Chapter 65: Act 1 – The Burning City
The emergency summons from the Magic Tower Association is quite an unusual occurrence.
Under normal circumstances, they rarely request the attendance of mages at the Magic Tower.
However, this matter certainly justified summoning them.
An elderly man stood on a platform, slightly apart from the densely seated mages lined up at a long table. His secretary approached him and whispered in his ear.
“Chairman, it seems everyone is here.”
He nodded.
Once the usual niceties of thanks for responding to the summons and greetings were over, he got straight to the point.
“Shaeh was right. We have proven his miracle spell.”
A shocking announcement.
A truly monumental revelation.
Considering the authority that Shaeh’s miracle spell held in the magical community, it was no wonder.
“Is that really true?”
“No way, is that for real?”
“Damn, I’m late.”
Some cheered, while others sighed.
Those who cheered were a hopeful crowd, excited about the future developments in magic, while those who sighed lamented their tardiness.
Amidst them, someone raised a hand and asked a question.
“Which mage proved that?”
Indeed, that was their main concern.
Everyone began to look around, eager to catch a glimpse of the devilish mage who had verified the spell.
However, the chairman sighed and shook his head. Their actions were meaningless.
“You don’t need to find out who it is. They are not here.”
His words elicited disappointment from the crowd.
“Is that so? I would have liked to at least see the face of the mage who proved it.”
“Hmm, it seems there must be something significant going on, given they aren’t here.”
“Ah, could it be Torres? I always knew he would accomplish something one day.”
The elderly man shook his head and quickly continued speaking, sensing that if left unchecked, they would conjure up an imaginary mage who had unraveled Shaeh’s miracle spell among themselves.
“It was not a mage who proved it. It was a 10-year-old girl.”
A brief silence.
Some scratched their ears, others burst out laughing, while a few just stared blankly, and one looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
Another question popped up not long after.
“…Excuse me, could you say that again?”
With a look as though gazing at a lunatic, he decided to respond in a very clear and precise manner, ensuring there was no room for misunderstanding.
“The person who proved it is a 10-year-old girl. She was participating in the Academy’s magic competition and just happened to stop by the restroom.”
“…”
The murmurs in the assembly came to an abrupt halt.
The colossal problem that had plagued the magical community for a staggering 200 years was shattered by the head of a mere 10-year-old child.
At least, powerful mages who had navigated countless theories and proofs for decades could not produce a clear proof of that spell.
Yet, a 10-year-old?
It was a situation where even the ears heard but the minds refused to comprehend.
“You’re joking, right?”
“Did I mishear? Did you say 110 years old?”
“What in the world does that mean?”
Once silence was broken, the uproar that followed was beyond mere murmuring.
As he struggled to calm the uproar of those shouting incomprehensible phrases, he banged his cane on the table and chanted a spell.
Suddenly, the room quieted down as if it had been muted.
A Class 3 spell, Silence.
It was hard to find a spell that could deprive others of the right to speak and temporarily quell a debate like that.
Now that things had calmed down a bit, he nodded and continued.
“It is the truth. I wouldn’t have hastily summoned you all just to lie.”
“…”
However, still baffled, one man opened his mouth as if to express confusion, raising his hand and getting his attention.
“Then why are we just keeping this among ourselves? Shouldn’t the newspapers and TV be informed? And why isn’t the party involved here?”
At the question, the chairman rubbed his forehead.
This seemed like something that couldn’t be easily answered.
“Let’s talk about that.”
———
While Luke, who brought another problem to the mages of the Magic Tower, lived a life unfazed amidst the chaos, he was spending his day as usual.
“And so, Prince Darren married Princess Christine and lived happily ever after. The end.”
As Luke lowered his gaze from the storybook, Diana had already closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
“……Hmm.”
The tone of his voice had a soothing quality, so it was no wonder she couldn’t help but fall asleep quickly.
Py also seemed quite drowsy, and although spirits don’t need to sleep, he lay with his eyes closed atop Luke’s head.
As he felt Py’s presence with his magic, he looked at Diana, who was breathing softly in her slumber.
After a moment, he observed a slight smile at the corners of her mouth, as if she were dreaming sweetly.
Luke set the book aside, quietly spread a blanket on the floor, and lay down, staring at the ceiling.
Beside his bed, a small lamp cast a gentle glow on the ceiling.
‘I should turn off the light.’
Usually, Luke would have turned off the light before lying down, but this time he didn’t feel the need to.
Now, a simple magic device could be manipulated with mere will, without needing to get up.
So, Luke directly controlled his magic to turn off the light from the lamp.
As the room darkened, the glow-in-the-dark star stickers plastered across the ceiling became visible.
They were placed there by Dayton, as Diana adored constellations.
Looking at them made a smile unconsciously break out on Luke’s face.
Wasn’t Dayton’s affection for his sister just so lovely?
While the shapes of the constellations were countless times clumsier than those in the real night sky, the sentiment behind them gave a warm feeling.
With care, the magic allows one to easily imbue it with warmth.
Thus, Luke could genuinely feel Dayton’s affection embedded within those glow-in-the-dark constellations.
In that cozy feeling, Luke closed his eyes and thought.
‘I don’t want to become famous just yet.’
He found some satisfaction in his current life, not as “Hero” Luke Ilrushi.
Having been famous since such a young age, these experiences felt fresh.
People who approached him did so because of his notoriety, so dealing with them was a mentally exhausting endeavor.
Back then, he forced himself to build rapport, not to tarnish the family name.
But what about now?
With nothing to his name, he found that no one approached him with ulterior motives.
Pure relationships untainted by intent.
At least, he thought such days could stretch a little longer.
Recently, he often felt that way.
‘It might be silly to think this way.’
Be it early or late, Luke knew he would inevitably become famous once he proved himself to the world.
If that were the case, he simply wanted to delay the timing of that fame.
Thinking of public attention was tiring enough, and he could easily foresee what trouble might arise if he gained notoriety in this era.
“Ugh.”
In truth, this was what concerned Luke the most.
While staying at Dayton’s house, he started watching TV frequently.
He hadn’t had that in Yerna’s house, so he had given it little thought, but now he realized there was no better way to learn the common sense of the world.
So he often watched whenever he had the time, and during one such occasion, he was disturbed to see trivial news about celebrities, such as who often eats hamburgers with whom, or who bought a new car today.
If he became famous, would he end up like that too? It wasn’t an unreasonable thought.
Being a subject of such scrutiny was uncomfortable.
Had there been rumors before? The scale was vastly different then compared to now.
Back then, information and communication means weren’t as developed as they are now.
He dreaded to think about what would happen if he made a mistake in this era while being famous.
He was still slowly adapting to modern ways, and it was difficult to predict that he wouldn’t make mistakes in the process.
If that were to happen, it wouldn’t just be his problem anymore.
‘What a dilemma.’
——–
“It’s a bit strange to say this, but I don’t want to become too famous.”
“What does that mean? You don’t want to become famous for winning the Lars Award?”
‘Am I that embarrassed?’
True, that might be the case.
She was still just a 10-year-old girl.
Ultimately, she wouldn’t want excessive attention, no matter how smart she was, as she wasn’t of an age to make such decisions alone.
However, the Lars Award ceremony is completely open to the media.
Because it’s an award with that much influence.
This means the media, whether large or small, would write articles about it, and if the recipient of the Lars Award was a 10-year-old girl, it would undeniably be a sensational headline.
She would definitely become famous.
“Then what if you just accept the award, or simply don’t accept it at all? After all, you’ll have to wait two years anyway, so it has no immediate use.”
At Luke’s words, the man placed his hand over his face in despair.
‘Goodness, in my lifetime, I never thought I’d hear someone say the Lars Award is useless.’
“Doing that would make you even more famous. No one has ever refused the Lars Award before.”
He knew well enough, even without writing for any publication, that a 10-year-old who received the Lars Award would generate far less buzz than one who refused it.
“To be less famous, it’d be better to just accept it.”
If it were to be written about in the newspaper, it would be in 36pt font rather than 42pt.
“…….”
Luke suddenly thought.
“Wait, how famous is the Drac Award then?”
“Hey, the Drac Award isn’t that famous, right…?”
The man thought it was a childish ploy.
‘Would it be better to receive the Lars Award under the guise of the Drac Award to make it less famous?’
“The Drac Award doesn’t have an award for magical theory. And the Drac Award is probably way more famous than the Lars Award.”
