Book Eater

Chapter 30: Catch the Genius (1)

The Blue Tower Master!

Theodore’s mind went blank as he realized what that short title meant. Briefly, the magic towers of Meltor Kingdom followed a certain hierarchy. It wasn’t as strict as the one governing noble titles, but magicians treated those higher ranked with respect. New members of the tower were Basic, while those who had proven their skills were known as Average. Members who showed excellence and accumulated merits to their name were known as Superior, and veterans who pioneered new paths forward were named Prime.

However, the magician who acted as the tower’s master was known as the Supreme. The Supreme was the strongest magician of the Tower, and was a national asset on par with the seven sword masters of the neighboring Andras Kingdom. These tower masters were the backbone of Meltor Kingdom.

Theo was absolutely flabbergasted that the old man standing in front of him was the peerless Supreme magician of the Blue Tower.

“B-Bergen Academy’s third grade student, Theodore Miller greets Tower Master!” Theodore bowed belatedly as he realized the situation.

Blundell stroked his beard as he chuckled. “Haha, there’s no need to be so uptight! Politeness is all well and good, but don’t bow too much, right, Vince?”

“Hah... That’s right.” Vince replied dourly. Vince mused that this old geezer sure was shameless to avoid his barely concealed ambivalence. He was exactly the kind of person Vince found hard to deal with.

Blundell was the master of a magic tower, yet he had approached them like any pleasant old man. Vince warily considered what ulterior motive the old man had under his boisterous attitude.

“So, what happened?” Vince could start to feel a headache brewing in the back of his head.

Blundell took a step back as he detected the annoyance creeping into Vince’s voice. It seemed he knew exactly how annoying he could be sometimes. “Hmm, ahem. It isn’t anything big. It’s just that it has been a long time since you came to the capital, so I wanted to see how you were doing. Also, I wanted to see if the rumor of your disciple was true.”

“There’s a rumor about my disciple?”

Blundell shrugged, his shoulders rippling. “Gossip’s the only interesting thing happening in those narrow towers. Of course they’d be curious about people coming from out of the capital.”

Theodore was starting to become curious about Blundell’s exercise routine. What exactly had he done to get this kind of body?

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Blundell turned to Theo with a twinkle in his eye. “Huhu, the more I see, the more I like you. If I hadn’t met another child, then I might have tried to steal your disciple.”

“You can’t just steal someone’s… Wait.” Vince’s eyes widened.

The Blue Tower Master’s disciple was a major matter. Bergen may have been far from the capital, but that news would definitely have made its way to him. But Vince hadn’t heard any news of the Red Tower Master or the Blue Tower Master taking disciples, which was why he had tried to avoid them.

Vince asked, “... Does Blue Tower Master have a disciple?”

Blundell laughed, “Hahaha, don’t look so surprised.”

He was clearly proud of his excellent disciple, and wanted to show them off as much as possible.

“Your pupil’s good, but this year’s winner has already been decided.”

Vince frowned. “What are you talking abo-”

A voice interrupted Vince as they announced the result of a match on another stage.

[Stadium 4, the match between Marcus Giovanni and Sylvia has ended. Participant Sylvia has claimed victory in twenty-four seconds. Participant Marcus will exit the tournament with three tokens.]

...Twenty-four seconds?

The people in the waiting room doubted their ears for a second. What kind of disciple could destroy three crystals in less than half a minute? It should be impossible unless the opponent just stood there like a scarecrow. In other words, the winner of Stadium 4 had completely overwhelmed the opponent. As dozens of gazes focused on the exit of Stadium 4, a certain old man was grinning widely as he stroked his beard.

Creak...

The door to Stadium 4 opened to reveal the newcomer. The pale magical lights in the room didn’t blind the spectators in the waiting room, but people still rubbed their eyes as they saw who walked out.

She had a brilliant aura around her.

Silver hair?

Theo’s eyes narrowed as he felt awe rising in him.

Her hair fell down her back like a silvery wave and framed her fair face. Her sky-blue eyes were accentuated by the blue robes that swished with every step. Her eyelashes fluttered with the natural fluctuation of her magic power.

Dozens of tokens clinked from the disproportionately large staff she carried. As the spectators watched her in hushed silence, she walked casually toward Blundell, Vince and Theo.

“Master.”

“Ohh, good work!”

Blundell laughed and opened his arms, but the girl walked right past him without any hesitation and stood at his side. The old man pouted for a second, but quickly returned to his irrepressible grin as if that had been normal.

He patted her head as he turned to Theo and Vince. “Excuse the delayed introduction, but this is the child I’ve been secretly teaching for a while, Sylvia.”

The girl inclined her head politely. “... Hello.”

It was a voice that contained no emotions, but most young men would have lost their composure at her sheer beauty. Indeed, Theo was also taken aback, but her beauty was not the primary reason. Alfred’s perception was sending him an incredibly astonishing message. If his perception was accurate, this girl was an opponent that Theo couldn’t beat!

Are you telling me this girl’s stronger than a hobgoblin chief?!

There was no ambiguity. His intuition was telling him that the Blue Tower Master’s disciple, Sylvia, was much more formidable than the hobgoblin chief.

The strength of a magician wasn’t something that usually subscribed to common sense. However, Theo couldn’t help feeling inferior in front of Sylvia’s appearance and apparent talent.

“Hrmm? It seems like you’re interested in Sylvia.” Blundell saw Theo’s shocked eyes and smiled wryly. “Why don’t the two of you have a match? It’s a great chance to leave a wonderful impression on her, no?”

Theo inwardly rolled his eyes. He realized why Vince had been cautious around the magic tower. There was no way a skilled magician wouldn’t be able to assess Sylvia’s talent after seeing her. If he was stupid enough to nod here, he would lose five tokens and Vince’s reputation would take a hit.

Theo tore his eyes from Sylvia’s and bowed slightly. “I'm sorry, but I’ll have to refuse. Right now, I can only show you an unsightly appearance.”

Sylvia’s gaze moved away from Theodore as her interest died.

Theo felt some regret, but it would be stupid to compete with her as he was right now. It was brave to challenge opponents who were hard to beat, but challenging opponents he couldn’t win against was just foolishness.

Blundell also clicked his tongue. “... That’s too bad. Then I hope you two find the opportunity to fight later.”

Blundell turned to walk away, and Sylvia bowed politely before following him out. As soon as the two disappeared, the spectators felt the tension in the room disappear. Those two magicians’ presences had been rather stressful on the crowd.

However, Theo and Vince were still tense.

Vince was the one who opened his mouth first. “... What about the booked restaurant?”

Theo replied grimly, “Unfortunately, we’ll have to postpone that, Professor.”

His confidence in winning the tournament had been blown away. Sylvia, the disciple of the Blue Tower Master, Blundell Adruncus, was the genius magician he had been longing to be since he was a child. She was younger than him, but she was already a Supreme’s disciple. A feeling that seemed to be a mix of envy and longing started to rise in his chest.

“It would be best to avoid her and aim for a high ranking.” Vince remarked a tad too casually.

Theo didn’t take his eyes off the door she had left through. “I know.”

A genius like her only appeared once every decade. She would sweep the tournament standings, and it would be simple for Theo to avoid her and collect tokens from those she hadn’t challenged.

Challenging Sylvia was a foolish act.

“Even so, I want to challenge her.”

She was the genius recognized by the Blue Tower Master, an existence who possessed an overwhelming amount of talent compared to Theo. However, Theo had his own method to grow. The grimoire in his left hand might be able to fuel his growth at the same rate as her natural genius.

He wanted to know… whether his grimoire could make up for the mountain called talent.

“I think it is a ridiculous and foolish choice. But...” Vince’s grin was downright bloodthirsty. It was the face of the beast who rampaged across battlefields, the Red Tower’s Fire Killer Vince.

“It’s been a while since my blood boiled like this. I want to see the shock on that old geezer’s face.”

Theo grinned back at him. “I want to see it too.”

“It really is a great relationship when hearts connect. I didn’t think you would be so motivated.”

Vince pulled his wallet out of his dimension pocket and peered into it.

“This should be enough.” he murmured, “Let’s go to the artifact stores and bookstores. Tell me if you want anything.”

This was the first time that Vince’s thick wallet, swollen with ten years of battlefield pay, had opened fully.