The Aylin Tower was located somewhere outside the northern part of Koga City. In fact, Sean had seen it before when he went to Rietis, but at the time, he hadn’t realized this was the Aylin Tower…
So it really was a mage tower. He wondered who had named it—could the first leader of the organization have been named Aylin?
Following directions from passersby, Sean arrived at the northern part of the city. Along the way, he made a point to look for something he could buy as a gift for Igniya. It had only been a month since they last saw each other, which in normal relationships was a fairly ordinary amount of time.
But now that her favorability toward him had reached [Adoration], it felt like he needed to spend time regularly to maintain that relationship…
Otherwise, would it fade?
Sean hadn’t tested it, but common sense said that people who don’t stay in touch gradually drift apart, so it probably would fade.
After all, reality wasn’t like a game where favorability only went up and never down, and sometimes it could spike in an instant—like with Freya, whose favorability had skyrocketed the moment he saved her from the octopus men and deep-dwellers.
This was the last market in the north.
Sean had browsed through everything, but nothing seemed quite right, and now he’d reached the final market.
The Aylin Tower was just ahead, and if he didn’t buy something now, he’d have nothing. Yet none of the goods around him caught his interest…
He paused for a moment, and a small boy suddenly ran out from a shop and stopped in front of him.
“Sir, would you like some colorful stones? They’re very pretty!”
“What?”
“Stones.”
The boy opened a wooden box on the stall, revealing three stones of different colors, shimmering like cat’s eye gems.
In this world, there was no hype around luxury items like diamonds or gemstones. Such things could be valuable or worthless—some might not even be picked up off the ground—but particularly beautiful ones were still collected by merchants and sold as goods or given as freebies.
Seeing that Sean didn’t respond, the boy added another line.
“If you don’t like these, there are other colors. They’d make nice jewelry or pendants. Oh, and trinkets to play with too!”
The boy, likely a shop assistant, kept pulling out new items to show him…
Only then did Sean glance at the shop’s sign—a boutique general store.
Jewelry and pendants?
Suddenly, he remembered the striking teardrop-shaped pendant around Lucille’s neck.
“Do you have finished pendants like that?”
The boy immediately broke into a flattering smile…
“Yes, yes. Of course we do!”
……………………………………
The chief of the southern Aylin Tower was Ash, but Ash was probably still in Rietis City, or perhaps on his way back. According to Freya, they’d be busy for a while, likely unable to return for a month or two. That left only Igniya and her senior brother at the tower.
Sean had seen mage towers before, but he’d never climbed one.
Up close, it looked more like a cylindrical building, with windows only on the top few floors, while the rest was solid brick…
He walked up and was about to knock.
But the door opened by itself!
It was automatic.
Due to the lighting, the interior was dim, with a spiral staircase winding upward… He looked up—about thirty meters, maybe higher—and from below, it seemed quite striking.
“Who is it?”
No sooner had he taken a couple of steps onto the staircase than a voice rang out.
At the same time, torches flared to life in the dim surroundings, illuminating the tower layer by layer…
“Sean Weigel.”
Sean announced his name directly, recognizing the voice.
It was Igniya’s senior brother, the one named Warren!
“You! Weren’t you heading to Rietis?” The tone turned icy. He remembered that the last time they met, their favorability had dropped straight to [Hatred], though it wasn’t yet [Hostile].
Still, this was probably the coldest attitude a neutral party could have toward him. After all, the Aylin Tower was a wizard organization protecting the empire, while he represented the imperial nobility. In theory, his status was slightly higher, so open hostility wasn’t warranted.
But [Hatred] was likely the lowest possible level!
“This is the Aylin Tower—not a place just anyone can come…” After a moment of silence, the voice echoed around him.
The other person was probably observing him from somewhere with magic…
Sean looked at the torches around him, wondering if he could spot where the spell was being cast.
Sure enough, beneath a blue flame above, he noticed the [Insight~] magic being released…
“I’m not here for you. Is Igniya here? I need to see her about something.”
“If you have something to say, you can tell me, and I’ll pass it along.”
Sean hadn’t expected Warren to say that.
On the way here, he’d asked some street merchants if they’d seen the witch from the Aylin Tower pass by. They said they’d seen her yesterday evening but not today, meaning Igniya hadn’t left the tower today.
So she should still be inside…
“I’ll tell her myself when I see her.” Sean didn’t back down and kept walking up.
“How dare you!”
A roar suddenly echoed through the air.
The flames in the torches flared up slightly.
Damn!
Sean’s heart jolted. If this turned into an attack, he’d be done for!
He hadn’t taken Warren seriously, but if the guy controlled all these flames and struck at him, and he failed to dodge, wouldn’t Ghehros’s Gaze trigger automatically?
Then a bunch of tentacles would drag him away, and he’d end up branded a heretic in front of everyone.
Sean worried that the Eye of Ghehros might appear directly above the Aylin Tower, and then…
He stopped in his tracks.
“The Aylin Tower does not allow outsiders to approach. That’s the rule, Baron Weigel!”
Luckily, Warren was all talk and didn’t actually attack.
Thank goodness~
That saved his skin.
Sean hadn’t even registered what the other was saying, his mind fixated on the passive protection Ghehros had granted him.
It was overwhelmingly powerful, but sometimes it was hard to use!
“Is that Sean?!”
Just then, a girl’s voice rang out from within the tower.
These wizards of the Aylin Tower were certainly interesting—none of them showed their faces, just talking to him through the air.
Only two people lived in the tower, and the other one was obviously Igniya.