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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Nini Never Loses
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It's easy to imagine wizards as sedentary researchers—skinny and scrawny, or with potbellies and frail constitutions from sitting around all day.
However, the body revealed as the Magic Tower Lord removed his upper garment was densely packed with solid, well-honed muscles.
Even at a glance, the muscle density was extraordinary.
"Wow, Grandpa's in great shape?"
Armifera's eyes sparkled.
"It's rare to see muscles this refined even among mercenaries."
Mercenaries' muscles were forged in battle, so they tended to be rough and bulky.
Armifera was no exception.
"Isn't this better than Oppa?"
"This one's been tempered for over a century."
Majia snorted, as if to say compare apples to apples, and flexed his right arm.
At the connection between his shoulder and arm was a dark, ominous tattoo.
"Hm..."
The Egg of the Evil Dragon Ater stared intently at the marking.
The stronger a spell or curse, the more complex its incantation formula.
The markings that formed as a result were intricate and geometric.
The one on Majia's body was no different.
But the evil dragon quickly spotted something off.
The curse described by the marking didn't match the curse Majia was actually suffering.
Yet within this marking pulsed a profoundly eerie power.
"......"
The evil dragon's black eyes narrowed.
A promising discovery. And a horrifying one. Two in total.
The evil dragon shared the good news first.
"For starters, this is definitely an evil dragon's curse."
Then came the dreadful revelation.
"But it's not the curse of immortality."
180 years ago, the previous evil dragon had cursed Majia with a rotting arm.
Someone had altered the curse's nature.
The curse Majia bore, confirmed with his own eyes, was utterly unlike the memories inherited by Evil Dragon Ater.
The growing discrepancies made him feel nauseous.
The evil dragon slumped limply in Armifera's arms.
"Are my memories... even reliable?"
Why was everything so different?
The newly hatched Evil Dragon Ater began to doubt his very existence.
He'd already discussed with the saintess the possibility that he wasn't the true evil dragon.
Where had things diverged? And how?
The frightened hatchling slyly buried his face between Armifera's arms.
'This feels just like...'
Someone stealing the novel he'd painstakingly written, shredding it to pieces, and forcibly patching it with chunks stolen from somewhere else.
It was bizarre. Terrifying.
"...Evil dragon."
Majia gazed at the trembling young dragon and asked.
"Then, can you lift the curse on me now?"
The evil dragon's head shook back and forth.
"If it hadn't been altered, yes. It'd tangle with your mana and take time—about a year."
But the curse's original formula had vanished, replaced and fully transformed by something else.
"The one who altered it has to lose their power first."
"What the hell is this culprit you're talking about?"
Armifera, who'd been listening silently, spoke up in an irritated tone.
She had a rough grasp of the circumstances from the conversation's flow.
Which meant tracing back to a few months before Nibelria was even born.
Five years ago.
Back then, Nibelria had nearly met a horrific fate before she even entered the world.
'And the one who saved her from that fate was Arep.'
Of course, this was a secret that couldn't be uttered even at swordpoint.
The problem was this "culprit" that kept cropping up—the bizarre entity perpetually targeting Nibelria and those around her.
"Can't we just eliminate this culprit?"
"No."
"Grandpa!"
"Your mother said it's not time yet."
At the mention of Muniel, Armifera—who'd been ready to draw her sword and charge—grunted and clamped her mouth shut.
"If Mom says no, then... fine."
There must be a reason.
Still frustrated by the situation, Armifera pressed once more.
"Then when can we kill it? Can we at least kill it?"
Majia glanced at the evil dragon.
Just then, Evil Dragon Ater was looking back at him. Unnoticed by Armifera, the dragon gave a slight nod.
We can kill it.
Then he closed his black eyes for a long moment.
But not now.
Understanding the dragon's intent, Majia replied.
"I don't know that either."
"I didn't even know Grandpa had a curse like that. I thought you just lived so long because you're such a powerful wizard..."
She regretted her childish words from back then—calling him a "young grandpa" as careless praise, oblivious to everything.
Majia gently stroked the head of Armifera, who bowed hers in guilt.
"It's not a bad situation. Quite the opposite, actually. We've finally found a lead on lifting it, and the evil dragon I long considered my mortal enemy turns out to be another victim..."
Victim? Not quite.
Majia faltered as he tried to frame it positively.
This damned evil dragon had cursed him with the rotting arm, after all.
"That wasn't me! It was the previous evil dragon!"
The dragon let out an indignant squeak of protest.
"Assuming my memories are correct—which they should be—you were rummaging around a dragon's nest collecting experiment materials...!"
Magic Tower Lord!
A chime rang out from the opaque crystal orb on the desk.
Evil Dragon Ater swiftly transformed into a black kitten. In his haste, his wings stayed put.
"What is it?"
Majia snapped his fingers, and a face materialized in the crystal orb.
It was the kindergarten teacher.
"[Big trouble! Miss Nini—no, the Dayamor Young Lady...!]"
They didn't even hear the full message before Majia and Armifera rushed to the Magic Tower kindergarten.
And there, they froze at the unbelievable sight.
"Eek! Eeeek! Waaah!"
"......"
"It hurts! Waaaaah!"
Nibelria was straddling a boy, raining punches down on him.
She'd pinned him precisely on his lower abdomen to keep him from twisting away, stomped his arms with her feet, and was pummeling him with expert precision.
"Hit him more! More!"
"Nini's doing great!"
The surrounding children were chanting "Fight! Fight!" and egging on the brawl.
"Magic Tower Lord...!"
The kindergarten teachers looked pale as ghosts, on the verge of collapse.
"Whoa."
Armifera was genuinely impressed.
"Fiercer than mercenaries."
The kindergarten had turned into a full-on arena.
The fight ended with Nibelria's victory.
"Nini doesn't lose!"
Nibelria couldn't easily tamp down her excitement.
Having properly scrapped for the first time in ages, her blood was boiling.
In stark contrast, Majia and the teachers' faces were ashen.
"You little cutie! That's my niece, alright!"
Adorable as could be.
Armifera showered kisses on Nibelria's cheeks.
This time, Nibelria didn't dodge.
After spending a few days together, she'd confirmed Armifera was a stronger adult.
But this wasn't just a simple kids' scuffle—the boy Alec, who'd been pinned and pummeled, was in pretty bad shape.
His lip had split open, drawing blood.
And the other children's attitudes earlier had been odd too.
"Why didn't you all stop the fight?"
Majia asked.
The children answered in unison, as if they'd been waiting.
"Nini didn't do anything wrong!"
"Yeah! Alec kept saying mean things to us. So Nini punished him for it."
"He told Nini to get lost first!"
"Alec's always been...!"
The kids blurted out what they'd seen all at once. Majia eventually questioned them one by one, in turn.
Once he'd heard them out, Majia stood.
He handed each child a piece of candy and chocolate.
"Teachers, step out here a moment."
Majia led the teachers into the hallway.
And asked.
"Why didn't you separate the two children?"
"Well..."
One teacher, shoulders hunched timidly, spoke up.
"I was sorting the kids' supplies for a moment and looked away... and then the commotion started."
"No, I'm asking why you didn't pull them apart. Who started it, why you didn't witness the beginning—none of that's the point."
Another teacher mumbled hesitantly.
"It's just that both of them..."
At her excuse, Majia's mind went blank white for a moment.
One was the daughter of a founding merit family.
The other was one of the rare third-generation wizard families in the Magic Tower. His grandparents were even elders there.
They claimed they couldn't easily intervene.
Majia was dumbfounded.
And furious.
"Didn't I make this crystal clear?"
In the Magic Tower kindergarten and academy, status and rank must never factor in.
This had been impressed upon them even when bringing in Nibelria and Arep.
To prevent irresponsible brats from lording over others on their parents' prestige.
Especially wizards, who wielded real power.
Power that could harm others.
That's why Majia was particularly strict about character education. So they wouldn't recklessly abuse their power and end up with a curse like his.
But today,
Majia realized the exact problem he'd feared had erupted in his kindergarten.
And it wasn't a one-off.
"Yeah! Alec kept saying mean things to us. So Nini punished him for it."
"Alec's always been...!"
