The Innocent Mage's Spellbinding Nights - Chapter 29
Seeing Irina’s bright smile again after she had distanced herself from me since becoming the Tower Master…
“Hesed, are you hungry right now?”
“No, I had some snacks during the meeting with those people, so I’m fine.”
In reality, he had only sipped some tea for the sake of his image, but Hesed lied without batting an eye. Seeing her happy made him feel as though he could go without eating anything.
“Then shall we walk around a bit before going to the restaurant?”
It seemed his senior was a bit excited about this rare outing, despite the slightly warm early summer weather.
‘And thanks to the wind spirits subtly following her, she doesn’t seem to feel the heat as much.’
Look around. While others are panting in the windless weather, Irina’s beautiful hair flutters gently as if she’s standing in a windy field. Of course, being close to her, he also benefitted from the spirits’ presence.
“Sure. Let’s get some of your favorite lemonade from that stand and then go for a walk before dinner.”
“That sounds like a great idea!”
Luckily, he had informed the restaurant that they might arrive a bit late.
‘If I had known she would enjoy this so much, I would have insisted on bringing her out earlier.’
Hesed regretted not doing this sooner as he walked towards the stand.
***
At a weapon shop in the bustling downtown area—
“Look, I just need something with a good grip.”
“No, senior. We need to choose the best sword to minimize any damage in real combat. Please wait a moment.”
Scarlet had broken her usual scimitar and brought Vine, who was knowledgeable about weapons, to find a new sword. She shook her head as she watched him inspect various swords for over an hour.
“Um, dear customers, I’m not just saying this, but all our products are above average. My uncle, who forges them, melts down anything that doesn’t meet his standards right on the spot.”
“Yes, but since it’s for my senior, so I need to be more careful in selecting it. Thank you for your understanding.”
At Vine’s polite response, the shop owner had no further comments.
‘Ugh, such a serious guy. How can you not get exhausted living like that?’
If he had just a fraction of their cunning youngest junior’s calculation and cleverness, there’d be no worries.
As Scarlet was internally sighing at her bear-like serious junior, she noticed an unusual pair through the display and widened her eyes.
‘Wait, who is that?’
Irina and Hesed. Her lovely junior sister and obnoxious junior brother who were as incompatible as water and oil, or cats and dogs.
‘Judging by their attire…’
They weren’t performing official duties as they were dressed neatly in civilian clothes rather than the usual basic shirt or dress with a mage’s robe.
‘Could it be a date…?’
Scarlet’s eyebrows knitted together in a frown.
‘Of all people, those two?’
It felt like witnessing a cherished fish being snatched by a stray cat.
Feeling the need to investigate their state and destination further, Scarlet placed some gold coins on the counter and called out.
“Shopkeeper, we’ll take the one he’s holding. Keep up the good work!”
“W-Wait a minute, Senior!”
An alarmed Vine tried to stand his ground, but Scarlet neutralized his resistance by poking his side and whispered quietly.
“This isn’t the priority right now. We need to follow them quickly.”
“What? Who?”
“Irina and Hesed!”
Reluctantly, Vine followed Scarlet in quietly trailing the two juniors. Though he had not intended it for this purpose, the stealth techniques he had learned from sword training and the concealment magic mastered through fierce battles with beasts proved to be quite useful.
“You know, what weakness could our junior sister have that she’s being dragged around by that sly fellow?”
“Senior, those two have always been close. One of them is pursuing the other relentlessly, after all.”
Vine sighed as he replied.
Yes, Irina and Hesed had always been quite close as senior and junior. Irina was kind to everyone, and Hesed was more considerate towards Irina than anyone else in the world.
That was until Irina was appointed Tower Master and Hesed became the Vice Tower Master, following the previous White Tower Master’s recommendation.
“Right, they were. Damn that master of ours. He’d throw out his wishes and leave the kids to deal with the aftermath without any guidance.”
Scarlet’s face twisted as she recalled their generally harsh and unfriendly master.
Some might ask why senior disciples like Scarlet and Vine didn’t help them out. However, many White Tower mages, especially the old-fashioned elders, criticized not Irina’s magical prowess but her ‘weak personality’. Helping too directly would have given the impression that they were manipulating the White Tower through their seemingly weak junior.
Their best option was to stay away from the White Tower as much as possible under the pretext of training, ensuring they did not burden Irina and Hesed’s leadership.
“It would’ve been better to hand over the burdensome Tower Master position to Hesed as initially planned.”
Scarlet grumbled, and Vine slightly nodded in agreement. The master’s change of heart happened after he lost an unofficial duel with Hisran, the new Red Tower Master.
