Chapter 144

Crown Prince Valenccius believed that he could receive great rewards if he were to let go of a bit of dignity, humanity, and ethics at the right moment.

Of course, he knew that acting this way towards the people of the Ivory Tower, with whom he was meant to meet regularly, could lead to him being struck by lightning one night.

However, in his opinion, mass production of magic guns was absolutely essential to protect the Empire, his back, and Jeilliris from the Infiltrators that would swarm in the future.

Gestarte gestured to his disciple Niar, and Crown Prince Valenccius followed her along with Rudi.

Rudi thought that there was something alike between Crown Prince Valenccius and Niar as he observed them.

Valenccius was dressed in a white suit, while Niar wore stiff black dress pants and a crisp white blouse with a vest.

But that ‘similarity’ was not just about their attire that reveled in conquest.

There was an arrogant yet cunning and strangely delicate aspect about them—their atmosphere was perilous because of their desperation.

Niar reached for the handle-less wardrobe at the end of the long corridor.

“I don’t like this,” she muttered in a whiny voice.

Rudi was startled as he saw Niar’s hand being pulled deep inside the wardrobe door.

A moment later, a yellow spark flowed along her arm for a few seconds, and then a handle appeared on the wardrobe’s door.

When Niar grabbed the handle and opened it, the wardrobe finally revealed its contents.

She looked at Valenccius and said, “You really are someone who lacks a heart, Crown Prince.”

Valenccius replied, casually letting his golden eyes shine, “Does it look that way?”

“How can you treat Princess Sererassie like that? Her talents are nothing short of treasures in this world.”

“I came to get a magic tool to protect that treasure a little better.”

“I’m talking about emotional aspects! For her, memories of the Ivory Tower and her mentor are as delicate as a thorny glass flower…!”

Rudi glared at Niar with his cold green eyes.

She had lived in the Imperial Palace, where hierarchy was valued above all, as if it were her life.

She was inwardly dissatisfied with the situation where elders like Gestarte casually spoke to Valenccius; she couldn’t stand seeing a disciple talk to her lord like that.

“Speak respectfully. He is Crown Prince Valenccius, the second highest in this Empire.”

Her voice was kind and gentle, laced with well-meaning instruction.

However, the muzzle of the magic gun she aimed was firm and ruthless, carrying the weight of expensive tuition.

Niar gaped and laughed, as if she found the situation ridiculous.

Her eyes, a blend of cream and red, glowed with the heat of mana, exuding a gender-neutral metallic sound.

“How dare some maid who hasn’t even stepped into magic aim that hideous weapon at anyone?”

Rudi smiled, kindly and gently.

His green eyes sparkled like emeralds under the sun, his dimples forming as he smiled.

“Hey, little mage. Do you want your heart pierced by that hideous weapon?”

Yet, his finger resting on the trigger did not waver even a bit.

Valenccius intervened at that moment.

“Rudi, causing a fuss is my job. Lower your weapon. Speak nicely. Even if you speak like that, Niar will give you the new gun.”

That was a double entendre, and both Rudi and Niar understood it.

No matter how much Niar puffed up her pride, she would still ultimately be the one receiving it from Rudi, so he should smile a bit.

No matter how much she postured, she was in the position of giving in, so she shouldn’t act too high and mighty and be laughed at.

“Tch.”

“Yes, Your Excellency Valen.”

Niar took a wooden box out of the wardrobe, placed it on the table, and opened the lid.

The lid had a magical lock mechanism similar to that of the wardrobe.

Yellow electricity coursed through her body, identifying the identity of the one seeking the magic gun, and the process was a shock in itself.

Smoke rose from the ends of Niar’s red cream-colored hair, and as she squirmed in pain, Rudi asked if something was wrong, just as the seal of the magic gun opened.

“This is bigger than the one I got last time. The power is strong, and the recoil isn’t weak either. The range is similar… I heard.”

Niar spoke in a tired voice.

Valenccius lifted the magic gun.

Its length was similar to his arm, with two long barrels attached horizontally above and below.

The part right in front of the trigger bent in half, allowing the gun to fold in half, ready to load two magic bullets inside the opened barrels.

“Rudi. What do you think?”

Rudi took the long magic gun and turned it lightly.

He could feel just how long it had been since it had left the wardrobe, as the metal barrels and wooden stock were all chillingly cold.

With each touch from her, the gun seemed to whimper.

It was a sensation similar to when Tenitia grasped ‘Hwanhan.’

There was something instinctively realized when a tool met its master.

“Your Excellency Valen. It’s amazing. I’m sorry to say, but I want to try it out quickly.”

Niar squinted and frowned slightly.

“I was just about to take that out…!”

“I know. Thank you. It must have hurt a lot, right? I’ll use it well, and I’ll protect Princess Sererassie with it, so don’t hate Your Excellency too much.”

As Rudi held the magic gun, he realized that Niar was still a young girl, likely in her early adolescence.

He thought it would be okay to treat her a bit kinder.

Niar could only nod, unable to say anything.

***

Gestarte raised the veiled corners of his mouth as he listened to the laughter coming from beyond.

“Your younger sister seems to be having a great time.”

“I apologize, Master. I wasn’t supposed to bring her to the Ivory Tower.”

Princess Sererassie let out a deep sigh, her dainty face contorting.

However, Gestarte slowly shook his head.

“I’ll tell you this before Crius returns.”

“Yes?”

“Voices within the Ivory Tower are suggesting that we need to pull out the magic guns again.”

“!”

“They’re a bunch of fools. To want to give the weapon that already made us the slaves of incantation circuits back into our hands.”

Princess Sererassie’s expression hardened.

Her emotions retreated, and cold reason came back to her.

“Is there anything I can do as a noble?”

“You’re already doing it.”

“Pardon?”

Her master surprised her once again.

“I have to apologize in advance. I told them you were taking the magic guns to test in various situations and write a report. I had to stall.”

“That was a good decision. It’s okay.”

Gestarte lowered his voice.

“The Earth Magic faction is all crazy. They’re trying to release that fast weapon into the world while their casting is the slowest. If that magic gun is destined to come back into the world, it must be in the hands of those who won’t use it recklessly.”

In the hands of those who won’t use it recklessly.

Upon hearing that, Princess Sererassie momentarily recalled Emperor Jeilliris.

Her half-brother, who had killed even his own kin to control danger.

There was no way the emperor would keep such a weapon, which allowed even a child to fight a uniformed knight, idle.

He would reveal it only to his most loyal servants in a very limited manner.

“Then we can say that our Ivory Tower cannot bring out the magic guns again due to the Imperial Court’s restraint. And you will be able to control them within the Imperial Court.”

“!”

Princess Sererassie’s eyes widened in surprise.

An electric thrill danced through her differently colored eyes.

The world’s operation seemed complicated and baffling.

But this was already something she was doing.

Crown Prince Valenccius had told her months ago.

One day, the magic guns might need to be led by her.

Even handling Rudi’s magic gun fit this context.

‘Were you watching me?’

“You said you’d be the bridge between the Ivory Tower and the Imperial Magic Guild. Do you understand how significant of a position that is?”

Gestarte asked.

Princess Sererassie let out a deep sigh and pushed away the swirling thoughts in her mind.

She raised her head and said.

“I think that was a reckless choice. To have done something I neither could do well nor enjoyed. But since it’s already been cast, there’s nothing I can do. I plan to make that naughty younger brother of mine work for me.”

Gestarte nodded.

“Seems like you became a flash recently.”

“How… did you know?”

Princess Sererassie asked, feeling slightly bewildered.

Her master laughed like the sky.

“Don’t you roughly know how far Niar can go?”

“Ah.”

“It’s also a way to congratulate you. Take it without burden. I originally planned to teach you, but now that you’re leaving, I’m finally giving it to you.”

Princess Sererassie gazed at the hefty grimoire Gestarte handed over.

It was a defensive realm magic using the properties of both the Electro and Destruction factions.

“Thank you.”

The author name was Gestarte; magic that he personally created like ‘Infiltrators’ and ‘Diffusion’ of Sererassie.

A grand mage’s grimoire was something you couldn’t obtain solely with money.

“I won’t be giving you anything like armor. Crown Prince Valen might think differently, but we are not fighters; we are noble mages. I don’t mean to belittle the Warlocks, but such compromises will not lead to the truth. I hope this is the gift you were wishing for.”

Princess Sererassie’s differently colored eyes shone.

She had become a flash under her master, yet her master was the sky that the flash would progress toward.

‘The more I know, the more astonishing he is.’

There are few things as inspiring as making the heart of a genius race.

Princess Sererassie bowed deeply.

Moments later, Crius returned, burying a red mass that looked like a heart in the ice.

It was a blood mass that greatly increased the amount of mana stored in a heart.

As it required capturing multiple powerful monsters to create, each one was worth far more than an ordinary castle.

In presenting that as a ‘suitable’ reward, it indicated how unstable the standing of the Living Magic faction had become within the Ivory Tower due to the recent Chimera incident.

Princess Sererassie knew the value of that blood mass and thought it far too generous, so she refused it.

“Please ease the heart of this old professor.”

Upon hearing those words, she accepted it.

What made Princess Sererassie’s mood strangely better that day was that the items she brought back were incredibly pleasing to her.

“See? It was worth going with me, wasn’t it?”

“Shut up!”

So, throughout the trip to the Imperial Palace, she kept releasing electrical attacks on Crown Prince Valenccius for no reason.

***

I slowly descended into the Imperial Palace’s prison.

The prison was not just a place to separate criminals from the streets but a place used by the ruler to torment those filthy scoundrels before killing them, to let them experience basking in filth.

Having rotted here for about a month before my return, my legs trembled slightly, but the smell of blood and filth was much less than back then.

Upon reflection, that was entirely thanks to me.

Instead of tormenting criminals in the prison and executing them in the square, I now sent them directly to Wyvernfit, hence the prison being so empty.

“Welcome!”

“Oh, Crown Prince Valenccius.”

The guards and watchmen regarded me as their benefactor.

Isn’t it too blissful to be in a job that has no work but still gets paid?

“I came to meet that merchant. Do you have a moment?”

“Yes, feel free to take as much time as you need.”

The guard even handed me a bundle of keys.

I went down into the prison and stopped in front of a cell containing a prisoner.

He was a merchant who had once operated in a special area of the Ivory Tower and had quickly secured and sold relatively high-quality chimeras.

“Don’t you want to live?”

Silence flowed for a moment before a response came.

“I’m already dead since the merchant has lost all his wealth.”

That was meant to up his value.

“Don’t you have any money buried in the ground? With that money, you could start anew in another province.”

“…….”

“Recently, they have been working on canal construction in Count Delusiato’s territory. It’s an area where commerce is thriving and will likely become the largest trade city in the northern region. Finding a new identity during that transitional period is not a big deal at all.”

“What do you want from me?”

“You know the person who purchased the defense chimeras. Who is he? Answer me. We can’t kill family members.”

It wasn’t long before his mouth opened.

“I… I don’t know their name.”

Since I had started this, I intended to see it through.

I was afraid of what that guy who bought chimeras secretly would do with them.