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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Mischief at the Magic Tower
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“Ugh, I had my hair tied up so pretty.”
Nibelria brushed the dirt off her clothes with her small hands and spoke in a listless tone.
“It's fine. No one cares.”
“But I tied it, so I care.”
Does she not like the hairstyle?
As Dether felt a twinge of defeat, Solles approached the wizards guarding the entrance to the Magic Tower.
The Magic Tower was an incredibly tall and massive building. In front of its sprawling first floor, so vast that its curves were imperceptible, stood two wizards.
Their sturdy builds and stylish uniforms made them look more like knights than wizards.
“......”
Nibelria subtly hid behind Solles.
Solles reached back to pat his sister reassuringly, as if to calm her. She was a wild one, but she was surprisingly shy around strangers.
“It's okay. Those people are wizards, so they don't have swords at their waists.”
“Yeah.”
Solles greeted the wizards guarding the entrance.
“Hello. We've come on an errand from Grandma.”
Dether, standing behind him, pulled a round gold badge from her pocket and showed it to them.
The wizards confirmed the badge and stepped aside to clear the path.
“Please go inside and enter through the thirteenth door. That will take you straight to the Magic Tower Lord's quarters.”
Nibelria and Solles entered and immediately gaped in awe.
“Snow...!”
“Snow!”
Snowflakes drifted down gently from the overcast ceiling.
The interior resembled a blue and transparent ice palace.
The wizards glided around on shoes fitted with blades or built snowmen that seemed filled with grudges.
Each snowman had purple fabric and black buttons fixed in place for eyes.
“Oh my.”
Dether lightly tapped the ice floor. It had been treated with magic; it was cold but not slippery.
“Young master, young lady. Just in case, please hold my hand...”
“Nini! Don't lick that!”
In that brief moment, Nibelria had gotten down on her knees and tried to lick the floor.
Dether hurriedly scooped her up. But Nibelria thrashed about, desperate to lick the ice.
“...It tastes bad.”
Having finally tasted it, Nibelria let her lips droop sadly.
“Did you think that would taste good? It's the ground people walk on with their shoes.”
“Dether, you can't take your eyes off Nini that easily.”
Solles wiped the corners of Nibelria's mouth with his handkerchief as he spoke.
His brother hadn't done anything special, but he was already exhausted.
“I've been by the young lady's side constantly since she was born four years ago, but she's truly unpredictable. That's why every day is so enjoyable.”
“Hehe, really?”
“I really admire that positive side of hers.”
The first floor of the Magic Tower had several doors. The wizards used these to go up and down to higher floors.
However, no one was in front of the door marked '13'.
“What's this?”
Nibelria pointed at something like a button next to the door.
“This is an elevator. Press this button, and the door opens.”
“Nini! Nini wants to press it!”
“Press it with your finger. Keep your tongue to yourself.”
Somehow, they pressed the button, and with a ding, the doors slid open to both sides.
“Oh.”
Nibelria peered inside with wide eyes. There was a small room barely big enough for about fifteen people.
“Smaller than the bathroom.”
“Yeah.”
“Press this, and it goes up to the Magic Tower Lord's room.”
Solles pressed the button on the wall. As the doors closed, a floating sensation made their bodies feel light. Nibelria clung tightly to Dether's arm.
“I-it feels a little weird...”
Dether patted the young lady's back lightly.
Less than five minutes later, the elevator doors opened.
A wave of old wood scent hit them. The first floor was an ice palace, but the topmost space belonging to the Magic Tower Lord was filled with books. The wooden smell came from the solid wood furniture.
“Excuse us.”
Solles mustered his courage and called out to the Magic Tower Lord.
“Magic Tower Lord, are you here?”
“Yeah, over here.”
A voice emerged from behind a towering stack of books.
Soon, a young-looking man appeared.
Long, unbound purple hair and tired, bored black eyes.
“The Dayamor brats are here.”
Magic Tower Lord Majia greeted his guests in a listless tone.
Solles bowed in greeting.
“Hello, Magic Tower Lord.”
“Right. You're the eldest son Solles, yeah?”
“You know me?”
Solles was startled that his name had been called.
Majia, finding the reaction amusing, explained straightforwardly.
“You're the miracle of the Dayamor family. You don't look like your grandparents at all. That's why I like you. Here, have some candy that changes flavor every minute. I'll give you three.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Polite with greetings, too.”
Majia's gaze naturally shifted to Nibelria beside him.
For a moment, a mix of complex emotions flickered in his eyes, but soon he frowned and sighed regretfully.
“Ugh, you look just like your grandma.”
“Hewwo!”
Uncharacteristically, Nibelria greeted him familiarly first.
“Nini, you have to say 'Hello, sir' politely to adults.”
“I don't do that!”
“Fine, just grow up healthy, that's all.”
Majia didn't seem to expect any politeness from Nibelria anyway.
“Kitty, are you hurt anywhere?”
“I licked ice earlier, but it tasted bad, so I'm upset and sad.”
Nibelria stuck out her tiny tongue with a 'bleh'.
“...You didn't lick the first-floor floor, did you?”
Majia stared at the wild child with utter disbelief.
“Um, Magic Tower Lord.”
Solles cut in to end the sudden staring contest.
“We're here on Grandma's errand.”
“Ah, right. An errand?”
Majia lightly waved his hand toward the sofa.
The sofa, the surrounding stacks of books, and clutter floated into the air and neatly organized themselves into empty spaces.
“Wow!”
Solles exclaimed in admiration.
Majia, seated in the place of honor with his legs crossed arrogantly, asked,
“So, what's the reason for your visit?”
“Grandma wrote a letter. She found some pink poison mushrooms in the forest and wants to sell them to the Magic Tower.”
Majia's eyes sparkled as he read the letter handed to him.
“...You've found something quite rare.”
Majia stroked his chin.
“Pink Stag Horn Poison Mushroom. It has extremely potent poison. Touching it can kill you.”
If they were selling something rare, hard to obtain, and difficult to handle, Majia welcomed it.
“But the information broker wants to buy them too.”
Solles added slyly.
Majia clicked his tongue.
“Della's gotten bold. It feels like yesterday she was bawling her eyes out and trailing after your grandma's butt.”
Majia chuckled, recalling how pathetic she had looked crying.
Nibelria puffed out her cheeks in anger.
Dether tilted her head at the young lady's sudden burst of aggression.
“Grandma said she'll sell the mushrooms to whoever offers the higher price.”
“How much are they asking?”
“We don't know. They said they'd reply by letter.”
“I see.”
A secret bidding war?
Majia thought it was a clever scheme, whoever came up with it.
“Then I'll write a reply in the letter too.”
“Yes, understood.”
“You can go now. Good job coming all this way. Pick up souvenirs at the first-floor reception.”
No sooner had Majia finished speaking than the elevator doors dinged open.
As they turned to bid farewell to the Magic Tower Lord, Nibelria suddenly wriggled and jumped down from Dether's arms.
“Ah, young la...!”
Dether didn't have time to stop her.
“Eek!”
Smack!
Nibelria's tiny hand slapped the Magic Tower Lord's butt.
Majia stared at the attacker with eyes widened as if they might pop out, too shocked to even scream.
Nibelria growled.
“Bad guy!”
“Nini!”
Solles belatedly grabbed Nibelria.
Dether scooped up both Solles and Nibelria in her arms and dashed toward the elevator.
But Nibelria wasn't done.
Her baby's adorable middle finger shot up like a tower.
As the elevator doors closed swiftly, the Magic Tower Lord's roar—“You brat! Damn kid!”—echoed loudly through the gap.
But before he could grab them, the elevator descended.
“Phew, my heart's been racing after so long.”
“Nini!”
Unlike the nonchalant Dether, Solles was furious.
“You can't just hit people out of nowhere!”
“But he was teasing...!”
“When did the Magic Tower Lord tease Nini...?”
“Not Nini!”
Nibelria was still huffing indignantly.
“Della's pretty! She's nice and pretty!”
“Della? The information broker Della?”
The trio descended to the first floor, each picking up a souvenir as the Magic Tower Lord had mentioned, then hurried into the carriage headed for the plaza.
The souvenirs were a model of the tower building and a guidebook titled 'You Can't Easily Become a Wizard, But You Can Hire One with Money.'.
Nibelria kept huffing angrily all the way to the information broker's building.
“The ugly man badmouthed Della! He's bad!”
“Nini, you know Della?”
“Della's my minion! I have to protect her!”
“...Isn't she around Grandma's age?”
“That's right.”
Dether nodded.
The information broker dealt in information, so details about its employees were strictly confidential.
Especially about its founder, 'Della'—there was almost no public information. The title 'lady' was just a convenient label.
However, there was one thing.
Della had been a heroic figure who followed the Blood Saintess, who had carried out merciless massacres and purges forty years ago.
This was a fact personally acknowledged by that very Blood Saintess, Marchioness Muniel Dayamor.
The Dayamor siblings returned safely from the information broker and reported their errand to Muniel.
“Ahaha, something like that happened?”
Muniel burst into laughter, forgetting all decorum, at the story of Nibelria slapping the Magic Tower Lord's butt. Nibelria proudly thrust up a victory sign.
“...But, Nibelria.”
Muniel wiped the smile from her face and spoke sternly.
“Is it okay to hit people carelessly? Yes or no?”
“Yes!”
“......”
“Oh, no...?”
Nibelria averted her gaze slyly.
But Muniel relentlessly pursued her eyes. Finally, Nibelria let out a frightened 'hiiing'.
“B-but...!”
“And you even flipped him the middle finger?”
“Yeah...”
“Where did you learn such naughty things...”
Muniel paused mid-scold.
“Hm...”
Did she learn it from me?
