‘First, I need to understand this world as quickly as possible and acquire the abilities necessary to survive here.’
Even in his original world, Jaeseok had started from nothing and made it all the way into the finest laboratory at Hanguk University through his own efforts.
It was infuriating that everything he had accomplished had vanished overnight because of his own carelessness. In exchange, however, he had discovered an astonishing truth and experienced something no one else would ever have the chance to experience.
Jaeseok tried to console himself with that thought.
‘It is not as though I never dreamed of living in a fantasy world when I was younger, right? ……Although I certainly did not want it to happen at a time like this. For now, I have no choice but to adapt somehow.’
“Since things have turned out this way, I hope we can get along. There is very little I know, so I would appreciate it if you continued teaching me about this place.”
“Heh, all right. I was ordered to do that anyway. But the name Jaeseok is far too difficult to pronounce. I can just call you Jaes, right? Oh, I am Miya.”
“Yes, that is fine. I am sorry for showing you so many strange sides of myself when we have only just met.”
“You do not have to worry about it. None of the people Duke Ailin brought home were particularly normal. Compared to them, you are perfectly ordinary.”
“…….”
Miya’s answer caused an inexplicable sense of unease to begin creeping through him once again.
“Then am I expected to perform some kind of work here?”
“Probably?”
“What am I supposed to do?”
Miya shrugged at Jaeseok’s question.
“I do not know that much either. Raiden only instructed me to show you where you would be staying and explain the basics of living here. He will probably come back later and explain the rest. But…… I sincerely hope you will not be made to work in the Mage Tower.”
“The Mage Tower?”
“Yes. You could call it an institution that trains the elite mages under Duke Ailin’s command, but although they are called mages, it is really a gathering place for complete eccentrics. The person Duke Ailin brought home before you was assigned to clean that place, but he disappeared somewhere before even a week had passed.”
“……Did they find a replacement?”
“No.”
“Then does that not mean there is a very, very high chance that I will be assigned to work there?!”
“Hmm. Probably? That is why I am warning you in advance.”
“You look as though you are smiling!”
“Oh my. Hehe. Of course not.”
Miya appeared to be in her late teens. Under ordinary circumstances, the sight of the freckled girl smiling and quietly giggling might have seemed rather adorable.
To the anxious Jaeseok, however, it looked like nothing more than the smile of a demon.
‘This feels ominous…….’
Like some manifestation of Murphy’s law, Jaeseok’s fears soon became reality.
“Follow me. I will guide you to the Mage Tower. For the time being, you will be responsible for cleaning and performing other menial tasks there.”
“…….”
Approximately an hour had passed since his conversation with the young maid, Miya.
The person who summoned Jaeseok and gave him those instructions was a blond man with neatly slicked-back hair and narrow, slitted eyes.
Miya had already told Jaeseok that the man was Raiden, one of Duke Ailin’s disciples and the mage responsible for overseeing the overall management of the estate.
Jaeseok had no choice but to curse his misfortune and answer hesitantly.
“……I was simply brought here by Duke Ailin without being told anything. Could you possibly give me a more detailed explanation?”
Raiden glanced at him with open displeasure.
“Did Miya not already explain everything to you?”
“She did, but I still have no idea why I was brought here…….”
“Did you not just say with your own mouth that the duke brought you here? That single fact is sufficient. Do your utmost to prove that your existence has value.”
“…….”
Jaeseok had countless other questions he wanted to ask Raiden.
However, faced with the man’s blatant disdain, which seemed to border on hostility, he could not bring himself to ask anything further.
‘Damn it. What a terrifying atmosphere. I cannot behave carelessly when I have no guarantee that I am safe. ……Whew. Still, I should try to think positively. The Mage Tower must be connected to magic, which is what I am most curious about at the moment, right? If I work there, I should be able to understand “magic” more quickly and accurately.’
Despite everything, Jaeseok intended to assess the situation rationally and calmly, just as an engineer should.
“—Here. This is where you will be working from now on.”
……Soon, he arrived at the place known as the Mage Tower with Raiden.
“Damn it! I will kill you, Sharan!!”
“Hmph. I should be the one saying that. Ryujin, stop interfering with my experiment!”
CRASH!
SMASH!
“…….”
―But…… I sincerely hope you will not be made to work in the Mage Tower.
Jaeseok could only clutch his forehead as he recalled Miya’s words. Of all the people he had met that day, the maid had been the only one who seemed remotely normal(?) and friendly.
“For now, you will be responsible for cleaning this place. However, do not carelessly touch their research journals or similar belongings. Even I cannot guarantee what might happen if you do. Always remain cautious. Then exercise even greater caution.”
“Yee……es.”
After saying only what he wished to say, Raiden turned and departed.
As Jaeseok watched his retreating back with a forlorn expression,
‘Hmm. He will probably not last long this time either.’
Raiden, who had irresponsibly abandoned Jaeseok in the Mage Tower, quietly recalled what had happened earlier that morning.
* * *
Early that morning.
“Where have you been at this hour, Your Grace?”
“Ah. Did you not sense it, Raiden? A most intriguing fluctuation of mana suddenly appeared. I do not yet know what it was, but I brought back what seems to have been its ‘cause,’ so keep that in mind.”
“……Do you mean that ragged boy?”
“Yes. As usual, give him somewhere appropriate to sleep and assign him some work. Observe him for approximately a week, then report back to me. I wish to know what unusual qualities the child possesses.”
“Whew. You never change, Your Grace. Whenever something catches your interest or appears amusing, you immediately pick it up and bring it home.”
“Ho ho. I have no intention of changing.”
“And yet, in most cases, you soon lose interest and forget about it entirely.”
“Heh heh, but occasionally I discover a treasure. There is no guarantee that this occasion will be any different, is there?”
“……Understood. I will follow your instructions. After all, these are the words of the Lightning Flash, one of the Three Sages of the Continent.”
GRIN.
“Indeed. Then I leave it to you, as always.”
* * *
And so Raiden began observing the boy called Jaes.
The duke’s eccentric habit of indiscriminately bringing home anything that caught even the slightest measure of his interest was not exactly frequent, but it had occurred a fair number of times before.
Therefore, Raiden held no particular expectations for Jaes. As usual, he assigned the boy to clean the Mage Tower, a task that everyone avoided.
After all, a person’s true nature and worth were revealed through their actions when placed in difficulty, not through words.
……However, that night.
Raiden had naturally expected the boy called Jaes to struggle and collapse quickly, just like all his predecessors.
Instead, Jaes showed him a result completely beyond his expectations.
“What…… is this?”
The Mage Tower was a place where mages lived together while studying and conducting research in the hope of receiving Duke Ailin’s formal recognition.
It was both a gathering place and a research facility for exceptionally talented mages.
At the same time, it was a place that even Raiden, publicly recognised as Ailin’s chief disciple, found difficult to control.
Strictly speaking, Raiden was also a member of the Mage Tower.
Therefore, it was filled with numerous mages whose abilities rivalled Raiden’s own.
Unfortunately, while the mages who had gathered there in search of Duke Ailin’s recognition were certainly extraordinarily talented in their respective fields, most of them were equally extraordinary eccentrics who could not possibly be called normal.
Aside from dragons, there was perhaps no creature in the world as wilful as a mage who possessed complete confidence in their own abilities.
Consequently, most of them knew only how to create messes in pursuit of their curiosity, not how to clean those messes afterward.
Naturally, with so many such individuals gathered in one place, hardly a day passed without the interior of the Mage Tower being reduced to complete chaos.
‘How long will this one last?’
They had no choice but to assign someone specifically to handle cleaning and other menial tasks.
However, cleaning the Mage Tower also meant surviving among its eccentrics.
Until now, no one had managed to endure the position properly for longer than a week.
Raiden had placed the boy called Jaes there without any great expectations, merely hoping that he might endure for at least a few days.
……And yet.
“Hmm? Raiden? It has been a while since you last showed your face here.”
“……What happened here, Sharan? Is this truly the Mage Tower I know?”
“Hmm? Ah. It has become considerably cleaner, has it not? The new boy who arrived today is rather good at his work. Did you not send him here? We were just praising you for finally doing something useful for once.”
“…….”
The interior of the Mage Tower had been cleaned so thoroughly that the difference was immediately apparent.
Astonished by the sight and by the female mage Sharan’s words, Raiden’s narrow eyes twitched as he looked around.
“Is he still here?”
“Hmm? The boy? Uh… He is probably with Ryujin. He seems quite interested in magic, even though he knows absolutely nothing about it. Ryujin is probably entertaining him.”
“That man is taking time out of his day for a newly arrived menial worker?”
“Hehe. He did not seem like an ordinary menial worker. He appeared rather interesting. Duke Ailin brought him here again, did he not? Perhaps this time the boy truly is an ‘unpolished gem.’”
“…….”
At that same moment,
Jaeseok—who had come to be called Jaes in this world—was exactly where Sharan had said he would be.
He had attached himself to Ryujin, a curly-haired mage with a hearty and outgoing personality, and was obtaining answers to his questions about the fundamentals of magic.
“So as long as someone properly recites an incantation, anyone can use basic magic. However, because the incantations use a language different from ordinary speech, they still have to be studied.”
“That is correct. However, even when using the same spell, its performance and power can vary tremendously depending on how well the caster understands and optimises the incantation. That is why research is necessary.”
“And magic is divided into levels ranging from the First Tier to the Tenth Tier?”
“Yes. The First Tier consists of basic everyday spells that anyone can use as long as they correctly recite a known incantation. Newly graduated mages from a Magic Academy are generally capable of Second-Tier or Third-Tier Magic. Those of us whose talent has been recognised by Duke Ailin and who conduct magical research here in the Mage Tower are all capable of at least Fourth-Tier Magic.”
Ryujin proudly puffed out his chest.
“For reference, I, Ryujin, can use magic of no less than the Fifth Tier! At my level, I would be treated as a chief mage anywhere I went!!”
“Then what about Duke Ailin?”
“He is an Eighth-Tier Archmage, and only three such people are known to exist in the entire world! That is why we have gathered here, declaring ourselves his disciples and devoting ourselves to research in the hope of earning his recognition. Only after receiving his acknowledgement can a true mage confidently proclaim their name and reputation to the world.”
“Wow. I see.”
—Approximately six hours earlier.
When Raiden first abandoned Jaes alone in the Mage Tower,
“Haaaaaaah!”
BOOOOOOM!
“Hryaaah!!”
‘What is this chaotic place?!’
The moment Jaes entered, explosions rang out from every direction.
The bizarre behaviour of people who plainly appeared abnormal made him flinch slightly.
“……Hmm?”
—However, Jaes soon felt that there was something remarkably familiar about this chaotic place.
It did not take him long to realise why.
‘What is this? The only difference is that their subject of research seems to be magic. The atmosphere is exactly the same as the graduate laboratory where I worked.’
As Jaes cautiously observed the people known as mages, that suspicion gradually solidified into certainty.
‘In other words, to put it simply, this place is….’
His conversation with the mage Ryujin finally confirmed it.
‘This is the graduate school of this world.’