The war with Doroysen was always more complicated to clean up than the fighting itself.
On the 50th floor of the Ivory Tower, where the conference room was located, sunlight poured through the south-facing floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the marble floor and the sparkling jewel chandeliers of the magnificent chamber where the elders of each faction gathered.
“What a shame this is!”
“This isn’t about shame right now, is it?”
“We can’t even blame the merchants anymore.”
“So, what exactly happened? I’m out here after a year, and I have no idea what’s going on.”
Sererassie and I sank into the sofa as we waited for everyone to gather.
Niar, Sererassie’s disciple with red and cream gradient eyes and hair, approached hesitantly to prepare refreshments.
They were very delicious-looking macarons.
I smiled and reassured her. “Wow. I didn’t expect a magician to serve me personally.”
“…Duke.”
“Where’s the person who said that titles outside the Ivory Tower have no meaning?”
Sererassie electrically zapped my wrist. “Read the room.”
“…I’m just as lost.”
The elders’ gazes were piercing.
Debt had a strange nature.
If you borrow 100 gold coins, banks and creditors will pursue you relentlessly, but if you borrow 100,000 gold coins, both will beg you.
Because if I can’t repay it, they’ll go down with me.
The current incident caused by the Ivory Tower had similar implications regarding the reversal of debt relations.
An experiment relating to relics resulted in an escape of subjects causing casualties, which was being concealed from the imperial court.
By protocol, the incident should have been publicly announced immediately after, requiring compensation and apologies from the Ivory Tower along with measures to prevent recurrence.
However, since this was such a significant incident, making it public would lead to exorbitant demands for compensation, and they would have to be monitored by the church.
Currently, the Ivory Tower was in a state of elation having fulfilled its long-standing desire for self-sufficiency in reagents.
“A compensation of one million gold coins! And all relic experiments will come under church supervision!”
“Shut up.”
“Ahhhh!”
If I tried to control the Ivory Tower with money or surveillance in such a situation, the grand magicians before me could turn the capital into a wreck and all flee to the southern Amir Dukedom.
Cold sweat beaded down my back.
I couldn’t allow that to happen.
Thus, I needed to resolve this quietly without making it public and simultaneously present enough of a meat chunk to satisfy Jeilliris.
Conversely, since the elder knew I could not make it public anyway, they would seek to send me back with the smallest compensation possible.
Lastly, Gestarte, dressed in lavish clothes with a wide-brimmed veiled hat, and Crioss, the elder from the biology faction with white skin and red lips, entered.
“You’re late.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
Gestarte remained dignified, while Crioss seemed to have run over as he was panting.
“……”
I stared at Gestarte as she surveyed the elders before dramatically raising her hands.
“I apologize.”
“You apologized sooner than expected.”
“There’s nothing I can do other than apologize, so I might as well, right?”
That meant we should forget about publicizing matters or demanding huge compensations.
I smiled bitterly and gazed at Sererassie.
She looked exhausted, having not slept, and let out a deep sigh.
Her once vibrant eyes had faded overnight.
I calmly continued speaking. “First… if you have something like an anxiolytic made with Az’s fragments, please give me the formula to bring to Her Majesty.”
The elders exchanged looks and nodded.
“Supply of materials was the problem anyway.”
“That’s not an issue.”
“Understood, Duke.”
As expected, they accepted this without major issues.
“And let’s organize a conference led by the Ivory Tower to publicly present a paper on great corrosion. It doesn’t need to be grand, but let’s contribute to the empire as fellow inhabitants of this world.”
This time, there was a bit of murmuring.
“What’s the difference between that and asking us to give away our researched technologies for free?”
“In return, the promotion of magic tools will go far better. It will also be easier for magicians to unite against the church. Excessive mystique breeds fear.”
“Hmmm. It could be seen as an opportunity to take the initiative in the magical society.”
“I oppose that. How can we have severed ties with the mundane world and then…”
There was a wave of dissent, but ultimately, the elders nodded again.
“The Duke Sererassie will represent the Imperial Court at the conference.”
It was due to my earlier comments.
“Well, if that’s the case.”
“I’m relieved.”
“I’ll let it be known that there is power beyond the church to stand against corrosion.”
This was tantamount to a promise not to threaten the Ivory Tower under the pretext of the conference.
Sererassie poked me in the side. “Why is my workload increasing?”
“Hmm.”
“The workshops in the slums are now eight, comprehensive workshops, research entrusted by Her Majesty, training my disciples, Warlock practice, and now you want me to hold an academic conference? Are you joking?”
I blatantly plastered a bold expression on my face. “It’s destiny.”
Sererassie zapped my wrist again.
“…Thus, I believe we have concluded this matter.”
“Surprisingly mercifully wrapped up, huh? Did you receive personal gifts?”
In the emperor’s office, Jeilliris looked at me with sparkling eyes, intrigued.
I shook my head and raised both hands, lightly pulling up my mana.
With a sizzling sound, thin, serpent-like threads emerged from my hands, wrapping around them.
“I received this.”
Jeilliris smiled, somewhat surprised.
“How fascinating.”
The black gloves that adhered perfectly to my hands had an elastic quality while shimmering with a metallic luster.
“It is a joint gift from the destruction and biology factions. They call it the invisible hand that orchestrates all things in the world.”
“The invisible hand?”
Jeilliris raised an eyebrow, and I gestured for a document on her desk to levitate.
“This… is rather difficult.”
The document rose to eye level before fluttering back down, and I swiftly extended my hand to catch it in mid-air.
Crack!
Simultaneously, Jeilliris reached out as well, and the document was crumpled, resulting in our hands entwined.
“Brother!”
Although it contradicted her usual gravitas, the voice that issued from her certainly matched her youthful appearance.
Of course, it had to be an auditory hallucination.
“I apologize!”
I quickly straightened myself and lowered my gaze, while Jeilliris cleared her throat, looking uncertain about what to say.
I tried to speak but Jeilliris cut in first.
“Enough. If you say one more word about this document, I will seal your lips with blood magic. Yes. You received an electromancer glove. Did Duke Sererassie receive the grimoire?”
I laid my bold expression back on and continued speaking.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I received a research grimoire jointly created by the destruction and thunder factions.”
She spoke in a tone regaining her authority.
“Right. Since you’re hosting the conference, you can let this pass. Has compensation been delivered to the bereaved?”
“Yes. It has been promptly delivered. The Ivory Tower also compensated doubly, so fret not.”
“How was the practical test for the mechanical knights?”
I presented another document.
“It was very satisfactory. As you can see, resonance amplification, sharing, electrical nets, flame projection, thermal purification—all functions were operational.”
“Hmm.”
“Especially, I’m glad to discover that thermal lines allow for ‘purification of fire.’ By providing helmets inscribed with circuits to the soldiers of the sword user class, we can deploy them en masse to the battlefield against the Infiltrators.”
“Is the technology in the incantation circuit state or the spell circuit state?”
“Duke Marcus refined it into a spell circuit. However, there are studies indicating that inscribing and activating spells that are not understood solely in the spell circuit could induce mental contamination and corrosion, so caution is required in mass production.”
Jeilliris nodded.
“Take note. Good. Everything seems to be going smoothly.”
Her gaze fell on the documents placed beside her.
“It’s all going… smoothly.”
[In the East, preparations for fortifications in the Cariosa Nayt Archipelago.]
[In the North, removal of large anomalous entities in Seberik.]
[In the South, the great hunt of the desert nomads in Caesar.]
[In the West……]
Many other documents highlighted the events unfolding across the vast empire.
Suddenly, her exposed shoulders looked precariously delicate.
However, my emperor seemed to read my gaze, smiling like a fearsome carnivore as she spoke.
“I heard from the saint. The situation in Doroysen is stabilizing. There’s no need for me to drop a meteorite.”
“Ah.”
In an instant, my mind went blank, and I regretted having had impertinent thoughts for a brief moment.
Who was fretting over whom, I wondered.
“Right. You’ve done well. Do you have any requests?”
I cautiously broached the subject.
“I would like to engage in a mock battle with Duke Helena to further test the performance of the mechanical knights and the magic artillery unit.”
There have been many instances in history where training or jousting disguised military mobilization turned into revolts; military movements always had to be approached carefully.
My emperor smiled languidly and nodded.
“Why so serious? Just proceed as you wish.”
“Thank you. Ah—”
I presented the bag containing the potion made with Az’s crystal from the Ivory Tower.
Jeilliris took a quick look at the contents and smiled languidly again.
“Very well. Thank you.”
I asked with a tinge of anxiety.
“Your Majesty, if you have even a small scratch on your health, please do not hide it. Many sword masters have collapsed from overexertion.”
Jeilliris gestured for me to stop with the nonsense.
“I merely requested it to study. You need not worry and just prepare for the mock battle.”
*
“So, I’m trying to set up a schedule for the mock battle; is that feasible?”
Of course, I already knew her answer.
Helena.
With curly blonde hair, mischievous red eyes, and a heart carrying the warmth of flames and the madness of war, the field commander promptly rang the bell.
Deng, deng, deng.
“Did you call for me!”
“Commander of the 2nd Battalion is here!”
“Distributing potions to the magician units!”
“Five-minute standby, prepare to deploy!”
The elite officers, made up of former students who had put off their academy graduation, job-seeking veterans, and cadet ruffians, rushed in wearing splendid military uniforms over their armor.
Helena shouted with an ecstatic voice.
“A mock battle should start unexpectedly, just like in real combat! Make your way to the training ground outside the castle right now! Commence the maneuver operation! Deploy within an hour!”
“Deploying!”
“Move! Move! Move!”
“Cavalry company, transport company!”
Officers, knights, and knight officers rushed out.
I gathered the mechanical knights and magic artillery gunners as well.
“Since we’re not trying to bash each other, be sure to control your strength. Have all the ammunition been switched to rubber rounds?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“In that case, just continue as we practiced.”
On the wide plains, both armies took their positions.
Helena and I set up our tents, sitting side by side, gazing at the battlefield from a distance.
Behind Helena sat her staff officers, while behind me sat Marcus, Sererassie, Rudi, and Tenitia.
I watched Helena’s heavy cavalry moving swiftly and spoke.
“The cavalry is strong for a strategy against great Infiltrators; what type of enemy are we preparing for?”
Helena shrugged.
“While fighting the Infiltrators is a noble task, it is actually closer to suppression than war. It should be closer to suppression.”
She was correct.
The war against Infiltrators must not result in defeat, hence there was a tendency to pour in resources without regard to efficiency.
“However, I want to fight against other humans. It’s my wish to test what I possess. The most recent mentioned enemy was the armies of Lanzo and the Republic.”
I recalled the Lanzo and the Republic from before my return.
“Lanzo. I’ve heard there are very few magicians there… no, I’ve been told, if that’s the case, my personal soldiers’ mock battle might not be very beneficial. They wouldn’t possess anything like the products of magic engineering, naturally.”
Helena shook her head, grinning like a carnivore.
“It seems they have their own methods of producing superhumans and close- and long-range offensive capabilities. The mechanical knights and magic artillery gunners are perfect for that. It’s a blessing.”
The armies began to move ahead on both sides.
“For the Bandit Duke!”
“For the Wicked Duke!”
“For the Lady of the Battlefield!”
“For the Conqueror Princess!”
While these words weren’t the most pleasant to hear for those listening, seeing the powerful knights and soldiers call our names held something exhilarating.
I unconsciously clenched my fist, and Helena leaned forward in anticipation.
At that moment, a priest rushed in from behind.
“Your Grace, Duke Valencius.”
“How remarkable must the situation be for you to disturb this great moment—”
“They’ve located the Infiltrators’ stronghold.”
“First, take a seat over here.”
