Chapter 969: Fairies!

"WHO SAID THAT?!" An elderly mage with a beard that reached his belt stormed forward, his face purple with rage. "WHO DARES BLASPHEME AGAINST THIS SACRED INSTITUTION?!""How dare you!" Another added. "This tower represents centuries of magical achievement! Countless lives have been saved by the research conducted here! And you—you—"

The mage was so furious he could barely speak.

"—YOU COMPARE IT TO A REPRODUCTIVE ORGAN?!"

The commotion spread like wildfire. Mages on the upper floors leaned over railings, glaring down at the source of the disturbance.

The atmosphere, which had been one of scholarly calm, now crackled with barely contained magical energy.

"Beat him up!" Someone shouted from above.

"I’ve got a fireball right here!" A young mage declared, already summoning flames to his palm.

"And I’ll add a thunderbolt!"

"Let’s do a combination attack!"

The soldiers, far from being alarmed, were absolutely delighted.

They’d never seen anyone dare to mock the sacred tower before. The mages’ fury only made it funnier.

Cassius, for his part, looked supremely unconcerned.

"What? I just said the truth. I’m sure everyone’s thought about it at some point. I’m just the first one brave enough to say it out loud."

"We should call it the Penis Tower from now on!" One of the soldiers crowed.

The mages’ outrage intensified.

"How dare he blaspheme this sacred place!"

"Someone call the guards! Have him removed immediately!"

"Enough..."

One word quietly spoken and the entire tower went silent.

Ragnora stood at the center of it all, her golden eyes sweeping across the gathered mages with calm authority. She didn’t look angry—that was the terrifying part. She simply looked disappointed.

"These are guests of the Holyfield Mines." She said quietly. "And guests of mine. I will not tolerate any disrespect toward them."

One of the older mages found his voice. "But Commander—"

Ragnora turned her head. Just slightly. But it was enough.

The mage’s mouth closed with an audible click.

Ragnora’s gaze returned to the crowd. "Return to your duties."

The mages scattered like startled birds, hurrying back to their respective floors. Within moments, the ground level was nearly empty.

Ragnora turned to Isabelle with an apologetic expression. "I must apologize for my mages’ behavior. They can be...protective of their work."

Then her gaze shifted to Cassius.

"And I assume this was also...the spell?"

"Yes! The spell! Definitely the spell!" Isabelle jumped in before Cassius could speak.

"His mind is still affected, Commander! He doesn’t know what he’s saying!"

"Of course." Ragnora’s expression didn’t change. "The spell."

She turned and continued walking toward the lift, leaving Isabelle to drag Cassius along by the collar while muttering pleading words under her breath.

—

The lift was operated by mana crystals embedded in the walls. It was a smooth, silent mechanism that carried them upward without a single jolt.

Cassius studied it with genuine interest.

"We should get one of these at home." He remarked.

Ragnora glanced at him. "At home?"

"Our estate. The stairs are exhausting."

’They have an estate?’

This raised more questions than it answered, but Ragnora chose not to pursue them.

Instead, she turned to the young mage operating the lift, a nervous-looking woman who seemed to be having heart palpitations at being in such close proximity to her Commander.

"Which department is free right now? I need tests and evaluations conducted."

The mage jumped.

"O-one moment, Commander! Let me check!"

She fumbled with a crystalline tablet, scrolling through schedules with trembling fingers.

"The Alchemical Research Division is currently occupied with the refinement of the new ore-processing catalysts."

"The Theoretical Magic Department is in the middle of a symposium on spatial mana compression."

"The Runic Applications Wing is—oh dear, they’ve had another incident. Something about inverted sigils and a localized gravity reversal. Again."

She scrolled faster.

"The Combat Mage Division is conducting live-fire exercises in the underground range. The Defensive Formations Department is analyzing the new barrier configurations for the eastern mining sector."

"The Enchantment Department on the top floor is..."

She paused.

"Available! They submitted their weekly report this morning and have no active experiments scheduled for the afternoon."

"The Enchantment Department." Ragnora repeated. "Good. Take us there."

"Yes, Commander!" The mage pressed a crystal, and the lift resumed its ascent.

—

"Enchantment Department." Brenda said, noticing Isabelle’s curious expression. "They’re the ones who make our weapons actually worth using."

She drew a heavy, brutal-looking axe that had clearly seen years of combat. Along the flat of the steel, intricate patterns were etched into the metal.

They glowed faintly with residual mana.

"See these marks? Runes and sigils, carved directly into the blade using mana-channeling techniques. This particular enchantment increases both speed and sharpness. Without it, this axe would be just a lump of iron. With it..."

She grinned. "Well, you saw what I did to those wolves earlier."

Another soldier leaned in. "Getting a weapon enchanted isn’t cheap! I had to save for six months just for my sword. Worth every copper, though."

"And every year." Brenda added. "The different departments compete for the floors. The higher your floor, the more prestige you have. Getting stuck on the bottom floor is basically a disgrace."

Cassius raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. They fight in a tournament to decide?"

"The battle mages want that. The rest..." Brenda chuckled. "The rest are too refined for that kind of brutishness. They compete through contributions."

"Research output. Profits generated. Safety improvements. At the end of the year, the rankings are calculated, and the winner takes the top floor."

Brenda cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Which is...currently occupied by the Enchantment Department. The same floor that Sir Cassius so eloquently compared to..."

She trailed off, glancing guiltily at Ragnora.

"The tip of a penis." Cassius finished helpfully.

Isabelle elbowed him in the ribs. "DARLING! COMMANDER RAGNORA IS RIGHT THERE!"

But Ragnora, surprisingly, didn’t react beyond a slight twitch of her eyebrow.

"Don’t worry about my presence." She said. "I’m aware of how soldiers talk. I don’t personally share their sense of humor, but I see no reason to censor it."

Then she looked at Isabelle.

"But if the language makes you uncomfortable, Isabelle, I’ll tell them to stop."

The soldiers immediately shut their mouths, thinking that Isabelle was a fragile noble blossom who had probably never heard a dirty word in her entire life.

Brenda slapped a hand against her forehead, looking mortified.

"Gods, what am I doing...talking like a tavern drunk in front of someone as pure as Lady Isabelle..."

But in the back, Cassius was biting his lip so hard he nearly bled, desperately suppressing a roar of laughter.

They were treating Isabelle like an innocent saint who would faint at the mention of crude humor.

Meanwhile, Cassius knew the truth: she was a top-tier Succubus

She was far more devious and experienced in dark desires than even Joy or Maria, who actually had succubus blood flowing through them.

Cassius was still smirking. Isabelle pinched his arm arm in response and told him to be quiet.

Ragnora watched the silent exchange between husband and wife with quiet curiosity.

There was something unspoken passing between them, a secret that belonged only to the two of them. It was oddly endearing.

And then, unbidden, a shadow passed through her eyes. Something sad. Something old.

It was gone before anyone noticed.

—

The top floor was breathtaking.

Unlike the lower levels, the eighth floor had actual windows—tall, arched openings that looked out across the entire Holyfield mining territory.

From this height, Isabelle could see the winding paths, the scattered mining operations, the distant walls with their patrolling sentries.

The workers below looked like ants, their minecarts like tiny toys.

"This view is half the reason everyone fights for this floor!" Brenda said, joining her at the window.

"I believe it." Isabelle murmured. "You could have lunch here every day and it would never get old."

But Isabelle’s attention was drawn to something else entirely.

"Brenda." She said slowly. "Why are there miniature doors everywhere?"

She pointed. Beside every normal-sized door on the right side of the corridor was a second door—tiny, perhaps the height of Cassius’s hand, with its own tiny handle and tiny hinges.

They looked like doors a mouse might use.

"Now that you mention it." Cassius added. "There are miniature paintings on the walls too. And miniature windows. And miniature torch brackets."

Isabelle turned in a slow circle.

"There’s a tiny rug. A tiny sign that says ’No Running.’ A tiny grandfather clock. Why—" She squinted. "—is there a tiny coat rack?"

Brenda’s face split into an enormous grin. "You’ll find out soon enough!"

They reached the main entrance to the Enchantment Department’s central laboratory.

The doors were tall and imposing, carved with intricate sigils that pulsed with soft blue light.

Brenda pushed them open.

"Welcome to the top floor of the Magic Tower, the Enchanting Department!"

—

The laboratory was magnificent.

Workbenches stretched across the room, covered in glass beakers, copper tubing, and mysterious apparatuses that bubbled and steamed.

Bookshelves lined the walls, crammed with leather-bound tomes and scrolls.

Charts covered every available surface, filled with complex sigils and runic diagrams that seemed to shift and dance in the light. The air smelled of chemicals and enchanted metals.

But what truly stole Isabelle’s attention wasn’t the equipment.

It was the people.

Flying through the air on wings that sparkled like stained glass were dozens of tiny figures. They were no taller than a pen!

They had pointed ears, delicate features, and luminous eyes that glowed like captured stars.

Each one wore a miniature lab coat. Each one carried equipment sized perfectly for their diminutive hands.

"Fairies!" Isabelle gasped. "They’re actually fairies!"

The word escaped before she could stop it, and immediately every single fairy in the laboratory froze. Dozens of tiny faces turned toward her, their expressions a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

Isabelle clapped her hands over her mouth, her face burning.

But it was true.

The room was filled with real, genuine, magical fairies flitting between apparatus, carrying tiny clipboards, adjusting minuscule instruments. Their wings beat so quickly they were barely visible, leaving trails of sparkling dust in their wake.

Cassius, standing beside her, was equally taken aback. Then understanding dawned.

"That’s why there are so many miniature doors." He murmured. "And the small windows. The tiny paintings. It’s all for them."

The fairies, having recovered from their initial surprise, recognized Ragnora and immediately relaxed.

"Oh, it’s just Commander Ragnora! That scared me!"

"I thought intruders had broken in and were going to eat us!"

"We’re too small to eat." Another muttered. "Barely a mouthful."

"Don’t say things like that! It gives the ogres ideas!"

Brenda grinned down at them. "Keep talking, and I might just pop one of you into my mouth. See how you taste!"

The fairy stuck out her tiny tongue. "You wouldn’t dare. I’d give you indigestion for a week."

"Try me."

The fairy and the ogre stared at each other for a moment—then both burst into laughter. Clearly, this was an old routine.

Isabelle was still processing. She’d expected the fairies’ voices to be high-pitched squeaks.

Instead, they sounded surprisingly normal, as though each tiny mouth contained an invisible speaker operating at full volume.