The trio of low-level mages made utterly dumbfounded expressions. At the same time, Sera, Bella’s roommate, looked so shocked that her eyes seemed ready to pop out.
“Hi.”
Someone came walking out with steady footsteps. That’s right. She was none other than…
“I’m here.”
“…?”
It was Bella, the crazy nuisance of a 1st-circle mage who had suddenly appeared in the magic tower. Unlike when she had been wearing the black robes typical of ordinary mages, she was now dressed in a rather beautiful gown.
“You ran away from the magic tower, so where did you suddenly get the money to buy and wear a dress like that?”
“Gold. I paid gold for it, just like your name.”
At the completely out-of-nowhere joke, Gold’s face scrunched up in annoyance. But only for a moment. He sneered viciously at Bella and said, “What are you talking about? Where would you get money? You’re just Bella.”
“I’m not.”
“Ha… You really aren’t in your right mind.”
The trio of mages let out incredulous chuckles as though they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Bella, in response, burst into laughter even more cheerfully.
“Bella, move aside. I suppose you came because you heard that Duke Kalinos and Count Melandorf are on their way, but you can’t participate since you have no research achievement.”
The three men’s eyes gleamed sharply. But Bella merely shrugged with an indifferent expression.
“Hmm… Well, okay. It seems none of you are very good at reading the atmosphere.”
Along with her meaningful remark, a loud commotion could be heard. Unlike the imperial palace banquet, there was no orchestra or anything like that. But there was definitely the sound of people entering…
“Duke Kalinos is entering!”
“Count Melandorf is with him as well.”
“Bella, a-are you okay? Why don’t you come this way?”
The people around Bella looked at her worriedly. After all, Count Melandorf was the patron of those three. But Bella stood perfectly straight.
After the door opened, Duke Kalinos, Count Melandorf, and even the tower master all appeared. Bella smiled sweetly as she looked at them. Before long, Count Melandorf approached her.
“Oh my! So this is what you looked like! I heard you had an incredible disguise technique!”
“Quiet.”
“Ah, yes, yes!” Count Melandorf rubbed his hands together obsequiously.
The atmosphere among the other mages immediately became strange. The trio in particular looked utterly bewildered.
Gold, who still hadn’t caught on to the situation, opened his mouth. “Co-Count Melandorf…?”
“Ahem, do you have any idea where you are! How noisy!”
…Having instead been treated coldly, the trio looked completely bewildered.
Just then, Duka Kalinos extended his hand toward Bella, who had been watching the situation unfold. “Wife?”
At his words, Bella quietly took his hand, but everyone else looked confused.
“…”
“…?”
“Was our empire practicing polygamy?”
To those guys whose brains still hadn’t caught up, Bella, or rather, Giselle, gave them a sweet smile. “Come to think of it, I suppose there seems to be a misunderstanding.” She lightly stomped her foot once. And then… Without a sound or any warning, the disguise magic came undone.
A woman with delicate, innocent features, long silver hair, and purple eyes. The very face that was widely known to every person in the empire. The appearance of Giselle, Duchess Kalinos.
Giselle gave a light wave to the group whose faces had gone entirely pale. “Hi.”
“W-What…”
“I had fun all this time. Ah, you guys must be so thrilled to see me, right?”
In an instant, the atmosphere in the magic tower turned ice-cold. Among everyone, the faces of the trio turned completely white.
Well, who on earth could have guessed that Duchess Giselle Kalinos was Bella! If they had known, they would have lived quietly. They wouldn’t have caused violent incidents inside the magic tower, and they would have behaved themselves. Because they were cowards before the strong and bullies toward the weak! But Giselle had absolutely no intention of simply letting them off the hook.
“Those guys, look at their eyes.” Resting her chin on her hand, Giselle responded to them coldly. “Guys, I came back knowing full well what kind of trash you were being.”
“T-That’s…”
“That’s what? Guys. If you have brains, try stuffing this into them properly.”
“…”
They were silent. Well, it was understandable that they couldn’t speak. The fact that an archmage was hiding her power and infiltrating the magic tower in disguise was already something that made no sense, so their heads must have been a complete mess.
“There’s a famous line from a book I read a long time ago. Want to hear it?”
Giselle grinned. Actually, it was from a drama, but she deliberately called it a book because there was no way those idiots would know what a drama was. See? I’m so considerate. After praising herself inwardly, she gave a light nod of her chin.
“Put yourself in someone else’s shoes.”
“…”
“It means people only realize something is their problem when you give them the same kind of treatment right back.”
Abuse of power gets abuse of power. Bullying the subordinate gets bullying in return.
Still resting her chin on her hand, Giselle grinned. Yes, it was time to have another fun little game after so long.
“What are you doing?”
“…”
“Giselle is very, very bored~”
“W-Well…”
“Hmm, how about putting on a little performance for me~?”
Those guys messed with the wrong person. Because she’s extremely petty. Giselle intended to torment them like this for a while, and eventually make them pay the price they deserved.
* * *
After thoroughly tormenting Gold, Silver, and Bronze, I expelled them from the magic tower. Of course, since it was an expulsion carried out under my name, it would be difficult for them to ever survive anywhere against respectable mages. They suffered worse than dying. But carrying out such violent acts inside the magic tower was wrong.
I also squeezed compensation out of Count Melandorf, who had essentially been their sponsor. Even if he genuinely didn’t know, ignorance is a sin too.
In the end, peace returned to the magic tower. So wasn’t this a good thing for everyone? I got rid of the bad guys in the magic tower, and I also secured the researchers who were studying. Next, I sent Duke Kalinos back.
“I just got here, though.”
“Yes, thank you for coming. You can leave now.”
“I also want to stay here and help you…”
“Duke Kalinos, you need to be at the duchy. You’re already a busy man as it is.”
“I am busy, but—”
“I’ll be there soon. Ah, and I’d be even more grateful if you could keep an eye on Count Melandorf so he doesn’t do anything foolish!”
After sending Duke Kalinos away, I pulled the tower master to my side and made an official declaration. “Bring me all the research topics.”
Wearing a pair of red-rimmed glasses that I had no idea where I’d gotten them from, I glared at them. In other words, I looked genuinely strict. No, wait. I checked in the mirror earlier, and I looked like someone you’d get completely screwed over by if you messed with me.
I gave them a little nod. The mages who had spent their time playing around and doing nothing at the magic tower looked mentally dazed, while those who had gathered to conduct research had sparkling eyes. It’s annoying that people who want to train keep asking me for help, though.
Smiling brightly, I nodded toward the tower master. “Now, just give me one week.”
“B-But if you help us this much, the cost…”
At the tower master’s words, I shrugged. “Whatever it is, I’ll claim it right after we wrap things up.”
After a week, even the incompetent tower master wouldn’t have a normal-looking face anymore.
Grinning, I spoke. “First, let’s set some discipline in this magic tower.”
Comments (0)