Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 43

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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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Yet Cheiyan paid no mind to Seres’s indifferent response.
“Just one month.”
“One month?”
“While Luca is away for that time.”
Luca? Who was that?
At her puzzled expression, Cheiyan quickly added, “Oh, right—”
“Luca is my secretary. He has a younger sister.”
“And?”
“Once a year, for a month, he needs time to spend with her.”
“So?”
“So I hire a temporary secretary each time. I was hoping you’d take the position.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“But why not!”
“Have you seen yourself? If I become your secretary, I’ll work myself to death keeping up with your antics.”
How was she supposed to manage the constant chaos of a Magic Tower Master gallivanting about like this?
The mere thought made her stomach turn.
“Think about it carefully. Your secretary—he doesn’t say he’s unwell, does he?”
“Why would my secretary suddenly be sick?”
“Check if he’s developed any stomach troubles.”
Verify whether this month-long journey he’s taking is actually medical leave in disguise.
Even Cheiyan, bright as he usually was, seemed to realize the possibility was entirely plausible—his cheerful mouth fell silent.
“…I’ll listen to what you say.”
…….
“I won’t make things difficult for you.”
If he’d had floppy ears and a tail like a puppy, wouldn’t they have drooped?
Why did his dejection suit him so well? She wanted to keep teasing him.
“I’ll pay you, too.”
“…Pay me?”
“Yes! Five thousand Gold!”
…Five thousand Gold.
“Just one month, all right? You already agreed to do me a favor before.”
Watching Cheiyan cling to her arm and whine, Seres kept mentally repeating the figure: five thousand Gold.
* * *
“There should be no pressing matters for you to handle. I’ve already dealt with anything urgent, and the minor details will be managed by others, so don’t concern yourself.”
Seres had never paid much attention to first impressions in her life, but looking at this man, she found herself thinking about them regardless.
‘This guy really does look cold.’
Could there be anyone else who wore glasses quite so fittingly while appearing quite so frigid?
The moment Seres laid eyes on Luca, she knew.
This person was watching her carefully.
Perhaps that was why his tone felt especially chill.
Not that she particularly cared one way or the other.
“There is only one thing you need to do during this month.”
“And that would be?”
“Ensure that man doesn’t cause any major incidents.”
…….
“The standard for a major incident is simple: if more than half the residents of the Magic Tower are alarmed, it qualifies as a major incident. Otherwise, it’s just everyday noise.”
…So anything that startles less than half doesn’t count?
“Everyone here has already grown accustomed to what Master Cheiyan does, so they hardly bat an eye at his usual eccentricities. There’s no need to worry excessively.”
“Hmm.”
So what? I just stick to Cheiyan’s side and get paid to loaf around?
And I receive five thousand Gold for it?
That seems a bit…
‘…too good to be true?’
If it’s a job like this, she’d take it gladly. A month felt far too short.
Seres accepted the temporary secretary position that Cheiyan had proposed.
She’d hesitated slightly at the stipulation that she’d have to lodge in the Magic Tower for the entire month without returning home.
‘Oh… five thousand Gold?’
‘Yes.’
‘For just working in the Magic Tower for one month?’
‘But I’d have to leave the house for a whole month. I’m worried about Julia, and it really does seem like I should just decline….’
‘What are you saying? Decline? I’m here! Why would you worry about such things? Just trust me and go!’
…To be honest, it was a little frightening.
My butler’s eyes change completely at the sight of money.
“Luca, enough with the lectures. I’ll handle everything just fine, so stop worrying.”
“You don’t need to handle anything well—just please don’t cause any trouble.”
“Anyone listening would think I go around causing disasters constantly.”
“…….”
Luca stared at Cheiyan with a face full of things he wanted to say, then simply adjusted his glasses and swallowed his words.
I felt sorry for my brother, but originally I’d planned to cancel my leave given how serious things had become.
The Imperial Court had been holding meetings day after day, and with the Black Forest now appearing in the Capital, leaving my post seemed like anything but a wise choice.
But…….
‘Do you think I’d attend Imperial Court meetings just because you’re here?’
‘No.’
‘Do you think the Black Forest wouldn’t appear just because you’re here?’
‘No.’
‘Do you think your brother would strangle me if word got out that your leave had been canceled against your will?’
‘No.’
‘Then why not go?’
As he’d said, there was nothing I urgently needed to do in this situation right now.
When the Magic Tower received requests for cooperation, I would assess their priority, assign the appropriate staff member, and submit the matter to Cheiyan for approval.
And the people remaining could handle that much perfectly well. Thorough handover procedures always shine in situations like this.
So I kept my leave request as planned.
“Seres! Want a snack?”
“No.”
…Could I really just leave her like this?
This woman named Seres, whom I’d finally met today.
When Luca first saw her, she was quite unexpected.
‘She’s nothing like I imagined.’
For a merchant, her demeanor and atmosphere were far too indifferent.
Fundamentally, she lacked the kindness toward others that one typically sees in merchants.
“Then would you like something to drink at least? I could make some tea with plenty of honey?”
“You drink it.”
…There’s no need for a separate puppy.
Watching Cheiyan stick close to Seres and say all manner of things to her, I’m reminded of a puppy begging to play.
And Seres is like an owner annoyed by the puppy, constantly pushing it away.
“Sigh.”
Luca exhaled a long breath without meaning to.
Could I really leave this person on his own like this?
I should have suspected from the moment he said he’d find a temporary secretary himself.
“Then I’m counting on you for the next month.”
I don’t know. Surely the Magic Tower won’t collapse while I’m away?
“Seres, there’s lots of interesting things over there. Let me show you!”
…It won’t collapse, but she could end up taking the whole place over in a heartbeat.
Luca exhaled one final silent breath and quietly left the place.
Whatever happens, he desperately needed to leave work now.
* * *
‘It’s been so long.’
I hadn’t come here even once since I fell ill.
Seres looked around the Magic Tower, lost in nostalgic reflection.
This was the place I’d followed Artia to countless times since childhood—the Magic Tower itself.
Artia had already shown extraordinary talent at six years old, wielding Mana Manipulation with perfect freedom, and the Magic Tower was both his home and his playground.
Kainel and I, as his friends, had come and gone from the Magic Tower as though it were our own house.
‘Nothing’s changed here at all.’
The road to Elrcia Count’s House had changed quite a bit, yet how had this place escaped the passage of time? Even the scratches carved into the walls remained unchanged.
“…What’s that?”
Her hand, which had been tracing the wall in an odd moment of sentiment, turned her gaze out the window.
A tower she’d never seen before stood there, stark and solitary.
Though it had a plausible shape, the building was too small to really be called a tower, yet people flowed in and out of it constantly.
“What are you doing here?”
In that moment, Cheiyan stepped closer and followed Seres’s gaze out the window. His expression betrayed genuine curiosity about what held her attention so intently.
“What is that?”
“Which one? That white building?”
“Yes.”
“The Secondary Magic Tower.”
“The Secondary Magic Tower? What is that?”
The words were entirely new to her.
When had that been built? It certainly hadn’t existed during Artia’s time.
“It’s a space created by someone who was a Magic Tower Master long before me.”
“A Magic Tower Master?”
“Yes. Inside that small building, there exist countless spaces within—their limits unknowable.”
What does that even mean?
She turned to him with a look asking for clarification, and Cheiyan shrugged before continuing.
“Simply put, multiple magical spaces exist within it. There are many doors, but you must solve a puzzle to open each one—only then can you proceed to the next.”
He explained that upon entering through the building’s entrance, a magical construct would emerge and pose a riddle to them.
Only by solving that puzzle would the next door open.
“Do you have to open the doors?”
“You can obtain Magic Formulas that have long vanished from circulation. Sometimes rare Magic Tools are left behind as well.”
Each time a door opened, one could encounter extraordinary magical formulas, and strange magical artifacts—difficult to obtain in this age—were often discovered within.
“That’s why everyone down there tackles them with such fervor. The puzzles are… well, that’s why no one has yet reached the end.”
“I suppose it must be some extraordinarily difficult magical theory.”
“If it were merely that, they’d put their heads together and solve it somehow.”
Cheiyan shook his head lightly.
“The questions are intensely personal.”
“Personal?”
“Yes. Deeply personal questions about the Magic Tower Master who created the building.”
He went on to explain that questions appeared about things like favorite foods or preferred colors—things that would be impossible to know unless one were truly close to the person. As a result, no one advanced easily.
A strange, almost tangible sensation tugged at Seres, and her brow furrowed.
“I myself couldn’t open anything beyond the twentieth door.”
“A spell born of vanity…”
Wait.
Seres turned to look at the white building anew.
She did know of another Magic Tower Master with such powerful self-regard—one capable of playing such tricks.
“Could the one who created this building be…”
“Artia. He was once hailed as a genius equal to me, long ago.”

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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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