On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 37

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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 37
“Huh……?”
I tilted my head, wondering if I’d misheard, when Cade settled himself onto the edge of the desk.
“I checked the mercenary’s room—the one who claims he was robbed. It’s a disaster. The bed, the desk, everything’s overturned.”
“Really? The way the room was torn apart struck me as odd, so I wondered if they were actually searching for something stolen. But it does seem like a real robbery.”
“There are slash marks all over the place, as if something was cut with a blade. But the strange thing is…….”
He fixed his gaze meaningfully on the wall that adjoined the adjacent room.
“There were no signs of forced entry.”
“What do you mean?”
A chill ran down my spine. I stood up, and now I was at eye level with Cade.
“You’re saying the thief didn’t break in—that he trashed his own room?”
The moment those absurd words left my mouth, a more rational thought surfaced.
“Wait. Could someone have been looking for something in my room?”
“That’s what I think. Given how skilled they were, they were hired for the job.”
“But what could they possibly be looking for? I don’t have any important documents or valuables right now.”
“‘Yet’ being the operative word.”
“……?”
At his cryptic remark, I looked up just as Cade withdrew a thick stack of documents from his spatial pouch.
“A bunch of official documents arrived in the Imperial Capital by post. I came to confirm whether they’re yours.”
“What?! No. Absolutely not.”
I seized the papers in alarm, and found myself staring at something deeply troubling.
“What……what is this?”
Every single approval request bore the name “Vivian Solling.”
Moreover, the documents seemed to fit perfectly the conditions Cade had mentioned, yet they were subtly crafted to damage the Magic Tower’s interests.
“This is a forged official document. How could someone use my name without my involvement or approval?!”
I checked the originators and issuing authorities. Most had come from the Administrative Office.
My blood boiled. I slammed the stack of papers onto the desk.
“The Administrative Office! That bureaucrat I saw in front of the Magic Tower!”
I’d helped him up when he fell from his carriage, and this was how he repaid my kindness—a stab in the back.
I’d thought him a gentleman. I’d been terribly wrong.
As I fumed, a thought began to form: this incident connected to something that had been bothering me all along.
‘Stay calm. Think this through calmly.’
I took a deep breath and sat back down.
“Someone’s opening all the mail that goes into the Imperial Government. Or at least checking documents destined for Melgote.”
“They could be opening just the correspondence sent under your name.”
My frown deepened at his words.
I’d considered that possibility, but I’d desperately hoped it wasn’t true.
“Right after I delivered a message saying I’d only be able to get the Tower Master’s first seal on documents I personally carried, these letters arrived.”
“That’s right.”
“I made sure only the director himself could receive the letter. I even wrote that the contents shouldn’t be shared with anyone else.”
“But it sounds like every bureaucrat in the Imperial Government knows about it.”
Cade pointed directly at my name scattered throughout the papers on the desk.
Of course, even a single sheet of paper entering the Imperial Palace demanded careful attention.
But they didn’t typically open every piece of correspondence and scrutinize its contents.
“Who hired that strange mercenary to tear apart my room in the first place?”
“Could be. I found this in his room.”
Cade, who’d been nodding vaguely, pulled out a single letter from his clothes and unfolded it.
Name: Vivian Solling
Affiliation: Monster Ecosystem Bureau
Lodging: Melgote Rainhal Inn, Third Floor
Appearance: Black hair, green eyes, pale skin, feline gaze
“I must be losing it.”
It was clearly a description of me. Now, at last, I understood what was happening.
“They wanted to check if I’d received new official documents from the Imperial Palace. If they existed, they planned to destroy them.”
Before I could take a new document to the Tower Master, they wanted to obtain the Tower Master’s seal on the forged documents with the falsified requester’s name first.
It was reckless and crude, yet the fact that so many bureaucrats had descended in one coordinated assault suggested they were capable of anything.
‘……Could they have been planning to eliminate me along with the documents? No. Surely not.’
That chilling thought made me rub my arms. Then something occurred to me, and I asked cautiously.
“But how did you get that paper with my personal information? Did you steal it?”
Cade’s eyes narrowed into a smile. The mole beneath his eye became more prominent.
“Well, since they’re already complaining about the theft anyway, does it matter?”
“…….”
“I’ll sneak it back. They’ll never know it was taken.”
I wasn’t sure whether to praise or scold him for that. I simply nodded quietly.
It wasn’t until the next morning that I learned the mercenary’s window had been completely shattered, forcing him to change rooms to another floor.
***
A cold, damp breeze blew in solitary silence through the night.
The salt-crusted exterior walls of the Ship Storage Facility glistened under the moonlight.
A man in a black cloak moved past the wall, salt crystals transferring to his hem. He adjusted his cloak and surveyed the surroundings before stepping into a secluded underground tavern in Melgote Harbor.
Those following silently behind him stopped before the Ship Storage Facility.
“An underground tavern? Seems too obvious.”
Tower Master Cade’s muttered words drew a response from his aide, Ben, who brushed his fingertips lightly across the facility’s wall.
“Obvious places are actually the best for hiding and escaping.”
Ben’s fingers came away with Crystal Powder he’d scattered in advance.
It was powder infused with magical power—something any Wizard could easily track.
Once Cade confirmed Ben’s nod, he gestured quietly to the Wizards concealed atop the roofs.
The Wizards, who’d been waiting in silence, moved swiftly toward the underground tavern, following the trail of Crystal Powder.
Cade followed suit, pulling the hood of his Robe deep over his face as he entered the tavern.
The rowdy noise that had filled the space suddenly cut out, and all eyes turned toward Cade and Ben, but attention scattered just as quickly, as though nothing had happened.
There were simply too many people here with their faces hidden by cloaks and hats.
“As expected, the place is crawling with suspicious characters,” Ben whispered.
Cade let out a dry chuckle.
“So are we.”
The acrid stench of tobacco and the sour smell of aged fermented wine permeated the humid interior.
Beneath these scents, Cade detected something faint but distinct.
‘A level or two down—or above?’
As he surveyed the tavern, he lifted his gaze, following the trace of magical power emanating from the Crystal Powder.
There were no stairs leading upward, but one of the Wizards who’d been tracking the magical signature already pushed open a hidden door in a corner of the tavern and peeked through.
The moment Cade’s feet touched the upper level beyond the stairs hidden within the secret door.
He sensed something eerie and fell very still.
Flames of magical power bloomed instinctively in his palm, flickering with unease.
“Tower Master?”
Ben peered around in confusion, but found nothing unusual.
Only the workers, held down by the Wizards, knelt with anxious faces, and everything else was boxes.
“What’s wrong?”
“……No. Nothing.”
Cade remained uneasy despite the lingering chill, but he extinguished the flames in his palm and examined the upper level.
Large and small boxes were stacked haphazardly, and among them were cages containing Magical Beasts.
When he pulled away the cloth carelessly draped over one section, what Cade had been searching for was revealed.
Discarded material from the Magic Tower’s research laboratory.
‘They’ve scraped together everything—failed Scrolls to completely worn-out Magical Pen Nibs.’
The fact that they’d merely covered it with cloth suggested they weren’t planning to store it long.
Ben, too, examined the waste and furrowed his brow.
“I had a feeling about this. The disposal facility has been getting suspiciously clean lately.”
Since these items had passed through the magical research laboratory before being discarded, most bore traces of magical work and residual mana.
The underground tavern functioned as a place to exchange black-market information. The upper level, accessible only through the tavern, served as a temporary storage for contraband waiting to be hastily loaded onto ships.
He’d encountered such operations before near the docks, where ships could arrive and depart at any time.
“Why hasn’t the Coast Guard discovered such an obvious place?” Ben asked.
“Maybe they have.”
Cade’s casual reply made Ben’s eyes widen.
“You mean to say these people might be in collusion with the Coast Guard?”
“We’ll find out from them soon enough.”
Cade answered while scanning the workers with his eyes.
Then he noticed a partially burned piece of paper stuck to an antique in the corner.
He removed the palm-sized Parchment and examined it. The script was in a language different from the Empire’s.
‘Ancient Language.’
The ink had smudged and the paper was discolored, making it nearly impossible to read what was written.
Cade had no intention of deciphering the ancient text here and now, so he flipped the paper over and froze.
Although most of the Magic Circle had burned away, he recognized it instantly upon sight.
A long-forbidden realm, now thought to have vanished.
‘Black Magic.’

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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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