Chapter 1 Part 23: People Are The Enemy

It was true, Aslan had mostly subdued the child through sheer force.

From what I heard, it seemed he only used binding magic when the child was so agitated he couldn’t tell front from back.

Rough on the outside, but Aslan was actually the one who handled Asher most gently.

Asher puffed out his chest, radiating confidence.

“More than anything, I hit him plenty with my tail too!

So it’s okay!

I don’t think I’d get that agitated seeing him now.”

“…Ah, I see.”

“But why do you dislike that human, Alice?”

“I don’t dislike Aslan either.

I just said he’s hard to deal with.”

“Then why is he hard to deal with?”

When the outside and inside were too consistent, it was too consistent.

Sometimes he hit the nail on the head, you know?

I recalled Aslan, who was always angry.

“Who are the other two humans?”

“One clings to me to the point of being overwhelming… and the other…”

This person was the decisive reason for my resignation.

I trailed off, then let out a deep sigh.

“She’s too fickle.”

***

“How is it?

A banquet prepared just for you.”

Jingle.

The bells in the hands of the dancers, dressed in flowing silk, made a clear sound.

The dancers moved lightly, their faces dreamy as if in a trance.

The bells shook with every step.

The dancers, having ascended the platform, raised their arms high, as if about to begin their dance in earnest.

“I specially invited that troupe you said was amusing last time as well.”

A man wearing a splendid purple turban spoke cautiously.

The table before him was laden with all kinds of delicacies from land and sea.

Beside the table sat a cage made of pure gold, inside which an exotic peacock sat regally.

The man rubbed his clasped hands together anxiously.

Thick gold rings on each of his fingers sparkled.

“I’ve gathered everything you’ve ever said was amusing, all in one place.”

But still, no answer came.

Another failure today?

The man, biting his nails, finally couldn’t bear it any longer and rose.

“Enencia.

If you would just smile at me once…”

Swish.

Before he could finish, the man’s mouth snapped shut.

His body, clutching his throat and staggering for a moment, crumpled to the floor.

As if waiting for that moment, the man’s head separated from his body.

As blood spurted like a fountain from the severed head, the dancers’ movements ceased in unison.

The dancers then screamed shrilly and ran out of the banquet hall.

Their thin robes fluttered.

Watching them, leaning against a purple cushion, the man—Enencia—muttered blankly.

“…They look just like butterflies.”

The way they flutter is quite pretty.

Enencia flopped face-first into the cushion.

Blood dripped, soaking the carpet and creating a metallic smell, but Enencia’s expression didn’t change.

Anyone could see she was accustomed to such smells.

Enencia mumbled, face still buried.

“Ah, how boring.”

For the world to have nothing so interesting…

Enencia twirled a strand of hair, tied up with a purple ribbon, around her finger.

“Is it any wonder I’m not going crazy?”

Maybe I’ll go see Alice.

Enencia pulled down the hem of her robe that had ridden up.

Getting up right now was a hassle, but if she stayed still any longer, she felt like she might die of frustration.

Dying would likely end this tedium, but she couldn’t be sure, so she couldn’t die.

If only she could ask a dead person what it was like after death.

Enencia stepped onto the blood-slicked carpet.

But not a single drop of blood clung to her feet.

On the blood-stained carpet, Enencia’s white feet shone brightly.

Enencia lifted the long hem of her robe slightly and started walking, then paused.

“Oh, right.”

She should bring a gift.

What would be good?

Scanning the room briefly, Enencia’s eyes landed on a box on the table.

Inside a glass box decorated with a gold rim was a generous amount of jelly coated in white sugar.

He seemed to like snacks last time, so this should be fine.

Enencia hugged the box to her chest and calmly left the room.

A short while later, the guards came rushing in, but all that remained was the king’s corpse.

***

Long, long ago, when cracks began to form between mages and humans, an old man appeared.

He was the greatest mage of his era.

Every mage respected him.

Stroking his beard, white as the Milky Way, the old man said dreamily.

‘I shall build a tower, selecting only the stars that shine most brilliantly among the stars.’

From the day he spoke those words, the old man immediately selected 300 mages.

The mages he selected were all renowned for their outstanding skills.

The old man led the 300 mages and built a tower in the center of the continent.

A tower where the most desirable fruits among all desirable fruits gathered.

Inside that tower, mages researched magic for their own desires.

At their fingertips, the impossible became reality; they created something from nothing.

When mages achieved brilliant feats in a short time within the tower, neighboring countries, one after another, coveted the Magic Tower.

To make matters worse, a prophecy emerged that whoever obtained the Magic Tower could even dream of ruling the world, intensifying the competition even further.

Hundreds of messengers visited the tower daily.

They offered gold and treasures, begging the tower to please ally with their country.

As the competition overheated, the first Archmage and founder of the Magic Tower, the old man Archis, said.

‘Tell them allying with the strongest country might not be a bad idea.’

The messengers faithfully relayed this.

Upon hearing it, the kings immediately waged war.

To obtain that tower, they had to prove which country was the strongest.

The war raged on for years without pause.

Small nations had long since perished.

Only a few countries that had maintained relatively strong power since before remained.

And among them, one country possessed unrivaled power: the Neonde Empire.

The Emperor of Neonde was confident he would be the final victor of this war.

Feeling further war was unnecessary, the Emperor visited Archis.

But Archis merely stroked his beard again and spoke dreamily.

‘Did I ever say we would submit to you?

I only said it might not be a bad idea.’

Archis had never intended to ally with anyone from the start.

Enraged, the Emperor immediately summoned the kings of other nations and argued that the crazy old man had toyed with them.

The other kings were also enraged.

To have waged war solely for the talents within the tower, only to be unable to even touch them.

The Emperor and kings immediately united and sent their armies to the Magic Tower.

But upon hearing the news, the mages didn’t even bat an eye.

They simply remained holed up in their rooms, continuing their research.

Only Archis took interest in the matter and ascended to the top of the tower.

Again stroking his beard, he muttered.

‘As expected, humans are both pathetic and amusing.’

As Archis raised his arm high, a massive blaze erupted from the earth.

The army was instantly engulfed in flames and vanished.

Archis, patting his back, descended from the tower.

That was probably the beginning.

Of the rumor that the Magic Tower belonged to no nation and could not be obtained by anyone.

***

“There, that’s it for today’s reading!”

Asher, sitting on Alice’s lap, blinked blankly.

Alice closed the book titled [The Beginning of the Magic Tower]  and asked.

“So, what’s your review?”

“A review, huh…”

Asher scratched his cheek with a long claw, then turned serious.

“As expected, mages are weird.”

“…I think so too.”

Alice caressed the book’s cover.

He’d felt it while reading, but from the first Archmage onward, they were already rotten.

The book conveniently summarized it as “Tell them allying with the strongest country might not be a bad idea,” but in reality, it was probably no joke.

He must have continuously instigated and encouraged them to think that way.

Because it was recorded that the first Archmage was a master at playing with people’s hearts.

Moreover,

‘As expected, humans are both pathetic and amusing.’

Casually sacrificing countless people without lifting a finger, then spouting lines like that.

Who else but a lunatic would start a war for their own amusement?

The first Archmage had been dead for nearly a thousand years, but his atrocities were still talked about by many.

Probably even after another thousand years, he wouldn’t be forgotten at all.

“By the way, Alice.

What does it mean that the Magic Tower doesn’t belong to any nation?”

“Ah, literally that.”

Alice unfolded a map placed beside him.

And he drew a very small circle in the very center.

Asher looked closely at that spot.

Unlike the other areas, this part alone was not colored in.

Alice pointed to the white area with her finger.

“The Emperor and kings who were humiliated by the Archmage discussed it and decided to grant this land, telling us to just live among ourselves.

So this land belongs to the Archmage.”

Though small, it was in a location most convenient for trade with other nations and easiest to obtain supplies.

They probably wept tears of blood while granting it.

Alice stared at the map with dead eyes.

But if I had been humiliated that much by a nation, I’d be spiteful enough to grant them land just to be rid of them.

Even if it was a bit regrettable, you could deeply feel their sentiment of never wanting to be entangled with these people again.