Chapter 1
Chapter 1. The First Day
A deep, quiet hour of the night, with a crimson full moon filling the sky as if painted with blood.
People feared the eerie red full moon that appeared once every 56 years. Therefore, they tightly locked their windows and doors and refrained from going out as soon as the sun set.
It was a quiet, ominous, and dark red night—so still that even stray dogs and cats that chased mice had disappeared.
But here, in this place—the magic tower that rose endlessly high, dark, and without a hint of worldly charm—lights were brightly lit on every floor.
The red full moon was a very welcomed natural phenomenon for wizards. On this day, they could gain a unique kind of magical power. So the wizards, without sleeping, devoted themselves to using spells that were usually difficult to perform.
From one of the middle floors of the magic tower, a particularly young and lovely voice flowed out gently—unlike the other floors.
[Agena Ombre, Cabriole Dans…]
The sound, which almost sounded like singing, came from the 104th floor, so high that even birds would struggle to fly there.
It was a semi-circular room where five or six glowing orbs, each the size of a child’s head, floated around.
The room, which almost resembled a cave, was so vast it was hard to take in at a glance, but clutter piled up here and there brought more signs than admiration.
At least at the very center of the room, there was a large white circle drawn. Standing on it was a young woman dressed in a thin nightgown that didn’t suit the chilly night.
The cute beauty with fair, porcelain-like skin and luxurious blonde hair cascading down her shoulders was Ariane—the only apprentice of the tower’s master and someone who had recently become an official wizard.
True to her reputation as the prodigious student of the genius tower master praised across the continent, Ariane was devoted to her magical studies even at this drowsy, late hour.
[Etrati Jess…]
Drip, drop.
She chanted the spell so earnestly that beads of sweat forming on her forehead trickled down her white cheeks and chin before falling to the floor.
The sweat must have tickled as it slid down, but aside from her lips chanting the spell, Ariane didn’t move a muscle.
On the floor, where the sweat vanished without a trace, were complex patterns, symbols, designs, and ancient letters drawn with a dizzying precision and structure.
It was a top-tier magic circle Ariane had created to bring forth a new life. Creation magic, which even high-level wizards struggled to succeed with, could have been too much for a novice wizard. However, she boldly took on the challenge, borrowing the power of the red full moon.
[…Endurnat.]
She finally finished the last incantation.
Her eyelids slowly lifted. Her beautiful blue eyes were clearly filled with exhaustion, but a smile spread across her lips at the thought that she had completed it without any mistakes.
Only now realizing how much she had been sweating from intense concentration, Ariane lifted her shoulder to wipe her cheek.
At this moment, even casting another spell or rummaging through a drawer for a handkerchief felt like a luxury.
She had been standing for half a day, chanting spells. Although it had been tiring, her satisfaction with the result made all her accumulated fatigue vanish as if it had been washed away.
Ariane spun in place once, her golden hair fluttering. She stepped out from the large magic circle.
“Now then…”
She kept her gaze fixed on the magic circle and tilted her head slightly, thinking about what to say.
What she was doing—kept a secret even from her master—was a spell to create an artificial human: a homunculus.
A homunculus was a doll artificially created through magic, identical in appearance to a human. It had no emotions or thoughts and simply followed commands, which was why wizards often used them like assistants.
However, because the creation method was complicated and maintaining one consumed a great deal of mana, they were not popular. Still, some were so satisfied with them that they made and used several.
Eva was one of those enthusiasts, and she had taught Ariane the homunculus-creating spell as a gift to celebrate her becoming a full-fledged wizard.
Eva, Ariane’s friend and senior at the tower, often taught her magic yet master wouldn’t, as well as life skills, culture, art, foreign languages, and more. Though it was the master who brought Ariane to the tower, it was practically Eva who had raised her, making her just as trustworthy as the master himself.
Eva had also told her another use for homunculi. Since Ariane would now be trapped in the tower doing boring work, she should at least enjoy some fun during her free nights.
Coincidentally, her master had gone off a few days ago with a number of other wizards to a deep valley where a dragon resided.
And today, with a crimson full moon filling the sky with powerful magical energy, it was the perfect time to cast a mana-draining creation spell.
“Uhm, about this tall.”
Ariane stood on her toes and stretched her arms high into the empty air. Her effort to reach higher and higher looked adorably innocent.
“A body built with muscles, and for hair color… since I’m blonde, black would be nice, right? Soft black hair, a charismatic face, and a charming smile—he should be a handsome man. And… uh… What was it again…”
Ariane waved toward the magic circle as if asking it to wait. Then she quickly rushed to the bed and flipped through one of the many books stacked on top.
“Where was it written again? Eva told me about it. Not this one… ah, outstanding! In bed, he should be very outstanding—sexy, affectionate, but rough… Huh? What does ‘affectionate but rough’ even mean? W-Wait! Don’t disappear!”
No one was rushing her, yet Ariane was panicking over the thought that the hard-drawn magic circle might vanish. With her mana nearly depleted, she didn’t know what would happen if she lost focus.
