Kaitlyn (3)

Kaitlyn Ramos.

A middle-aged woman with a strong will and determination.

In "Disaster 7", she was stubborn beyond anyone else, so strong that it was hard to stop her with simple words.

'I never thought it would go so smoothly.'

When I tried to recruit her, I had no doubt that I would have to go through ups and downs... but it seemed she was in no position to bargain due to her financial difficulties.

Hearing about her life, it was not surprising that she gave in.

She woke up early in the morning, collected dewdrops from leaves to quench her thirst, and ate young plants that the gatherers had missed for breakfast.

However, there was no way she could find such plants every time.

So, when there was nothing else to eat, she risked her life to eat even poisonous plants.

As a result, she gained the "Digestion" ability, which was not originally in her stats, and her level increased by 3.

While tightening her belt, Kaitlyn conducted research on magnesium, considering it the opportunity of a lifetime.

Then, as the price of magnesium rose, she found out that Reed, the master of the Silence Tower, was conducting similar research.

Since she and Reed were alumni, she decided to make a difficult move.

She went to the Silence Tower to get some magnesium, but she found out that Reed's research was far ahead of hers.

Moreover, she realized she could no longer continue her research.

It was as if the last ray of light had disappeared from her life.

But who would have known?

It wasn't the last ray of light that disappeared, but rather, the dark clouds vanished, and the God of Light, Althea, descended.

The god appeared in the form of Reed, and his hands were full of 'free' gifts.

She didn't doubt it.

No, there was no need to doubt.

Even if Reed were a demon and asked for her life, she was ready to pay in 72 monthly installments right now.

Reed successfully hired Kaitlyn with a special offer.

While he did offend senior magicians by informing them after making the decision, no one in the field of "Magic Engineering" opposed or hesitated to accept Kaitlyn, as there was a lack of suitable talent at the moment.

Everyone agreed to watch and see how things went, as the Tower Master was widely acknowledged for recognizing talent.

'I would like to place her in the chief position but...'

It would be disrespecting the current Chief Magicians.

On top of that, Kaitlyn felt that she had already received too much.

If she were given more compensation in this state, she might become complacent, so Reed decided to treat her as a junior apprentice.

So, he placed her in a room for junior apprentices on the lower floors.

Kaitlyn blankly looked around the room she had been assigned for quite some time.

"Is there something you don't like?"

"No, it's just... it's been so long since I've used something in good condition..."

Being used to scavenging from garbage dumps, she couldn't even distinguish whether this was a dream or reality.

"Do I have to pay for anything..."

"Everything is free."

In the end, she asked a few more times if everything was really free before realizing that it was indeed real.

Perhaps due to her rough life, Kaitlyn became familiar with all the facilities of the tower in just three days.

Being a natural engineer and inventor, she immediately began working as an assistant magician in the Tower Master's laboratory once she had adapted.

Kaitlyn quickly became a part of the Silence Tower.

'I can finally breathe a sigh of relief now that a Chief Engineer has appeared.'

What she needed was money and welfare.

What Reed needed was her ability.

No one would feel bad about the deal.

"I'm concerned about Miss Kaitlyn."

No, everyone except one person.

Phoebe, who had been lingering in the office, spoke with a determined expression.

"Is there a problem?"

"She's calling you too casually, Tower Master. You're definitely someone who should be respected in the tower...!"

She managed to call him Tower Master, but her speech style hadn't changed.

'On top of that, her traits make her seem rude too.'

Her trait and temperament were those of an "Eccentric Inventor."

When given direction A, she would twist it to B or C, proposing unconventional ideas that deviate from the existing framework.

Her ideas could be better directions, but at the same time, they could be difficult for Reed to handle.

The only thing that could control her double-edged ability was Reed's decision.

Knowing that her temperament would lead the tower in a good direction, Reed left her alone.

However, Phoebe warned him to be cautious, as she found it bothersome, but Kaitlyn had no intention of changing her way of speaking.

"Just leave her be."

"But, umm..."

"She has the ability of a chief magician in our tower when it comes to magical engineering. We can tolerate that level of rudeness."

"But still..."

Phoebe was quite persistent.

Since the conversation about their speech had come up, Reed mentioned her speech as well.

"Aren't you also strange with your speech, being my deputy?"

"Me? What's wrong with mine..."

"Don't you know that when you talk with that drawn-out speech, it makes my mind drowsy?"

Hearing that, Phoebe's face turned shocked.

Despite the cruel words that almost made her tear up, she began to stubbornly try to change her speech.

"Then I'll change my speech too! No, I'll change it now!"

She glared with force in her eyes, reminding him that she was a half-dragon.

It was quite scary to be stared at with golden eyes, even though he knew she had no ill intent.

"…Phoebe."

"Yes! Tower Master, the quick and snappy Phoebe is here! What do you want to say?"

"Your hair looks nice today."

"Hehe... thank you. Oops! That was because I let my guard down!"

"It goes well with your horns."

"Really?"

She's too easygoing.

She tried to change her speech with a strong tone, but as soon as she received compliments, she lost focus, making it impossible.

In the end, Phoebe gave up after just 30 minutes.

For someone who had given up, her face looked very happy.

"It may be annoying right now, but she will become our tower's top engineer, so please try to understand."

"Okay."

He thought he had successfully persuaded Phoebe and that the storm had passed, but…

"No way!"

Rosaria's childish voice echoed through the hallway.

When he went outside, Rosaria and Kaitlyn were standing there.

Rosaria's cheeks were puffed up like two steamed buns, and she was holding a cardboard sword in her hand.

"What's going on?"

"Ah, Tower Master, let me explain."

Kaitlyn calmly blinked and explained the situation.

"I came up to get permission to process more magnesium plates for my research, but this girl suddenly asked me if this sword was any good."

"And?"

"So I honestly answered her. I told her that with this, she couldn't even catch a rabbit, and that it had technical flaws. But then she suddenly screamed in the middle..."

"No way! With this, I can even defeat the demon king!"

Rosaria raised her voice and showed her sword.

Objectively speaking, Kaitlyn's assessment was accurate, as it was just a piece of cardboard cut out.

The problem was that the target happened to be Rosaria.

"Weren't you too harsh in your evaluation of a child?"

"But isn't this inside the Tower of Silence? She must have come here as a mage too, so shouldn't I give her an objective evaluation?"

Reed felt something was off in her words.

"That child is my daughter."

"...What?"

He had a feeling that would be the case.

"Did you not know?"

"I couldn't even imagine that you, Tower Master, were married..."

"I'm not married. I adopted her as my daughter."

Her thought process came to a halt and resumed.

Now she realized that she had angered the Tower Master's daughter.

"…Ah!"

"Hmph!"

Rosaria stomped back to her room.

Phoebe followed Rosaria, and Kaitlyn, unable to speak, covered her face and sank to the ground right there.

"Oh my, oh my goodness, how could this happen..."

"Did you really not know, even though every magician knows?"

"....It's been over 6 months since I entered the tower...."

"Even so, isn't it too much to think of that young child as a member of the tower?"

"I thought they were either accepting young children as apprentices these days or that she might be older than she looks... I didn't think it through."

Daughter? A daughter?

Kaitlyn muttered to herself, and Reed sighed.

"Anyway, do your best to make amends. If you can't..."

Reed trailed off, not knowing what to do, but Kaitlyn heard it as a death sentence.

Rosaria's room.

She frowned and threw her cardboard sword on the desk.

"I could defeat the demon king with this...."

But Rosaria knew Kaitlyn's words were right.

She was angry because Kaitlyn's words were true, but she didn't cry.

"Miss, may I come in?"

The drawn-out voice was undoubtedly Phoebe's.

Rosaria didn't answer as she sat at the desk, trying to cool off her anger, and Phoebe cautiously entered the room.

"Miss, are you okay?"

"I'm not okay."

"Would you like to touch my horn?"

Rosaria didn't respond, but she grabbed Phoebe's horn as she bowed her head.

Her angry face never left the cardboard sword she made.

"Did you make this sword to give as a gift to the Tower Master?"

"Yes, I saw Papa making it. Rosaria wanted to help too."

"I know. I could feel that you were thinking of the Tower Master."

"I worked so hard on coloring it..."

Rosaria's voice trembled.

Phoebe put her hand on her shoulder and comforted her.

"I would have been really upset too if someone spoke like that about something I worked hard on."

"She's a bad, stupid, dog-like lady."

"That's right! She's really a bad person!"

Phoebe, who had built up resentment towards Kaitlyn for being rude to Reed, agreed with Rosaria's words.

"Miss, shall I bite that stupid, foolish dog lady once on your behalf?"

Her red eyes looked up at her, even redder than before.

"But it will hurt if you bite."

"That's why I'm going to bite."

"I don't like hurting others."

Although she had been hurt, Rosaria didn't want to resort to violence.

Phoebe found Rosaria's attitude endearing and hugged her tightly. She smiled brightly and kissed Rosaria's head.

"Our kind, angel-like Miss, I understand. I won't bite that bad lady."

"Okay."

Rosaria, buried in Phoebe's chest, felt her emotions subside in the comfort.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

"Um, excuse me, girl, I mean, Miss, are you in there? I came to apologize."

"Should I send her away?"

Rosaria hesitated and shook her head while still buried in Phoebe's embrace.

"Then I'll step aside."

"…Okay."

Phoebe stood up and opened the door.

Behind her was a redhead woman, Kaitlyn.

Phoebe smiled brightly.

"Miss Kaitlyn~."

"Yes, Deputy Tower Master."

"You're lucky."

"…Lucky?"

Kaitlyn received Phoebe's glare with a puzzled expression.

She didn't say anything more and stepped out of the room, and Kaitlyn cautiously entered.

"Um, well…"

"…"

"Wow, you really made that sword well. I didn't notice it until now because I'm not good at recognizing things!"

"…"

"Please, calm down… I made a mistake. I shouldn't have thought of you as a magician of the tower in the first place."

"Hmph!"

Rosaria snorted and didn't even look at her.

Her opponent was the Tower Master's daughter.

Seeing Rosaria's sulking, Kaitlyn recalled scenes of her clashing with Reed.

Such a future couldn't happen.

Kaitlyn looked around, trying to find a way to make amends.

Then she discovered a notebook on Rosaria's desk.

It wasn't just a simple notebook.

It was a magic notebook used when designing magical formulas.

It was made of a special paper that reacted to mana.

"Ah…!"

She came up with a brilliant idea and tore off a sheet of special paper.

"Um, Miss, look at this."

"…"

"You won't regret looking at it for just a moment."

Rosaria glanced at the object in Kaitlyn's hand.

It was a neatly rolled-up piece of paper.

"When it's like this in your hand, it's just a bunch of paper, but when you infuse mana into it…"

Her hand glowed blue.

As mana flowed out of her hand and seeped into the paper, it began to move slowly from the tip.

The paper that she thought was simply crumpled turned into petals and slowly unfolded.

When the last petal fully bloomed, it became a white rose.

"It turns into such a beautiful flower."

Rosaria was now facing Kaitlyn, looking at the rose.

Her red eyes were filled with admiration as they stared at the white rose.

"How did you do that?"

"Are you curious?"

"Yes."

Kaitlyn placed the rose in Rosaria's hair and said,

"When I was young, I didn't want to throw away my tightly-filled notebooks, so I always folded them like this as decorations."

"Why?"

"When you forget the fact that you've worked hard, it's easy to get discouraged and complacent. I've always made these roses as a reminder."

However, Rosaria was too young to understand Kaitlyn's words.

Seeing Rosaria tilt her head in confusion, Kaitlyn gently smiled.

"You seem to be interested in paper roses. Would it be okay if I taught you how to make them?"

Her anger from earlier had vanished, and her eyes were now filled with curiosity as she nodded.

"Teach me how to make them."

"Will you forgive me if I do?"

"Yes."

Rosaria nodded lightly again, and Kaitlyn sighed in relief.

For Kaitlyn, it was a moment of relief. She had just avoided being kicked out of the tower.