My Husband Was the Master of the Magic Tower - Chapter 99

It wasn’t just Masha’s room that the color was pure white wherever my eyes reached. The hallway that stretched out of the room was just as white, and everything was white, from the undecorated walls to the rarely seen doors.

The only other color in this space was the soft yellow light, but I was sure that if I could change the color of the light, even that would be white. If a normal person continues to live in a place that is seamlessly plastered with the same color like this, I think something will go wrong.

However, the man who had a high probability of being the party to this bizarre taste crossed the hallway without hesitation.

“Come on, let’s go in.”

At the end of the hallway, which wasn’t very long, the man opened a door that was particularly large compared to others and said. When I was told to go in, I obediently pushed my foot into it, and soon the scenery of the room came into view.

In the first place, there was nothing to put in my eyes enough to call it a ‘scenery’.

“…Hmm.”

Only the circular table and chair placed in the middle of the vast room stood out quite a bit, so I couldn’t help but keep my eyes on it for a long time. Obviously, it just has colors that are common in everyday life, yet it looks awkward here.

Is it weird that I doubt every single thing like that?

“I couldn’t find the right one because I was in a hurry.”

As if he knew what I was thinking, a scratchy voice leaked out with a hint of laughter.

“But I couldn’t help it. No matter what, wouldn’t it be too much to not even treat a precious guest properly?

What kind of hospitality are you talking about while wearing a half mask and not revealing your face properly?

“I don’t know what kind of treatment it is, but I want to decline.”

In the first place, even the word ‘treat’ sounds reluctant. However, the man just smiled, not caring about my wary answer.

“You will change your mind when you hear it.”

…With words I couldn’t understand, I sat down with the man.

On the table, tea, simple snacks, and luxurious tea cups and tableware were prepared in a plausible manner. It had the look that really noble people would prepare for a chat, and I could feel the warmth from the tea that the man poured himself.

Even though I looked into the red tea water, I didn’t even pretend to bring the cup to my mouth. The man also drank the tea leisurely without pointing out my attitude.

“Before we get to the point.”

After a short time passed as the man quenched his throat. Click, the sound of putting the teacup down rang out.

“First of all, I want to tell you that it’s been a while.”

“…It’s been a while?”

“Yeah.”

For a moment I thought I had heard it wrong. I looked at the man suspiciously and, without even trying to hide my gaze, spat out.

“I have never met you.”

“I’m not sure.”

Since the man acted as if he were talking for granted, I kept trying to frown. Even though I know best not to get caught up in the suspicious words of a man.

With me in front of him, the man quenched his throat once again.

“Think carefully. You already know me.”

I heard a muffled voice, as if he was lost in thought and searching for the past. The man’s gaze left me and turned to the window that filled one side of the wall. With his eyes filled with the scene of which I couldn’t see the outside at all, the man continued his words slowly.

“Maybe it’s because it’s been a while, but I don’t think you remembered it all at once.”

“What does that mean?”

The red eyes moved without warning and immediately looked at me.

“Haven’t we met in the village where you lived? It was fleeting, but we even brushed each other’s shoulders.”

“…”

Observing my reaction blatantly, the man smoothly raised the corner of his lips.

“It was the day before the village was engulfed in flames.”

Will you remember me when I say this? The whispering voice slowly yet clearly stuck to my ears.

There was no need to think about which village the man was talking about. Being engulfed in flames, was it a remark that could have been used carelessly?

The smoke that had been rolling in front of my eyes seemed to pass before my eyes again.

I don’t remember anything specific about that village. As always, I consciously tried to forget the painful memories, and now the daily life in the village remained as if it were enveloped in fog.

However, I was able to pull out remnants of memories I didn’t even know were left in the words that it was the day before the bomb exploded and that the man and I had met.

The bumped shoulder, the smell of burnt, and the magic stone that was broken when I returned home.

Flames, blood, screams, noise.

And the smell of burning again.

My vision spun without any warning.

It was after my chair fell over with a loud sound that my mind suddenly became clear.

“Ah, you’re also someone who knows how to react like a normal person.”

Seeing me rise from my seat, the man laughed happily.

Although I didn’t want to be swayed by the man’s intentions, emotions that were out of control swirled inside me and paralyzed my reason. Even though I knew how stupid I would look standing there, I couldn’t do anything.

As the man said, I know him.

Not as a person to person, but as the culprit who exterminated me and the villagers.

“…Did you plant a bomb in the village?”

Ever since I heard that he was one of the degenerates, I thought he might be related to that incident. I couldn’t even imagine hearing that he had visited the village himself.

The man slowly came out and met my eyes.

“Of course.”

“…”

“It was a day that marked none other than the beginning of a long war, but it’s bitter if I leave it to someone else, isn’t it.”

There was only joy in the man’s tone, not a hint of regret, and he kept trying to repeat what had happened in his head over and over again.

I didn’t want to recall the moment when I stopped breathing.

If I could, I wanted to leave my seat as soon as possible. No, rather than that, I felt like I wanted to be angry with the man. Maybe I feel like I want to throw everything I can get my hands on and break it.

However, amidst the impossibly fast-paced impulses, nothing came true.

Because my rapid flow of breathing gradually returned to its original state.

“…”

It was nothing more than habitually quelling my tremors, but that alone helped me a lot to regain my composure. I didn’t even have to take a deep breath. I felt the wild emotions gradually subside, and I slowly raised my head and looked at the man.

Without realizing it, the strength in my hand that had been clenching my fist loosened.

“Has the nursery rhyme already ended?”

The man tilted his body back with an open expression of excitement.

“You’re a lot less fun than I thought. The speed of you finishing off things is too fast.”

“I’m not here for your fun.”

Before I knew it, my voice was back to normal. Of course, the man didn’t seem to like that fact.

“I came here because you asked for a conversation while talking about my friend’s life.”

“How nice it would be if you acted as I wished for coming?”

The man’s head tilted at an angle. He certainly looks like a person much older than me in terms of his voice and appearance, but in his actions, he was like a child who was just chasing fun.

In fact, his complaints about my attitude sounded petty, like a child’s tantrum.

“If you were emotional, our conversation would go smoothly.”

“It will be smooth for you.”

I didn’t feel the need to adapt to the joke, so I answered more sharply than before. The man’s actions immediately stopped at the words that seemed to confront him without sacrificing the momentum. The man, who had been frozen in that state for a moment, looked at me with an observant gaze.

Although he almost turned his head reflexively, feeling a living feeling in him that could not be ignored.

Without deliberately avoiding his gaze, I calmly faced the man. Now, only the cooled tea and searching eyes were on the table.

I wasn’t the one who broke the silence that seemed to last forever.

The man laughed with an expression that suddenly became obedient, completely hiding the murderous intention he had revealed until now.

“That’s right. It would only be like that for me.”

It was a while to frown at the sudden change in attitude without any warning.

“You don’t seem to like that very much, so shall we try to come to an agreement now?”

The man said softly, with a voice that was softer than any I had ever seen before.

Showing kindness by straightening an overturned chair with a single gesture and pushing food on the table toward me.

The tense atmosphere was relaxed just by the change in the man’s expression.

Through that series of circumstances, I had no choice but to notice on the spot. The fact that the man suddenly came out with a low profile to the point where it was absurd.

It’s not that he’s acting like he’s lost, he’s acting like he and I were different from the beginning. I’m a person who deserves to be treated, and as if he has prepared for that treatment in advance.

It was a time when I was quietly holding that image in my eyes without any answer.

The man who invited me to sit down again pushed the cooled tea to the corner of the table.

“I will tell you an interesting story.”

Just like when we first started talking, picking up nonsense.