228. Childhood Friend – Hands Behind Back

“Nice to meet you. But… Marquis, who is this?”

Reb pretended not to know him. Duke Gaidan answered with a troubled expression.

“This is Count Soarel Demetri Ogerton. Let’s go inside and talk. We’ve been waiting.”

Duke Gaidan led the two into his office rather than the reception room. In a somewhat barren room for a great noble’s office, the three sat facing each other.

“Did you make a decision?”

The first to speak was Reb.

He asked the Marquis first, pretending to be uninterested in Count Ogerton, though he already knew the Marquis had decided to rebel.

Two days prior, the Akiné had been held.

The Twin Princes must have delivered an ultimatum to him, and Duke Gaidan had little choice. So he brought Count Ogerton along.

Duke Harvey nodded slightly but revealed a problem.

“Marquis Drazin has refused to join. He doesn’t want his name on the list of ungrounded traitors. He wishes to maintain neutrality.”

“Neutrality… I suppose liberating the oppressed locals doesn’t count as a justification for him. This is troublesome. Do you think persuasion is possible?”

“Unfortunately, no…”

Why is it that things never go as I expect? The Marquis, whom I thought would be easy to persuade, refused, while the Count, whom I thought would be difficult to convince, came here willingly.

Feeling restless, Reb turned his attention to Count Ogerton.

“Understood. Let’s brainstorm how to persuade Marquis Drazin separately. You mentioned you were Count Ogerton, correct? Given your last name ‘Demetri,’ you seem to be affiliated with the Bolinu Tower. What business does a magician have with me?”

Count Ogerton sat politely. Although he had been invited to state his purpose, he expressed some yearning as he spoke.

“Please show me the Oblivion Blade. I know it’s a difficult request to ask of a busy Swordmaster, but could you spare just two months… no, just one month for me to study it? I’ve heard you plan to incite a rebellion. If you grant me this, I will cooperatively assist you as well.”

“…A magician’s curiosity is truly boundless and unpredictable. What could a magician want to research the Oblivion Blade for?”

As Reb showed interest, Soarel didn’t just express it in words. He snapped his fingers, conjuring small spheres that served as examples to help non-magic users understand.

“Those who don’t have a high mana sensitivity might not see them, but mana is free. A magician merely guides these freedoms; thus, the notion that a magician controls or commands mana is somewhat inaccurate. However,”

The Count clenched his hand in the air, causing the spheres to gather and fix themselves in one location.

“The mana absorbed in a living body does not leave easily. The waves emitted by the element called mana cause the manas to maintain a certain distance from one another, yet within a creature’s body, they bizarrely overlap. This phenomenon is what our Bolinu Tower is most interested in – the ‘Mana Overlap Phenomenon.’ We have studied this via centuries of human experiments… ahem, I mean, we have established the ‘Mana Overlap Theory’ in recent centuries. Yet still, there are unresolved mysteries.”

His deep pink eyes, almost appearing purple, swept over Reb and Duke Gaidan. Count Ogerton seemed to have lost a bit of restraint.

“What could it be?” Reb asked, feeling like he wanted someone to respond, and the Count looked quite pleased.

“Is it the Oblivion Blade?”

“Exactly! To be precise, it’s the Aura. Aura doesn’t only manifest on blades. For instance, an axe head… Baron Arpen Albasete mentioned this too, but anyway, the phenomenon of mana binding to non-living objects is hard to explain with the Mana Overlap Theory. So I sought out the Swordmasters to uncover this.”

So, this was the reason he had been away from the Orun Kingdom for five years. Reb thought and then advised.

“The reason Aura manifests on swords is simple. It’s merely a phenomenon where a swordsman regards the sword as part of their own body.”

“Count Jacob Modred said so too… no, he explained it that way. But it was all the more marvelous. To think one could move mana without any formulas or mana roads… Is it a realm only those with high mana sensitivity can reach? Because that’s the domain of the ‘Sorcerer.’ Nevertheless, I want to research that too, and I am curious how the Oblivion Blade possesses such cutting power. At Bolinu Tower, we developed a magic called ‘Pulsating Sphere’ modeled after a living heart. It’s destructive, yet it cannot cut anything.”

The excited Count spoke quickly, contrasting his intelligent appearance. Reb inquired in a calm voice.

“It sounds like you’ve met other Swordmasters. Didn’t they help you with your research?”

“No. They all said they didn’t have the luxury to get involved in such matters. They are busy people, after all…”

“Then I must decline as well.”

“…”

“I’m just joking. If you join the rebellion, I will cooperate in research for a month or two. However, I can’t do it right now. I’m too busy.”

“How long will I have to wait?”

“A year. If the Bolinu Tower aids us, everything should be resolved by this time next year.”

After timing what he intended to say, Reb subtly assigned Soarel’s task. He hoped, like last time, that he would persuade other magicians to side with the rebels, but the Count wore a troubled expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… honestly, I’m not sure what will happen. Given that we’re participating in a rebellion, of course, we will contact my tower and fellow magicians, but… they probably won’t be fond of it.”

“…Why not?”

“It’s awkward for me to tell you, who represents all the indigenous people of this land. Hmm… Do you know why there is no tower in the Jerome Holy Kingdom? Except Aster Kingdom, which used to be Asran Kingdom, and the separated Aisteen Kingdom has a tower.”

After hesitating briefly, Count Ogerton shifted the subject. Since it was a question he didn’t have to answer, Reb waited for him to respond.

“It’s because there’s no slavery.”

As Count Ogerton pointed out, aside from the Holy Kingdom and Aster Kingdom, the other five kingdoms had towers.

In the east, the ‘Cornel Tower’ in Aisel Kingdom; in the north, the ‘Regd Tower,’ which had developed barrier magic in what was once Asran Kingdom before it split into two; in the center, the ‘Kamitsu Tower’ in Belita Kingdom, renowned for its elemental theory; in the southeast, the ‘Iber Tower’ in Conrad Kingdom, which still carries a scent of the magical; and the southwestern ‘Bolinu Tower’ in the Orun Kingdom that developed mana overlap theory.

The reason Aster Kingdom lacks a tower is that when the Asran Kingdom split into two, the sole tower remained in Aisteen Kingdom’s territory. However, the reason Jerome Holy Kingdom has no tower is that it abolished slavery due to the influence of the Cross Church.

Towers required slavery to sustain. Not only because magicians experiment on slaves but also due to a more fundamental reason.

The essential talent needed to wield magic, mana sensitivity, is not hereditary.

That exceedingly rare talent manifests randomly, so one of the main tasks of the tower is to find and bring children born with such talents.

However, the vast majority of humans in this world are peasant laborers bound to the nobility.

Children as well, which is why the tower would pay a suitable amount to the local nobility to take kids, but unlike other kingdoms, the Jerome Holy Kingdom did not condone this.

The Cross Church defined this as human trafficking, preventing the tower from establishing itself in the Holy Kingdom.

This was also the reason why the tower opposed the abolition of slavery. However, since Reb was causing an uprising to liberate potential slaves, the tower’s relationship with him was destined to become strained.

‘This is getting complicated.’

Listening to Count Ogerton’s explanation, Reb felt he had to completely revise the plan he had envisioned.

In the worst-case scenario, only Count Ogerton might side with the rebels. All the other magicians siding with the Lognum Royal Family.

Not to mention that they were already lagging behind the knights in strength; if they lacked magicians, they would have no chance of winning.

Reb suddenly thought, “What if I propose to take children who show talent in magic?” but that conflicted with his previous actions.

…I can’t compromise before I even start.

Reb stayed silent for a moment. He tapped the armrest of the chair with his finger, finally thinking he had no choice but to speak.

“Duke Gaidan.”

“Speak.”

“Tell him that you can’t marry your daughter to Prince Alzeor de Lognum. Instead, it would be better to leak something else.”

“What might that be?”

“…Before that, do you know who the knight was that attacked Palace Tertan?”

“Yes, I believe it was Sir Bart. I heard he was a royal knight who once served Prince Lean de Yeriel.”

“That’s correct. But have you ever considered why that knight attacked Palace Tertan?”

“…Perhaps to exact revenge on the Duke who helped oust my former lord?”

“Well, I don’t think that’s it. If revenge were the goal, it makes more sense to target Eric de Yeriel, the one who actually ousted my lord. But now to aim for the Duke’s grandson, it suggests some other intention.”

Please, they shouldn’t know anything.

Fortunately, Duke Gaidan seemed not to know much about Sir Bart and tilted his head. Reb breathed a sigh of relief and continued.

“I suspect Prince Lean de Yeriel is still alive. I have a feeling a commotion will soon break out in the Conrad Kingdom. That’s why I’m telling you to leak that you want to capture and kill Sir Bart, even if you have to strike the Conrad Kingdom. I expect you’ll see some interesting reactions.”

“…I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“Haha.”

Reb laughed nonchalantly.

Like a prophet, or someone with great insight, he spoke as if this unknown fact were something obvious.

“Why are the Twin Princes so eager to marry your daughter? It’s not that they lack women. It’s because they desperately need Duke Gaidan’s power, after all… so it’s obvious.”

Not at all obvious.

The Duke awaited a reply with a confused face, and Reb made his assertion.

“The princes want to annex the Conrad Kingdom.”

“That’s quite a leap.”

“Whether it’s a leap or not, you’ll know once you gauge the prince’s response. Go say that your daughter is unwell. Since Marquis Drazin hasn’t joined, we need more time. So just say that next time.”

“And if that’s not the case?”

“Then I’ll rush to the palace and behead the princes. I likely won’t survive, but you won’t have to marry your daughter off. This isn’t said lightly. Trust me, and go.”

Following that, there were minor bickering. However, it wasn’t particularly significant, and on the way back to the lodging, Reb was thinking of other matters.

– I want to conclude the war with minimal damage.

Is it because of the {Tactics} ability from the previous scenario reward? He didn’t want to wage a stupid war like last time.

He wanted to push the Twin Princes into a tight spot with finesse while suffering no damage himself.

To do that…

‘I need to hand the sword stance over to Cesar.’

Reb walked with his hands behind his back.