novelraw Chapter 93 : Butterfly Effect (4)
Chapter 93 : Butterfly Effect (4)
Chapter 93: Butterfly Effect (4)
A day earlier, Sunday afternoon.
Rubia and I, who had been camping out in the library, received a letter from the Magic Tower.
The sender was Gustav, Master of Duel Mallet’s Magic Tower, and to summarize the contents—
—“I’ll visit Karbenna around 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. Let’s have a meeting.”
Aside from that, the letter was so full of rambling chatter that both sides of the stationery were crammed with text.
“…What do you think the purpose of the visit is?”
“Considering he mentioned a meeting, it seems he wants to discuss the schedule and agreements for the technology exchange…”
If that were all, he wouldn’t be in such a hurry.
“There might be some new information as well.”
“Information…? Like what?”
“Whatever it is, it won’t be bad news for us.”
As long as I held his weakness, Gustav could never betray us.
For him, nothing was more important than his own position and safety.
If he couldn’t break the cooperative relationship, he would only try to strengthen it further.
The firmer his faction stood, the higher his chances of survival—he knew that well.
“Things are really going to get noisy from tomorrow, in more ways than one.”
After saying that, Rubia carefully asked, watching me dive back into the book.
“That aside… have you made any progress?”
“Not yet. Not at all.”
I shook my head, brushing against the tall row of books beside me.
“Now that the technology exchange has resumed, let’s go through the Magic Tower’s collection as well. There has to be a breakthrough somewhere.”
“I hope so, but…”
Closing the book she had been reading, I asked,
“There haven’t been any cases of anyone successfully commanding an S-rank beast or higher, right?”
“Of course not!”
“And obviously no case of resurrecting one either?”
“…If there had been, governments and academia all over the world would have gone mad.”
Well, this was an age where even research on evil spirits—creatures considered less instinctual and malignant than beasts—was nearly nonexistent.
Humanity had learned quite a bit about the traits and abilities of beasts, but had only reached the stage of understanding and reproducing them.
Even the most skilled beast tamers could barely manage to control B-rank beasts.
And as for curses and similar unholy magics—less than twenty percent of their nature was even understood.
‘So what we need is a discovery that overturns the established common sense entirely…’
MAGA had been a game that was remarkably detailed about backgrounds and world-building, but it still focused mostly on the backstories of the playable characters.
Even as one of the game’s most dedicated veterans, I possessed almost no information on this matter.
‘…The clue must be in the lost memories, then.’
I’d have to visit the Special Task Force again soon.
Having reached that conclusion after two days, I began returning the books one by one.
There were so many that it took nearly twenty minutes to put them all back.
“By the way, Professor Rubia, what were you looking for?”
When I tried to peek at the book’s contents, Rubia hurriedly closed it and hid it in her arms.
“I’ll tell you later. It’s a secret for now!”
“…Understood. Well then, I’ll go eat and get some rest.”
“Ah, will you be eating alone today? I don’t have much of an appetite…”
I nodded and gently patted her shoulder.
“Don’t worry too much about anything. Everything will be fine.”
“……”
“Be sure not to be late tomorrow morning.”
“Yes. See you then, Eugene.”
And now, back to the present.
Standing beside Rubia and me were Gustav and Meriel, and the opposing side fell silent, jaws slack in astonishment.
Then Michel gestured toward us and spoke.
“What’s with the surprise? You said you wanted a technology exchange—of course we had to invite them.”
“Th-That’s…”
“Come, take your seats. We still have much to discuss.”
We quickly took the empty seats.
Frederick gave us a brief rundown of the situation for those who had arrived late.
In short, it was the usual extortion story.
If we expelled Rubia and me and cut ties with Mallet, they threatened to cut off the education funding they’d been providing.
Finally, he used ventriloquism to quietly ask me,
“Did you really anticipate this, Carter?”
I muttered back in the same hidden tone,
“…To some extent, yes. Why?”
“The Chairwoman said as much—‘Just as Instructor Carter predicted.’”
“……”
After losing most of their justification over Halenber and the Hokhma incident, I had been certain the Bernhardt Family’s next move would be financial pressure.
Though I hadn’t told Michel this directly.
Still, she must have bluffed—and since she played it so naturally the moment I entered, her bluff had become reality.
I barely suppressed a laugh as I watched the flustered opponents, unable to decide where to look.
‘Less than a week after the summit, and they’re already resorting to open threats? How sloppy can they get?’
Judging from such reckless and emotional behavior—
Of course, this had to be another one of Chloe Bernhardt’s schemes.
‘The Bernhardts must have a real headache. To think an idiot like that holds a direct seat in the family.’
Seeing the Imperial Court suffer similar troubles, it was clear this era truly lacked capable people.
And—
In another sense, Chloe’s choice was far too reckless.
As proof, I exchanged glances with Gustav and continued,
“Karbenna’s tuition is entirely free. While this is possible thanks to Imperial support, it’s mainly because each cadet’s family contributes massive educational subsidies.”
At that, the stiff expressions of the parents began to ease.
“…Y-Yes, that’s exactly what I was going to say.”
“Well, well. Looks like you’re more reasonable than I thought, Instructor Carter.”
They were quick to agree over such a minor concession.
Feigning a troubled look, I turned toward Dale and asked,
“If we lose their support, Karbenna’s finances would take quite a hit, wouldn’t they?”
“…Hmm. In the long run, losing a consistent source of funding would certainly be damaging.”
“In that case…”
Seizing the moment, I revealed my trump card.
“If there were others willing to cover the educational subsidies in their place, there’d be no problem at all, correct?”
At that moment, an outcry erupted from across the table.
“Our support exceeds thirty thousand Riben every year! You’re saying there’s another group willing to replace us?”
Ignoring their red-faced outrage, I didn’t even bother looking in their direction.
He simply kept staring to his left.
At that, Gustav stood up from his seat, looking resigned.
In his hand was an official document from the Duel Headquarters.
“This is an official letter from Headquarters. You should check the contents yourself.”
“…What is this?”
“Heh, what could it be—just a letter from the penniless Magic Tower’s HQ… huh!”
The opposing side, who had been skimming through the document, gasped before they even finished reading it and dropped the paper onto the table in shock.
Naturally, the paper slid toward our side.
As soon as I confirmed the full text, I responded with a smile brimming with confidence.
To convince the still-skeptical audience, Gustav repeated the key passage once more.
“Applauding the Empire’s new choice… the Duel Headquarters will support the forefront of Imperial education, Carvena, with a total of 250,000 Riben over five years.”
The balance of the situation had completely tipped to our side.
As I looked at the parents, who sat in dazed silence, I recalled the conversation I had with that rascal Gustav two hours ago.
“The Duel Headquarters is funding an Imperial academy?”
“An unprecedented case. It’s the shortest execution period and the highest amount ever granted to the Empire.”
“…Did you pull some kind of trick?”
“And who exactly would that benefit?”
“Well, if it helps Carvena, it helps Mallet too.”
“There’s no guarantee of that.”
“Hmm…”
“Besides, the people at Headquarters aren’t the type a half-baked Tower Master could sweet-talk.”
“That’s a fairly accurate self-assessment.”
“Tch.”
“…We can figure out their motive later. For now, it’s a windfall we can’t refuse, isn’t it?”
“I won’t deny that.”
“Good. You make the declaration; I’ll set the stage.”
Still unable to grasp the situation, the marchioness’s hands trembled as she reread the contents of the document.
They hadn’t much justification to begin with.
Now that they couldn’t even wield money as a practical means, there was only one choice left for them.
‘So hurry up and run, tails between your legs.’
In the end—
Realizing they had no chance of winning, the parents all rose to their feet at once.
“We’ll discuss this matter again another time. Please pretend the funding discussion never happened.”
“Of course. And next time, do let us know before your visit.”
With a handshake between Michel and the marchioness, the morning’s protest ended as nothing more than a minor incident.
While the faculty and servants waiting outside came forward to see the guests off, Michel kept only the key members of the meeting in the room.
“Director of Planning and General Affairs. Cadet Commander.”
“Yes.”
“It seems you’ll both be quite busy, but you may leave now.”
“……”
“…Understood.”
Dale pulled the reluctant Cadet Commander away.
After the two left, Michel closed the door and cast both Locking and Soundproofing Magic on it.
Then, pointing to the document on the table, he asked Gustav,
“The contents of this document—are they authentic?”
“…You don’t trust us?”
“There’s always the possibility, however small.”
Seeing Michel’s firm stance, Meriel mediated in his place.
“If you look at the last page, you’ll see the Duel Headquarters’ financial seal—engraved, not stamped. Even the Chairman himself can’t revoke it.”
“Hm…”
“To prevent any tampering or erasure, the document is bound by strong magic as well.”
Only then did Michel ease up, showing a faint smile.
“To think Duel would accompany us on this endeavor—there’s no better news. Welcome, both of you.”
Well then.
“Shall we begin the real discussion?”
We spent some time exchanging ideas about technical collaboration.
Topics like field training, artifact provision and usage sharing, joint research, and combined drills came and went.
At first, Gustav looked rather displeased, but the longer the discussion went on, the more animated he became.
It seemed that, as the Master of the Magic Tower, being involved in such a major undertaking greatly motivated him.
Meriel, too, appeared determined to no longer be swayed by past grudges and expressed her opinions actively.
“I think that about covers the fundamental discussion.”
While jotting down notes, Michel turned to Frederick.
“Can the schedule be adjusted?”
“We’ll need to coordinate with the Special Task Force, but… it should be manageable.”
“Instructor Carter, do you have anything to add?”
Finally, my turn.
“…Then, I have only one suggestion.”
I glanced around at everyone except Michel, then spoke with firm resolve.
“To prepare for a possible attack, Carvena must reinforce its defense system. That’s the only way we’ll survive.”
“……”
“An attack? Are you suggesting someone’s targeting Carvena?”
Before I could answer Frederick’s question, it was Rubia who spoke up.
“The Empire’s strongest military organization—Dellowell’s Inquisition… am I right?”
“…What?”
Now, it was finally time to get to the heart of the matter.