The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 13

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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 13
“I investigated it personally, and there were no Traces of Magic. Moreover, the administrator admitted that the building hasn’t been maintained in quite some time.”
In other words, it was just an unfortunate accident.
“That can’t be right!”
“Even Dilansche wouldn’t dare pull anything inside the Grand Temple—you know that better than anyone, Father.”
Knox added his point with a deft touch of irony.
The Marquis, unable to deny it outright, scrunched his face in frustration.
Before the pointless argument between the two men could drag on, Cecilia opened her mouth softly.
“But about that bird—is it possible it flew from outside and hit the glass window?”
“I’m not sure. As it happens, the Second Prayer Room was empty at the time. The bird fell on the outside of the building, or so they say. Why—is it important?”
“No, just curious.”
‘On the outside.’
Not entirely satisfying evidence, but it was enough to form a working hypothesis.
The glass would have been far too thick, and the bird was no larger than a hand’s breadth. Force is proportional to mass, so even with an impact powerful enough to cause fractures, it wouldn’t have pierced through.
If the point of impact had tilted subtly outward under that force, it was quite possible that most of the fragments fell outside.
Cecilia nodded absently as she worked through the sequence of events.
She chose not to consider other possibilities.
‘Especially since there were no Traces of Magic.’
The Marquis’s claim wasn’t reasonable on multiple counts.
“I’ll have to contact His Highness directly.”
Though the man himself clearly hadn’t abandoned his suspicions.
‘The business here seems finished. Can I go back to my room now?’
With even her small curiosity fading, Cecilia scratched behind Charles’s ears as he whimpered.
Her gaze, now indifferent as if this were none of her concern, happened to catch the Newspaper the Marquis had discarded.
The front page of the Newspaper from the Capital carried glowing accounts of the grand success of a new materials venture jointly invested in and promoted by the Princess and Dilansche, along with corresponding praise.
‘Ah, so that’s what’s been bothering him.’
Cecilia easily divined the Marquis’s inner thoughts and let her eyes drop lower.
Another article occupied a prominent corner of the Newspaper’s front page.
‘This is….’
<Is the figure named as the mastermind behind the Illegal Gambling House really the Mage Tower Master? Where does the Mage Tower’s noble truth truly head?>
Cecilia picked up the Newspaper and read through the pointed article beneath the rather sensational headline.
“Father, may I take this Newspaper?”
The corner of the article she held crumpled slightly in her grip.
* * *
Back in her room, Cecilia ripped away the lower portion of the Newspaper. She stuffed the crumpled paper scraps hastily into her pocket and immediately put on her coat.
“Today’s lesson will be at Lien’s Estate.”
“Pardon?”
Melanie was taken aback at the thought of going out again, days after the accident.
“Miss! The Marquis told you not to go out for a while because it might be dangerous……!”
“It’s just next door. I’ll be back.”
“Miss!”
Cecilia vaulted over the garden gate, leaving Melanie’s protests behind, and boldly knocked on the Estate’s door.
Bang! Bang!
A loud noise sounded from beyond the door, and it swung open.
“Cecilia! What brings you here at this hour……?”
The master of the house himself—not a butler—greeted her, somehow knowing exactly who she was.
Of course, still wearing his Robe.
‘He wears that thing even at home.’
Cecilia regarded the dim cloth with a hint of distaste before speaking with easy composure.
“I thought we might have today’s lesson here. Since we’re friends, that should be fine, yes?”
Though she’d arrived a couple of hours earlier than their scheduled time, he nodded eagerly without hesitation.
“Yes, of course it is!”
“Then I’ll come in.”
Knowing full well she was being presumptuous, Cecilia stepped past him and strode boldly into the Estate.
She’d often walked the gardens, but this was her first time inside. The interior wasn’t as grand as the Weberdyne Estate, and it lacked elaborate decoration, but it possessed a vintage elegance all its own.
As Cecilia admired the carved figures adorning the pillars and ceiling, her eye suddenly caught on a Broom standing upright against the corridor wall.
‘A Broom?’
Looking more closely, she saw a Cleaning Cloth draped beneath the window, and in the corner of the corridor sat a bucket of clean water. Yet no one seemed to be using any of it.
She grasped the source of the discomfort she’d been feeling since arriving.
The vast Estate was unnaturally devoid of people.
“Now that I think about it, I don’t see any servants about.”
Her voice rang out hollow in the spacious hall.
Lien’s shoulders flinched as though struck by the sound.
“Oh, today happens to be their day off.”
“All of them?”
“Yes, well. I give them regular leave for the sake of efficiency. Living alone doesn’t inconvenience me in the slightest.”
“A considerate employer.”
Lien, sheepishly scratching his head beneath his Robe, led her to a small room at the end of the corridor.
“This is the only space I use regularly in the Estate. I’m afraid it’s rather untidy.”
‘Rather bare, if anything.’
The room, roughly half the size of her own bedroom, contained little more than a sofa and a desk.
Yet it seemed to serve as his main quarters—a thick blanket and small cushions lay scattered across the leather sofa, and the mahogany desk was buried under towering stacks of books whose titles were impossible to read.
‘And what’s with the fireplace?’
The strangest thing about this otherwise unremarkable room was the fireplace that dominated one entire wall.
Logs burned brightly within it, though oddly, no heat emanated from the flames.
“I hope I haven’t intruded on you while you’re unwell?”
As Cecilia tilted her head, Lien immediately scooped up dirt from beside the hearth and scattered it over the logs.
“No, no! The butler had left some wood, and I was just amusing myself by lighting it.”
A faint wisp of smoke curled up from the extinguished logs. Cecilia peered beneath his Robe to check whether he might actually have caught a cold.
His partially visible face bore no flush, so her concern was needless.
Relieved, Cecilia dropped casually onto the sofa.
“You promised to teach me Social Dance today, didn’t you?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Lien nodded and rummaged through the stack of books on the desk, returning with several volumes.
《A Beginner’s Introduction to Social Dance》
《Read This and You Too Can Master Dancing》
《The Dance Sage and Dance King》
‘What on earth is that last one?’
The title alone was intimidating.
Though she felt sorry for Lien as he proudly offered the Textbooks, she had no intention of meekly sitting through a lecture today.
“You’re planning to teach Dance through theory lessons?”
“Pardon?”
“You should just show me directly.”
Cecilia lightly grasped his wrist and pulled. Only when his face drew close enough to her own could she meet his violet eyes.
“Won’t you?”
The coquettish tone that had become his habit flowed from her as easily as breath. When she released his wrist and covered the back of his hand with her own, Lien attempted to retreat.
Or rather, he tried to.
No leash bound his neck, yet he stood as immobilized as a tethered beast.
He exhaled sharply, his voice emerging almost as a sigh.
“Would it be all right if I touched you?”
“Of course.”
When you’re already in contact.
After opening and closing his mouth several times, Lien abruptly rose to his feet. The books he’d been holding tumbled to the floor, and his relatively free right hand suddenly extended toward her.
Cecilia took his hand, allowed herself to be drawn to the center of the room, and stood facing him—the whole sequence unfolding as naturally as water flowing downhill.
“Please follow my movements.”
“All right.”
Though she had little confidence in her physical coordination, Cecilia nodded without hesitation.
In the small room, absent both audience and orchestra.
From a device resembling a Gramophone came slow, measured music.
To the occasional tapping rhythm, Lien moved his feet deliberately forward.
Because he moved with such consideration for her inexperience, following his steps proved simple enough.
Yet each time the narrow distance between them narrowed due to her misstep, his chest rose and fell with visible agitation.
Watching his raw, unguarded turmoil—the flush blooming across his cheeks—Cecilia suddenly opened her mouth.
“Lien.”
“Yes?”
“What do you think of the Mage Tower Master?”
In an instant, the man’s smooth rhythm halted like a broken toy.
It was an odd question to raise in the middle of a lesson. Yet this was precisely the reason she had arrived at his Estate unannounced.
His trembling hand began to shake finely with confusion.
“Why… why would you ask such a thing?”
“I happened to read a newspaper published in the Capital today, and there was a special report about the Mage Tower Master. They say he’s a terribly wicked person.”
The moment she finished her narrowly prejudiced remark, Lien flatly denied it.
“That’s likely just rumor.”
“Is it?”
“Yes!”
He seemed unaware, but the hand clasped in his grip tightened with sudden force.
That response alone was answer enough.
Cecilia released his hand cleanly and stepped back a pace or two, the music still playing.
“……Cecilia?”
And she cut straight to the point.
“Lien, you’re a mage, aren’t you?”

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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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