"No, I was just thinking about how to reinforce our Mage Tower." Hilbert raised a hand lightly. "I brought back a lot of resources."
"Huh?" Carpenter stepped out and stood behind Hill, raising her head with him to look at their gray tower. "Teacher, hadn't you already renovated our tower to be even better than before when you left?
That was a defense even Ninth-Circle Mages armed with war machines couldn't breach... How much stronger do you want it to be?"
"Hmm..." Hilbert slowly folded his arms over his chest. "First, I have money.
Second, I have time.
Lastly, if Rommel's refusal is too firm and leads to certain unexpected events, we'll have somewhere to hide.
After all, we aren't in the main tower."
Carpenter rose onto her toes in surprise, trying to observe her teacher's expression from the side as he said that... That strangely sarcastic tone made her suspect her teacher had been replaced again.
But apparently not. He was just throwing a fit for no apparent reason.
Of course Carpenter knew about Rommel and the Archmage Glasya.
Since neither side had tried to suppress the rumors, information was naturally flying everywhere... Carpenter figured the people in the other Mage Towers probably knew by now too.
Though the rumors were getting rather bizarre, no one dared make things up about the crucial point: Mage Rommel had not felt flattered. He had chosen to avoid her entirely.
If he had not only been Seventh-Circle, Rommel would obviously have publicly refused.
But since he had yet to reach the Eighth Ring, his attitude had to remain somewhat respectful.
The Mages could understand his silent response.
But they also did not believe he could hold out for long.
If Glasya did not clearly have more important matters to handle, how many