novelraw Chapter 94 : Chapter 94
Chapter 94 : Chapter 94
Chapter 94
Swoosh!
The sword that left its scabbard gleamed under the light of the Magic Tower.
"I'm sure you were told.
Moner needs neither mages nor a Magic Tower."
"Y-young lord, please calm down……."
Varik was on the verge of fainting.
As the vice-tower lord of the Magic Tower, he had never once imagined such a situation.
The moment he blinked, he saw the cold blade of the sword touching his neck and a faint drop of blood flowing along it.
"Hiiik!"
Before he could calm his trembling heart, Ian asked in a low voice.
"Is ignoring me your will, or the will of the Magic Tower?"
"What are you talking about?!
I have never ignored the young lord……."
Even as he shouted in protest, Varik did not forget to infuse mana into the ring that contained a defensive spell.
'First, a shield, a shield first!'
Finally, the mana shield that spread out crumbled like sugar the moment it touched the sword.
"Wh-what is this……!"
Surprised by the unbelievable betrayal of magic, he hurriedly infused mana into another ring.
The magic contained in the ring was 'Mana Barrier', which formed multiple shields to block the enemy's attack.
If it was a barrier that could even block a knight's aura, it should be able to protect his body even in this situation.
Ziiiiing!
As he saw the thick mana enveloping his body, a surge of anger and relief washed over him.
'How dare a scoundrel point a sword at me!'
If he had been the one known for his calm judgment in any situation, he might have noticed that the casting of the 5-circle magic, Barrier, was absurdly slow.
No, he would have felt the coldness of the metal on his neck before that.
However, in his mind, which had lost all reason to anger, there was only the thought of taking revenge on the damn brat in front of him.
'Damn brat, let's see how you like this!'
As he moved his mana to form a curse formula, he shouted.
"Young lord!
Even you cannot get away with such disrespect……!"
Zzzzzzt!
Feeling a sense of unease from his neck, he stopped talking and lowered his head, only to see the crumbling barrier.
"Impossible!
How can a barrier!"
The young lord's cold voice pierced his bewildered ears.
"If you don't stop the formula immediately, I will stop it for you."
The vice-tower lord, who had a gut feeling that his neck would be severed faster than he could form the curse magic, withdrew the mana that was forming the formula and collapsed.
"How on earth did you break the barrier……."
* * *
I clicked my tongue as I looked at Varik, who was muttering the same words as if he had lost his mind.
'Even if he has no combat experience, how can he be so foolish?'
The vice-tower lord of the Magic Tower was not weak.
He had over six visible magic spheres, and just by the speed at which he was casting his magic, I could tell he was a skilled mage who had surpassed the 5th grade.
He just lacked common sense and experience to an absurd degree.
It was common sense that you couldn't use a defensive spell while a sword was touching your body.
A basic common sense that even a 3rd-grade battle mage in the game knew.
'Tsk.'
At the sight of the vice-tower lord who had lost his will, I sheathed my sword.
After all, killing a mage had more disadvantages than advantages.
If I was unlucky, the main tower might send a battle mage to use physical force.
"Th-thank you!"
"If you get on my nerves one more time, I'll make you realize that death is better."
"No, sir, that will never happen!"
As I sheathed my sword, the vice-tower lord repeatedly expressed his gratitude with a face on the verge of tears.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
"Um… then perhaps if I prepare two hundred of each of the fire resistance scrolls……."
…….
But this bastard?
* * *
The original plan was to kick out the mages and use this tower as a 'Herbology Guild'.
Other gamers didn't use it much, but the 'Herbology Guild' was one of the buildings with the best effect-to-gold investment ratio, and it was a tech that shone in the later stages.
"Please, I beg you to reconsider!"
On the other hand, looking at the vice-tower lord who was bowing so low that his back touched the floor, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pity.
No matter how hopeless the mages were, wouldn't it be okay to give them one chance?
'Tsk, having a soft heart is a sin, a sin.'
-…Human?
Calua tilted his head as if to ask if I hadn't just been brandishing my sword, but I lightly ignored him and sat down comfortably, nodding my head.
"If you put it that way, have a seat."
"Yes, yes."
After the vice-tower lord sat down, I looked at him and said with the most pitiful expression in the world.
"Unfortunately, this is not my sole decision.
So, I can't do as I please."
-Human!
The Count just said not to do it……!
I resolved to either lock this noisy lizard in a cage or entrust it to Reina from tomorrow, and continued.
"Ahem!
As you know, everyone is on edge with the news that the Orcs are targeting the fortress."
Varik, who glanced at me, agreed in a servile voice.
"Yes, who wouldn't be?
I also can't sleep because of my worries for the fortress."
To lie so naturally without even batting an eyelid.
Was this where the saying 'mages are a different class' came from?
"Hmm, hmm.
Anyway, in the midst of that, the topic of the Magic Tower came up in the meeting."
Varik nodded his head as if it was natural.
Any domain preparing for war would want the support of the Magic Tower.
What was incomprehensible was Front Hold's attitude.
If that was true, it meant that they had come to receive support and then held a sword to the vice-tower lord's neck.
"The secretary-general said that the Magic Tower has never responded to a request from the House of Moner."
For a moment, Varik's body trembled.
Because it was he, the vice-tower lord, who had refused that request.
"Th-that is……."
"Ah, don't misunderstand.
I understand the choices of those who pursue the truth."
Ian, who spoke in a gentle voice, smiled and savored his tea.
"Unfortunately, not everyone is like that.
Aren't there many people who get angry, saying that mages have power but do not fulfill their duties?"
"Yes, yes.
You are a hundred times right.
Magic is originally……."
"Ah, there's no need to explain it to me.
I wouldn't understand it even if I heard it.
The important thing is not me, is it?"
After saying that, Ian took another sip of tea, then leaned forward and said in a whisper.
"The other people are in an uproar.
The secretary-general and the Count are both shouting with fire in their eyes."
"Wh… what did you say……."
"They say that we treated the Magic Tower like family and gave them monster corpses and mana stones for free, but when we needed their help, they didn't help at all."
To be precise, they had just been taken for a fool, but anything can be packaged.
"And then they suddenly started shouting that they don't need mages or a Magic Tower at all."
"M-my goodness……."
Since I had laid the groundwork by saying I understood mages, Varik did not doubt my words in the slightest and nodded with a serious face.
"In the end, that was the result of the meeting.
If the Magic Tower doesn't pay taxes and isn't an ally we can ask for help when needed, then it's better not to have it at all."
"This is……."
Varik, who was thinking with a serious face, suddenly asked.
"Then, are you saying that Front Hold might sever its ties with the Magic Tower?"
"I suppose so.
Well, it doesn't make a difference to us whether we sell to the Magic Tower or to a peddler."
Of course, that was a lie.
There probably weren't many merchants who wanted to buy goblin hides by the hundreds or Orc intestines.
The fact that Front Hold was one of the Magic Tower's top suppliers also meant that the Magic Tower was one of Front Hold's top consumers.
The reason the Magic Tower could ignore Front Hold was because the poorer Front Hold was the one in a more desperate position.
"Anyway, it's a shame.
We might have been able to maintain a good relationship."
As I was about to get up after saying that, the vice-tower lord hurriedly threw himself in front of me to stop me.
"Young lord, if you would just step in once……."
At the desperate appearance of the vice-tower lord, who spoke as if he was about to cry, Ian let out a sigh as if he couldn't help it.
"Of course, I would love to help the mages who explore beyond the truth.
But I need to have something to say to turn the hearts of the thoroughly angered vassals, don't I?"
"Yes?
Ah, yes!
What kind of……."
"So……."
* * *
After the storm-like time had passed, Varik stared blankly at the ceiling of the break room, unable to lift a finger.
"What on earth have I done……."
He had raised the price of mana stones by nearly five times, and the price of monster corpses and byproducts by five or six times.
It was still cheaper than the starting price, but the fact that it was a huge loss for the main tower right now did not change.
"And if you include the scrolls we agreed to give for free……."
It was a loss so great that just thinking about it made his head throb.
The only thing he had succeeded in persuading him on was to lease a mage named 'Jeremy' instead of the magic cannons that boasted an astronomical cost.
"Ugh, sob.
Heuk……."
Just as he burst into tears from the overwhelming sadness and injustice.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… you foolish brat."
The voice of the tower lord came from a corner of the room.
"……!"
So surprised that he was dumbfounded, he looked around, and the tower lord, who had appeared out of thin air, chuckled and said.
"You incompetent brat, why don't you just give them the whole Magic Tower?"
"What do you mean… no, when on earth did you get here?!"
"Of course I was here from the beginning.
Isn't this my room in the first place?"
Varik barely managed to steady his shaken mind at the tower lord's words.
"Th-then when the brat held his sword to me……!"
"Of course I was there.
You did well not to piss your pants.
You did that one thing right."
"You crazy human!"
Just as Varik, blinded by anger, was about to chant a spell, the tower lord moved his hand and said slowly.
"Yes, yes.
It was so foolish that it was hard to watch, but you worked hard.
Now, get some rest."
At the same time, a demon of sleep washed over him, and he fell asleep as if he had collapsed.
* * *
Garius, the tower lord of Reime-Front Hold and a 6-circle mage, looked at the sleeping vice-tower lord with a displeased expression.
"A brat whose only use is to run his mouth……."
To think he would be defeated so easily.
What had just happened couldn't even be called a negotiation.
The young lord had taken everything he wanted, and the Magic Tower had gained nothing, so how could that be called a negotiation?
"Should I have stepped in……?"
Come to think of it, it didn't seem like it would have been any different if he had stepped in instead.
The brat had no intention of negotiating from the beginning, so what difference would it have made who had stepped in?
"Heh, if he was the type to talk, he would have said something before blockading the Magic Tower."
Just by looking at him blockading the Magic Tower with soldiers and being accompanied by fully armed knights, the brat's will to get rid of the Magic Tower was firm.
"And it's not like I can use force against the young master of Moner."
He was confident he could survive against the two masters of the House of Moner, but aside from that, the brat was not someone who would break even if threatened with force.
The ridiculously thick shields and armor were clearly prepared for a fight with a mage.
"Ha, they say there are no cowards under a brave general, but he's an unpredictable brat."
The chuckling tower lord went over Moner's demands once again.
"Everything else is not a waste, but that Jeremy brat is a waste.
What a foolish brat.
His own qualifications are so lowly that he doesn't know how precious a talented mage is.
Aish, tsk."
He kicked the vice-tower lord for no reason and moved his feet.
As long as Moner had declared that they would no longer tolerate the Magic Tower, the main tower also had to make a decision.
"Perhaps the number of foolish smart-asses who leave their desks will increase by a few more."
As Garius muttered that, a faint smile formed on his lips.