Chapter 50
This gentle yet powerful strength
“It’s hot. Get off me, Hisran.”
Jaeha, who was eating ice cream for a snack, coldly pushed away Hisran as he tried to snuggle up to her. His body temperature, higher than that of an average person, was welcome in winter but not in summer.
“I’m using a cooling spell right now.”
“Really? Well then…”
When Jaeha reluctantly agreed, Hisran grinned and lightly hugged her. Feeling like she was sandwiched between ice packs, Jaeha allowed Hisran to play with her hair.
While the couple, brought together by a curious and fateful encounter, enjoyed their time together, a loud beeping sound erupted from within Hisran’s embrace.
“You’re getting a call. Just, shoo already. Go answer it.”
“When a person is resting, they should rest properly…”
Jaeha cut him off, eyes narrowed.
“People who know your personality well wouldn’t contact you at this hour without a good reason.”
Knowing Hisran as the perfect lover yet a ruthless Red Tower Master to others, Jaeha urged him to answer for the sake of whoever was anxiously contacting him.
“What if it’s a pointless call?”
Fine, I’ll be generous.
Feigning indifference, Jaeha tapped her lips and pretended to focus on her ice cream. Seeing this, Hisran’s eyes sparkled as he hurried to check the communication orb.
It seemed the White Tower Master Irina had left a voice message.
“What’s going on?”
Curious, Hisran played the voice message.
『Red Tower Master Hisran Ephesion.』
Irina’s voice from the communication crystal was unusually cold and firm, making Jaeha also listen intently.
『I hope you will fulfill the promise you made earlier.』
About two years ago, when Jaeha was kidnapped by the dark sorcerers, Hisran had asked for help from the Tower Masters, promising to grant any one request within his power in return.
『A creature called ‘Gluttony’, the result of an evil spell, seems to have appeared in the back alleys of the West.』
Irina briefly explained the characteristics of Gluttony as if reading from a book.
『…I’m leaving this message just in case. If I don’t send another message by tomorrow, it means I’ve either fallen victim to the culprit or failed to properly deal with Gluttony. In that case, I hope you will handle it as per our previous agreement.』
When Irina’s unusually businesslike message ended, Hisran and Jaeha looked at each other in bewilderment.
“It seems something serious is happening in the West. Just the description of that monster, Gluttony, sounds formidable,” Jaeha said, frowning.
“Damn, am I the only Tower Master who got this message? This is driving me crazy.”
Ruffling his hair, Hisran tried to contact Irina immediately, but she didn’t answer.
“Why on earth did she leave such a message for me instead of a White Tower mage?”
Even Jaeha, an otherworldly being who had somewhat adapted to life in the Red Tower, felt that Irina’s message resembled the last words left by mages before undertaking dangerous missions.
“She must have left a message for the White Tower members too. Surely there’s a Vice Tower Master like Zephyros there. Try contacting them.”
“Oh, right. There’s Hesed.”
However, contacting Hesed wasn’t easy either. Hisran displayed uncharacteristic patience, and after three attempts, he finally got through to him.
『Hisran! Have you received any messages from our Tower Master?』
Hesed asked urgently, his face pale as soon as the connection was made. Hisran knew things were bad. The White Tower Master was missing, and the second-in-command, the Vice Tower Master, was clearly in a state of panic.
‘We can’t have the White Tower closing down like the Yellow Tower.’
Hesed Clarke was notoriously known among the Tower Masters and Vice Tower Masters for his devotion to Irina. In front of the White Tower Master, he pretended to be a diligent and upright Vice Tower Master, but as soon as she wasn’t around, he would show his arrogant and unpleasant personality. Hisran had been planning to put him in his place someday.
But.
‘I got caught by Irina that one time.’
The usually calm and soft-spoken Irina raised her voice and glared at him for the first time then.
“Hisran, I will not tolerate anyone being rude to him, a member of the White Tower and my junior!”
Later, while drinking with Siord, this story came up briefly. Siord had a similar experience.
“Do you think they’ll end up dating? I bet ten high-grade mana stones that they’ll be together within five years.”
“I bet on three years. Ten stones, huh? I’ll raise that to ten more.”
This trivial conversation happened just a few months ago.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Quickly understanding the situation was paramount.
“Hey, snap out of it. I don’t have the hobby of talking to someone who’s gone mad.”
Seeing that Hesed’s eyes had calmed down a bit, Hisran shared the message he received from Irina.
『…So, you’re saying the Tower Master went to deal with Gluttony alone and asked you to handle it if anything went wrong?』
“Yes. It’s clearly a dangerous creature, so why did Irina go to deal with it alone? Don’t the other White Tower mages have hands or feet?”
『I won’t deny that some of the others are not only idiots but incompetent idiots, but regarding Gluttony… this is the first time I’m hearing about it.』
“What?”
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