Chapter 72

EP.72 Next Tower Master, Resty (Part 2)

I have met her.

Many times.

That answer was somewhat expected. Resty knew quite a lot about Professor Lania.

There are records of it in the Ashen Tower.

‘She received ten years of instruction from Professor Roselle.’

Although her name was overshadowed by Laniel, she was one of Roselle's long-term disciples. It was only after the Ashen Mage disappeared that she was officially recognized as a disciple.

It wasn't that rare.

While magical families often have a strong sense of single succession, it was not uncommon to take on one more disciple as a precaution.

Resty thought.

Ten years ago, it was the period when the Ashen Mage began to show himself in the Ashen Tower.

‘And, there must have been some connection with Professor Lania.’

A person who lived under the shadow of the Ashen Mage for ten years.

Professor Lania was only recently recognized as the adopted daughter and disciple of Elder Roselle.

For over ten years.

She must have lived in the shadow of the Ashen Mage, a time that was not easy to guess.

Asking such a person might be extremely rude. It might even touch on a trauma.

Still, Resty opened her mouth.

She asked a question she had never been able to ask before.

“...What kind of person was Laniel?”

“What kind of person?”

“I’ve seen him a few times in the tower, but I can’t really get a sense of who he is...”

She was always compared to him.

However, Resty didn't actually know much about the Ashen Mage. She always faced him through his achievements.

The Ashen Mage.

Laniel van Trias.

Resty didn't know Laniel as a person, only as an achievement. She wasn't the only one; the mages of the Ashen Tower also didn't know him.

She knew the symbolic nature of Laniel.

She knew the achievements and great deeds he had built.

But she didn't know the person Laniel.

“What kind of person he was.”

Resty.

“What kind of life he lived as the next tower master.”

She was curious.

“I want to ask about that.”

Asking the question, Resty observed Professor Lania's reaction. Contrary to her expectations, Professor Lania didn't seem upset.

“Hmm...”

Instead, she had a puzzled look on her face.

“...I see.”

After a while, she finally spoke with difficulty.

“You seem similar to him?”

“...What?”

It was an unexpected answer.

Resty blinked at the answer. Professor Lania tilted her coffee cup and said...

“Do you know the situation of the tower when the Ashen Mage first became the next tower master?”

“...No, I wasn’t in the tower at that time.”

“When did you enter the Ashen Tower?”

“I’ve been here for about six years. I was selected as the next tower master... about three years ago.”

“Six years ago... that was just before the Ashen Mage left the tower, right? So it makes sense you wouldn’t know.”

She smiled bitterly.

“He wasn’t much different from you.”

“...Not much different?”

“He was also looked down upon. Criticized by the elders and ostracized by fellow mages... things like that. The Ashen Tower was quite brutal.”

“...Just because of his background?”

The Ashen Mage was treated poorly?

‘He was similar to me?’

Resty tilted her head.

During her time in the tower, the Ashen Mage she had encountered by chance... was always confident. He never shrank back.

Whenever he passed by, the mages would straighten up. They would fidget to show their research results, hoping to catch Laniel’s attention.

The Ashen Mage Laniel was such a person.

A person who shone just by existing.

‘...Such a mage was looked down upon?’

It was hard to imagine.

Seeing Resty’s expression, Professor Lania continued.

“Have you ever been bullied because of your background?”

Resty nodded.

Indeed, she had never been bullied because of her background.

“That’s a relief.”

Professor Lania swirled her coffee cup and continued.

“The Ashen Mage was criticized because of his background. A miserable background, having lost his hometown. They said, ‘What does a mage from such a background know?’ That’s how he was criticized.”

“...Just because of his background?”

“Yes, just because of his background. He was an adopted son of the Trias family, but... he was a refugee. Ridiculously, they wouldn’t even look at his papers because they were considered dirty.”

It was absurd to hear.

Seeing Resty’s expression, Professor Lania chuckled.

“Absurd, right?”

“That’s... yes.”

“Your background... well, it’s a bit embarrassing to say, but you also came in as an adopted daughter, right?”

“Yes, I came from an orphanage.”

“Right. But thinking about why the elders didn’t criticize you for your background... it’s because if they did, they would have to criticize the Ashen Mage as well.”

“...The elders looked down on the Ashen Mage, didn’t they?”

“That’s all in the past.”

She shrugged.

“Now, in the Ashen Tower, no one can criticize the Ashen Mage, right? Isn’t that so?”

“...”

Resty nodded.

She knew this better than anyone else, having been constantly compared to him.

“Why do you think that was?”

Professor Lania pressed the lid of her coffee cup with her index finger.

“He was suppressed.”

The lid of the coffee cup sank in.

“He proved himself through his achievements. With results that no one could ignore, he suppressed the elders.”

She turned to Resty.

“And, it didn’t happen overnight.”

“...”

“It took a very long time. For a long time... well, he constantly clashed with the elders and fought.”

At those words, Resty blinked.

“I saw him up close. He also suffered a lot at first. He would grind his teeth, saying he would kill all the mages several times a day?”

Resty looked at Professor Lania.

Her eyes seemed to be looking far away.

“He would say he would drink the elders’ blood, staying up late to write reports. Being ignored in the tower was a daily occurrence, and when he came home, he would drink alcohol that didn’t suit him. He would also complain to his mentor.”

That mage had such a human side?

Resty blinked and asked.

“...Really?”

“Yes, I saw him up close.”

Professor Lania sipped her coffee and looked far away with a nostalgic gaze.

“Everyone is mistaken. They praise him as a genius and admire him as an unprecedented mage... but if you peel back one layer.”

She laughed.

“He wasn’t much different from you.”

“...”

“He just endured. Worked hard, gritted his teeth.”

Resty closed her mouth.

She mulled over what she had heard. Professor Lania continued.

“The next tower master of the Ashen Tower is like that. It seems like anything is possible once you sit in that position... but it’s not.”

Thud.

“You’re bullied and worn down until you step down. Continuously, endlessly. You’re a thorn in their side. The tower will keep running even without the next tower master.”

Thud.

“So, many next tower masters, except for the Ashen Mage, have become puppets. They all got tired of it. They just passed it off to someone else.”

She lifted her finger that had been touching the coffee cup.

“Still.”

That finger pointed at Resty.

“You don’t seem like that.”

“...”

“You have something you want, don’t you?”

“...Yes.”

“The position of the next tower master is just a means. You have another goal, right? Actually, that goal isn’t that grand.”

It was something she had never confided in anyone.

But Resty nodded unconsciously.

“...Yes, I do.”

“You want to be recognized.”

Professor Lania said bluntly.

“Even by one person. I want that person to be proud of me. I want to prove that taking me in was the right choice.”

Resty took a deep breath.

“How do you...”

“Because the Ashen Mage was like that.”

She laughed.

“I was like that, and the Ashen Mage was like that too.”

Professor Lania smiled, looking far away.

“Actually, I don’t mind if people say anything about me. I don’t mind if they ignore me. Everything is fine...”

She said.

“But I don’t want to ignore the person who took me in. That’s why I’m holding on to this position, struggling.”

That was it.

Resty nodded unconsciously.

‘...Because the elder didn’t want to be ignored.’

There were voices that belittled her. Many of them.

They didn’t just target her.

Discrediting her was the same as discrediting the elder who had taken her in.

That.

More than anything, Resty couldn’t bear it.

“Without such a goal, if I had become the next tower master... I wouldn’t have been able to last three years.”

Resty looked at her.

She met her blue eyes.

“...Professor Lania.”

Then, she asked a question she hadn’t been able to ask earlier.

“Have you never thought that the expectations placed on the position of the next tower master, following the Ashen Mage, were heavy?”

Thinking about it, it was true.

This professor in front of her had lived in the shadow of the Ashen Mage for ten years. She had been compared to him.

Ten years of waiting.

She had waited for ten years without showing herself to the public.

And when she came out.

When she was recognized as a disciple by Elder Roselle, received the Trias name, and showed herself to the public.

‘From the very beginning.’

She was confident.

She didn’t shrink back from others’ gazes. Resty found this incredibly surprising.

If it were her.

She wouldn’t have been able to endure the gazes.

“...Have you never thought about giving up?”

At that question, Professor Lania blinked.

Her narrowed eyes opened and closed.

It was a misunderstanding.

Lania had a rough idea of what she was asking. She understood that the question was a misunderstanding.

But.

Resty didn’t know, but the misunderstanding wasn’t entirely wrong.

The weight of the position.

The gazes placed on the position.

These were things the Ashen Mage felt every day.

“I see.”

Laniel, pretending to be Lania, laughed.

It was a misunderstanding. But just because the other person was mistaken didn’t mean she had to lie.

She.

As Laniel, not Lania, she answered the question.

“It was heavy.”

The position of the next tower master was heavy.

The position of the Sage in the Hero Party was even heavier.

“My mistakes don’t just end with me.”

It tarnished her mentor’s reputation.

A mistake on the battlefield led to someone’s death.

“Symbolic positions are like that. Heavy... and I thought about throwing it away every day.”

There were high expectations.

“I always had to be perfect.”

When she was the tower master of the Ashen Tower, it was somewhat manageable. But on the battlefield, it was different.

Sage, Laniel van Trias.

A member of the Hero Party, the Ashen Mage.

The meaning of that name was significant. Everyone had expectations of her. When she appeared on the battlefield, she always had to be a symbol of hope.

She had to bring hope even in desperate situations.