For those who walk the path of sorcery, there is a name they cannot but know.
The Tower of Sages.
More popularly, it is called the Tower of Mages.
Their symbol, the inverted triangle emblem, was said to be almost on par with the Imperial Family's crest within the Empire.
A gathering of human weapons capable of destroying an entire city single-handedly, and simultaneously, a cradle of knowledge and technology that propelled the Empire's progress through countless magical engineering feats.
Ahead of the annual academic conference, numerous mages and witches were currently exchanging opinions at the very top of the Tower of Mages in Mars.
"As expected, the Three-Color Theorem must be submitted as our Mars branch's representative thesis. "
"I believe the Shadow Magic research is more pertinent. It's a groundbreaking paper that has achieved significant advancements in a previously overlooked field of magic research. "
"That may be true, but the Three-Color Theorem is more comprehensive in scope. Considering its influence on the entire field of magic, I believe the thesis on the Three-Color Theorem holds greater academic value than the Shadow Magic research. "
Gathered around the circular table, the mages and witches exchanged tense opinions with serious expressions.
But despite their serious faces, the atmosphere was very good.
The competition among geniuses should be encouraged, not stifled, as it was by no means a bad thing.
Heated discussions went back and forth, but ultimately, no conclusion was reached.
The mages and witches looked at the Tower Master, who sat silently at one end of the circular table.
"Master Oergen. You must decide for us. At this rate, we'll never reach a conclusion. "
At the mage's words, Tower Master Oergen gently stroked the pure white, lustrous beard that grew on his chin, and with a mischievous glint in his eye, looked at the two witches who had remained silent without uttering a single word until now.
"Tyudel. Erpa. You two are quite a headache. "
"You flatter us, Master Oergen. "
The witch called Tyudel said so and bowed her head, while Erpa merely smiled softly.
"Both of your theses were excellent. That's why deciding which of your theses to submit was truly difficult for me. "
Oergen tapped the table with a 'tap-tap'.
Tyudel kept swallowing dryly, gazing intently at Oergen's hand.
After a long moment.
The conclusion finally came from Oergen's lips.
"The representative thesis of the Mars branch of the Tower of Mages for this academic conference will be the Three-Color Research. "
Gasps of awe and sighs of disappointment erupted simultaneously.
Tyudel clenched her fists tightly and squeezed her eyes shut, while Erpa merely bowed her head silently.
"Tyudel. Your thesis was excellent as well. It's just that Erpa's was slightly superior this time. If you strive harder, you will achieve even better results. "
"Thank you. . . . . . . "
The response, as if squeezed out after a long struggle, finally emerged.
Oergen rose from his seat with a smile.
"You've all worked hard during this long meeting. You may return and rest now. "
The mages rose from the circular table one by one.
It's a shame the Shadow Magic research didn't make it.
The Three-Color Research will be a study remembered throughout history.
Chatting about this and that, all the mages disappeared, and soon, only two witches remained at the circular table.
"Congratulations, Erpa. You're really on a roll, aren't you? "
From her smiling face, a chillingly sharp voice erupted.
"Absolutely splendid. The next Tower Master is practically confirmed. A witch who's barely 25 years old becoming the next Tower Master. It's truly remarkable. "
"Thank you, Tyudel. "
Erpa carefully rose from her seat.
Erpa's left face was covered by a silver mask. Beneath the concealed half of her face, four arms were revealed, primly folded.
"Next time, you'll have a good result too. "
Her uncovered right face offered a polite smile.
Tyudel found that smile unbearably disgusting.
Tyudel hated everything about Erpa.
She hated that Erpa was a talent personally brought in and nurtured by Tower Master Oergen when she was 15, and she hated that Erpa's revealed half-face was more beautiful than her own.
Unlike her own freckled complexion, she loathed that perfect, porcelain-doll-like skin without a single blemish, as well as her eyes, larger than her own, and her perfect figure.
The fact that the mage she secretly adored had, because of Erpa's wide hips and large breasts, rejected her confession and declared his love for Erpa.
And that Erpa had rejected that very mage's confession.
And that she had ultimately failed in this representative thesis review.
And the fact that a woman, far more of a genius than herself and younger to boot, existed in the same Tower of Mages.
Everything about her was simply revolting.
"Well done, you spider. "
A single word, laced with venomous resentment, was flung.
When they were alone, Tyudel often called Erpa 'spider'.
It meant she was grotesque for having four arms.
To that venomous remark, Erpa offered no reply.
She merely looked at Tyudel with a pitying gaze for a moment, then silently withdrew.
That single, wordless gaze dug into her heart more cruelly than any insulting curse.
"Aargh! ! "
Inside the circular table, now empty of others.
Tyudel let out a demonic scream.
Returning to her private laboratory, Erpa carefully took out her wand from her waist and waved it.
The witch's hat and hood she wore floated up as if alive, and settled onto a nearby coat rack.
After waving her wand once more to firmly lock the door, Erpa carefully approached the mirror.
Her upper left hand slowly, with a trembling grip, removed the silver mask that covered half of her face.
And beneath it.
A sight that even Erpa herself found eerie and repulsive was revealed.
Black, distorted skin.
And on it, numerous eyes, clustered so tightly they could induce trypophobia.
Erpa's other left hand carefully caressed her own left face.
"It's disgusting. "
She murmured softly.
"It's hideous. "
A monstrosity.
Even to herself, it was the most accurate assessment of her left face.
She was a genius witch who had conducted countless magical studies, including the Three-Color Research, but no matter what she tried,
This horribly twisted half-face could not be fixed.
Not by anyone.
She hadn't revealed this fact even to Tower Master Oergen, who had initiated her into the path of magic.
Now that she possessed immense skill, she had a rough idea why.
Erpa was born with an excessively overwhelming magical talent.
From birth, an immense amount of mana resided within her body, she began speaking in just three months after being born, and by the age of three, she was a rare monster who could already perceive spirits and all kinds of magical phenomena with her own eyes.
And as the price for possessing such talent, her body had undergone excessive overgrowth.
At the age of five, two additional arms began to grow from her sides, and during puberty, instead of acne, eyeballs began to sprout on her left face.
Her own parents, deeming her a monster, had abandoned her, and wherever she went, she was often ostracized for being a monster.
That's why she devoted herself to magic.
Aside from eating and sleeping, she dedicated herself solely to magical research.
To return her abnormal body to normal.
As a result, Erpa gained world-class authority in Body Modification magic, but even she failed to fix her twisted half-face.
Erpa was afraid.
Exceptional talent naturally invites jealousy.
Tyudel wasn't the only one.
There would be countless people secretly, perhaps unknowingly, backbiting and envying her behind her back.
If she were abandoned again.
If she were ostracized by everyone again.
Could she endure it?
How would those who had seen her hideous half-face truly react?
"Please. There has to be a way to fix it. "
She murmured in a piteous voice.
She had finally found a place where her talent could blossom.
She was finally acknowledged.
She didn't want to be driven out again and wander as a vagrant.
She put on her silver mask once more.
Swearing that she would definitely fix her half-face, she sat down at her desk again, and prepared to continue her research.
'A morning paper, is it? '
While skillfully and quickly tidying the scattered research materials and papers with her four arms, she noticed the newspaper delivered this morning.
Erpa, who had picked up the newspaper without much thought, paused, seeing the headline plastered across the front page.
[A Saint Uncovered? ]
A Saint.
It was a headline that piqued her interest.
She stopped tidying, opened the newspaper, and slowly began to read its contents.
And the more she read, the wider her eyes grew.
"It claims that all kinds of rare and even genetic diseases were cured on the spot? Is that even magically possible? "
Miracles bestowed by gods and magic created through human effort were distinctly different fields.
However, whether miracle or magic, they were both performed by humans.
To heal her half-face, Erpa had studied countless fields, and among them, miracles were included.
The tale of such large-scale miracles being performed without cease was something Erpa had never heard of before.
Though a glimmer of temptation arose, Erpa soon shook her head.
The only conclusion she had drawn from studying miracles was that humans were wicked.
Those who brandished 'great miracles' were, in reality, mostly charlatans who had inflated their own abilities with simple magic, or outright swindlers intent on taking advantage and fleeing.
A Healing Saint?
Perhaps if his fame endured for about a year, then maybe.
From what she heard, she had no time to waste on a human who had only recently appeared.
Furthermore, her half-face was so grotesque that anyone who saw it would be sick to their stomach.
There was no guarantee that this 'Saint' would react kindly upon seeing her face.
'I can't trust it. '
Erpa put down the morning newspaper.
Rather than relying on a miracle she couldn't even be sure of, overcoming it with magic had more potential.
She sat at her desk and once again immersed herself in her research.
"Saint! ! Please heal my son! "
"Help my daughter! Saint! ! Saint! "
The slums were so packed with people that there was no room to set foot.
People were screaming to be healed first, to the point where some were getting trampled and injured further.
The sight of countless young children, the sick, and their families screaming and waving their hands at me was now closer to a horror scene.
Jesus.
What am I supposed to do in times like these? Tell me the answer.
Of course, Jesus didn't answer.
My eyes feel heavy from lack of sleep.
Besides, it wasn't like I could just haphazardly perform character customization, was it?
Doing it stitch by stitch, with such concentration, my mental energy had reached its limit.
There's no end to it, no matter how much I do.
No end.
Witch or no witch, I'll die first at this rate.
"I need to rest for a moment. "
I said that and tried to carefully extricate myself, but the people had no intention of letting me go.
"Saint! Have mercy! ! Saint! "
"Saint! Have mercy! "
I'm going crazy.
No matter how I think about it, this isn't right.
I'll just go rest for a bit. Just let me go eat, sleep, and then I'll come back.
Naturally.
I need a way to slip away without harming anyone. . . . . .
There is one, isn't there?
"Saint! Please! ! "
Leaving the shouting people behind, I activated yet another eroge skill.
[Using the skill Time Stop! ]
With this, I should be able to get away safely.
First, I need to get out, get some sleep, and eat something.
. . . . . . . . . Oh, for fuck's sake.
I can't move either.