She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (WN)

Fuzzy Dice’s identity was irrelevant, as long as he could provide information about the orphanage. Mira and Solomon reeled in the conversation to focus on that, and stopped speculating about Fuzzy Dice.

「Alright then, I’ll call you again if something happens.」 Saying that, Mira finally tried to end the call.

『By the way, if you’re heading to your next destination already, I guess you won’t be back in a while…』 But then Solomon brought up a different topic, something that seemed obvious. His voice sounded slightly dejected.

「Mhm, it’ll be a while… Why do you ask? Are you that lonely being unable to see me? Hm? Hm?」

Mira reaffirmed her grip on the device’s receiver and began to grin mockingly. She decided she could grant his friend the luxury of staying on the phone for longer, as he was essentially trapped in the capital and unable to go anywhere due to his duties.

While Mira thought that, that hint of sadness remained in Solomon’s voice, as he continued, 『Well, it’s mostly your wife.』

According to the vice-elder Creos, Mariana had started wondering out loud when Mira would be back. At first, Creos just told her that Mira would be back soon enough, but one day Mariana asked exactly where Mira had gone to, and he replied honestly.

He said Mira would be going to the Ancient Underground City, and he also mentioned that depending on the situation, she might go to the lowest floor, and that was the mistake.

The power of Machina Guardian in the Ancient Underground City was well-known throughout the Silver Linked Towers.

The reason was that back when the Nine Wisemen first gathered, they went to fight Machina Guardian as a test for their power, which ended in a catastrophic defeat and they had to retreat. Machina Guardian was the first and last raid boss that accomplished that against the Nine Wisemen.

In hindsight, they did not have nearly enough experience to pull off such a feat back then. But they had already taken the name of Nine Wisemen, and their defeat left a strong mark in history and everyone remembered their only defeat.

So when Mariana heard Mira was heading there, and could end up running against Machina Guardian again, she was instantly worried.

After that, Mariana’s treatment of Solomon had become much harsher and blunt, making Solomon feel like she had no respect for him anymore.

「What, Mariana is doing that…」

Mariana was a rather capable aide. She was good with housework, and was always gentle and well-mannered. But now she was giving Solomon the cold shoulder.

That she was acting that way for Mira’s sake was somewhat endearing, Mira thought, and it made her slightly happy. But she also could not allow herself to let Mariana continue feeling that way.

Mira began to think that maybe she did have to return, just for the peace of mind, but then Solomon said 『Zero, nine, zero, five, got it?』 listing a series of numbers.

「Hm? 0905 was it?」

『Yes, nine for the nine towers, then taking the Tower of Magic you go clockwise, making the Tower of Summoning the fifth. You should try calling in every so often, or rather…do it as soon as possible, please.』

Mariana was known for being kind to everyone, so Solomon could hardly stand being the only one being treated harshly by Mariana. When Mira repeated the numbers back, Solomon gave a more detailed explanation of what they stood for.

He had basically given her the tower’s phone number. Meaning that no matter how far away Mira was, she would be able to call in and catch up with Mariana.

「Mhm, I’ll try calling in a bit. I can’t have her worrying too much.」

Mira did not really care for Solomon’s situation, she was mostly concerned with easing Mariana’s worries, and a call would go a long way to accomplish that. So Mira decided she would call the Tower of Summoning.

『And please try to sprinkle in something like mentioning that I paid for these devices out of my own pocket just so you two can remain in contact, just so she stops blaming me, I’d appreciate it so much…』

It was rare for Solomon to be so direct with a personal favor. But he had plenty of reasons for that. Everyone knew that Mariana was kind to everyone, but people had started to notice that she was being much harsher to Solomon lately, which gave birth to rumors that Solomon had done unspeakable things to Mariana. Now Solomon was desperate to quench those rumors before they spread too far.

「Hmm, if I feel like it. Anyway, I’ll call Mariana so I’m hanging up now.」

Solomon’s feelings did not really matter to Mira, and something else had more priority, so she quickly hung up. As the receiver was moving down, a short 『I’m counting on you!』 came from Solomon, and then there was silence.

After ending the call with Solomon, Mira took a deep breath, then picked up the receiver again.

But before she could do anything more…

『Mira, Mira! I think your friend just said something about your wife? What was he talking about?! Shouldn’t it be husband?! And he called that person Mariana, didn’t he? That doesn’t sound like a male name, so who is it? Do you actually have a wife?! Mira, explain what’s going on!』

Martel’s voice sounded more high strung than usual, echoing inside Mira’s mind.

『Now Martel, we promised we wouldn’t snoop or involve ourselves with Mira’s private life.』

The Spirit King tried to appease her, but once Martel’s curiosity was incited, it could not be put out so easily.

『But…but…Lord Sym! Mira is a girl, and it seems she has a wife! You don’t have any questions about that?!』

『That’s irrelevant to the promise we made… I really wish I knew how to reel you in whenever you act like this…』

The Spirit King had already explained before that Martel was extremely fond of love stories, regardless of the pairing. Or rather, unorthodox pairings only fueled her curiosity more.

『I’m really sorry, Mira.』

With that apology, the Spirit King gave up on trying to get Martel to calm down, fully throwing in the towel. Meanwhile Martel kept bombaring Mira with even more questions, trying to learn everything she could about Mariana all at once.

『Ah, Mariana is just a-』

Mira did her best to fight back against Martel’s excitement, doing her best to explain things properly. Mariana was simply her aide, and since Mariana took care of all the household chores and anything Mira needed, Solomon called her Mira’s wife as a joke.

『Oh, so that was it… What a shame.』

Mariana was just Mira’s aide and helper, and not someone with a deeper connection. Once Martel understood that, her excitement vanished and she fell silent.

(Alright, I think she’s finally calmed down… The things Solomon does for me.)

Martel’s voice was no longer ringing endlessly in her mind, letting Mira sigh relieved. Though Solomon’s words would not leave her mind.

Mariana as her wife. Mira had said that was just Solomon poking fun at them, but somehow that explanation did not sit fully right with Mira either.

Actually she would not be a bad wife for Mira, or rather, she could be the ideal wife. Such thoughts began to swirl up in her mind, but she kept her lips sealed about them, knowing that Martel would never shut up if she brought that up.