TFLMLD 80

Chapter 80

The Price That Man Wants

It had been a mistake to pry so persistently. Now that things had come this far, there was no point in hiding anything.

“Yes. I’m sorry for deceiving you. There were reasons…”

Normally someone in this situation might show displeasure, but fortunately he seemed to be a fairly understanding person.

“That’s possible. It’s my fault too, for coming without notice.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“By the way, I heard you were a lady, but I never imagined you’d be so young.”

Well, I did look young for my age. But despite his words, his expression was sullen. Because of that, I still hadn’t heard why the Tower needed a Vellica-grade mana stone. I was about to ask again when he spoke first.

“The Tower’s Lord has been conducting experiments lately. He needs high-quality mana stones on the level of Vellica.”

How he had found me was a mystery, but what mattered more was that he’d established contact with the Tower. The Tower rarely opened itself up, and ordinary people like me hardly ever got to see the mages. So the fact that someone from the Tower had come to trade directly was a golden opportunity.

“How many do you need?”

Actually, I had planned not to sell the Vellica mountain mana stones until a mana wave occurred. But since someone in the Empire needed them, I couldn’t just ignore it. Besides, if the stones were for experiments, they probably wouldn’t need a huge amount.

“About fifty martons.”

That was a little more than I expected, but still not even a corner of the Vellica mine. I was a little uneasy that these stones might go to the incompetent Tower Lord ‘Merrang’… but if someone asked for them, I’d have to give them.

“In return, I want you to grant me something.”

“Say anything.”

He had a bright smile like Santa Claus who’d grant any wish. I, having seen Macaron every day, had grown resistant to handsome faces, but another woman might have already fallen for that innocent smile.

“I need a warding operation. Is there a mage who can cast a barrier so strong that even high-level mages can’t breach it?”

I’d heard warding magic wasn’t usually that labor-intensive, but like antivirus vs. hackers, the stronger the attacker, the stronger the defense needed.

“I do know of a mage like that…”

He struck a strangely formal pose with a serious expression.

“Really?”

I thought he was staring at me with glittering eyes, but he crossed his arms with an oddly earnest expression.

“Do I look like someone who’d lie?”

Even that sounded like a puppy’s bravado, so it had no real sting. But I needed help now, so I played along.

“That’s not it…”

“Just kidding.”

He laughed as if everything were funny, and I took that chance to get down to business.

“Can I meet this mage?”

Without hesitation he replied.

“Of course.”

“Where can I meet them?”

He put on a dramatically solemn look, like he was about to say something grand, and then said something absurd.

“Aren’t you looking at them right now?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s me. I’m the person you’re looking for.”

“Pardon?”

He repeated “me” twice; it was so ridiculous I nearly laughed. Yet apparently that nonsense gave him confidence.

“You found me. A talented handsome mage.”

It was absurd and a bit funny and his behavior was cute in a way. But this wasn’t the time for jokes.

“I’m not joking.”

“Neither am I. I’m serious — it’s a shame you couldn’t tell.”

He had a puppy-like face that I simply couldn’t trust. It seemed to me that someone who could hold a Tower-level position would be older — Tower Lords tended to be veterans in terms of skill. To reach such rank required great ability, and many who reached it were senior mages.

“You don’t look convinced.”

“Oh, it’s not that… I thought you were a void mage.”

As a mage myself, I knew the mage training system well. Just like I handled magical toolcraft and Macaron handled emotion-and-healing alchemy, mages usually had specializations. Academy graduates typically joined the Tower, and positions were assigned per their specializations. If he could stop objects in midair like that, I’d naturally assume he was a void mage. But from his dazed expression, my label must have been wrong. If not void magic then…

“A levitation mage, perhaps?”

I’d never heard of a mage with exactly that ability. He burst out laughing so hard he even wiped tears from his eyes, which made me a bit embarrassed.

“I’m a mage who can’t be limited to a single label.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I’m so talented that I work across fields, not restricted by specialty.”

His arrogance came with confidence, but I still couldn’t shake my doubt. As if reading my thoughts, he raised an eyebrow.

“If you don’t believe me, come to the Tower with me next time.”

“The Tower?”

“There’s no place better to demonstrate my skills.”

It was an odd argument to suddenly go to the Tower, but it somehow sounded convincing. His confidence almost made me feel guilty for doubting him. Originally I’d planned to hire Lord Merrang of the Tower, but that fellow was notoriously useless and wouldn’t move easily so I’d almost given up. Finding a competent mage now felt like a blessing.

“I was worried because I intended to ask His Excellency Merrang, so I’m relieved…”

Did I misread it? He rolled his eyes for a moment at Merrang’s name. So I’d been mistaken. As he raised his head, his face brightened into a smile as if nothing had happened.

“His Excellency Merrang is exceptionally gifted, though.”

Just talking about “ability” made his personality seem messy, as I’d heard. I had expected him to sympathize, but instead his face flushed and he looked as if he was clenching his teeth in anger.

“Whoever spread those strange rumors must be jealous — all nonsense.”

“…”

“There’s nobody more admired in the Tower than His Excellency. With his superb skill, sharp looks, and intellect, seeds of jealousy and spite occasionally spread rumors about him.”

It was tear-inducing loyalty. If Lord Merrang knew, he’d deserve a big reward. But whatever the truth about Lord Merrang, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to entrust the ward work to Merrang anyway — I’d meet this man. The man continued his praise of Lord Merrang until he finally stopped. There was no reason to refute him, so I nodded and smiled.

“Alright. Then please take care of the warding.”

I felt serious because this was important to me.

“But this is extremely expensive labor. You don’t expect me to do it empty-handed, right?”

“Weren’t you going to take mana stones as payment?”

“The Tower will handle that part separately.”

“Then…”

The puppy-like man’s expression became serious in a way that made me feel a bit tense.

“I’ll grant three wishes.”

Of course. I’d suspected something like that. I almost reached out at the word “wish,” but slapping him before knowing the wishes would be a bit much.

“What are the wishes?”

“Not difficult things.”

He wouldn’t be demanding impossible things, naturally. “You bastard,” I thought — maybe one night of something or another…

“So I need to know the wishes before I decide.”

I debated how to slap him — where, how hard — waiting for him to answer. I thought of the slap, then dousing water and throwing salt for extra punishment. But then he spoke.

“Eat a meal together.”

“…”

“Watch a play together.”

“…”

“Walk together.”

A meal, a play, and a walk? Remembering my earlier thought made my face flush. For an adult man to ask for things so innocent was laughable and made me snort. Since leaving Macaron I hadn’t had many reasons to laugh; this was the first genuine smile in a long time.

“That’s all?”

“Is there something else you want? Say anything.”

“But you want us to do that—just the two of us?”

“Do you mean you’ll do the work but date some other man?”

That reasoning left me speechless; yet he kept a decent distance and proper manners, so I wasn’t offended. For warding work, that price seemed cheap — I almost accepted out of selfishness. But I couldn’t deceive myself into pretending otherwise.

“Me, like you?”

“Rather than ‘like,’ I’m… taken with you.”

He came at me without warning. He looked younger than me and extremely bold for his age. But I couldn’t give him the answer he wanted.

“Sorry.”

“Am I being rejected?”

“If you ask for other wishes, I’ll grant them.”

“Am I really that worthless?”

Seeing his shoulders droop felt unpleasant.

“Not that…”

“Then at least tell me why.”

There was still another man in my heart; I had neither the shamelessness nor the nerve to meet him and play happily with him while pretending nothing was wrong.

“I was married. I have a child.”

I thought that would be the end of it. After seeing his face in the photo and speaking further, I assumed he would leave. But he didn’t.

“That’s not now, though. So there’s no reason you can’t.”

“…”

“You seem to have a lot of wounds, looking at this—barriers and such. People who are hurt by people should be healed by people. I hope you’ll give me the chance to be that fortune for you.”

His serious words had persuasive power; had I been in a normal state, I might have been swayed. But even as I looked at him, my thoughts turned to Macaron.

“Just meet me three times.”

“That’s not necessary—”

“Give me your answer next week. If you say no, I’ll leave cleanly. I’m not that pathetic.”

Saying that made it awkward to turn him away right then.

“Then see you next week.”

“The mana stone…?”

“I’ll come by once a week to collect one marton.”

His vivid emerald pupils looked at me seriously. He left the room tidily; when our eyes met he curved his gaze and added playfully,

“By the way, you’ll regret letting me go.”