Thinking about it, yeah.
I had no idea about Adela’s past.
How she’s lived until now, what she’s thinking, why she’s so expressionless.
Especially the part about her parents’ sacrifice—that was the first time I’d heard of it.
“Sacrifice, you say?”
“…No, just keep it at that. This is strictly Adela’s business, so I shouldn’t interfere.”
“………”
“Just know that Adela’s parents were great magicians, and everyone in the Magic Tower owes them a debt.”
Anything beyond that, Adela should say herself——
Olfin finished with a somewhat bitter expression and left first.
Left alone in the hallway, I stared in the direction Adela had disappeared.
‘Her parents, huh.’
Come to think of it, I don’t think Adela and I have ever talked about anything other than the Magic Tower or board games.
I thought it was because we weren’t close yet, but maybe there was another reason.
It’s different from Leisha’s case. Even if I chased after her now and asked, it would only hurt her feelings.
Someday, Adela will surely tell me herself.
‘Me.’
Until then, I decided to stick to my role.
Being Adela’s board game friend.
And hoping to become a comrade she can open her heart to.
*
The production of Bang was going smoothly.
After all, it’s a board game that only needs cards, so using the same process as mass-producing Kyle Galli wasn’t a big issue.
Yeah.
It was going ‘smoothly’.
It started with a question from Vermily, a high magician of the Arkhé Magic Tower.
A question that naturally came up while making character cards for Bang with a few magicians.
“But are these card stats correct?”
“Huh?”
“Creator, the 16 magicians you picked are all great, but among them, the Archmages, including the Tower Master, are on a different level. Isn’t it a bit much to give them weak abilities?”
“Hmm………”
Now that I think about it, yeah. In the original Bang, there’s no ranking of strength among the gunslingers, so distributing abilities evenly was fine, but now we’re making it based on real magicians, right?
In reality, there’s a clear hierarchy among the abilities of Bang’s characters. That’s why, even though most have a base health of 4, some start with 3 due to good abilities, or have no abilities but start with 9 health.
So Kyle answered without much thought.
“Then, could you at least rank the magicians on the list for me? I’m kind of an outsider here………”
Since the characters’ abilities are already set, just ranking them would allow us to distribute them in order.
That was pretty much the extent of my thinking.
“Ranking the magicians? Tsk, every single magician on that list is a heavyweight………”
“Can’t we just put Natura, the youngest genius, at the bottom? Honestly, she’s too young. Being an elder at 30 is obviously a ridiculous genius, but given the company, it’s understandable.”
“The four Archmages are definitely at the top, but the middle is the problem. I’ve heard the Magic Association’s chairman is quite skilled, but due to his position, he doesn’t use magic often………”
“By the way, what about this oldest magician? Sure, they’re a living legend in the magic world, but should they really be put on the same level as the Archmages?”
The real problem was that the magicians of Arkhé Magic Tower started taking the discussion way too seriously.
The root cause was that the magicians on the list Master Olfin brought were all overwhelmingly powerful. Most of them represented some Magic Tower or region, making it hard to easily rank them.
Among them, there were those like the oldest magician or young geniuses who might not have much combat power but held significant influence in the magic world.
Even those in high positions, like the Magic Association President or the Imperial Magic Ministry Director, were hard to rank.
That’s why Kyle Byron’s casual suggestion of ranking them turned into something akin to a battle royale to determine the top magicians in the Empire.
Even though only four Archmages participated, and not all the famous magicians were included, the magicians were going wild.
“Of course, the Magic Ministry Director should rank higher! It’s a position publicly acknowledged by His Majesty the Emperor!”
“What nonsense! The Magic Association has been around since the founding of the Empire! The Magic Ministry Director is indeed high-ranking, but the Magic Ministry itself hasn’t even existed that long! We must consider history and tradition!”
“Seriously, though, excluding the Archmages, isn’t the Hellfire Magician from Agni Tower the strongest?”
“Do you not know about the Glesia Tower Master? There’s a reason Master Shisha declined the position. She was called the greatest genius in Glesia’s history before that person appeared!”
“I’ve been on a business trip to the north where Agni Tower is. Hellfire wiped out monsters back then!”
“Ha! If you’d seen the frozen coasts of the east, you’d change your tune. That person started freezing the vast sea!”
Since the discussion started at Arkhé Tower, it was bound to get heated.
Externally, and even internally, Arkhé Tower wasn’t known for its combat prowess.
Plus, after seven years of deficits, they’d been at the bottom of the six major towers, and aside from Olfin, they didn’t have any magicians worth boasting about.
In the end, out of the 16 magicians on the list, only Olfin was from Arkhé Tower.
But since they’d been at the bottom for so long, and recently, thanks to Abracadabra, Arkhé’s pride had skyrocketed, the magicians weren’t too hurt and could comfortably continue the Magician’s Guild Cup.
The thought was, “We were weak before, but now we’re doing great, so it’s fine.”
And so, the ranking debate raged on, involving Agni, Glesia, Astron, Natura, Terra, Imperial magicians, and even independent magicians.
Ironically, since it wasn’t about Arkhé itself, the debate burned even hotter.
“Alright, the oldest magician is too old to use magic effectively now. But their knowledge and experience are so vast that even the Archmages show them respect! So of course, they should rank higher than combat-focused magicians like Hellfire or Nature Destroyer!”
“If we go that route, it’ll never end! If we factor in social status and influence, we’ll never reach a conclusion! Let’s just base it on combat power, it’s simpler!”
“Since when do we rank magicians solely by combat power!? That’s such a barbaric method───”
“Agni.”
“…”
…That’s the front line, isn’t it?!”
“What’s the difference?!”
Kyle Byron’s casual request ended up causing a ruckus in the Arkhé Magic Tower for over five days.
Some even brought up the careers and exploits of magicians to argue, or recreated magicians through illusions to pit them against each other in one-on-one battles.
Normally, the elder magicians would keep the younger ones in check, but this time, the elders were even more enthusiastic. Stories and exploits of magicians, starting with “Back in my day…”, sprouted up like mushrooms after rain.
However, it was a discussion that would eventually have to end, as they couldn’t possibly track down and test every magician on the list.
Finally, after hours of debate, all the magicians of Arkhé, including the elders, gathered in one place and decided to base the criteria purely on combat prowess, with the exception of the oldest magician.
“Hmm, but isn’t there still one left?”
“What do you mean? If it’s hard to judge by combat prowess, we can just base it on career and achievements. We already have a rough ranking.”
“No… I’m talking about the Archmages.”
“…Huh?”
“Of course, those four would take the top four spots, but who’s number one…?”
“…………….”
The moment someone brought up the topic everyone had been avoiding, all eyes in the meeting room turned to one place.
To Olfin Glassburn, who was sitting next to Kyle Byron, enjoying his tea.
While the other magicians, not being part of Arkhé, were free to engage in the Gold Cup, among the Archmages was their own Master of the Magic Tower.
In the end, it was up to Olfin to settle the matter.
And Olfin, who already knew this, took a sip of his tea and smiled faintly.
“Frankly, I can’t claim to be the best among the eight Archmages.”
“……………….”
“…………….”
“………………….”
“But among Stella, Shisha, Bantain, and myself…”
Of course.
“I am number one.”
Needless to say, cheers erupted from the magicians immediately after.
………If it had ended here, it could have ended peacefully.
After all, this was a board game being made by Kyle Byron, who was part of the Arkhé Magic Tower and generally friendly with it, as most knew.
But neither Kyle Byron, nor Olfin, nor the magicians of Arkhé had anticipated one thing.
Even if things had calmed down, there were still many people at the Arkhé Magic Tower and the Gias Territory for Abracadabra.
“What’s all this commotion about…?”
“Didn’t you hear? They’ve ranked the top magicians at the Arkhé Magic Tower!”
“What…? Really?”
“Well, not all the magicians, but they included the four Archmages!”
“Huh. But why all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know either. Something about a board game?”
“Does that even make sense?”
After five days of intense debate among the magicians of Arkhé, it was only natural that those who came to the tower also learned about the ranking battle.
Most just laughed or showed interest, but…
“Master Saquiel! Master Olfin of the Magic Tower just declared himself the top Archmage on the list!”
“Olfin Glassburn… He’s certainly a remarkable magician.”
“The last Dragon Slayer, a great figure who is nothing short of being called magnificent.”
“But…?”
“Still, not as much as Master Stella. Contact the Magic Tower immediately. Directly to Stella Varnicion.”
“Yes!”
As it happened, among those who had come to the Magic Tower now was a magician from Astron Magic Tower.
Of course, he had no idea that such a heated debate to determine rankings was simply over character cards from a board game.
The magician Saquiel from Astron judged this to be some kind of provocation from Arkhé towards Astron.
Before Arkhé’s decline, there had been several provocations towards other Magic Towers, so this was a natural assumption.
[Is this for real? Olfin claimed himself to be the top Archmage?]
“Among the Archmages, only Stella, Shisha, and Bantain are included… but yes.”
[…Saquiel, you’re at Arkhé, right? Tell Olfin immediately.]
“What should I tell him?”
[Tell him I’m coming over right now!!!]
And as it happened, that magician was a senior at Astron Magic Tower and could directly contact Master Stella.
“Olfin…! Let’s settle this once and for all!!”
And as it happened, it was Stella Varnicion, who had many bad connections with Olfin.
Immediately after ending the call, Stella, in her anger, contacted Glesia and Terra Magic Tower.
A call to summon the remaining two Archmages on the list.
Frankly, Stella made the call half out of anger and didn’t expect them to respond, but…
“That maid is bothering me… Maybe I should take a break from the old folks for a while.”
“Hmm, it’s been a while since something interesting happened. I wanted to try that Abracadabra thing too, shall we go?”
As the two Archmages, who had reasons to leave the tower, responded.
Something that even Stella, who had made the call, hadn’t anticipated, something no one had thought of, was happening.
Four Archmages were gathering in one place.
And not for a friendly meeting like during Abracadabra.
“Hoho, who would have thought it would come to this.”
“Master, shouldn’t we stop this now?”
“No need for that.”
“Master Olfin?”
“Since it’s come to this, let’s stretch our bodies for the first time in a while. Prepare a wide plain on the outskirts of the territory.”
“Master!?”
To clearly determine the hierarchy among the Archmages.
The Galde Cup (Physical) was about to begin.
And all of this.
“…How did it come to this?”
Was because of a small ball thrown up by Kyle Byron.
