic Tower, he was busy rolling around here and there; and now he was dealing with the subjugation of the Demon Lord, rooting out cultists, and even gathering sealed holy relics.
Doing all that while also handling the duties of the Magic Tower lord made him realize he had lived a truly busy life.
Furthermore, not a single person had ever come to him asking to be taught magic.
'Come to think of it, why weren’t there any…?'
All mages with a name for themselves or who were famous had one or two disciples.
Even the heads of each department had disciples.
Perhaps he had climbed so high that people didn’t even dare to think about becoming his disciple.
“I’ve been blocking everyone until now, but Zeni-ah is fine. I kind of like her, too.”
“…”
The saying that the culprit is always nearby was correct.
He hadn’t even imagined that Arian would be doing such a thing.
“Why are you making that face…?! I-I only did it out of concern for the Magic Tower master!”
Right, there was no way Arian would have done such a thing without any thought.
Franz decided to just think of it that way and move on.
Caring too much about things that had already passed would only cause stress.
Having appropriately wrapped up his chat with Arian, Franz approached Zeni-ah, who had already finished her meal.
Zeni-ah was wiping the sauce smeared around her mouth with her finger and bringing it to her lips.
“Was it good?”
“Yeah, I think I’d be fine eating only this every day.”
She sure knows what’s good.
The sandwiches from that shop were perfect foods with a balanced mix of carbohydrates, protein, and fat.
Furthermore, the taste was excellent, leaving nothing to be desired.
Anyway, that wasn’t what he wanted to say, so he left it at that.
“Do you happen to know where the Seven Great Evils are?”
“Why do you ask? Are you planning to kill them or something?”
“Well… something like that.”
There was no reason to hide it.
Zeni-ah would have already caught on to some extent since the time they fought earlier.
In addition, he had already told her directly that he had spared her on a whim.
“Since you caught the Old Man of the Ice Castle, the weird woman in the cave, the perverted monster tamer, and the two of us, the remaining ones are…”
Zeni-ah, who had listed off the ones Franz had fought and defeated earlier, narrowed her brow, then nodded as if something came to mind.
“They’re probably quite far away. Do you happen to know Ganiphus?”
“I’ve heard of it.”
Ganiphus was a country located in the south of the empire.
It had warm weather all year round and was quite famous as a tourist destination because it had the sea.
“I know there are two of them over there. Even though we’re the Seven Great Evils, we aren’t close and mostly don’t care about each other, so I don’t know the details.”
“Do you know anything else besides that?”
“Hmm, I once overheard the bishop saying something by chance…”
The place where the sun rises from the sheer cliff.
That was what Zeni-ah said.
As always, this was likely a hint pointing to a certain location.
“Why are these guys so obsessed with hiding things?”
Would it kill them to just say it’s somewhere normally in some village?
Of course, it was true that it made finding them difficult, so one could say the effect was definitely there.
Anyway, it was incredibly annoying because it made things endlessly bothersome.
“I gave you information, so buy me sandwiches for dinner tonight, too.”
“Isn’t it obvious that you should give me information? But isn’t it a contradiction to demand a reward for it?”
“…As expected of a mage. You’re certainly calculating.”
“I’m saying that buying it for you is a separate issue. We need to be clear about that.”
“So you’re going to buy it for me in the end…!”
Well, put that way, she wasn’t wrong, so he didn’t really have anything to say.
Anyway, what he had to do next was decided.
Once Seri-ah’s body healed, he would immediately set himself up with positions in the Magic Tower and head to Ganiphus.
By the way, the sea…
'It feels like it’s been a really long time since I saw it.'
The last memory he had of seeing the sea was from his childhood in the modern 21st century when he went on a trip with his family.
He had gone swimming with a tube, and it had been quite fun.
Even though it was for work, wouldn’t he be able to make similar memories this time?
Franz smiled in anticipation.