The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 156: Back to Everyday Life (2)

"……."

Oscar momentarily had a blank expression.

Kudel's words still echoed in his ears.

—You there, have you ever considered becoming my disciple?

A disciple?

He was being asked to become a disciple?

Oscar almost let out a hollow laugh but quickly bit the inside of his lip.

The sharp pain that followed erased any trace of laughter and replaced it with anger.

'Has this old man gone senile? Why does he keep trying to recruit disciples from the White Tower?'

He was already holding a grudge over the fact that Lloyd had been taken away.

Now, the opportunity had presented itself.

Oscar had been planning to reject him so harshly that it would be humiliating.

But then, he hesitated.

'Wait a moment.'

As he calmed his emotions and thought about it, he realized this was an opportunity.

A chance to find out under what conditions Lloyd had become Kudel's disciple and why.

His mind began to spin rapidly.

'Kudel Redmane is incredibly greedy and suspicious. On top of that, he has a nasty personality.'

But his fire magic was powerful enough to burn away all those flaws.

There was a reason he'd held the position of the Red Tower Master for over 40 years.

'This old fox is sharp. A sloppy lie won’t work on him.'

By now, he was probably analyzing every movement, every shift in expression, even the flutter of his eyelashes.

In that case, the best approach was to be "genuine."

'The role I need to play right now is…'

A rookie mage whose ego had inflated after being named the final MVP of the Night of Mages.

A man with great ambition who also harbored subtle discontent with the White Tower.

A smirk, clearly closer to a sneer, spread across Oscar’s lips as he replied.

"Did you just say you want me to become your disciple, Tower Master?"

"I was simply asking if you had any interest."

Kudel’s expression remained relaxed as he spoke casually.

As if taking him as a disciple was no big deal—if it happened, fine; if not, so be it.

Seeing this, Oscar briefly let a displeased look cross his face before quickly hiding it and responding.

"In that case, you've come to the wrong person. I have never once considered becoming your disciple."

He even added an expression as if he'd just delivered a satisfying act of revenge.

But instead of being offended, Kudel simply let out a chuckle.

"Heh. Can't be helped. If you lack both the ambition to grasp everything and the capability to hold onto it, then I have no use for you either. Understood."

As Kudel turned to leave, Oscar hurriedly parted his lips.

"Wait a moment."

"Hmm? Why are you calling me back?"

"What did you mean by that just now? About ambition and capability?"

"Oh? Curious, are you?"

"……I won’t deny it."

When Oscar cautiously admitted it, Kudel grinned, showing his teeth.

Then he stopped walking and, looking at Oscar, scratched his rough beard.

"You see, I'm getting on in years, so I'm starting to think about my successor. I need to find someone to inherit everything from me."

"Someone to inherit… everything?"

Oscar’s eyes trembled slightly.

But only for a moment—he quickly masked his reaction with a wary expression and asked.

"What do you mean by that? You already have several disciples, don't you?"

"Disciples? I've got plenty, so many that I trip over them. But not a single one of them truly satisfies me."

Kudel tapped his chest and clicked his tongue.

"They were all called prodigies when they were young, but the older they get, the dumber they become. What I wanted was an exceptional mage, but all I got were glorified calculators."

"……Does that include Lloyd as well?"

"Hmm?"

That question seemed to catch him off guard.

His eyes widened slightly at the sudden mention of Lloyd.

"Interesting. I didn’t expect you to bring him up… Ah, that's right. You were on the battlefield with him for a while, weren’t you?"

"Yes, and from what I observed, his talent was among the greatest I’ve ever seen."

"Heh heh heh."

Kudel suddenly burst into laughter.

Then, he stepped forward and began slowly circling around Oscar.

"I see. In that brief moment, you went through all my disciples in your mind, checking if any of them could take your place. Am I wrong?"

"……You called them glorified calculators, so I was merely curious to see who among them fit that description."

"Heh, sure. Let’s say that’s the case. Ah, and you asked about Lloyd, didn’t you?"

He nodded without hesitation.

"That’s right. That kid is the real deal. His skills and talent are more than enough for me to pass everything down to him without regret."

"Then why…?"

"Oscar Sage."

Suddenly—

Kudel came to a stop behind Oscar.

Oscar could feel a sharp gaze sweeping over the back of his head.

"Lloyd Schultz can never become the Red Tower Master because he was once that man’s disciple. It’s unfortunate."

"……Is that a rule in the Red Tower?"

"It is. I created it. Just in case I were to die suddenly and he ended up taking my position."

"……."

Kudel started walking again, passing by Oscar.

Oscar watched him with a look of disbelief.

"Just because he was another Tower Master's disciple, he can't become the Red Tower Master?"

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"You naive brat. The Magic Towers are entangled in countless political interests. Among the factions in the Red Tower, there are those who see the White Tower as an enemy. Now, if Lloyd were to become the Tower Master, do you think they would just sit back and accept it?"

"……If it’s for the sake of having an outstanding Tower Master, shouldn’t those factions be removed?"

"An outstanding Tower Master, huh."

Kudel chuckled and slowly shook his head.

"I've thought about it carefully, and I don’t think that’s necessary."

"What do you mean?"

"The Red Tower is experiencing its greatest era of prosperity. If internal conflicts intensify and one faction leaves, the loss would be immense, something no individual could compensate for. That’s why the next Tower Master must be someone who no faction will object to. Magical talent is irrelevant. As long as they’re a reasonably competent high-level mage, that’s enough."

"Are you seriously saying you’re fine with putting someone ‘reasonably competent’ in that position?"

"Why wouldn’t I be?"

Kudel turned to face him directly.

For a moment, Oscar saw the certainty in his eyes and found himself unable to respond.

"Oscar Sage was universally acknowledged as the strongest mage of his time. His skill alone ranked him among the greatest mages in history. So, since such a great man became the White Tower Master, I assume his leadership was a great success?"

"……."

"But as you know, the answer is ‘no.’ The White Tower under his leadership collapsed."

His words and gaze felt like daggers piercing through his ears and face.

His hands and feet trembled slightly, and for a moment,heI found it difficult to breathe.

“Ha, looks like you’ve taken quite the shock.”

Thud!

Kudel smacked his shoulder hard, and only then did the trembling subside a little.

He continued circling around Oscar as he spoke.

“Of course, if he heard this, he’d be furious. But in the end, the results speak for themselves. If the White Tower Master of that time had been just a mediocre figure, it wouldn’t have been just the White Tower that fell.”

“…If not for the White Tower’s sacrifice, all of humanity would have perished.”

“Ha, I know. That’s why I said it wouldn’t have been just the White Tower that fell.”

Only then did Oscar realize what Kudel truly meant, and he scowled.

“Don’t tell me… Are you saying that if we were doomed to fall, it would’ve been better if the whole world was destroyed along with us?”

“Isn’t that obvious? If we were the only ones to fall, life would hardly be worth living. In that case, it’d be less painful to just disappear together with everything else.”

This old man—his way of thinking was utterly twisted and rotten to the core.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered if he should have destroyed the Red Tower with his own hands before going off to fight the Great Demon Emperor.

“And so, I thought to myself: The position of the Tower Master doesn’t need to go to someone exceptional. We’re already competent enough, so it’s sufficient to have someone who can simply maintain the current state of the Red Tower.”

“…Are you saying that the disciples of the Red Tower Master, those highly capable ‘calculators,’ don’t even meet that standard?”

“They don’t quite make the cut. But you, at least, are passable. Your background is decent, though it’s a shame you were briefly affiliated with the White Tower. Still, since you never formally took a master there, it’s not a huge issue.”

Kudel’s hand landed on his shoulder.

“So, what will you do? And don’t even think about becoming the White Tower Master. Sasha Maestro is a half-elf and will live for a very long time. If you stay in the White Tower, at best, you’ll end your days as an elder. But if you become my disciple, you’ll have a chance to claim the position of Red Tower Master.”

There was no actual promise that Oscar would become the Red Tower Master if he followed him.

But staying in the White Tower meant he would never become its master.

After all, Sasha was likely to live for a very long time.

“……”

After a long silence, Oscar finally spoke.

“I refuse.”

“…You’re even more foolish than I expected. I can’t understand you at all. Why?”

“There’s no grand reason. I just like the White Tower.”

Oscar met Kudel’s eyes directly.

“I like it so much that I have to restore it to the greatest magic tower on the continent. Nothing more, nothing less—just as it was twenty years ago.”

“Ha… Ha-ha. Dream big, why don’t you?”

“The ambition to encompass everything and the ability to seize it—that’s more or less what you wanted to see in me, isn’t it?”

“……”

Kudel stared at me in silence for a moment before shaking his head and turning away.

“You’ll regret turning down this offer for the rest of your life.”

With those parting words, he disappeared down the corridor.

Then, Tony Havertz, who had been quietly listening the entire time, finally spoke up.

“I share a similar opinion to yours.”

“…What do you mean?”

“The position of Tower Master should go to the most capable mage.”

“That sounds like you’re talking about yourself.”

“Well, if that’s how you heard it, then I suppose it must be true.”

Tony, unfazed, continued.

“I also came to make you an offer.”

“…I’m getting a bit too popular for my own good. What conditions is the Yellow Tower offering?”

“If you come to the Yellow Tower, we’ll give you 80% of the profits from the potions you make. After five years, we’ll double what you’re currently receiving from the White Tower.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Our magic tower hardly makes money from potion sales anyway. Whether we give you half of the profits or 80%, it makes little difference to us.”

Indeed, considering how the Yellow Tower thrives on magic engineering, they were quite bold with their offers.

If he were the kind of mage who prioritized money, he would have been tempted.

“I refuse.”

“…I expected as much.”

“Then why even ask?”

“Because if I didn’t, I knew I’d regret it later.”

Sharp as ever.

Tony simply congratulated him on hia victory with a brief remark and left.

“Whew.”

He had only been talking for about twenty minutes, yet he felt as if all the moisture had drained from his body.

‘Still, this ordeal will be over by tomorrow.’

By morning, all the mages would leave for their respective towers.

Life would return to normal.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]