A garden wasn’t a forest, and a flowerbed wasn’t a field. Rotten buds produced no seeds, and there were no bees to move pollen around. Thus, I planted every flower in this garden one by one.
The Primordial Staff sat on the hill, sucking on her staff like a lollipop. “The base is all finished now. If this were a house, you’ve cleared the land, built the frame, and plastered the walls and ceilings. As a bonus, you’ve finished installing the built-in furniture, lights, and air conditioning.”
“Do mages use air conditioning?”
“Why do you think magic exists and all mages are so ill-tempered? It’s because they don’t have air conditioning.”
“I feel like there would be a Constellation whose domain lies in air conditioning.”
“Do you want me to introduce them to you?”
I couldn't tell whether she was serious or messing with me. That was a truly mage-like trait about her.
“So, when are you doing the housewarming?” she asked me.
“Housewarming?”
“Yes. Or do you want to call it a revival meeting? Which version do you prefer?”
The mage was acting like a mage once again. As someone who had only learned aura, swordplay, and martial arts, I could only stare at her, my eyes demanding an answer.
The Primordial Staff sighed and took the staff out of her mouth. “Constellations that reach this stage are usually torn between two choices.”
“Surviving that seems tough.”
“The first choice is to show their holy ground to their cherished person and plan a happy future. The other is to gather their followers and launch into a long speech about their vision for the future.”
“Constellations aren’t so different after all…”
The first sounded like a family head buying a house, and the second was like a CEO who had recently built the headquarters of the company. The Primordial Staff eyed me silently. Well, her gaze could be read as, “You’re also a Constellation now, yet you told such a dad joke[1]. I guess you’ll be the former.”
“Is that how I look?”
“Yes, are you not going to bring your duke over here and brag? ‘This is our home, Raviel. This is the haven where we’ll stay together. I made this sea by making the clan advisor cry. This high mountain range is the trace of our son wreaking havoc here…’ Well, something like that.”
I shook my hand. “Come on, don’t be like that. You know I’m not going to do that.”
“Oh, is that so? Then?”
“If I do that, I’ll naturally bring up the stories about the flowers. ‘This flower isn’t from around here or this generation. When the Little Ice Age struck and a group of sailors faced great trouble…’”
The Primordial Staff shrugged, still holding the staff in her mouth. She was feigning indifference; she knew everything, yet she acted like that. I saw through what she was doing, but I just moved my wrist a bit, shaking the head of Hishimit Kritz.
“There was something I said when I took down Snakey. Humans aren’t dolls to be displayed in the glass garden you created. No one lives to be displayed to others, and no one has the right to display others. I can’t do the same considering what I said.”
Hishimit Kritz’s head drooped with a whimper.
I stopped shaking my wrist. “I didn’t plant these people here to be displayed to anyone.”
The Primordial Staff took out her staff from her mouth. “Not even to Raviel?”
“Not even to Raviel. No, I would especially not want her to see this,” I answered firmly.
It would certainly be delightful to hold Raviel’s hand and talk to her about the vision I had and the plans I made while building this world. Explaining to Raviel once again what kind of person I was and receiving her recognition from deep down her heart would be so sweet that I could die.
Would she marvel? “That’s my duke consort.” Would she empathize with my plans and vision? “How happy I am to have such a good person as my life partner.” Would she join me? “Yes, wounded flowers. I’ll care for you with Gong-Ja.” How great that would be. But that was also why I wouldn’t do it.
“I won’t invite Raviel into my holy ground.”
I shouldn’t.
“Never,” I added resolutely.
The mage bit down on her staff once more. “Are you sure? Scream Sky, you’ve even defeated me, a Pillar. Why don’t you trust yourself a little more? I don’t think you need to be that scared.”
“I am scared,” I confessed. “I’m strong. I know that in the whole Tower, I can count the number of people stronger than me on one hand, but Raviel is my exception.”
No matter how much I resolved not to, how long could I hold out? If I invited Raviel here and walked around with her, I may unconsciously treat the flowers as precious exhibits. That was really, really terrifying.
“Wouldn’t resisting such temptation while keeping it close to you what you should do? They say true faith is built after overcoming trials.”
“If it’s something I can overcome, it would be a trial. Doing that with something impossible to achieve is just foolish.”
The Primordial Staff clicked her tongue. She had the look of “It didn’t work,” so I stared at her in disbelief.
“Lady Mage, you really, really are a mage.”
She tilted her head. “Oh, why are you suddenly complimenting me?”
“Mutia said a god shouldn’t have the concept of exception in their life. The Tower master also told me that becoming a Constellation meant bearing eternity, so she told me to ponder a lot before finalizing my Skill set.”
I scratched my neck as I kept on speaking.
“This is why I can reach this kind of conclusion. I’m inexperienced, so I may not have a deep understanding of being a Constellation. However, I suspect that more Constellations fall by breaking their word than by someone else defeating them. And you are now trying to set a trap for my fall through crafty temptation. You really are a true mage.”
“So that is a compliment.”
“Well, it wasn’t really crafty. You laid the trap out way too obviously. What are you trying to do?” I stared at the Primordial Staff. “It was decided that if I quit climbing the Tower or failed before reaching the top floor, you would regain your position as your Pillar. Is that it? Do you want another chance?”
The Primordial Staff stared back at me. “What if that’s the case?”
“Then you would be a cheapskate who couldn’t let go of her desire for greed even after serving as a Pillar. If such a cheapskate has been a Pillar until now, it shows the level of the other Pillars and the Tower that they’ve been holding on. But I’m sure that’s not what you want.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because you were a Pillar of the Tower,” I said. “You should have a certain level of dignity.”
The Primordial Staff wiped her staff on her sleeve and smiled. “You keep complimenting me. Coming from the one who pushed me from my position as a Pillar, it’s not too bad.”
“So, why did you do that?”
“I want you to reach the hundredth floor,” the Primordial Staff said. “I hope the Sword Emperor’s wish is met, I hope that you officially become a Pillar and that the other Pillars don’t stop you.”
“Then why...”
“To do that, you shouldn’t be an idiot that tumbles over a random rock on the street.”
The remark had many meanings. The Primordial Staff fluttered her sleeves.
“When the obstacle is obvious, you should be able to avoid it, even if it shines like a gold bar.”
Although words were left unspoken, I could hear her saying that I wouldn’t be able to reach the hundredth floor in the first place if that happened. I remained silent for a while. Here, where the height of the land differed, the waves lapped and temperature varied. Only the flowers stood still. I listened as the wind stroked the red water and the watery scent drenched the petals.
“Why do you want me to reach the hundredth floor?” I asked.
“There are three reasons for that.”
The Primordial Staff held both halves of the broken staff in her mouth, chewing them like a broken biscuit stick.
“The first reason is easy. If the one who defeated me loses without reaching the hundredth floor, hmm… Wouldn’t that be too embarrassing for me? Just think about the backtalk the Pillars and the Constellations are going to have. If I returned to act as a Pillar like that, I would feel like a systemically bullied[2] branch chief of the Magic Tower every day.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m torn between what I should ask first… Do the Pillars also gossip? Does the Magic Tower have a system that bullies people?”
“You said that Constellations aren’t so different, right? What makes Pillars or mages any different?”
The Primordial Staff removed one of the staff pieces from her mouth. She pointed the tip, glistening with her saliva, at the flowers I had planted.
“The second reason is those people. You being a Pillar is better for them than me being one, so that would ultimately be good for everyone.”
The Primordial Staff always spoke and acted like a true mage. She was the epitome of deception, secrecy, and unspoken words. Even in her seemingly blunt remarks, there were hidden splinters or bones. However, what she just said was sincere. It was as soft as fish meat picked for a child who was teething so it would be easy for the child to eat.
When I didn’t know what to say, I tended to speak bluntly.
“You tried your best in your own way.”
The Primordial Staff scoffed. “Is that meant to be comforting? It makes me want to get another cup of yulmu tea and pour it down your nose.”
“I see. Hmmm. What’s the third reason?”
“The Tower Master.”
Those words were also harmless. With a calm face and soft voice, the mage added, “It’s impossible for me to help the Tower master. It would be impossible for the other Pillars, too.”
It was the same reason the princess had hinted at before. The mage finally told me the reason she’d eyed me from the start.
“So someone else must do it. It could be you, the Sword Emperor, or someone else. Someone who isn’t a Pillar. But I prefer you.” The mage’s lips parted and closed. “I hope you’re the one who puts the Tower master at ease…”
The Primordial Staff grew quiet in the garden of tattered flowers.