The aftermath was settled somehow.
We walked back down to the 50th floor.
To be precise, I had Sererassie and Niar linked to my arm as we descended to the 50th floor.
The two were hanging from my arm, chatting quietly.
Niar looked quite dejected.
If she were a beastman, her tail and ears would likely have drooped too.
“I can’t remember well what I saw beyond that. It felt like a dream. What happened?”
Sererassie replied, as if she felt the same way.
“You have some inkling, don’t you? You must have erased the memory on your own to avoid mental contamination.”
Niar asked, seemingly pleased, “You don’t remember either, do you? Just like me?”
Her desire to create a sense of solidarity was both cute and a bit sad.
However, Sererassie, whether she knew or pretended not to, smiled mischievously and brushed it off.
“Since I’ve been with her every day, it’s only natural I’d remember this much. I’ve become desensitized since seeing that one-kilometer anomaly.”
If it hadn’t been said while she was linked to my arm, it might have sounded more impressive.
Niar clenched her fist tightly.
“That’s amazing, Senpai! I will go see the one-kilometer anomaly too!”
Sererassie flailed her arms and sighed dramatically.
“Ugh! That’s not the point! How did both my little sister and my apprentice end up spouting nonsense!”
I immediately retorted.
“That’s not fair! I haven’t said anything yet.”
She glanced up at me slightly.
Her yellow eyes were filled with immense suspicion.
“You’re going to say it now, right? It has to be.”
I pondered for a moment and then shook my head.
“Listen and judge, Niar.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Tell our master that I’ll borrow some grimoires containing knowledge related to the past. I need to identify the creatures I saw. From the atmosphere, they seemed like they had been to this land several times.”
Sererassie trembled, and Niar looked up at me.
Her cream-colored eyes, tinged with red gradients, shook fearfully.
“Are you saying you’ll take the highest classified grimoires from the Ivory Tower?”
“You’ve seen them too, haven’t you? To resolve this, the Imperial Court has to take the lead. The Ivory Tower is strong but few in number, and the Holy Church has a large number of members but fewer available personnel. The only force that can work with both is our Imperial Court.”
We were slowly approaching the 50th floor.
I let go of Sererassie and Niar, and the two mages straightened their messy robes.
Niar mumbled, as if resigned, “Please tell our master. I don’t know anything. I just want to play with Senpai.”
“I came here to work!”
“Does Senpai not want to play with me? I fought really hard. Boo, boo.”
She clung to Sererassie and even began to pretend to cry.
Sererassie glanced back at me with a bitter smile.
“Have you learned that too?”
Sparks flew!
And she zapped Niar’s nape with her fingers.
“Yikes!”
“You remember that there was acting involved in the warlock training, right? Pretending to be injured to bond with the beastmen, or pretending to groan while casting.”
“Eek.”
“Don’t cling to me! You’re a mage! Where did that spirit of not letting my sister even in go?”
“You’re a mage too, so it’s okay.”
I left the two behind and headed towards Gestarte.
“Sister? Sister!”
Sererassie, who was held back by Niar, reached out to me desperately, but I ignored her.
“I think you need to keep an eye on your apprentices. Clinging to the same sex with lust-filled eyes in broad daylight would horrify the Church.”
I sat facing Gestarte in her lavish reception room.
She must have landed with magic, as her intricate dress was slightly wrinkled.
Gestarte wore a playful smile on her lips.
“Niar is also a genius. Multi-elemental magic is a rare talent. But her talent is different from Sererassie’s. Still, she keeps trying to chase after my senior.”
“Isn’t that also the same for you, Master?”
Gestarte shook her head and gestured in the air.
“I am a veteran of the lightning magic school, and while I like lightning, I am well-versed in all magic that synergizes well with it.”
Two coffee cups floated over through telekinesis.
“Are you having more again?”
“Can you endure without drinking? You look tired.”
“Please add a shot. It’s a command as your royal family.”
“You’re good at joking.”
While saying that, she called for a glass teapot filled with a rich liquid and poured it into my cup.
“Ah.”
As the bitter liquid flowed in, my head soon became clear.
“For now, I will borrow some grimoires.”
Sharing such rare and secret knowledge isn’t an easy matter.
It was a bold request.
However, Gestarte nodded immediately.
“In exchange, please pass on the Church’s materials through Sererassie.”
It was a judgment fitting for a mage who had risen to the level of an elder in a small society filled with passion, corruption, and betrayal.
The rapid progress of a significant decision was quite delightful.
I smiled pleasantly and continued, “Understood. And this is a somewhat different story.”
“Go on.”
“Do you know about the mad wind mage that appeared in the capital?”
Gestarte tilted her head, as if telling me not to say nonsensical things.
“No matter how far from my specialty it is, I don’t confuse elf spirit magic with wind magic.”
“Uh-oh. The official investigation from the Imperial Court and the Church concluded that it was the mad wind mage who rampaged that day.”
She opened her mouth in disbelief and then nodded.
“I’ve certainly heard of it.”
I slowly moved into the main topic.
“The mad mage who fought was my maid, and it seems he showed signs of knowing about magic artillery.”
That was impossible.
The Ivory Tower had been a closed community at the pinnacle of human society for one thousand years, and the elves had secluded themselves in the deep forest since that time.
“Do you have any hunches?”
Gestarte did not answer.
In my eyes, her silence wasn’t ordinary; she was choosing her words carefully.
The veil draped under her feather and fruit-adorned hat hid her face.
As I began to realize that there was a perception reduction magic placed on that hat, she slowly opened her mouth.
“Do you know what kind of organization the Ivory Tower is?”
“I understand that they are the descendants who first stole blood and magic from the elves.”
“That’s right. And the magic artillery was originally developed by the elves.”
That was a statement with a powerful impact resembling a flame storm.
I barely managed to contain the coffee I was drinking.
“Did the elves practice metallurgy during that era?”
“No. After suffering a defeat and retreating, they collaborated with the dwarves to create it as a weapon to topple the Empire.”
That was something I had never heard before my return.
I unconsciously leaned forward.
“So—”
She shrugged.
“There was nothing noteworthy. They ultimately failed, and we snuck the documents away to recreate it ourselves. That’s all.”
Snuck away?
“Do you have any ties that can make contact with the elves?”
That was an even more remarkable and terrifying matter.
“The elder of the Lightning School, Yphije, is a half-elf, and the elder of the Dark School, Blahon, has purple skin and horns. The elder of the Ice School, Soriso, is a hybrid of ice spirits. As for me, if you only count the blood, more than half of me is elf.”
“That’s true. It’s the same for our royal nobility.”
“The Ivory Tower steals the magic of heterogeneous races, but at the same time, they are very close to those races. Moreover, that story dates back hundreds of years. It was a tale from when our society had more heterogeneous races than it does now.”
“What distinguishes humans from heterogeneous races is identity rather than bloodline. I understand well, elder.”
“Indeed. Be careful when taking the grimoire with you.”
The capital of the Solletarass Empire was a peculiar city where people burned to death in summer and froze to death in winter.
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz—!
On one afternoon when cicadas were crying to the point of bursting eardrums, in the training hall of the Silver Knight Order, situated inside the Imperial Palace where heat waves rose.
“Ha!”
“Higher!”
“Ha!”
“Faster!”
In that place, the commander of the Empire’s Silver Knight Order was engaged in a fierce duel with a single person.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The commander held a high position, overseeing fifty platinum knights and one thousand royal guards, and he himself was a Sword Master who had reached a formidable level, generally regarded as the strongest among the four knight commanders.
Yet, he was rolling on the floor without being able to defeat just one person.
“Gah!”
“Again!”
“Ugh, ha—!”
The seventh stage of Imperial swordsmanship, ‘No Vision with Presence.’
Invisible yet present, the domain where deception and genuine attacks were on the same level.
Whoooosh—!
A blue mana blade glowed fiercely, drawing hundreds of lines through the air with the sword.
Swish! Swish! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Each of those attacks contained a more profound complexity than the seasonal moves of any high-ranked swordsman.
However, his opponent was simply circling with a mana blade that was sufficient to prevent the sword from breaking, easily deflecting all attacks as they approached.
Thud!
As their swords clashed, they transitioned into sword wrestling, yanking the commander’s wrist and tripping his ankle, throwing him onto the ground.
Boom!
The commander’s large body soared up into the air.
Bang!
The training armor landed on the training ground with a loud clatter, creating a resounding noise.
He slowly raised his hand and lifted his visor.
“I’ll stop here.”
His handsome face was stained with sweat.
“Yeah. You’ve improved a lot over the past few years. You’re no longer seeking precision in form but looking for a natural flow. I was doubtful if I could teach you that well, but you learned it well.”
“It’s thanks to your good teaching.”
“No, it is because you learned well.”
The commander stood up and bowed his head to his opponent.
The opponent received the greeting with an arrogant nod.
Unlike the knights, she was not wearing plate armor but a thick cloth armor, a gambeson, underneath.
Even though she was covered in a cloth helmet up to her head, there was no one in this continent who could mock her.
Her name, rolling on the training ground with knights while wearing a thick gambeson, was Jeilliris.
She was the Holy Emperor of the Solletarass Empire.
“You saw clearly the duel between the commander and me, right?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Then I will proceed with the Imperial swordsmanship training. We will gradually rise from the first stage, ‘Total Coordination,’ so follow along well!”
The words that symbolized her were indifference and languor, and the movements that represented her were arrogant and static pointing.
However, that was what could only be said by those who had not witnessed the knight training she conducted every afternoon.
“Raise your elbows! Do you have your elbows there? This isn’t just swordsmanship. When mana amplifies between muscle fibers, the inner muscles swell up and compress the blood vessels! If you don’t want to go to the priest during the break when everyone else is playing, raise your elbows!”
Demonstrating while clashing swords among the knights.
“Why do you fight like a sword while holding a mace? If you pursue a flowing consecutive strike, pick up a sword. If you hold a mace, then it’s a one-hit kill!”
“Launching a throwing knife with mana is powerful enough. But always remember that it’s consumable. If you want anything beyond that, you’ll get hurt.”
She dealt with various weapons, including swords, axes, spears, bows, maces, and daggers.
“When handling a powerful magical sword, breathe more slowly than ordinary swordsmanship. Even the same motion should be made larger to push the opponent back, and then you should finish it with magic inscribed on the sword. Isn’t it obvious that someone would read it? As long as you’re using a magical sword, that’s only natural. It’s the same for me. Remember this. The path of a magic swordsman is a path that makes it impossible to dodge even if one knows what’s coming. Isn’t that exactly what my twin does? Ah, looks like she’s coming over there.”
She allowed them to handle special weapons in a special manner.
“Your Majesty!”
“There you are. Have you resolved the strange energies coming from the Ivory Tower well?”
Jeilliris smiled at me.
However, her golden eyes were questioning what exactly had happened.
For a moment, I was lost for words, and she chuckled as she removed her gambeson helmet.
Her bright white hair spilled down.
She looked back at the knights with a slightly regretful expression.
“Knights, it seems I must go in first. My twin has brought me work again.”
She casually tossed her gambeson to the handmaidens under the vine shade.
Underneath, she wore just a long blouse and cotton pants, and from behind, she looked like the innocent daughter of a naive rural lord.
Scattered sunlight poured over her dainty face.
I was dressed in a uniform adorned with jewels and gold, so to an unknowing bystander, it might have appeared that the twin brother who had risen in the capital brought his younger sister who had remained in the territory with him.
She tied her hair up suitably and spoke.
“So how many died this time? Or is it your fault, or the Ivory Tower’s fault?”
Of course, we were not permitted such speculations.
I smiled bitterly and slowly began my report.
