Chapter 323

The Royal Magic Guild was skilled at producing a decent number of magic tools, while the Ivory Tower excelled at creating a few of the finest magic tools.

The Royal Magic Guild was essentially a workshop rather than a laboratory, while the Ivory Tower was fundamentally a laboratory.

Thus, it wasn’t unusual for a magician from the Royal Magic Guild to commission research from the Ivory Tower.

However, if the sample was a piece of a hand from an Infiltrator-level Archbishop, the story would be different.

Inside the smoothly rolling black carriage, I confronted Sererassie as if I were going to devour her.

“No, sister! Are you out of your mind? How could you bring that out?”

That was an item so dangerous that just knowing of its existence could lead to corruption for an ordinary person.

No matter how much I trusted Sererassie, it was not something to be handled recklessly.

But I had momentarily forgotten that magicians were a race that would never admit their mistakes, even in death.

Sererassie tugged at her hair in frustration.

“I was going crazy working alone, you know!”

I spoke with concern.

“If the church finds out, they’ll cause a ruckus about the corruption of the imperial court! Do you want to get excommunicated? Does this sound like nagging?”

“If I was going to get excommunicated, I would’ve been by now, right? Besides, do you think I’d get excommunicated for something you haven’t?”

I had no retort.

“I was saved by Jeilliris—”

Sererassie shrugged her shoulders dismissively.

“So what? I’m busy restoring space-transporting magic tools, the Emperor keeps pressing me for information regarding the Infiltrator Archbishop, and those prayer-mongering kids treat me like I’m supposed to deliver research results to them!”

But I was someone who would never back down in front of someone shrugging off the situation.

“Prayer-mongering kids? You don’t mean the Church of Radiance, do you?”

“Is there another group of prayer-mongers besides the church?”

“Be a bit scared of those prayer-mongers! If they don’t like the doctrine, they can endlessly summon Holy Knights, battle priests, and devout purification battalions! Don’t you know the Emperor’s approval rating went up thanks to Matheos personally laying the coffin?”

Sererassie wiggled her distinctively colored eyes back and forth, blinking innocently.

It felt like she was saying, “Oh, I see.”

She murmured softly, “Yeah. You said you’d pay more attention to the world now. But you should also understand me a bit. Do you know how many drafts I drew for the space-transporting magic tool while you were away? I really didn’t have the time. But I need to get results for the Infiltrator arm research, so it was unavoidable.”

She looked somewhat deflated.

I sighed, spreading my arms.

“I’m the only jerk here.”

At that moment, Sererassie’s eyes sparkled as if she had found an opening.

“Wouldn’t that count as disrespecting His Majesty?”

We were twins.

“Ugh!”

Honestly, that was quite a sharp jab, but I was skilled at pretending it didn’t hurt.

Immediately, I raised my voice and countered.

“Knowing that, did you think leaking the hand piece of an Infiltrator Archbishop was okay?”

Sererassie bit her lower lip.

“Umm.”

“And you would have said it was your research, right?”

“Of course. I actually laid out the draft and direction. The results were as I predicted.”

I spat out my intent to end this argument.

“That’s deception! Did you deceive His Majesty and the Crown Prince?!”

However, Sererassie didn’t even bat an eye and smiled proudly.

“Hmm. If that counts as an achievement, then it is. But don’t worry. There are many contracts that even sell research copyrights inside the Ivory Tower.”

“This is outside the Ivory Tower! Aaaaargh! Why can’t we communicate? I can’t win this!”

In the end, I grabbed her nape first.

“…So, did you yield some results?”

* * *

In the splendid reception room of the Ivory Tower.

Two long sofas faced each other across a low table.

On one side sat Sererassie and me, and on the other sat the two elders.

“We have found out who the Infiltrator Sect serves,” Gestarte said, Sererassie’s mentor and an elder of the Thunderbolt School.

Today, she wore an extravagant dress and a wide-brimmed lace hat that concealed her face.

“It wasn’t easy. But fortunately, we were able to find a similar pattern in old records.”

Krios, a professor who was close to Sererassie and an elder of the Living Matter School, wore a formal suit.

“Is that truly so?”

My voice trembled.

Sererassie, beside me, wore a victorious smile.

“Aw, dear brother. What did I tell you?”

The reason old artifacts and heterogeneous substances were dangerous stemmed from not fundamentally understanding them.

Substances that didn’t die after being bombarded with magic for three days and nights melted away in the rain, and those which did recover from being shredded by the finest knights hardened the moment they saw the sun.

Some heterogeneous substances mainly used psychic waves, some specialized in physical force, and some were gigantic…

In other words, knowing which Infiltrator served which ancient relic was an extremely crucial issue.

By understanding their characteristics, special traits, strengths, and weaknesses, we could start devising countermeasures.

At that moment, our opponent would no longer seem like an unknown enemy but rather a powerful one, providing us with a winning card.

“As a member of the imperial family, I express my deep gratitude to the elders.”

I bowed deeply to Gestarte and Krios.

“I thought I was seeing things.”

“Please rise, Your Highness. It’s overwhelming.”

The two elders breathed in lightly.

Sererassie did a light whack to the back of my head.

“See, researching here leads to answers.”

She sounded pleased.

I pressed her arm with my thumb, shaking it off.

“Ouch! That hurts.”

Then, pretending not to hear her scream, I asked the elders.

“Please tell me what ancient relic the Archbishop serves.”

Gestarte handed over a thick stack of documents.

“There’s quite a lot of ancient relics that have crossed into this world.”

An illustration was placed on the second page.

Thousands of red eyes, thin black tentacles, white bones and beaks, a cloak made of black feathers, and gigantic rings spread like wings on its back…

“One is the whole and the whole is one. It is the ancient relic they refer to as the unity, a boundary monster that is not confined by the constraints of time and space.”

She nodded.

“Ancient relics do not separate the mind and body, but that one is particularly emphasized in unity. There’s something more than just being famous.”

Krios added, “The elemental composition analysis revealed it wasn’t of this world. I say this with some irreverence, but it could be compared to Your Grace the Duke’s ‘crystal.'”

“Oh.”

I thought Sererassie had sold off even my body piece.

She avoided my gaze while Krios smiled wryly.

“I don’t know if you realize, but even fully mutated high-level Infiltrators are mostly made of the substances of this world when subjected to elemental composition analysis. They might have swelled with the power of the ancient relic, but in the end, they’re still monsters made of flesh and blood.”

“…”

“However, the body of that Archbishop had almost no substance left from this world. It could be called a core of the Magical Realms in human form. Essentially, it is part of an ancient relic. You could even call it a ‘fragment.'”

“Then.”

Krios grinned chillingly.

“Yes, Your Highness. It means we could strike at the main body of the ancient relic through that one.”

“!”

I felt my breath catch.

“We are currently researching specialized resonance magic tailored for it. If we succeed… we might be able to eradicate all the Infiltrators serving it in one go and deal a significant blow to it as well.”

“Since it’s a being in a state of unity, it means we can reach the main body through the individuals.”

“That is correct, Your Highness.”

A smile crept onto my face unintentionally.

Sererassie looked at me, grinning widely.

“Brother, do you now understand the abilities of my hometown?”

Suddenly, dizziness washed over me, and I buried my body into the sofa.

If an ancient relic served by the Archbishop, then it was reasonable to assume that all high-ranking members of that massive sect served the same ancient relic as well.

I imagined the scene of the Archbishop, bishops, priests, and bizarre knights wrapped in robes all melting and dying overnight.

Given the characteristics of the Infiltrators’ Sect as a network, if a small number of high-ranking members were wiped out, it would collapse just like that.

Such a fragmented organization would not withstand systematic purging by the Empire and the Church of Radiance.

“Hahaha.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

The once bleak battleground started to take shape.

While chasing high-level Infiltrators and inducing small-scale engagements, I would prepare for a significant attack from behind through repeated experiments.

And on the day that magic was completed, we would attain freedom from fear.

I cautiously spoke up.

“We need to send more sheep to Wyvernfit.”

“…Your Highness, did I understand correctly?”

Krios looked at me with anticipation.

I assured him, “Yes. We will supply essential reagents for Living Matter spells from the imperial family.”

Gestarte nodded, Sererassie wore a strange expression, and Krios glanced at Sererassie.

It seemed a bit embarrassing for him to exchange such discussions in front of his former student.

He was likely one of the few sensible people in the Ivory Tower.

No one here would fail to understand this discussion.

Living Matter magic involves manipulating life forms, and the essential reagents are… death row inmates.

Krios cleared his throat, then bowed his head.

“We should gradually increase the corruption concentration of the subjects and test destruction spells. I appreciate it.”

“Thank you. Elder. This spell will determine the future of the Empire.”

Some might question me.

Would it really be acceptable to conduct experiments that involve corrupting a person and then utterly destroying them?

I would respond to that question with this:

I live in a world where it’s not about whether something is acceptable, but rather whether it can be done or not.

Southern Continent, Infiltrators, Heterogeneous Races, floods, droughts, wars, earthquakes…

My twin is the Emperor of the Empire, and that means everything that happens in this country is her responsibility.

If I could lighten the burden resting on her shoulders, I would do anything.

I’ve felt that way for decades.

For decades, that has been my resolve.

* * *

After filling out some simple documents, we had coffee and sweet pastries.

The coffee served by Gestarte was truly delicious.

It was a taste that Sererassie, as a teenager, would cherish as an eternal memory.

Gestarte elegantly tilted her cup as she spoke.

Naturally, Sererassie learned from her, so it was no surprise they looked so alike.

“Magic has many similarities with baking and confectionery. It requires precise ingredients, accurate measurements, and exact procedures, and the results are beautiful.”

“I see.”

“In the end, success or failure depends on luck, and it’s also similar in that even when conducting the same experiment under the same conditions, different results can arise.”

Krios wore a somber smile, and Sererassie nearly spat out her coffee.

“Ma-Master!”

With the sweetness added in, the bitter conversation unearthed feelings that had been sinking.

Krios started sharing various stories.

“A mouse that came into contact with the Archbishop’s Infiltrator hand piece mutated into a 3-meter monster with 134 heads. The idea came while dissecting that mouse.”

I was well aware that personal accomplishments and teaching capabilities had little relevance to each other.

Seeing him share stories while smiling gently, I thought he was quite a popular professor.

“In this research, already four magicians have been corrupted. We inevitably had to…”

Then, a story came out that I could not bear to listen to with a smile.

“Elder, just a moment.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

Magicians carry madness within them, and it’s rare for them to be corrupted overnight.

The corruption of magicians usually takes the form of a sacrifice of themselves.

That’s especially true for magicians from the Ivory Tower.

But if four have been corrupted,

“It can’t just be four, right?”

It was unlikely that only four had been corrupted.

At that moment, the reception room door flew open.

“Master! It’s an emergency! We need to conceal this…!”

With red-tinged ivory hair and eyes, it was Niar, Sererassie’s apprentice.

“Du-Duke Valencius? Ugh.”

She hesitated while looking at me but eventually spoke.

“There has been an explosion like a magical realm on the 71st floor!”