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When I opened my eyes, I saw the wizard managing the Gate of the Magic Tower.

"Welcome, Lord Raymond."

I nodded.

The wizard looked surprised by my somewhat arrogant attitude.

"I'm here to take a class."

"You can go to the 4th Lecture hall."

“The 4th Lecture hall… Okay.”

I passed by him with a light greeting, though I could feel him staring at the back of my head as I went past.

I walked away, ignoring that gaze, as this had happened several times.

'It's huge indeed.'

It was called a Magic Tower for a reason. It was massive, and there were magical elements everywhere.

'This is crazy; there's even an elevator.'

That wasn't in the novel.

I approached it in amazement.

How does this work?

‘It must work with magic... is it flight magic?’

Although I had read the novel, I knew virtually nothing about how magic worked.

Tsk. As I clicked my tongue and turned around, several dressed as apprentice wizards flocked around.

"Aren't you Lord Raymond? As expected, you also attended this year."

"..."

Who were these guys now? I thought to myself.

I looked at the apprentice wizard standing in the lead talking to me.

Contrary to the welcome tone of his words, there was contempt in his eyes.

I'd seen those eyes before. Those were the eyes of the main actor looking down at me, playing a minor role.

Eyes that completely denounced the value of my existence.

Having grown up as the only child of a Wizard’s household, it was a great shame to be stuck as a 1st Circle wizard.

'Is it my fault that I don't have any talent?'

It wasn't my fault that I didn't have talent.

But if they looked down on me like that, I would get annoyed. I wanted to crush that face.

My hand balled into a tight fist, a burning desire to strike him coursing through my veins. But just as quickly as the impulse arose, I forcibly uncurled my fingers, quelling the urge to attack.

Alice wasn't here to sort things out if I caused trouble.

And it would be troublesome if no one cleaned things up after something happened.

Acting like a piece of trash didn't mean I would become an idiot. I would stay away from annoying things.

"Lord Raymond must have been especially looking forward to coming this year, right?"

"Of course, Lady Beatrice is giving the lecture today."

The apprentice wizards chattered.

Why did they call out to me if they intended to only talk with each other?

'Beatrice...'

Beatrice Skylar.

She was a member of another famous household, the Skylars.

She was 18, the same age as Raymond, but she was already on the verge of reaching the 4th Circle.

She was also why I came to the Magic Tower today, even though I had no particular interest in studying magic.

'I have to figure out what kind of person she is.'

The main character of the novel tried to destroy the whole world in the second half of the story.

It all started in the kingdom where Raymond and Beatrice lived in.

He began a revolt with claims he would reform the kingdom, and more than half of the families chose his side.

In the midst of that, the Skylar Household was one of the few that remained loyal until the end to protect the kingdom.

Specifically, Beatrice, despite being a 5th Circle wizard at the time, blocked the main character and was consequently killed by him.

'Her talent was stolen.'

Beatrice was like Raymond’s polar opposite.

She had a great talent for magic, but her physical abilities couldn't keep up with it, so she was still stuck in the 3rd Circle.

Beatrice only grew after realizing her bottleneck, but it was still not enough to fight against the main character.

And, of course, her talent for magic only nourished the main character's growth.

"I have to get Beatrice on my side."

I would eventually bump into the main character.

He would try to kill me. Then he would try to destroy the world, though I needed to live that long to care.

To survive, the main character had to be stopped.

'I must get people who can stop him to my side.'

That was the direction I had decided to go over the past few days.

There weren't too many options, but by gathering my forces and solidifying my base, I might stand a chance.

If I wanted to survive, I'd have to create a force for my protection, and later I'd have to stop the main character from trying to destroy the kingdom.

There wasn't much I could do now except find those who could stand their ground against the main character and fight him, even if I only had the tiniest hints from the novel. I needed people with extraordinary talents.

Just like myself.

'I have a talent for Swordsmanship.’

An aptitude for Swordsmanship superior to anyone else’s. It was a talent that the main character would continue to use until the end.

Raymond had that talent, but that couldn't stop the main character.

It'd take several people as talented as Raymond to stop him.

'The beginning point is Beatrice.'

I walked among the other apprentices.

It was fortunate that they were also on their way to the 4th Lecture hall. Otherwise, I would have to ask for directions.

As I took a seat in the front row, I could feel their gazes.

"Hey, it's that trash."

"Wow... I heard he's still in the 1st Circle. I would die of embarrassment if it were me."

"He came this year too. It's amazing. I guess he wants to raise his Circle even as garbage."

"He must be embarrassed. He's the son of the Tower Master, but he's still in the 1st Circle."

A vein bulged on my forehead at the sound of a man and a woman talking.

I really didn't want to cause trouble, but my body reacted independently.

Holding back this much meant I had crossed the limit of what I could tolerate as exemplary trash.

But at the same time, a feeling of fear peeked out from the depths of my heart. This was Raymond's feeling, not mine.

'Did he act like a jerk only to those weaker than him out of fear?'

That was pathetic.

Of course, it would be natural to be called incompetent if he got scared by light gossip like this.

His heart was in the wrong place to begin with.

A sigh left me as I turned and looked at those speaking behind me.

['The Unknown God' watches in anticipation of a new event.]

This is...

An odd message was floating in the air. Its presence bothered me a bit, but I had to focus on those guys for now.

"Hey."

“…?”

"Say it again."

"...Huh? Lord Raymond, are you talking to us?"

"Yeah, repeat what you just said."

I stood up, speaking roughly.

Scrape.

The quiet sound of dragging chairs filled the hall as all eyes turned on us.

"Haha... Lord Raymond, what do you want us to repeat…? We didn't say anything."

Seeing the guy’s awkward smile made me laugh. After all, these guys were similar to the original Raymond.

They would talk a lot behind others' backs but got scared when confronted.

"Loser."

That cold voice came from me, but it still sent a chill through my heart.

My muscles wriggled with tension, ready to move at any moment. My body seemed to react by itself whenever I got ready to fight.

"Huh?"

Perhaps surprised by my cold voice, the female apprentice made a small noise.

The male apprentice wizard also flinched a little. His awkward smile showed that he was nervous.

"Lord Raymond, I think there was a misunderstanding."

"Do you think I'm an idiot? Don't try to make excuses."

"Trash, 1st Circle, incompetent. Everything you said is right. But I'm not an idiot, you know."

I moved my shoulders to warm up the muscles.

The female apprentice wizard grabbed the arm of the man standing next to her.

Was he going to show some courage in front of his crush?

The male apprentice wizard raised his eyes and glared at me.

"If you speak carelessly to us in such a public place, we won't stay still."

"So what? Oh, are you going to use fancy magic? Then I can't stay still either. You, too, said some very insulting things to me in a public place like this. Didn't you?"

I glanced around. Everyone was silent.

They were the ones who tacitly made fun of Raymond and looked down on him until now.

And just now, they must have realized that Raymond was different from usual.

They probably didn’t imagine a talentless troublemaker would suddenly act like this. As if he had a plan…

The apprentice wizard confronted me head-on.

"I heard that even an insect wriggles when stepped on. The current situation seems to fit that saying.”

He said it to the apprentice wizards in the room as if to provoke them into action.

How could he have such an attitude even after I said all that? Should I call that courage? Or should I call him stupid?

I was sure he would have noticed that I had changed.

"Trash, incompetent. You admitted it yourself..."

"Oh, just shut up. If you're going to use magic, use it, and if you're scared, just be quiet. Do one of the two."

The apprentice wizard was already raising his arms and ready to use magic.

I was speaking like that, knowing that if he used magic right in front of me, even if it were just 1st Circle elemental magic, there was a severe risk of injury.

"Ha... since you keep mouthing off...”

The apprentice wizard eventually moved his Mana with a sneer. A red aura gathered around his arm.

It seemed he was about to use fire magic.

Even with a spell about to manifest right before me, I felt calm.

"F—”

I moved as he started to shout the starter word.

I quickly approached him and uppercut his chin.

"Fire... Cough!"

He wouldn't be able to do anything if he couldn't speak, no matter how hard he prepared.

I laughed at him as he stumbled back.

"You fool. And you call yourself a wizard? Trying to use magic when your enemy is right before you?"

When one first learns about magic, one learns to distance themselves from their opponent.

He didn't even know the basics.

Whack.

I followed it up with a punch to his chest.

"Gasp."

With a groan, the Mana he gathered in his arm was scattered.

I swung into the fallen guy's face once more.

"Shield!"

A chant sounded behind, and a shield was created over the apprentice wizard.

Crash!

I felt a slight pain in the hand that hit the shield.

I furrowed my brow and got up to see who cast the shield.

"What do you think you're doing?"

A chill ran down my spine as I heard the icy voice, and my shock only intensified when I spun around to behold the face that belonged to it.

She was a stunning gemstone come to life, with fiery red locks and sparkling ruby eyes.

"Beatrice."

Beatrice Skylar.

The reason I came here was standing there.