Chapter 24

“What? How could I possibly undo a meeting that’s already happened?”

“Easy. I’ll just ask the Archangel to erase your memory.”

“…!!!”

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch. If you pay up front and the job isn’t done, you deserve your money back. I hear the Archangel gave you plenty of advice about ‘mysteries’… such a shame, really.”

Truth be told, I had no idea if Yuribel could actually erase memories. But hey, she’s an Archangel—seemed plausible enough.

“She… hasn’t returned to the Celestial Realm yet?”

“Nope.”

“…She’s remained descended for ten days straight?”

“Yeah. She’s staying at my place. Got a mansion by the Inner Castle, remember?”

“…Is that even allowed? Old records say angels usually appeared, got straight to the point, and vanished right after.”

“She said just being here is fine. Claimed she was overworked and needed a vacation.”

To be precise, she called it a strike. Said she wouldn’t go back until her boss hired more staff.

Honestly, she was just freeloading.

“Hm… I suppose even the Celestial Realm has its… complications.”

“Worse than any black company, she says.”¹

The Tower Master chuckled at my joke.

“If that’s true, then I envy you immensely.”

“You mean the angel?”

“No, I mean you. I spent my whole life for a mere twenty minutes with her, while you… you just house her and get unlimited access to her teachings. How could I not be jealous?”

If only he saw her lazing around the house, eating, sleeping, playing all day…

“Well, I only see her face. She doesn’t exactly ‘teach’ me anything.”

Yeah. The only real perk was that she strutted around in defense-boosting lingerie that was… impressive. Very impressive. So impressive it made me question reality. People in Korea joke about KC certification? Forget that—hers was straight-up K Cup certification.

Cough. Anyway.

“So? Will you erase your memory and quit, or stop whining and keep working as lord like a good ox?”

Pressed, the Tower Master buried his face in his hands.

“…Damn it. Thanks to those twenty minutes of guidance, I broke through another wall. How could I undo that now?”

Exactly. Should’ve admitted it sooner.

“…But if I work hard as lord like you say, you swear I’ll see her again in three years?”

I pulled out the Lumina Church’s Divine Mark I’d just received from Yuribel and waved it.

“Of course. I’ve told you many times. If you doubt me, I’ll swear it in the name of Lumina, as a priest of the Church. You know what that means, don’t you?”

Naturally, I wasn’t a priest and I didn’t worship Lumina. Which meant the oath was worthless.

Three years later? Not my problem.

Thanks to me, Sinan would now be Lumina’s monopoly for the next three years. Beyond that, the goddess and her lackeys could figure it out themselves.

At that moment, her nagging voice rang in my head.

[Hey. Aren’t you abusing my boss’s name a little too conveniently?]

‘Are you stalking me? Why are you eavesdropping on my every move?’

[I’m “caring” for you. If I don’t monitor at least this much, I can’t even justify my cover story.]

‘Then just keep sleeping.’

[I can let it slide once or twice, but if you keep using the divine name for fake oaths, it’s like spitting in my boss’s face. There’s a reason scriptures always say “Do not take the name of God in vain.”]

‘So what? If I keep doing it, will your boss descend and slap me with a holy kimchi slap?’

[Ugh! I’ll be the one punished! They’ll say I failed to manage my assigned hero properly!]

‘You? Not me?’

[Yes! Me! Yuribel!!]

‘…….’

[…….]

‘Then there’s no problem.’

[HEY!!]

As I’ve said before, when a priest swears by their god’s name, it’s treated like a binding geas in this world.

Look at the Tower Master’s trusting face right now—created with just a few words.

Abandon a foolproof way to trick people, just because the angel might get chewed out? No way.

Anyway—

“…Very well.”

I blinked at the Tower Master’s voice, pulled from my silent exchange with Yuribel.

“…Pardon?”

“I’ll serve as lord and work like an ox, just as you wanted.”

“Ah.”

Realizing he was answering my earlier question, I nodded.

“Yes. Nothing complicated. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing these past ten days. If you’re too busy, you can always appoint a deputy lord.”

“…A deputy lord?”

“Sure. What’s the greatest right of a superior? Delegating work. You’re a Tower Master. You’ve pushed off papers, experiments, tower management to disciples before—what’s the difference here?”

His eyes lit up.

“Of course. You’re right. I’ve dumped theses, experiments, tower chores… why not the lordship as well? How could I not think of that sooner?”

“Exactly. Speaking of, that disciple I saw with you at the artifact shop—Dornea, wasn’t it? She seemed sharp. Why not use her?”

“…Dornea is competent, true. Thank you for the advice. I’ll have her start reporting here tomorrow instead of the tower.”

“……”

“……”

“Hehehe…”

“Heh heh heh…”

And so, one poor mage girl’s life went tumbling into a dark abyss.

Well, unless she works herself to death, this is actually her big chance at promotion. Hang in there, Miss Dornea.

About thirty minutes later, after wrapping up my talk with the Tower Master, I rose from my seat.

If I didn’t go feed Shia her late breakfast soon, she’d spend the entire day nagging and pestering me.

Creak.

As I pushed the chair back and stood, my gaze drifted to the view outside the window.

Shaaah…

Rain swept across the barony.

Oh, and for the record—the rain was also thanks to the angel. It should’ve been heavy snow, with temperatures swinging around minus twenty. But Yuribel had warmed the climate enough that it all fell as rain instead. She called it “payment in lodging.”

Not a bad trade, really, since the peasants needed clear ground to work for the rebuilding.

Click.

I opened the glass window, letting in a cool breeze. The sound of rainfall swelled louder.

Shaaahhh…

Despite the weather, the barony bustled with life.

Peasants wandered through the Free District with awkward smiles, amazed at their newfound freedom. They lined up for rations—actual food instead of the tasteless monster meat they’d been forced to eat. Priests and acolytes newly dispatched from the Lumina Church gave sermons and lessons, while others directed the rebuilding of temples and public buildings using stones from the collapsed Darkryu Wall.

Sure, with such numbers there was confusion and conflict—but compared to the beaten-down obedience of before, this was far better.

Chaos meant people’s desires clashing. Which meant they were finally living.

“…….”

The Tower Master tilted his head at me.

“Why the sudden daze?”

I pointed out the window, and his gaze followed.

“Hmm?”

I recalled a conversation from yesterday, when Shia rode on my shoulders as we toured the barony.

‘Why do you keep frowning like that?’

‘…Because I’m sick of playing vigilante. Looting, theft, brawls—eight cases today alone. This is what the soldiers should be handling, not us. We’ve done enough. Why not just leave already? We solved the big stuff.’

‘I understand your feelings. I, too, am itching to be gone. But…’

‘But?’

‘Whether they cry, laugh, rage, or fight… don’t you feel it? They finally smell like people again. Even if I, a Demon King, don’t care, you should be happy to see it.’

“……”

Remembering her laugh at the end of that talk, I turned back to the Tower Master with a faint smile.

“…Still, it turned out pretty decent in the end, didn’t it?”

He hesitated, then chuckled.

“…Ha! You’re right.”

Three days later.

With Master Falun and Dornea seeing us off, we left the barony.

Dornea’s dark circles had sunk all the way to her cheeks, and she glared at me like I’d poisoned her life. What? It’s not like I forced her at swordpoint to be a Tower Master’s disciple. She should’ve known—grad school means walking into the fire smiling, “How fascinating!” That’s basic survival.

Anyway.

Our next destination was the Kesala March of the Baran Empire, famed as the “Labyrinth City.”

I fingered the gold-embossed letter of introduction from Master Falun, carrying Shia on my shoulders as we followed the map’s direction.

‘So I have to go to Kesala if I want to study magic properly, huh? Fine. I came to a fantasy world—I might as well learn magic.’

The day before departure.

The Tower Master’s eyes widened at my request.

“You want to learn magic? But you’re a priest. Even if you were just an honorary priest without divine power, it’d be one thing. But you wield actual divinity. Don’t you know it’s harder than an elf lying with an orc?”

“I know.”

See, everyone in Kion knows the basic truth:

-Divinity rejects mana.

-Mana rejects divinity.

And Shia had explained it to me like this:

“‘Reject’ might be a vague way of putting it, but it’s not wrong.”