On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 4

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 4
“I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but it’s dangerous―.”
“This won’t put the Magic Tower in danger.”
“What I mean is…….”
His words carried such conviction that I found myself believing him. Cade didn’t press further and stepped back.
Afraid he might change his mind, I quickly picked up the stone and pressed close to the window.
The agitated feelings of the Magical Beasts battered against me relentlessly, but since I’d already settled my mind, there was no danger of being swept away by them.
I focused on each heartbeat of the Magical Beasts―those frantic, fragile pulses that seemed ready to shatter at any moment. I wanted to wrap them in my embrace, to shield them.
Soon a warm, golden power rippled out from within me, spreading like waves to encircle the Magical Beasts.
The waves flowed exactly as I willed them, soothing the creatures’ rage and cradling their fear.
The Magical Beasts, which had been hurling themselves against the Barrier and crying out until their bodies seemed ready to break, gradually grew calm.
‘That’s it.’
As I was about to extend my hand out the window, Cade’s large hand suddenly engulfed mine.
I tried to pull away in surprise, but his grip was firm and unyielding.
“You’re not taking the Magic Tower’s Barrier seriously, are you?”
Only when I heard him sigh did I realize my mistake.
“Ah. Right, the Barrier.”
My anxiety had made me careless in a way unlike myself.
Cade moved along with my hand as I gently pulled it back.
The cold edge that had been pricking my heart moments before had vanished, and now he felt like the Cade I’d always known―which only confused me further.
‘Why does he keep switching like this? No. Don’t think about that. Focus.’
I steadied myself and extended my stone-laden hand through the window so the Magical Beasts could see it clearly.
As our overlapped hands passed through the window, the Barrier flashed white before fading.
“Look. This isn’t your offspring.”
The Magical Beast that had been chirping in distress dropped its guard and landed on my hand to examine the stone.
I felt sadness and emptiness rushing in to fill the space where its rage had been, and I nearly reached out to stroke it without thinking.
But the creature let out a long, high-pitched sound and immediately took the stone back to rejoin its pack.
They didn’t leave a trace of the offspring scattered about―these were clever creatures indeed.
The whole ordeal felt like a storm passing through in mere moments.
“Phew.”
As I exhaled, Cade drew my hand back inside the window and stared at me intently.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What was that?”
“What do you mean?”
My lukewarm response made him ask with suspicion.
“Since when have you been an Attuner? You became a civil servant after developing your Attunement Ability?”
“Is there a problem?”
“To become an Attuner, you need―.”
“Yeah. Whether it’s good luck or bad, that’s what happened to me.”
Monster Sympathy Ability.
It was a mysterious power that, true to its name, allowed one to sense Magical Beasts, commune with them, read their emotions, and even lower their guard.
It was an ability that manifested only very rarely after exposure to a Magical Beast’s magic power.
Thanks to an ordinance allowing Attunersspecial recruitment into the Imperial Government’s Magical Beast Ecological Research Bureau, I’d quickly secured a position as a civil servant.
It had been several years since I, alone, took over the affairs of my fallen baronial house. Maintaining the small manor and paying the servants their wages on time meant that becoming a civil servant was my best option.
A stable job with guaranteed monthly wages and retirement benefits wasn’t easy to come by, so I was generally satisfied with the arrangement.
Except for being assigned to the Crystal Whale Department.
“You’re really a Crystal Whale Ecological Investigator?”
“You’re only believing me now? It’s just as surprising as you being a Tower Master, don’t you think? I’m surprised too.”
“But…….”
I watched as he started to say something, then closed his mouth. Quietly, I felt relief flood through me.
‘Thank goodness he didn’t ask how I became an Attuner. He probably isn’t even curious anyway.’
In the cracked mirror in the corner of the office, Cade’s back was reflected.
Even covered by his Wizard’s Robe, his broad shoulders and straight posture were unmistakable.
It was a silhouette painfully familiar to me―one I never wanted to see again.
My stomach churned. I lowered my gaze and clutched the Official Document to my chest.
“I should get going now.”
“Go back to the Imperial Capital.”
“No. I can’t go back.”
I carefully placed the Official Document in my bag and spoke with firm resolve.
“It’s my job to stay attached to Melgote until you stamp it with your Seal.”
“Is being a civil servant really such a leisurely profession?”
“Oh, I forgot to mention something important. I’ve been dispatched to the Melgote Marine Observatory. I start work tomorrow.”
At my cheerful answer, Cade’s expression crumpled.
There was something almost satisfying about knowing my mere existence could unsettle him.
“If you want to drive me out of Melgote quickly, you’ll have to stamp that Seal for me.”
I’ll accomplish what all the other civil servants have failed to do, what those men have scorned and ignored.
“Wait, hold on.”
As I was building up my resolve, a worrying thought suddenly occurred to me.
In truth, my reputation among the other civil servants was far from good.
Even now, I’m spoken of poorly by many people―if this matter gets out as having been handled through the Tower Master’s connections, what then?
‘……I can’t even bear to imagine it.’
I couldn’t afford to suffer through such vicious rumors even after transferring departments.
Worried the sound might leak beyond the office, I moved closer to Cade and whispered urgently.
“There’s something I need to make clear before you stamp that Seal.”
“I’m not stamping it.”
As Cade stepped back, I followed, speaking with genuine seriousness.
“I need you to keep our relationship a secret from everyone. You’d find it awkward to mention me to the other Wizards anyway, wouldn’t you?”
“……?”
“We were never anything. Today, we’re meeting for the first time―perfect strangers.”
Cade seemed to think for a moment, then answered with the brightest expression I’d seen from him all day.
“That’s an excellent idea.”
“What?”
“……It was your suggestion, so why are you upset?”
I pressed my lips shut and tried to hide my displeasure, but it didn’t work well.
‘Why would he call it an excellent idea? Has he found someone else who wanted to forget about his ex-girlfriend?’
I had every reason to stay unknown to Cade, but the way he so readily agreed made me inexplicably irritated.
He was the one who ended things, so why was he the one who didn’t want to be remembered?
I gave him a sideways glare and was turning to leave with my bag when someone suddenly pounded on the office door.
“Tower Master, sir! You really did take in a civil servant, didn’t you!”
It was a young woman’s voice.
Cade pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, looking exhausted.
***
Meanwhile, in the Magic Tower’s lobby.
After the Tower Master disappeared with the civil servant, the Wizards stood frozen like statues, lost in confusion.
Imperial Government civil servants who arrive bearing Official Documents unfavorable to the Magic Tower never last more than ten minutes before leaving with tears streaming down their faces and smoke rising from their heads.
It had become something like an iron law after Cade became the Tower Master.
But today, that law shattered completely.
“What did I just see?”
“The Tower Master called them an idiot…….”
The Imperial Government’s unreasonable demands were a familiar occurrence, but they’d grown worse since Cade became the Magic Tower’s new master.
There were even rumors that while he was away from the Magic Tower, he’d committed fraud against the Imperial Family, and when he was caught without evidence, he’d exacted revenge through Official Documents―rumors too absurd to be believed.
Everyone thought they should be grateful that he’d merely sent them away with a flaming curse after witnessing such outrageous Official Documents.
“The Tower Master personally extinguished the flames.”
“He said he was sick of this nonsense, then disappeared with the civil servant.”
The Wizards standing in the lobby all looked up at the ceiling and went deathly pale.
“The Tower Master is finally going to kill the civil servant……!”
If he actually killed them, things would get serious.
“Did something happen between that civil servant and the Tower Master outside the Magic Tower?”
The Wizards didn’t know how Cade had survived while he was away from the Magic Tower.
When they asked, they only got vague answers, and no one thought to press further.
“Maybe someone he holds a grudge against…….”
“Would the Tower Master care about something like that? If he was annoyed, he would’ve killed them right then and there.”
Now that Cade was the Tower Master, they felt secure, but it hadn’t always been that way.
Before he left the Magic Tower, Cade had seemed like a person fundamentally broken in some grave way.
Ben, who had gone on Monster Beast extermination missions with Cade, recalled those days.
“Cade. The Orphanage was right in front of us. There were children.”
“So I killed it thoroughly.”
“Blood splattered on the Orphanage windows. Those kids watched you tear the monsters to shreds. Did you ever think about what kind of trauma that would cause them?”
“I don’t see what the problem is. Are you just trying to pick a fight? If you want to fight, let’s do this properly.”
“What, what the hell! You crazy bastard! A Wizard carrying a Short Sword around?”
Ben shuddered, remembering Cade drawing the Short Sword from his coat and wielding it.
‘A madman.’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————