Chapter 1

I.

“Rejected again this time.”

Collette’s fresh green eyes hardened as she tilted her coffee cup. She tried to soothe her insides with the cold coffee, but it did little to calm her.

“The Exploration Squad must have something wrong with their eyes. Rejecting even Senior Verna—and not just anyone, but her!”

Across from her, a man with fluffy gray-brown hair raised his voice as if he were the one wronged.

“And this is the third time, isn’t it? What on earth is their reason?”

He was a fellow researcher at the Magic Tower—a commendable junior who had helped Collette finally shed her status as the lab’s youngest and most junior member after two years.

She couldn’t afford to lose face in front of such a junior, let alone show any signs of faltering. Collette soothed her aching stomach and shrugged.

“I’d like to know the reason too. And technically, it’s the fifth time. Exploration applications are accepted quarterly.”

“Five times? I thought it was three?”

“Yes. I started submitting applications as soon as I became your mentor.”

“I joined early last year, so… that would make five times correct.”

“Well… yes.”

Collette nodded. She could speak openly about it now, but when Meliano had first joined the lab, she had kept quiet, feeling she needed to maintain a senior’s dignity. She also hadn’t wanted to show him her disappointment.

Swallowing a sigh, Collette recalled the paper tucked inside her research coat’s inner pocket. Specifically, the bright red “REJECTED” stamp plastered over her name—Collette Lowell Verna.

I really thought I’d pass this time.

She had heard that the labyrinth compass she developed last time had been put to excellent use in a recent exploration. Normally, conquering a complex labyrinth took over half a month, but thanks to her labyrinth artifact, the time had been shortened by more than a full day.

And yet, the artifact’s creator was once again summarily rejected from labyrinth exploration support.

They tell other researchers to go beyond their desks and conduct field investigations, so why am I the one who can’t?

Collette had once directly inquired with the Exploration Squad to find out why her applications kept getting returned. But all she received was the reply that assigning additional personnel was entirely at the squad’s discretion.

It didn’t make sense to Collette. If safety was the concern, she could arm herself with defensive artifacts. If time limits were the issue, she could withdraw before sunset. And since non-squad personnel were only permitted to enter the labyrinth’s entrance anyway, there was no real danger to her safety.

And yet, they won’t even tell me the reason for the rejection, and keep failing me every single time…

If she knew the reason, she could make improvements—but not even that was disclosed to her, leaving her endlessly frustrated. It felt like being blocked by a glass wall.

I only want to be by that person’s side and offer direct help.

That one simple wish—why was it so difficult to achieve?

“……”

She lifted her head and saw dark storm clouds and umbrella-shaped holograms beyond the terrace awning. A technology that indicated the outside weather.

The plaza—the only place in the Magic Tower where sunlight could be felt—looked like an outdoor space at first glance, but it was actually an artificially created rest area.

The hologram floating in the artificial sky was one of the magical technologies designed to inform the Tower’s mages—who rarely had reason to go outside—of the weather’s changes.

Collette stared blankly at the dark cloud-shaped hologram. The way it swayed in its murky color felt just like her.

Meanwhile, at Collette’s explanation that she hadn’t even been qualified to apply when she was the lab’s youngest, her junior was even more outraged.

“No, this is something you should take up with the Tower Master himself! How on earth can Senior Verna—of all people—be excluded from exploration a whopping five times? I simply cannot understand it!”

“…Somerset. Keep your voice down. We’re not the only ones here.”

Collette, calming her passionately indignant junior, Meliano Somerset, downed the rest of her cold coffee.

The two were currently in the plaza located on the middle floor of the Magic Tower. It was a communal space used by everyone, and the terrace of the cafeteria where they sat was occupied not just by them, but by others as well.

Under normal circumstances, Meliano Somerset’s raised voice would have drawn glares from those around them.

“Look over there. It’s Researcher Verna.”

But today was an exception. Other researchers who recognized Collette began whispering among themselves.

“I heard she got rejected again this time?”

“Again? What on earth is the reason for the rejection?”

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