Selena Freya quickly reached out toward the man and cast a spell.

“Clean.”

In an instant, the filthy remnants covering Aster Magicos were washed away completely.

As the stench that had assaulted his nose was swept aside by fresh air, Aster’s dazed mind finally returned to reality.

And with it, the unprecedented event that had just happened to him flashed through his thoughts.

‘I… got hit with orc crap.’

He, the greatest archmage on the continent, the noble Master of the Magic Tower.

The lofty intention of helping a tragic woman had long since vanished from his mind.

He was not fine.

But before Aster could even voice his protest, Selena spoke first.

“Of all moments, you had to appear right when I threw it… You must be rather unlucky. That must make life quite difficult.”

‘What? Unlucky?’

Did she just call him unlucky?

Born of noble royal blood, blessed with both talent and power, hailed as one touched by the favor of the gods—and now he was being called unlucky?

It was something Aster had never once heard in his entire life.

Being hit with crap wasn’t enough, now he was being called unfortunate on top of it?

At such absurd humiliation, Aster was left utterly speechless.

But unaware of his inner turmoil, Selena continued to chatter on, offering what she thought was comfort.

“Still, cheer up. There will be better days. I thought I had the worst luck too—my family collapsed, and I was betrayed by my fiancé—but then, all of a sudden, I awakened to magic. So you won’t be unlucky forever either.”

‘What in the world is happening?’

He had been the one intending to help, so why was he now the one being pitied and comforted?

And more importantly—

‘I am not unlucky!’

Aster parted his lips in disbelief, but before he could say anything, Selena lightly patted his shoulder, her eyes full of sympathy.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

She bowed her head politely in farewell, then turned without hesitation.

While Aster Magicos stood there, stunned and fumbling for words, Selena Freya walked away with the ease of a passing breeze, leaving the banquet hall behind.

Left alone in the silence, Aster remained frozen for a long moment.

Only after some time did a rough breath escape him.

“Ha…!”

At last, he forced his lips to move.

“It wasn’t a scandal, it was my humiliation.”

A moment he never wanted to experience again, a memory he wished he could erase entirely.

And that woman, Selena Freya, who had pitied him as she pleased, comforted him, and left.

“…What a strange woman.”

Aster sincerely hoped he would never cross paths with her again.

Completely unaware of how quickly fate would tangle their paths once more.

Soon after, he vanished from the banquet hall without a trace.

***

The next morning, in the Magic Tower Master’s office.

From early morning, Aster downed a bottle of highly concentrated healing potion, something completely unlike him.

Clink—

Setting the empty bottle down, he ran a hand roughly through his disheveled blond hair and muttered.

“An entire nightmare of rolling through a field of orc crap…”

Perhaps the shock of being hit by crap for the first time in his life had been greater than he thought.

All night, he had thrashed in dreams filled with that nauseating stench, and now, his complexion was a mess.

They say the more you want to forget something, the more vividly it lingers in your mind.

At this rate, it didn’t seem like this dreadful memory would fade anytime soon.

“Haah…”

Just as he let out a deep sigh, a steady knock echoed through the quiet office.

“It’s me. Seoden.”

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Seoden stepped inside.

Walking in briskly, Seoden froze the moment he saw Aster sitting at his desk, his eyes widening in shock.

“Tower Master—earlier… wait, what? Why does your usually perfect face look so pale? Are you unwell?”

“Yeah. I’m unwell. I had a nightmare.”

“A nightmare? You, of all people? You’re practically a demon yourself, did an actual demon show up in your dream or something?”

At Seoden’s genuinely shocked outburst, Aster Magicos’s fingers twitched slightly.

“Wind.”

A gust formed in midair and lashed out like a whip, striking the back of Seoden’s head without mercy.

“Ah!”

“Go on, say more. I’ll show you exactly what a demon’s incarnation looks like.”

“Ahem—my apologies. You said you had a nightmare, which is so unlike you, that I just… spoke without thinking.”

Seoden rubbed the back of his stinging head, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Aster asked flatly.

“Why are you here?”

“Ah—right. We’ve finally found the mage who developed the monster-taming magic formula.”

In an instant, Aster’s eyes sharpened.

Monster-taming magic—a problem so difficult that even the greatest minds of the Magic Tower had failed to make meaningful progress for hundreds of years.

And yet, not long ago, an anonymous mage had sent in a single magic formula.

Reviewed without much expectation, it had turned out to be astonishingly complete, both in theory and practicality.

Without hesitation, Aster had ordered Seoden to find the genius behind it.

If this magic could be further developed, it might usher in a new era—one where humans and monsters could coexist.

“Where are they now?”

“On the second floor of the Magic Tower, getting their mage identification issued. They’ve agreed to officially join the Tower and continue their research. It should be done by now… they ought to be on their way up…”

As Seoden trailed off—

knock, knock.

Right on cue, another knock echoed at the office door.

“Vice Master, it’s Selena.”

Selena?

The name struck something familiar, and Aster’s thoughts froze for a split second.

‘No way… it couldn’t be.’

There had to be countless people named Selena in the world.

But his uneasy premonitions had never been wrong.

“Oh, she’s here.”

Seoden opened the office door with a welcoming smile.

And through the narrow gap—flowing silver hair appeared, along with vivid violet eyes, clear as amethyst.

It was her.

The very same woman from the banquet the day before.

Aster shot up from his chair as if propelled by a spring.

“You!”

“…Pardon?”

At the sudden shout, Selena Freya blinked in surprise and halted, while Seoden flinched, clutching his chest.

“That startled me! What was that for? Don’t tell me—you know Selena?”

‘Know her? Of course I do! Because of her, I got drenched in orc crap!’

The truth surged up to Aster Magicos’s throat.

But in the end, he forced his lips shut.

If he said it aloud, that humiliating incident from yesterday would become an undeniable fact.

The moment rumors spread—‘The Tower Master was hit with orc crap’—his dignity would plummet, and Seoden would mock him for the rest of his life.

That could never happen.

Absolutely not.

Fortunately, Selena had no idea that the man who had been hit with dung yesterday was Aster.

After all, he had been under a polymorph spell at the time.

‘So as long as I pretend not to know her, it’s fine.’

Calming himself, Aster spoke as casually as he could.

“Ah—I must have mistaken you for someone else. My apologies for shouting so suddenly.”

Selena offered a faint smile.

“It’s alright. That happens.”

Seoden spoke up.

“I thought perhaps you knew her, since Miss Selena is a noble from the Kingdom of Magicos.”

“Not at all. I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

Aster shook his head firmly—more firmly than necessary—as if hammering the point in place.

At his unusually rigid tone, Seoden hesitated, but at that moment, Selena bowed politely.

“Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Selena Freya, and I will be working at the Magic Tower starting today. I will do my utmost to further develop monster-taming magic.”

Seoden smiled with clear satisfaction.

“I noticed earlier as well—Miss Selena, you’re quite spirited, not at all like a typical noble lady.”

‘Spirited? She goes beyond that—she’s downright ferocious.’

What kind of noble lady brings orc crap to a party and throws it at people?

Aster found himself agreeing far too strongly with Seoden’s words as he cast Selena a wary glance.

But unlike his discomfort, Selena’s amethyst-like eyes remained clear and unwavering.

Seoden, puzzled by Aster’s silence, called out.

“Tower Master?”

“…Yes. Very well. I look forward to your work on monster-taming magic.”

Aster paused briefly before adding.

“You may leave now.”

Seoden’s eyes widened at the abrupt dismissal.

“Already? Just a moment ago, you said you had countless questions about the magic—”

“We can discuss that later. Right now… I’m a bit tired. Both of you may go.”

Aster waved his hand decisively.

Facing the very person behind his recent nightmare—before he had even recovered from it—was far too unsettling.

“Understood. We’ll take our leave.”

“We’ll be going, Tower Master.”

Though Seoden tilted his head in confusion at Aster’s unusually strange behavior, he soon escorted Selena out of the office.