On Official Duty with My Tower Master Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 59

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

Episode 59
Fortunately, it seemed no one had seen me visit Cade that late night.
Even after several days had passed, the wizards remained favorable toward me, and Ben continued to regard me with the same displeasure as always.
The way Rana furtively watched me from the corners suggested she didn’t quite know what her magical toy had been up to.
Cade, for his part, maintained his usual capriciousness.
Life at the Magic Tower proved less taxing than I’d feared—ironically, thanks to the very person I’d worried most about.
The most significant factor was that he didn’t demand payment for lodging and meals.
‘He said he’d bill the Imperial Government separately, but whether they’d actually pay…’
There was a high probability I wouldn’t receive reimbursement for the timber used in rebuilding the docks, and now the lodging costs of a civil servant had been added on top of that.
By any measure, I owed the Magic Tower more debts than I could count.
“…Why go to such lengths? Maintaining Melgote’s harbor isn’t even your responsibility.”
The question Cade posed was precisely what I wanted to ask him.
He had quietly helped rebuild the harbor’s merchant district as well.
Constructing new buildings from the ruins required official authorization, so the reconstruction stalled at a certain point—but even that represented more aid than I’d dared to hope for.
More importantly, the fact that Cade never mentioned that night was as valuable as not demanding payment for my board.
‘Better to be an assassin than a pervert sneaking in to covet a sleeping Tower Master.’
After expressing his thanks, he had made no sign of acknowledging the incident again.
Whatever impulse drove his continued kindness, I had no intention of forgiving him for a few days of gentleness.
‘That’s absolutely out of the question. Even now, I feel I’m falling behind with Cade, and it wounds my pride.’
Yet living under the same roof meant I couldn’t maintain one-sided hostility, so I resolved to keep our relationship appropriately professional.
The National Director’s letters inquiring about the Magic Tower Master’s Seal continued to pour in, but life at the Magic Tower was manageable enough.
‘No matter how necessary the Magic Tower Master’s Seal might be, this is also the matter of the 3rd Princess’s marriage. How can a mere civil servant like me press the issue?’
I grumbled inwardly, but without genuine irritation.
I’d recently found several useful passages in the ancient language section.
With light steps, I slipped out of the mirror section and went straight to my room, where I sat at my desk.
As I spread out my notes transcribing book passages and the records I’d organized separately, I could no longer tell whether I was a magical beast ecology surveyor or an ancient language tutor.
An Attuner can generally resonate more easily and sensitively with the Magical Beast species that influenced them at awakening.
Attunables awakened by a Crystal Whale’s Magical Power are rare, but if we infer the commonalities, it is that they sometimes experience a Second Awakening.
Attunables who have undergone a Second Awakening respond more sensitively to the emotions of Crystal Whales and show results of resonating more easily with their Magical Power as well.
Second Awakening.
I recalled that day when I had resonated with Melgote and the Crystal Whales.
It was the first time I’d ever resonated with so many Crystal Whales at once.
‘I definitely felt something different from usual back then.’
I rested my hand over my heart, summoning the sensations of that moment.
A strange sensation, as though the Crystal Whales and I had become one.
And a power that felt alien to me—something I’d so naturally pushed back against Aster’s Attunement Ability.
‘We are safe.’
I had referred to the Crystal Whales and myself as “we.”
It seems strange now, but in that moment it had felt natural.
Never before had resonance occurred with such intensity.
‘There’s no doubt I underwent a Second Awakening then.’
Attunables who have experienced a Second Awakening show markedly enhanced ability in resonating with Magical Beasts, and the beasts themselves follow them without hesitation, their wariness quickly crumbling.
That the Magical Beasts had been unusually favorable toward me was also due to my Second Awakening.
‘So it’s a relief that there’s nothing wrong with my abilities…’
As I reviewed the materials carefully, I retraced the current circumstances of being trapped in Melgote.
I had said my Attunement Ability collided with Melgote’s Barrier.
To resolve that collision, shouldn’t I understand its cause?
‘What if the source of the collision is the Magical Power of the Crystal Whales themselves?’
That Second Awakened Attunables resonate more easily with Crystal Whale Magical Power also meant they were more easily caught in its flow.
I turned toward the direction where the sea lay.
‘Has there been any progress in the Magic Tower’s investigation of this situation?’
Since this room’s window faced away from the sea, my view was blocked by nothing but a solid wall.
In the end, I shut my notebook and headed once more to the office.
***
“Cade. I wanted to ask you something.”
“Vivian.”
The moment I stepped into the office, Cade swept aside the complex-looking Magic Circles he’d been examining.
“Weren’t you just looking at those? If you’re busy, I can come back later.”
“No. It’s nothing urgent. Go ahead.”
He caught me before I could leave the office, seated me in a chair, and even brought tea.
Since I’d decided to treat him with appropriate professionalism, I had no intention of engaging in idle chat or having tea time, so I went straight to the point.
“I wondered if you’d learned anything about my being trapped in Melgote.”
Cade seemed to realize I wasn’t interested in the tea either—he tilted the teapot, then set it down.
“I have found something, but it’s not easy since you’re the only one trapped in Melgote.”
“So your side also has few samples.”
As I sighed in frustration, he lowered his voice as if sharing a secret.
“I’ve checked the records of Melgote’s Central Barrier as well. The barrier itself hasn’t changed, but there is something strange about it.”
“The Central Barrier? Can I see that too?”
“Of course—”
Cade’s head moved to nod, then stopped.
“—not really. It’s dangerous.”
“The barrier is dangerous?”
“Every time you try to leave Melgote, the barrier generates repulsive force. Who knows what might happen if you get close to the Central Barrier.”
“That’s true.”
It was a reason I couldn’t refute.
The Central Barrier sounded terribly important by name alone, and it was probably best not to introduce a variable like me into the equation.
Still, I found it deeply frustrating that I couldn’t verify anything with my own eyes.
Perhaps sensing my disappointment, Cade cleared away both the teacup and teapot, then opened the office door.
“Actually, I think you should see it directly at least once.”
“You just said it was dangerous.”
“Not there. Follow me.”
He led me, despite my confusion, to the Magic Tower’s research chamber.
The wizards actively wielding Magical Power clearly tensed at their Tower Master’s appearance.
I’d heard recently that the Magic Tower had been peaceful and pleasant.
Still, it seemed even the Tower found it uncomfortable to have their supervisor standing beside them while they worked.
Just then, light from a flask placed in the center of a Magic Circle began to bubble and churn.
“Oh.”
Though I didn’t know what it was, I couldn’t help but gasp at the beautiful, luminous spectacle.
It was my first time visiting this place. It wasn’t somewhere I could enter freely on my own.
“Red Covenant?”
As I read the ancient language inscribed on one of the Magic Circles, Cade blocked my view and stepped in front of me.
“The Barrier research is this way.”
Wondering if it was something outsiders shouldn’t see, I obediently followed him deeper into the chamber, where the wizards’ expressions grew noticeably grimmer.
It appeared they were encountering difficulties in their failure to resolve the problem of me being trapped in Melgote.
Traces of failed calculations were scattered haphazardly across the floor.
“…I’m not going to have to live in Melgote for the rest of my life, am I?”
“Don’t think like that. Look at this.”
Cade blocked my view with his body, then pointed to a particular section of the data.
It was a graph with several points spiking up abnormally high.
“Every time you tried to break free from Melgote, the Central Barrier’s pattern became a bit strange.”
He pointed to the sharply elevated points on the graph.
“Far more Magical Power was exerted than what was set.”
“Is there no way to tell whose Magical Power it is?”
“Since the Magical Power worked through the barrier rather than being directly unleashed, that would be difficult.”
“Hmm…”
“Do you have any suspicions?”
At Cade’s question, I simply shook my head silently.
I’d wondered if the Magical Power exceeding the set values might belong to the Crystal Whales, but without evidence to support it, the notion seemed absurdly far-fetched.
‘Besides, the Crystal Whales have no reason to confine me in Melgote.’
I was staring intently at the graph, trying to recall something, when—
Rana approached with a bright smile and pressed something into my hand.
“Inspector. A gift.”

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