QSMT 6

Chapter 6

“Those who cannot use Teleportation have no place setting foot in the Mage Tower.”

Those were the words left behind by Igfrid Arzen, the first Master of the Mage Tower.

Long ago, when war raged between humans and mages, every mage scattered across the continent gathered in Dian.

According to legend, the twelve greatest archmages pooled their power to build a single tower.

The legendary Mage Tower.

Standing alone in the middle of a storm-lashed sea, the tower could only be entered through Teleportation.

It was a declaration that only mages were welcome.

Ordinary humans who couldn’t teleport were only allowed inside after the age of peace arrived.

A gate connecting the tower to the mainland had eventually been built.

But there was one thing everyone had to remember.

The gate opened only twice a day.

Once in the morning.

Once in the afternoon.

And today, both openings have already passed.

The gate was nowhere to be seen.

Only the endless ocean stretched out before me.

I headed toward the small cottage where the gatekeeper lived.

“Yona!”

I knocked on the tiny eye-level window.

An elderly man with a kind face, who had been nodding off in his chair, jolted awake in surprise.

“Hm? Serphine?”

“Sorry for waking you, Yona. I have an urgent favor to ask.”

“What kind of favor?”

“Could you open the gate for me? Just for a little while?”

At my request, Yona glanced up at the sky, now painted orange by the setting sun.

“You want me to open the gate? It’s not time for that.”

“But… I have to leave without Roakin finding out. Just for a moment. Please… couldn’t you make an exception?”

After thinking for a while, Yona slowly nodded.

“I don’t know what’s going on. But if you’re asking, Serphine, then you must have your reasons.”

The change happened immediately.

The calm sea began to churn with ominous rumbling.

Moments later, the waters split apart like the Red Sea, revealing an arched stone bridge stretching all the way to the mainland.

“Hurry along.”

Leaving the door open, Yona leaned back comfortably in his chair and closed his eyes again.

…Normally I’d have been trapped in the Mage Tower until tomorrow’s gate opening.

Good thing I became friends with the gatekeeper.

Serphine really had worked hard over the years.

How many bodies did she have?

Even though the secretary’s office was directly beneath the tower master’s floor, she’d often come all the way down here just to chat with Yona.

She’d never expected anything in return.

But thanks to that, escaping had become much easier.

“Thank you, Yona.”

“…”

…Looks like he’s already asleep again.

After saying goodbye, I adjusted my bag.

Then I stepped onto the perfectly dry stone bridge, as though it had never been submerged beneath the sea.

Someday… I’ll probably come back.

That is—

If I managed to stay alive without being killed by the Empress.

After all, even if my mana was nonexistent…

I was still technically a mage.

Whoosh—

The moment I safely reached the mainland, violent waves surged in behind me, swallowing the bridge whole.

Leaving the now peaceful sea behind as though nothing had happened…

I walked away without a single glance back.

“Miss, wake up.”

The coachman’s voice pulled me from sleep.

“Hm… Didn’t you say you were headed for Erden Village?”

“…Ah. Right.”

After traveling through the entire night, I’d apparently nodded off in the carriage.

I lightly slapped my cheeks to chase away the drowsiness before gathering my luggage and climbing down.

[Erden Village]

The words carved into the wooden sign at the village entrance had become faded with age.

Erden Village stood on the border between Dian, the land of mages, and the human territories.

It was also where I intended to make my new home.

“…Let’s see.”

I unfolded my map and checked the location I’d marked beforehand with a pen.

It looked like I’d have to head deep into the eastern forest.

Passing villagers already busy with their morning routines, I continued onward.

Soon, nestled among thick foliage, a modest little house came into view.

There it is!

Before escaping the Mage Tower, I’d searched for a place to hide.

The house looked exactly like it had in the viewing crystal.

Finally.

After an exhausting journey that had lasted all night…

I’d arrived at a home that belonged solely to me.

Overcome with emotion, I hurried toward it.

It was a two-story house with a small attic tucked beneath the roof.

Its sturdy wooden frame and thick plaster walls still stood firm.

Aside from the obvious signs of age, it was in pretty good condition.

For a brief moment, memories of countless nights spent working overtime flashed through my mind, making my nose sting.

This… this is what all that suffering was for.

…

Well, technically, Serphine had done all the suffering.

Every coin used to buy this house had been earned through her grueling work at the Mage Tower.

The tower paid generously.

On top of that, Serphine had accepted private potion commissions, leaving her with a healthy amount of savings.

She wasn’t exactly rich.

But she had enough money to live comfortably until the Empress was finally removed from power.

That was more than enough.

“…Hello?”

The moment I opened the front door, a spider descended on its web as though welcoming me.

I brushed the web aside with one hand and stepped inside.

Since no one had lived here for so long, the interior was an absolute disaster.

“How am I supposed to clean an entire two-story house by myself?”

For a moment, I nearly felt dizzy.

But I quickly steeled myself.

I survived three years at the Mage Tower.

Compared to everything I’d endured there…

This was nothing.

I started by opening every window in the house.

Then I found a broom in what looked like a storage room and began sweeping every corner.

The deep cleaning I started that morning showed no signs of ending, even after night had fallen.

“Haa… I’m exhausted.”

Completely drained, I collapsed face-first onto the bed.

Maybe I’d pushed my weak body too hard.

If I’d just brought one person from the Mage Tower to help clean, I wouldn’t have suffered like this…

Back at the tower, whenever I needed magic, I could simply ask another mage for help.

But now that I was hiding…

I had no choice but to do everything myself.

Moments like this made me painfully aware of how miserable it was to be completely incapable of using magic.

How can someone have absolutely no mana?

Unbelievably, every time Serphine’s mana was measured…

The result was always a shocking zero.

Among descendants of mage families, cases like hers—where no mana could be detected at all—were exceedingly rare.

Still…

Complaining wouldn’t change anything.

It wasn’t as if mana would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Even after working nonstop all day, there was still an overwhelming amount left to do.

Just thinking about it made my head spin.

“…I’ll finish the rest slowly.”

Ignoring the ceiling that looked like it would leak the moment it rained, I closed my eyes.

So what?

I was unemployed now.

And I had plenty of time.

Dark clouds rolled over the mountain ridges as thunder rumbled across the sky.

A massive extermination campaign was underway in the Valdeas Mountains.

During a routine inspection, the subjugation force had discovered a new nest of monsters.

Thanks to the Empire’s elite troops, the mountains echoed endlessly with the screams of beasts.

Ever since mana had awakened as a new force upon the continent, these mutated abominations had grown several times larger than ordinary animals, possessing overwhelming strength.

Worse still, they carried deadly venom.

Even the Empire’s highly trained knights had to fight them with their lives on the line.

Only their determination to protect the Empire’s people from these horrific creatures kept the extermination force standing.

It was a battlefield drenched in blood and slaughter.

Everyone fought desperately, so soaked in blood that their faces were nearly unrecognizable.

Everyone…

Except one man.

Standing motionless as though in an entirely different world.

Roakin.

The Master of the Mage Tower.

Roakin was deep in thought.

His mind had been occupied lately by the bombshell his secretary, Serphine Mirabel, had dropped on him.

…Why?

No matter how much he thought about it…

He couldn’t understand the real reason Serphine wanted to quit.

Hadn’t everything been fine until now?

Roakin rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Serphine had been an excellent secretary.

Meticulous.

Quick-witted.

Whenever he entrusted her with work, she handled it flawlessly without needing supervision.

More importantly…

The sleeping potions she brewed were exceptionally effective.

He hadn’t expected much when he first hired her.

Yet she’d exceeded every expectation.

The fact that she had no mana had never once become a problem.

If things continued like this…

There would have been nothing to complain about.

[Letter of Resignation]

Then one day…

It suddenly appeared.

As Roakin recalled those indifferent pink eyes looking back at him, his expression darkened with dissatisfaction.

At that very moment, crimson lights bloomed high in the sky.

Like fireworks, countless flames exploded outward before raining down upon a single point.

Enormous fireballs crashed onto the monsters like falling meteors.

Dozens of beasts screamed simultaneously.

Their ear-splitting shrieks echoed throughout the Valdeas Mountains.

But to Roakin—

Whose thoughts had shut out every sound around him—

Only Serphine’s voice continued to echo.

“I resign.”

Serphine had suddenly declared she was quitting.

But why?

Was the workload too much?

Yet she’d never once shown any sign that she was struggling.

If it had really been that hard…

Why hadn’t she said something sooner?

Why hand him a resignation letter first?

At first, he’d assumed it was merely a lighthearted protest over her workload.

He’d even overlooked her little strike, thinking a period of rest might change her mind.

But Serphine Mirabel continued carrying her resignation letter everywhere, waiting for the perfect chance to hand it over.

One day…

She even brought him a sleeping potion that tasted absolutely awful.

It almost seemed as though she was deliberately trying to get herself fired.

“I resign.”

Remembering those words once more, Roakin’s face hardened.

“Why are you suddenly acting differently?”

Why?

A heavy sigh escaped him.

Had Serphine ever said anything like that before?

As he searched through his memories…

Someone suddenly stepped into his field of vision.

“What are you doing standing here?”

A man clad in gleaming golden armor approached, his long crimson cape billowing in the wind.

It was the leader of the extermination force—

The Crown Prince.

Even Lirenzo, humanity’s strongest Swordmaster, bore unmistakable traces of the brutal battle.

His brilliant golden hair, radiant like molten gold…

Was splattered with dark crimson blood, staining it like ugly impurities.