In an instant, she spotted Elisabetta collapsed on the ground and abruptly stopped walking.
“Huh? Did you defeat the tower master?”
“Yes, we did,”
Arkhangelo replied confidently, folding his arms.
“We have won!”
“………”
“Oh, Ghieuspe. What he means is that we won, not just Arkhangelo, right? Of course, I understand,”
I said, nodding in response to Ghieuspe’s silence.
At that moment, Simone approached me closely.
“Seraphina, are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Hmm, it always feels suspicious whenever this person is nice to me. He appears to cooperate, but I can’t figure out what his ulterior motive is.
“Seraphina, what’s that in your hand?”
Raffaelo asked, pointing to my right hand.
With a very awkward expression, I showed what I was holding. Because what I was holding was…
“A finger?”
Yes, it was undeniably a human finger.
“What is this? Where did you steal a finger from? You treated us like trash, but what on earth did you do?”
Raffaelo questioned, so I waved my hand frantically.
“No, it’s not like that. This is just the tower master’s research specimen, and I took it out of curiosity.”
“A research specimen?”
Ghieuspe showed interest and examined the finger carefully.
“A human finger?”
“To me, this doesn’t seem like a human finger.”
At first, I suspected that Elisabetta had cut off a human finger and used it as a decoration. But something about it seemed off for it to be a human finger.
It wasn’t decaying at all, even though it had been severed.
It looked exactly like a human finger, but it wasn’t.
“It’s probably an attempt at making an artificial human.”
Ghieuspe’s eyes widened slightly when he heard this, clearly shocked.
“Incredible.”
“Yes, I was surprised too. It requires extremely advanced technology.”
“Hmm, I thought only Aurora was a madman, but it seems there are a lot of madmen in the world.”
Now it seemed like in Arkhangelo’s mind, the title of ‘madman’ had evolved from Aurora to Elisabetta.
“Anyway, let’s get out of here quickly before Elisabetta wakes up.”
I urged in an anxious voice, as I had no desire to stay in the tower for even a second longer. Finally, the others snapped back to their senses and followed Ghieuspe’s lead, heading out of the tower.
It was only after we exited through the front gates of the tower that we could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“So, how did you defeat the tower master?”
When I asked, Raffaelo smiled confidently.
“Well, we fought three against one. Of course, we were the three.”
“That’s really fair and honorable! Well, as long as we won!”
Fortunately, no one here particularly cared about honor, so we all shared in the joy of victory.
“When we fought as a group, the tower master wasn’t as strong as we thought. We were able to win.”
“Indeed,”
Ghieuspe said, looking as if he had realized something.
I looked at Ghieuspe with a bright smile. Now that I knew what kind of past Ghieuspe had endured, I could see how much progress he had made.
At that moment, Ghieuspe walked toward me with a stern expression.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Go ahead.”
I gestured to the others with my eyes, and they understood and moved aside.
Everyone had already noticed that Ghieuspe harbored complex feelings toward the tower.
Once they were far enough that they couldn’t hear us, Ghieuspe slowly began to speak.
“First, I want to apologize for you being captured because of me. I’m sorry for putting you through such a terrible experience.”
“Oh, come on. Why blame yourself? It’s all the tower master’s fault.”
“The tower master was targeting me. He used you to make me submit to him.”
“Hmm, I don’t think that’s entirely it. I became a target because I’m a spatial mage….”
“Still, I feel it was my fault.”
Since Ghieuspe was sincerely apologizing, I decided to accept his apology for now.
“Alright. But I’m really fine, so don’t worry about it.”
“………”
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
“………”
“Okay, now I have something I want to say.”
Since learning about Ghieuspe’s past, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
It was clear to me that Ghieuspe was still suffering from the aftermath of his time at the tower. I wanted to help him overcome it.
In my previous life, I was more like Elisabetta than Ghieuspe.
I forced students to study even when they didn’t want to, brainwashing them into thinking it was the right thing to do. This felt like atonement for what I had done to those students in my past life. I wanted to lighten the heavy burden on my heart in any way I could.
To be honest, I really didn’t want to live like I did in the past.
“I’ve learned how the tower master controls people.”
Ghieuspe still seemed uncertain after hearing my words, so I decided to be direct.
“I saw the lab in the tower.”
“…..…!”
“I also know what you’ve been through.”
Ghieuspe’s eyes widened, and he began stammering in surprise.
“I……..”
“I’m not trying to uncover your secrets or anything like that. I just thought that life must have been hard for you in the tower. I understand you now, Ghieuspe.”
“….….”
“So, if it’s okay, I think it’s fine to express your struggles more to those around you. Ghieuspe, you’re a quiet person, but I believe your friends will understand you.”
Ghieuspe slowly opened his mouth. His dark eyes seemed to hold a deep sense of weariness.
“…You’re right. The memories of the tower are something I never want to recall again. They were terrifying.”
Ghieuspe had always been the one to quietly listen to others, but this time, I decided to listen to him. I closed my mouth and paid attention to what he had to say.
“The Ascary family was far removed from the world of mages. My family saw my awakening as a mage as a great opportunity, and I, too, dreamed of becoming the greatest mage and revitalizing the family by inheriting the dukedom. That’s why I went to the tower.”
As Ghieuspe spoke, it became clear that, unlike families such as the Count of Viviana, the Count of Phyro, or the Marquess of Nesta, the Ascary family was not a family of mages.
In this age, where magic was passed down through bloodlines, a mage born from mutation was rare.
“But life in the tower was horrible. In retrospect, I could have fled back to the Ascary family, and the tower master wouldn’t have been able to drag me back. But at the time, the tower master seemed like such a formidable and terrifying figure. I didn’t think I could escape.”
“I understand. At that time, the tower master must have seemed like someone you couldn’t defy.”
“I had left my family, boasting that I was going to the tower, so I didn’t want to disappoint them. That’s why I stayed in the tower, even though it was terrible, and became a mage of the tower.”
“I see.”
“But even after that, I couldn’t stay in the tower any longer. So, I made up various excuses to avoid going near the tower as much as possible.”
Listening to Ghieuspe, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the young Ghieuspe. How powerless and hopeless must he have felt under the tower master?
“But this was the first time I had ever stood up to the tower master. I always thought it would be impossible to defy her, but after doing so….”
“How did you feel?”
“…It was easier than I expected.”
Surprisingly, a faint smile appeared on Ghieuspe’s face as he said this.
“Fighting against the tower master wasn’t difficult at all. It made me wonder why I hadn’t done this sooner.”
