I Possessed the Heroine’s Teacher

It was boring. I was bored. Is there anything more tedious than pretending to enjoy the self-praise time of these old men, who are tainted by their own stubbornness? I would have preferred to visit Werner, but the schedule couldn’t be changed, so it couldn’t be helped.

I’ll just pretend to go along with it and leave soon. If it were the leaders of the Fire or Lightning Towers who always look down on me, that would be one thing, but since this is a gathering hosted by the Earth Tower, it shouldn’t be too troublesome.

I took a cigarette from my pocket and lit it. Instead of wasting time on this meaningless occasion, I should’ve stayed at home reading books or practicing cooking.

“Ugh, when will these old bastards die? Damn…”

If all these old men died and were replaced, would it get better? No, even if they were replaced, they would just be slightly younger and just as pathetic, talentless old fools. I wanted to give up on being a tower master and everything else. But since this was the damn family business, I had no choice but to keep going.

In that sense, I envied the Earth Tower. The current master of the Earth Tower had declared that the position of tower master would be passed on to a talented disciple, not a blood relative, and this was a person who had lived his life single.

“I wish all these old bastards would get stoned and die.”

[Kid, no matter how you think about it, that sounds too harsh.]

The Water Spirit King, Valena, always interfered with the posts and comments I made on the wizard community, and now, she was imposing morality and etiquette even on my mutterings.

“Once you hear what these assholes are about to say, you’ll probably agree with me, won’t you?”

[That won’t happen. And watch your mouth.]

“Well, don’t regret it later.”

I opened the door to the meeting room and entered. Familiar faces all around. The masters of the different elemental towers and the elders of the Earth Tower who filled the rest of the seats. These were faces I had grown sick of seeing over and over.

“Oh, Lorcha Tower Master, you came too. It seems you’re still as bad at keeping time as always.”

Why the hell did they suddenly change the schedule from 1 PM to 12 this morning, these old bastards?

“I’ve heard. You made a contract with the Spirit King, right? So, I suppose people like us are nothing in your eyes now?”

“Did Lorcha Tower Master do it alone? Werner did it too, you know.”

“Oh, that’s right. It seems you still can’t be number one. You need to work harder.”

“Well then, today, Lorcha Tower Master, you can tell us about the contract with the Spirit King. It’s a bit disappointing that Werner didn’t say it himself.”

Ha… Normally, they’d at least criticize in a roundabout way, but today, they didn’t even try to hide their condescension. These damn old men were openly looking down on me. Since I was young, I had been compared to Werner in everything. The number of spells developed, the number of compatible elements, even the achievements… I was sick of it now and couldn’t even say anything.

[…That’s a bit much, isn’t it?]

Even Valena, the spirit, was horrified by these old men’s rudeness. I quietly whispered to her.

“It’s just starting. It’s like an appetizer, if we were talking about a meal.”

[What does that mean…?]

“If I go into detail about the contract with the Spirit King, I can already guess what they’ll say.”

[What… do you mean… by that?]

“Ah, here we go.”

The Earth Tower Master, Gaius, tapped the table briefly and stood up. Of course, with that stiff face and cold voice… He was someone who wouldn’t bleed even if you stabbed him.

“I’m Gaius Tierra, the Earth Tower Master who will be leading this year’s conference. There’s no need for trivial self-introductions, so let’s quickly move on to the main topic.”

Even though it was called a conference, it was just a gathering where the tower masters came to brag about their achievements and research.

And now, everyone was looking at me with expectant eyes, waiting for me to speak about my contract with the Spirit King.

These old men, whose abilities were about the same as mine, were such an eyesore. Wizards don’t have any sexual desires or anything else. They only have a thirst for knowledge. They judge people based on magic alone, and if someone’s magical ability is great, they worship them regardless of their background, while they treat royalty like cockroaches if they have no magical talent… In a way, they were a breed to be respected.

“Well, I suppose I should speak about the hottest topic.”

Reluctantly, I stood up and began explaining the contract with the Spirit King. Once you make a contract with the Spirit King, your descendants automatically inherit the contract, and neither the person nor their descendants can sever it. However, to prevent the contract from spreading too much, only the firstborn inherits it. Lastly, if those who have made contracts with the Spirit King have children, their child will make contracts with multiple Spirit Kings.

The tower masters’ eyes gleamed at this story. I could already tell they would ask me some disgusting question like whether I’d consider having a child with Werner to make a contract with multiple Spirit Kings.

“So, if Lorcha Tower Master and Werner have a child, that child will make contracts with multiple Spirit Kings, right?”

What the hell… How did the conversation turn into this?

“Oh, I see. Lorcha Tower Master, you had a close relationship with Werner when you were young, right? If you two get married and have a child, would you consider bringing them to our Lightning Tower…?”

What the hell, they’re talking about childbirth already… this crazy old man.

“No, no, since Werner made a contract with the Steel Spirit King, the child should come to our Steel Tower instead.”

Stop claiming ownership of a child that hasn’t even been born yet, you crazy bastard. And I’m still a virgin, you damn old men, and this is sexual harassment.

[Indeed… these people are completely insane… ]

I was already fed up with the wizards’ actions and words, which even made the Spirit King, Valena, lose her composure.

“Ha… See? Now you understand why I didn’t want to come, right?”

[Yeah… I get it. I’d be uncomfortable too.]

“Though, today is better than usual. Usually, they would compare me to Werner and nitpick. There was even a time when they said how disappointed they were in my father, the former Tower Master.”

[You’re quite a skilled wizard too, aren’t you?]

“No matter how high-quality a sapphire is… it’s still insignificant when standing next to a diamond.”

I had understood something like that from the very beginning. He was only a year older than me, yet he had been showing off his skills, earning various achievements, and acting like he was superior.

Gaius, the Earth Tower Master, who had been silently listening to the conversation, began tapping the table and stood up.

“I see… so this is what it means to make a contract with a Spirit King… It’s unnecessary for me. I’ve heard enough. To me, it’s even worse than trash.”

“Master Gaius, what are you talking about? How can a contract with the Spirit King be considered trash?”

The Fire Tower Master smiled politely and tried to comment on Gaius’ words, but Gaius only responded with a cynical sneer.

“You’re the same. Trash.”

“What…?”

Huge chunks of rock attached to Gaius’ arm. It looked like the massive hands of a golem from a fairytale.

“I’ve learned everything I wanted to know, so die.”

That was magic. But how could he cast such magic without even chanting…

“Water Spirit King, shield me…!”

It was too late. He swung his massive arm, and with a heavy impact, my body was sent flying.

.

.

.

I opened my eyes to the sound of a screeching noise. My whole body was damp, my bones were broken and protruding, and every part of me hurt. The other tower masters… damn, they were all just piles of meat now. Not just the tower masters, but even the elders of the Earth Tower were nothing but meat chunks, stuck to the walls.

If Valena hadn’t used a partially incomplete defense spell on me, I would have been a pile of meat too. No, at least I would have died without pain. In this state, I felt like I might die from excessive bleeding…

“Hm… Are you still alive?”

Gaius looked at me with a curious expression. He wasn’t wearing a wizard’s robe, but rather the attire of a shepherd from the West.

“What’s with that ridiculous outfit…?”

“Does it not suit me? I think custom-made clothes are the best. Especially the stitching around the shoulders, I think it’s a really nice touch.”

“No… What the hell are you doing…?”

“I was just cleaning up some trash.”

It was shocking that he had killed the top-tier tower masters with a single blow, but… there was no way the other towers would remain silent after such an act. If all the towers joined forces to take revenge…

“If you do something like this, the towers will come for revenge… It’s practically like turning every nation into an enemy…”

“A nation? You think I’m afraid of something like that? I’m no ‘man’ if that’s the case. Do you really think I’m so foolish that I couldn’t even imagine such a thing?”

“Why the hell did you do something this crazy…?”

I thought he was one of the more reasonable old-timers.

“It’s proof.”

“…What?”

He tied his hair back, put on sunglasses, and turned his back on me.

“It’s proof, for me, for this world, and for the gods of this world.”

“What kind of nonsense is that…?”

“Well, you don’t need to understand.”

Without saying anything more, he turned away and started walking.

“…Why don’t you just kill me?”

“You have no connection to this proof. It’s not essential for you to die, but I wouldn’t care if you did.”

With that, he left without a word.

“If you’re still alive, tell Werner Alten. Tristan, ranked 3rd in the Black Round Table, is waiting in the Western Wastes. If you’re really a ‘man,’ come and fight.”

Damn it, I’d like to deliver that message… but my body won’t move.

About 10 minutes passed, and my vision started to fade. I really thought I was going to die…

Then I heard footsteps coming from somewhere. Wondering who it was, I forced my neck to turn and tried to make out the identity of the person. A girl with silver hair and purple eyes, accompanied by a man with demonic wings straight out of a fairytale.

“Wow, you really made a mess of things. Quite violent, too.”

“Yeah. But compared to a boss who hires someone from the afterlife and beats them with a bat for three days straight, I think this is less violent.”

“I heard you’ve been talking trash about me.”

“No, it’s just…”

“If you don’t want to get beaten more, you’d better do some work today.”

This isn’t the place for small talk… Damn it, I should be telling them to run since it’s still dangerous here…

The silver-haired girl suddenly approached me, fiddling with the earring that Werner had given me, and spoke.

“Tell me the truth. You don’t want to die, do you?”

“Suddenly, what’s this…?”

“Then would you like to make a deal with me?”