I was looking for the Tower Master to ask something, but somehow no one knew where she was. Even when I asked Scarface Senior who was passing by.
"Junior, she's probably next to you, above you, behind you, or below you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're the one who sticks to the Tower Master every day, so how would I know where she is?"
That's the kind of response I got. Anyone listening would think I sleep with the Tower Master and even shower with her.
Well, occasionally that did happen.
Sometimes we'd research together until we fell asleep from exhaustion and accidentally slept together, or the Tower Master would help wash me when I started nodding off in the shower.
But nothing inappropriate ever happened. This is the third most important thing I'm careful about in tower life: relationships between men and women.
Once you become conscious of each other's intimate parts, things get endlessly awkward. Even years of solid friendship can crumble with one awkward confession—isn't that how relationships between men and women work?
The Tower Master is practically family to me. I didn't want to risk growing distant because of some mistake.
This is where the all-powerful Illusion Magic comes in. I made it so that... even if I feel attraction, it doesn't lead to physical reactions. Things like my face turning red, you know.
Anyway.
What I wanted to ask the Tower Master about was how to increase my combat power. During my previous outing, after an intense battle with a Guardian Golem, I realized that mindlessly using Illusion Magic would get me thoroughly beaten like a dusty rug.
So I prepared various countermeasures, but whether they'd work was uncertain.
I wanted the Tower Master to evaluate my skills and give me career counseling. After all, I'd witnessed the 1st Princess unleashing a storm punch and becoming a Flying-Princess. Once seen, I couldn't resist.
Feathered Ascension.
I wanted Feathered Ascension too.
The 1st Princess's "Canyon Wind Gauntlet" is magic I can use too. I specialize in Illusion Magic, but that doesn't restrict me from learning other magic. But the wind gauntlet the 1st Princess cast was truly a storm.
After seeing that scene, I thought "maybe I could too?" and quietly muttered "Blood Wind." Of course, it didn't work, and I only produced a mini-fan level of wind.
Feathered Ascension seemed like some kind of ultimate move or awakening technique. It seemed like a skill powered by mental strength, but no matter how much effort I put into casting various spells, nothing happened.
Yuna, the Purple Tower Master and Great Magician, had supposedly reached Sublimation, a level beyond Feathered Ascension. As a senior in ultimate techniques, I thought I could at least get some hints about how to awaken it.
So I searched the bathroom (just knocked), checked her bedroom, looked in the research wing thinking she might be hiding there, visited all the seniors' labs, and even threw a low kick at where the Tower Master might be.
And finally, in the Simulation Room—a place I thought she definitely wouldn't be—I found the Tower Master. She was lying on a magic circle, connected inside, so I spoke to her through the external voice chat.
"Tower Master, what are you doing in there?"
-I, I'm just... playing around! Yeah!
"Ah, yes, I can see that."
Looking at the display, the internal situation was shown in dot graphics. While the control room inside the simulation allows for full 360-degree 3D viewing, the outside view was limited to dots due to budget and mana constraints.
The Tower Master's dot was shown sweating profusely. She seemed flustered about being caught playing alone.
Next to her were Centra's dot, Pero's dot, and various other items scattered around. Though the dot graphics made it hard to see clearly, I could make out a sword, a dress, and a cake.
I casually threw out:
"Want to play together?"
-Uh, huh?
"Playing with someone is more fun than playing alone, right?"
-Well, I, I'm fine...
"Were you watching an epilogue? If you want, we could replay more. Or we could reset once and make you the protagonist for a second playthrough. I'd tweak the plot a bit, of course."
-No, no reset...!!
===============================================================
While Tower Master Yuna was desperately defending herself while looking at the sky, Centra and Pero were witnessing the intense confrontation between an evil god and a kind god.
The evil god mentioned "reset" so casually. It was the apocalypse. Centra and Pero froze in place, trembling. Yuna hid her hands behind her back, desperately signaling to them.
I'll handle this somehow, so stay quiet and don't draw attention...!!
The evil god continued to spout various terrifying possibilities.
-Cross-world scenarios are a good idea, Tower Master. Centra would do quite well in a wasteland setting.
"No, I just moved them there because I was bored...!"
The evil god talked about sending Centra away from Crown Hall, where all her memories and experiences were, to a strange world.
-What-if games are fun too. What if Pero was a woman? Or if Centra was a man? Let's see. Should we tweak the modeling a bit? Tower Master, you like butlers, don't you?
"That's, no, please don't...!"
Or suggesting gender swaps. (Centra seriously wondered how she would explain such a situation to Irid if it actually happened)
The evil god continued to spout all sorts of terrible possibilities, and in response, the good god Yuna bravely put up shields. The evil god's voice grew darker and more sinister, slightly upset that the Tower Master wouldn't play with him.
-Well, sometimes you want to play alone... I understand. I'll be working in the research wing, so if you have time after you're done playing, please give me some advice.
"Oh, I'll come out right away...!!"
Click.
The voice from the sky cut off.
The Tower Master collapsed with a deflating sigh. He seemed a bit upset, but she could spend about three hours modeling with him... and if that didn't improve his mood, she could use the magic words.
'I want to hear your thoughts on the characters' underwear.'
She'd have to listen to an embarrassing hour-long speech, but it was better than leaving him upset. When his feelings were hurt, he became a bit troublesome.
"...Is, is it over, God...?"
"Yes, we... survived."
"We survived...!!"
Pero stretched out both arms in celebration. At the same time, the boy understood why this world was full of suffering. It must have been unleashed by that evil god. No wonder the god couldn't explain and kept stammering!
"......"
The Tower Master decided to take to her grave the fact that she was the one who came up with the idea to massacre Pero's village.
===============================================================
After some time, the Tower Master came looking for me. With a face that was clearly trying to gauge my mood, she said:
"I, I want to hear about the characters' underwear..."
Hmm.
It seems my act of being upset had worked. Seizing the opportunity, I laid out my thoughts on what kind of underwear would suit the Tower Master best. I stopped before her face could explode.
Then I moved on to a productive and wholesome topic. My original purpose.
"How do you do Feathered Ascension?"
"...Are you concerned about that?"
"It seems useful... and men can't resist ultimate techniques."
"Hmm, for you right now, it might be a bit difficult..."
"Why?"
"Ah! Don't put your face so close!"
"At least give me a reasonable explanation."
"You really want it that badly...?!"
Resist ultimate techniques? I can't resist them.
The Tower Master pushed my chin and forehead away with her soft hands and explained:
"Feathered Ascension and Sublimation involve changing your soul to gain power. The most basic way to change the form of your soul is to draw intense emotions from memories. But... your memories aren't intact, are they?"
"...What?"
Suddenly accused of early-onset dementia. I opened my mouth to object—then closed it. Thinking about it carefully, there were indeed parts I couldn't remember. Quite a lot, actually.
My memories of my previous life are still clear. However, my current life's memories... were vague. Specifically, I can't remember the names of my parents who farmed potatoes. Also, I think there was a childhood friend heroine I played with in the neighborhood...
Early-onset dementia?
"Don't worry too much! It can be fixed. Yeah. I'm working hard on it!"
"...There's this novel I enjoyed reading in my previous life. It's about raising a protagonist who periodically loses his memories."
"After all my hard work, you...!!"
Angered by my sudden accusation, the Tower Master pinched my cheek. Despite what I said, I wasn't actually suspicious of her. I listened to more of her explanation.
"So, I think you should aim for Feathered Ascension after recovering your memories. As I said before, unstable Feathered Ascension is similar to demonic arts. If you obtain it when you're unstable and fall into madness, right? You understand?"
"...But from what you're saying, it sounds like there are other methods?"
"Yes. Since changing the form of your soul is the condition for gaining power, you can artificially achieve Feathered Ascension. By crushing or wounding your soul."
"And those who directly manipulate souls like that... are called Dark Mages, right?"
"That's right. That's why Dark Mages still maintain their power. Despite the whole world standing united against them, they can't be eradicated. They're strong. Each spell they typically cast is essentially a Feathered Ascension."
The conclusion of the consultation was pending.
She said she would protect me firmly, so I should relax and enjoy myself. When everything was alright, I could start slowly from there.
Sometimes, I wonder why the Tower Master is so good to me. Maybe she likes my occasionally handsome face, or perhaps my pheromones are working hard.
It also seemed like she might be overlapping someone else with me. Like Elaine.
===============================================================
"I'm going to visit my hometown."
"...Your hometown?"
"Yes. I'm bothered by the blank spots in my memory. I'll just check quickly and come back."
It suddenly bothered me.
After carefully organizing the blank parts of my memory, my early-onset dementia seemed to occur in order of low priority. That is, useless memories are erased first. Precious memories are erased last.
I was born with a good brain after all. How can a human brain even infer memory gaps? This was the makings of a great magician. That's me.
Conversely, the memories I've forgotten now were low priority. What was my hometown potato farming life like that I forgot it so cleanly?
"The Academy is starting soon, so this is the only free time I'll have. Take off the necklace, Tower Master."
"But the outside is dangerous...!"
"Breaking my neck would be faster. Besides, I'm not going alone. The 2nd Prince said he'd assign someone to me. We'll be together throughout Academy life, so I thought we'd take this outing to build rapport..."
"Is it a woman?!"
"Yes, a woman."
"No way!"
The Tower Master growled.
While I was bewildered by unexpected opposition, the sound of clicking heels approached. A ponytailed woman in a sharp suit entered the reception room.
She had a cool, sharp appearance and wore horn-rimmed glasses, but her hair was pink. It's a prejudice, but according to long tradition, pink hair usually means—
"Imperial Defense Bureau field agent, Yuri Lanster. From today, I'll be accompanying the one identified as 'Mad Magician'."
"I, I object to a woman...!"
"I like women. Please take care of me."
"Uh, uhh..."
At this sudden revelation of preference, the Tower Master who had been voicing opposition froze in place. I also froze beside her, trying to grasp the situation.
My clever brain quickly identified the problem. If what she said was true, it meant she planned to give the Tower Master lecherous looks. Because the Tower Master is cute.
In fact, she was already giving lecherous looks. Following her gaze, I saw she was staring intently at the absolute territory between the Tower Master's stockings and skirt. This was unacceptable. I'm not sure why it was unacceptable, but it was.
"Nice to meet you, 'Darklez'."
"Yes, pleased to meet you, 'Mad Magician'."
Sparks flew between Darklez and me as we shook hands.