Tower of Foresight. In front of the Secret Library.

Apprentice mage Poi was reflecting on his recent conduct.

He wondered what sin he had committed to end up in such an awkward situation.

Poi’s mage rank was one book.

He could be called the bottom of the barrel among the tower’s mage.

He always had to be respectful to seniors with two books, and never let his guard down in front of those with three books.

And that was all. It might be surprising, but Poi actually thought the scariest were the 2nd rank seniors and the most tiresome were the 3rd rank seniors, while he had no particular feelings towards 4th or 5th rank.

It was similar to how a private fears fellow soldiers or officers he directly faced, not generals he’d never meet.

But now?

The 2nd rank who usually played tricks on Poi, or the 3rd rank who were as frightening as grim reapers, were nowhere to be seen.

All that remained were those of incomparably high rank with four books or more.

In a way, this was natural. The floor Poi was on now was a place where even setting foot was not allowed unless one were 4th rank.

Poi also wanted to go back down to the lower floors where he belonged, but that was impossible.

After all, no one had told him, “The guidance is over, you may go back now.”

No, to begin with, not a single mage was paying attention to him.

“It’s been about 3 hours since they went in? Good grief, to think such a thing would happen in the Tower of Foresight.”

“For outsiders to turn the tower upside down like this, it’s unprecedented.”

“Since the Tower Head did it, there must be some meaning to it. Hmm.”

With the heat that had boiled up from various materials scattered by Dorothea somewhat subsided, the mages who had regained some composure were gathered in small groups, talking among themselves.

Some had locked themselves in their workshops, saying they needed to analyze in detail the materials Dorothea had scattered, but more than half of the 4th rank mages were still spending time in front of the Secret Library.

This was because none other than the Tower Head was still guarding the entrance to the Secret Library.

The Tower Head, with a cool impression, Medir Geldnir, was silently staring into the library where Dorothea’s party had disappeared, with eyes whose depths were unfathomable.

Beside him was Rapunzel, tightly gripping a rope the same color as her hair, looking at the library with an anxious expression.

In the midst of what seemed like an endless wait, the most senior among the 4th rank mages took the lead and addressed the Tower Head, “Tower Head, perhaps you should stop waiting here in person. If any changes occur later, we will report immediately.”

There wasn’t much force in the words “we will report immediately.”

It sounded more like a perfunctory statement, made without actually believing they could return.

His gaze was directed at the rope Rapunzel was holding.

The rope, which had been taut when Dorothea’s party first entered, was now slack.

As if the other end of the rope had been cut off.

Rapunzel felt anxious.

Although she hadn’t been with the party for long, they were her benefactors. Also, while they were eccentric oddballs, they weren’t bad people.

Even knowing she was just a stranger and guest here, just as Rapunzel was about to speak up, asking to wait a little longer.

Medir muttered something incomprehensible, “…What’s important in a story is the concept. If the sentence, ‘They began their journey with a rope connected to the outside,’ is engraved, what actually happened to the rope afterwards isn’t that important.”

Both Rapunzel and the 4th rank mages tilted their heads, not understanding the meaning.

Boom!

It was then that the entire library began to shake with a tremendous roar, as if an earthquake had occurred.

Crack! Crackle!

As the vibrations intensified, sounds of something breaking could be heard from various parts of the library.

“W-what!?”

“T-the spatial magic is breaking!!”

The walls and ceiling narrowed to leave only one library, then the next moment, they became so distant that one had to bend their neck at a right angle to see the top.

Bookshelves that had been standing normally suddenly flipped upside down, desks and chairs suddenly disappeared, then abruptly appeared in mid-air.

The space between bookshelves widened enough for ten carriages to pass through, then the next moment narrowed so that not even a finger could fit.

Most of the mages here were high-level experts, so they immediately understood how dangerous this situation was.

Strictly speaking, this library was a place not originally included in the tower’s area, almost like a different world.

But what if the spatial magic collapsed?

If one forcibly added more contents to a container that was already filled to its limit?

There were largely two answers.

Either various objects contained in the library would randomly “appear” throughout the tower, or the library itself would be “ejected” somewhere outside the tower.

“S-start restoration! Prevent further collapse of the magic!”

“It’s no use! The cracks are already too severe…!”

“We need to guide evacuation immediately!”

It was then, amidst the mages’ confusion.

Flash!

As Tower Head Geldnir swung the staff he had suddenly produced, the chaotic space inside the library suddenly calmed down.

“Oh, my.”

Those who noticed what kind of magic he had used let out exclamations.

Instead of restoring the collapsing spatial magic, Geldnir had overlaid a new spatial magic on top of it.

While other mages were trying to hold a tearing box with their hands or stick tape all over it, he had prevented the contents from spilling out by putting the existing box inside an entirely new box.

The mages all looked at Geldnir with eyes full of respect, but the person himself didn’t consider it a big deal.

Compared to the Witch of the North, who had made a single spell cast during the tower’s establishment automatically maintain itself for hundreds of years, this was just a small trick.

Boom!

When the growing cracks finally reached their limit, a violent flash that made it impossible to open one’s eyes and a wind reminiscent of a storm attacked the library.

After the light and wind stopped following astonished sighs and screams.

The mages couldn’t help but widen their eyes at the scene before them.

Books thrown against the wall along with their shelves as if swept by the wind.

On the empty floor space created by the bookshelves being pushed away, about a dozen people lied unconscious.

And Dorothea’s party looked down disapprovingly at a magic book in terrible condition, as if it had fallen into a pool of black oil.

While everyone was at a loss for words in bewilderment, Medir stepped forward and asked, “—I’m glad you seem to have returned safely. Now, could you explain the situation?”

***

Stimulation was inherently relative.

For someone who had never properly eaten anything spicy in their life, even a small chili pepper could elicit a strong reaction, but for someone whose mouth was already numb from eating a lot of spicy food, giving them such a thing would only result in an indifferent response.

In that sense, the tower in recent days was in a situation utterly indifferent to stimulation.

The fortune-teller commotion, artifact restoration, and even the incident of mysterious outsiders boldly visiting the tower and scattering various rare materials.

With their threshold greatly raised by successive stimulations, the tower’s mages now had the composure to calmly let most things pass.

More precisely, they thought so until Dorothea’s party returned from the library.

That was before the library, one of the tower’s treasures, became a mess, and the spatial magic cast by the Witch of the North started breaking apart.

The mages’ reactions were largely divided into two.

“We must punish them strictly immediately!”

“That’s right! It’s fortunate that the Tower Head responded in time, otherwise a great disaster would have occurred!”

“The Secret Library and the magic cast on it were artifacts symbolizing the origin of our tower! We must exact a price for damaging them!”

The first group condemned Dorothea’s party.

“Your words are excessive. Punishment, you say?”

“They are visitors who came as proper guests, aren’t they? While we can’t completely absolve them of responsibility, we should refrain from going too far.”

“They didn’t just rescue a ‘few’ mages. Among them are those who had been missing for decades or more. To speak of punishment after such a great achievement, are you in your right mind?”

The second group defended Dorothea’s party.

The punishment side was louder and more numerous, but the defending side’s influence was not small either.

In particular, the fact that several mages, who were thought to have died long ago, were “waiting characters” constrained in the library and liberated when the world shattered had a big impact.

Friends who had once studied with them or their disciples regarded Dorothea’s party as benefactors and tried to repay them, and even those without direct connections suggested opinions like “Isn’t punishment a bit too much when they saved our fellow mages?”

There was also a third force trying to analyze in amazement how spatial magic and magic books came together to create a world, and how those trapped inside returned in the same state as when they entered, but their voices weren’t loud as they were each absorbed in their own research.

“Well, the current public opinion is roughly like this. What do you think?”

“Don’t care.”

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

To Medir’s question, Dorothea and Gale answered simultaneously.

Dorothea frowned as if she didn’t like it at all, but Gale was happy, saying they were of one mind.

Neither reaction was appropriate to show in front of the head of the tower, but Medir seemed to take it in stride.

“Due to the difficulty in reaching a consensus, it was decided to resolve this incident through a regular discussion meeting. It will probably take about 3 weeks to process everything. However, you’re unlikely to face any actual punishment. Currently, the rescued victims, who can be considered the biggest beneficiaries of this incident in a sense, are still disoriented, but once they finish adapting to reality, they’ll likely try to help you.”

“Three weeks, don’t be ridiculous,” Dorothea snapped back as if it was absurd.

Not just her words, but her will to force her way through if blocked overflowed.

Medir stared at Dorothea with inscrutable eyes.

“This is the tradition and procedure of the Tower of Foresight. If you ignore this, even those trying to defend you will have no choice but to fall silent in embarrassment. Conversely, if you just follow the procedure, you could become our benefactors. Yet, you say you can’t wait?”

The four great towers governing the Magic Country.

The choice between becoming enemies with one of them, or gaining their goodwill.

An ordinary person would obviously choose the latter, but right now, time was more precious to Dorothea than such goodwill.

“I’m in a hurry to find the Witch of the North right now.”

“I don’t mind waiting, but I have to fulfill my duty as the loser and guide Dorothea to my mentor. I’m sorry, Mr. Geldnir.”

A resolute answer that seemed to leave no room for negotiation.

As tension flowed through the reception room and the mages around the Tower Head were about to enter combat stance, it was then.

“I see. Then depart.”

A voice devoid of any humor, dry, but not flowing with coldness.

Medir’s answer seemed unexpected, as Dorothea blinked.

“That’s unexpected. I thought you’d nag stubbornly.”

“It’s true that the Tower of Foresight values tradition and is old-fashioned. I wasn’t much different before becoming the Tower Head,” with a bureaucratic face, Medir continued. “But once I actually became the Tower Head, I found I couldn’t just stick to principles. If we don’t engage in any external activities, how would we earn operating costs for the tower, and how would we negotiate with other towers? It might be different for a pure research institution, but to combine the role of a ruler, some flexibility is essential. For example, avoiding fights that seem like they’d only result in losses.”

“You speak well.”

Dorothea let out a wry laugh.

It was true that the party’s abilities were formidable, but there was still a limit to their numbers.

It might be different if they were facing a group of thieves with only numbers and poor skills, but winning head-on against one of the four towers was impossible.

“Losing even 10% of the tower’s mages would be an unspeakably huge loss. In reality, it would be even worse. Rather than enduring that damage, it’s a hundred times better to accommodate you and listen to complaints. It would be even better if I could retire on this occasion. Once I hand it over to the loudest one, they’ll realize how troublesome this position is.”

The negotiation ended there.

Dorothea’s party would “arbitrarily” escape, and the Tower Head would “accidentally” let them slip away.

There would still be various matters to deal with afterwards, but travelers didn’t easily look back.

***

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