This was the second expedition up the staircase.
It wasn’t easy to climb to the top floor carrying boxes.
‘Do I need to work on my stamina?’
Tired, Rosenta leaned on the stone wall for a moment.
But even though he’d stopped walking, Enoch continued to move forward.
"Enoch."
Even after hearing Rosenta’s voice, Enoch didn’t stop.
He just kept on walking as though the accelerator was stuck, and he could only go forward.
If things continued like this, the distance would widen.
Rosenta moved the box to his other arm, and, after a short breath, he managed to chase after Enoch.
Normally it would be Enoch who would chase after him and rush to his side.
It wasn’t like him to move ahead like that. Was something wrong?
"Sigh...…. Whew."
Rosenta gasped heavily.
He’d barely made it to the top floor and his legs gave out from exhaustion.
He sat down on the stone floor.
No one would be up here anyway. It was basically a no-entry area.
"Enoch, what the hell is going on...….”
He acted like he didn’t hear him.
Enoch was sweeping his hands along the wall with an unusual look on his face. His face distorted into an increasingly ghastly expression.
He looked like an animal that was furious that someone was trespassing into its territory.
"Really……. I feel so dirty.”
There was murderous intent in those light green eyes.
Enoch reached out and slammed the wall with all his might in a fit of rage.
"Frolavor."
Enoch’s magic caused a gust of wind to arise in the narrow space.
Although the scale was small, the gust was powerful.
Rosenta’s long, untied hair fluttered in the wind. He couldn't see properly, so he just kept his eyes closed.
And when he opened them again, it was after the gusts had subsided.
"Enoch! What is this...….”
He was clearly about to be angry, but Enoch’s face was so bright as he looked at him.
Looking at that face, he couldn't bring it up anymore.
"You know what?"
His face was clearly bright, but his voice was ferocious.
That made Rosenta more nervous.
Enoch's bright red lips, with a pretty but scary smile, gradually opened.
“……I'm so angry right now. To the point where I want to tear someone apart."
It was a very eerie remark.
Rosenta got up from the floor where he’d been. He approached Enoch, dusting off his butt.
He had no intention of questioning his tone or his unexpected behavior.
Rather, he wanted to ask.
"What made you angry?"
"I've never let a person touch what’s mine...…. Oh, except these days, of course."
‘For some reason, the last part feels like it was aimed at me.’
When Enoch saw people approaching Rosenta, his hands would begin to twitch, or he would try to suppress his jealousy as much as possible.
But Rosenta pretended not to understand.
Anyway, that probably wasn’t the point of what Enoch was trying to say.
"But this isn't right, is it?”
Enoch pointed to the wall.
As expected, He must have noticed something since coming here.
‘So that’s why he rushed straight here without listening to me since after we started climbing the steps.’
"What's wrong with it?"
"There are traces of someone else on it.”
In a moment Enoch's smile disappeared. He looked so cold that Rosenta felt a chill.
Then he pouted his lower lip and uttered a final word.
"Dirty."
***
Rosenta followed Enoch around.
First, he opened the wall and checked for traces inside.
Then he came out, saying there was no sign of invasion.
Currently, he was following the traces from the stairs and casting a new spell.
"Ah."
Suddenly a question arose.
Originally, there was alarm magic that Enoch had put in place, but the alarm never went off.
If it had, Rosenta wouldn’t have used the stairs.
Then...….
"How did they get in here?"
Upon hearing Rosenta’s murmur, Enoch pointed to the open window on the wall.
"There."
"There’s a cliff there.”
At Rosenta’s words, Enoch referenced himself.
"I came through there, too. To see the duke."
"Yes. I suppose you did…….”
Levitation, transformation magic, etc., were very difficult.
Being able to use such high-level magic...… Except for Enoch, the only ones who could do it were the mages of the Magic Tower.
So, there was only one answer.
"Why were the magicians here...….”
Rosenta was flabbergasted.
‘Enoch? Were they here to find Enoch? But how did they know he was here, and why come to the top floor?’
That didn't make any sense either.
However, there was no reason to come here unless it was for Enoch.
The deeper Rosenta’s worries grew, the deeper the indent between his eyebrows grew.
"What the hell?"
When he let his guard down for a moment, Enoch pressed down on the wrinkles in his brow and spoke calmly.
"It’s because of me."
It was so sudden that Rosenta just stared at Enoch in a daze.
He’d wondered what he should say, but what Enoch just said bothered him.
How could he confess that he was being chased by the Magic Tower so easily?
Pretending not to know, Rosenta asked Enoch.
"What do you mean?"
"I killed him.”
‘Don't tell me...….’
"I killed the head of the Magic Tower, so it's natural to be chased."
His voice was too bright to be confessing to murder.
“Is it okay to tell me?"
"Ah, you didn't know? I thought you knew,” Enoch shrugged his shoulders and lightly responded.
Contrary to his tone, Rosenta was quite taken aback. Why did he think so?
Rosenta opened his mouth.
He managed to say to Enoch, "Why...… That's what I thought."
"I never once told you that I use magic. I was afraid that they'd catch me. By the way…….”
It was only then that Rosenta realized.
‘Come to think of it, when I first saw Enoch, I asked him to get rid of the "sandstorm" as if it were natural.’
It would be unusual to make such a request to an ordinary person.
Rosenta’s expression gradually hardened.
On the contrary, Enoch's face grew more and more joyful.
"The duke asked me to get rid of the sandstorm. Even when I used magic, you showed no sign of surprise."
That was true.
Rosenta had been in such a hurry at the time. In addition, Enoch, the party involved, showed little reaction.
He’d treated it as though it was obvious.
Rosenta repeatedly opened and closed his mouth. He couldn't think of anything to say.
"Duke."
It was the first time Rosenta felt scared hearing Enoch calling him.
Speaking of which, was he trying to ask him about that time? About how he knew about him?
But that’s not what Enoch asked.
"I guess you didn't know I was being chased by the magic tower."
‘It would be better to pretend I didn’t know anything.’ After that thought, Rosenta pretended to be embarrassed.
He nodded awkwardly, as if imitating a rusty machine.
Enoch smiled at his nod. Then he started talking about himself.
"Hiorin, my teacher at the time, sent me to work for a teacher who he said was his close friend.”
Enoch didn't seem to have any intention of pointing out Rosenta’s strangeness.
He only told him his story.
"He said he was jealous of me because of the size and power of my magic. He studied and mostly conducted experiments on me. For example...….”
Enoch raised his hands, showing his ten fingers to Rosenta.
He then proceeded to fold his fingers down one by one as he listed examples.
"Changes in magical power when injected with psychotropic drugs, the correlation between physical pain and magic recovery, and how magic power is lost when a young wizard commits his first murder….”
The more Rosenta heard it, the more disgusted he was.
"Stop...….”
He couldn’t believe such experiments were conducted on a child.
In the book the phrase ‘I was experimented on’ was mentioned only briefly, so he hadn’t thought anything of it…….
He felt so uncomfortable inside.
He closed his mouth and turned away from Enoch.
He was not confident he could look at Enoch casually.
"Why aren't you looking at me?"
He felt a strong force on his jaw.
Enoch lifted his chin and made him look into his eyes.
“……Because I don't want to look at you with pity.”
"That's right. I don't like to be looked at with pity…...but it’s nice when you do it, duke."
The hand that held Rosenta’s chin slipped down.
But he continued looking at Enoch. He didn't shy away from his deep, light-green eyes.
Enoch's eyes fell beautifully, forming half-moons.
"You can't carelessly abandon poor me, because of your kind heart.”
Enoch's white hands brushed through Rosenta’s hair. He brushed his face as though tickling him.
After doing that for a while, he slowly stepped back from Rosenta.
"I won't ask you about your secrets. So don't worry."
Enoch put his hand on the wall.
Even though he didn't speak the code, Enoch raised his hand, and the door began to open.
"If you need anything, feel free to call me, Duke."
“……Let's do that."
Like a possessed man, Rosenta walked toward the door opened by Enoch.
His legs were walking, but he didn't feel like he was moving. He had no sense of reality.
As he absentmindedly walked down the passage, torches lit up along the way.
From behind him came Enoch's words.
"Should I cast the magic more carefully so that there are no traces left?"
‘Ah’.
Rosenta suddenly came to his senses. Enoch said he wouldn't ask, but why?
He quickly turned around.
"Enoch, why...….”
The door was sliding shut.
Through the closing opening, Enoch could be seen with his eyes narrowed.
He clearly said, "Because it's you."