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Thank you haru and orihime for the kofi~!
***
When Valletta looked around the room and realized that there was no entrance at all, Valletta had to accept the reality.
‘The Magic Tower, the top floor…’
It was clear that it was Reinhardt’s room.
It has also been mentioned several times in the book. He used to sit there with a chair in front of that window, looking down at the human world, enjoying their ordeal and solving it.
Although he now has the position of the Magic Tower’s Master, he will soon awaken as a Transcendent. Those who have reached a level far beyond human abilities are called Transcendents.
“Are you awake?”
“Ah!”
Her body jumped.
Valletta forced her stiff body to turn towards the voice that was like scratching an iron.
She saw a translucent man who was covered in a dark green robe and wore a hood that concealed his face.
He opened his mouth as Valletta took a step back with a suspicious look, narrowing her eyes.
“The Lord ordered me to prepare a meal for you if you’re hungry.”
“I want to get out of here.”
“It’s impossible.”
“Since you came in, there must be a way out.”
“It’s impossible.”
Valletta touched her forehead as she looked at the man, who wasn’t even a machine, repeating the same words over and over again.
She knew who the person in front of her was. The Magic Tower’s Ghost, Magic Tower’s Genie, Magic Tower’s caretaker, Magic Tower’s component, a worthless existence of the tower. There were quite a few words to describe him. And the way he was treated was also not good.
But the reality is a little different. He was one of the twelve magicians who built this Magic Tower.
It is said that he loved the Magic Tower so much that he poured half of his mana into it, making him neither dead nor alive.
Caspelius.
It was revealed by Reinhardt near the end of the novel that a person with that name in the history books was still alive. It was him who recognized his true face.
‘But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s treated like a dog.’
Valletta let out her sigh.
If she was captured in this way, she would be able to somehow escape, but she’s honestly sick of wondering if she’s going to be fine.
“Are you going to lock me up like this?”
“It is for the Lord to decide.”
“Even if this was against my own will?”
Valletta said as she folded her arms, and Caspelius closed his mouth.
He didn’t say anything more. Instead, he just stood there like a built-in and stared at Valletta. It was Valletta who could not stand the frustration and opened her mouth again.
“Let me go.”
“It’s impossible.”
“Then call Reinhardt.”
As soon as Valletta’s words were finished, the floor shone, and Reinhardt appeared in a ghastly outfit.
The bloodstains on his cheek and on his hands had long since disappeared.
Reinhardt smiled broadly as soon as he saw Valletta.
“You woke up earlier than I thought, Master.”
Reinhardt’s eyes were beautifully curved.
Reinhardt didn’t look that different from when he was a slave. He walked towards Valletta.
Valletta looked up at him silently.
“I don’t want to be here, so let me go.”
“Aren’t you straightforward, my master.”
“I have told you so many times that I’m not your master.”
Reinhardt giggled at Valletta’s cold voice. He already knew that .
However, whenever he called her master, she seemed to have no idea what kind of expression she made.
Reinhardt honestly has always been curious about the meaning of her gaze that seemed to be terrified and loathe him at the same time.
“Get out.”
Reinhardt looked at Valletta as he spoke.
Of course, he wasn’t talking to her. They were words for Caspelius, who was still standing behind him.
Valletta noticed that fact without difficulty.
“Yes.”
And it seems that was the case.
Caspelius, who loves the tower, obeys Reinhardt’s orders for one particular  reason. Not because he is Reinhardt, but because he is the master of the Magic Tower.
Valletta’s gaze watched the disappearing Caspelius for a moment, then moved to Reinhardt again.
“Are you hungry?”
“…… Very.”
“Then, shall we have a cup of tea?”
Reinhardt swung his hand from left to right, and a round table and chair made of pure white marble appeared in the empty room that has nothing but a bed.
He naturally picked up the steaming teapot and tilted it to the teacup.
After pouring tea into two teacups, he looked at Valletta, who was standing idly, and pulled out a chair.
“Please sit down.”
Valletta, who stared blankly at his easy-going smile, eventually sat down on the chair with a sigh.
In spite of Valletta’s trembling gaze, Reinhardt has a sweet smile on his face.
“Let me go.”
“You have nowhere to go.”
Reinhardt shrugged his shoulders.
He hit the nail on the head.
Valletta kept her mouth shut. There was no place for her to go since the Count was already like that.
Reinhardt slowly took the teacup into his hand. The scars from his slavery still remained on his fingers.
Valletta glanced at it indifferently and turned her head, pretending not to know.
“Anywhere would be better than here.”
“You must speak correctly, master. No matter where you go, it won’t be better than here.”
Valletta was speechless at Reinhardt’s words as he spoke with a smile.
Of course, she won’t need to worry about food, clothes and shelter if she stays here, but her worry that her neck may fall down at any time would haunt her every day.
“Master, did you know?”
“……”
“I was supposed to kill you. The Master of the Tower must do that, and I wanted to kill you the first time we met.”
At his words, Valletta raised her head.
While talking about her potential death, he smiled with his eyes closed, as if to prove his innocence, at Valletta who had a tired expression. However, his words were significant.
“Then, why didn’t you kill me?”
“Because Master is the only one who deviated from the established path.”
“What?”
“The reason why I had to kill you… Is because Master has avoided everything.”
This significant answer was only vaguely understood. Valletta’s hand, which was about to grab the teacup, stopped as she felt a burning sensation in her throat. She slowly touched the teacup and slowly lifted it up.
What is he talking about right now?
A question popped up in her dazed mind.
“Hm? Master, why did you do that?”
Reinhardt smiled.
“Why did you distance yourself from me and push me away?”
His hands slowly reached out and tugged her flowing hair behind her ears. His touch was careful, but Valletta cared much more about what he had asked.
It was because she knew the original story. However, Reinhardt is not aware of that fact. But now after hearing him ask, it sounded as if he knew everything.
“I have always been kind to master.”
“…… You must have been kind to everyone. Since you needed to survive.”
“I was sincere towards my master,” he said.
Looking at his innocent gaze, Valletta swallowed a smirk.
That’s unbelievable. He was kind to Valletta, but she is sure that kindness was for his own survival.
“Unfortunately, my master, who sprinkled a precious potion on a mere slave using alchemy, was locked up for a whole day and starved.”
No.
“You commanded those ignorant people not to torment me, but they took your words too lightly.”
“You…”
“You refused to do what you didn’t want to do, even if you got unfairly hung upside down. Even if you were starved for a few nights for leaving me behind and sneaking out, and was caught secretly taking care of an animal. Even when you were ordered to kill it, you refused and let it go.”
Valletta clenched her fist at what he had slowly recited.
She had a very bewildered look in her eyes. She couldn’t help but panic.
She never thought that the man in front of her would remember everything. The shameful things that were close to being her dark history.
Valletta struggled to put strength into her trembling body.
“The kind master kept her mouth shut no matter how unfair she was being treated. Even though she was being treated almost like a slave.”
Valletta’s pupils shook at Reinhardt’s words.
“Indifferent, as if it’s someone else’s business and not yours.”
“That’s……”
What kind master.
She has no idea if he’s praising her or being sarcastic. She rubbed her face several times due to frustration.
“I wanted to cut off their limbs while they were still alive. I wanted to watch their limbs be eaten by beasts without dying, leaving only their body and their head.”
She was speechless at his cruelty.
“And all of this was not planned.”
“What?”
“From the fact that I was able to feel these emotions, to the way the master behaved… everything, everything, was out of the ordinary and unexpected.”
“… What are you talking about?”
Despite Valletta’s question, Reinhardt just smiled.
“So I tried to win your favor, but my heartless master didn’t even take care of me.”
“… Hey.”
“Reinhardt.”
Reinhardt spoke firmly at her vague call.
“Whatever the reason was why you didn’t call me by my name, I think it’s over now, don’t you think so?”
“…..”
“It’s time for you to call me, Master.”