Chapter 228

The capital’s situation remained chaotic, and intellectuals and the bourgeoisie thrived more when there was some stability than during times of turmoil.

Especially the absolute number of the poor and common people were incredibly grateful that thanks to Jeilliris, they didn’t have to shiver outside on this winter day.

“It seems Valencianus did ‘Valencianus’ again this time.”

There was little sensitivity towards Valencianus acting like a bandit.

Survivors from the countless deaths that had struck in recent months did not feel outrage over incidents with no fatalities.

They were just thankful to have work, to go out and sweat in the reconstruction project conducted by the imperial family, and to bring back hot soup and bread to feed their families on the way home.

Thus, Valencianus’s guild was steadily being completed.

High walls surrounded the entire site, two stone research buildings of eight stories, a wide training ground to test developed weapons, and six massive workshops built three stories high on a steel frame.

It was a workshop complex consisting of accommodations and dining areas for dozens of mechanical knights, a huge training ground, and other buildings, along with an airfield for Nibelungen.

This complex, built on the west side of the imperial palace, was very close to the royal magic workshop and fairly close to both the Street of Learning and Magic Street.

It was an excellent place for Marcus and Sererassie to select capable researchers.

[Graduates talented in earth magic and destruction arts, graduates who find drawing incantation circuits and incantation circuits more enjoyable than eating bread, graduates who approach magic not as a mystery but as a discipline are sought.

No experience in student gangsters necessary.

Generous compensation, lodging and meals, potential for overworking. Excitement in pioneering new studies.]

This was a recruitment notice from Ironblood Party leader Marcus.

[Graduates talented in electric magic and earth magic, graduates who want to walk the path of mystery to the end as a seeker, graduates who can’t sleep because they love magic are sought.

No experience in student gangsters necessary.

Generous compensation, lodging and meals, potential for overworking. Excitement in pioneering new studies.]

This was Sererassie’s recruitment notice.

Though the front was different, the back was the same.

“Not bad, huh?”

“Not just okay, it’s a jackpot! Those two!”

“I should start looking for a job too. I can’t keep living like this forever.”

In this field, overworking was a common sense, and what mattered was whether working hard came with money and learning, or not.

Students from the magic department who had made a name for themselves in Jin’s student council came seeking introductions.

Notorious student gangsters evaded Helena’s conscription and sought employment.

Countless talented individuals flocked in looking for jobs due to the failed graduation briefing.

“You’ve even had exchanges with students from the Ivory Tower who were top in their class for three years straight in electric magic. With this alone, you’re among the best talents that can be found outside the Ivory Tower. Accepted.”

“The electric aspect is just okay, but you have talent in enchantment. It’s a good talent to engrave incantation circuits well. Accepted.”

“A student gangster? You’ve been on-site under Katalin for the last five months? At this level, you’re practically a warlock. Yes, warlocks don’t accept former gangsters, but I’m not a warlock. You’re accepted.”

A 6th Circle sorcerer in his twenties, many mages gathered under Sererassie.

“Your grades weren’t great, but you’ve made a secret room by changing the structure of a building using earth magic and researched and experimented with black magic with your comrades. You show talent in spatial awareness and enchantment. Let’s go together.”

“Earth magic major. Your father runs a metal refining business using earth magic. Caught melting coins into ingots when copper prices went up and got suspended. Hmm. You’re exactly the kind of talent I’m looking for. Let’s go look at the future together.”

“A 4th Circle destroyer and enchanter. You can engrave field magic on armor, made a magic tool using the spear of strength as your graduation project, and you understand flight and anti-gravity spells as incantations rather than incantations? Welcome.”

From the one-time most dangerous great lord of the west, those who saw not madness but the future lined up.

Thus.

General Duke Valencius.

Flash Duke Sererassie.

Magic engineering research lab head Duke Marcus.

Countless talented individuals gathered under the three of them.

It was said in the world that the bandit Valencius had established his own court away from Jeilliris’s gaze.

“Are you perhaps preparing a revolt?”

“If that were the case, he would have done it before the oath of loyalty started. He might have done it when the emperor went missing. Still, it makes me uneasy.”

The bandit wielding incantations and the western world’s greatest magic engineer, and the 6th Circle sorcerer in his twenties.

It was reasonable to say they could command dozens of knights, airships, and excellent sorcerers to develop and sell magic tools.

That historical place was truly.

“Then why are you so wary of the incantation circuits?”

“What do you think you can achieve with things you haven’t analyzed!”

“Now now! First, let’s calm down both of you and check the mechanical knights’ magic armors!”

It was pandemonium.

* * *

“No. Why are you so displeased with using incantation circuits? Ultimately, magic is a mystery and a sense. Only the chosen can wield this power! Shouldn’t we maximize that to maintain our absolute position?”

Sererassie’s yellow eyes gleamed as she struck the floor with her staff.

She was an advocate for actively using incantation circuits throughout the entire upcoming research and development process.

Both incantation circuits and spell circuits were subclasses of magic circuits, differentiated by whether the principles of magic manifestation were clearly revealed or not.

The incantation circuit relied on the sorcerer’s talent, effort, and intuition to engrave without clearly established principles, while the spell circuit could be engraved by any wizard because the principles were fully disclosed.

Sererassie was more wary of the artisanry of sorcerers than anyone else, so she preferred incantation circuits that allowed individual sorcerers to receive the utmost respect.

“As I said, magic is a mystery. Our job is to uncover and analyze that mystery. But do you really think it’s sorcerer-like to just use things that are not understood or explained as ‘Ah, how wonderful.’?”

Marcus roared as if his black eye was about to pop out.

He initially defined himself not as a sorcerer but as a magic engineer, equipping mechanical knights and magic rifle squads with industrialized gear.

To survive the increasing future of infiltrators, ancient artifacts, foreign entities, and magical realms, he believed establishing a system that could mass-produce magic tools was crucial.

Thus, he wanted to use only the spell circuits whose principles were already revealed in all magic tools.

“Don’t you see that sorcerers are being forced to engrave spells beyond their talents, leading to mental corruption?”

“Just because you’re afraid of carriage accidents doesn’t mean you can avoid walking. It’s a road you ultimately have to take. Why are you so wary of artisanry? It’s a way to give greater value as a researcher, not just as a fighter.”

So.

Sererassie, who shuddered at the thought of sorcerer artisanry, and Marcus, who endeavored to make sorcerers into artisans, were bound to clash.

Of course, I was greatly satisfied to have gathered the two who had died in vain before my return.

I expected this dispute to some extent and had devised solutions.

I cleared my throat to attract their attention.

Two pairs of differently colored and textured eyes turned toward me.

“First of all, we’re already nearing April, aren’t we?”

It was April, with cherry blossoms in full bloom.

Winter had passed in an instant as we built the workshop and selected students.

“And we haven’t even started our research in the last few months.”

“…It can’t be helped.”

“To be honest, real magic research typically takes several years or even decades to yield results.”

“But we have to start. Why do you think the emperor allowed me to play with the land? It’s because he anticipated the synergy that would arise when you two meet.”

“….”

“This workshop was built on the stolen land of the dead. …Of course, I prioritized the truly unclaimed ones, but stolen land is still stolen. So, at the very least, something worthy should come out of the sacrifices of you two. Right?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Let’s harmonize your differing opinions as we go. For future research directions, let’s have you, sister, develop pure technologies while Marcus focuses on commercialization and tool-making.”

Sererassie lightly nodded.

Though she was wearing a cold smile, she couldn’t hide the satisfaction that rose at the corners of her mouth.

As long as pure technology belonged to her, she would likely want all spells to be crafted as incantation circuits.

Of course, Marcus was also smiling.

His slightly different black eyes gleamed coldly.

It was the confident gaze of one who believed he could interpret and formulate anything brought before him.

I concluded by suggesting the next step.

“To start, we could do some technology exchange. We should know what we can each do to align our efforts accordingly.”

* * *

“Step aside! It’s dangerous!”

“It’s the procession of Duke Sererassie! Everyone, step back!”

Sererassie’s two upper-level disciples, Lorraine and Tupio, were endlessly hauling cargo for her.

It was nearly all the research materials stacked within the royal magic workshop allotted to Sererassie.

She sat Marcus down in front of her and began to unfold the materials one by one.

“This is the electric magic I developed. They’re called ‘Infiltration’ and ‘Diffusion.’”

Despite everything, they were geniuses among geniuses.

Sererassie chatted away using specialized terminology after a long time, and Marcus perfectly understood all her words.

“If you think about using it alongside earth magic… we wouldn’t need to store ultra-fine silver wire nets to launch electric nets from magic armors. Then we could remove this part entirely and inscribe the earth spell ‘Iron Shackles’ circuit into that space to generate nets on the spot. The limit on ammunition would also be considerably relaxed.”

“For generation, how about referring to this part? I developed it while trying to treat that younger sibling; it’s about materialization and mana-ization.”

“With just a little adjustment, it could be used right away. No, it could even be applied as it is….”

A few new functions were added to the magic armors of the mechanical knights.

Unlike before, using several spells such as electric nets became much faster and more diverse.

In the empty spaces, magic circles that enhanced strength or added new functions were inscribed.

“This is purification using flames. I made it while watching that younger sibling do it, and using this would increase resistance to corruption.”

“…That’s a remarkable discovery. Only the three of us know about this research for a while, right? If it gets out that we can resist corruption without relying on the church, who knows what might happen.”

“I’m glad we’re communicating well.”

“I’ll apply it directly to the mechanical knights’ magic armors and the magic rifle squad’s armors. As their weapons are strong, they also become more dangerous when corrupted.”

They shared the new technologies that had arisen from the previous turmoil.

“The space series that opens or closes magical realms is a collaboration of destruction arts and electric magic. I understand the electric side perfectly, but you must have mastered the destruction side.”

“There will inevitably be parts that require custom orders for productization.”

“How about looking for common denominators? Since it’s ancient technology, and given that it’s a magical realm, if we assume to extract only the core elements that we cannot avoid to find damage….”

Naturally, they began to research with their heads together.

Of course, in that process, blood, sweat, and tears were shed.

“I want to go home.”

“How many hours have you slept this week?”

“Are you still measuring in time? I’m in minutes.”

“No. Wouldn’t Duke Sererassie know what it feels like to be sleepy?”

“Anyone want more coffee?”

“I do. Add twelve shots, please.”

I noted the darkening expressions of students and apprentices every time Rudi and I visited this place.

It was a sight that I had somewhat grown accustomed to, so I silently passed around sandwiches and vitality potions.

“Did you manage to get some sleep?”

Rudi asked as he grabbed one of the apprentices.

“Ah. Duke Rudi. It’s good to see you again. I haven’t slept since then.”

The apprentice replied with a grin.

“Really? I came three days ago. Didn’t you say you were awake for two nights back then?”

“Originally. I can’t sleep until the final tests come out. There are still twelve left, but oh. That person over there is looking for Duke Rudi; could you go to them right now? They were talking about something regarding the magic rifle.”