Father, I Won’t Do Anything

* * *

After finishing her meal, Jaina moved to a different location this time.

The place Jaina headed to was the tMagic Tower’s library.

She let out a low exclamation as she walked down the hallway.

‘Amazing. No wonder it’s called the Magic Tower.’

The dining hall earlier was also luxurious and excellent, but the library was on another level.

It was clearly underground, but with the internal garden at the same location, it didn’t feel stuffy at all.

Natural light came in through the wide windows, illuminating the library.

There was a blue pond beyond the shrubs that had grown. The sight of warm light shimmering over the waves was extremely beautiful.

“Haa.”

Sighs could be heard from a few people who had come out of the library to take a break.

“The research paper submission period is coming up soon. If we don’t pass, we’ll be kicked out of the Magic Tower. Is there any good topic?”

“Even if we search through all the library books, it doesn’t seem like anything good will come up. The other magicians must have already done them all, right?”

“It’s not like some interesting thing that hasn’t been researched before will just fall from the sky, right?”

‘Research paper submission period’. She had read about it in . It was said to be the time when the Magic Tower’s magicians were most on edge, so accidents always occurred then.

‘So that’s why there are so many people.’

Since it was that time, the library was packed full of magicians. She was probably the only one visiting to read for leisure.

If they found out she was a dragon, it would cause an uproar, but unless they were a close aide, there was no way they could have read the letter sent to the Tower Lord, so she wasn’t too worried.

As she opened the library door, a quiet and still air lingered, unlike in the hallway.

Books fitted into round shelves surrounded the library, stacked up to the ceiling.

And magicians were sitting in each seat, reading books.

‘But how do they take out books placed in such high places?’

It was then, as Jaina was looking up at books in front of the bookshelf.

The lights floating faintly in the library appeared in front of Jaina and took out the book she had been looking up at.

Jaina’s eyes sparkled.

‘No wonder it’s the Magic Tower.’

Jaina gave a small nod to the light, conveying her gratitude. Then the light also blinked a few times and smoothly disappeared.

‘I should make good use of it next time too.’

Jaina soon found a plush sofa and sank deep into it.

Because she was short, her legs dangled, but soon the sofa shrank to fit her size.

It was comfortable and cozy.

Thoughts of her past life naturally came to mind. Reading had been Jaina’s long-time hobby continued from her previous life.

‘But the school library was lacking and there was no library near my house. It would have been nice to have a library like this nearby back then too.’

Flap.

When she opened the book, sentences mixing regular letters and magic letters caught her eye. Jaina, who didn’t know magic letters, closed the book and got up to pick another one.

There were so many books that you could say just pick another one if you got stuck. The fact that there were too many options, making it hard to choose, was rather more to her liking.

“Hello.”

It was then, as Jaina had just picked up a thin book and was about to sit on the sofa.

“The book in your hand doesn’t have magic letters, but it’s quite a difficult book. Do you have any parts you’re stuck on while reading?”

The man who approached said with a friendly-looking smile.

Jaina turned her gaze that had been directed at the book and asked:

“Who are you?”

“Ah, I’m a magician of the Magic Tower. I’m not a suspicious person. Seeing a young child like you alone made me concerned…”

Jaina politely said:

“Thank you for your concern. But I’m alright. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“But you’re still a young child. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“What is your name? I’m Jaina.”

“I’m Moben.”

She had thought his appearance didn’t ring a bell, and as expected, he wasn’t a character significantly covered in . He seemed to be one of the ordinary magicians of the Magic Tower.

As Jaina silently stared up at him after the exchange of names, Moben scratched his head and spoke with a troubled expression.

“Not only is it crowded these days because of the research period, there are many sensitive magicians, so it’s not good to be alone in a place like this. Even if it doesn’t seem like it, this is quite a dangerous place.”

Certainly, the sight of a young child alone in the Magic Tower would seem strange. The Magic Tower was a place where people couldn’t even bring their own children.

The gazes focusing on Jaina in the dining hall earlier hadn’t been for nothing.

The man before her eyes had probably approached out of worry, seeing a young child wandering the Magic Tower alone.

‘I don’t need a guardian. But I can’t say the Tower Lord is my father either.’

In a situation where she was practically kicked out, forget being acknowledged by Diamid, it wasn’t good to mention his name carelessly.

She might end up getting on Diamid’s nerves while trying to threaten the magicians.

“But how did you know I came to the library alone?”

Jaina said it without much thought, but Moben turned his head for a moment, trembling as if something had struck a nerve.

“Ah, I saw you in the dining hall with sir Mikael earlier. But now you didn’t come with sir Mikael, so…”

At that moment, the words Mikael had said earlier flashed through Jaina’s mind.

-Dragons are a precious ingredient. But adult dragons are strong, so they usually target young dragons who haven’t awakened yet. That’s why adult dragons protect the young until they awaken, but you have no guardian right now, right?

She didn’t think they would associate her with the dragon tribe just because she ate a bit more food.

Information about the dragon tribe was shrouded in secrecy, so no one could know unless they were involved.

Moreover, since they had settled in a corner using a sound-blocking spell, it was unlikely they overheard the conversation with Mikael.

‘But what is this icky feeling?’

“…I see.”

“Shall I take you to sir Mikael? What is your relationship with him?”

The instinct she had relentlessly honed since her previous life whispered.

You are in danger right now.

“…”

A moment of silence.

In that time, Jaina organized her thoughts and replied with a fabricated smile. Innocently, with a childlike face an adult would expect.

“It’s okay. Big brother Mikael said he’s busy right now.”

“B-Big brother?”

Jaina intentionally raised her voice.

“Yes! Of course he’s older than me so he’s my big brother.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Mister, you don’t even know that? You’re not very smart for a magician of the Magic Tower!”

“Hey. But I’m not a mister… Ahem. Right, you two must be quite close. There’s no one in the Magic Tower who can call him so casually…”

“Excuse me, it’s a bit noisy here.”

The effort to be loud paid off.

As sharp gazes pierced from here and there, Moben was at a loss.

“That, um. I apologize. I’ll leave right away. Let’s go out quickly. We must have been too loud.”

However, Jaina didn’t take any action at his words.

Moben spoke again with an impatient tone.

“I said let’s go out together?”

But Jaina kept her eyes lowered with an expressionless face, only focusing on the book.

It was a completely different look from the innocent one earlier.

“Didn’t you hear me… Ahem.”

Unable to question further or forcefully take her out due to the surrounding gazes, Moben approached Jaina and asked in a lowered voice.

“You, so what exactly is your relationship with sir Mikael?”

“…”

But Jaina remained silent with her gaze on the book, not answering anymore.

He lingered in place as if unable to give up, but eventually left the library not long after.

Jaina quietly watched his receding back and fell into thought.

‘Am I being too sensitive?’

Moben may have just been worried about her. She may have jumped to conclusions on her own from being too wary.

Rather, that was the more reasonable possibility.

‘Besides…’

Although she couldn’t stop the dragons from trying to kill her, in order to quickly adapt here, having a small fence around her might be more comfortable.

If Moben had approached with goodwill, he may have played that role.

However, Jaina soon shook her head. It was already a past matter. She didn’t feel regret or disappointment.

Because she had lived desperately like this on her own all along. Not even once had trust and affection been rewarded.

Rather than having expectations, it was better to abandon them.

That was the reason Jaina hadn’t resolved to desperately try to survive in this world.

* * *

Jaina stayed in the library for a long time and came out when she thought Moben would have left.

As the day darkened, magic lamps were now lit in the hallway that had been bright with sunlight.

“I received orders from sir Mikael to guide you to the most inconspicuous place.”

Creak.

A squeaky sound came from the door that wasn’t properly oiled.

Jaina followed the maid and peeked into the room.

“This place was originally used as a storage room for various supplies. But currently it is not in use. It hasn’t even been given a simple cleaning.”

The maid in charge of guiding seemed to not know what this room was for.

-It’s because the Tower Lord hasn’t formally declared you as his biological daughter yet. So I can’t give you a luxurious room, you know?

The place Mikael assigned to her was far from the central tower.

To be exact, it was a vacant room in the storage used by the Magic Tower’s servants.

“Are you satisfied with the room? If you tell me what it will be used for, I will change it to a suitable room.”

“No, I’ll take this room.”

Jaina examined every corner of the room with a calm face.

The room Jaina would be staying in was completely empty without even anything that could be called furniture, feeling desolate as it was old and hadn’t been used by anyone for a long time.

It was good that the window was large, but a cold chill could be felt from the walls.