On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 34

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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 34
The next day.
After finishing my duties at the observatory early, my steps toward the Magic Tower felt light.
It was a shame that the new Official Document I’d requested hadn’t arrived yet, but I could live with that.
‘I’m actually getting to enter the Tower Master’s private library!’
It felt like an enormous privilege earned from my past connection, but since it wasn’t directly helping my job performance, my conscience felt clear enough.
‘I worried whether it was appropriate as a civil servant to demand to see forbidden books, but thinking about it now, there’s really nothing wrong with it.’
I wasn’t sneaking into the restricted section of a library—the Tower Master himself had authorized it, so there should be no problem.
But as I stepped out of the Carriage, something was wrong. The area in front of the Magic Tower was in chaos.
“Aaaagh! That lunatic!”
“Why am I being treated like this! How dare you! Do you know who I am!”
Civil servants in their Uniforms were streaming out of the Magic Tower in a panicked flood, their faces blackened as if burned.
They scrambled aboard the Carriages parked nearby in a hurried line, desperate to escape this place.
I stood rooted to the spot, my eyes wide with shock at this sight—the first of its kind since I’d come to Melgote.
‘I didn’t hear anything about more civil servants coming. What in the world is happening?’
I’d assumed that after the Aster incident, they would be cautious about sending more civil servants to the Magic Tower.
Yet here they were, sending enough people to fill an entire office all at once.
I had no idea what was going on.
Among the fleeing crowd, a middle-aged gentleman stumbled over a stone and fell hard.
“My goodness, are you all right?”
I hurried over and helped him up—and his face looked familiar. He was an administrator I’d seen a few times coming and going from the Administrative Affairs Bureau.
The administrator, leaning on me, rubbed his lower back and groaned.
“Thank you. But have you only just arrived? You’re far too late.”
“Excuse me?”
“Everyone’s already dispersing because of that mad fool’s tantrum. If you go in waving an Official Document now, you might get yourself killed.”
He shook his head in despair and pointed out his Carriage to me.
“Much obliged for the help. The other young fellows didn’t give me a second glance and fled. If you don’t have a personal Carriage, I’ll give you a ride all the way to the Imperial Capital.”
“Thank you for the kind offer, but I still need to go into the Magic Tower.”
As his coachman came running to take over supporting him, the administrator’s eyes widened.
“Wait. You’re Vivian Solling, aren’t you? That letter! Is all that really true?”
“What letter are you talking about……!”
As I started to ask in confusion, a vague rumor surfaced in my mind and I hesitated.
A letter from the Imperial Palace? What was he referring to?
‘Could it be? Was that rumor about the Princess and the Tower Master’s engagement actually true?’
Feeling inexplicably anxious, I was turning the thought over when the administrator continued urgently.
“The one where the Tower Master promised to affix his Seal to a new Official Document.”
My anxiety vanished like water washing over stone, replaced by bewilderment.
“He did promise, but how do you know about it?”
“So it’s true then? Blast it all, that madman spouted something he didn’t even mean. Ptui!”
The administrator spat toward the Magic Tower, his actions belying his gentlemanly appearance, then looked at me oddly.
“But you’re still in one piece? How did you manage to get into his good graces?”
“Well, that is……”
There was absolutely no way I could explain that the Tower Master had been my ex, so I hastily brought up something else.
“Perhaps it was unusual enough to make an impression—the fact that a Crystal Whale Investigator was dispatched for such a routine matter?”
“Are you truly not mad yourself?”
At his serious tone, I nodded in agreement.
“I do think he’s far from normal.”
“It’s the end of times. A man like that serves as the Tower Master. Watch yourself. That fellow has surely killed before.”
“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”
The administrator threw one last disapproving glare at the Magic Tower before boarding his Carriage and departing.
I stood alone, staring blankly at the countless wheel tracks left on the ground.
The fact that the Tower Master had agreed to affix his Seal to new Official Documents meeting certain conditions was information I’d only shared with the Director.
‘I was careful to ensure only the Director received the letter personally, worried that some other bureau might find out first. How on earth……’
I distinctly remembered adding this:
‘What if you were to draft and send an Official Document with content that would benefit the Magical Beast Ecology Investigation Bureau?’
Whoever held the authority to approve the first Official Document stamped by the new Tower Master would surely receive a commendation.
So I’d subtly proposed a method that would benefit both the Investigation Bureau and the Director, but this……
‘Director. Did you perhaps read my letter aloud through an Amplification Scroll so the entire Imperial Capital could hear it……?’
I muttered that it was impossible and pressed my palm to my forehead.
Had he already risen to the rank of Director and been opposed to my transfer precisely because receiving the Tower Master’s Seal would trouble him?
‘Would he really go this far though……?’
The man who’d been desperately shuffling the Tower Master’s Seal between different bureaus was now fighting to receive it first.
All those civil servants—they were all my competitors.
Suddenly I felt helpless. I seriously considered asking Cade not to affix his Seal for anyone until I brought my own Official Document.
‘It’s so underhanded I’m ashamed even thinking about it.’
Even though it was a thought I held only in my own heart where no one could hear, I felt embarrassed and let out a self-conscious cough.
‘Wait. But they all looked burned by fire, didn’t they?’
It suddenly struck me that they’d all fled from inside the Magic Tower.
If they’d brought letters and come to receive Official Documents, they must have met Cade’s conditions.
Which meant Cade had refused to affix his Seal.
As I stepped into the Magic Tower, my chest tightened unexpectedly as I thought to myself:
‘Cade, you……. You’re more honorable than I gave you credit for.’
***
The moment I entered the Magic Tower’s lobby, I felt the chill deepen.
The Wizards in the lobby turned to look at me with sharp expressions, muttering irritably.
“Are there still more civil servants coming, or—no, wait. It’s an Investigator.”
“Oh. It’s just the Investigator.”
They recognized me and immediately relaxed their hostile expressions, though I was still taken aback.
‘Today of all days, they must be sick of the sight of a Civil Servant Uniform. Should I come back tomorrow?’
While I was deliberating, Ben appeared.
He looked tired too, so he guided me to the stairs without a word, and I quietly followed behind him.
As we made our way toward Cade’s office, every Wizard I passed gave a similar reaction.
“Ugh, enough with the civil servants—oh, it’s the Investigator.”
“Not again! Another— oh wait, it’s the Investigator.”
I understood their weariness with civil servants, but I found it interesting that recognizing me made them respond as if it was no big deal.
‘Has Cade already sent so many back without issue that they see me as harmless?’
It felt like I’d been vouched for—like a civil servant who wasn’t worth their disdain.
I wasn’t planning to work here permanently, and I certainly hadn’t done anything remarkable to deserve this reputation, so I wasn’t sure why I felt a strange sense of pride.
‘……My emotions have been all over the place since coming here.’
As I tried to weigh whether Cade or the Crystal Whale was responsible, my face suddenly grew hot.
‘What am I thinking? It must obviously be because of the Crystal Whale.’
Regardless, there had been so many things happening in Melgote.
Really. I’m absolutely certain of that!
There’s no other reason possible, and there couldn’t be!
By the time I’d cooled the heat from my face, we’d arrived at his office.
“Tower Master. A civil servant has arrived.”
At Ben’s words, an ominous pressure flowed through even the shut door.
“This isn’t even amusing anymore.”
[Grrrrr…….]
Cade’s ice-cold voice and the Magical Beast’s threatening growl reached me together.
‘Oh no. Is he in a very bad mood? Should I really come back tomorrow?’
Feeling a chill that made me shiver, I started to step back when Ben spoke again.
“Ah, the civil servant visiting is ‘that Investigator.'”
In that instant, the menacing pressure cut off sharply and the door opened.
“Come in.”
[Kyuuu-ruring. Piiiii!]
Cade greeted me casually, and Tris let out a cute cry, rubbing her head against my leg.
But I had seen it.
The magical flames fading from Cade’s grip, and Tris shrinking her massive form back down to her proper size.
……
As I stood there awkwardly, Tris circled around me once in her adorable form.
Her soft tail coiled around my leg and swayed gently.
[Piiiing.]

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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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