Adopting Disaster

"Do you want me to quit?"

"No."

Helios thought coldly and shook his head.

"I might have stopped it if I had heard about it on another day, but after hearing what happened to the Greenwood Tower Master, I thought we couldn't just sit idly by with our pride."

The Tower Masters couldn't sit still since the demons had touched the wizards of the tower.

And it was time for Helios, the leader of the Tower Masters, to make a bold decision.

"Tower Master of Silence, I don't think you're a thoughtless person. Even when you were in Escoleia, you performed your duties well with the Wallin Tower Master."

"Is that so?"

"The old you felt out of control. But since you embraced magic engineering, I haven't ignored you even once."

"...Thank you, Chairman."

If it were about the past Reed, it might be a subtly complicated statement, but since it had nothing to do with the current Reed, he just let it pass.

"What did the saintess feel like?"

"She was literally a saintess. It felt like catching a cloud in the sky, but at the same time, it had a sense of weight."

Reed assessed the saintess, considering how others would see her, not just how he saw her.

Helios' eyebrows twitched.

"You felt that way? I've met the saintess too. The one dressed in white."

"saintess of Meditation, I suppose."

"I only had a few words of conversation, but I could feel it in that conversation. It felt like wearing a thick mask. I could feel her trying to wrap her emotions in mildness."

Despite the cooperation with the saintess, the suspicion about her was not resolved.

"Allow cooperation, but always be suspicious. They might be trying to divide us. The reason why the Althea Order can emit such a high status is precisely because of those saintesss. They might be working to undermine the wizards of the tower."

Helios was strict.

However, being that cautious would enable him to exert his abilities as a chairman, and the wizards of the tower would unite.

He wanted to tell Helios that in the end, it was the tower wizards who had destroyed the tower.

***

Silence Tower, Tower Master's Library.

Reed began researching what could be done with blood.

Knock, knock.

Only two people could knock on the Tower Master's library door.

Phoebe and Rosaria.

"Dad."

It was Rosaria.

"Why did you come, my daughter?"

"Sister gave me homework, and I don't understand. Also, Orphe keeps saying mean things beside me, so I'm angry."

"How?"

"Like this! Oh no, you can't do that. What's the use of that? Do you need to use your head with your ability? Like this, he interfered with my studies. So I came out."

Orphe was the water spirit king, Orneptos, transformed into a young child.

Befriending Rosaria was a condition of the contract, but it seemed not easy due to her innate disposition.

"Sit down."

Reed pulled a chair next to him and offered it to Rosaria.

Rosaria, who brought a pile of thick books, ran up and plopped down on the chair.

"So, you want to ask Dad about this?"

She shook her head.

"Sister said not to ask about homework! We have to study as much as possible from books, and if we really don't know, we can ask!"

"Really? Then you don't need to study with Dad."

"No, no. I think I can study better if Dad is with me."

'Is it like a totem?'

Seeing her beaming smile, he couldn't let her go.

Even if she's clingy, if she's cute, it becomes a decoration, right?

"Alright, study by yourself next to Dad. If you do it alone, you'll learn something."

"Okay! And Sister also gave me a reference book. I don't know what to refer to."

"You don't understand even after looking at the reference book?"

"Yeah, it's hard every time I refer to it. Why do I have to refer to it?"

Reed couldn't understand what she was saying for a moment.

"Uh, yeah? Oh, no, not like that. Referring means looking at another book when you don't understand something."

"I see. Now I think I know why Sister told me to refer to it."

Rosaria's mouth opened wide as if she had gained a great insight.

It seemed that there was a misunderstanding, and her puzzled expression relaxed.

'Even if it's someone I like, giving me a lot of books and telling me to refer to them would make me angry too.'

Rosaria started reading the book.

The girl who used to carry a fairy tale book around was now carefully reading an introductory book on magic.

While Rosaria indeed had an overwhelming talent for magic, Dolores' efforts were the most significant.

If it weren't for her dedication, always sticking by her side, thinking together, and always considering why Rosaria couldn't understand, it would have been impossible.

'There was a reason why Dean Anton coveted her.'

She was qualified to be a Tower Master, and she also had the qualities of a teacher.

She knew how to properly handle the raw stones, so if she had been a professor, she would have undoubtedly solidified her position within Escoleia.

Rosaria read the book, flipping through the pages.

Then she repeatedly exclaimed in admiration.

"Sister is so smart. How does she know all this?"

Amazing. Cool.

She kept saying those words in a row, interrupting Reed's concentration.

It was annoying, but he didn't dislike it.

It was better to hear exclamations from her mouth than grumbling sounds.

With the continuous compliments, Reed couldn't help but ask Rosaria.

"Do you like Dolores?"

Rosaria smiled broadly and nodded her head.

"Yes!"

"What do you like about her?"

"Dolores Unni is pretty, she smiles a lot, and when I don't know something, she thinks about it with me... Oh, she also gave me a teddy bear!"

"Come to think of it, what happened to Lucy?"

"Phoebe unni fixed her well. Phoebe's room has a lot of dolls. There's even a doll that looks like Dad."

"Really?"

"There were big dolls, small dolls, and a lot of them. Oh no! I wasn't supposed to talk about this! You have to keep it a secret."

"Okay."

It's a bit scary to hear that there are many dolls that look like him, but knowing that she likes him, he let it pass.

"Phoebe unni is really nice too. She makes sandwiches and plays with me every day!"

"Phoebe unni does a lot for you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah! I like Phoebe unni, Kaitlyn unni, Freesia unni... I don't know much about her, but I like her too, and... I like everyone!"

"Who do you like the most among them?"

"Uh..."

Upon hearing that, Rosaria's red eyes rolled up towards the ceiling.

Her head swayed like a reed, and her lips pursed.

After hesitating for a while, unable to come up with an answer, she eventually replied like this.

"I just like everyone! Rosaria will love everyone equally."

"I see. Then will you love Dad equally too?"

Rosaria let out an exclamation.

"No, no, Dad is number one! Absolutely number one!"

Instead of her index finger, Rosaria raised her thumb and spoke.

Reed burst into laughter at her cautious face, worrying if he might feel left out.

"Dad knows."

Reed pinched Rosaria's cheek gently.