If you asked—and insisted on an honest answer—then John would sincerely tell you.
In truth, at the very beginning, John had not wanted to get involved in this mess.
Not in the slightest.
But he did not have much choice.
As a veteran Trans-dimensional Mage and former priest, his simple, memorable, rhythmically syllabled name had not been mentioned inside the White Tower for a full dozen-plus centuries.
Some of the newer mages even used substitutes when addressing him, such as Mr. Pajamas, Mr. No-Name, Mr. Name-Blocked, and so on.
As a former priest, John could not really tolerate that sort of thing. If no one brought it up, fine, but not everyone was so well-mannered. As a result, he often got into street fights in the White Tower with mages who made fun of him.
As for why he had been muted—honestly, no one remembered the reason anymore. That "harassing others" excuse was really just a cover. Muting him and blocking his name had already become a tradition passed down from one generation of Administrators to the next.
To put it more precisely, it had become a work tradition that required handover. Every newly appointed White Tower Administrator did it, and they did it without even thinking.
By now, his name had even become something most people no longer cared about. They only wanted to know whether the new Administrator would continue the tradition after taking office.
So when Natalia Carroll promised him that as long as he came to help in this war, the block on his name would be lifted, John agreed without even thinking.
What else could he say?
However, as a former priest, his moral standards were something of an oddity within the White Tower. Generally speaking, he took his promises very seriously. Therefore, he would