Memoirs of a Wicked Magician - Chapter 102

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 102
* * *
“Liriope, what are you still doing awake at this hour?”
“Oh, Caliona. Shouldn’t you be getting to bed early today? Tomorrow’s the 21st Floor Examination.”
Late into the night, Caliona had come to Liriope’s room.
The official curfew on the upper floors of the Magic Tower was midnight sharp.
A glance at the clock showed ten minutes remained before then.
It was Liriope’s first time seeing Caliona visit her this late, which surprised her a little.
“Yes, I came to check on you in case you were worried. I’ve mentioned it before, but I already know everything about the examination and I’ve prepared thoroughly, so it’s fine.”
Yet Liriope smiled and nodded at her sister’s reassuring words.
Of course, Liriope knew that Caliona had passed the 21st Floor Examination without difficulty in the past.
But head and heart don’t always move together, and she couldn’t help but worry a little from a younger sister’s perspective.
‘Still, I’m relieved that my sister already knows exactly what the test will be. Otherwise I was planning to slip her a hint as if I’d heard it from someone else.’
Caliona said she’d obtained information from the neighbor’s child who had failed the 21st Floor Examination before.
As long as candidates survived each exam, they could return to a lower floor and attempt the next test again.
So unless the examiner changed the content each year, information inevitably leaked out through gossip.
Of course, some people deliberately spread false information out of malice, but fortunately, Caliona’s neighbor appeared to have a conscience.
Caliona gently embraced Liriope, who still seemed preoccupied.
“Liriope, and… even if I take the 21st Floor Examination tomorrow, regardless of what happens, I’ll continue to be at your side. So don’t worry.”
At those words, Liriope felt her heavy heart melt away.
Had her sister sensed that her heart was troubled?
She hadn’t stopped Caliona from taking the examination because her sister’s resolve was so firm, but truthfully, she’d wanted to stay in the lowest floor with her a while longer.
However, as Caliona said, climbing different floors didn’t mean they’d never see each other.
In the past, she would have been anxious about being separated from her sister like this, but now it was all right. They had promised they would never drift apart.
Besides, she would soon be able to reach the floor where Caliona was.
“Sister, do your best on the test tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll do wonderfully. And… I’ll work hard to catch up to you.”
The reason Caliona of the past had met such a terrible end.
The purpose of the Northern Magic Tower’s betrayal of humanity and its desire to seize the power of calamity.
To learn these truths, there was no choice but to ascend this ant-nest-like Northern Magic Tower.
Liriope recalled the overwhelming presence of the Magic Tower Master Seraphina and the children who had inherited her bloodline.
Thinking that they were what she had to catch up to from now on, a sigh naturally escaped her.
“Liriope, it’s fine. There’s no need to rush. You’ve only just entered the Inner Tower, and you have plenty of time.”
At Caliona’s gentle words, Liriope shook her head inwardly.
‘No, sister. Time isn’t that abundant.’
The deadline promised to Ode was autumn when she turned twenty-three.
By then, Liriope absolutely had to climb to Babel.
So if anything stood in her way, she had no choice but to clear it aside and break through.
Liriope smiled sweetly at Caliona, and waited like a fish that had swallowed the bait for them to bite each other’s tails.
* * *
The next morning, eight o’clock.
The children about to take the 21st Floor Examination had gathered in one place.
“Ah, good morning to you all. I’m Gawain, and I’ll be administering today’s 21st Floor Examination.”
On the hour, a young mage in flamboyant attire entered the examination hall.
Notably, he possessed striking rainbow-colored hair that immediately captured the eye.
His blue eyes were half-lidded in a way that looked almost like a smile, and his expression seemed quite pleasant because of it.
“Well, this is tedious, so I’ll skip the preamble. I’ll inform you now that half of today’s examination participants may suffer irreversible physical and mental damage, and this examiner accepts no responsibility for such outcomes.”
Yet the words from his mouth quickly chilled the atmosphere.
“So if you lack confidence in passing, return to the lowest floor immediately.”
As Gawain gestured behind him, the examination hall’s doors swung open of their own accord.
“Remember that strategic retreat is never surrender or defeat, and that knowing one’s current capabilities and limits is also an important virtue for a mage. Take that as today’s lesson.”
Cold air flowed in from beyond the threshold, adding chill to the heavy silence.
“In short, don’t play the fool about your own standing and end up dying pointlessly—that’s just your own loss.”
“…….”
“That’s what I mean. Do you understand?”
The children’s expressions were varied.
Some had faces tense with nervousness, others rolled their eyes anxiously.
And conversely, some looked overconfident or composed.
Caliona tilted her expressionless face slightly to the side. Then she glimpsed Stella, who wore a self-assured smile.
Caliona traced a faint curve with her lips, then fixed her gaze forward again.
“Is there anyone who will take this last chance to leave the examination hall?”
Gawain made a final check, but no one moved.
“I see, none, then. Well, that’s fine. Learning too late that regret always comes too late is perhaps not a bad thing to discover on the 21st Floor.”
Gawain’s lips curved into a soft smile.
“Then let us begin the examination.”
At last, the door behind everyone shut with a bang.
And the true examination had begun.
* * *
‘By now, she’s probably entered the labyrinth.’
Liriope lifted her head, gazing toward where Caliona would be. Of course, the ceiling blocked her view of the actual examination hall.
Today’s 21st Floor Examination that Caliona was taking could be summed up in a single phrase.
Sacrifice Body Labyrinth Finding.
Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hands, feet.
Candidates entered the labyrinth after sacrificing at least one of these six body parts, tasked with finding the exit.
For each additional body part sacrificed, bonus points were awarded, and the chosen body parts were sealed by magic.
Naturally, the examination chamber contained dangerous obstacles that required using each body part.
‘The key is how well one compensates for the sealed body part with magic.’
“Master Fabien, when do you think Cassel will wake up?”
Liriope dispelled her endless thoughts and asked the person beside her.
She was in the Recovery Room, and at the end of her gaze lay a red-haired boy lying on a bed as if asleep. In the adjacent simple cot, a noticeably more exhausted Fabien was sprawled out.
“Stop calling me master. I’ve told you more than once that I’m nothing like those ordinary doctors outside the Magic Tower.”
“But since you heal sick mages, aren’t you basically a doctor?”
Fabien let out a derisive snort at Liriope as he gulped down a freshly opened Homemade Energy Drink, moving with a listless gesture.
[Liriope, you…….]
Suddenly, a bitter, ominous voice echoed in her mind.
[Don’t tell me you’re pretending to be friendly with that scrawny straw man now, with some other intention in mind?]
Ode had been subtly hostile toward Fabien for some time, and today he seemed to harbor doubts about Liriope’s intentions once more.
‘No, I told you that you’re my only master.’
Liriope cursed her own careless tongue.
It was true that Fabien had once almost become her master, but that was really nothing.
It was simply that Fabien and Cameron were rivals, so Liriope, being persecuted by Cameron, had caught his eye for a moment by sheer luck.
Even that had been Fabien’s fleeting whim, so they had never actually become master and apprentice.
‘All I really got out of being near him was labor exploitation…….’
Liriope’s eyes grew distant as she recalled those old days.
Still, thanks to him, she had broadened her knowledge of edible plants and medicinal herbs, so in hindsight, she had received no small benefit from him.
‘If Fabien hadn’t died early…… would I have been able to learn much more at his side?’
“Cough, cough!”
Just then, a faint cough sounded from beside her, breaking her reverie.
“Tch, even I don’t know when that fool will wake. I’ve patched up his injuries well enough, but the Brain Prison was always a place that gnaws away at the human spirit to begin with.”
Liriope’s eyes turned toward Fabien’s response.
“Now that I think about it, under normal circumstances Cameron would’ve dragged that kid away in a single day and roughed him up to boot, but this time it seems like he hasn’t even had the energy for it. He’s missed the time for checking his Prosthetic Limb and hasn’t shown his face in forever.”
Fabien seemed to recall something for a moment, then twisted his mouth.
Suddenly, his face, which had appeared devoid of motivation until then, was covered with an astonishing depth of malice, and a sinister killing intent began to spread around him.
“That fool, it’ll just be his own loss. There are always those idiots who postpone maintenance to save some petty change, not realizing that the longer they wait, the more repairs pile up. How much I’ll bleed them dry depends entirely on my mood.”
It seemed Fabien was quite pleased at the prospect of wringing Cameron down to the bone.
“Since you’ve stepped foot in the Northern Magic Tower, there’ll eventually come a day when your body runs short of bones and flesh. Remember my words well.”
[What? Does that rotten straw man dare curse my apprentice like this? As long as Ode exists, you’ll never need his help!]
“My rates are steep, but for greenhorns like you, I’m offering a special fifty percent discount on the first Body Recovery. Keep that in mind. And for every five Body Recoveries or three Replacement Body Creations, special discount rates apply.”
[This… this wretch continues to disrespect and insult my disciple?]
“Oh, you should also know that up to the 30th Floor of the Magic Tower, Installment Payment is available instead of lump-sum payment. Hmm, it looks like you’ll be seeing me quite often here.”
Fabien’s tone was quite irritating, and Ode seemed thoroughly offended.
But Liriope smiled as if she’d just received good wishes from Fabien.
“Thank you.”
“What?”
“Saying I’ll be coming to the Recovery Room frequently means I have the talent to survive even if something terrible happens to me and not die instantly, right? And no matter how badly I’m injured, you’ll always save me anyway, so I shouldn’t worry about money and can come by anytime without burden.”
“…….”
“Thank you for the kind words. So I might be indebted to you in the future, let me say hello in advance. I look forward to working with you.”
Her smile carried a persistent gaze that clung to Fabien.
Fabien looked at Liriope with an indecipherable expression, then murmured to himself.
“This is… I thought she’d have weak constitution and struggle adapting to Tower life, but looking again, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all.”
For some reason, he rose from his simple cot with a deflated expression.
“Tsk, my mood’s ruined. There’ll be many injured from the 21st Floor Examination today, so I’ll be busy. Don’t be a nuisance and get going.”
Liriope watched Fabien leave, waving his hand dismissively, thinking to herself that he really was as ever.
Every word from Fabien’s mouth dripped with irritation, but in truth, there lay a tenderness unknown to others hidden beneath.
“Ugh…….”
Then, suddenly, a small sound came from beside her.
When she turned her head, she saw Cassel writhing in pain with a contorted face.
“Fin, Fin…… Dino…….”
Once again, the names of his dead subordinates spilled from his lips like sleep-talk.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…….”
Liriope looked down at Cassel muttering apologies to no one and moved her hand.
Liriope’s warm hand touched Cassel’s cold, sweat-dampened forehead.
In that instant, Cassel suddenly opened his eyes like a startled beast and gripped Liriope’s wrist painfully.
Flutter.
The butterfly sitting by the window flew up.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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