Chapter 23
Eki’s mouth fell open. Then she suddenly jumped up and smacked her own shameful head.
‘I-I must be crazy. What am I even thinking!’
It was Cassius, of all people. Her damned Master. Besides, hadn’t she convinced herself that he was far too old for any romantic feelings to arise?
‘…But dragons can live for thousands of years, so being only a few hundred years old might actually be considered young, right?’
Her Master, whom she thought of as an old man, was actually a young man.
‘Stop. Don’t think about this any further. This is dangerous.’
Eki was thumping her forehead when she snapped back to reality at the sound of a voice from outside.
“Eki!”
Startled, she opened the heavy oak front door with a bewildered expression. Her face immediately hardened.
“Babel?”
“Oh, you came out quick? Were you waiting for me or something?”
What the hell?
“No. What are you doing here?”
Babel was a homely-looking 27-year-old Australopithecus-evolved male with round, poisonous-mushroom-like purple hair and sticky, candy-red eyes.
Like Milla and Giyote, he had been one of Eki’s academy classmates. He’d once bragged about applying for the Gailard Mage Association’s public servant exam, but after failing several times, he’d vanished for a while. She’d only recently seen his face again.
‘I never imagined he’d become a courier mage for the Association.’
Couriers were different from regular officials. While public servants needed exceptional academy grades and to pass the Gailard Mage Association’s infamous, hellish entrance exam, couriers only needed a certain level of academic performance to get hired.
‘I didn’t bother paying attention since the pay isn’t good.’
Still, working for the Association was a significant advantage.
‘If Babel’s here as a courier, that means…’
“Don’t tell me the Gailard Association sent a demand notice?!”
“Close. Here!”
Eki silently screamed. She took the thick envelope from Babel and trembled.
‘Already? The midterm inspection is still a while away!’
She got her answer from Babel, who rubbed at his scruffy chin hair for no reason.
“It’s not a demand notice. They just said your tower’s magic circles are the best, so they want to move up the inspection date.”
“Are they insane?! Even earlier?!”
“Yeah. Can’t handle it? But if production’s too slow, I think the Association Head might send you a demand notice too.”
“Good lord…”
“If you want, I can cheer you up and give you a little boost, you know?”
“What are you even saying? Get lost.”
“Hahaha.”
Babel let out an awkward laugh.
“You really haven’t changed, huh? You were feisty even back in the academy. Hey, remember that time?”
He spoke in a tone like he was performing on stage. Eki didn’t bother hiding the way her face twisted in irritation.
He was already ugly enough to lower the Gailard Kingdom’s average attractiveness, and now he was swaggering toward her, trying to look cool. She was ready to explode.
“What would I remember?”
“That time we drank together~”
“You don’t mean the open semester party, right? Were you even there?”
“……”
“Got the letter, so I’m leaving. Goodbye.”
She needed to tell Cassius this news as soon as possible. And while she was at it, she’d soothe her eyes that had been scarred by this man’s face with Cassius’s radiant beauty.
“Hey! Hey, Eki!”
Suddenly, Babel grabbed her arm. She let out a startled yelp and stumbled backward.
“Are you crazy?!”
“I’m not done talking yet.”
“So that means you just grab people?!”
Her arm throbbed where he’d grabbed her. Eki struggled to get away, but she couldn’t overpower an adult man’s strength. Her face flushed red and blue with anger.
“Ugh, let go.”
“If you’re free—”
“Do you think I’m free after getting this letter from the Association?”
“No, I mean… at least over the weekend, let’s go to Mansandro.”
“What?”
Mansandro was that nice beer house in the capital where she’d gone drinking with Milla and Giyote.
‘Why the hell would I go there with the likes of you?’
Eki let out a short, incredulous laugh and sharply jerked her arm again. Only then did Babel release her arm.
“Sorry, but I’ll be holed up in the Thousand Dog Tower drawing magic circles for the time being. Find someone else.”
“Someone else? I said I’d cheer you up.”
“And I said get lost.”
Finally realizing she meant it, Babel’s cheek twitched uncomfortably.
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