Chapter 11:
The Sage’s Tower
WE SPENT THE NIGHT IN THE ELVES’ VILLAGE and set out for the Sage’s Tower the next morning. Ariel came with us, of course. She rode on a massive eagle named Tyrion, gliding low in the sky above the horses and divine beasts we rode.
“Hey Ariel, you don’t have a place to live in the human realm, do you?” I’d been thinking about that, since there was still a spare room on the girls’ floor of my workshop in the capital.
“Hm, that’s true,” she said, tapping her finger thoughtfully on her cherry-colored lips. “I could always sleep in a tree or something, though.”
I couldn’t believe what she just said. “No way, absolutely not! It’s way too dangerous for a cute girl like you to spend the night outside! There are all sorts of scoundrels out there!” I warned her in a panic.
“Well, they’d probably just get themselves killed…” the other three said in perfect unison.
They were so certain because just earlier, three devil boars—a higher-tier type of evil boar—had appeared and Ariel had shot off three arrows at the same time, hitting every single one of them square between the eyes and defeating them instantly.
Ariel’s bow was truly special. It was made of mythril, a shiny, silvery metal that never showed rust and was as strong as steel. It didn’t even require physical arrows; it must have been some kind of magical device, because the arrows were formed from her mana. If she didn’t imbue them with anything they functioned like normal arrows, but she could also create holy, light, or fire arrows.
“Well, I have an empty bedroom at my workshop in the capital of Saltenburg. You could live with me and my other employee on the girl’s floor. What do you think?” I asked.
“Workshop? Employees? Lady Daisy, are you some kind of businesswoman?” Ariel swayed gently on her eagle’s back and gave me a curious look.
Well, it was hard to picture a bakery without seeing one in person, let alone the Alchemy part. I reached into the magic satchel that hung at my waist and took out a piece of bread packed for me by Miina. Time was frozen inside the bag, so everything stayed perfectly fresh no matter how long it had been in there. I still don’t know exactly how it works, though…
“Yes, I own a workshop which has both an Alchemy lab and shop, along with a bakery. Here, try some of our bread.” I held up the bread.
Tyrion dipped lower in the air so Ariel could take it from me. It was one of Miina’s inventions, stuffed full of sweet corn and mayonnaise.
“But I thought all bread was flat and awful?” Ariel said before hesitantly taking a bite.
“Hey, be careful when you’re eating and riding! You’ll bite your tongue,” Mark said, exasperated. Even though Ariel was much older than him, he slipped right into the older-brother role.
“Wow, this is delicious!” Ariel suddenly started gobbling the bread up, not caring one bit about manners. Luckily, despite Mark’s warning, her tongue went unscathed. “Lady Daisy! Please let me stay at your workshop! I can even help at the bakery!” she begged, her lips glossy with mayonnaise. Then she flew higher and started singing some odd little song that went “Bread, bread! Bread at the bakeryyyy!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Let me take over the report from here—this is Mark speaking.
As I stood looking up at the tower, I felt a terrible sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. Sure, Daisy was an Alchemist, but she’d been born into a family of Mages. Now she’d finally reached the Sage’s Tower and I just had a feeling something was going to happen.
The tower was so tall that it hurt to crane my neck looking up the length of it. I couldn’t even see the peak as it disappeared into the clouds. The ground around us was blanketed in the Sage’s herb Daisy came here looking for, so she gathered what she needed without any trouble. Then she stood and quietly gazed up at the tower for a while.
“So this is the Sage’s Tower,” she murmured.
I fought to keep my mouth shut so I wouldn’t say something I might regret later, because I knew she was about to say she wanted to go inside. “You want to go in, don’t you?” I knew if I said it out loud, she would be guaranteed to say yes.
The old stone tower was fifty floors high, with a boss-level monster standing guard every five floors. Legend had it that long ago, the Great Sage Gwynrill had lived on the top floor. According to that same legend, his relics were still stashed up there.
But nobody could confirm the legend, because nobody had ever made it past the thirty-fifth floor. Not a single person who’d challenged those unexplored sections had ever come out alive. No one even knew what was on the thirty-fifth floor to begin with.
“Mark, Letia… Did an actual Sage used to live here? Is that why it’s called the Sage’s Tower?”
Just as I feared, Daisy started asking questions.
Here we go. I let out a sigh, bracing myself for the inevitable.
Letia ignored my reaction and answered Daisy calmly. “Yes. Nobody’s fully climbed it, so these are just stories, but they say a Great Sage named Gwynrill used to live up there.”
Curse you, Letia! Stop talking! I shouted internally.
“Wait, does that mean there could still be some of the Sage’s treasures left inside?” Ariel asked, her eyes sparkling.
Just think about it, kids! Ask yourself why no one’s ever managed to climb it! Come on!
“My family’s all Mages, you know!” said Daisy. “If there really are relics that belonged to a Great Sage in there, there might be magical items they could use! Don’t you think?” Her interest was certainly piqued now.
“Listen, this is still an unexplored dungeon and—” I tried to dissuade her, but Lynn interrupted.
“If Daisy wants to go, I’m in!”
Oh great, even Lynn’s fired up now.
“Let’s do it!” the girls shouted in unison.
It’s all over… I hadn’t found the chance to convince them otherwise, so the battle was already lost. I braced myself…or maybe I just relented. If things really got bad, I could just throw everyone out a window and jump after them. It would be my duty for failing to stop them. If we got injured in the fall, we could heal ourselves with potions, or maybe we’d even get lucky and Tyrion would swoop in to catch us.
“All right, let’s go.”
With that, our party headed into the Sage’s Tower.