On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 26

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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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Episode 26
“Besides, we couldn’t even find a body. There’s no reason we can’t just say he passed away while serving as a consultant on this venture.”
That was the moment Aster’s model-student mask cracked.
Most of the materials Father had compiled over a lifetime of research remained in nearly every Crystal Whale publication.
As a Crystal Whale scholar, as a Crystal Whale conservationist. Father had quite a reputation.
That was what he needed.
To Aster, I wasn’t Vivian Solling—I was Samuel Solling’s daughter.
“So that’s it? That’s why you kept lecturing me about my reputation while spouting this nonsense about marriage and all that.”
…….
A sense of emptiness welled up inside me.
It wasn’t only Aster who saw me that way.
Since Father’s disappearance, more than twenty people had come seeking me—all for reasons connected to Crystal Whales: tourism ventures, research, and the like.
They hadn’t sought me out as Vivian Solling.
Whether it was joining the Crystal Whale Department, or facing pressure to leave, or receiving proposals for wretched marriages.
Every single time, it wasn’t because I was Vivian Solling—it was because I was Samuel Solling’s daughter.
I stared at my name and Father’s name for a long moment, then carefully folded the documents and tucked them into my pocket.
Not because that name was precious to me, but because I needed it as evidence.
“Aster. You’ll be escorted to the Imperial Capital along with these people.”
“I wasn’t the one who did the whaling. Why? Look at those documents properly. Nothing’s been executed—it’s just a proposal.”
“You did do something. You committed fraud. You forged those documents with my name and Father’s to deceive people and secure investment, didn’t you?”
The nets and whaling equipment discovered on this vessel looked far more valuable than any whaling ship I’d seen before.
Even the rope binding the Magical Beast was a Magical Tool, which meant he’d already received investment capital.
If I married Aster, no one would ever suspect he’d fabricated those documents.
I never imagined in my wildest dreams that Aster would orchestrate something like this.
“I’m turning you over to the Imperial Guard as well. I’ll send an indictment to the Imperial Capital, and you’ll be punished according to imperial law.”
“Since you tried to recruit the Magic Tower to deceive the Imperial Government, that adds a charge of Treason.”
Cade handed me a small scroll and added this. When I unrolled it in disbelief, it contained Aster’s voice proposing to Cade something forbidden by the Imperial Government.
“How did you even—!”
Aster’s complexion had already turned ashen, but it didn’t end there.
There was one thing I’d been curious about all along.
“Aster. Your failure to get promoted—it wasn’t because of me, was it?”
“……I can’t say it was completely unrelated. If you hadn’t joined, then eventually I would have—”
“That’s enough. I don’t need to hear your answer. I wouldn’t believe whatever you said anyway.”
With his words cut short, Aster clenched his teeth, and that ended it.
It meant Aster had nothing left to do.
“Aster. What is all this? What exactly just happened?”
Yukel approached Aster with disbelief written across his face, but Aster showed no intention of speaking further.
“Yukel. You saw everything. Your cousin nearly got us all killed.”
Simona wrung the water from her wet hair with a sharp squeeze and led the civil servant away. Blood-tinged water dripped onto the deck with a wet splatter.
Yukel stared at Simona for a moment, then his face looked ready to crumble at the sight of the falling blood. He couldn’t deny what she’d said.
Once my heart settled from being attuned to the Crystal Whales’ emotions, disappointment flooded in where anger had been.
I’d believed—as others had said—that Aster was a good Attuner and a good investigator.
Separate from how poorly he’d treated me.
That’s why I’d felt indebted to him, but the truth was he was just a con artist, someone overbearing in his attempts to control Magical Beasts.
Oooooom—.
The Crystal Whales cried out joyfully.
These intelligent Magical Beasts seemed to have recognized that the whaling ship that had appeared here would cause no more harm.
‘Right. I need to finish this properly.’
I decided to complete the task Cade had asked of me.
“Tower Master. I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to retrieve the Mana Detection Device.”
“You can’t retrieve it?”
At his puzzled question, I shook my head and pointed to the young Crystal Whales playing near the surface of the water.
“I don’t want to retrieve it anymore. They’re using it. It seems they’re using it to avoid Monster Beasts and whaling ships.”
During the moment I was attuned to the Crystal Whales, I could feel it.
While drifting across the sea, they would often see the Magic Tower’s Mana Detection Device.
Once the Crystal Whales understood what it was, they’d taken it to protect the younger, weaker individuals who couldn’t yet properly distinguish Mana.
“Even so, shouldn’t it be recovered?”
…….
Cade’s eyebrow rose in a gentle arc—he knew I had no intention of recovering it.
“Fine. Just have another one made. And…….”
……?
“Never mind. No, forget it.”
Cade fumbled over his words and began to turn away.
I reached out and stopped him, letting slip the words I’d been holding back.
“By the way. Thank you for today.”
…….
“I know you weren’t trying to help me—you were just doing your job. But still. Thank you.”
Then, without waiting for his response, I went to check on Simona’s condition.
Ever since Aster came to Melgote, every single day had been an ordeal. More than once I’d thought about abandoning the Tower Master’s seal and department transfers and just returning to the Imperial Capital.
But…….
‘No, I can’t do that. I can’t accomplish this without transferring departments.’
While attuned to the Crystal Whales, they felt closer to me than any other Magical Beast, but it was equally hard to shake Father’s ghost.
Today’s events only strengthened my resolve to transfer departments by any means necessary.
If I couldn’t transfer departments, perhaps it would be better to resign as a Civil Servant altogether and, as Aster had suggested, take a job at a Magical Beast sanctuary or find something new.
‘I’d hate to give up a stable job, but communicating with Crystal Whales is just too difficult.’
Only after we’d connected the whaling ship to the research vessel and finished towing preparations did the ship begin to move.
We were heading back to Melgote Dock.
Thanks to the Crystal Whales’ Mana, the remnants of corrupted Mana lingering on the sea had already faded considerably.
Ben muttered that it would be completely purified soon enough.
The bow of the ship slowly entered the thick wall of fog.
At a splashing sound from behind, I turned to see a Crystal Whale leap high above the surface before plunging back down with a heavy splash.
Among the glittering spray of water, something caught my eye.
‘Wait. That’s…….’
On the Crystal Whale’s tail fin, something white and luminous was etched.
“It will open again……?”
“Vivian? What are you saying? Open again?”
Simona asked with curious, bright eyes, so I shook my head.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I must have been mistaken.”
I must have been confused by the glittering water.
Ancient Language carved into a Crystal Whale’s fin.
That was strange, wasn’t it? No one could have written it there.
***
The moment we reached land, Aster was handed over to the Imperial Guard along with the whaling ship’s crew and transported to the Imperial Capital.
My indictment and the Recording Scroll from Cade had arrived first via messenger bird, so the trial proceeded quickly.
Cade’s Recording Scroll had infuriated the Imperial Court, but since the actual business plan didn’t constitute an attempt at rebellion, opinions were divided.
After I sent a separate inquiry to the Director, it was revealed that Aster had received a “pending” judgment when he took the examination to transfer to the Crystal Whale Department.
‘I knew it would be something like that!’
Though personnel capable of Empathic Communion with Crystal Whales were scarce, his method of communion was deemed too aggressive.
Since his Attunement Ability was so strong, he apparently had no trouble controlling Magical Beasts smaller and weaker than Crystal Whales.
‘His department transfer was automatically rejected because I joined while his promotion was in limbo.’
Upon learning that his failure to transfer to the Crystal Whale Department had nothing to do with me, the old debt and heaviness that had accumulated over a year simply vanished.
The whaling ship we’d towed back became a training target for the Maritime Guard, and the investigation into the private Crystal Whale sanctuary business began to proceed smoothly.
Everyone needed medical treatment and rest for several days after the shocking and dangerous ordeal.
For me too, it meant a real day off for the first time in ages.
‘How long has it been since I slept this late?’
Waking at a time that would normally warrant an incident report, the Inn’s bedding felt more comforting than usual, and even Melgote’s mild sunlight seemed soft.
Knowing I could rest until tomorrow, my entire body and mind relaxed and stretched out.
‘Today I won’t go to the Magic Tower. I’ll just wander around.’
Back in the Imperial Capital, I would have spent my day off locked away in the study, buried in books, but this wasn’t Solling Manor.
I’d been staying in Melgote but never properly explored the city, which felt like a waste.
So despite my day off stemming from unfortunate circumstances, I’d at least gained some free time, and I decided to see Melgote today.
That was the plan, anyway…….
Beep!
The moment I stepped outside the Inn, a Magical Beast clung to me.
A small white fox Magical Beast with two adorable little horns.
Different in size, but this one was…….
“……Why are you here?”
The horned Magical Beast that had been bound to the whaling ship.

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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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