Chapter 175

#Chapter 175: The Tin Knight and the Tower of Prophecy (2)

“Want to meet the North Witch, do you? Did you make an appointment or something? No? Then state your identity. What? Just a traveler? Where do these random folks come from? Get lost!”

After receiving a summon at the Tower of Prophecy, Dorothea mumbled.

“Should I just summon the Undead Army and wipe them all out?”

With a serious tone and expression that screamed strictness and solemnity, Dorothea declared.

The usually cautious Black Witch, who would say things like “Dealing with powerful forces can be such a hassle” or “Why would I advertise that I’m a Necromancer?” was nowhere to be found.

Adelheid scanned her surroundings.

The Tin Knight, who had been teasing Dorothea, was crumpled and tossed aside like garbage, while Sophia was lazily humming, “A tower sounds like it has a lot of interesting things going on,” and Rapunzel was trembling with her eyes and ears covered like she hadn’t seen a thing.

Adelheid realized.

“Oh, I’m the only one playing the role of brake here.”

If you had asked Adel a year ago what “playing the brake” meant, she would have looked at you like you were crazy, but hanging around the Tin Knight had naturally taught her such terms.

With the same determination she had when fighting against the Monkey forces of the West Witch, Adelheid cautiously raised her hand.

“Um, excuse me, Ma’am Witch?”

A quick glance.

Dorothea’s eyes rolled in the direction of Adelheid.

A black aura oozed from her back as her eyes reflected an emotion that was either frustration or grievance, enough to make a timid child burst into tears. Honestly, even Adel felt a bit scared.

With the caution of defusing a bomb that looked ready to explode at the slightest mistake, she carefully began to speak.

“Um, if we’re talking about the North Witch, she’s quite a high-ranking individual in the Magical Kingdom, right?”

“…That’s correct.”

The fourth-grade witches were undoubtedly famous, but their notoriety varied from person to person.

The East Witch rarely showed herself, confined to her territory, and the West Witch only indirectly influenced the wealthy powers of the federation without holding an official position. Their fame was known only to a select few.

However, unlike the preceding two, the South Witch and the North Witch were celebrities even the average folks recognized.

The South Witch had significantly boosted the Empire’s magical capabilities that lagged behind the Magical Kingdom, to the point that “wizard = wizard” became a formula in the Empire, and she herself held a position equivalent to a Chancellor as a ceremonial wizard.

As for the North Witch, she was one of the founders of the Tower of Prophecy, the origin of all magical towers, and even after stepping down from public office, her apprentices would enter whichever tower they desired, leading innovations and revivals without distinction between the four towers. Essentially, she was the linking pin across all four towers.

“So, if a traveler casually tells a gatekeeper ‘Tell the king to come out. Appointment? None?’ then the gatekeeper would naturally react that way, wouldn’t he?”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

Dorothea nodded readily.

Adelheid was moved. Truly, the Witch was rational! Or so she thought.

It was a rather premature epiphany.

“But right now, I might have to live my whole life in rags—does that really matter?”

Ah, this is bad.

Seeing Dorothea still lost in thought, Adel gazed off into the distance. The sky was so clear. Perfect weather for becoming a state terrorist.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ is excited about the full-frontal battle with the tower!]

My esteemed knight. Perhaps you could stay quiet just this once.

At that moment, Sophia quietly smiled before speaking up.

“However, Dorothea dear, if we cause a huge disturbance here, won’t it complicate things for Rapunzel, who will have to enter the tower afterwards?”

“There are plenty of towers, so what’s the big deal?”

“Hmmm, true. Then again, you know more about wizards than we do, Dorothea. If the other towers go into high alert and start investigating us, we won’t have to worry about Rapunzel getting caught up in that, right?”

“……”

Dorothea looked like she was about to retort but ended up sulking.

“Fine, fine. I wasn’t exactly serious, you know? Do I look like the type to go toppling towers just because I’m in a hurry?”

Yes.

The party swallowed their thoughts.

Sophia continued.

“The point is to draw the tower’s attention, right? To the point they can’t ignore our voices. And in a non-hostile way.”

“What kind of scheme are you concocting now?”

“A scheme? How hurtful.”

Sophia said with a sweet smile.

“I’m merely offering some good information.”

***

People often imagine towers when they hear the term ‘magical tower,’ envisioning a tall and slender building, but in reality, a magical tower is quite spacious.

Jokes aside, the interior space of a tower could easily fit an entire village, making it impossible to take in the tower’s perimeter at once without keeping an appropriate distance.

Its height was also significantly greater than what one would consider a ‘tower’ elsewhere, easily surpassing ten stories. Even more astonishing, new floors were continuously being created over time.

Rumor has it that the wizards of the tower built such a big and wide structure to show off their power, but in reality, it was extremely lifestyle-friendly.

“Ugh, it’s a real pain to stop my research and go out just for meals. Sometimes just grabbing a quick bite gets old. Ah, why not just set up a restaurant inside the tower? That’d be convenient!”

“Hey, friends. Our buddies have gotten so shabby that people are gossiping about us. For the sake of the tower’s dignity, wouldn’t it be nice to add a clothing store inside? We might as well make our ceremonial clothes instead of ordering them.”

“Then we should definitely create a bathroom too. We could use cleanliness magic instead, but saving that magical power to help delve into the truths of magic is the true wizard’s way, right?”

“There should be a space for spirits to rest too—what about creating a garden, a lake, and even a small volcano? Heating systems could connect to it, so it wouldn’t go to waste.”

Given the sheer number of things they didn’t want to go outside for, it was only natural to need space for all of them.

In other words, once they decided to hide away, there was no place easier to do so than inside a magical tower.

Despite being cooped up for four years, Light Graubich, affiliated with the Tower of Prophecy, was one of those who had locked himself away.

Though he hadn’t stepped foot outside the tower in four years, he felt proud of himself.

“The essence of being a wizard is research and insight. Rather than wasting my abilities as a wizard on pointless activities outside, I choose to delve deeper into the truths of magic.”

His colleagues agreed with his views.

After all, it’s natural for like-minded individuals to gather and support each other’s opinions.

However, one day, strange news reached Light’s ears.

“Fortunetelling?”

“Indeed, they say a shop has opened near the tower, and its skills are truly remarkable. Isn’t your field of inquiry also related to information and magic?”

Even though most things in the tower could be solved through self-sufficiency, not every wizard, like Light, remained holed up, and some would venture out around the tower just for a change of scenery.

It seemed his acquaintance had heard the news from such individuals.

Light snorted.

“You’re quite informed. So, let me give you my answer: that’s a scam.”

“Wait, how can you call it a scam without even hearing the details?”

“There’s nothing to hear. There’s a lot of ancient magic claiming to read the future, but they were all just rubbish. It’s long been concluded that there isn’t a single proper spell.”

“Not the future.”

“Hmm?”

“What they do at that fortune-telling place isn’t about futures, it’s about the past. They say they’ve got extraordinary skills in revealing a customer’s past—even things they themselves have forgotten. Is that really impossible?”

“Hmm…”

Light pondered for a moment.

“If it’s magic to read someone’s memories, I suppose that might be possible.”

“Then that means it could work!”

“The problem is that such magic isn’t properly preserved. Even at our tower, we only maintain about 30% of the original spells. That 30% is enough to conclude that ‘if everything is present, it can be read.’”

“Whether genuine past-reading fortune-telling or memory-reading magic, they’re all equally valuable.”

While that conversation ended there, the rumors of the ‘past-reading fortune teller’ continued to spread.

Light’s curiosity only grew, and the fact that the shop was located right near the tower helped solidify his resolve.

“Ugh.”

As he squinted at the direct sunlight for the first time in four years, Light looked around.

Fortunately, finding the shop wasn’t too difficult—after all, it was right next to the tower’s main entrance.

‘…But don’t fortune-tellers usually operate out of tents or something? That’s an entire building!’

Light knew that the land and building prices around the tower were quite high.

Just like how a country’s most prosperous area typically surrounds a capital, the most bustling place in the Magical Kingdom was certainly around the tower.

‘I heard their fees aren’t that high though.’

In a place like that, to run a shop in the best location and offer readings for prices that are basically free?

At this point, it felt like they were practically advertising, “I’m suspicious, please doubt me.”

There was a long line outside the shop, but when those around saw Light in his Tower of Prophecy attire and the insignia of the third rank among the tower’s five tiers, they willingly parted the way.

Light considered telling them it wasn’t necessary for him, but figured that if he stood in line, they would undoubtedly keep glancing over at him, so he just moved forward willingly.

“Welcome.”

As he stepped inside, two girls in neatly arranged outfits greeted Light.

One had long golden hair that reached her backside, while the other sported slightly longer dark brown hair than shoulder length.

As they guided him to a room further in the shop, soft lighting and a mystical fragrance piqued Light’s senses.

The walls of the room displayed heavy, metallic knight armors as decorative pieces, and next to them stood a green-haired woman who appeared to be a servant, eyes closed.

In the center sat a strikingly beautiful woman with black hair, arrogantly crossing her legs while seated, wrapped in revealing attire and veiled at her mouth and head, exuding an allure that was both dizzying and mysterious.

Light swallowed unconsciously.

The black-haired woman opened her mouth.

“─So, what brings you here?”