It was Eon, a low, cool voice that seemed to rise from a deep cave.
"Haven't you heard that excessive curiosity is poison?"
The rule, 'Keep silent about what happened before coming to the Magic Tower,' kept swirling in my head. Perhaps I had just violated that rule. Even so, I didn't expect Eon to show up right away like this.
'Surely not, am I really going to end like this?'
I felt a chill down my neck. It was a foolish thought, but just to make sure my neck was properly attached, I stroked the area around my collarbone.
"It seems you still don't know the rules of the Magic Tower. I will instruct Karen to properly explain them to you."
Although he said that, Eon seemed to have realized that I already knew the rules. The gaze that dug into me without even a blink was hard to bear.
I avoided eye contact and barely managed to squeeze out a voice.
"All right."
Eon took another step closer to me, lowered his body, and followed my gaze. Eventually, I had no choice but to face him as he pushed his way back into my field of vision.
His lips parted, wearing a satisfied smile.
"Miss Selinia's mind was so noisy that I couldn't read the book quietly."
"If that's the case, why didn't you just send telepathy instead of coming all the way here in person?"
"Rather than that, I wanted to see Miss Selinia in person."
It was awkward to hear something like this after I had gone to the trouble of explaining it to Sally.
'How can you spout such bullshit?'
I flinched at a thought that popped into my head without me realizing it. I had forgotten that he could read my thoughts.
"Even your swearing face is lovely, Miss Selinia."
Despite being a noble, Eon did not seem to get particularly angry at such insults. No, rather, he seemed closer to enjoying them.
Actually, it was me who took the damage. I wanted to explain to Selly, who was staring at me intently, that my face was flushed just from being flustered.
"Are you planning to start your research today? You could rest a little longer.'
Eon looked down at my legs and said.
"It's too boring to just sit around."
Of course, it was a lie. I had dragged my weary body to the laboratory primarily to get a feel for the atmosphere. I also intended to make some wound healing potions if I had the energy. I immediately corrected myself.
"Actually, I was thinking of making a potion for wounds. Your loyal maids even went so far as to just throw away the potions they brought."
I shrugged my shoulders. He was someone who wouldn't fall for lies anyway. I didn't have a hobby of having sincere conversations with murderers like a close friend, but I had no choice.
"Isn't it too unfair to be limping for a whole month when there is such good evil left?"
"Once you fully recover, are you going to jump off the magic tower this time?"
"Unless I'm a fool, I wouldn't do that anymore. So please just pretend you didn't see the potion. It actually hurts a bit. It's also really inconvenient to wash off."
Eon didn't give permission, but he didn't say no either. I decided to take that as an affirmation.
"Once your leg heals, let's go buy the ingredients for the combination together."
Sally spoke from behind. I had been so focused on Eon that I had momentarily forgotten her presence. I looked at Sally as if I had met reinforcements.
"You're going to buy ingredients?"
"Yes, I have to buy the necessary materials myself. It's a bit of a hassle; couldn't you improve this, Master of the Magic Tower?"
There were two surprising points. One was Selly's attitude of stating her requests to Eon without hesitation, and the fact that she could go out.
“Really?”
"Yes."
"Direct materials..."
"As expected, you find going out a hassle too, don't you?"
When I heard about the second rule from Karen, I thought that permission to go out would be impossible.
'I never thought I’d be able to leave with such an ordinary job.'
My heart was pounding. I had to go outside and somehow create an opportunity to meet Rudis. I tried to suppress the thought of such a plan that kept popping into my head. Even though I knew I couldn't keep a secret from Eon, I wanted to hide this as much as possible.
"Miss Selinia won't find it bothersome at all. No, I think it might be the opposite."
Eon answered on my behalf. It was an answer that seemed to say he could see right through my mind.
'How on earth can I get anything done like this?'
Eon, who had been staring at my face as if it were an amusing spectacle, said something completely random.
"May I call Miss Selinia Sally from now on?"
'Sally?'
There was no way Eon would call me Sally just to use a nickname. I reflexively turned to look at Researcher Sally. She seemed speechless, perhaps taken aback by Eon's suggestion.
"Why are you trying to call me Sally?"
"Miss Selinia's name is long, so it is a hassle to call her."
He offered a preposterous reason. No, that couldn't be it. There was clearly another reason why Eon said he would call me Selli.
"I know my senior is Sally."
"Senior?"
"The researcher over here. She joined before me."
Only then did Eon glance at Sally.
"Did you decide to call her 'senior'?"
I snapped back at Eon, who was speaking as if he found it very interesting.
"I told you my senior's name is Sally."
“I know.”
He was so composed. His face looked as if he had just heard that the name of that fruit was apple and the name of this fruit was also apple.
"Wouldn't it be strange if two people working in the same lab were both named Sally?"
“Is it strange?”
It's strange. Especially if a murderer named it that, it was beyond strange—it was even ominous.
"If you don't notice anything strange, there's nothing I can do. But putting that aside, wouldn't it be inconvenient? It's hard to distinguish people, isn't it?"
"So, it is necessary to distinguish between them."
I had overlooked it. To him, we were merely beings he could kill at any moment. It seemed that the fact that we each needed a name was like a butcher needing a name for a piece of meat.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with my answer?"
Anger that I couldn't hide anyway, I vented my emotions exactly as they were onto Eon.
"Of course. What on earth do you think of people?"
"Well, I don't know. In that case, why don't you ask your senior? I wonder if she thinks the same way you do."
"Senior?"
I had no doubt that Sally would speak up boldly. After all, she was different from the maids.
"You don't like it either, Senior, do you? That the Tower Master calls me Sally."
However, she opened her mouth more slowly than I expected and instantly shattered my hopes.
"No. I don't care."
“It doesn’t matter?”
"After all, this is a name given to me by the Lord of the Magic Tower."
Sally spoke with a refreshing smile. From her, I felt the same sense of unease I had felt toward the maids.
"Then, your original name is..."
“I forgot.”
She cut me off cleanly, as if there was nothing more to say. Then, she looked at Eon and smiled brightly.
"Do as you please, Tower Master."
"I hear this is what the senior intends. What do you think, Miss Selinia?"
A lustrous sheen ran through Eon's voice. He seemed quite satisfied with Sally's answer.
"Would you like to hear my story? Actually, this name is special to me."
As if trying to act, the corners of Eon's eyes drooped downward.
"Sally was the name of someone precious to me."
It seemed there was definitely a hidden story that I had never heard in novels. However, I didn't need to know the murderer's backstory. Yet, he continued talking about things I hadn't even asked about.
"She cherished and loved me very much. It seemed like the happy days I spent with Sally would last forever. But one day, she disappeared. Contact became increasingly infrequent, and perhaps because she had forgotten me, we eventually lost touch completely."
I got goosebumps at the sigh-filled lament. Bad thoughts kept coming to mind one after another.
'It’s not that I left you behind; it’s that you sent me away.'
"She said she would leave me on her own."
I felt pathetic being in a position where even thoughts I hadn't voiced were censored. I asked Eon about something that had been bothering me for a while.
"Was that person named Sally also brown-haired?"
"You're right."
"I imagine her eyes were green."
"You're right."
It became clear now. It seemed this madman had been giving the name Sally to the women who came as researchers.
He must have called them that every time he killed a victim and brought in a new one.
Eon, who had been running his hand through his hair several times as if to say that the flashback was over, spoke.
"Considering Miss Selinia's opinion, how about calling you Sally No. 2 or Beta Sally?"
That was the result of considering my opinion.
"Still, it seems there is only one Sally for now. Judging by the fact that I am No. 2, not No. 3 or No. 5."
"I don't call just anyone Sally. Besides..."
A chilling smile bloomed on Eon's lips as he paused for a moment.
"Number 2 is vacant because Numbers 2, 3, and 4 were kicked out in succession."
He changed my name as he pleased, and as if that weren't enough, he assigned numbers to me as if I were an object. There was a limit to how much you can toy with people. For the first time, my anger toward Eon exploded, suppressing my fear.
"How about you just call me slavesl?"
"Slave?"
"It just so happens that they are exactly one syllable. Considering the meaning, I think this one would suit it better."
"I don't like such harsh expressions."
"Rough language? Rather than having labels like No. 2 or No. 3 attached to me, I'd actually prefer being a slave—it's just more normal and better. Besides, I think I'd live longer than Sally."
Eon's drooping eye corners returned to normal. His pupils, which had been feigning human emotion for a brief moment, also reverted to those of a beast.
"Lifeline, lifeline."
The words I spewed out were certainly likely to offend him. However, it seemed that the only word that struck him was "lifeline."
Eon opened his mouth again. In an instant, instead of a warm breath, cold frost settled.
"Miss Selinia seems worried that I might devour you..."
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