Chapter 17: The Inspector (6)

✦ Chapter 17 – The Inspector (6) ✦In the lounge of the Imperial Magic Tower.

“Do you know anything about the new inspector who’s taking office?”

A tower employee asked Agnes, addressing her more like an old friend than a visitor. It wasn’t surprising, given they had known each other since Agnes’s time at the tower. The atmosphere in the lounge was relaxed as the employee continued, popping a small dessert into her mouth.

“It’s unbelievable. A commoner with no family and absolutely no experience. That’s all there is to say.”

“…………..”

How could someone like that become an Inspector? That was the only thought crossing Agnes’s mind.

An Inspector’s role was to ensure the Tower maintains its proper course and to oversee that its members adhere strictly to principles and magical ideologies in their duties.

However, to effectively supervise and lead the Tower’s members, overwhelming support was crucial. It was essentially a leadership position.

Click-clack-click.

Agnes idly turned a cube in one hand, as was her habit.

After a long silence filled with contemplation, the employee sitting across from her smirked knowingly, “Come on, you don’t want to be that Inspector’s secretary, right? Let’s forget I mentioned this. You should hurry back to the palace.”

Just as the employee reached to retrieve the documents from the desk—

“…No.”

Agnes gently held the papers in place with telekinesis, “I can’t go back to the palace anyway. I have no choice.”

Having already submitted her resignation before coming here, Agnes had limited options. With the Imperial Magic Tower currently short-staffed only in secretarial positions, what else could she do but accept?

The door creaked open.

As their conversation continued, a male employee entered the lounge. He was quite surprised to see Agnes.

“Oh, what’s this? Isn’t that Agnes?”

He confirmed her identity after noticing the cube.

“It is. What brings the palace administrator here?”

“I’m no longer the palace administrator.”

“…Don’t tell me you left there to come here?”

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You’ve made a mistake. You’ve come to a sinking ship.”

The woman beside him immediately glared at him.

“Hey, why are you saying such things as soon as you arrive?”

“What? Agnes should know the truth.”

Despite their heated exchange, Agnes calmly brushed her short black hair behind her ear. The female employee’s eyes rounded in surprise.

“Aren’t you curious about this, Agnes?”

“Significantly low performance, factional disputes… Isn’t it just the same old story? These issues have been around since I worked at the Tower in the past. Hearing about them again doesn’t surprise me much.”

“Oh, but that’s not all anymore.”

The male employee sighed deeply.

“For some reason, the Second Princess has returned to the Capital. She’s expected to visit the Imperial Magic Tower within a week.”

A brief silence followed his words.

“…The Second Princess herself is coming?”

“Yes. What do you think about that, Agnes?”

“Well…”

Though Agnes had never personally encountered the Second Princess, she had heard countless stories about her.

‘Mind even your breathing.’

This warning always accompanied tales of the Second Princess. She was known to place immense importance on bloodline and status, and even more so on dignity and decorum.

…The fate of those who offended her was predictable.

The male employee sighed, “It’s unlikely she’s suddenly developed affection for the Tower she’s neglected for years. The prevailing opinion is that she aims to sell it off.”

It was a plausible inference.

The Imperial Magic Tower belonged to Second Princess Hedera.

However, Hedera herself had shown little interest in it.

More precisely, she lost interest dramatically when the Tower failed to achieve its goal of ‘Human magic rivaling dragons.’ This marked the beginning of a long period of neglect.

The female employee shuddered.

“Hmm… Would the Second Princess approve of a novice Inspector with no experience, let alone common birth? I seriously doubt it…”

“………….”

Both employees’ gazes turned to Agnes.

“Agnes, just go somewhere else. Honestly, if you were a stranger, I’d try to persuade you to work here, but because it’s you, I’m saying this. Why come to a place like this?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Unless the new Inspector is omnipotent like a god and solves everything, this place is doomed. It’s far from being a dream workplace, you know?”

In simple terms, there was no future here.

Click-clack-click-clack.

Agnes turned the cube, reflecting on her memories.

Her strict family, the academy she graduated from too early due to her exceptional abilities… In the end, this Imperial Magic Tower was where she had spent most of her life.

It was also the only place Agnes had ever grown attached to.

Perhaps that’s why she felt a strange sense of regret.

Deep down, she hoped the Imperial Magic Tower wouldn’t fail.

“………….”

But she shook her head and signed the document.

She knew well that sentimental feelings, especially expectations or hope, didn’t suit her.

“…It doesn’t matter. I’ll work here briefly and then leave.”

An omnipotent Inspector.

An Inspector who could solve all the Tower’s problems at once.

An Inspector who could persuade the formidable Second Princess.

…There’s no way such an Inspector could exist.

~~••~~••~~

The cafeteria of the Imperial Magic Tower.

Currently, the crowd was divided into two opposing sides, leaving the head seat vacant for Ezekiel. This arrangement wasn’t due to the room’s layout, but rather the natural result of having two factions.

“Well, well, I didn’t expect to see you here, Widro.”

Nox, the leader of the Pragmatic faction, pushed up his glasses with his middle and ring fingers, curling up the corners of his mouth as he did so.

“I heard you boasting about reserving Twilight’s Breath. What brings you to the cafeteria? Perhaps your age is catching up with you, making you confuse locations?”

“Mind your own dignity. Many people saw you frantically pulling out scrolls in the street, looking like a desperate lizard shedding its tail.”

The tension between the two sides was palpable, ready to snap at any moment; neither side showed any sign of backing down, refusing to avert their gaze or soften their tone.

Though these groups despised even breathing the same air, today they had a reason to abandon all their plans and gather here.

And that reason was, of course, just one thing.

Ezekiel’s Seven-Color Ice. They were captivated by it.

‘It was something we’d never seen before, and it was truly remarkable.’

Nox and Widro shared the same impression.

Ezekiel’s display in the street had been that impressive. It was an immense source of inspiration, enough to spark intense curiosity even in those who had spent years in the Imperial Magic Tower.

Suddenly, Widro smiled.

“By the way, Nox, haven’t you noticed?”

“Notice what?”

Widro’s smile deepened.

“The Inspector. He used magic without relying on scrolls. It’s obvious he has no interest in those scraps of paper. You’d better give up your ambitions now.”

Most of the Theoretical faction wore expressions similar to Widro’s.

They firmly believed the new Inspector would be a talent suited to the Theoretical faction. Their confidence was evident in their relaxed demeanor.

‘Pathetic old fools.’

However, Nox also raised the corners of his mouth in a relaxed manner. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Why didn’t they understand that it was precisely because the Inspector used pure magic that Nox was interested?

‘No matter how excellent pure magic is, once you try using it with scrolls a few times, you can’t help but be attracted to the convenience. The more remarkable the skill, the easier it is to side with the Pragmatic faction.’

Think of scrolls as sponges.

Sponges that absorb magic with all their might and release it when squeezed. Nox prided himself on having the technology to perfectly absorb any type of magic.

He recalled the Seven-Color Ice from his memory.

If he could capture that in a scroll and utilize it…

The potential profits were immeasurable.

‘This is an incredible opportunity. Truly incredible!’

The door swung open.

It was at that moment that Ezekiel appeared.

A head positioned so high that one had to look up considerably to see it.

Beneath the white hair, features arranged in a noble form, yet his mouth, full of composure, was chewing on a blade of grass.

Dignity and rebellion.

Two elements that should never coexist were strangely harmonious in him. Perhaps such a unique individual defied ordinary descriptors.

The entire room rose at once to greet him.

Rustle—

Regardless of who held real power in the tower, the position of Inspector was the highest. Everyone stood to pay their respects.

The large crowd, the resounding voices, the intense gazes—all attention was focused solely on Ezekiel.

A novice Inspector might have felt awkward, but…

“Surprising. You do know how to greet properly.”

He was remarkably at ease.

As if it were natural for countless honorifics to surround him, as if dominance flowed in his blood from birth, he treated what would overwhelm an ordinary person as utterly unremarkable.  ​

It was as if a single moment of a fountain had been eternally preserved.

Meanwhile, Widro wore a perplexed expression.

“…What did that just mean?”

“I’ve confirmed the achievements of nearly the past decade. It seems you know absolutely nothing.”

“……………….”

“Still, you greet quite well. That’s surprising.”

As the conversation started with achievements, everyone’s expressions stiffened. Widro even chewed his lips.

Hoo—

The Inspector exhaled a cloud of smoke nonchalantly and spoke, “Anyway, I’m here. The inspector of the Imperial Magic Tower. Ezekiel.”

Right after that, everyone gathered doubted their sense of smell.

“……………….”

It was spicy, but it was definitely different from the usual incense. If you inhale it all at once, it feels like the tip of your nose is burning with a warm feeling.

The clues pointed to only one thing.

“…Sunweed? Inside the Imperial Tower?”

Their expressions began to grow complicated, but Ezekiel simply ignored it with nonchalance, continuing his words, “This is a tiring place, so I don’t think it’s good to drag this out. I’ve already decided on a few things before I came here. I’ll just convey those.”

“Wait.”

The one who interrupted Ezekiel’s words was none other than Widro.

“A tiring place? This is a great place.”

The old man looked around at the well-prepared food around him.

“I guess they prepared all this good food because a noble visited the Magic Tower. It’s a good place. That’s right.”

Nox pushed up his glasses and looked at Widro intently.

It was meant to ask what he was doing out of the blue, but Widro ignored the meaning in that gaze and went on to ignore it completely.

“Before we get down to business, how about a drink? I’d like to have a drink with the great Inspector.”

Widro was smiling, but no one thought his smile was genuine. It seemed that his pride was severely hurt by the blatant mention of his track record. Well, his pride was stronger than one could imagine.

Already unable to hold back, Nox sighed as if he couldn’t help it.

Meanwhile, Ezekiel just chewed on the sunweed calmly, “Well, okay. Will the rest of you have some too?”

And the moment he picked up the bottle and tilted it, the moment the liquid spilled out of the spout and was about to flow down, Widro injected magic into the cup through his fingertips. He covered the surface of the cup with a thin, dense transparent film.

If this came into contact with the liquid, it was obvious what would happen. The alcohol droplets would splash everywhere like a fountain, making a mess. What could be better than giving him shame in an official setting?

“Hehe!”

Widro burst into laughter.

“It seems that our Inspector is not used to being in a high place. What are you going to do if you spill alcohol everywhere? Your clothes are a mess!”

But then, a huge sense of humiliation washed over him like a wave.

The gazes directed at him were strange. Only then did he realize when he looked at the floor. That there were no stray alcohol droplets.

But there was nothing in the cup either. Why?

Finally, the moment his lost gaze turned to the mouth of the bottle.

Widro was aghast; he was frozen.

The alcohol droplets that had been splashed everywhere had turned into ice crystals, one by one, and were stuck in the air, defying gravity.