I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well

‘Why does Zenon know the paths inside the Magic Tower?’

 

Looking back, there was no statement that Zenon ‘didn’t know’ the paths of the Magic Tower. However, in the original work, there was no fact that Zenon volunteered to be Viola’s guide when she entered the Magic Tower. Neither Arin, who was a reader nor the original Viola, thought it was strange that Zenon ‘didn’t know’ the way. Because the Magic Tower was such a closed place.

 

‘So then…’

 

The setting in the novel wasn’t necessarily changed.

 

‘At the time, the directions weren’t necessarily given to Viola in the original work, so are they given now?’

 

Viola could only guess that.

 

“We need to search through the slums of the Magic Tower.”

 

“There are no slums in the Magic Tower, Princess.”

 

“That’s true externally, I guess.”

 

The Magic Tower was like a utopia. A place where the weather was clear and warm all year round and everything was under the control of the Magic Tower. It was a dream-like world where there were no problems living without working and wizards could focus solely on magic research. However, it was impossible to have only a bright side in the world.

 

“Externally? What does that mean, Princess?”

 

“There must be places where people who don’t have the talent to be wizards live together.”

 

They were the losers. Magic was a study greatly influenced by talent. It was a field of study that you can’t even dream of if you didn’t have talent. So, for those born without talent, magic was a hopeless subject.

 

“The Magic Tower also needs people to do menial work.”

 

No matter how advanced magic was, troublesome things definitely existed. For example, wizards preferred hiring someone to clean rather than using ‘cleaning magic.’ Although they could create foods rich in calories and nutrients through magic, they preferred delicious food prepared by humans. People born without any talent for magic made a living working in what wizards called ‘3D’ jobs, such as cleaners, chefs, shoe shiners, and gardeners.

 

“At the Magic Tower, people without talent are called beggars, and the places where they live are called slums.”

 

It was different from the ‘Beggar Gangs’ of the outside world. Anyway, they were also members of the Magic Tower, and they at least were provided with food and a change of clothes. Food, clothing, and shelter were provided, but…

 

‘The state of those provisions was an exception.’

 

“I think you know a lot about the slums?”

 

“Roughly speaking, since noble wizards cannot live among beggars, the beggars were eventually driven out to secluded or dirty places and formed villages. Those are the slums of the Magic Tower.”

 

Usually, they were underground, under a bridge, or in a very remote area that was not visible to the wizards.

 

“It looks like you studied hard.”

 

“Well, it’s a public fact.”

 

It was information that anyone with even the slightest interest could know. It’s just that most people weren’t interested.

 

“There are no official slums in the Magic Tower, but in my personal opinion, there are a few places that are judged to be slums. Shall I guide you there?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The first place Zenon guided them was under the bridge that spanned the Han River, with its impressive silver waves. It was too small to be considered a river, but too large to be considered a stream. There was a large hole in the wall under the bridge, like a cave.

 

“The beggars of the Magic Tower are probably extremely reluctant to come into contact with outsiders.”

 

“I know.”

 

The ‘beggars’ were a ‘flaw’ from the perspective of the Magic Tower. A stain they wanted to erase. They were people that the Magic Tower wanted to hide, and they were also the people who were summarily disposed of if a problem arose due to contact with an outsider.

 

“The responsibility that arises if something goes wrong will be too great.”

 

Zenon smiled.

 

“As expected, if I tell you one thing, you realize ten.”

 

He always felt this. How could this insight come from a 13-year-old? But he also knew that a girl with that kind of insight would not visit the slums without any measures in place.

 

‘What will the princess do?’

 

Zenon watched Viola, feeling the pleasant beat of his pounding heart.

 

* * *

 

Elsina was a disciple of ‘Sirson,’ the great wizard and master of the Magic Tower. She possessed such magical talent that it made her stand out. Many news articles covered Elsina in depth.

 

[If there is Medea in swordsmanship, there is Elsina in magic.]

 

Medea was always mentioned as a genius swordsman. Elsina was a genius among geniuses, comparable to Medea. However, as time passed, evaluations of the two became mixed. 

 

[Medea moves as if she has wings on her shoulders. However, Elsa is not like that.]

 

Medea became a 1-star knight and continued to win. She annihilated the assassins of the Western Continent and came to be called the White Killing Wind, and she was both respected and feared by all the people of the Continent. However, Elsina gradually fell behind.

 

[The mixed joys and sorrows of two geniuses. Will Elsina be the first disciple to be excommunicated?]

 

Although, to the public, she was still a disciple of the Magic Tower Lord, it was safe to say that in reality she had been excommunicated. To be precise, she threw herself out of the place. She was born with magical talent but her heart was too warm to be a successful wizard.

 

Once upon a time, she asked Sirson, “Why do I live such a privileged life?”

 

“That’s because you were born with talent and never neglected your efforts.”

 

“But they also work hard to make a living.”

 

Elsina was speaking of the beggars of the Magic Tower.

 

“They are disabled people. They’re different from us.”

 

“They just don’t have any magical talent.”

 

That day, Elsina had eaten grilled fish carefully prepared by her personal chef. It was so delicious that it nearly brought her to tears. Her chef was so good at cooking, so why was she called a beggar? As time passed, Elsina began to have doubts about her magic.

 

“The spirit of magic is to broadly benefit humanity.”

 

So why were the poor treated like livestock and ignored? Why did wizards find it unpleasant to even breathe the same air as them? They weren’t allowed to use the same roads or share the same facilities. Beggars were completely ostracized by wizards. In addition, they were reduced to tools for human experimentation under the pretext of developing magic.

 

“Elsina, stop thinking about useless things. They stay here by their own will and are unable to escape the Magic Tower due to a lack of courage.”

 

“No. The Magic Tower made it this way.”

 

In fact, the beggars were able to leave the Magic Tower. All they had to do was apply for leave. Well, externally, it was like that. However, in reality, it was almost impossible for beggars to escape the Magic Tower.

 

“They haven’t received the proper education they deserve. They believe that outside of the Magic Tower is a place full of monsters.”

 

She had known it was that way since her childhood. A vague sense of fear that they shouldn’t leave the Magic Tower weighed the beggars down.

 

“And will the officials even accept the documents if they submit them?”

 

The managers of the Magic Tower who processed documents were all wizards. It was clear that they loathed beggars and would not process any documents they submitted.

 

“No. But are they able to even fill out the paperwork in the first place?”

 

The Magic Tower was the stronghold of wizards and it used the language of wizards. All official documents had to be written using magic.

 

“They can’t muster courage because they are practically half-brainwashed to begin with. Even if they muster up the courage, they cannot fill out the documents. Even if they can get it written after all the twists and turns, the officials will not accept it.”

 

People think of Magic Tower as a utopian city of dreams. But Elsina didn’t think so. Something was very wrong. From that moment on, she stopped studying magic. Because if that was magic, she didn’t want to learn it. Instead of focusing on studying magic, she wanted to educate the ‘beggars.’ She wanted to develop magical powers that would at least allow them to read and write so they could receive proper information about the outside world. At the very least, she wanted to prevent them from becoming victims of human experimentation. Naturally, those in power at the Magic Tower and the older generation did not understand Elsina and pointed fingers at her. Unfortunately, the Beggar Gang also did not accept Elsina’s teachings. They were scared and unprepared to learn something new.

 

* * *

 

‘This is Elsina’s setting. In the end, Elsina threw away her identity as a disciple of the Magic Tower Lord and became part of a gang of beggars with her mana sealed away.’

 

She was Elsina, the first genius wizard who became an outcast herself.

 

‘A warm person full of love.’

 

And she had a great passion for teaching others. In fact, while she was a magical genius, she had a greater talent for education. Basically, she was a genius wizard, but she was an even greater genius teacher. So Viola chose Elsina for that role.

 

‘She will become Benato’s irreplaceable teacher and heart-mother.’

 

Zenon’s voice was heard.

 

“Everyone is still holding their breath. It looks like they don’t want to run into us.”

 

“I know.”

 

Viola stood in front of the cave and Zenon’s heart began to pound. What kind of appearance would she show today? With what mask would she use to deal with the beggars of the Magic Tower in order to get what she wanted? What elegant and beautiful masks she wore.

 

Viola said, “I’ll give you to the count of three.”

 

A puddle of water appeared at Viola’s feet. It was Pom-Pom’s energy. Then, a faint light, invisible to her eyes, leaked from Viola’s ring. Kurumkrum’s masterpiece, filled with Pom-Pom’s flower garden grown with spirit water, was responding.

 

“If you don’t come out, I’ll kill you all.”

 

Viola spoke confidently, while her heart pounded. No matter how often she said this, she couldn’t get used to it: the threat of killing everyone. Even though she said it herself, it was terrible. And she, Viola, knew very well how she would be seen if she said this.

 

“One.”

 

She started to feel a presence in the cave.

 

“Two.”

 

A sound was heard. Uddangtangtang!

 

“Three.”

 

Several people jumped out in a huff.

 

“Who the hell are you? Why are you persecuting us? We did nothing wrong.”

 

“Please, just spare us.”

 

“We will listen carefully. If you want, we will leave. We will live in hiding without being noticed.”

 

They were all trembling with fear. This was despite the fact that they had done nothing wrong. They were people who lived under constant intimidation, always being pointed at, so it seemed that they couldn’t even think about protesting.

 

‘I’m upset.’

 

Viola was heartbroken. They were all the same, except they had no magical talent.

 

‘They shouldn’t be looked down on just because they’re not good at magic.’

 

Viola thought that and smiled as warmly as she could.

 

“I have something to ask you.”

 

Viola, like a true White Bellato, began to work things out.

 

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Translator Note: