Chapter 194: [194] The Mage Tower

“I have somewhere I need to be. I don’t think I’ll be able to join you for a rice tasting.”

Eliron gave her a blank stare. “You say it like we are going to slack off. This is part of work, you know?”

Although he said it half in jest, Eliron was actually serious. In order to become a major exporter of rice, he needed to see how rice was currently being prepared in Donia.

Then the knowledge he would gain from this world, he would add to everything he knew from Korea to create products that were too addictive to resist.

That way, the demand for rice would increase.

Eating was really a part of the job!

“Yes, this is a very vital part of Artaris’ growth!” Yennefer chipped in, her face serious and her fists balled up in front of her in determination.

She waved her fists up and down. “It’s very serious!” Drool was already about to fall off the side of her lip.

“Keyuuuu!” The fox spirit on her shoulder yipped.

Now, seeing how enthusiastic the laziest members of the group were about the rice tasting, Eliron began to question himself.

“I know, it is very important.” Artie smiled as she saw Yen’s determination. “But the order will be here in three days at most right? I need to visit the mage tower before then.”

“The mage tower?” Eliron asked, more to himself than Artie.

“Yes. As annoying as it sounds, my training has stalled in recent days. I simply don’t know a lot of spells, and my foundational knowledge is weak. The tower might also be one of the few places that has a grimoire on light magic.”

Although she pushed her body to the limit every night, Artie’s growth had slowed down to a crawl.

She had mastered most of the spells and skills she knew and was now left with rarely anything to do.

’I need to grow stronger.’ Artie thought.

To get revenge on the man who had killed her sister, Artie needed to become several times stronger than she was now.

And even then, death was still a possibility. That was just how powerful that man was.

“I see…” Eliron said in a low tone.

Although Artie was naturally talented, it only made sense for her to experience difficulties later on.

A spell book was also very important if she wanted to learn new spells. Now that Eliron was thinking about it, the mages in Artais would need a lot of them as well.

“Alright.” Eliron pulled out a coin pouch from his coat and tossed it towards Artie who caught it mid air.

“What is this for?” She cocked her head to the side.

“The tower is not a charity, you know? Neither are the spell books. Use it to get your grimoire and a few for the other mages.”

Artie smiled. “As generous as ever. Thank you.”

Eliron nodded, then turned to the sentinel standing next to him. “What about you, Ash?”

Ash’s eyes widened in surprise. “Me? I’m fine here my lord, a lord must always have his guards right next to him.”

Eliron frowned as he stared at the head strong knight. He could tell that Ash likely wanted to visit a skill shop to get a few skill scrolls.

But he was being stubborn because he did not want to be an inch away from Eliron.

“This is an order, go and get yourself some new skills. You need to be strong to protect me you know?” Eliron said bluntly.

Although skill scrolls did not guarantee that one would learn the skill, it outlined every step you needed to take to learn it.

Ash sighed. “If it is your wish, then I will depart my lord.”

He paused for a few seconds before adding. “Thank you.”

Eliron handed him some money as well and sent both of them on their way.

“I guess it’s just three of us then….” Eliron smiled.

But the smile faltered when another voice rang in his head.

’You mean us four!” The sword Demon, Satoru screamed in his ear. He then wrapped his hand around Eliron’s shoulder and smiled.

“So, I hear we are going rice tasting?!”

’What the heck are you doing here?! Life was far more peaceful with you gone!’ Eliron glared at the demon.

’Peaceful or boring? You probably can’t tell the difference since your life is so bland—’

Satoru paused mid-sentence.

’What? Cat caught your tongue?’ Eliron joked.

Satoru blinked. ’Umm… I’m meant to be invisible right?’

Eliron sighed, wondering why he was saying something so obvious. “Get to the point.”

Satoru pointed forward…

Eliron followed his hand, only to see Yennefer staring right at the demon with an evil glint in her eyes.

Yen redirected her gaze to him. “I always wanted to ask, why do you guys bicker so much?”

<•••>

Eliron located the nearest restaurant, deciding that he needed to ask his questions while sitting down and waiting for their food.

“So… how long have you been able to see him?” He folded his hands as he watched Yen.

It was not a surprise that Tsukiko could see Satoru since they were both his contracted spirits. But Yen being able to see him with a different question.

“Well… from the beginning. But I didn’t say anything since the others were around and you haven’t told them about him.”

Eliron glanced at Satoru before turning back to Yen. ’Well damn…’

Maybe he had underestimated Yennefer a little bit. Although finding out that she had always known Satoru was there was shocking, Eliron was more surprised by how well she had hid the fact!

Not once had he even suspected that she could perceive him, even as they bickered endlessly in her presence!

“How can you see him?”

Yen shrugged. “Angel privileges I guess. We need to be able to see all things to judge all things fairly.” She said, placing emphasis on the ’judge’ part as she glared at Satoru.

Satoru shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Whenever he saw Yennefer, she always seemed like a sweet innocent air head, but now, subjected to her icy cold stare, Satoru felt like he was in the presence of a she-devil.

She looked like she wanted to eat him and suck on his bones… Well, maybe that was going too far.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Satoru managed to ask, his eyes narrowed as he stared at her from the other side of the table.

Yennefer smiled. Or rather, her lips curled upwards, because what she had on her face was too scary to be called a smile.

“You’re the sword demon aren’t you?”

Satoru nodded. “I was… I am no longer a demon you know?”

Yennefer’s smile broadened. “If a murderer were to tell you he killed five people in the past, but has not done so in a long time…”

“Does that mean he is no longer a murderer?”

Satoru glanced at Eliron who shrugged in response.

“I don’t think so…”

Yennefer cocked her head to the side, her golden eyes devoid of emotion. “Ahh, in the same vein, there is no such thing as a repentant demon.”

Silence…

’Huh? What is this freezing cold atmosphere?!’ Eliron glanced at Tsukiko who seemed worried for the very first time.

’Is this how much angels hate demons??’

Technically, angels and demons had been eternal enemies since the dawn of creation. It was only natural that there would be bad blood between them.

Click!

Yen suddenly sprang from her seat, her hands reaching for Satoru’s neck. Eliron immediately held her abdomen, pulling her back with all her might.

“Holf her back!” Satoru squeaked, leaning on the edge of his seat.

“Wait, Yen! He’s not really a demon, you can’t exorcise him!”

’People are staring~!!’ Eliron screamed internally.

“Stay away from this Eliron, I’ll free your sword from the demonic plague— owww!”

Thwack!

Eliron chopped the top of Yennefer’s head with his hand. She immediately held her head with both hands, her eyes teary.

“Hey, I’m doing you a favor—” she was about to complain. But thankfully, just at that moment, their food arrived.

Yennefer shot one more glare at the ex-demon before her eyes glistened like rubies.

“Which one should we try first, Eliron?” She asked in a merry tone, clasping her hand together as she smiled wide.

“A complete 360…” Satroru muttered as he watched Yen feed Eliron one of the rice dishes. “Angels are scary…”

<•••>

Meanwhile…

The Central Magic Tower, Donia Kingdom…

The magic tower was a magnificent building that rose up into the sky. A marvel that boasted one hundred floors, the third largest building in the world.

As Artie ascended the steps, walking towards the building, she could see a number of young mages walking about.

They wore robes of differing colors. Red and green dominated the area, and there was only a handful of grey, the rarest being indigo.

’The robes are probably assigned by rank…’ Artie thought.

According to what Eliron told her in the past, mages were classified according to seven main ranks that could only be assigned by the tower.

Novice, Second Class mage, First class mage, Wizard/Witch, Grand Mage, Arc Mage and the greatest honour of all, the Magus Supreme.

Artie needed to access the towers spell books as well as their training grounds, but to do so, she needed to register as a tower mage.

’I wonder what my rank would be…’

She was definitely leagues above what she used to be before Eliron’s sudden shift in character. But there was no real way to quantify her strength.

Eliron was too much of a monster to be compared with, Ash was not a mage and Yen was a healer.

’I guess I’ll find out today.’

She walked up to the large doors, about to walk in when a mage suddenly stepped in front of her.

“This is not a place for your kind.”

The first thing Artie saw was his robe, a deep shade of Indigo. ’Wizard Rank… not the kind of person you should mess with.’

She raised her gaze, and when she saw his face, Artie’s blood ran cold.

A perfect face with nearly combed blonde hair that fell past his back, dark blue eyes that looked down on her like she was less than shit underneath his booths.

And those ears…

Long ears that pointed to the clouds as though to say that even they were superior to hers that drooped down.

A high elf was barring her path.

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