My Husband Is Not the Magic Tower Master - Chapter 16

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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 16

“The atmospheric composition and flow are fundamentally different from the Human Realm, so you’d need to be born with exceptionally high Magic Resistance just to have a chance of stepping foot there.”
Such basic theory was covered in textbooks, after all.
A flicker of curiosity crossed his gaze, but I paid it no mind and simply blinked slowly.
I had no idea I’d need to remember such theories to survive and adapt in this other world.
‘I’m not so desperate to die. Why would a Mage have any reason to venture into the Demon Realm?’
A Mage is human. Humans live most comfortably in the Human Realm. And I am a Mage who loves a comfortable life.
When I remained silent and simply watched Carlo, he continued his explanation.
“Long ago, it was common enough for newly awakened novice Mages to carelessly wander in there and lose their lives.”
“But that was long ago. Things are different now, aren’t they?”
“Perhaps.”
Carlo tilted his head slightly.
“The concept of time, after all, only truly matters in a realm where lifespans are inherently limited.”
Oh. The way he said it, you’d almost think he wasn’t human himself.
Not some white-haired grandfather, certainly.
Here stood a youth in his twenties with jet-black hair, spinning ancient tales, and I found myself stifling an inward laugh.
“By the way, it seems you’ve grown accustomed to the word ‘we,’ haven’t you?”
Carlo’s lips paused slightly.
Caught off guard by my interruption, I widened my eyes in surprise at his gaze.
“Ah.”
Before he could respond, I hurried on.
“Not that it’s uncomfortable or anything. It just seemed like I’d been hearing it quite often lately.”
There was no deeper meaning to it. I lowered my gaze awkwardly and cleared my throat.
‘Was I the only one thinking about it?’
More than the dangers of Demon Realm travel, what nagged at me was the way he’d begun to refer to himself and me together. It was that casual pronoun—’we’—that had slipped out when I spoke.
Work had been overwhelming lately, so if we could properly identify and resolve the root cause of the problem this time, it would actually be fortunate for me.
Resistance to atmospheric mana and all that—such trivial concerns paled against the daily incidents and accidents that descended upon me with relentless force.
‘Each time we talk, our hands brush. I can’t stop noticing it.’
Though we were heading toward a mission unprecedented in its danger, I found myself more tense standing in this cramped teleportation circle, exchanging quiet words with him until we reached our destination, than I had any right to be.
With each microsecond of the teleportation’s swift passage through spacetime, the backs of Carlo’s hand and mine grazed one another.
Each time, I flinched but couldn’t pull away, and before long we stood conversing with our wrists nearly touching.
Perhaps that was why—whether from the heightened tactile awareness or the unsettled state it left me in—whenever we became linked by that shared pronoun, something deep within me would prickle and tingle.
“…There aren’t even mosquitoes in here.”
Forcing myself to look away and muttering these words, I heard how hollow they sounded even to my own ears.
“It seems we’re nearly there.”
“Not yet. The previous field assignment and Stein County are roughly three hours apart.”
“…A difference of that magnitude?”
Exasperated, I pressed my palm lightly against my forehead. When on earth would we arrive?
Stein Outer Boundary Area was located in a mountain range, quite distant from the Magic Tower.
Yes, I remembered that the last field assignment with Carlo had taken barely dozens of seconds to reach.
So far, only about three minutes had elapsed.
Two minutes remained.
If I calculated correctly by mana, we should arrive right at the five-minute mark I’d anticipated.
‘This is troublesome.’
At departure, the space around us had been enveloped in pure white light.
The rapid transit had twisted my vision and fractured space repeatedly, fragments scattering and reconstituting themselves again and again.
Long-Distance Transportation Magic always severely restricted movement.
You couldn’t move too far beyond the magic circle, couldn’t carelessly layer other incantations on top of it.
About the only thing possible was making quiet conversation with your fellow passenger if one was present.
Within this compressed moment, the only person I could fully focus on was Carlo.
Had I perhaps come to depend on him more than I’d realized?
To ground myself, I clenched my fists tight and took a slow, deep breath.
I seemed to be confusing myself.
What was the proper name for this kind of feeling, anyway?
‘No, no. That’s not it.’
But the fact that I understood all too well what it was only pulled me deeper into the labyrinth.
‘Sigh.’
Without thinking, I buried my face in my hands.
My heart wasn’t just racing—it ached, and I wanted nothing more than to escape this teleportation.
“Are you all right?”
I absolutely refuse to lose to these feelings.
“Yes. Don’t worry about me—we’re almost at our destination.”
“I can stop. If you’ll just hold my hand.”
“Ah—”
But the moment of surrender was always going to come.
“…”
Thud.
The instant I hesitantly placed my hand in his palm, the Long-Distance Transportation Magic terminated.
The concentrated mana-light scattered like powder across the void in a heartbeat.
Worse still, we’d been trying to pause time by holding hands when the spell broke, so the impact of landing was severe.
Oh—
My body, released mid-handhold and thrust suddenly onto the mountainside, stumbled, and Carlo quickly pulled me into his arms.
Not content with holding hands, now he was embracing me.
“Good heavens—I mean, thank you. I nearly fell.”
“Are you hurt?”
“As you can see. Just let go of my wrist.”
Noticing the numbness creeping into my wrist, I looked up at him.
Unlike me, Carlo showed no alarm whatsoever as he released the tight grip on my wrist.
“My apologies. I was startled.”
He didn’t look it at all, but I supposed I had to believe him. He was so expressionless by nature that people sometimes said he didn’t seem human at all.
I nodded and immediately turned away from him.
The sight of towering trees surrounding us came into focus, and I felt certain we’d arrived at the right place.
Beyond the developed commercial center, Stein County’s outer regions were completely encircled by mountains.
What lay visible here was only Stein’s small villa, long abandoned in the lower village, and the vast Defensive Walls that separated the Human Realm from the Demon Realm.
‘Still the same.’
I murmured to myself as I made out the dim silhouette beyond the mountains.
My parents had strictly forbidden me from going anywhere near here since childhood, so even though this technically belonged to Stein County on the map, it could never feel like home.
I was confident at least that the manor where my parents lived and the heart of Stein would remain untouched.
A pack of Magical Beasts had attacked here a few days ago, but the villa wasn’t close enough to the lower village to suffer casualties.
I’d heard that some of the houses and shops in the lower village had roofs or outer walls damaged, but fortunately there were no losses of life.
Whether to call it a blessing in disguise or the beginning of hardship—
“Let me set up the Temporary Tent first.”
I opened the Luggage Bag with Weight Reduction Magic applied and channeled a small amount of my mana into it, then stepped back.
Click-click. Screech. Screee-eek.
A Conference Pavilion outfitted with tables, chairs, and stone tablets, along with a Base Camp, quickly assembled before us.
In my previous life, even a picnic by the Han River meant manually unrolling mats and setting up tents. Magic these days really has gotten convenient.
“I brought sleeping quarters and dining pavilions too, just in case.”
The package I’d just set up was for emergency meetings.
It was borrowed from the Magic Tower’s direct workshop—something as expensive as a small house.
Carlo scanned the number of Luggage Bags I’d brought with his eyes and nodded.
“If you’d told me beforehand, I would have brought supplies from my end.”
“Then you would have paid for it yourself.”
“Still—”
He frowned slightly.
He seemed worried I might have spent my own money when the budget was already insufficient for what we’d prepared.
I let out a small laugh.
Surely I hadn’t wasted my precious savings on this pointless field assignment.
“Don’t worry. I submitted all the invoices under the team leader’s name.”

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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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