* * *
In the magic tower, a ‘test subject’ was usually used when a magic formula had been created and was undergoing clinical testing. Naturally, this empire had humanitarian regulations regarding test subjects. Though it doesn’t seem to apply here at the Magic Tower of the Desert.
I sighed as I walked up to the podium. “So, what are you experimenting on~?”
Silver spoke. “My specialty is wind magic. And I discovered a formula that modifies this wind magic into a typhoon.”
“Aah, is that so?”
I could do that even with my eyes closed. Though I mocked him internally, I kept the smile plastered on my lips. It was because I wanted to find out exactly what corruption surrounded this magic tower.
“…? So, I’m going to test that typhoon on your body. I’m planning to make a research topic [The Effects of Typhoon Magic on the Human Body].”
The classroom atmosphere instantly turned cold. The three low-level lackeys giggled wildly among themselves.
I answered with a radiant smile. “Wow, that’s very, ve~ry good.”
“…Good?” He looked as though he couldn’t understand how I could still be smiling brightly in this situation. “You’re seriously all talk.”
Well, I suppose we’d have to compete to find out who was all talk. But I didn’t say that much.
Silver smiled brightly and jerked his chin toward Bronze. “But I’m not trying to torment you. That’s why our youngest mage, Bronze, will help you.”
“Aah, how?”
“He’ll cast protective magic on you so you don’t get swept away by the typhoon magic. He’ll stay right beside you.”
But their true intentions were obvious. That probably meant blatantly bullying me in the open classroom was out of the question.
Oh, so there’s roughly some sort of hierarchy among them. I wasn’t sure if this place was a magic tower of a school, but I could tell it was a hierarchy-driven society.
“Okay. Sir Bronze, please protect me~!”
When I nodded, Bronze approached me with a malicious expression. “Good. You’re prepared, right?”
“It sounds like it’ll be so much fun! Enough that I’ll want to keep doing this experiment from now on!”
The corners of Silver’s mouth curved upward as if drawn with a line, while Bronze also wore a mocking smile.
“You think I’m going to cast protective magic on you? You stupid b*tch.” The moment the wind began to blow, Bronze whispered quietly. “Do you know how many people have become experimental subjects here, lost their minds, and f*cking died?”
…Oh, is that how it is? Is this a confession? What a shame I didn’t have a recording orb. Well, it doesn’t really matter since I’m a person of enough authority that I don’t need evidence like a recording orb anymore.
Listening to Bronze’s confession, I watched Silver’s wind magic approaching right before my eyes. At that moment, a typhoon swept through the entire classroom. A typhoon resembling a tidal wave.
The 1st-circle mages hurriedly crouched down against the floor. But my expression remained impassive. Then I infused mana into my fingertips and made an extremely subtle adjustment. At that moment, the typhoon rushing toward me transformed into a gentle breeze. But it did not disappear. It merely altered its trajectory to avoid an archmage holding immense mana.
At the same time… The wind that diverged from its original path turned into an even more massive typhoon, shooting off to my side. It headed straight toward Bronze. The moment I put a smile on my lips, the wind grabbed Bronze by the collar and lifted him up. Soon after, bang, crash! With a deafening noise as though lightning itself had struck, the typhoon slammed directly into Bronze’s body.
“Uaaagh!” With an undignified scream, Bronze’s body fell to the floor with a heavy thud.
“Gasp, gasp! W-What is this!”
Gold and Silver hurried over to Bronze, who had collapsed on the floor.
“Bronze!”
“A-Are you okay?”
I scoffed inwardly at the sight. Apparently, even villains had some loyalty to each other.
Bronze clutched his stomach and muttered, “Ugh, da-damn it! Silver, what on earth did you do!”
“I just did what I normally do…” Silver wore a bewildered expression.
Fortunately, Bronze had hurriedly cast protective magic on himself. Otherwise, at the very least, his internal organs would have ruptured.
Oh, what a shame. Without a single strand of hair out of place, I shrugged my shoulders. “OH my. I wonder what happened~? Is the experiment~ over~ already~?”
When I deliberately drew out the end of my words, their eyes practically bulged. Of course they did. They had simply moved exactly as they always did. Tormenting other mages and trying to kill them under the pretext of making them ‘test subjects’.
“You, what the hell did you do?”
“Don’t tell me you brought some crappy protective magic artifact with you?”
“Ooh, how did you know~?” I smiled brightly and gently waved my hand. Of course, I hadn’t brought any protective magic artifact. I was simply hiding my strength. Erasing the sensation of mana still lingering at the tips of my fingertips, I smiled brightly. “By the way, Sir Bronze must be ve~ry ve~ry hurt~! Shouldn’t you go to the hospital~?”
At those words, Bronze got up while clutching his stomach. As he limped toward me repeatedly, I leaned in and whispered affectionately into his ear. “Is this how you’ve been doing things, you f*cking lunatics?” Then I covered my mouth sweetly. “Oh my, my mistake. Please forget what I just said~!”
I then raised my eyebrows at them. “But if you always do experiments like this, I feel so sorry for the test subjects. I wonder how hard today must have been for Sir Bronze, too? I suppose it’s because Sir Silver aimed at the wrong target.” Finally, I gave them one last remark. “So, doing things like this, um, in Bella’s opinion is ve~ry! Ve~~ry.”
“What?”
I smiled brightly, my eyes sparkling. “Pathetic~!”
“…W-What did you say?”
Well, this kind of pathetic, petty bullying was certainly amusing. But the trio Gold, Silver, and Bronze, who had presumably never had someone call them ‘pathetic’ straight to their faces in their entire lives, seemed to have a different opinion from mine.
“Ah, right.” He laughed weakly. “I suppose you’re getting cocky because you happened to get lucky and avoid becoming a test subject just now.”
“Yeeep.”
“Don’t worry. Your life at the magic tower is going to become even more fun from now on.”
Of course, as for me…
“Yess! It sounds like it’ll be to~tally much fun, so Bella’s completely looking forward to it!”
If you talk to me in such ominous tones, you’re bound to get completely dragged into my pace, boys. You should’ve asked Berto and Reshaniel about me. Then again, those guys are dead, so it’s not like you could get advice from them anyway. I shrugged and turned my head.
The trio Gold, Silver, and Bronze probably wasn’t the real problem. There was definitely someone backing them, judging by how unusually brazen they were. How should I put it? They’re going a little too far. Almost as if someone had given them orders.
I smiled sweetly at them.
As expected, should I dig a little deeper?
Comments (0)