Chapter 13
And the next day—
“Wow.”
Just as Cassius had said, she tried her best to avoid running into him. In the middle of the research lab, cluttered with all manner of grimoires, parchments, and scrolls, she had even set up a partition wall to separate his space from hers.
“Master, this one’s amazing too.”
“I told you not to talk to me about pointless things.”
“No, really! This time it’s seriously incredible!”
She had been trying not to speak to him unless necessary, but as she got absorbed in her work, something happened that made it impossible to stay quiet. Eki marveled at the flawless circle she had drawn on a blank sheet of paper.
“Why are my circles coming out so perfect today?”
This was her thirtieth success in a row. Even with good luck, this kind of streak was unbelievable.
‘So this is the power of the ultra-strong luck potion…’
On a whim, she tried drawing a small, careless circle. That one, too, came out perfectly round. Eki looked at her right hand in awe and let out a gasp.
“I’ll be able to draw magic circles so much faster…!”
“Finish more magic instead of wasting time being impressed.”
“Yes, sir!”
There was good reason for Eki’s excitement.
Magic circles were constructed from geometric patterns and complex ancient languages. Even a slight miscalculation of an angle or a misplaced line meant that the entire circle had to be scrapped. And yet, even when using drafting tools, her cursed circles had always come out distorted. If they were this perfect now, that changed everything.
“Hahaha!”
Long live the luck potion!
“Master, I think I’ll be able to get off work early today.”
“How wonderful for you.”
“I’ll even help with yours, Master.”
“Forget it. Don’t even think about coming over here.”
Well, truthfully, she hadn’t planned on it anyway. Her offer was just out of courtesy, and since his rejection was expected, Eki hummed even louder as she went back to work.
But after several dozen minutes of this…
BOOM!
Suddenly, there was a thunderous noise from somewhere, and the floor shook faintly.
Startled, Eki quickly used magic to secure the potion bottles she had placed on shelves and tables.
“M-Master, are you okay?”
“Damn it. For now.”
The tremor wasn’t strong enough to cause injury. Still, Eki wanted to check if the potion Cassius was working on was safe.
‘Our dear Master likes to act composed, but he’s sloppy with tidying up…’
There was a good chance the bottles had clashed and spilled.
“Master, I’ll clean the lab. Why don’t you check if something happened in the basement?”
Eki suggested smoothly, like she was used to it.
Truthfully, it wasn’t all that rare for the tower to suddenly shake. In the dungeons beneath the Thousand Dog Tower, various monsters were kept alive and restrained, and sometimes, when those restraints weakened, they would go wild. Cassius would then personally descend to infuse magic into the bindings and subdue them again.
The creatures were only low-grade monsters, and technically, it was something Eki could have done, but Cassius forbade her from entering the underground just in case.
“I’ll check it. You clean up.”
“Yes, sir!”
Sure enough, Cassius must have spilled something.
The moment he left the lab, Eki darted over the partition and checked his workspace. The place was a chaotic mess of overturned bottles and scattered parchments.
‘Haah.’
Our handsome, well-built, brilliant Master. Why is he so hopeless at keeping things tidy?
‘I bet his room’s a total disaster too.’
At first, Eki hadn’t been good at chores either. She might have been the only daughter of a ruined baron family, but she’d always had at least one maid by her side. And when she officially became a mage, she had assumed she’d have a lady-in-waiting assigned to her at the tower.
But the Thousand Dog Tower… no, this Dog Tower, had changed her. Cleaning floors was a given. She cooked, she went grocery shopping, and she even scrubbed toilets on a regular schedule.
Eki suddenly felt empty and tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling.
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