Adopting Disaster

White hair and red eyes.

A girl with a notebook and pen in one hand and a teddy bear in the other.

"...Rosaria?"

"Dolores unni, you're here! Why are you holding a pillow?"

"Huh? No, it's nothing."

Dolores put the pillow down obediently.

"You broke the barrier?"

"Yes! I did it just as you taught me."

If excessive magical power is injected, the magic circle will break.

She had taught her that before.

'I never thought she'd actually use it...'

Dolores swallowed her admiration and looked down at her.

"Why are you here?"

"I came because there's a problem I don't know from the homework you gave me."

"You came to ask?"

"Yes! I thought about it, but I have no idea! I can't ask my dad, and I can't ask Phoebe unni, so I came to ask you, Dolores unni!"

She entered with a giggling laugh.

As she approached, Dolores was more worried than happy.

"You know why I'm locked up here, right, Rosaria?"

"Yeah, I heard. You attacked Dad."

"Yeah, I tried to harm your dad. It's a big deal, something unforgivable no matter what. You shouldn't approach such a person carelessly."

She had to distance herself.

So she indirectly preached.

"I know that, too! That you shouldn't be with a bad person... What was it called, that we should not tie with bad people"

"Isn't it 'being close to ink will blacken you'?"

"Is that it? That sounds right! You're so smart!"

"Knowing that, why are you here? Why are you acting like this when you're a good listener?"

Rosaria answered as if it were obvious.

"Rosaria knows. You didn't want to do it."

Dolores's eyes widened upon hearing those words.

She glanced around to see if anyone could hear them and cautiously asked her.

"Did Dad tell you?"

"No."

Rosaria shook her head.

"Then...?"

"I just know."

And then she smiled innocently.

"That you like Dad. You wouldn't do anything bad to someone you like."

Rosaria had seen Reed with a bandaged arm and resting for a few days, so she knew what had happened.

It was a situation where Dolores could be doubted.

But Rosaria was different.

Blind faith.

She was providing the comfort Dolores needed most.

She tried hard not to cry.

There can't be a teacher shedding tears in front of her student.

"Rosaria, do you want to stay with me more?"

"Yes!"

"Then, can you send mana back to the broken barrier?"

"Yes."

Rosaria sent mana as Dolores said, and Dolores connected the flow of mana with her fingers to restore the magic circle.

Since it looked like there was a temporary malfunction in the mana flow, they could buy more time.

As she recreated the barrier, Dolores warned her.

"A magician must always be rational. If you can't make a judgment based on the given information, you won't become a proper magician. This is advice from your teacher."

"Aw, I'm sorry..."

"...Do you want to hug me?"

"Yes!"

Rosaria, who had been deflated, hugged Dolores at the mention of hugging.

As she stroked Rosaria's white hair, she saw the teddy bear she was holding.

'I used to have a teddy bear, too.'

Her teddy bear was always her friend when she had nowhere to lean on.

Unintentionally, she put more strength into the hand that hugged Rosaria.

It was the feeling of hugging a teddy bear.

"Do you want to ask about your homework?"

"No, I just want to stay like this."

"Shall we? Let's do that."

Dolores hugged Rosaria and comforted her anxious heart.

Rosaria fell asleep like that.

While hugging her for a long time, the door opened.

Phoebe entered.

"Deputy Tower Master."

"I came to pick up the young lady."

Dolores leaned her body, and Phoebe took Rosaria in one arm.

She handed over the teddy bear and homework she picked up, in case her hands were not enough.

"Thank you."

Phoebe smiled and spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Unintentionally, Dolores apologized to her out of guilt.

"What are you talking about?"

"For attacking the Tower Master."

"…It's a decision made by the Tower Master. Even if it's resented… That resentment must be accepted by our Tower Master."

Phoebe gave a faint smile.

Her face was just as difficult as Dolores's.

"WallinTower Master, cheer up. I just hope this incident is resolved quickly."

"Thank you, Deputy Tower Master."

Dolores felt the same way.

She was waiting for this nightmarish time to pass quickly.

***

Although she was studying detection magic using blood lineage, it wasn't going smoothly.

There was no progress in the Greenwood and Wallin Towers, and Kaitlyn, who majored in magical engineering, didn't attempt anything hastily.

The blood is limited, and there are countless hypotheses.

So they were narrowing down the possibilities as much as possible.

If there was any progress, it was in analyzing the substance mixed in the tea.

A substance with a different composition than the tea they were drinking was clearly detected.

To find out what that substance was, they started comparing it.

'Patience is needed.'

There wasn't much time, but they couldn't rush the job.

A huge shadow hung over the area around the Silence Tower, strangely only during daylight.

'What is this?'

Reed looked up at the window above.

A huge object breaking through the clouds could be seen.

At first glance, it seemed like a falling comet, and up close, it looked like an upside-down castle.

A structure that all magicians recognize and tremble in fear.

'The Sky Chamber Tower.'

A tower that hides within the clouds it brings and wanders the sky.

A tower that has overcome the spatial constraints of the tower itself.

That's why it was a tower that could monitor the entire continent.

-The Tower Master of Silence.

A deep, middle-aged voice was heard.

It was the voice of Helios Glin Zelonia.

His voice made Reed freeze.

-May I enter your tower now? I'm about to land on the rooftop of your tower.

It was very rare for Helios, who didn't visit other towers, to visit.

As it was a rare situation, Reed couldn't even think of asking for time, let alone refusing.

"Yes."

As soon as permission was granted, a flash of light burst from the sky.

Helios had descended.

Reed immediately went down to the reception room to prepare.

'He must have come because of the recent incident.'

The question was, what did he think about that incident?

He prayed that it wouldn't end negatively, no matter what.

As soon as the prayer ended, the door to the reception room opened.

A middle-aged giant entered, leaning back as he came in.