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The Wizard’s Tower is an agency directly under the Duke of Iceland.

Naturally, its main tasks involve commissions from the Duke of Iceland and the Felwinter Family.

However, that doesn’t mean they don’t take on other requests.

Of course, most of the work was handled under the supervision of Catherine and Olivier.

When it came to it, only paperwork for approvals or reports remained.

The reason was simple.

It was simply because the levels didn’t match.

In other words, there was a storage room inside the Wizard’s Tower that was at least a level below the Felwinter’s treasure vault.

“Is there such a space in the tower?”

“Of course there is.”

Catherine looked at Karem as if she couldn’t believe what he was asking.

“Do you really think all those requests entrusted by the many powerful figures, who pay hefty coins, just go nowhere?”

Appraisals of items obtained from dungeons.

Requests from young nobles about to be engaged.

Repair and creation requests for broken magic tools.

Editing of papers requiring confidentiality, and so on.

An agency directly under the Duke.

And with two Grand Wizards present, the commission fees at the very least started from dozens of silver coins, yet the requests kept pouring in, so much that they had to sift through them, with the clients varying in profession and status just as much as the requests.

“If it’s about damage, at least I can make an excuse. If it’s lost for various reasons, I’d have to compensate the client.”

“What kind of audacious thief would break into the Wizard’s Tower?”

“Kid. Europa is wider and has more eccentric people and talents than you think. And you don’t think my wizards under me wouldn’t have reckless thoughts?”

Catherine chuckled as if she was hearing the words of a childish kid.

“A timid Narque wouldn’t dare to think of such things.”

“Ah, he’s a special case.”

Catherine stated firmly.

“By the way, we do have someone quite familiar with intrusions, don’t we?”

“Huh? Someone that audacious—”

“It’s Princess Alicia.”

“Ah, ha.”

“Fuhuhu—”

The moment Mary called out the seven-letter name, Catherine let out a deep sigh as if the ground had collapsed beneath her.

Since the winter when they entered Winterhome until now, it had become an everyday occurrence, but that didn’t mean she had grown accustomed to Alicia’s intrusions.

The Wizard’s Tower was fundamentally a dangerous area.

Even excluding numerous magical defenses and traps set up for repelling various intruders, due to explosions, experimental mistakes and failures, dangerous magical materials and tools, saying “no entry except for authorized personnel” had a different meaning than in Winterhome.

“I still can’t figure out how that reckless child Alicia keeps getting in.”

“Still, these days we can identify the Princess’s intrusion fairly quickly. It takes a little while, though.”

“That’s the problem. If we could tell immediately upon entry, that’d be one thing—but it takes time? What, has she gained the talents of an assassin or something?”

“Considering her eating habits, maybe she’s a soon-to-be Swordmaster?”

At Karem’s words, Mary shook her head as if she found it absurd.

“Of course, even if the Princess eats more than kids her age, you could definitely find others who eat more than that.”

“Princess Alicia runs all over the castle all day long.”

“And besides, the Princess is at that age where she’s growing.”

Mary turned her head back to the front as if it was nothing special.

“If you consider her activity level and growth spurt, like that of a working farmer, it’s impressive she eats that much—but even with that said, she still seems to eat quite a lot.”

“I only had a bowl of grain porridge at most.”

“That was when you were being oppressed back in Karem’s village. In the end, you were forced to eat all sorts of bugs and rats to fill your hungry stomach, right?”

“By the way, I think your comparison is a bit odd.”

“The harsher the work, the more you eat.”

The door to the storage room, which they finally reached after climbing up the corridor and stairs, appeared to be an ordinary wooden door with not much difference from the other doors in the tower except for the bear-shaped door handle.

Of course, it was made of high-quality materials and somewhat decorated, considering the location.

But that was all.

It was overly simple.

“What should I say? It’s more ordinary than I expected?”

“Well, if it were unnecessarily flashy, it would only draw attention.”

“That bear head decoration is a bit unusual, though.”

“Ah, but you can’t touch it.”

Catherine lightly but firmly swatted Karem’s hand reaching for the doorknob.

“If you touch it, the security magic will activate.”

“Ah, that’s definitely true.”

“And the numerous security spells and traps set on the Wizard’s Tower will move to kill you mercilessly.”

“That sounds a bit creepy.”

Karem, keeping his mouth shut, seemed pleased enough to nod and placed his hand on the bear-shaped doorknob.

“There are more exceptions than there should be, and the more exceptions there are, the more variables arise. It would be best to keep those variables to a minimum.”

“I’m a bit dissatisfied that I’m not included among those exceptions.”

“You absolutely cannot go in.”

“That’s discrimination against species, Contractor.”

Mary protested vigorously against Catherine, making it clear even with a poker face.

“No way. What would you do if you went inside?”

“Well, of course, I’d clean it up, right? It’s been ages since I’ve entered the tower. Just think of all the dust that must have piled up.”

“And that’s exactly why you can’t go. You workaholic ghost.”

Catherine shook her head as if anxious, grabbing her head with both hands.

“Let’s at least get in first. What would you do if you were allowed inside?”

“Of course, I’d start by taking everything out and dusting off all the items and furniture—”

“That’s the problem.”

Catherine flicked the hand that was holding her head towards Mary.

“I’ve only been able to interpret and use countless spells that have been layered endlessly over thousands of years for security in the storage room. What? You want to go in and clean?”

“Yes. Of course I do.”

Mary nodded firmly.

“Not a chance!”

Catherine also shook her head firmly.

And at that, the eyes of the bear-shaped doorknob lit up in an azure glow.

Karem could tell that meant his identity had been confirmed.

“Alright, kid. You’re coming in with me.”

“Oh, finally.”

“And you? Stay here and wait.”

“Why!”

Without answering, Catherine gave Karem a light shove towards the open door.

What! Karem almost tripped but managed to regain his balance.

And he could see it.

Decorative greatswords, wing-shaped shields, clawed gauntlets, empty glass bottles, metal lamps, gem rings the size of a thumb, and countless other items presumed to be magic tools were haphazardly strewn across shelves, tables, chairs, and the floor as if the room had not been cleaned for six months.

To put it bluntly, it was a total garbage dump.

An incredibly filthy pit of dust.

There were even dust bunnies the size of a pinky rolling around.

Well, at least they seemed to have some minimal conscience.

Every item had a leather tag attached.

But other than that, there was no classification, and the magic tools were piled up haphazardly like trash.

Magic tools that should start at a minimum of dozens of silver coins!

Karem looked at Catherine with eyes saying, “Is this for real?”

“Sir Atanitas, this is completely a garbage dump, isn’t it?”

It seemed that Catherine hadn’t expected such a reaction, as her brows furrowed. But she soon nodded slightly.

“Well, that’s a highly logical point. I can’t refute that.”

“Is there really this many requests coming into the Mage Tower?”

Of course, since a Grand Wizard like Catherine wouldn’t directly handle that many items, but even considering that, the amount of magic tools piled like junk in the storage room was excessive.

It felt as if a quarter of the treasure vault from Winterhome had all been crammed into one room.

“Well, half of these are items that clients couldn’t pick up for various reasons or just remained as property of the Mage Tower. The other half are requested items.”

“You said all of this is magic tools?”

“Yeah. All of them.”

“If that’s the case…”

Mary thought she definitely shouldn’t go in.

There couldn’t be a bigger mess than this.

“Well, enough with the unnecessary thoughts. Let’s find some magic tools you can use.”

“Sure, whatever.”

Karem nodded obediently, but then a feeling of unease suddenly popped into his mind. He hoped he wouldn’t have to sift through all this junk.

Fortunately, there was no need for that.

Catherine moved through the cluttered storage room full of junk and dust flawlessly, as if she knew exactly where every magic tool was.

No, if you looked closely, she was quickly scanning the identifying tags.

However, the tags only had the names of the magic tools written on them.

There was nothing written about what effects they had.

“Ah, kid, even though you wouldn’t do this, just to be safe, don’t go picking up anything just because it looks interesting.”

“Is there a reason?”

“Anything could be cursed or a possession-requiring item, which puts you at greater risk.”

As Catherine was examining the shelves for accessories such as bracelets and necklaces, she picked up a ring and turned to Karem.

“Kid, what do you think about this ring?”

“Um, if it’s for self-defense, I’d have to wear it all the time, right?”

“Otherwise, it defeats the purpose of being a protective item.”

“Then that won’t do. I can’t wear a ring while cooking.”

“Well then, I guess we’ll be excluding the ring.”

Returning the ring to its place, Catherine resumed her search.

“Anyway, as the Chief Magic Consultant, I remember all the magic tools that have been registered in the storage. More than you might think, there are many cursed or possession-requiring tools in this storage room.”

“Well, it seems there was nothing like that in the Felwinter treasure vault.”

“That’s because only items that have passed through my or the old man’s hands are placed in the treasure vault before entry.”

“That sounds like a lot of work.”

“Well.”

Catherine brushed it off casually.

The Felwinter Family, as a duke’s house, had all sorts of treasures dedicated to it every day.

Of course, no one was crazy enough to dedicate cursed treasures or magic tools. Although, there had been cases like that before, and before storing in the treasure vault, Catherine and Olivier were checking them.

“Of course, I’ve never had to do that since my appointment, but there have definitely been cases like it.”

“Uh, Sir Atanitas?”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Are all of these for confirmation of self-defense?”

“Yeah. Why do you ask?”

Karem, with a look that implied “Are you serious?”, stared at the heavy leather pouch now in Catherine’s hand. Didn’t it look like there were dozens of bracelets and necklaces in it? Wait, was she going to add more?

“Is it really necessary to confirm all that?”

“This is only selected items that you can wear.”

“With that amount, you’re saying it’s selected?”

“If you could handle magic power, this pouch’s size would have been at least three times bigger, you know?”

Karem didn’t say anything, but he showed an expression of disbelief that they had to check that thoroughly.

It was a silent protest.

However, Catherine simply hummed lightly, dismissing Karem’s protests.

Comparing the inventory list in her head with the identifying tags, she swiftly gathered the magic tools.

 

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