Tou no Madoushi

When I woke up in the morning, Lynn was wrapped in soft light.

It was a strange light unlike the light of the sun but also unlike candles and lamps.

For that reason I woke up for a while and didn't know where I was right now, but as I looked over the interior of the room I remembered that I had been in a dormitory yesterday at the tower's lodging.

When I looked at Theo's bed, it was already a stuffed shell. Lynn gets out of the futon and stretches her back.

(What time is it?)

I didn't know the time because I didn't have a clock and I couldn't grasp the position of the sun.

The soft light that fills the room seems to be emitting walls.

I felt like it was not orange like candles and lamps light, but white and almost unchanged from sunlight.

I don't know how it works, but this was like a magical force, too.

Lynn sat back in bed for a while and remained quiet but somehow softened up.

I wonder where Theo has gone.

Shall I go outside myself?

But if you pop out poorly, you could get lost in a tower like a labyrinth.

When I started thinking about just seeing what was going on outside for a little while, the momentum opened and Theo returned.

"Lynn. Are you awake? You're awake. Then we'll go sign up for the club after breakfast."

Theo's hand is gripped with a pasket of bread.

Lynn was horrified. It was when I was beginning to wonder if I was going to stay in my room without even staying up until night.

When I went out into the hallway, I hit it differently than yesterday and it was wrapped in bright light. Hidden and quiet without popularity. Maybe everyone who lives there has already gone out.

Lynn reached the same elevator that came to the Dobrat's nest yesterday after being followed by Theo. When he gets in, Theo casts a spell.

"10 tiers, to the magic city of Renlil!

Lynn grabbed the bread handed to her by Theo in the moving elevator.

"Thanks for the help. I thought you went to work already."

"I was there. In the meantime, I've been getting some time off with my face on. I have to show you around. You just got here, so you don't know anything about this tower."

"Yeah, it is. I don't know anything.... Something's wrong. I need you to take a break from work."

"Fine. He's gonna pay for a part-time job."

Theo answers with an extension.

He didn't seem very strong in the morning.

The elevator path is also filled with white light. Its light intensity and softness were not significantly different from the morning sunlight.

"That's bright. Is this magical power, too?

"No, this is not magic. It's a solar stone light."

"Solar stone?

"It's a stone that traps the sunlight. The intensity changes as the sun moves. Thanks to the solar stone, we can still get the sun's light indoors, just like outdoors. So inside the tower, plants can also be grown. Most of the inner walls of the tower are embedded with solar stones."

"It is."

The elevator goes down the white aisle.

Sometimes it plugs into the divide, but the landscape has always been a killer landscape.

White walls follow like mazes everywhere.

Lynn still couldn't get used to this maze and elevator.

It's still better than going through yesterday's darkness, but it also felt inorganic and creepy that the white wall would continue in extension.

Lynn talks to Theo to distract him.

"You know, the association I was just talking about... right... You're going there now, aren't you? What's the place?

"Oh. Magic Instructors Association. He registers and manages the Magic Instructor who enrolls in the Tower. Well, it's like the bureau. I always have to register a roster with the association for a magician to work in the tower, but he takes care of a lot of things. If there's anything you don't know, ask the association and they'll tell you. He'll also do his job good offices."

"Heh. That's convenient."

Lynn was also impressed with an organization called the Association of Magic Instructors, but also with Theo. Theo's explanation comes into my head so concise and easy to understand.

(I guess he's a smart kid)

"How long has it been since Theo got here?

"About four months. I'm not that different from you, I'm just a new apprentice magician."

"But the magic you showed me in my room yesterday was amazing. I knew that one was taught to you by your master?

"No, I learned that in a course or at work. My master won't tell me anything."

…… Is that it? Really?

"On Saturdays and Sundays when I'm off work, there's a free course for guys like us who just got here. It teaches me the rules of life at the tower and how to use simple magic. And then you're self-taught."

"How come the master doesn't teach me magic?

"The master... um, I don't know. Let me ask you something, Lynn is not a nobleman."

"What, uh, yeah"

"I guess. I'm in the same civilian class. Well, you'll see."

It's a rare way for Theo to say things stuck in his back teeth.

I wonder what it means, though, that my master doesn't teach me magic. What the hell does that have to do with magic training?

Lynn tilted her neck.

"... you're almost there"

I squeal when I see Theo changing the air around me, who has always been in arms. At the same time Lynn felt the wind blowing from the bottom. The elevator is going straight down now.

Suddenly, I went out of a narrow passage to an open place.

The walls on all sides disappear and are thrown into the void as far as they can see.

A crosswind blew and the cage rattled and swayed.

Surprised Lynn glanced down through the gap in the cage to keep an eye out even further.

There was a city there.

The elevator with the two of them aboard was descending from the sky toward the city, allowing us to see all of the 10 tiers and ren lil under our eyes.

It can be seen at a glance that the roads and buildings are maintained along certain compartments, even as they meet.

I see people crossing the road early in the morning.

Lynn also forgot that she was in the tower.

"Wow! I've never seen the city from the top before."

Lynn raised an exclamation. Looking around, besides the one with Lynn and Theo on board, the elevator is coming and going in the air.

"It's the magic city of Renlil. It's one of the cities in the tower, so far the only one we can get in."

Theo rolled his left sleeve and cast a spell.

Then the tattoo begins to engrave around the wrist.

Discs and numbers, and needles float into a clock.

"... 7 o'clock? You still have time for the association to open. Let's go somewhere else first."

The cage with Lynn and Theo was sucked into the tallest, most ceiling-free building, built in the heart of the city.

Next time, Episode 7: The Magician's Association