Chapter 5
When the House of Silodien was massacred, the heroine, Ramona, was outside the city.
Warned by her cousin Izard to flee and save herself no matter what, she escaped by the skin of her teeth.
Running for her life, she eventually reached Dian, the land of the mages. Through a stroke of luck, she disguised herself as a cleaner and managed to enter the Magic Tower.
The one who saved Ramona during that dangerous time was none other than the Tower Master, Roakin.
Roakin met Ramona while she was cleaning the tower and fell in love with her at first sight.
Even after realizing who she really was, he hid her inside the Magic Tower and protected her.
Later, when Ramona set out to rescue the Crown Prince, it was Roakin who made sure she reached the Imperial Palace safely.
If not for Roakin’s teleportation magic, she would have been captured and killed long before arriving at the palace.
“…So you’re telling me that kind-hearted second male lead and that rabid lunatic are the same person?”
The original novel was practically a scam.
To me, Tower Master Roakin Arzen was nothing more than an abusive boss.
“Is he only kind to the heroine?”
Even so, treating people this differently was just depressing.
“The reason you stayed the second male lead is because your personality is awful!”
What was the point of protecting Ramona so devotedly?
In the end, she chose Crown Prince Lorenzo.
“Looks matter, sure… but looks aren’t everything.”
There was no way someone could hide a personality that selfish and impossible to deal with.
Ramona must have realized that too and chosen the genuinely sweet Crown Prince instead.
“Sigh… So how am I supposed to get out of here now?”
He burned my resignation letter.
He smashed a door open because he was annoyed.
If I tried to quit one more time, it felt like he wouldn’t even leave my bones behind.
Slumped over my desk, absentmindedly tracing the dates on the calendar, I suddenly heard a commotion outside.
“Did something happen?”
Looking out the window, I saw armed mages gathering in the plaza.
Derek, Commander of the Magic Tower Army, stood at the front organizing the formation.
“Come to think of it… today’s the day the subjugation force departs.”
How could I have forgotten that?
The original novel finally came back to me.
Starting today, an expedition would be dispatched to the Valdeas Mountains.
The Valdeas Mountains were the largest stronghold of monsters and were under special imperial supervision.
Every year, the Empire organized a subjugation force to conduct a routine survey there, and the Magic Tower Army always took part.
“Is Roakin going too?”
Recently, Charis had complained that Roakin had ignored every order requesting his cooperation, making one excuse after another.
Something about… not feeling well?
After finishing his conversation with Charis, I’d asked him why he refused to participate in the routine survey.
Roakin himself had answered.
“But judging by how strongly the Imperial Family protested, he probably couldn’t skip this year’s survey.”
I searched for Roakin from the window but couldn’t spot him.
So I went down to the plaza and asked Derek.
“Derek, where’s Roakin? I haven’t seen him all morning.”
“The Tower Master departed ahead of us. We’re the second group.”
When did he leave?
He could’ve at least told me.
He really must have been furious.
“He went… to Valdeas, right?”
“Yes.”
Derek looked at me as though I’d asked the most obvious question imaginable.
Before I could say anything else, his attention shifted elsewhere.
“Levin! How long are you going to keep us waiting? Get over here!”
As soon as he shouted, Levin and several other mages finally appeared.
So that was why Derek wasn’t traveling with Roakin.
He’d stayed behind to deal with these stragglers.
“Coming! I’m coming!”
“When are you going to cure that terrible habit of always being late? Maybe you’ll learn after it gets you killed one day.”
“You might as well just curse me to death.”
“Quiet. You’ve got some nerve talking back.”
Faced with Derek’s tiger-like glare, Levin immediately shrank back with a sulky expression.
Ignoring him completely, Derek counted everyone before speaking.
“Looks like everyone’s here. Let’s move out.”
Brilliantly colored teleportation circles bloomed beneath everyone’s feet.
One after another, the mages vanished as if evaporating into thin air.
“Wait! I’m coming too!”
The moment the dawdling Levin disappeared, the plaza became completely empty.
“…”
Standing there alone, I thought quietly.
The expedition to Valdeas wouldn’t return for another three days.
The Tower Master was no exception.
“Roakin Arzen isn’t in the Magic Tower!”
This…
This was the perfect opportunity to escape.
If he absolutely refused to accept my resignation, then sneaking away was my only option.
“I can’t let this chance slip away!”
I immediately ran to Elisher’s workshop.
Although Elisher possessed powerful magic, he was terrified of blood, so he never went into actual combat.
As expected, he was holed up in his room today making artifacts.
Knock, knock.
The moment I knocked, a loud crash echoed from inside.
“Come in!”
“Eek!”
The instant I opened the door, something flew straight at my face.
I hurriedly ducked.
“L-Lady Serphine! Are you okay?”
Elisher rushed over in a panic to check on me.
“Y-Yeah. I’m fine.”
As I stood up, I looked down to see what had nearly hit me.
“Wow… that would’ve been bad.”
Some mysterious object had shattered into countless pieces across the floor.
Embarrassed, Elisher scratched his head while picking up the wreckage.
“T-This shouldn’t have happened…”
“…What were you trying to make?”
“An artifact that automatically waves a cat toy. But something’s wrong with the design—it can’t support the weight, so it keeps flying apart…”
Suddenly, Elisher’s eyes sparkled as he enthusiastically launched into a detailed explanation.
“…True geeks are all the same.”
Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position to leisurely listen to his hobby talk.
Waiting for an opening, I finally interrupted.
“I’m sure it’ll work once you fix the design. Anyway… is the bag I asked for finished?”
Preparing for my escape from the Magic Tower, I’d asked Elisher to make me a bag enchanted with spatial expansion magic.
What was the point of having the Tower’s greatest artifact craftsman nearby if I couldn’t take advantage of it?
“Oh, I finished that ages ago! Now where did I put it…?”
Elisher began rummaging through the mountain of disorganized artifacts.
Carefully avoiding the dangerous debris scattered across the floor, I followed him.
His room, overflowing with every imaginable invention, looked less like a bedroom and more like the workshop of a mad scientist.
“Found it!”
Like someone digging a priceless medicinal herb out of the dirt, Elisher triumphantly unearthed the bag.
He happily brought it over and handed it to me.
“Here you go! But… what do you suddenly need a bag for?”
Coming from the most oblivious man in the Empire, that was an unexpectedly sharp question.
“Oh… it’s just for something.”
“I see.”
Apparently satisfied, Elisher didn’t ask any further.
As I’d said before, mages were extreme individualists.
He’d probably only asked out of politeness anyway.
“It’s sturdy. Nice.”
After confirming there weren’t any defects, I carefully made my way back toward the door.
“Elisher.”
I stopped just before leaving.
“Yes?”
Already back at his workbench, he poked only his head out.
“Should I tell him… or not?”
There was one thing only Elisher didn’t know.
The truth behind Lucifer’s repeated disappearances.
“You know… Lucifer is actually running away from you.”
I’d eventually realized that Lucifer only disappeared whenever Elisher was the one searching for him.
He constantly followed the poor creature around.
Used him for artifact experiments.
Honestly, it was only natural that Lucifer kept running away.
Even though Lucifer made it painfully obvious he found him annoying, Elisher seemed completely oblivious.
“…Never mind. Thanks for the bag.”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
Though he tilted his head in confusion for a moment, Elisher soon smiled brightly and waved goodbye.
There was no reason to deliberately hurt someone that innocent.
“He’ll figure it out someday.”
Shaking my head, I closed the door.
Returning to the secretary’s office, I immediately began packing.
“Busy, busy.”
Even though the bag’s storage space had been magically expanded, it still had limits.
It didn’t make everything weightless either, so I had to choose carefully.
“Hmm… Only the absolute necessities.”
Clothes.
Daily necessities.
Self-defense artifacts.
Finally, I tucked the recipe book inside and fastened the bag shut.
“Didn’t forget anything, right?”
As I checked the desk drawers one last time, I found my resignation letter carefully tucked away in the back.
“…That absolute psycho.”
The memory of it bursting into flames sent another chill down my spine.
I set my bag aside and sat down.
It would be best not to provoke the Tower Master any more than necessary.
Instead of taking out the resignation letter, I picked up a fresh sheet of paper lying beside it and began writing a letter.
Now…
Everything was ready.
Carefully opening the door, I stepped into a room swallowed by darkness.
Not a single light was lit.
Without its owner, the room felt cold and empty.
Pulling my clothes tighter around myself, I slowly walked through the darkness.
The faint Milky Way painted across the ceiling made it feel as though I were strolling beneath the night sky.
Lost in that dreamlike atmosphere, I eventually arrived at the desk where Roakin usually worked.
“Tower Master… sorry about this.”
Sneaking away might be cowardly.
But I didn’t have a choice.
If I stayed, the Empress would eventually have me killed.
Saving my life came first.
“Stop being stubborn and go do what you’re supposed to do.”
The heroine would arrive at the Magic Tower soon.
He was obsessed with keeping me here now, but once he met Ramona, he’d naturally lose interest in me.
“He might not even notice I’ve disappeared.”
Really, compared to the woman he loved, what was one secretary?
Secretaries could always be replaced.
If he simply posted a recruitment notice, there’d be countless applicants ready to start immediately.
Any one of them would probably have stronger magic and make a far better secretary than I ever could.
I’d already thought all of this through.
“Farewell, miserable extra.”
This insignificant villainous side character exits the story here.
Leaving my letter on his desk, I quietly walked out.
And with that…
I made my exit from the original novel.
