Chapter 57: Tower Keeper of Defense
The professors finally decided to dismiss the exhausted first-year students. The ranking announcement would be posted the next day, right at the academy’s main building, once the professors and staff finished their full evaluation and review.
Around that same time, Eiros also got summoned by the Tower Keeper of Wisdom, Estiel himself. Thanks to that, Eiros managed to escape the curious stares everyone else kept throwing his way.
It was already evening now, the sky starting to dim, the sun slowly sinking, leaving behind streaks of golden clouds.
A breeze drifted by every now and then, carrying a faint, refreshing scent.
Since the first-year students had each headed back to their dorms to rest, or maybe toward the cafeteria, the academy gardens themselves had gone completely quiet. As for the second and third-year students, their beginning-of-semester exams were held outside the academy grounds. That was exactly why the whole academy felt so deserted today.
Walking along the familiar edge of the lake, Eiros reached the garden where a massive tree blocked out the sunlight. There, he spotted Estiel sitting comfortably, smiling at him, waving and speaking cheerfully:
"That was quite the show. First time I’ve ever seen anything like that."
Hearing that, Eiros just gave a small smile.
"Thanks."
Well, how exactly should he put it? He hadn’t done that because he wanted to—he’d been forced into it by circumstance. Either way, he’d caused a genuinely terrifying mess back there. He clearly remembered how, when those students ran into the Awakened-tier monsters, plenty of them had ended up in real danger, nearly getting seriously hurt.
His smile turned awkward just thinking about it.
He stopped a few steps away from Estiel, hesitantly glancing at a silver-haired woman sitting across from him.
That was someone Eiros didn’t recognize. But judging by her appearance, her aura, and just how casually indifferent she acted around Estiel, it was obvious this woman had to be more than just some ordinary character.
What kind of lunatic acted that casually around a Tower Keeper?
That was exactly why Eiros didn’t dare act carelessly, walking straight up to Estiel as if the woman weren’t even worth acknowledging.
He also remembered the details of the beginning-of-semester exam quite well.
’...The exam was run with help from the Tower Keeper of Defense. Maybe that’s her?’
If it really was her, then it made sense the woman would treat Eiros’s presence so casually.
While weighing that possibility, Estiel smiled, adjusting his glasses, and quickly explained:
"You look curious. Well, allow me to introduce her—rarely seen, sure, but this is the Tower Keeper of Defense! She’s incredibly active keeping watch over the Sea of Demons."
Hearing that, Eiros finally let go of his hesitation. Relieved that he’d played it careful, he immediately bowed before the woman and greeted her.
"Greetings, Tower Keeper."
His heart was honestly pounding a little. This was his first encounter with another Tower Keeper, and on top of that, one who kept watch over the Sea of Demons itself.
A living legend, if you asked how ordinary people saw her.
"Mhm... skip the formalities. I’ve got a question, mind answering it?"
Hearing that, Eiros hesitated for a moment. He couldn’t quite understand what a Tower Keeper would want to ask some ordinary student like him.
But since there was no reason to refuse, Eiros nodded stiffly.
"Yes, ma’am, is there something I can help with?"
Calice nodded.
"That ability of yours—coming back from death—can only be used three times, right? How long until you can use it again?"
"....? Well, I think it takes twenty-four hours to reset."
Eiros’s stigmata was genuinely interesting, sure. But that didn’t mean he was the only special one out there—there were plenty of extraordinary, unique stigmata around, meaning Eiros’s own wouldn’t come as much of a shock to most people, let alone a Tower Keeper.
Of course, it’d be a whole different story if he admitted he was immortal with absolutely no limit at all.
That was exactly why Eiros found Calice’s interest in his stigmata a little puzzling.
"Hmmm..."
Calice looked deep in thought, touching her chin, her expression slightly furrowed.
"...One more question. Can you last longer than five minutes before coming back?"
"Huh? I think that’d be tough."
Calice let out a sigh and immediately pressed her fingers against her forehead.
"...What if you climbed to the Luminous tier? Do you think you could pull it off then?"
Eiros took a while before answering, mulling it over in silence.
’What exactly is she trying to do with all these questions?’
No matter how hard he thought about it, Eiros couldn’t figure out what was making Calice seem so intensely interested in him. That only made him more curious, to the point where he couldn’t hold back.
He hesitated for a moment, then nodded stiffly.
"...Yeah, I think I’d be able to last longer once my tier goes up."
"Roughly how much?"
"Maybe around ten to twenty minutes?"
"Hm.... Yeah, that’s enough. That’s genuinely enough."
Eiros tilted his head, even more confused than before, his eyes blank and his expression flat, giving up on trying to figure out what was actually going on and just choosing to answer instead.
Fortunately, that seemed to be the last of the tricky questions.
"I’ll give you extra Soul Stone every month. So, you’d better hurry up and reach the Luminous tier."
"Huh?"
"Work hard, good boy."
With that said, she walked off with a small smirk on her face, looking satisfied, not the least bit bothered by Eiros standing there frozen stiff.
’What was that about?’
He wondered, then glanced over at Estiel by the edge of the lake, humming to himself as he tore up a piece of bread into small pieces to feed the geese.
"...Um, Tower Keeper, may I ask what... the Tower Keeper of Defense meant just now?"
"Hm?"
Hearing that, Estiel glanced at him briefly, flashing a wide, starry-eyed smile.
"What else? As you can see, she needs bait she can actually use. But sacrificing a person is a crime. That’s exactly why she needs bait that can’t die."
With a small laugh, Estiel went back to feeding the geese paddling across the lake.
Meanwhile, Eiros?
’Ah... what am I supposed to do here?’
I mean, he’d been planning to leave the academy the moment he reached the Luminous tier, but now Calice’s request was standing right in his way.
Yeah, he couldn’t just up and run off now, could he?
Especially with that promise on the table—the one saying she’d give Eiros more Soul Stones—which basically meant Calice was investing in him.
That was a good thing, honestly, since it meant Eiros could speed up his growth even further. But at the same time, it was a bit of a headache too.
He let out a sigh eventually.
’...I’ll let my future self deal with this. I’m not about to let that seed grow just because I tortured myself over my own thoughts.’
He smiled awkwardly, calming himself down and looking back at Estiel. Of course, Estiel probably had a different purpose in mind for him too.
And, just as expected, once Estiel finished with the bread and the geese, he stood up calmly and looked at Eiros.
"Like we agreed, I’ll take care of it now. Let’s get your stigmata registered, but we’ll keep the symbol itself confidential—that’s the deal, right?"
’Ah, right.’
Recalling that, Eiros smiled and nodded.
Remnant of Red Light was Leiden’s stigmata, its mark sitting right on the forehead of its actual owner. Eiros was lucky it hadn’t been noticed, thanks to his long bangs covering that exact spot.
He needed to be careful about that.
Watching Estiel gesture for him to follow, he gave a small smile and started walking.
But his body suddenly jolted, his pupils widening and trembling.
Right in front of him, the system appeared with something that hit Eiros like a bomb going off.
’Ah.’
He nearly cried out, but in the end, he just stared at the screen, frozen stiff.
His thoughts spiraled into chaos.
***