"We've arrived. Thank you for your hard work."
In front of the Magic Tower.
The group expressed their gratitude to the coachman, who bowed his head.
"You must've had a tough time with all the pursuers and battles along the way. You did well."
"It wasn't an ordinary journey, after all. You did well, and we're thankful."
To Isaac and the Grand Master's words, the coachman laughed as he took off his hat and wiped his sweat with a handkerchief.
"Haha, not at all. This is my job, after all."
Unfortunately, the coachman couldn't enter the Magic Tower. They were quite conservative and didn't allow entry to people in the coachman's position.
Isaac handed the coachman a pouch of money he had prepared separately. The coachman hesitated for a moment but accepted it with a warm smile and returned to Evergard with the horse-drawn carriage.
"That's a shame. I wanted to give him some of those seven-colored cookies sold here!"
Sharen watched the departing carriage with regret. The coachman, who was somewhat older, had treated her like a daughter and often gave her snacks. Perhaps because of that, she smacked her lips, feeling disappointed. She seemed to want to return the favor she had received.
"I once came to the Magic Tower when I was little, following my father. Back then, I was simply amazed…"
Looking up at the towering Magic Tower, Liana shared an old memory and her impressions.
'That thing could explode at any time… it makes me nervous.'
Isaac glanced sideways at Liana with a worried expression. She sometimes spilled her past stories or personal thoughts in moments like this.
It was the kind of feeling you get when a memory is triggered by something you see. For example, last time when she saw some flowers, she gave a long monologue about her memories of lilacs connected to Isaac.
'I need to ask them to make a muzzle for her first.'
There weren't many things that could be used as a muzzle. Especially for Liana, who could even warp iron muzzles with her teeth.
Since the Magic Tower was full of unusual items, Isaac was quietly hopeful they might be able to make a sturdy one for her.
"..."
Because his fingers hurt.
When Liana said things she shouldn't—embarrassing or overly honest things—Isaac would put his fingers in her mouth to stop her.
Each time, she'd either bite or lick them.
At some point, it started feeling a bit excessive.
And so, they entered the Magic Tower.
"It's changed a lot. The streets around the tower didn't feel like this when I was a kid—"
"You're seriously loud."
"At this rate, your throat's going to give out, sis."
"It's not like I want to talk. That building over there—"
The two companions gave snarky remarks to the murmuring Liana. The group was used to this by now and just let it be as they walked.
At that moment, female mages walking through the streets saw Isaac and approached him with bright smiles.
"Oh my, Sir Isaac! You've returned?"
"Ah! It's been a while! Did you just arrive? I can make you a potion to relieve your travel fatigue if you'd like?"
"..."
Isaac's eyes instinctively turned toward Liana.
In fact, the entire group looked her way.
Liana widened her eyes and stared at the women, then opened her mouth.
"Who do you think you're flirting with? Get lost—"
"Ahem!"
Fortunately, the Grand Master stepped in first and covered Liana's mouth.
Isaac stepped forward and smiled politely at the mages.
"Ha, haha… I think she's just in a bad mood from the trip. You know how it is—Helmut, right?"
"Ah."
"Tch, see you later."
Helmut.
If that isn't a magical word, what is?
The female mages smacked their lips but left, showing their displeasure.
Liana's eyes trailed after them as if to say she wouldn't forget.
"Why bring up Helmut?!"
Sharen grumbled and kicked a pebble on the road. With her strength, the stone flew and embedded itself in a building wall. Whistling, she pretended she didn't notice.
"...That's exactly the kind of thing that makes people say 'because Helmut.'"
"Crimson Flame Wave!"
She launched a Crimson Flame Wave, but with little energy in it, it only made a dull sound.
After that, Sharen immediately moved next to Liana and began tattling.
"Sis, did you see? Isaac has a fan club at the Magic Tower now! Is he trying to show off just because he's handsome?!"
Where did she even learn to talk like that?
Maybe it was because she often hung around the Grand Master, Mu-myeong, and Damien, the thief. She picked up rough speech at times.
'…Or maybe Lohengrin taught her.'
In any case, too many people around Sharen could be bad influences.
"Tch! Just wait! When I grow up, I'll be tall and curvy too, and I'll walk around with my own fan club. Isaac, you'll have to be the president of my fan club! Got it?!"
Listening to her, Liana shook off the Grand Master's hand and spoke.
"Sharen, you'll never have the body you want."
"Why not?"
"Because Helmut ends here."
She spoke with a complicated expression.
Was it because of her cursed bloodline?
"Or maybe she's using the pretext of Subjugation spell to tell the truth."
Regardless, Liana had a bitter expression.
"Mother wasn't exactly well-endowed either."
Unable to accept it, Sharen finally received the finishing blow from Liana.
Hearing that, Sharen sniffled, shrugged her shoulders, and responded.
"I take after my father."
"..."
Amidst the rather pointless chatter, they arrived at the tallest crystal tower.
The place where the Tower Master resided and conducted research.
As they entered, they found Mu-myeong lying down with a bottle of alcohol, yawning.
"Hm?"
Seeing them, Mu-myeong jumped up and approached.
"Haha! You finally made it? Hey, dear disciple! Things were wild here!"
"Disciple, my foot. Isaac, don't bother with this drunk."
The Grandmaster pushed Mu-myeong away at once.
But even as she was pushed back, Mu-myeong reeked of alcohol and spoke.
"Ah, come on. It's an interesting story, I tell you! So, get this—"
Just then, the Tower Master, Regant, scratched the back of his head and came out.
"Could you do something about this drunkard? She says it's for Sorcery research, but all she does is drink all day long."
Then, seeing Liana behind the Grandmaster, Regant smiled brightly.
"You found her."
That alone was enough.
Regant was happy that Isaac's party had succeeded, and also pleased that he had gained another specimen for Sorcery analysis.
"Now that we have two people affected by the Sorcery, we can conduct an even more thorough analysis. We can compare their similarities and differences—"
"Is she under the subjugation Spell too?"
At the Grandmaster's words, Isaac couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
Among this group, it had become a running joke to ask if someone was under the subjugation Spell whenever they talked too much.
Though Liana, the one who started the trend, wasn't exactly fond of it.
Regant pushed aside Mu-myeong and the Grandmaster, walking directly to Liana with a smile.
"Oh dear, that's some heavy restraint. Don't worry too much. I'll break the spell and return her to normal."
"Ah, about that. Actually—"
Isaac brought up their encounter with the Blood Demon and shared the additional information they had learned about the Subjugation spell.
"Hah, unbelievable. Is the Subjugation spell really that overpowered of a skill?"
Hearing that, Isaac gave a bitter smile. He had thought about the spell a lot.
And to be honest, this wasn't exactly an efficient Sorcery.
No.
"From the perspective of the transcendent race, this is actually a loss-making Sorcery."
"A loss? Even though it lets them control humans and turn them into slaves at will?"
"But the cost is significant. Just look at Liana—Helik had to sacrifice his left arm to pay the price."
In the case of Arandel Helmut, five of the ancient transcendent race had died.
Surely, their price wasn't light either.
"Transcendent beings possess the power to defeat hundreds on their own. They have no need to pay such a cost just to bind a single human."
Doesn't it make sense?
They can kill with a wave of their hand—why would they go through the trouble of sacrificing something to enslave a human?
"It's only because it's Helmut. Due to Helmut's special nature, she's worth the sacrifice to turn into a subjugation vassal."
Regant thought for a moment, then gave a hollow laugh and nodded.
"Yeah, it's not like they can plant them as spies either."
As the conversation about the subjugation spell continued—
"Isaac, something smells weird."
Liana cut in.
It was because of the spell, but she wore an apologetic expression.
"Ah, right. I need a muzzle. Because of the spell, she keeps saying her true thoughts, and we need to stop that."
"Hm? She says what she really thinks?"
"Yes. We had a muzzle before, but it broke. Helmut's teeth are pretty strong, you see…"
"Isaac's so cool."
"..."
"...."
"Isaac is the coolest."
Regant stared blankly at Liana.
"You stink."
"This is serious."
Regant muttered.
Hearing that, the Grandmaster and Mu-myeong burst out laughing.
In the midst of all that—
Isaac frowned as he looked at Sharen, who had been silently crossing her arms the whole time.
"Why are you like that?"
Wasn't she usually the first to laugh and tease in times like this?
Then Sharen, trying to look stern and dignified, straightened her eyebrows and replied.
"I take after my father."
"...Yeah."
Do whatever you want.
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[TL Note]
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