Under the Oak Tree

Max was drowning in anxiety, she worried whether there was a problem with the design of her spell. She quickly put on her robe and came out of her room. The sky was already turning dark blue. They immediately left the dormitories and walked along the forest road that is slowly being engulfed in a bluish darkness. Annette lit the gas lamp she held and looked at Max with an uneasy expression.

“Do you possibly have an idea why Professor Landon has called for you?”

“I’m not s-sure why.”

She nervously fiddled with the hem of her clothes and tried to recall the magic formula she spent months creating with meticulous effort. It was a formula she accomplished by sacrificing her sleep and meals time to make it in time for the presentation. However, it seemed to be that there was some flaw when reviewed in the eyes of a high-ranking wizard. Max moved her feet nervously, her heart feeling like shrinking from nervousness. As they finally reached Gnome Hall, Annette pointed to the pulley used to go up the building floors faster.

“Landon will be in his lab. I’ll be finishing some work in the common lab so if you need any of my help, look for me there.”

“Thank you.”

Max then went inside the huge iron cage installed against the wall followed by Annette and after the iron doors to the cage closed, she lowered the pulley next to it. Then, the huge cage rattled and slowly began to move up. (T/N – LF: It’s like an ancient elevator hehe)

Max leaned against the wall, trying her best not to look below her. The ground below them gradually grew farther and the dark forest appeared like a dense carpet beneath her feet. She could see the edge of the forest and the grayish blue sea beyond it, then felt a choking feeling from longing as she stared at the distant sea and hurriedly turned her gaze away, afraid that she might just burst into tears again. Finally, the gears that pulled them up stopped moving with a rattling sound. She carefully opened the iron cage with a creaking sound and entered the building through the entrance located at the side of the tower. Then, she walked across the hall that was littered with debris and came in front of a wooden door.

“Come in.”

As she knocked on the door gently, she heard a hoarse voice coming from inside. She then pulled on the knob and entered. Inside the large room cluttered with books, a fat old man was sitting by the fireplace while reading a book.

“Pardon me for calling you at this hour. I thought of putting it aside until tomorrow, but it would be better to discuss it while there are few people around.”

The man said as he closed the book he was reading. Max’s expression turned into worry.

“May I know what’s the matter…”

“First, sit down.”

He pointed his chubby finger to the chair opposite of him. As Max followed obediently and took a seat, Landon pulled out a wad of parchments from his stack of books. She recognized at once that it was the magic formula that she had submitted. He laid out the design on his lap and stared at it for a long time before he began to speak.

“As you may have guessed, I called for you to discuss this magic formula.”

“Was there something wrong… with my magic formula?”

The man then shook his head. “No, not at all. Rather, it’s the opposite. This magic formula is groundbreaking. It is beyond believable that a mere apprentice that had been in the tower for less than three years had designed it.”

Max, who was brimming with nervousness, widened her eyes at the unexpected praise. It was a magic formula she made with utmost effort, but she did not expect to receive such an evaluation from the headmaster of the Gnome Hall. Her heart swelled with joy for the recognition of her abilities, but as his brooding face caught her eye, the worries began to rumble in her head again.

“Then… what seems to be the matter.”

“The problem is your work is too excellent.” He said as he tapped the parchment with a thick finger. “If you present this magic formula in the competition, you will be recognized as a high-level wizard in no time.”

“A h-high-level wizard?” Her eyes widened in surprise.

Landon nodded with a serious expression. “As you may already know, if you become a high-level wizard, you may study freely with great support from Nornui. In exchange, there will be a lot of restrictions regarding you leaving this island.”

Blood instantly drained from Max’s face. Her eyes filled with terror as she looked at Landon and the design she had made. Her breath hitched as if someone’s hands were around her neck.

“I-I don’t understand. I put a lot of effort… creating this magic formula… but never d-did it cross my mind… that it would be such a great magic. Compared to high-level magic, the structure of it is rather simpler…”

“Having high complexity of magical structure does not connote excellence. Rather, it is better to use a simple structure for practicality. Because of that sense, this design that you have created is a masterpiece.” Landon picked up the design and read over it with new found wonder, then frowned. “However, it would be impossible for this magic to be put into practice. I am quite sure that Urd will deem your magic as taboo. It’s a pity. We have to be conscious of the church so no matter how excellent of a magic it is created, it only rots inside the tower…”

Landon heaved a heavy sigh. Max’s expression couldn’t be hidden, she couldn’t believe that she had made a magic so great and blinked with a blank face. Landon chuckled at her stunned reaction and clicked his tongue.

“Haven’t you thought of the dangers of making Golems after designing this formula? If it becomes known that such magic exists, isn’t it obvious that it would cause such an uproar in the church? Magic that has something to do with monsters is strictly prohibited by the doctrines.”

“B-but golems aren’t monsters! From what I have studied, golems are some kind of magic tools. If we look back at historical re-records… back in the golden age of the Roem era, they created an army of golems to fight against monsters.”

“Golems created in that way are now attacking humans indiscriminately. Because of that, people outside this island regard golems as monsters, don’t they? Nowadays, that’s the common perception of people.” Landon waved her parchment. “In conclusion, the magic formula that you created is a spell for creating a monster. If they find out that such magic exists, how do you think the church will react?”

Max was frozen with fear, unable to utter a single word out of her mouth. She was finally able to fully grasp the depth of the predicament she was in, so she snatched her design from his hands. Landon’s eyes widened, surprised by Max’s sudden action. She then crumpled up the parchment and tucked it into the pocket inside her robe.

“I’ll pretend that th-this magic formula… doesn’t exist. Professor Landon, please do that as well.”

Landon’s mouth dropped in confusion. “But what about your presentation for the competition?”

“I’ll make a d-different magic formula. Please, pretend that you didn’t see this. I sti-still haven’t told anybody about this formula yet… if we keep it like this, no one else will know.”

Suddenly, she remembered that the Godrick twins had gone over her design to review it. However, she thought that there was no way they could have deciphered her formula in such a short time. And even if they did understand the contents of her design, she would disregard it if she was questioned. Max spoke pleadingly.

“I-I have no intentions of staying in the World Tower. So far, I’ve been desperately studying… to get home to my husband as soon as possible. Please… I beg you, please keep this a secret.”

“If you have no intentions of staying here, then why did you research this magic formula? There’s a lot of other topics to research on.”

“That’s… that’s because while I was looking into forgotten ancient magic, it caught my interest…”

Max blushed and clamped her lips. She couldn’t bring herself to confess that it was because she was searching for a magic that would possibly help Riftan in battle. Landon sighed softly as he looked at her with his amber eyes.

“There’s no need for you to be so nervous. If I was going to force you to present it, then I wouldn’t have called you to the tower in the first place at this time of the day.”

“What you’re saying is…”

“Is there a wizard here that doesn’t know how desperate you are to leave this island?” Landon spat out grumpily and leaned back comfortably against his seat. “Still, I wanted to confirm with you first your intentions. Presenting this formula will help you establish a position in Nornui. It’s a pity to make waste of a magic like this. In all honesty, I even thought about letting you present this and pretend not to know what could have happened.”

Landon smiled bitterly as Max’s lips stiffened. “However, if that happens, Nornui might just have another wizard fleeing the island.”

“…I am not unhappy with my life in the World Tower.” Max spoke her words very carefully. “I just… I just want to return to my family. Learning about magic for me is certainly fulfilling and rewarding… but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life doing research in the world tower. I want to be with my husband.”