Chapter 175
The first thing Franz saw upon returning to the Magic Tower was Yusti-ah and Arian squabbling.
Thanks to that, the things he had been seriously worrying about no longer seemed to matter.
How their relationship would be from now on, blah blah blah…
Well, it’ll work out somehow. It always has so far.
“What’s going on?”
Franz naturally interjected as he entered the Magic Tower Lord’s Office.
At that, Arian and Yusti-ah’s gazes turned toward him simultaneously.
One was full of fluster, and the other was full of joy. Naturally, the former was Arian and the latter was Yusti-ah.
“You returned earlier than expected…”
Arian said in a regretful tone.
It was probably because of Yusti-ah, though he didn’t know the exact reason.
“Well, it wasn’t like there was much to talk about at length.”
“You’ve worked hard. I’ll take my leave then.”
Arian bowed her head lightly and stepped away. Her retreating figure, with her shoulders drooping, looked somewhat pitiful for some reason.
Well, he could slowly comfort her later.
For now, he had to deal with this side.
“Yusti-ah, what’s the matter?”
“Am I the kind of person who can’t visit unless I have business?”
Is she not? In the first place, normal people don’t visit unless they have business.
Franz thought so but didn’t say it out loud. It was because he could feel dissatisfaction in Yusti-ah’s tone.
“Well, not necessarily, but I still have to ask as a formality.”
“If that’s the case, I understand. More importantly, that is the reason I came.”
Yusti-ah placed a thick book on the table for him to see. It wasn’t very difficult to figure out her intention.
He had just returned from Ganiphus yesterday, yet he was surprised to think she would make him study the very next day.
Couldn’t she be flexible and let him rest for just one day?
Franz grumbled inwardly like that, but he sat down without a word of complaint.
Just coming all the way here must have taken quite a bit of effort on her part.
At the very least, he didn’t want to embarrass someone who had come to see him.
“Did your talk at the Imperial Palace go well?”
“Well, so-so…?”
He couldn’t bring himself to answer that it went well because there had been talk about Yuna at the end.
Thanks to that, his head was spinning this way and that, so 'so-so' was actually a pretty generous assessment.
“Hmm-, then it seems you’ve had quite a hard time, so shall we rest for today?”
“No, I don’t really…”
“It’s fine. It’s not like the Goddess is going to come kill you just because you didn’t study for one day, right?”
She wasn’t exactly wrong. But hearing Yusti-ah say it gave him an odd sense of incongruity.
It was highly suspicious, as if she were plotting something behind his back.
But apart from that, refusing wasn’t an option. He couldn’t miss out on a legitimate chance to slack off.
“If you’re fine with it…”
But if it was going to be like this, he wondered if it wouldn’t have been better for her not to come at all.
Or was coming to the Magic Tower a sort of break for Yusti-ah?
While Franz was pondering this, Yusti-ah suddenly stood up.
“I’m going to brew some tea. Would you like to drink together?”
“Yeah, please.”
Yusti-ah walked to the pantry, and not long after, teacups were placed on the table.
Looking at the steaming teacup, Franz suddenly remembered what had happened with the emperor.
“Hm? What’s with that expression?”
“It’s nothing. It’s just because of a personal matter.”
Franz immediately shook his head to erase the thought. It was because he didn’t want to pay attention to a reality he couldn’t change anyway.
If the emperor gives an order, he has to follow it. What other choice did he have?
Of course, Yusti-ah, who had no way of knowing Franz’s feelings, merely tilted her head.
Then, she took a sip of her tea and set the teacup down before speaking.
“Franz, has your next destination been decided, by any chance?”
“What destination?”
“You know, the thing where you catch the cultists.”
She was talking about subjugating the Seven Great Evils.
Well, they were cultists too in a way, so she wasn’t wrong.
“If it’s about that, it’s been decided. I heard it from His Majesty the emperor today.”
“Where is it?”
“Roman.”
A barbarian nation was built upon the desolate land in the northwest of the empire.
That place, where there seemed to be absolutely nothing fun to do, was Franz’s next destination.
Of course, since he was going for work, it didn’t really matter whether it was fun or not.
Still, if he had one wish, it was that a guy like leviathan wouldn’t show up.
He could at least hope for that much, couldn’t he?
As if Franz’s feelings had been conveyed, leviathan, who had been sleeping in one corner, opened its eyes.
But that was only for a moment. Swish-, the guy scanned his surroundings once, yawned, and then closed his eyes again.
The master was busy moving around all day, but the so-called pet was sleeping all day long. It was a situation perfectly suited for the saying that a dog’s life is the best life.
To be exact, he should say an eel’s life is the best life.
It was when Franz was looking at leviathan and cooling his anger.
“When are you going…?”
“Well, I haven’t decided yet. But I’ll probably go within this week.”
Strike while the iron is hot, as they say. Rather than putting it off and losing the motivation to do it, forcing himself to finish it quickly was better.
“Hmm-, it’s hard for me to leave my post this week…”
Yusti-ah muttered, narrowing her brow as if troubled. It seemed she had been planning to accompany him.
“You don’t have to force yourself to come along. Unlike Ganiphus, it’s not a place with sights to see. I’m just going to finish my work and come right back this time too.”
“I wasn’t exactly saying it with the intention of going to play, you know?”
That wasn’t it…?
He had naturally assumed that was the case, so he was just flustered.
“It’s just…”
Yusti-ah trailed off and slowly turned her head.
“I was just worried about you because you keep overworking yourself…”
Yusti-ah’s voice was very quiet, but thanks to the Magic Tower Lord’s Office being unusually silent, it could be heard clearly.
Her flushed red ears spoke for her emotions. She must be quite embarrassed.
“Yusti-ah.”
“What is it?”
“Thanks for worrying, but there probably won’t be any issues.”
Wasn’t it like that in Ganiphus too? Although it got dangerous when leviathan appeared, he had actually taken care of the Seven Great Evils themselves without much of a problem.
So there shouldn’t be any major problems this time either.
But Yusti-ah’s thoughts seemed a bit different.
“That’s the problem with you. Anyway, I can’t let you go alone. Take at least one person with you, whether it’s Yuna, Hera, or the Phrygia Ducal Daughter. That’s the only way I’ll feel at ease.”
It wasn’t like attaching a guardian to a child, so what kind of situation was this…
It was an absurd situation to the point of drawing a hollow laugh, but he couldn’t bring himself to argue back. It was because he had a track record of causing her countless worries up until then.
This must be why they say the life of a sinner is exhausting.
“All right. I’ll do as you say.”
“Instead, you have to come back on the same day. No sleeping over.”
“Why is that?”
“If I say no, then it’s a no…!”
Yusti-ah, who had answered nervously, lifted her teacup and brought it to her mouth.
“Ah, hot, hot…!”
Because her actions were too aggressive, she ended up burning her tongue.
To make matters worse, the tea that spilled from the cup soaked into her clothes and even left a stain.
“Are you okay? You should have been a bit more careful.”
“This is all because of you, you know…?”
How did it end up being like that?
Franz thought it was truly unfair as he snapped his fingers.
Snap-,
With a crisp sound, the tea that had soaked into Yusti-ah’s clothes formed into round water droplets and floated into the air.
When he snapped his fingers again in that state, the water droplets vanished without a trace.
It was the result of manifesting into the world the miracle called magic.
“Magic is quite convenient.”
“Then do you want to learn it too?”
“It might be worth considering a little. I wouldn’t have to do laundry, after all.”
To think the reason was merely laundry was truly trivial. But that didn’t mean it was a bad thing. The development of magic had started from trivial things in the first place.
Who knows, maybe Yusti-ah would learn magic and develop a great magic related to laundry.
By the way, he felt like she had said in the past she would absolutely never learn magic, so had her mind changed at some point?
Well, such trivial matters were fine either way.
“If you want to learn magic, come find me anytime.”
Franz said that with a smile.
A laugh naturally slipped out at the thought of paying Yusti-ah back for as much as he had suffered when learning the doctrines.
“Your expression is unpleasant, so I’ll think about it a bit more.”
…He made a mistake.
Franz couldn’t hold back a sigh at the fact that he had missed a golden opportunity.
* * *
A few days after Yusti-ah visited the Magic Tower, she returned home.
Franz, having finished preparing to go out, headed to the secretary’s office.
In the secretary’s office, Arian was waging a fierce battle with a pile of documents.
Judging by her expression, it seemed a rather formidable opponent had appeared today.
Soon, Arian spotted Franz and jumped to her feet.
“Magic Tower master, are you leaving now?”
“Yeah, I’m about to head out.”
“It’s a shame I can’t go with you this time…”
Arian pouted, expressing her regret.
If it were up to him, he would have wanted to take Arian along too, but when he thought back to when they went to Ganiphus, it was better for one of them to stay behind.
“Then have a safe trip.”
“Yeah, I’ll be back.”
Franz left the smiling Arian behind and exited the secretary’s office.
And he immediately snapped his fingers, using Spatial Movement Magic.
The place he arrived at was none other than the Great Forest, the dwelling place of the Elves.
“You’re here.”
Hera, who had been sitting on a tree stump, stood up as if she had been waiting.