Chapter 26

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 26

Chapter Title: Smashing the Magic Tower's Core

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“Ah, th-that…”

April's face flushed with embarrassment.

Liam gazed down at her in silence before flashing a sly smile.

‘Better to grab her now while pretending it was a coincidence.’

He had deliberately cleared out everyone around the duke's quarters and routed the mages and servants on detours to this area, all to prepare for exactly this kind of situation.

A maid's uniform? A laughable mask?

He turned back to April, who looked suspicious on sight and now appeared to be breaking into a cold sweat.

“Ha, even in the eccentric Magic Tower, wandering around looking this sus... isn't it basically begging people to suspect you're up to no good?”

“Ah, th-that…”

“And that hammer you're holding? It looks for all the world like a weapon meant to bash someone's skull in.”

At Liam's remark, April belatedly tried to hide the hammer behind her back, though it was a clumsy effort.

“Ah, hahaha. This is just... my self-defense weapon. I always carry it around, especially since I don't know what kind of place this is.”

But Liam recognized it right away.

The hammer in April's hand was one of the luxury items presented to Duke Kaian years earlier.

A Partanium hammer, meticulously crafted by master artisans.

Yet he recalled that Partanium's properties made it less durable for its intended purpose than other tools, and since the duke had no reason to swing a hammer himself, it had been gathering dust in storage.

So why did April Salt have it?

‘For self-defense?’

To crack open the heads of the Salt Kingdom envoys if things got dicey?

For a fleeting moment, the face of Bonita—who held infinite affection for April—flashed in Liam's mind.

No matter how anxious she was about letting April venture into the Magic Tower alone(?), handing her that as a self-defense weapon?

It only made her already shady getup look even more like some hammer-wielding predator stalking its prey.

“...Given how little you know about the Magic Tower's current state, I'd advise toning down the suspicious vibes.”

“I-It was just because I was scared of running into the Salt Kingdom envoys who were still around.”

“They finished their audience with His Highness this morning and left right away, so no need to worry.”

“Ah! Haha... R-Really? Got it...”

Hearing her voice stumble awkwardly, syllable by jagged syllable, Liam thought back to how Kaian had seemed to anticipate something just like this.

“If you press her for details, she'll only clam up more. Just keep a loose watch and step in if things get dangerous.”

Less than a full day later, running into April dressed like this made Kaian feel downright prophetic.

‘As expected of the Kletan Empire's sharpest, most astute, and wisest duke, Your Highness. Such foresight.’

Thump!

He pressed a hand to his chest for a moment, then turned to find April staring at him with the weirdest look.

“In that case, you should head back now. If you keep roaming around like that...”

His words trailed off, but April nodded like she got the message anyway.

...Thus ended the first infiltration attempt: a grand beginning, a pitiful close.

“So embarrassing...”

Escorted back to my room by Liam, I buried my face in the bed for ages, squirming in delayed mortification.

Honestly, I thought it'd work.

I figured once the duke headed off to meet the Magic Tower lord, everyone would naturally swarm that way. Never saw Liam as the wildcard.

I still couldn't wrap my head around why he—the duke's biggest fanboy—hadn't tagged along for the meeting.

Now it was all or nothing.

‘I have to smash that core.’

Setback or no, I couldn't quit.

What had started as vague duty now felt like a sacred mission.

For the ‘independence’ I'd been shoving to the back of my mind without really facing it... I needed the Magic Tower's help, no matter what.

Lost in solitary brooding, I'd arrived at a compromise with basic common sense.

‘I'm just one of the duke's entourage, right?’

Flash.

My head shot up from the bedding.

‘Do people even know I'm Salt Kingdom's princess?’

No.

‘Then what about Salt envoys who could vouch that I'm the princess—or at least someone connected?’

Liam said they'd gone.

If time just dragged on like this, the Magic Tower was doomed to collapse.

The one and only fix was smashing the core, just like Remeia had advised in the original story.

And Duke Brail...

‘As long as the outcome's good, he won't kill me.’

Hell, to keep me around as his slave, he'd probably protect me somehow.

Deep down, though, a chill fear lingered: what if he tossed me to the mages as an experimental cadaver anyway? Or just sat back, smirking, while I got wrecked?

‘No. N-No way he'd stoop that low.’

Sure, ‘no way’ had a habit of proving people wrong, but I shoved the worry down and started steeling myself, bit by bit.

.

.

.

.

“Princess.”

“...Yes?”

“Why are you shaking like that?”

On the way to the Magic Tower's core with the duke.

His question shattered the silence. I rubbed my clammy, sweat-slick palms against my skirt.

Using curiosity as an excuse, I'd gotten permission to tag along to the core—and ever since, I'd been losing my mind with nerves.

“I-It's a cold.”

“I recall you holing up in your room after the first day.”

“Maybe I left the window open. Ahem. Cough! Cough, cough!”

It was a lame excuse no one would swallow, but right now, I couldn't care less.

The hammer's cold head—strapped tight to my thigh this time—brushed my bare skin, spiking icy tension through me.

We'd hit the central hall storing the core any second now.

I planned to whip out the hammer right there amid the gathered mages and smash it myself.

...Insane? Sure. But days of agonizing had led here.

“You're shivering way too much regardless. If you're under the weather, head back.”

“Y-Yes...”

Barely registering the duke's words, I scanned our surroundings until we finally stepped into the hall, past its watchful gatekeepers.

The floor—crafted from some impossibly smooth, unknowable material—bore an engraving of light hatching from an egg.

‘The clue was right there under their noses.’

I couldn't hide my pity.

Darkest spot's under the lamp; with that teetering core front and center, the mages probably hadn't even noticed.

“Duke of Brail, Your Highness, that rift is the root of the problem.”

An elderly mage—likely the Tower Lord—drew near.

After that, he and the duke traded words, but nothing filtered through to me.

Thump, thump.

My eyes locked on the bluish core hovering in midair atop the distant platform.

A monster of a thing, dwarfing any magic stone on the market.

Cracks webbed its once-smooth surface like spider veins.

With the duke's gaze elsewhere, I edged forward, slow and steady.

“Princess?”

Too late—he'd noticed something off, but by then the gap between us was plenty.

Swoosh.

I bent, unstrapped the hammer from my thigh, and bolted without a second thought.

“Huh?”

“Wha—?”

“What's that woman—?!”

Nearby mages froze, caught flat-footed by the chaos.

She'd come this far with the duke himself; ample reason for them not to sling spells recklessly.

Full-tilt sprint carried me to the core, purple mana leaking in rivulets. I heaved the hammer skyward.

“St-Stop her!”

‘Nope. Too late.’

Boom!

The Partanium head slammed dead-center into the core.

That instant, a satisfying jolt zinged through my hands, chased by the crisp crack of something shattering.

‘If this backfires, my skull's next.’

My part was done... but terror at the unholy mess I'd just unleashed had me clamping my eyes shut.