Tou no Madoushi

Guingardo, the city of magicians, was still busy with large crowds today.

The boulevard that stretches to the harbor is filled with people of various professions and identities, and its wide roads are overflowing.

They are all visiting Guingard from all over the world to trade in rare items made by the Wizards.

There was a pompous, unpopular painting on the side streets of the busy Guingardo. It's on and around a boulevard full of traffic everywhere, and it's as if only this one painting has been forgotten by people.

It was also inexorable for people to avoid the painting. Unlike countless side roads derived from the boulevard, the space is a trail that leads nowhere.

It was imperative that if we were to stop in that space from the traffic on the boulevard where we were told that we would have to wait until the next day to come back once we came off, we would waste our time unnecessarily.

It is also a halfway place to rest. There was nothing in particular I could sit on, and it was too small a place to put temporary luggage and carriages.

There is only one statue of stone placed there that follows a certain magician. Neither are the stone statues, which many worshippers once prayed for because of their great feats, a reason to stop the feet of those who hurry their way now that times have changed.

There was a girl who purposefully prayed toward that stone statue, though it was thus a stone statue that was bare from the people. She prays wholeheartedly about the hustle and bustle of the street.

Lynn, the boy who has just come to Guingardo, has been in love with this girl for a long time now.

(You're a strange girl)

Lynn was observing her somewhere in her head while falling in love with the girl. She is wearing a hooded white robe and has a long wooden cane in her hand.

From its inception, she must have been the inhabitant of the Tower of the Wizard to which Lynn was about to turn.

Lynn wasn't the only one attracted to her looks. There was also something about the atmosphere that attracted my heart. It's a little better than the boulevard, but even if you're here, the number of people on the street, the noisy voices, the way it moves because of it, conveys it irresistibly.

The murmuring sound stirs Lynn's heart and tries to take calm.

But she keeps praying with her eyes closed and hands on her chest without worrying about the hustle and bustle of the street.

It was in this noise and I felt like only her surroundings were very quiet and time flowing loosely.

Maybe the magical powers of the Mage Master are working.

She had such a quiet atmosphere that it made her think so. She was as quiet as a lake lurking behind the woods. Lynn wanted to keep looking at her forever.

But the girl's prayer ends abruptly. She noticed her gaze at herself and turned to Lynn. The two eyes meet.

"Hello"

I can't stand the silence and when Lynn greets me, the girl looks at me seriously and about him.

Lynn regretted talking to him. Her outfit looked like a priest or clergyman, even if she was not a magician, or in any case a man of noble stature.

Lynn's outfit, on the other hand, consists only of a Takuta shirt and trousers. It was obvious that he was in a different capacity.

But she greets Lynn's whim back with a "hello." Lynn was horrified.

I didn't have to be very aware of my differences of identity in Lynn's hometown, so Lynn had the crux to stick around and talk to everyone.

That pissed him off a lot by his master.

Lynn's master was a man of harsh stature.

I wasn't sure about this city's identity system yet, so I thought I'd done something reckless again, but apparently this time it's no problem.

"Um, is this stone statue man a fine magician after all?"

I didn't know what to tell you. Lynn shifted the subject to the stone statue where the girl was praying earlier.

It was a fine stone statue.

A musculoskeletal, disappointing, body-wearing uncle, he weaves his cape, offering a wand in one hand and his hand in the void.

He was casting some kind of spell with a stern face, and how magnificent his beauty was.

Lynn thought that being able to build a stone statue like this must be a respected man.

Surprise spreads as I glance at the girl's face. I said I couldn't believe it.

Lynn is getting nervous again.

Have I said something strange?

"I can't believe you don't know Gaelias! Who have you been to Guingardo lately?

"Yeah, well."

(I wonder if that was something I had to know)

Lynn has become embarrassed because she feels like she has exposed herself to her lack of upbringing. Talk to a woman I don't know in a city I don't know. Even though I'm nervous, I get more and more nervous.

"It's Gaelias Crust, the Great Demon Instructor. Who built that tower."

"Give me that tower..."

Lynn looks up at the tower standing far behind the stone statue.

The Tower of Gaelias, the centre and symbol of the magical city of Guingardo.

It is also where Lynn will be living as an apprentice magician.

The tower looks like a fortress, like a castle or a factory.

It was actually all of it.

The Tower of Gaelias is not just an institution for the Magic Instructor to train in.

It is a complex responsible for research, education, military, trade, production, etc. on Magic and Magic Instruments.

Produced in this tower, the magic props are exported to countries around the world, and the army of magicians dispatched from the tower is turning the world around.

It can be called the center of the world in this world dominated by demonic guidance.

The tower is stacked high across many layers, pushing it through the clouds.

Its walls are also varied, from stone construction to areas where rock beds are protruding, where smooth marble shines, or where it is forced to pave by iron plates.

The part with dozens of big holes is the military port. From there, a military ship will sail with an army of Wizards dispatched from all over the world.

It leaves traces of numerous additions and modifications in repair traces like the tsugi hagi of the garment, some of which are stretched from the gap between them with artillery, bridges, steel or large trees.

This renovation continues today, and every time the magic guide who lives inside changes, the tower changes its appearance.

"It's not just the tower. He is also supposed to be with the father of a magician who has forged basic theories of various sorceries. If you're going to learn here, you better remember that."

"Though you... seemed to be praying..."

"Yeah, I was wishing. I wanted to be like him."

"When I say him... to Gaelias?

"Yes, I'm aiming for the top of the tower."

She points to the sky.

Lynn tried to look at the top of the tower at her fingertips.

But the top of the tower is blocked by thick clouds and cannot be seen.

Lynn had heard that only the chosen one among the magicians could live beyond that cloud.

Magic of the Wizard that is difficult to even wear. How much magic does it take to make it to the top of the tower?

It seemed like something that Lynn couldn't stop doing.

Next time, Episode 2: Tower Labyrinth