The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 38

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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 38
A reasonable suspicion suddenly seized her. If that were true, the Monastery might harbor dangers far graver than she’d imagined.
But…….
“How could I know when the culprit will be caught? For the sake of the Temple and Weverdin’s reputation, it’s better to obtain proper approval.”
“I won’t send you to your death just to recover some reputation.”
“If a Saint comes to harm in the Monastery, even without evidence, everyone will assume it was Dilanshe’s or the Imperial Family’s doing. So they won’t dare orchestrate anything as brazen as this.”
“That’s no guarantee!”
“I’ll bring as many knights as Father wishes, and I’ll be careful in all my actions. Please give me your blessing.”
The Marquis frowned at her repeated persuasion.
With a deep, reluctant sigh, he finally relented.
“……But the knight contingent—I’ll assemble it myself. And you return the moment you receive the Emperor’s approval. Understood?”
“Yes!”
She bobbed her head, praying silently that Nox would not be among them.
Moments after that meal—weighted with one person’s anxiety, another’s concern, and a third’s deepening resolve—ended.
Cecilia caught Nox as he rose to leave after the Marquis.
“Cecilia?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
“You, asking me for a favor? What is it?”
“There’s something I’d like you to investigate before we leave for the Monastery.”
“Something?”
“This.”
And she placed ‘it’—which she’d carried hidden against her chest throughout the meal—into his open palm.
* * *
Time passed swiftly until the day of departure for the Monastery arrived.
In the interim, she’d investigated Cecilia’s past temperament and conduct, and devoted herself to studying Divine Power that might yet save her life.
She’d also examined the Imperial Family and Monastery alone, preparing for what might unfold there.
Asking Rien for help would have been more efficient. But Cecilia avoided their lessons with every excuse she could muster.
Each time, his dejected retreating figure weighed on her heart—yet she reminded herself that survival was what mattered.
And so, as summer’s harsh sun began to soften, Cecilia found herself burdened with far more luggage than she’d carried to the Temple.
Past Melanie, who bustled about with greater urgency than even the traveler herself, and past the handmaids, she approached the line of carriages where someone awaited her.
“Cecilia, it’s not too late. If you don’t wish to go, you needn’t.”
“But the knights have already been conscripted.”
The Marquis, who’d carried his worry until this very departure, and Nox, exhaustion etched into his features—both greeted her.
Behind them, dozens of the house’s knights stood in formation, ready.
“Are all of them my escort?”
“They are.”
“……With this many people, it looks less like a visit and more like an invasion.”
“You should be frightened yet?”
“What?”
Nox abruptly stepped in and spun her around by the shoulder—180 degrees. And there she stood face to face with the figure who’d been standing tall at her back.
A man in silver armor, terribly familiar.
“Saint, it’s been too long since we last met.”
“Miguel? What brings you here…….”
Why Miguel was present at all. And in the company of several Holy Knights garbed identically to himself.
‘Surely he’s not coming along.’
But ill omens rarely proved false.
“I’ve been assigned to accompany you on this journey to the Monastery. I trust we’ll get along well.”
“I beg your pardon? A Holy Knight? But our house knights are already so numerous? Is it truly necessary?”
To Cecilia’s alarmed question, Miguel produced a letter from within his robes instead of answering.
The sender was none other than the Pope himself.
<To the Saint,
I trust your health has improved? It pains me that I could not meet you in person and must resort to this letter instead.
I’ve learned from the Young Marquis that you’ve received approval to journey to the Monastery for the Saint’s sake.
Surely such a noble resolve serves both the Temple and your house.
Of late, it seems the Lord has placed trials both great and small upon you, and this troubles my heart greatly. I have no doubt that you, like a lotus blooming from mud, will flourish even within such trials—yet I confess I cannot rid myself of a measure of unease, a failing born of my own insufficiency.
The people sent with this letter are those who volunteered at once upon hearing of your journey to the Monastery.
I humbly beseech you to grant these children of mine the honor of protecting God’s Treasure.
May you return in health, that we might meet again with naught but joy in our hearts.
Your servant in faith, John.
Not a word of blame, despite how spectacularly she’d disrupted that crucial Temple ceremony—only concern.
For a moment, she was moved—but the feeling faded quickly.
‘At this scale, anyone would think we were launching an actual invasion.’
It wasn’t as though they were advertising the presence of a Saint; the sheer size of the retinue, vast enough to be seen from a hundred leagues away, made her head spin.
Yet even this seemed insufficient to the Marquis, who continued pressing his concerns upon her with the weight of mountains.
“If anything happens, return at once.”
“I will.”
“And…….”
The Marquis cleared his throat meaningfully before continuing.
“The knights will look after you well enough, but this is your first time going to the Monastery, isn’t it? You’ll need to attend the gathering, and you have no chaperone.”
“……That’s true.”
“So I’ve asked someone to accompany you—someone who can help you settle into Monastery life. Not a lady’s companion, but they should be of some use.”
“Pardon?”
The Holy Knights alone were already quite the spectacle.
But someone—not a lady’s companion—to help her adjust to Monastery life?
The explanation itself unsettled her. And that unease took human form and appeared before her with a cheerful announcement.
“Miss Cecilia.”
It was Rien.
“Rien—I mean, you’re coming along as my escort?”
‘They want me to travel with someone who might have tried to kill me? And to enemy territory, no less?’
At this point, it seemed clear the world was bent on tormenting her.
Her hollow laugh threatened to spill over into genuine hysteria.
Rien, however, interpreted her laughter as a positive sign and answered brightly.
“My leave has just ended, and I was planning to head to the Monastery anyway. I’m delighted I can be of help to you, Miss Cecilia.”
“Someone who jumped into the lake to save you—the Marquis trusts him to serve you faithfully at the Monastery.”
She wondered when Rien had managed to earn such favor from the Marquis.
‘So he jumped into the lake that day too.’
She recalled how soaked he’d been when she saw him before losing consciousness.
‘……And he’s a Mage with barely a drop of Holy Power. That was far more dangerous.’
Rien was a paradox.
He was the most likely to be allied with the Imperial Family, connected to every incident—yet in each crisis, he’d rushed to save her.
She couldn’t decide whether to trust that desperate look in his eyes or the timing that always seemed one step too late.
‘Even if I refuse now, he’ll follow me to the Monastery.’
Cecilia regarded him with troubled eyes, then gave a weary nod.
An awkward companionship was beginning.
* * *
Less than an hour after boarding the carriage and setting out for the Monastery.
Cecilia became certain: the world truly despised her.
The distance between the Monastery and the Grand Temple was so vast it was barely an exaggeration to say they lay at opposite ends of the Empire—a week-long journey even after using the fantastical Gateway twice, coordinates fixed and all.
They were now traveling the road to the first Gateway, but the problem was that the road wound through mountains.
Passing along steep, stone-strewn paths full of potholes by carriage made her yearn for the Temple roads.
‘My backside will be rubbed raw.’
She’d already surrendered her head, stomach, and dignity long ago.
Resolved that not a moment should be lost on her account, given the scale of the retinue, she endured for a solid half-day.
When they finally stopped to rest near midday, Cecilia rose stiffly from the carriage.
“Mind your step.”
Seeing her unsteady on her feet, Miguel, who’d been waiting below, came to steady her.
“Ah, thank you.”
Cecilia descended the carriage practically leaning on the solid frame of a man.
In her distraction, she caught a glimpse of the robed man standing below raising his hand, then letting it fall limply.
But Cecilia deliberately ignored this, allowing Miguel to escort her into the shade of the trees.
The Holy Knight chose a soft, grassy spot clear of stones and dirt, then carefully settled her there.
“This is your first such long journey, so it seems to be harder on you. Should we slow the pace a little?”
“No, it’s only the first day—I can’t afford to fall behind schedule.”
“But……. Then allow me a moment, if I may.”
After a brief hesitation, Miguel removed his gauntlet and laid his bare palm gently against her wrist.
Clear, pure Divine Power flowed in waves through her arm like gentle surf.
The warmth felt like sinking into hot water, and her limbs relaxed of their own accord.
“Ah, I feel human again now.”
“I’m glad it helped.”
The stern warrior’s eyes softened like thawing ice.
Beneath the green foliage, meeting that bright, crystalline smile, the back of my neck suddenly grew hot.
Cecilia glanced away and fumbled for words.

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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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