Father, I Won’t Do Anything

“Why is your father suddenly calling for me?”

“I don’t have a father.”

“Ah, right right. Anyway. I don’t know why the Tower Lord is calling for me.”

With a furrowed face, Mikael let out a deep sigh.

“What’s the point of having the fancy title of the Tower Lord’s disciple? I have no privacy, no privacy at all. No advance notice, he just summons me on a whim… only gives me troublesome tasks…”

Mikael spoke up.

“Since the Tower Lord has called, I’ll have to go for a bit. Can you practice alone in the meantime?”

“Yes.”

“Think about how to regulate your mana amount and control when using magic. No matter how strong your innate mana affinity is as the Tower Lord’s daughter, your skills will improve rapidly if you use magic efficiently.”

With those parting words, Mikael vanished.

Shwiiiik!

Shoooooosh!

Following Mikael’s instructions, Jaina artificially created numerous gusts of wind.

Since mana control was difficult, she planned to practice with the wind magic she had used once before.

Shoosh!

Shwiiik!

As she trained, Jaina contemplated Mikael’s earlier remark for a while.

‘Good innate mana affinity as the Tower Lord’s daughter? Not because I’m a dragon?’

Though Jaina had long erased the word ‘father’ from her mind, the term ‘innate’ inevitably made her think of Diamid.

-Taylor, with magic, you first need to sense the mana…

-Mana?

-Mana is a dragon’s friend. You must first let them come to you.

She had once asked her aunt when she saw her teaching Taylor magic.

-Aunt, won’t I learn magic too?

-Your impure blood means it would be useless no matter how many times I teach you. How dare a human mongrel aspire to such things.

And a few days later…

Jaina had succeeded in drawing out mana before even Taylor, who had received instruction.

Her aunt had said Jaina’s mana would be proof of her impurity to be cast out, but reality proved otherwise.

Later on, she even managed to use dark magic before the pureblooded dragon Taylor.

‘Which only led to worse abuse afterwards.’

Her relatives likely thought she had tarnished the pride of the great dragons.

‘It must be because of the Tower Lord’s blood…’

Had she carried ordinary human blood, she may have struggled to learn magic as her relatives claimed.

But the blood of the legendary archmage Diamid seemed to differ.

‘No, it was simply the quality of the bread I consumed.’

Jaina lowered her eyes.

‘I have no father.’

And it was at that moment when her concentration wavered.

Shwooooooooong!

The wind Jaina had summoned escaped her mana field.

“Huh?”

A gale-force wind surged toward her. Jaina tried to brace herself on her small legs, but there was a limit.

Jaina’s feet lifted off the ground.

‘No!’

She immediately tried adjusting her weight to stay grounded, but having adjusted it alongside her transformation, the inexperienced Jaina struggled to regulate her weight alone.

Yet revealing her dragon form in this public place risked exposing her identity.

“Ahh!”

Jaina tried enveloping herself in mana first.

If she concealed herself from prying eyes, she could then transform and land safely as a dragon.

But…

“Ugh!”

The thin branch Jaina grabbed as she was swept away snapped, leaving her dangling from a massive trunk.

Fortunately, catching onto the trunk stabilized her wobbling, off-balance form.

“Mmm…”

The wind had carried Jaina high up into a colossal tree, its trunk too wide for her outstretched arms to encompass.

‘Such an enormous tree, this must not be just the Magic Tower grounds.’

Jaina surveyed her surroundings in wonder.

A garden blooming with vibrant, rarely seen flowers (in reality, a toxic weed patch cultivated by magicians).

A violet lake glistening under the sunlight (rumored to have been cursed by some monster in the past).

An adorable nursery of baby animals (miniaturized captured beasts).

Affording a panoramic view of the Magic Tower’s vast premises, this place possessed quite the scenic vistas.

‘Could there be a place for me here?’

A gentle, natural breeze wafted from afar, distinct from the artificial wind she had created.

Seated on the thick branch, Jaina gazed out not at the tower, but somewhere in the human world.

“Mmm.”

And before she knew it, she had dozed off leaning against the trunk.

It was a languid, sun-drenched spring day.

* * *

Tracking spells were among the prohibited magic within the Magic Tower.

Concerns over misuse were the reason, and in this moment, Mikael regretted having supported the tracking spell ban.

‘This brat, I’ll never let her use wind magic again!’

Last time, the failed tracking spell had forced him to extensively modify the spell… only for her to go missing again within the tower itself.

She had ended up in a strange place before, and now she had vanished again while practicing wind magic.

‘Even a so-called genius like me never went flying twice while learning wind magic!’

She may have inherited a wind affinity from her father, but could she have inherited too much of it?

Just how strong was her mana affinity for this to happen?

-I’ve searched everywhere, but Jaina is nowhere here.

Upon receiving Hilvenzia’s communication, Mikael clenched his teeth.

‘What if there are more scoundrels like Moben out there?’

It was because she was the dragon driving the Magic Tower’s magicians insane.

‘I shouldn’t have left her unattended then.’

If he had promised to teach her, he should have seen it through instead of abandoning her midway.

Once again, it was his failure to properly care for the child.

No matter how sudden the summons, that was no excuse.

‘Should I ask the Tower Lord to lift the tracking spell restriction?’

Thanks to modifying the spell after the previous incident, using a tracking spell on the half-human Jaina was now possible.

However, he recalled Diamid’s callous dismissal when Jaina had been captured by Moben.

Would he readily lift the restriction?

A rational justification convincing to Diamid would be required…

‘Dammit.’

If he honestly stated it was to find Jaina, a commotion was inevitable. So needlessly invoking that existence was pointless.

‘Damned if I do, damned if I don’t!’

Mikael roughly raked his hands through his hair.

‘Where in the world is she?’

* * *

People didn’t simply leave Diamid alone. Of course they were wary, but they also tried to trample him if displeased or fawn over him to take advantage.

In his youth before sealing his emotions, he had desperately tried to protect such people, only to receive hatred and wounds in return.

So Diamid secluded himself within the Magic Tower, distancing himself from humanity.

The Magic Tower was his impregnable fortress.

No one dared provoke him, obediently following whatever rules he set. Thus, the Magic Tower could always remain tranquil.

But recently, disorder had arisen within the Magic Tower’s walls, caused by the sole existence unwilling to move according to the Tower Lord’s wishes.

-Your daughter has been found collapsed, Tower Lord.

The one who moved even Mikael, who similarly distrusted people.

It seems she fell victim to another magician’s premeditated attack for being a dragon.

Even when told by Mikael that the girl had been assaulted by another magician, Diamid had responded callously at the time.

But the moment Mikael turned away…

Belatedly, a faint tremor stirred in his heart.

‘This is not good.’

Emotions often caused one to lose reason or become weakened.

That was why he had deliberately sealed them, so it was strange to feel concerned.

‘The seal couldn’t have been undone… Am I being overly sensitive because she is her daughter?’

Perhaps his intense fury toward her still lingered in his heart.

Chirp chirp.

Bird calls drifted in from the open window.

It seemed spring’s arrival had brought an influx of birds.

Diamid had unconsciously risen to close the window when he paused.

Before the study window stood an immense, lush tree known as the Sacred Tree for embodying all blessings.

A precious magical material frequently used in his research, he would occasionally gaze upon it, but…

Shhrrik, shhrrik.

A faint, tiny sound captured his full attention over the bird calls.

The very girl who had been troubling Diamid’s thoughts was now sound asleep atop the Sacred Tree.

How she had climbed up, he didn’t know, but the branch as thick as an adult’s waist seemed secure enough.

“…Quite the sound sleeper.”

The tree’s branches and leaves shielded her from the warm spring sunlight.

The dappled leaf shadows dancing across her face, the thin strands of hair stirring in the occasional breeze.

The gentle rise and fall of her chest with each soft exhale and inhale.

A picture of serenity.

Perhaps the most peaceful sight he had witnessed in recent times.

‘Why did she climb this tree?’

Did she deliberately seek to catch his eye?

Diamid swiftly dismissed that notion from his mind.

The study window’s view was ever-changing.

Yesterday it had shown one of the dormitory entrances, while the day before revealed a research chamber.

‘The Sacred Tree being reflected is merely coincidence.’

The window’s view shifted entirely based on Diamid’s whims, something even Mikael and Hilvenzia were unaware of.

This girl couldn’t have possibly known.

‘Then why did she climb to such heights?’

As he deduced how she had ascended, a memory from times past resurfaced.