Chapter 86

(86)

The being struck directly by the incantation’s flames writhed and flared up.

I cut through the hardened foam with my mana blade, took a few steps back, and gazed at the creature.

Chi-i-i-i-i!

The solid white exoskeleton hardly burned, but the red muscles fiercely ignited, releasing steam.

Before long, the being transformed into a hollow suit of armor.

Pshhh, crack!

The white exoskeleton could not stand without the red muscles.

The last terrifying trace of the being, which had reached a height of 3 meters, collapsed and scattered like ash.

“Oh no!”

Niar ran over, gripping the ash and fidgeting.

The powder escaping from between her fingers completely dissolved into the air.

With the fading sunset light, a being born from a drop of blood disappeared.

“It seems everything is more or less sorted out.”

Sererassie approached, wiping blood with a handkerchief.

I was fortunate enough to have a blue potion that hadn’t broken in my possession.

For a moment, the tension in my body relaxed, and the scales sprouting here and there returned to my control.

Looking at the shop window, my vertically slit pupils had also returned to their normal golden color.

“Indeed.”

The mages of the Ivory Tower were indeed as strong as their reputation suggested.

They flew in the sky on broomsticks or carpets, accurately unleashing lightning, fireballs, venom, blades of wind, and waves of cold.

There were several who wielded destructive magic using pure mana without relying on attributes.

Just then, a mage shot a spear of wrath like the one Jeilliris used, piercing a giant armored dog and smashing the shop behind it.

“Is this really acceptable? I worked hard to prevent damage to the shop and people.”

As I murmured bitterly while rubbing my side, Niar avoided my gaze with her cream-colored eyes mixed with red.

“I don’t know if I should mention this… but the people have evacuated, and it’s okay if the shops are damaged. Do you remember saying that?”

“Yeah. I remember.”

“The elders were planning to demolish this area soon. No one was supposed to be able to approach within 300 meters of the Ivory Tower.”

Sererassie looked surprised.

“Why?”

“Those who made a living by business around the Ivory Tower kept overstepping their bounds. They charged exorbitant prices for reagents and smuggled experimental waste to sell. When accidents happened, they complained to the church that we hadn’t managed it well.”

“Ah.”

“They held regular plays, concerts, and parades right next door every day, making it so noisy that those using the downstairs couldn’t conduct their research.”

I sighed heavily and asked.

“Isn’t having a floating population beneficial for business?”

“The business itself has nothing to do with us. The mages of the Ivory Tower do not act like fools in front of people.”

Niar spoke with a voice full of great pride.

“Our profit does not come from tourists, but from trading with the Great Lords. The reason a tower was built outside the walls of Solentalouon was to distance ourselves from people as much as possible. Yet it has turned into a tourist spot, so… miscalculations were made.”

I muttered, seeming incredulous.

“No wonder there are so many mages, yet I hardly see robes affiliated with the Ivory Tower. Most are from the Street of Learning or Magic Street.”

“Yes. Those mages don’t seem like mages at all.”

“Then all my efforts to avoid damaging the buildings were in vain. My side was just beaten for free.”

I patted my side and sighed.

Sererassie playfully shook her head with a smile.

“That’s not true. Didn’t you save many lives? If you hadn’t held back the being with your body and contained the fireball, many people would have died or been injured before evacuation was completed.”

That was a huge relief.

I turned my face to avoid showing a pathetic expression to Sererassie and sighed in relief.

Today, I had no right to be responsible for someone’s life.

I couldn’t say that the accidental casualties were acceptable after suppressing a creature I had partly created.

I was shameless, but not that shameless.

“At least, my wallet is preserved.”

“What are you saying! After I raised it, you are clueless! Lady Trentia would have felt very proud if she knew.”

That would be so.

Or she might have looked on with contempt, setting fire to the books to destroy the evidence.

“Duke Valen, you are right. Follow your senior’s advice.”

“Now, even alumni are criticizing me in pairs. Let’s go inside. We need to finish cleaning up. You go too and gather what needs to be gathered.”

Sererassie flashed a beautiful smile.

“Yes. We need to gather our things.”

* * *

The grimoire written in ancient Elvish was burned by Valenciaunos, Ifisia, and Blahon, turning completely to ash.

One such volume.

“Could you stack them neatly and organize them in order? I plan to read and organize them whenever I have time to make copies.”

The Imperial Magic Guild was located deep beneath the roots of trees, in Sererassie’s research room.

A gentle aroma of tea and a rich scent of coffee wafted, where an orange cat meowed.

Sererassie’s apprentices and Valenciaunos were carrying grimoires in their hands.

As Valenciaunos set down four volumes, he said, “All the dangerous ones have been burned, right? Your sister didn’t manage to save one or two, did she?”

“I knew it was a trap, so I had no intention of stepping on it to check just how powerful it was. After the ordeal we went through the other day, why would I do something so crazy?”

“Out of a desire for infinite power and knowledge?”

Sererassie nodded, removing her hat and robe and hanging them on a rack.

“Yes. Mages aspire to infinite power, knowledge, and truth. So sometimes, they take on risks others cannot understand. But there’s one thing people do not know.”

“What is it?”

“Actually, mages do not merely want to seek the truth. They want to understand and make use of it.”

“!”

Valenciaunos let out a hushed tone as if to indicate he had been caught off guard.

“If they truly despised humans and the world, the Ivory Tower would have been built not beside the capital’s walls but on a mountain beside the capital.”

“You’re right. The elders didn’t say they were going to demolish all the shops either.”

“Who wouldn’t want to be revered and acknowledged?”

Sererassie began her explanation.

“Dear sibling, do not worry too much about me leaving for places you cannot understand. I do not wish to become one with a gigantic entity to understand the truth; I want to tear apart that entity into pieces to understand the truth.”

That was the difference between a mage and a priest.

Valenciaunos nodded without further argument.

“I would be rude to dig deeper after your explanation. Still, that must be handled with extreme caution.”

“Of course. You have a history with research like this.”

Sererassie pulled out a bundle of report papers from her pocket and shook them.

Ifisia burned all the records from those who participated in the experiment.

Except for her own.

Valenciaunos wasn’t one to let that slip.

Sererassie turned the pages of the report, laughing with satisfaction.

“Body restoration through mana and material creation, further using electrical signals to assist muscle and mana operation. Hehe. I’ve always wanted to study this. I’m so excited to think about what I can do with this.”

“Do you have something in mind?”

Valenciaunos asked, trying to maintain the rhythm, and regretted it the moment he asked.

Because she continued in an excited tone.

“Do you remember how it constructed the exoskeleton in an instant?”

“Of course.”

“If this research goes well, I might be able to create a potion that halts your draconic transformation.”

“How?”

However, the following words made it impossible for him to not take an interest.

“How foolish. Think about it. The opposite of creation is suppression. The potion to draw out your powers further and the one to suppress them are essentially the same. That cheap blue potion from Bastatin is bound to reach its limits someday, right?”

“Is it necessary to label it cheap? But I trust you much more.”

“Exactly. You admit it. And if my incantations are added, wouldn’t that lead to satisfying results?”

Sererassie spoke as if dreaming.

Valenciaunos nodded with a gentle smile.

“I’m looking forward to the day you save me from my draconic transformation.”

Hearing that word “save,” Sererassie smiled lightly.

“You saved me first. If you didn’t show off every day, it would have been so much better.”

A preciously soft smile emerged on her face, and the beautiful mix of blue and yellow shimmered elegantly.

After a very brief silence, Valenciaunos replied.

“Make sure to add one more line! …I hope it goes well. My draconic transformation is one thing, but you’ll also become more mobile if your body gets better.”

Sererassie quickly said, “Of course. But I’ll warn you in advance; don’t think about dragging me into training with Lady Trentia. I don’t plan to move faster than 4 km/h at all. Ah, right. Why didn’t I think of this earlier? Now that I have plenty of money, I should buy a carpet or broom right away.”

Valenciaunos laid out his thoughts with composure.

“Please take care of mine too.”

Sererassie answered without batting an eye and with a composed demeanor.

“Greedy like a dragon and sticky like dry blood. Hmm. The carpet might be too difficult for you. You haven’t learned magic systematically and rely heavily on your lineage. So you can only use the naturally blossomed flames. A broom… might be a bit uncomfortable for you to ride?”

Valenciaunos cleared his throat and nodded.

“True. When did you say your master and juniors were coming? They should be waking up soon. It’d be a disturbance if I’m here. I won’t understand a word while looking at the books you brought today.”

“You’re quite perceptive. They’ll be here soon. I’m excited. This is my first unofficial visit to the Imperial Magic Guild by an Ivory Tower mage.”

“Isn’t the official visit usually preceded by ten unofficial ones?”

“The world of magic sometimes has its hand turning inverted or witnessing miracles.”

Valenciaunos smiled slyly as he opened the workshop door and stepped out.

“Here’s to a pleasant encounter.”

He murmured silently while walking down the dim corridor.

“It’s like a fixed card game.”

As a result of this incident, the ancient Elvish grimoire studies led primarily by the Flame School, the Obsidian School, and the Hematology School were either toppled or hindered.

He and Sererassie, as representatives of the imperial family, demanded to share the ancient Elvish grimoires under various pretexts, such as risk management, credibility assurance, and cross-validation.

Gestarte gathered the factions that had been opposed to or passively involved in the ancient Elvish grimoire research and complied with that demand.

The grimoires with traps were burned, and the precious ones were sent to the imperial palace.

And Sererassie invited her former mentor, Gestarte, to request joint research.

Thus, the initiative in the ancient Elvish grimoire studies shifted to the imperial family and the sudden Enlightenment School.

* * *

A study with a large window facing the outside.

Jeilliris smiled while shuffling through a pile of documents.

Curious about the content, her eyes sparkled as she caught sight of a parchment mentioning an assembly of the council.

“It was quite a decent idea.”

I let out a short, playful sigh of relief and said, “I need to bring something to His Majesty, or my neck won’t remain above my shoulders.”

“Didn’t I give you an opportunity? The emperor’s promises are heavy. He stated that no matter what sins, he wouldn’t punish twice.”

I replied calmly, “I hope to never use that opportunity.”

Jeilliris blinked her golden eyes once before laughing lightly.

“You are truly a loyal subject.”

Once again, I had delivered results.

Zero casualties.

Though the creature rampaged, not a single person had died.

Jeilliris crumpled the report submitted by the Ivory Tower and tossed it into the fireplace, saying, “However, it seems the citizens of the capital truly enjoy talking about you.”

“What are they saying this time?”

“They said you ordered the gates shut. They claim you tried to kill everyone to hide the creature’s escape.”

I smiled bitterly and said, “It’s likely a petty revenge by the Obsidian School, which lost their grimoires. Please overlook it.”

“How unexpected. But if you wish for it, I will agree. You must have your own reasons.”

She seemed to remember something and added, “And take this and read it.”

It was a parchment detailing the summoning of the assembly.