Ice Vapor Goddess

Chapter 99 Mage Tower

"In theory, all objects obey the laws of magic, but the wardrobe is an exception."

—From *The Magic of Storage (Revised Edition)* by Samantha Evans.
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Xiren never imagined he would be locked out of the mage tower. He held a small ice crystal branch in his hands and looked helplessly at the shimmering magic shield in front of him.

The entire city was alarmed. The guards, thinking there were enemies, rushed to the vicinity of the mage tower. The megaphone inside the tower was almost blown up by the guardian tower.

But the tower remained silent, not uttering a single word.

Xiren observed the magic shield for a long time, pondering whether it was a test, or if Samantha wanted to give him a hard time, requiring him to break through or prove himself before entering the tower.

But recalling the dignified and elegant old woman he met that day, he shook his head—she wasn't that kind of person; it was probably just because he had arrived in such a hurry.

Tess has been missing since the night before last. The investigations into the two murders have yielded no results. The suspect who was just caught has turned into a strange ice tree, which makes him think of the frost giants. In this apocalyptic world of ice and snow, anything related to ice and snow will arouse his vigilance.

The only information we have right now is that ice tree. The two largest systems in the world right now are divine magic and magic, represented by the [Messiah Church] and the [Seven Towers Alliance] respectively. This thing is definitely not divine magic, so we can only ask a mage.

Xiren stood outside the shield for a full four hours, and then saw Samantha push open the door of the mage tower and walk in with a smile on her face.

Her silver hair was styled into an elegant updo, held up at the back of her head by a golden chain. A light brown robe, like an old parchment, fell down, adorned with beautiful golden patterns. A white vest was draped over her slightly hunched shoulders.

She remained as elegant and noble as ever, as if she had served in the palace for many years, and every movement and every outfit seemed to have been carefully considered a thousand times.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." She walked over with a smile, removed the magical shield, and personally led the way for Xilun.

A ripple of magic swept across, and all the snow on Xilun's body fell off.

Xilun looked her over for a while, and then noticed a wrinkled sock stuck to the top of her boot.

The monk's robe swayed from side to side, but one could vaguely see from the outline that he was wearing baggy cotton trousers underneath.

Samantha's smile remained unchanged, like a classical sculpture, as if welded to her face, but there was always a hint of awkwardness in it.

"It's alright, I just arrived in a hurry," he said.

Samantha smiled and bowed slightly: "Please come with me. It's too cold outside. I've already heated the fireplace and made some tea."

Xilun followed in her footsteps and entered the Frostless Tower.

This was his first time entering the Mage Tower. The relationship between the Messiah Church and the Seven Towers Alliance was neither good nor bad, but generally they didn't have much interaction.

The relationship between the two sides was very tense during the Middle Ages, but as sorcerers entered the courts of various royal families and used the power of the monarchy to fight against the church, coupled with the decline of the church in the late Middle Ages, the two sides gradually settled into a situation of non-interference.

The moment you step inside, a comforting aroma—a blend of old book pages, parchment, stew, and a faint scent of firewood—enters your nostrils, sweeping away the chilly smell of snow and instantly softening your senses.

The warm-toned furniture and fireplace were arranged in layers, and things were placed everywhere—a crystal ball shimmering with light, bundles of herbs drying in the sun, a framed portrait of a mage with a strange expression, and several childlike family magic paintings.

There wasn't a single empty space on the walls or floor, yet everything was remarkably neat and orderly, as if a patient and highly artistic lady had been tidying up these things all day long, placing the trinkets that filled the entire mage tower in the most beautiful and practical places.

Samantha led him to the sofa by the fireplace, then turned to pour him some tea.

Xilun politely took the teacup and handed her the ice crystal: "Could you help me study this? It's very important... By the way, don't use mercury for sealing and isolation."

Samantha whispered a word, then waved her hand, and the thing flew over and hovered in her hand.

“His Excellency the Bishop personally delivered this in the heavy snow, so it must be very important,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to the laboratory. If you’re in a hurry, you can wait here. Just call Percy if you need anything. You can move freely within the tower up to the sixth floor.”

As she spoke, she twisted the tin soldier doll on the fireplace, causing its sword to point to one side, and then it vanished from its spot. Xiren looked over and saw that a prism was refracting the sunlight filtering through the window cracks into a rainbow of colors, and the tin soldier's sword could point to different colors.

On the other side, Percy emerged from behind some door, her closing it causing the dried herbs and broom on the door to tremble, and brought out a plate of baked cookies.

“Hello, I am Percy, an apprentice of the Frostless Tower,” she said, looking at Xilun with curiosity. As a mage apprentice, she rarely had such close contact with the high-ranking members of the church.

“I know, we talked on the microphone,” Xiren said with a smile, winking before popping a cookie into his mouth.

The technique was quite good. Although the ingredients were rye flour, which didn't have the melted butter-like texture, the simple ingredients actually made Xilun feel more favorably towards this place.

“You’re much gentler than I thought,” she said, then noticed Siren’s coat, damp from the melting snow. “Would you like to take it off? I can help you dry it.”

"That will be troublesome." Xiren nodded. He had rushed in and completely forgot that he was still wearing his coat.

Albion places great importance on the distinction between indoors and outdoors. Wearing a coat and hat indoors is seen as rude, uneasy, or a sign of being ready to leave at any moment, while wearing a hat and coat indicates "I'm going to leave."

Percy took the coat, held the short wand, and whispered a spell. The water stains on it disappeared instantly, and a puff of white steam rose up.

Then, chanting "Where's the iron? Where's the iron?", she started running around inside the tower, turning it upside down and making a complete mess, seemingly unconcerned about tidying up.

The crystal ball rolled incessantly on the floor, blankets and quilts were turned over and thrown on the ground, firewood was stuck in the birdcage, and Percy struggled to pull open the crammed cabinets one by one, shaking the picture frames off the walls, leaving Siron dumbfounded.

He had assumed that Percy was in charge of cleaning the mage tower, but it seemed he was wrong. Could it have been Samantha who cleaned it? Would such an elderly mage, with apprentices around, really have to clean the mage tower herself?
"Ha! Found it!" Percy suddenly shouted excitedly, standing in front of a huge mahogany wardrobe, eager to try it out, as if looking at a difficult challenge.

She leaped up, gripped the recessed handle of the wardrobe, stretched her arms, and struggled to open the wooden door.

The whole house was trembling, as if the wardrobe was some kind of magical node. The candlelight flickered, and the world swayed. Xiren quickly stood up, looking at Percy with a hesitant expression.

Suddenly, with a loud "bang," the wooden door of the wardrobe burst open, and countless clothes exploded like fireworks, filling the entire sky in an instant.

"So neat and tidy!!"

Samantha's voice rang out, and everything was returned to its original place. The clothes, blankets, and quilts that had been thrown out returned to the wardrobe as if returning to their nest, and then the wardrobe door slammed shut with a "bang".

She stood awkwardly in front of Xilun: "I'm sorry, my daughter often does this kind of thing."

Xiren shook his head to indicate that he was fine, but his impression of the Mage Tower might change slightly from now on. Then, he curiously changed the subject: "Is Percy your daughter?"

“Yes,” Samantha said with a smile, “but she is learning magic from me, and I’m afraid she’ll become arrogant because of that, so I have her refer to herself as an apprentice to everyone else.”

Siren was still a little curious. Percy looked to be under twenty, but Samantha was obviously an elderly woman. They could be considered grandmother and granddaughter, but out of courtesy, he didn't ask any further questions.

“If I had a mother who could clean the house with magic, I probably would have done the same,” Siren said with a smile.

Samantha couldn't help but smile: "Perhaps—she's always so clumsy and always causing trouble."

She turned to look for Percy, but didn't see her. Celen also looked around but didn't see anyone either.

"Uh...where is she?" Samantha paused for a moment, then the two of them simultaneously heard a sound of something being tapped on a wooden board.

They looked up and saw the closed wardrobe.

(End of this chapter)