Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Aislin searched the underground tunnel twice, then left without the slightest hesitation.

She had watched Felis run this way with her own eyes, and she was sure this was the only secret passage of Gilbert’s that could let the boy escape.

But precisely because of that, it only proved that Gilbert, and even those two students of his, had already seen through her little scheme and made preparations long ago.

Aislin could still understand that Russell would find a way to avoid all eyes, contact Felis, and tell him about this entrance to the secret tunnel.

A person like Gilbert would absolutely never tell her about all his escape routes; if he had some special way of communicating that even their teacher didn’t know about, that was only normal.

Anyway, he could only cause trouble within the control range of the Magic Tower... In order not to let that Tower Master with the mysterious identity find an opening, the Tower of Dark Enigma was probably the strictest Magic Tower in the world when it came to regulating external communications.

Even the Tower Master was no exception; if anyone wanted to contact people outside through Spells and the like, they could only go to the dedicated communication tower.

What surprised Aislin was that Gilbert’s precautions were actually this flawless.

Of course she would never think that her good junior brother really trusted her; if he were that naive, Gilbert wouldn’t have lived to this day, wouldn’t have lasted until this turning point.

Yet by nature Gilbert did have a certain impulsiveness. Just as he absolutely could not tolerate anyone offending him, he also found it hard to do things that thoroughly.

There would always be some small flaw for people to seize on.

Only, in the past, compared to catching those flaws and in exchange provoking Gilbert’s crazy counterattack, which was terribly cost-ineffective, Aislin much preferred to use Gilbert to build up her image as the magnanimous senior sister.

But this time was different.

Aislin knew very well that if Gilbert smoothly passed that Seven Rings threshold... the Sixth Ring wasn’t even worth mentioning; as long as he recovered, he would definitely advance... then Ruth, who had always appreciated him but for various reasons could only keep a cold distance, would rapidly change his attitude.

Although the foundation she had built up over so many years wouldn’t be shaken that easily, what if Gilbert chose to stand behind that other Eighth Ring Mage?

Even if the odds of that were minuscule—after all Gilbert’s temperament had always been proud; even at his weakest he had never completely attached himself to anyone, and he only showed Norm Oliva a bit of respect because the man had instructed him before.

He had chosen to hold his own even in those most difficult times; now, he probably wouldn’t completely take a side just because he had to step into the spotlight.

But wouldn’t it be better for Aislin if Gilbert appeared a little later?

It’s not like she was planning to do him serious harm; she just hoped that during that period when they were forced to enter the Tower of Dark Enigma, Gilbert wouldn’t come out to fight for that share of power that was only enough for a few people.

Once everything was settled, even if Gilbert advanced to the Eighth Ring at the fastest speed, it wouldn’t matter to her anymore... Only that earliest batch of people would be able to come into contact with the true face of Sia Tower, and would not be misled by illusions into making the wrong choice.

This was not like in the Tower of Dark Enigma, where even if you failed to react in time, that was the Mage’s own problem.

And in Sia Tower... judging by what Prutt had done, it was easy to see how chaotic that side would be.

Most importantly, it was obvious that Spells were not the only reliance there... After witnessing how casually that Archmage of Sia Tower wielded his whip, Aislin naturally felt that difference.

And if they left the world of Spells, Aislin herself could not be sure that her teacher would never take a wrong step amid the intricate chaos.

So Aislin could only choose to seize more advantages for herself... At a time like this, the only reason she wasn’t touching Archmage Ruth’s cake was because she neither had the ability nor the nerve.

A junior brother she only saw once in ten years was not going to make Miss Aislin pull back her hand.

What a pity... Aislin thought as she flew... this time she seemed to have lost out a bit.

Even though she hadn’t completely fallen out with Gilbert, she had made him dislike her even more.

If he really had to pick a side in the future, Gilbert would definitely choose Norm Oliva.

But that was fine; she had long been mentally prepared for things to turn out this way.

It was only temporarily losing the support of a Seventh Circle Mage; that would merely make her situation with Oliva trend toward balance, not put her at a disadvantage... Otherwise she wouldn’t have taken such a risk.

Aislin’s only regret was that she hadn’t expected that Russell would be this outstanding!

She knew for a fact that Gilbert absolutely did not know beforehand that Felis would enter the Tower of Dark Enigma.

Rolando had handled this matter very abruptly; even she only found out when a shocked Nanali notified her... and by then, Felis had already been registered!

This was the sort of privilege enjoyed by people on the Kamente Tower side. Even though West usually kept rather aloof from the factions, when it came to giving convenience to ”their own”—especially when Prutt personally stepped up—West would definitely finish all the necessary paperwork at the first possible moment.

And at that time, Gilbert had already gone into seclusion.

That they could manage to make Felis vanish without a trace like this, to the point that even she couldn’t find a whiff of his presence, was certainly because Gilbert had made thorough preparations, but for all of this to be arranged so neatly could only mean that Russell was very capable.

The Ruth Faction was actually not short of students with outstanding Talents. There might not be many Eighth Ring Mages, but there were still a good dozen Seventh Circle Mages.

But as for those who were shrewd, efficient, and even had management ability—tsk~ how was Gilbert this lucky?

This time Aislin was genuinely envious.

She flicked her sleeve and flew back to her own Magic Tower, leaving behind that group of idiots frantically searching for the missing Felis... Prutt had actually come out to search in person!

And he’d brought a whole crowd... Even though they were shouting as if terrified others wouldn’t know that Rolando’s wife, Miss Nanali, had ordered a hit on her husband’s bastard son, who did they take everyone for, fools?

No one said anything only because they couldn’t be bothered to meddle, not because they had no brains.

When Kamente Tower’s people returned they’d be shaking with rage: making mistakes was one thing, but if everyone started thinking all his students were that stupid, what face would he have left when he went back to Sia Tower?

Although everyone already knew Prutt had sacrificed his brain for advancement, Aislin was still occasionally amazed, and really wanted to know what method that had been... it was definitely not the same kind Rolando used.

Prutt had only sacrificed part of his rationality, but it was still clearly his own IQ and thought patterns. Much as they all wanted to think the worst, they still couldn’t, just because of someone’s inherent shortcomings, question whether certain methods truly existed.

Although the Mental Power Potions for apprentices had already begun to expose some of their own flaws lately... Aislin could be sure that many Mages who had already reached their limits but refused to give up would not abandon the path of using Mental Power Potions until they saw a truth grim enough to crush all hope.

On the contrary, because those Potions seemed so severe—say, violent tempers, emotions obviously growing colder, even complete loss of feelings and similar side effects—they would feel that this Potion was trustworthy.

Aislin had thought for a long time before she understood why Rolando had become the first one chosen.

On the surface, it looked like Prutt was taking revenge on the Hainarson Clan for his conflict with Gilbert—and of course that was part of it—but more importantly, Rolando was a vain, amorous, and greedy rake.

A man like that would have rich emotions, whether positive or negative.

So he would indeed grow colder and colder as time passed... but not too quickly.

By that time, most of the people in the Tower of Dark Enigma who wanted to gamble before entering Sia Tower would probably have emptied their coffers and willingly bitten the hook.

Aislin lowered her head again to glance at the chaotic Magic Tower... So then, the reason Prutt was acting this stupid was that someone was directing him from behind, right?

Sacrificing one Prutt to naturally focus the gaze of the entire Magic Tower on Rolando was very much in line with Kamente Tower’s style.

For someone to have managed things to this extent before that Tower Master even returned, Aislin silently glanced toward Kamente Tower’s Main Tower... Compared to Prutt, who had followed Kamente Tower here to the Tower of Dark Enigma, she had always felt that the Noble student Kamente Tower had accepted after arriving here—Seventh Circle Mage Scott Rommel—was the one that Archmage really valued.

After all, amid the chaos that was Kamente Tower’s faction image, the only one who had never once done anything that made people feel offended was Scott Rommel.

Aislin refused to believe that in their world there was anyone who truly did not care about fame and profit.