05 - Clocktower

Unlike in those Harry Potter books, real Magi didn't call regular humans with a weird slur like Muggle.

They were just non-Magi.

Perhaps if a non-Magi had found out that one of the Mage's Association's headquarters was located in the middle of such a populated city like London, they wouldn't understand considering how big the Clocktower's campus actually was.

Wouldn't the risk of discovery be too high of a burden?

But due to the existence of Bounded Fields, this was a non-issue.

Even if there was a fire-breathing Welsh Wyvern in front of them, so as long as the Bounded Field was maintained and the Wyvern stood at the other side of the barrier, the non-Magi brain wouldn't even register such blatant proof of the supernatural.

However, there was an exception.

Non-Magi themselves would instinctively avoid the Bounded Field, but a Magus wouldn't have such a reaction.

Imagine you're talking to someone, then they turned to the other corner and you suddenly couldn't process their existence, wouldn't that be noticeable?

Such was the case with Taxi Guy. It wouldn't be a problem if the context was different, but as the driver had been paying attention to him...

Johan couldn't possibly allow the Taxi Guy to see him enter the Association's grounds, so he picked the easy option and simply ran off when the other party wasn't looking.

It really was an easy option.

"...Good riddance." The Magus muttered to himself as he wished the Association would be as strict with common decency and morality as they were with the Conservation of Mystery.

I swear to God, you can literally be a pedophile here and no one bats an eye. But tell some non-Magi that you're more than them? Instant £10,000 fine... He lampooned harshly.

Despite being called the Clocktower, it wasn't actually the Tower of Westminster (otherwise known as Big Ben)...

The entire structure of the campus was huge and confusing, since it wasn't actually centralized to a single territory.

Most of the 'research facilities' were underground as, although the Bounded Fields could protect from the eyes of the non-Magi, they couldn't really have the same effect against cameras and satellites.

That was the official reason, but it definitely wasn't the primary one as the Clocktower completely predated modern tech.

As for the facilities above ground, there was the building that housed the Department of General Fundamentals.

It was a clock tower, and the reason why the entire place was called Clocktower. However, it wasn't actually modelled after the Big Ben.

Rather, it was more accurate to say that the Big Ben was modelled after the Clocktower.

The entire surrounding area also fell in the domain of General Fundamentals, with student dormitories, treasure hoards, vast libraries, and such.

The rest of the Departments' classrooms were spread out in college towns across the city, much in a similar structure to the General Fundamentals' college town.

—KNOCK~KNOCK~KNOCK!

Johan loudly knocked on a mahogany door with his left palm.

There were Twelve Departments in Clocktower, ruled over by the Twelve Lords.

A Noble Magus family that falls under the Clocktower must become members of one of these Twelve Departments.

For the Lawrence family, it was the Department of...

The mahogany door opened, and a sweet fragrant smell immediately assaulted Johan's senses.

"Oh, it's you again." An old man said from the other side of the doorway. "...I'm sorry, Joe. But we haven't found any new leads yet."

The Department of Lore.

"...It's fine, Neil." Johan showed a genuine smile. "I didn't come here for that."

The old man that stood before the Magus was a familiar one. Neil Townsend, a clerk for the Department of Lore and one of Johan's former mentors.

Decrepit old man would be an accurate descriptor for the clerk, as he was essentially a hoary elder with wizened features. The wrinkles at the edge of his eyes and mouth were deeply recessed, while his crimson pupils appeared slightly turbid.

"Oh, you really didn't?" Old Neil raised his graying eyebrows. "Come now, don't tell me you've given up on your family legacy..."

"Is it so hard to believe?" Johan remarked with a chuckle. "It's unhealthy to be so obsessed over one thing, you know..."

"Hm, that's not necessarily true..." Old Neil shook his head. "But if you're not here for that, then what is it that you're looking for? You've always avoided this place like the plague."

"I can't exactly be blamed for not wanting to hang around in a veritable poison jar." Johan said rather frankly. "But I'm been looking for my brother, have you seen him?"

Unlike most Magi families that chose to only have a single child to avoid succession issues, that wasn't the case for the Lawrence. That being said, Johan only had one younger brother.

"Oh, him? He's uh, he's around... somewhere. I think he went to meet that girl again." Old Neil said with a shrug. "You know the girl..."

Johan furrowed his eyesbrows before sighing.

If Johan was a simple man, then his brother could best be described as a swindler and troublemaker.

"Which girl, mate? I swear Noah chases a different girl every other month..." Johan said with an exasperated tone.

Old Neil just laughed. "Ah, youth."

...Fuck you mean youth, do you think this is Naruto? Johan lampooned internally as he smiled on the outside.

The Magus glanced over Old Neil's shoulder, gazing at the wall-spanning diagrams and occult symbols.

Johan always felt an ominous vibe around the Department of Lore's grounds. This was why he never stuck around for long...

"By the way..." He gazed at the Gobbler Ring his hand before turning back to Old Neil. "Tell the others to stop searching for the Ring."

"The Ring of Gluttonous Greed? Why? Have you really given up on it?" Old Neil looked vividly confused and shocked, rightly so.

The Lawrence Family was ancient even among other ancient families, yet for 7 generations straight, this Noble Family had dedicated all of their resources into the pursuit of this one treasure.

It was only through the laborious effort of his ancestors did Johan managed to piece the clues together and find where the Ring of Gluttonous Greed was located.

Yes, it was actually named the Ring of Gluttonous Greed, but Johan personally felt that the official name was too long, so he called it the Gobbler Ring instead.

"Of course, not." Johan said with utmost conviction. "I'm coward, not a fool..."

"But you have to understand, I can't keep wasting the Department's resources like this—it's a task for the Lawrence family, not the Department of Lore..." Johan said with a complicated expression.

Those words contained genuine feelings, Johan had always felt indebted to the Department, and knew he couldn't fully repay them in this lifetime if the Gobbler Ring was successfully acquired.

—So it's better for them not to know that the Ring was now mine! Don't pay attention to the ring on my finger, it's just decoration, believe me...!!!

Old Neil looked touched, but then he shook his head. "Even if that's the case, it's still in the Department's best interest to find it..."

"After all, the Ring of Gluttonous Greed is an exoanthropic object, it falls under our direct jurisdiction. This is why we are helping your family in the first place, you should already know." The clerk stated plainly.

"Alright, I understand." Johan nodded without much regret.

It was a worth a try, but he knew that even if Old Neil agreed with him, the clerk couldn't do much even if he wanted to.

He was just a clerk, not someone with the authority to decide these things on a whim.

"Be on your way then, you've interrupted my research." Old Neil said, though there wasn't any bitterness in his tone.

"Yeah, yeah..." Johan waved a hand as he turned back and strolled the other way.

Now what? Well, I suppose I should find Noah and this new girl of his...

Johan slipped.

"Fuck!" The wet splash of water could be heard as the Magus stumbled and fell, his ass slamming against the ground and his pants stained by a puddle.

...Why am I always falling like this today? Is the Ring cursed or something, cause fuck—

"...Pft...!" And that was when his face darkened.

Ah... someone saw.

Johan sat there for a few silent seconds, his crotch drenched, contemplating every decision and conclusion that he had made up until this point.

The Magus then looked up.

"Pfft... Ha... Ha... HAHAHAHA~!" It wasn't her usual, regal and controlled laugh, but rather, a raw and pure expression of joy derived from another's misfortune.

In other words, it was schadenfreude.

"Are you done?" Johan huffed as he quickly got up, his Magical Energy surging as he tapped his wet pants and absorbed all of the moistness out, draining the filth away. What remained was a ball of water floating atop his hand. "If you don't stop, I'll throw this at you."

"Hahaha... ha... alright, alright..." The woman suppressed the rest of her bliss as she brought out a piece of cloth and wiped her tears of joy away. "I don't want to get all of your crotch juices all over my dress... it's just... this isn't a sight you can enjoy daily."

The woman in question was less of a woman and more like a girl who was infinitely close to womanhood, for she was 17.

She was stunningly beautiful, not the kind of plain attractiveness that Johan had, but the kind that could turn heads even in a pageant show.

With long, luscious blonde hair styled in noble coils, porcelain skin that befitted one of highborn origin, a great figure, and two striking amber eyes...

...It was Luviagelita Edelfelt.