Chapter 33

The day of the mage begins quickly.

In the early morning, before the sun has risen, Sererassie leaves the official residence and heads towards the imperial magic guild located to the east of the main palace.

The court magic guild was established to foster magical talent independent of the magic tower, and one of its establishments is the imperial magic academy that trains gifted young magicians.

However, Sererassie did not come from there.

So, she has no alumni or acquaintances there.

Instead… the place is filled with magicians who were rivals to her and her former siblings in the past.

When she feels this, it makes her feel distant yet she thinks of it as a happy dilemma.

“Ha.”

She smiled faintly.

It felt like that past life, filled with medication, alcohol, and gambling, was ancient history.

Today, her long dark blue hair shone with luster, and her yellow and dark blue eyes sparkled with hope and vigor.

Wearing a cloak that was dark blue on the outside like the dawn sky and red like wine on the inside, and a hat that had a dark blue top and a red brim, Sererassie looked unmistakably like a mage.

On her chest, a badge adorned with gold and silver that proved her affiliation with the imperial palace glimmered under the clear sky.

“Thank you.”

She handed a copper coin as a tip to the coachman, who had trouble understanding her today, and stepped down from the carriage.

The court magic guild was made up of a single gigantic tree.

Standing about 100 meters tall, with a diameter of over 300 meters, it looked less like a tree and more like a bundle of vines intertwined.

The entrance was also naturally shaped by a massive split in the tree.

With a calm stride, she entered the hall.

“Sererassie, you’ve arrived?”

A handsome man with a neat impression, who does not quite suit his hat, bowed politely to her.

His hands were filled with loads of goods.

It wasn’t only Sererassie whose day began quickly.

With a strange feeling, Sererassie waved her hand.

He was a man who had graduated at the top of his class from the imperial magic academy and had entered a master-apprentice relationship with a fifth-circle court magician.

These days, it was said that he worked so much that he often didn’t even get to leave work.

The reason for the strange feeling was that he was a promising genius who had competed against her during their days at the magic tower.

After the ascent of Jeilliris, when Sererassie fell into the red-light district, he graduated and became an apprentice to a court magician.

And now, while he was sorting out reagents in someone else’s workshop, Sererassie had become a fully-fledged court magician who had been granted her own workshop.

In exchange for diligently handling the research assigned by the emperor or the chief court magician, she could freely use the remaining budget and time as she wished.

“Let’s go together. It’s the adjacent workshop. I’ll help you.”

Feeling more relaxed, she became more generous.

“I am at your grace, Guild Master.”

The man exaggeratedly expressed his gratitude, and Sererassie took the bag of reagents he was holding.

They entered a large birdcage installed in the center of the hall and pulled down a lever.

The cage, octagonal and consisting of eight compartments, served as an elevator that went up and down the workshop.

With a creaking sound, the cage slowly descended the vertical shaft.

“I heard the dwarves built this underground structure?”

“Yes. They excavated tunnels and corridors in advance to guide the roots of the tree in specific directions and shapes.”

“And this tree is a seed given by the elves?”

“It’s said to be the seed of the second most sacred tree after the World Tree. It’s not something one should mention in front of the Duke, but to be honest, it wasn’t given to us; it was taken. No, that’s not something to say in front of the Duke.”

“Forget it. It’s fine.”

“That’s what I heard. I was told the tower was built by people.”

“Yeah. The magicians had slaves build it. They said it was real magic because the tower could be erected without using mana. It was nice there too, but I feel this place is even better. It feels more like a magician’s domain, right?”

“I think so too.”

The court magic guild used a colossal tree that was hollow inside.

Colorful glowing flowers bloomed everywhere, providing visibility even in the underground, and ventilation shafts scattered around made the deep underground refreshing.

The cage halted with a thunk.

Sererassie pulled the lever down once more.

The floor that their workshop was on was situated at a middle depth, and this floor was allocated differently based on the type of research rather than skill or position.

Research and development related to corruption or magical realms took place in the lower levels, while studies on magic tools happened in the upper levels, and general magical research occurred in the middle levels.

“We have an allocation for our floor.”

“Right.”

“It’s divided by how much reagents and materials are required, right?”

“Correct. Research on corruption or magical realms doesn’t need much equipment or reagents since they study ancient documents or magic tools imbued with the powers of ancient gods. Conversely, those researching magic tools need nearly all their supplies for drawing circuits. They seemed to be asking for another cargo elevator.”

“Which is understandable. Lately, it seems they’ve gotten busier. While I was coming down just now, I saw the workshop lights weren’t off yet, did I?”

The man clicked his tongue.

“Don’t even mention it. The Emperor is literally twisting their arms to install a central street lamp in the capital.”

“Is the budget ample?”

“Everyone has enough. Didn’t you get a recent increase?”

Sererassie nodded.

“Yeah. Thanks to that, I think I can get my staff fixed.”

“There are rumors going around that the gold coins collected from the tax increase are all being distributed to us.”

“Then the people on the upper floors would be getting decent salaries too.”

“Not really.”

The man shook his head.

“Why not?”

“The budget is received per workshop, and its distribution is at the discretion of the workshop master. If there’s a surplus, they’ll spend it to buy their staff or start research they wanted to do, but they won’t increase the salary.”

Sererassie looked at him with pity.

“You too?”

The man fell momentarily into silence.

In the subtle darkness, only his shoulders bobbed up and down.

Sererassie hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Want to come to my workshop? I feel like I need to take on one more apprentice. It’ll be a lot of annoying tasks, but I won’t make you do all the tedious and hard ones.”

The man, who had shown a briefly tempted expression, shook his head slowly.

“Right now, the supervising mage is someone I’ve respected since my academy days. It’s hard, but it’s something I want to do. It’s fine.”

“Okay. I understand. I actually expected you would say that. I know you won’t come, but I’ll always leave a spot open for you.”

They were magicians, people who took joy in wielding their own mysteries.

Sererassie felt a little closer to him.

Soon, they both headed towards their respective workshops.

The vine door opened smoothly, and at Sererassie’s gesture, the flowers on the ceiling bloomed, illuminating the workshop with a soft light.

“Meow.”

A chubby, horned cat cuddled at her feet.

She smiled contentedly as she checked the grimoire she had left open from the previous day.

While it wasn’t a house in the forest, it was a workshop inside a tree, and she also raised a cat.

When she became a big shot in the future, she wanted to have a beastman as an apprentice.

“Hey!”

The cat meowed as if asking for attention.

“What is it, huh?”

She then discovered a face she should not forget.

A tall man with dazzling platinum hair, Valenciaunos lay sprawled in the middle of the workshop.

* * *

“Hey, how did you end up here at this hour? I almost zapped you with lightning.”

“I heard from the Minister of Finance that I should deliver a document to you since I was on my way to visit you today.”

“The Minister of Finance?”

“From what I skimmed, he asked if he could provide plenty of investment and if the deadline could be shortened. That sort of thing.”

Sererassie let out a deep sigh.

“Sure, you can reduce time with budget, but—.”

“Anyway, I came down here after relaying that to the workshop masters upstairs. I thought I’d find you with the combat magicians upstairs, but you’re not there?”

Valenciaunos raised his eyebrows in surprise.

The Sererassie he knew from before returning was among the best combat magicians.

The warlock who flew in the sky on a broomstick like a bird, raining lightning down.

Having trained to the level of sword users, she could even be called a magical swordsman, an extraordinary combat magician.

“You know, the Emperor said he would assign you back there if he wanted, but for the next few years, you’ll only do research development. In that time, your hands and tongue will stiffen, and your incantation speed will drop too much.”

“You still want to do research?”

“Yeah. I haven’t even looked at it for a year.”

Sererassie caressed the grimoires with a hint of regret in her eyes.

Valenciaunos scanned her desk and said.

“Then do you want to go buy a staff together? I need to buy something from the magic tower too, but I thought they might only bring it out if I go with you.”

“A staff? Sure. I was planning to buy reagents and other things as well. Let’s go together.”

* * *

The city wall surrounding the imperial capital, Soletarion, was nearly a perfect circle.

However, if viewed from the sky, one would notice a wide semicircular protrusion next to the western gate.

That has been the autonomous district of the magic tower since the establishment of the empire.

High-ranking nobles of the capital, major figures of the red-light district, visiting lords, and extravagant court nobles all showed respect when entering there, either by taking off their hats or dismounting from their horses.

Horse-drawn carriages pulled by undead horses roamed the streets, golems stuck pieces of themselves together to build new stone houses, and a cat larger than a tiger dashed through the crowd, as a witch wearing a conical hat apologized to the people around her while chasing the jingling sound.

“Wow…!”

Water of all colors was gushing from the fountain, vividly colored paper birds were soaring in the sky, and instruments on the streets were moving on their own, playing lively music as Rudi stared blankly.

It was way too expensive for Sererassie, who hailed from a fallen lower noble background, to be in a city where big aristocrats couldn’t even secure items.

‘It’s been a while.’

Valenciaunos bit his lip as he looked at the autonomous district, which had no infiltrators at all.

The moment when eccentric souls exploring truth declared they found it in the magical realms and dimensions and summoned dozens of ancient evil gods came back to him.

Sererassie smiled brighter than ever, blending into the scenery.

“I’m back.”

The person who had soaked in drink, medicine, and gambling was no longer there.

She seemed to have seamlessly replaced the entire past year.

“Valenciaunos. Let’s hurry up. I know a good reagent shop.”

“Right from there? Isn’t it better to buy a staff and then drop by on the way back?”

“Ah, hurry!”

“Sir Valencia, let’s go. Seems like you want to go.”

Rudi gently nudged Valenciaunos from behind.

She could sense that Sererassie was very excited.

Without understanding the route’s efficiency, the young master had to be informed that it wasn’t about that.

“Okay, let’s go!”

He moved his feet, smiling.

However, in stark contrast to their lively start, the place Sererassie headed towards was the northwest of the Ivory Tower, where no light penetrated all day, hidden by the tower and walls.

The sound of music faded away, the air grew cool, and one by one, cloaked figures with hoods covered their faces began to appear in the streets.

Spotting a dropped paper bird on the ground, Rudi spoke up in a whisper.

“Wasn’t there a lot of beautiful shops ahead?”

Sererassie shook her head resolutely.

“You can’t find what you want in places that cater to nobles visiting for tourism; the best ones just sell garbage. Besides, because I handle lightning magic, my reagents are rare and expensive.”

Valenciaunos asked.

“So this is a place you’ve been going to for a long time?”

“Yeah. This area sells to the students of the Ivory Tower. Sometimes, students or low-level magicians sell their project results or experimental results secretly after evaluations, so occasionally good magic tools come up for sale.”

“Don’t the high-ups in the Ivory Tower know about that?”

“They encourage it. They say there’s nothing as essential for a mage as handling one’s business secretly without their master knowing.”

“Secretly from the master?”

Rudi couldn’t understand what kind of thought process produces such conclusions.

But both Valenciaunos and Sererassie nodded and called out to the shopkeeper.

“Come here!”

Sererassie winked towards the shopkeeper, who seemed to recognize her, and put her finger to her lips.

“Shh.”

From there, she bought spider webs, crystal powder, premium flint, perfectly refined oil, leathers of cattle, crocodiles, and orcs, silver powder, and silver sheets spun thin as thread.

“That too.”

“Not that right now. Stock has been so scarce lately.”

“I’ve heard that from you at least ten times since I was a student at the Ivory Tower, and it used to always be in stock.”

“It’s been taken a lot for midterm exam preparations…”

Sererassie began to recite an incantation.

The shopkeeper let out a scream and dashed into the back warehouse to bring out something wrapped in rubber and scented candles.

Seeing the smoke rise, Rudi gasped and asked.

“What is that?”

“It’s a blue drake’s horn.”

“It’s the best reagent for lightning magic. How much in total? Since it’s bought with the Emperor’s money, make sure to write a receipt.”

As the shopkeeper wrote down the price on the paper, he said.

“The total comes to 43 gold coins, three silver coins, and eight copper coins. I’ll take out the copper coins.”

Hearing the figure of 43 gold coins, Rudi’s eyes widened as if he was going to faint.

That amount was equivalent to her four-year salary.

However, Sererassie paid the price without any fuss.

Rudi mumbled in wonder.

“A rich, wonderful sister.”

Sererassie chuckled and shook her head. She was only one year older than Rudi.

“Valenciaunos. What are you trying to buy? Ask if they have it here.”

“I was planning to drop by again on my way out. If I fail, that magic tool will become unnecessary.”

“Fail? Are you planning to sneak it?”

“No. I’d threaten them.”

Rudi thought he misheard and blinked.

“What? Sir Valencia, what did you just say?”

“Threaten? No. Why would I threaten when I’m already there? Most things they’d sell it to me.”

Sererassie laughed, thinking it was a joke, and shrugged her shoulders.

“Sounds like it, but what I’m looking for is a bit special.”

“What are you looking for?”

“A magic summoning.”

“Are you insane?”

Sererassie’s expression hardened.

A magic summoning was something that was not supplied even to the palace, used only inside the Ivory Tower under strict limitations.

It was rare for anyone to even know of its existence.

“Yeah, that might be a bit tough. So what do you plan to threaten them with? I’d like to hear it.”

As they left the shop and headed towards the northern gate of the Ivory Tower, Sererassie asked.

Valenciaunos leaned closer to her ear and whispered softly.

It was at a volume that Rudi could hear.

It was clearly meant to be heard.

“Do you know that not long ago, Urglim’s penpoint dissapeared and Lady Trentia came looking for it?”

“I’ve heard about it. That was when I was still in the casino, right?”

“The backers who attempted to steal it were from the Ivory Tower.”

Rudi couldn’t figure out how Sir Valencia knew about such matters, or why he needed to hear this. Ultimately, he gave up trying to understand.