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If it weren’t for a few special geniuses like Sererassie, people needed to distinguish between places to work and places to play.
Lady Trentia also mentioned that living in the dormitory was as hard as the training and friendships during her academy days. Rudi, staying in the residence next to the palace, said that it was exhausting to have the place where he worked and slept be the same, especially as a new maid.
I was no exception.
“Seriously! I can’t take it anymore.”
It was impossible to properly train in the palace.
As I tried to conjure flames, the carefully cultivated plants that Rudi and I had tended to began to wither, and while swinging my sword, I found myself accidentally bouncing out of the training area.
So I decided to expand the comprehensive workshop a bit more.
“Sister, I’ll be training in this area from now on.”
“Isn’t it problematic if the funding source is too close to the researchers?”
“Don’t worry. It won’t be too close.”
The east side of the palace, where the comprehensive workshop was located, was close to the Street of Learning, and there were several large magic guilds with high land prices. However, following the recent announcement of Sererassie’s Silentalouon expansion, prices were plummeting.
“How about selling while we can still get this price?”
“Your Highness, but this is less than a quarter of what I would pay.”
“Speaking of which, I heard the other day during the audience with His Majesty that when Silentalouon expands, they plan to create a workshop district in the east. They’ll reduce taxes for a while after we move in and supply reagents stably from the imperial merchant. Do you think just this much of a price drop will happen after the announcement?”
We bought up all the nearby land and buildings at cut prices, erected high walls made of large stones, and planted thick evergreen trees on the edges to create a mysterious ambiance.
“I’ve heard that the Bandit Duke is up to something strange again.”
“Isn’t this a little dangerous? Making weapons right in front of the palace, training knights, and conducting magic research?”
“I heard that a few of the people who held out until the Duke bought the land have gone missing. They found scraps of clothing in the underground water channels.”
Dark rumors swirled around the area, but by now, I could take even such complaints lightly.
“At one time, there wasn’t even a patch of land to stick a pin into.”
Thus, I completed the separation of the comprehensive workshop.
The training area for me and Lady Trentia, mechanical knights, and cavalry sharpshooters.
The magic engineering district in Marcus’s area with the Nibelungen landing site.
The research and development district with Sererassie’s laboratory and tower.
Marcus was sucking up my money in his workshop while developing new weapons and products.
“I’m planning to start the mass-production research for mechanical arms. The eyes are difficult to repair with ordinary divine power, so if we can lower the production costs, it might be quite competitive.”
“So how much do you need?”
“1,200 gold coins.”
Yet he consistently filled it back up, which proved he had some solid ability.
“Your Highness, I’ve completed the repayment for half of the 1,200 gold coins you invested last time. Starting next month, I plan to distribute it alongside the net income. Currently, I am entrusting the improved circuits of the ‘lighter’ for production and sale to each workshop in the capital, and the mechanical arm and leg workshops are running smoothly.”
Sererassie had been engrossed in her research for some time without leaving the tower.
“This needs to be figured out.”
The mechanical arm and teleportation magic tool seemed quite appealing.
I wasn’t sure about the mechanical arm, but the teleportation magic tool was, even I could see, quite mesmerizing.
Magic related to space had barely been studied even when heterogeneous races ruled the world in the past.
I didn’t expect mass production; if I could just manage to reconstruct it somehow, it would become a great treasure for the imperial family.
Fearing that her mind might get contaminated or corroded, I subtly mentioned it to the priests monitoring her research on ancient items.
“Do you know what the Duke is researching regarding arms?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“I don’t want her flying far away. Do you understand what I mean? While there’s no need to intervene just because it looks dangerous, make sure to shine divine light on her whenever she comes out for meals.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. However…”
“However?”
“Your Grace has been skipping meals for ten days. Occasionally, she has just a cup of coffee and vitality potion…”
I dashed into the tower, lifted Sererassie, and ran toward the cafeteria.
Her blue hair swayed as I moved, and I could feel her ribs through her robe.
“Sister! Are you trying to starve yourself?”
“Put me down! Do you think I can eat bread in front of such a great mystery? We can’t live on bread alone!”
“That’s not the phrase for this! And we can’t live without bread!”
“You’ve stayed awake for an entire month in the Ivory Tower before.”
“Seriously, you should consider yourself lucky to be born in Solletarass. If an ordinary person worked as hard as you, they would have met the God of Radiance long ago.”
I ordered the softest bread and a clear vegetable soup that was as hot as it could be, watching as Sererassie ate everything before heading to the training area.
“Brace your shoulders! Brace yourselves!”
Rudi was shouting as she stood among the cavalry sharpshooters.
“I said brace yourselves!”
It was a rare sight to see a woman in her twenties, dressed in maid attire and with a gentle demeanor, yelling at elite soldiers clad in copper armor, but I was quite accustomed to it.
“Once your stance is solid, you can shoot from any situation and angle.”
Taang!
“You can shoot while sitting like this, or lying or crouching like this.”
Taang!
“You can even shoot hanging upside down from a tree, or while doing a somersault.”
Taang!
“Um, those last two can only be done by Count Consecratius.”
“Hmm… With practice, it can be done.”
Rudi dismissed the timid objection even more timidly and rushed over to me.
“Valen!”
“Yeah. Isn’t it tiring?”
“It’s not difficult since I only stay for a short time each day. I’m not participating in all the shooting training; I’m just there for the situations where we need to fight separately due to the formation breaking down.”
The way she spoke about the new maid’s movements was as natural as talking about her day-to-day operations.
Rudi cautiously broached the subject.
“However, I think we might need to increase the number of cavalry sharpshooters a bit.”
Increasing the number of soldiers was a sensitive issue, and especially if it was regarding the elder brother’s soldiers, it became even more delicate.
I asked cautiously.
“Why do you think so?”
“For various reasons, but first of all, our numbers don’t match with the mechanical knights.”
“Our numbers don’t match?”
“Right now, there are 25 mechanical knights under you, Valen. That’s a staggering amount of power.”
The Emperor Jeilliris was commanding a total of 200 knights from four knight orders, and the Great Lord Grace of the central region led around 80 golden knights.
The average count in the empire commands about 12 knights, so considering that an empire’s count is comparable to a foreign king, the number of knights I commanded already surpassed that of some small kingdoms.
“The cavalry sharpshooters should be supporting the mechanical knights, but 100 is far too few to support 25 mechanical knights.”
“That’s true.”
Rudi was right.
It would be unreasonable to send merely 100 cavalry sharpshooters to support an operation requiring 25 knights.
“For every knight, at least ten, if not twenty. It would be good to increase that to between 150 and 400.”
Rudi spoke with the tone of someone casually deciding what fish dish to have for dinner.
“Oh, of course, this is all just my thought. I’m not trying to overstep—”
As she finished speaking, her face turned pale and she waved her hands dismissively.
“…”
I could understand a little of why Jeilliris had looked at me the way she had.
Excessive politeness created an unwanted distance.
I nodded gravely and replied.
“Count Ludie Consecratius, I appreciate your sincere opinion. I will consider it with implementation in mind.”
Rudi’s expression changed to one of realization when she heard my title and name.
I smiled and said.
“Rudi, you are now Countess. Considering that the founder of the family is viewed as a rank above, it could be said to be on par with a duke. You can hold your head high wherever you go on this continent. Feel free to speak comfortably.”
“Yes.”
“I have also thought about increasing our ranks. What is the point of earning if we don’t spend it wisely? I should use the gold coins that Signain gave me here. If we bring in students from the academy through Jin, we won’t have a problem with acquiring high-quality personnel. It really motivates me to get started now that you mentioned it.”
Rudi adjusted her round glasses and gave a grin.
Her green eyes sparkled like jewels as she nodded in agreement.
“Yes, Valen.”
Zzzz!
In the training ground of the mechanical knights, the sound of metal clashing, chains moving, and steam hissing was loud as ever.
As training like a giant’s battle took place alongside, Valenciaunos and Lady Trentia were also hard at work today.
“While the mechanical armor is stronger, I still feel that this suits me just fine.”
Clang!
Lady Trentia struck at Valenciaunos while wearing platinum armor.
Her red hair flowed back, and a fierce light shone in her eyes.
Recently, she hadn’t been shorter than him in stature, causing a slight awkwardness for Valenciaunos.
“You’ve definitely become faster. But can you give up the sensation of having been strong once?”
Bang, clang!
He drew forth the flames of incantation and propelled himself backward in a series of maneuvers.
Whoosh!
Twelve fireballs rose behind him, forming a circle, the fireballs morphing into spears of fire that shot forth continuously.
Swiish! Swiish! Swiish!
“Strength doesn’t solely refer to having a large physique and heavy limbs!”
Lady Trentia spun her Hwanhan to sever the spears of fire.
The way she moved her wrist and shoulder to perfectly bisect the flames was both delicate and majestic.
It was as if the spears of fire were guided to collide and split.
Swooosh!
Fiery ice traced a blood-red crescent, releasing a moon-shaped Mana Blast.
Its trajectory precisely aimed at the still-floating Valenciaunos.
“Ahahaha!”
Valenciaunos transformed the inner side of his left hand into a crystal of Az while harmonizing the flames with the crystal.
Woosh!
A massive heat surging forth, his hand glowed orange like heated iron.
As he didn’t dodge the Mana Blast, Lady Trentia flinched.
“Your Highness!”
Valenciaunos thrust his left palm forcefully forward.
Boom!
The pressure and heat that had built up erupted like a volcano.
Whoosh!
A red shockwave spread widely, with swirling flames resembling that of a dragon’s fire.
The blood-colored waves of Mana Blast crashed against the flames, resulting in an explosion that released black smoke and embers.
Whoosh!
The recoil sent Valenciaunos flying backward.
He concealed his landing with the noise of the explosion.
Even mighty techniques and flashy feats were but chess pieces within the larger framework of combat.
The Bandit Duke drew the holy sword Black Tear and channeled the flames of incantation and mana into it.
As the blade of Black Tear turned orange with heat, he stomped the ground, aiming for Lady Trentia’s left side.
Bang!
Black smoke and embers split apart as the royal family member, donned in white attire, sprung forth with flashing yellow eyes.
Swish!
“Lady! This round is mine!”
The attack was perfectly timed to catch her off guard.
The enemy knight’s red eyes widened in surprise.
Since she also held a sword in her right hand, she would need time to turn her body to react.
Joy lit up Valenciaunos’s face as he anticipated victory.
However, Lady Trentia, instead of yielding a round, kicked off the ground with her left foot and leaped upward.
Poof!
In the cloud of dust rising from the training ground, the shadow of the enemy knight soared towards the sun.
Valenciaunos gazed at Lady Trentia spinning in mid-air, performing a roundhouse kick, with shock in his eyes.
“Right. She is a genius.”
Pow!
The sole of Lady Trentia’s military boot slammed into Valenciaunos’s face.
“I’m glad this life is radiant too.”
Valenciaunos collapsed as Lady Trentia was left in shock.
“Your Highness!”
In the deep of night, a priest gazing intently at Sererassie was nodding off.
Pale moonlight streamed through the window, casting deep shadows across Sererassie’s face as she sat at the desk by the window.
She was staring intently at a broken teleportation magic tool under a magnifying lens.
The teleportation magic tool resembled a lotus flower with shards of Az embedded in it, and intricate incantation circuits were densely drawn on the back and front of the petals.
“This alloy with these circuits was developed 90 years ago. It’s not that old of a magic tool.”
“And… it’s not something made in the Ivory Tower. The style is different. It wasn’t engraved after laying out the circuits in advance; rather, it was embedded using a spell.”
“This will be a tiresome interpretation.”
Sererassie could use the same magic both in a spell and as an incantation, as well as in activation phrases and with a shadowless spell.
The complete spell length for the basic fire magic, “Flickering Flame,” was four lines, which translated into two pages when expressed in formulas.
Magicians practiced repeatedly until they handled long spells unconsciously.
Thus, attempting to preserve what remained from a magic tool while having no idea how long the original spell was was like looking at a one-character answer and trying to figure out what the whole question was.
“Of course, I know it’s a teleportation magic tool. But to restore this fully, I’d have to create drafts one by one and test them.”
A smile formed on Sererassie’s lips.
“First, I’ll get the circuit rubbings today and start having my students create drafts from tomorrow.”
Carefully, she unfolded the petals of the lotus flower and examined the inscribed circuits within.
At that moment, Sererassie’s eyes widened in doubt.
“This is… a style not used by humans.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
She repeatedly closed and opened her special blue and yellow eyes, verifying and verifying again.
As she reached an undeniably significant conclusion, Sererassie slightly turned her head to check if the priest was still dozing.
“Why was a magic tool made by the elves 90 years ago in the hands of infiltrators?”
