On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 23

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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 23
My shoulders trembled as I watched the ship’s prow cut through the dark sea.
It wasn’t just the biting salt wind.
I pulled my coat tight and lowered my gaze below the railing of the research vessel.
Large and small bubbles rising to the surface.
The faint glimmers of light they held, and the crystalline mana within them.
A vibration that stretched long, then resonated as though many were singing to one another.
……
It wasn’t my imagination. We were drawing near to the Crystal Whales.
I’d expected as much when Cade mentioned the Dock as our destination.
I thought I’d prepared myself mentally, but now that the moment of attuning to the Crystal Whales was near, my nerves jangled with anticipation.
Perhaps it was because I was sharing the same ship with Cade, both of us facing the same direction.
The instant I stole a glance at him, our eyes met, and I turned away at once.
‘Sigh. I can’t look him in the eye.’
I was already mortified by the shameful displays he’d witnessed, and if he’d heard about Aster visiting my cabin yesterday, I had no idea how to face him.
The closer we got, the more I feared I’d only embarrass myself further.
But I had no intention of running away.
A Crystal Whale investigator intimidated by Crystal Whales? Whether or not it was true, my pride wouldn’t allow it to show, so I straightened my shoulders and lifted my chin slightly.
Just as I had on the day I first set foot in the Magic Tower.
Perhaps sensing my shift in demeanor, Aster stood with equal confidence at the railing, gazing out to sea.
‘This isn’t even about winning or losing. What are we even doing?’
Even as I thought it childish, I couldn’t help but refuse, absolutely refuse, to lose to Aster in any measure.
As we passed a few small islands, detecting the abnormal climate was quick work.
The frigid sea breeze that had followed us from the Dock suddenly turned tepid.
The researchers and clerks holding Compasses and Telescopes began moving about with purpose.
They spread out a Sea Chart, marked it with pins, and hurriedly recorded their observations.
Soon after, we passed through a point where the thick fog cut off as though with a knife.
“Oh my. The Crystal Whales.”
“Goodness. Look at how brilliantly those crystals shine.”
The clerks gasped at the sight spread before them.
Several Crystal Whales circled slowly around a single point that looked like a dark pool.
Their sheer size alone inspired both grandeur and awe.
With crystals adorning them that gleamed with an almost ethereal clarity, it felt as though I were facing a living creature that had no right to exist in this world.
No matter how much I disliked Crystal Whales, I couldn’t deny their magnificence.
Aster, who oversaw land-based Magical Beasts, couldn’t take his eyes off them either.
“Is that dark mass in the center the remains of a Monster Beast?”
At my question, both Ben and Simona nodded in unison.
“Correct. As you’re aware, Crystal Whales also possess the ability to purify corrupted mana.”
“When the corrupted mana remnants from Monster Beasts collide with the mana of the Crystal Whales, it creates the abnormal climate.”
Given that they’d brought Aster and me all this way, there had to be other issues beyond the Monster Beast remains and the abnormal climate.
“I can sense more Crystal Whales in the deeper waters below the ship. It seems they’re curious about what will happen here.”
“You can sense that? I can’t even see a shadow of any other Crystal Whale……!”
Ben recoiled in surprise and peered beneath the railing, and Simona answered him.
“Well, our Vivian works in a different department altogether. She’s the Attuner assigned to the Crystal Whale section and has been attuning to them year-round.”
She spoke of my abilities with more pride than I felt myself.
Sensing the Crystal Whales buried in the deep ocean wasn’t particularly difficult for me.
‘If the Crystal Whales would just come a little closer to the Dock, I could sense them even from above the water.’
At this distance, I could even feel the slow, heavy heartbeat of the Crystal Whales.
Separate from how I felt about them, I’d had an uncanny ability to distinguish Crystal Whale vocalizations since childhood.
I didn’t know what other whales’ calls sounded like, but Crystal Whale songs had always come through to me with crystal clarity.
Perhaps because of that, after becoming an Attuner, I’d grown able to detect their heartbeats with ease.
Of course, it was an unwelcome talent.
‘There’s so much beautiful sound in the world. Why do I have to excel at hearing this?’
When the research vessel came to a stop, I instinctively knew it was time for me to work.
Having avoided eye contact with Cade the entire voyage, I gathered my courage and approached him to ask, “What do you need me to do?”
Cade looked down at me for a moment, then answered.
“The Crystal Whales took the Mana Detection Device we installed in the sea. I’d like to find that first.”
“Where is the Mana Detection Device?”
He pointed his finger downward, indicating the surface of the water.
It seemed the Crystal Whale had taken the device deep into the sea.
When Aster and I took positions at separate railings, curiosity and anticipation settled on everyone’s faces.
‘Crystal Whales aren’t common sights, even if other Magical Beasts are.’
But the same held true for Aster, didn’t it?
As a land-based Magical Beast investigator, it must have been a long time since he’d attuned to Crystal Whales.
‘Yet he looks so confident. Is it because he practiced during the department transfer exam?’
When an Attuner transferred departments, they had to pass a test involving attunement with the major Magical Beast of that department.
Since one could become a Magical Beast ecology investigator without being an Attuner, the Crystal Whale Department had more non-Attuner investigators than Attuners.
But for an Attuner, efficiency came from handling the Magical Beasts they could attune to perfectly.
An Attuner who couldn’t attune to Crystal Whales would be no different from a regular investigator within the Crystal Whale Department.
“Begin,” Cade commanded.
The instant his words fell, Aster and I reached out below the railing simultaneously.
I slowly released my Attunement Ability, which resembled a Golden Wave.
I shaped it into a form that the beings of the sea could sense as pleasurable ripples.
It had been a long time since I’d attuned to a Magical Beast in a non-urgent situation.
I felt the Crystal Whales approach, following the golden thread unspooling from my fingertips.
One of them let out a pleased vocalization and gently touched the tip of its snout to my palm.
……
Gasps of wonder echoed from those around me, but in that instant, my attunement wavered.
Father’s silhouette folded and layered like an accordion, then stretched long.
“Vivian. This time it’s truly different. You might be able to find the Crystal Whale’s hidden sanctuary.”
“It’s a shame your mother won’t be awake to see it, but I’ll visit blessed waters and pray for her recovery at the whale’s mystical crystal.”
I heard the childlike excitement in my father’s voice and shook my head.
My stomach churned, but this wasn’t the time to succumb to melancholy.
I gently stroked the Crystal Whale pressing its snout against my palm and spoke to it carefully.
“You took the Mana Detection Device, didn’t you? I’d like you to return it.”
Crystal Whales, said to possess intelligence higher than dolphins, could understand an Attuner’s words to some degree.
The Crystal Whale, which had been exchanging low sounds with its pod as if discussing matters, suddenly turned its head.
I could tell what it meant just from the emotional wave it emitted.
“It seems they don’t want to give it back,” I said, turning to the Tower Master.
Aster laughed as though he couldn’t help himself.
“That’s it? Even if they don’t want to, you’ve got to make them give it back. Honestly.”
With that, he pushed his attunement energy more forcefully toward the Crystal Whale he was carefully attuning to.
“Bring back the device you stole. Now.”
But as expected, the Crystal Whale refused to obey Aster.
“Bring the device. I said bring it!”
Despite several more attempts, the Crystal Whale continued to refuse.
Then, gradually, Aster’s attunement energy, which had resembled a golden wave, transformed into chains, emanating a heavy, authoritative pressure.
“There’s no helping it then.”
Aster drew a Riding Whip from his belt and struck the Crystal Whale’s snout without hesitation.
I jerked back in alarm and tried to stop him.
“Aster! What are you doing—that’s dangerous!”
His attunement energy cut off, but it was already too late. The Crystal Whale let out a long, anguished cry—a call saturated with displeasure.
The non-Attuners around us stood confused, unable to understand what was happening, while Aster shook off my hand with an exasperated expression.
“What are you doing? Are you seriously trying to obstruct me now?”
“The Crystal Whale is a living being, not an object. You can’t treat it like that—not a living creature!”

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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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