8uib0X2n

1Chapter 301: Unexpected
2
3
4
5Peaceful utopias did not exist in this world. There was no lack of idiots who were without common sense. Reality was always stranger than fiction as fiction still needed to be logical to attract readers. In reality, it was forever impossible to understand just why some people could be so impossibly idiotic.
6
7All the older mages knew just how much power the Emblem of Endless Truth represented. However, many members of the royalty or nobility were amongst the younger student mages. To them, they were the absolute bosses in their own territories, daring to say and do whatever they wanted. They were at a young and impulsive stage of their lives when they were found out to have talent as mages and sent here to the Cloud Tower—a place where countless geniuses gathered. They were basically like the legendary protagonists in Chinese webnovels, as they wouldn't stand for suffering the slightest grievances.
8
9Of course, the cruel world would soon teach them a lesson to help them learn just where they stood. During the process of learning, they would often turn from the bullies into the victims.
10
11If they were fortunate, they would naturally mature. However, the prerequisite was that they didn't enrage someone who was beyond their ability to handle.
12
13"Emblem of Endless Truth? It's an academic award? So what? Roland? Never heard of him! He's probably just an academic who stays in his experimental laboratory every day, and he dares to not sell his products to me! My granduncle is the archmage Andrei!"
14
15Well, that was a common example of what those idiots were thinking. They would typically be polite when they first arrived, and when they discovered that politeness wouldn't help them obtain the right to purchase an Iron Horse, they would start trying to use money. When they discovered that the money they were offering was still insufficient, they would resort to arrogant declarations that always ended in angry roaring threats. It was a complete and perfect example of how the rich and powerful typically behaved in a feudal society.
16
17Yawen would then take out her dragonslaying sword and viciously teach them about the mage's mortal enemy—an Underground elf who had full points in magic resistance!
18
19Although gray elves were indeed weaker than dark elves in magic resistance, that didn't make any difference since Yawen was merely facing a bunch of novices who hadn't even mastered two-circle magic spells.
20
21Of course, just getting viciously beaten up wouldn't make these rich young masters give up so easily. They would always want revenge and bring us various small troubles. In the past few days, we had already suffered from four incidents of arson. This was another reason why Cher was glaring at me in such a fashion. Not only did we break the records for number of incidents caused by us, we also broke the record for needing to call the police as well. Especially since the arson incidents typically happened at 1 or 2 a.m. in the morning, which really annoyed the police mages when they were called to the scene.
22
23"Who the hell is it this time?!!"
24
25Alright then, judging by how explosive Cher's tone was, it seemed that she was truly pissed off at this arsonist who had the unfortunate timing of making trouble while she was here.
26
27"With two more incidents, our 'Annual Excellent Public Order Reward' money will be no more!!"
28
29Alright then, it seemed that there was a concrete reason behind her anger as well.
30
31"The archmage Andrei's grandnephew? Andrei, the vice leader of the Sword of Order? This is quite problematic."
32
33Unfortunately for Cher, her subordinates arrived with a report that caused her to frown. No matter what, a current Truth Overseer would definitely be difficult to deal with, even if he currently wasn't at the Cloud Tower. The Sword of Order and Mystical Blade had a bad relationship with each other to begin with. In fact, it started from when the organizations were established—they intentionally competed with each other even with how they named themselves. If she didn't deal with this situation well, it might escalate into a huge conflict between two of the most powerful mage organizations.
34
35Even though Cher had excellent moral boundaries as an enforcer of the law, she still knew that some things would be quite difficult to deal with. Her status as a public order mage would only be internally useful within the Mystical Blade as well as medium and small mage organizations. However, other large mage organizations wouldn't care at all about her status, nor would the mages care about the pitiful strength of the police forces.
36
37"Let me go! Do you know who I am!? My granduncle is Andrei!"
38
39Even though this young master—who resembled a monkey—was tied up tightly, he remained as arrogant as always. Apart from him, several of his arsonist accomplices had been captured and tied up as well along with large stockpile of oil and fire powder that had been found with them. As for his "accomplices," they were basically all rich scions that were mere mage novices who hadn't learned the cruelty of the world. They were blissfully unaware about the consequences of their actions.
40
41Truth Overseers were indubitably influential. Typically speaking, in such a situation, Cher would notify the person's family elders to severely hand out a punishment. However, the person that these young troublemakers antagonized was an archmage with two Emblems of Endless Truth. Cher found this situation quite difficult to deal with, not knowing if archmage Roland would simply let things go.
42
43"Um, archmage Roland…"
44
45Although Cher felt quite humiliated at having let the criminals get off so lightly, she still considered it part of her work to minimize any potential dangerous large incidents before they started. There were things she needed to say. However, the archmage that always had a helpless expression and lowered his head to apologize to her didn't even pay her any attention. Instead, he had an icy expression as he spoke in a low voice.
46
47"Yawen, Little Red 232, the two of you were injured?"
48
49The gray elf shook her head, indicating that she was fine. However, the sword injury on her shoulder actually had a smell of corrosion. The fact that her injury had already decayed to such an extent despite how recently she received it was the best evidence of how highly toxic the poison must have been. However, it seemed that Yawen would be fine after receiving healing magic from Divine Arts in time.
50
51"Father, wahhh! My hair has been burned off."
52
53Meanwhile, Little Red 232 hopped over to complain. Roland gently patted her on the head, while even Cher was quite angered when she saw the depressed little girl who had a patch of scorched hair on her head.
54
55"Were there any damages?"
56
57"We discovered them quite quickly this time so the fire was put out almost immediately. The warehouse wasn't damaged at all. Out of our people, Yawen was the most seriously injured. However, they set fire to the kitchen, and our hired chefs were unable to escape in time…"
58
59Considering how we intended to add a café addition to the Thorn Garden shop, we hired some local residents as chefs. Since the chefs were only ordinary people, not mages, it seemed that they didn't manage to make it out of the fire alive. Perhaps these rich scions even killed the chefs off on purpose in order to kill any witnesses that could point them out for their involvement…
60
61"According to the Mage Country's laws, what's the punishment for intentional arson that leads to people's deaths?"
62
63Cher paused in surprise when she saw that Roland was talking to her, finally noticing that he was asking her as an officer of the law. It was just that his typically smiling expression was replaced by a rare one of seriousness.
64
65"…According to the Mage Country's laws, it should be execution by hanging, but…"
66
67His bright eyes suddenly dimmed, and the next moment, Roland's eyes seemed to Cher like they were black holes that could devour everything. Without a hint rage or hatred within them, he seemed like an emotionless machine. Cher felt chills run down her spine when she was looked at by those eyes. She found herself unable to tell him to be merciful.
68
69Cher suddenly recalled that she had wanted to investigate just who this Roland person truly was. However, her direct boss, who was considered as someone muddleheaded due to old age by all her coworkers, suddenly came and warned her personally with such a serious expression.
70
71"There's some things and some people that you're simply better off not knowing about. If you would like to live a long and good life, there are some lines you definitely can't cross."
72
73To be honest, Cher was quite disappointed when she heard her direct boss tell her that. When she thought about how Roland didn't have any other achievement emblems at all apart from the two Emblems of Endless Truth (the graduation emblem wasn't an achievement emblem), and how he always spoke so softly and acted so cowardly to a normal public order mage like herself, she kept feeling like the upper-ranked members of the Cloud Tower weren't as pure as she thought.
74
75Her direct boss, the elderly mage Charlie, used his authority to allow Roland to mysteriously be able to take his subordinates out of jail every single day so easily—Cher's compatriots viewed this as further evidence of his confusion due to advanced age. It also caused Cher to view this "weakling who must have gotten his highest-level emblems through backdoor connections" with great displeasure. However, when she saw Roland's completely unemotional icy gaze today, she felt like she was actually the criminal who was to be judged, instead. She felt like a frog being gazed at by a snake, frozen, unable to move. She realized that she had likely made a huge mistake, treating a tiger as a gentle housecat. This Roland person was definitely someone highly dangerous.
76
77"Oh, since the law states that the punishment should be death by hanging, in that case, there's no need to trouble the police mages any longer. Let's just execute them right here and now."
78
79Roland suddenly smiled as if his heartless emotions from earlier were nothing but an illusion. He seemed just like the same kind person who always apologized helplessly. The words he said just now still made Cher feel like she was dreaming.
80
81"Hang them? Hang them all right here? There are more than ten archmages' descendants here! One of them is even related to the Sword of Order's vice leader! Just how many mage organizations are you intending on antagonizing all at once?"
82
83"Wait a moment, my granduncle—I apologize! I'll pay you for all the damages incurred, don't kill m—ahhh!!"
84
85Cher hoped to god that Roland was only trying to scare the young criminals. However, she soon discovered that his words were no mere threats. His subordinates brought out several ropes that they put on the arsonists' necks and then dragged them outside. A few pitiful screams later, everything suddenly fell silent.
86
87When Cher regained her senses and hurriedly rushed outside, she inhaled deeply when she saw the scene before her.
88
89No matter if it was a tall centaur, a young knight, or a cute wood spirit, all of them carried out the executions with practiced movements, successfully hanging the arsonists onto the trees in a single try. There was no pity and no wasted words. It was as if this was just a daily task to everyone.
90
91"Hang them all up at the entrance. Send that Andrei's grandnephew's head to the Sword of Order's main headquarters and tell them that Roland is waiting for Andrei to come and receive his descendant's corpse."
92
93I didn't even spare a glance for Cher whose face was turning pale as I kicked away the arsonists' explosives. As I expected, I found a black crystal and some bottles containing dark green liquid.
94
95"Black crystal cores. As long as this is ignited, the entire street will go up in an explosion. How truly vicious of them. This dark green liquid is doublelife snake venom—toxic to the extent of being instantly fatal upon contact to normal humans."
96
97From the very start, I didn't think that these youngsters would be able to threaten me. But now, I was faced with the fact that not only did they break past my magical defenses, but they even caused even Yawen, who was at the peak of Gold rank, to become injured. This far surpassed these useless novices' personal abilities. There was definitely someone behind them, egging them on. These kids' rather special statuses were also a way of testing the waters against me, to test how I would react against such a challenge, and to see if I was still the same Yongye from back in the day.
98
99"You all want to see Yongye? As you wish—I'll show him to you. Consequences? Hmm, what's that? Is it edible? This kid's granduncle is Andrei? What a joke. Since when would Andrei dare to act so arrogantly in front of me?"
100
101I knew that this was both a test for me and an attempt to suppress me. If I acted weakly, there would be plenty of trouble for me in the future.
102
103"I don't even need to investigate who's really supporting them. I'll just kill anyone who dares to antagonize me like this."
104
105The next day when Thorn Garden opened, it was the worst day for its business ever since its reopening. After all, all the "dolls" hanging from the front door of the store along with the wooden signs underneath their feet announcing their crimes made most of the customers stop in fear and surprise.
106
107Yet, there were customers who had opposite reactions. The older mages who had a huge amount of emblems on their chest were surprised for a moment, but were then pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a long line of customers that they had to wait through today. They happily smiled and entered the store, and even chatted amongst themselves in an amused fashion as they repeatedly pointed at the corpses.
108
109"Oh, isn't that the youngster from Halin's family?"
110
111"Ha, how pitiful. He became cannon fodder for somebody else?"
112
113"There's even the young one from Andrei's family? Haha, there's going to be a good show to watch later."
114
115"What good show are you talking about? Do you think that Andrei will dare to mess with Roland? Besides, is it worth risking his entire family's lives for the sake of a grandnephew that's who-knows-how-many generations removed from him? At the very most, he'll just say a few words of anger for the sake of saving face, nothing more."
116
117When Cher returned to the police station in a state of confusion, she discovered that she had actually watched a vigilante execution take place. When she finally calmed down and began preparing to summon people in order to prevent something more troublesome from occurring, her boss, the old mage Charlie, stopped her.
118
119"Don't worry about it. With how little strength we have, there's nothing we can do. When he gets angry, nobody can stop him."
120
121This time, Cher was unable to remain silent anymore as she recalled Roland's icy gaze. She instinctively felt that Charlie was correct. Whatever Roland wanted, he was probably capable of doing it. Perhaps not a single person in the Cloud Tower would be able to stop him.
122
123She faintly perceived that Roland who was always smiling had something analogous to a ruler in his heart. As long as one didn't tread on his bottom line, Roland would be able to maintain a thick skin and smile as he retrieved his underlings that always caused so much trouble. But the moment someone crossed the line against him, he would unhesitatingly kill that person even if that person was the emperor of some country.
124
125"Just who is he? Why are you so afraid of him?"
126
127She had already asked this question many times before. But now, Cher was no longer satisfied with just being waved off. If Charlie kept giving her an excuse to not answer, she was prepared to even go to the main Mystical Blade headquarters to ask all the leaders about Roland.
128
129All the police mages sent inquisitive looks in Charlie's direction. Old Charlie maintained his silence for quite a while before he finally pulled out his smoking pipe and began puffing on it.
130
131"…He's probably the most dangerous mage in the entire Cloud Tower. No, change that to the most dangerous mage in the entire world. There's no mistake. It's not convenient for me to say, but if you all go back to your homes and ask any elders in your families who are over one hundred years old, they should all know why nobody should pick a fight with that man."
132
133"Archmage Andrei suddenly returned to the Cloud Tower and angrily stormed off, heading for Thorn Garden!"
134
135This sudden piece of news sent the police station into a turmoil yet again. This time, old Charlie didn't stop the young police mages. However, by the time they hurriedly rushed over to Thorn Garden, they saw an inconceivable sight.
136
137The SemiGod ranked archmage Andrei was actually being fiercely scolded by that young mage in front of Thorn Garden's doorstep, and Andrei was even lowering his head and apologizing.
138
139As for me? The biggest trouble of today was just beginning. Scolding a junior of mine who I used to even be on good terms with for accidentally getting ensnared in a plot due to his foolish grandnephew was nothing. However, I, who had always ranked last in almost all my classes and failed so many as well, was actually supposed to become a teacher and teach a lesson later this afternoon.
140
141That was a far greater challenge.
142
143Chapter 302: The Ordinary Person’s Generation (Part 1 of 2)
144
145
146
147As a lower-ranked academy under the super-large mage organization Mystical Blade, the Talenry Tower had very high standards for recruiting students. Most normal academies required acolytes to be able to cast one-circle magic spells before the age of twenty, but Talenry Tower required their acolytes to be able to cast two-circle magic spells before the age of eighteen.
148
149Although it didn't seem like that much of a difference—there's only a difference in two years and one circle—those two years just happened to be a critical growth period for humans. Without those two years, plus a requirement of one more circle, made it akin to the difference between the Iron rank and Bronze rank—gigantic. It typically took four or five years of growth to make up such a gap.
150
151It could be said that any student who managed to meet Talenry Tower's high student recruitment standards was top-level even when compared to the second or third-year students of other magic academies. However, even with such high standards for entry, there were far more applications than number of students accepted each year. Talenry Tower would only take the best of the best, and in the end, those able to enter had far surpassed the recruitment standards. They were basically all geniuses or abnormal talents.
152
153Of course, with the Mystical Blade investing a huge amount on this academy to raise its students, it naturally reaped huge benefits as well. With such high recruitment standards and immense appeal to potential applicants, studying here had advantages far surpassing those of other magic academies.
154
155It was only to be expected that plenty of teachers, magical ingredients, and magical books were available here. Even though there wasn't much of a difference in this compared to other academies, there still existed a great advantage—in Talenry Tower, not only would archmages occasionally come visit and choose disciples for themselves, but there would even be top-level mages from the Mystical Blade that would come over at fixed intervals to teach classes.
156
157Top-level mages with an Emblem of Endless Truth would come over at fixed intervals to teach classes and actual top-level content? Not only did every student try to obtain a chance to attend this once-a-month course, but even the mage teachers of the academy would look for ways to attend and listen in on this class.
158
159This was a type of reward for the excellent students at the academy. Only the students excellent in all areas would be allowed by the mage teachers to attend this class. As a consequence, this once-a-month class taught by an archmage with an Emblem of Endless Truth was just like a monthly festival for the Talenry Tower. If the class was a good one, the discussions about it were likely to last all the way until the next month's class.
160
161Of course, since the archmages teaching this class all had top-level knowledge, their classes wouldn't be low-level in content. However, the problem was that some archmages felt that it was quite troublesome to teach so they would simply come over and talk about whatever their newest research product was or summarize what he or she learned through self-reflection. Only a few geniuses among geniuses would perhaps significantly benefit from this, while the other ninety-nine percent of students, who were still only novice level, wouldn't understand a thing.
162
163So basically, the quality of the class and how much the listeners benefited from it didn't depend on the lecturer's level, nor did it depend on the power level difference between the lecturer and the listeners. It mostly depended on whether the lecturer specially prepared for this class or not, as well as whether or not the lecturer made things easier for the listeners to understand.
164
165For me, this was quite a large amount of trouble.
166
167The Mystical Blade ran things quite loosely to begin with, and it didn't lack top-level archmages at all. This monthly class shouldn't have been given to me for several years if I just waited for my turn. This was probably a certain Aloso's way of helping me out of kindness, giving me an opportunity to let others know more about me and get along better with the other Mystical Blade members.
168
169That was indeed a good thing for me. However, the problem was that I didn't know what I should teach about in my class!
170
171Although I was indeed one of the few mages who obtained the Emblem of Endless Truth in more than one magic type, and I definitely had the knowledge to back it up due to my vast experiences, I really didn't have much I could talk about.
172
173Give a class on ice magic? If I followed the traditional way of increasing magic research one circle at a time, I probably only counted as a three-circle Bronze mage, tops. Not to mention, my ice magic mostly resembled natural talent magic similar to magical beasts, growing instinctively and through actual combat. I could talk about my fundamental magic of ice sculpting that I obtained in the snow mountain, but the problem with that was that no ordinary human would be able to learn it even if they understood, which meant that it would be a waste to talk about.
174
175Then should I talk about the top-level research results of ice magic that I personally came up with? No matter if it was Frigidwinter Earth or Ice Aeon, even though both of those would be considered top-level ice magic breakthroughs for the past millennium, they were concepts far too difficult for ordinary people to learn. Nor did I intend to give others the opportunity to understand my aces.
176
177Undead magic? I could talk about that, and I was willing to teach about it as well. The problem with that was that undead magic forever had dark undertones to it. Even the Sword of Order wouldn't dare to publicly teach such a taboo magic type in open. And if I still went ahead and taught these novices how to dissect bodies in order to assemble Abominations and zombies, perhaps everyone would be looking at me strangely in the future.
178
179"Ahh! This is the frustration of someone like me who learned in a much different way from others. Even though I have so much knowledge, it's so hard for me to teach it."
180
181But, after some consideration, I came to a decision.
182
183"Since a traditional class won't be meaningful, in that case, I'll just have a non-traditional class. Hah, that'll be perfect! There are so many things that need to be said now, anyways."
184
185If you looked at Talenry Tower's classroom from the outside, it didn't appear large at all. However, only when entering would one discover that this place was actually enchanted with spatial distortion magic. This classroom was, in actuality, a gigantic hall that could easily hold five or six hundred people. Magical lights hung down from the ceiling and illuminated the beautiful marble floor tiles, making the classroom quite beautiful. The staircase-style seats were already filled with people.
186
187Just like always, the seats were filled ten minutes before the class was about to begin. However, what was different today was that not only were students present, there were actually many white-bearded elderly men as well as seemingly young professors of whom nobody knew the actual age. The first row was actually entirely filled with veteran mages.
188
189The most inconceivable part was that there were even several mages with Emblems of Endless Truth among them. This was quite a rare sight.
190
191After all, even though these top-level mages would easily be able to come listen in to the monthly archmage's class if they wanted, they were all already top-level experts in their own fields. It was only a class by a peer, so even if such an archmage deigned to come to such a class, it would be difficult for the archmage to learn much since this was supposed to be a class targeted at novices.
192
193And even if the archmage in question was an expert in the same area as the lecturer, it was typically considered far more effective to simply contact the person in private to exchange information and magical knowledge. That meant there wouldn't be any favors owed.
194
195"It would seem that this archmage Roland, whom I've never heard of, is someone incredible."
196
197Not a single acolyte capable of entering this school was an idiot. Simply by seeing all the top-level mages present, all the students realized that this archmage Roland that they had never heard of must be someone incredible. The few students who did know who Roland was from their elders or teachers looked forward even more to Roland's teachings… of course, since Roland's name also happened to overlap with the name of a certain demon king-like character told to scare disobedient children, all those students who knew Roland's identity chose to stay in the farthest rows away and the seats closest to the exit.
198
199"Oh my. I'm lucky I wasn't preparing to simply ad-lib everything."
200
201The moment I entered the classroom, I, too, was shocked to see all the top-level mages here. It would seem that I underestimated the influence of my identity as "Yongye" in the mages' minds.
202
203As I looked around, I saw Kaid and his disciples, as well as Oslowen and Aloso. They were all people who I knew in the Mystical Blade.
204
205"Even that old fart Angli has come? There's even someone glaring at me? Oh, the glarer is that little girl Cher. I bet she's learned my real identity by now. She even dares to glare at me? She's surprisingly brave."
206
207Yet, when I walked up and took my place at the lecturer's podium, all idle thoughts disappeared. After all, these were words that I wanted to tell everyone for so long already.
208
209I picked up the magical highlighter pen on the podium and hesitated for a moment before I finally wrote some words for all to see.
210
211"A Revolutionary Change: The New Generation Belongs to The Ordinary People."
212
213Where should I start talking from? Everything that happened in the Underground World? The ever-increasing Elemental Tide? The Armageddon that was about to descend upon us all? Or the Gods' secrets?
214
215I had experienced far too much compared to my peers that were busy hiding in their ivory towers, so much so that I didn't even know where to begin.
216
217That was the case even now. Although I had decided to make "revolutionary change" the topic of my class, there were too many chaotic thoughts within my mind on where to start from, so I still didn't know how to organize my class.
218
219"Well, since there's too much to go over, I'll just casually talk about it a little. I'll simply say whatever comes to mind. If any of you have questions, feel free to raise your hands and ask. But I might not necessarily answer."
220
221My first words as the lecturer already caused most people to feel that I was the unreliable type of teacher.
222
223"The Holy War is already here again. Perhaps everyone still hasn't realized that yet, or, a better word would be is that everyone is uninterested. After all, we mages have gotten used to being observers. However, perhaps the situation is quite special this time as remaining as observers will basically be impossible."
224
225And now, many people were beginning to frown in displeasure at my words. Could it be that I was a war hawker? But, this was supposed to be a purely academic lecture. Talking about one's personal political views seemed a bit ridiculous to them.
226
227However, I laughed upon seeing this situation. After all, from a certain standpoint, the Cloud Tower mages had remained as hermits for far too long. Perhaps they didn't know the newest situations and changes happening around the world. No, actually, perhaps they knew the latest information through their informational channels but felt that it was unrelated to them.
228
229"What I would like to discuss isn't the annoying topic of politics, but instead the issue of the current generation we're facing. Everyone can tell that the Elemental Tide is increasing, which makes increasing one's power level and conducting research much easier than before. However, this is only the beginning."
230
231I reached out with my finger and lit up the entire classroom with the silver power of Law. This was a divine power that represented Law, Justice, and Order, as well as the representation of a new type of power.
232
233"The power of Law is a new power of Order, and the greatest achievement of mine in the Underground World. Perhaps many people here have heard of the power of Law already, but most people are probably treating it as another power similar to the power of Holy Light. However, few know that this power is actually quite suitable for mages because this power was created by a mage to begin with."
234
235I caused a commotion before I even finished speaking. Although the God of Law had been a hot topic recently, the power of Law was still just getting started. Simply because the power of Law was considered a power of Order, most mages viewed it as the same type of power as Holy Light, which was far too much of a waste.
236
237"As one of the creators of this power, I can promise you all that this is indeed a power that's the most suitable for mages to use. Its basic foundation relies on Law Incantations and the understanding and belief that one has towards Law. Of course, other job classes will be able to make use of this power as well, but what job class can possibly compare to us mages in logical reasoning and intelligence? Besides, the power of Law has basically zero requirements for a person's ability to control the elements or mana. It's incredibly easy to begin learning it."
238
239Some things only needed to be half-said to be effective. There was a huge commotion in the classroom when I mentioned how this power of Law had basically zero requirements for element controlling ability or mana. After all, being able to sense the elements and control one's own mana were the most basic requirements for being a mage. If those were no longer required, didn't that mean that any young person of above average intelligence would be able to utilize the power of law?
240
241Yep, that was precisely why I always believed that only the power of Law was capable of foundationally changing the entirety of Eich. The power of Law was perhaps the divine power with the lowest requirements. And, in order to be able to use the power of Law, its users needed to obey the teachings of the Church of Law. Not only would the users thus obey the Law themselves, they would even need to act as just and fair executors of the Law. When most crimes in the world started receiving just punishments, then certain foundational things in how this world worked would naturally be rewritten.
242
243"That's right. This generation belongs to ordinary people."
244
245As the God of Law increased in power, together with hard work by countless Law job class individuals, more and more Law Incantations will be invented. I believed that after Knights of Justice and Judgementors, there would soon be a third basic Law job class in the future—one that resembled the mage job class. By that time, becoming someone who could use magic would be far easier than it was currently, and the mages would find out that they were no longer at the top of the world.
246
247However, this was only a beginning. Since I was intending to set a massive fire here to catch the mages' attention, simply setting one fire would mean that the fire would easily go out. And so, I ignited several fires at once…
248
249"Perhaps you have all heard about the successfully developed small battery known as 'Olivia's Magic Box.' But you all probably don't know that the wise individual who successfully invented this technology was a young alchemist from the Northlands, a girl named Olivia. She comes from the Rhodes Kingdom, which is a tiny and faraway country that most of you have never even heard about. Perhaps you even view it as a barbarian kingdom. And Olivia, this northern barbarian little girl, who's only seventeen years old, invented such a technology that's destined to change the world!"
250
251The facts were indisputable. Also, the easiest way to strike these proud young mages and make them less proud and arrogant would be to point at the accomplishments of someone their own age.
252
253However, what I intended to say wasn't merely that alone. As for Olivia, even if she never accomplished anything else for the rest of her life, she was already destined to enter the history books simply by being the inventor of a small portable battery.
254
255"I'm currently using her research results to apply for an Emblem of Endless Truth in the area of alchemy for Olivia's sake. It's quite possible that Olivia will become the youngest mage with an Emblem of Endless Truth in history."
256
257This caused yet another commotion for the umpteenth time. I heard stuff like "she's not qualified" "that's too rushed" and other such denials from the young novices. However, several older mages nodded slightly as they realized the true impact of her invention.
258
259"Perhaps some of you have already realized how the mass production of 'Olivia Magic Boxes' will allow mages traveling out by themselves to have a backup source of mana storage. However, none of you have probably realized that an even bigger use of the 'Olivia Magic Box' is to allow ordinary people with zero magical talent to use magic as well!"
260
261"That's impossible!"
262
263"This is the desecration of magic itself!"
264
265"Oh, Gods of Magic! How is this possible?"
266
267Everyone was shouting in disbelief now. Mages always prided themselves on their identities as magic users. How would they believe so easily that ordinary people could invade their rightful domain?
268
269Still, once again, the facts would be indisputable, which was why I played a recording from a memory crystal I had prepared for this class. This was a recording of the battle in the Northlands, from when the Silver Cross squadron consisting of the Four Elemental Swordcasters appeared in battle for the first time.
270
271They flew in unison together, they sent blades of wind together, and they sent fireballs out together as if they were doing a performance. Even the elite mages here were astonished and shaken by these magic users' imposing manner and unity.
272
273"Of course, they aren't yet mature. But the beginning is always the most difficult, and even SemiGod mages started from one circle magic spells. As long as these magic users keep persisting, they'll become more than ten times stronger in the future! That's why I'm saying that this is a revolutionary generation, a generation that belongs to ordinary people!"
274
275Chapter 303: The Ordinary Person’s Generation (Part 2 of 2)
276
277
278
279If one were to look back on everything I'd ever done, one could see that there was a clear goal to my actions—I wanted to increase the power of the average person in this world.
280
281Did this world lack powerful individuals? It didn't. Without even mentioning how many top-level mages gathered mold and dust while staying as hermits in their experimental laboratories, there were countless dragons, giants, and unknown powerful individuals out there. Even when I was Emperor Yongye back in the day, I only ranked 30ish on the Calamity Rankings, which ranked the disaster rating levels of everyone who liked to act as walking calamities. This world was quite large, with many powerful individuals in it. However, would those powerful individuals be able to change the world?
282
283The answer was evidently no. It required far too much luck to create a top-level powerful individual, typically through processes that couldn't be repeated for others, and it required huge amounts of time and resources. Top-level power would forever be limited. Since the entire generation was changing, there was no point in counting on such few individuals and small groups of people to change the overall situation. This was the experience I gained from my past failures.
284
285But what frustrated me the most was that these powerful individuals preferred to play the part of hermits, viewing themselves as above the war, treating the Holy War as something that will pass in time, just as the Cloud Tower's archmages did. By the time the powerful individuals noticed that this Holy War was uniquely special compared to the past, it would be far too late, and none of them would be able to escape.
286
287"Powerful individuals are rare? They're chosen by heaven? It's simply that most people have never had any chance to become strong to begin with. If I want more top-level powerful individuals that seem like they were chosen by the heavens? Heh heh, as long as I increase the basic population of those who can fight, as long as I increase the number as high as possible, miracles and so on will appear on their own. After all, geniuses are only relative. Isn't a genius simply someone who surpasses ninety-nine people out of one hundred? Perhaps I can't create more of that one percent that requires too many random factors, but as long as I improve and increase the ninety-nine percent, I can multiply the base amount of fighters by over ten times. The number of geniuses and so on will naturally increase severalfold!"
288
289If I compared this world to an ark that was about to meet a flood, which represented the countless trials that this world was about to go through, then before the astonishingly large waves and thunderstorms arrived, furiously increasing the ark's weight by strengthening its foundation was the most important thing to do in order to survive the flood.
290
291I needed to improve the overall power level of the ordinary people in this world as they were by far the majority. Then, I needed to control things from behind the scenes with the power of Law and Justice Points to guide them on the correct path. I would also need to decrease internal conflicts as much as possible so that we could gain the strength to resist the future thunderstorms. That was the choice I made.
292
293The appearance of the power of Law, the Four Elemental Swordcasters, and magical archers created by Olivia's Magic Box would all help ordinary people to possibly reach the peak. However, it was just a beginning. The "Great Industrial Party," this mage organization which was named half-jokingly, had the tremendous ambition to change the entire world.
294
295I took a deep breath as my next words were going to hit the critical point I intended for this lecture.
296
297"The small portable battery 'Olivia's Magic Box' has far more effective uses than what I just mentioned. The greatest beneficiaries of this invention aren't even magic users or mages. Perhaps some of you have already tried my Iron Horses, right? What do you all think? How do they compare to real warhorses?"
298
299I ignored the commotion beneath the podium, as the conclusion was obvious.
300
301"Warhorses are expensive, and their bloodlines and breeds are big problems as well. Not to mention, they take an incredibly long time to raise, and there's the problem of fully equipping them. It could be said that an excellent warhorse with its own horse armor is half of a knight's life. Add to that the fact that warhorses require the highest-quality feed, and it could be said that domain lords everywhere spend great amounts of effort on maintaining a sufficient amount of knights under their command. Yet these Iron Horses…"
302
303There were plenty of mages that came from the nobility so they were the first to guess what I was about to say.
304
305"They're cheap, truly cheap compared to real warhorses. The cost of production isn't that high, and merely some engineering materials are required without any special magical ingredients. It can easily be mass produced. As for their abilities, even with just the current technology, until the batteries powering them run out of power, they'll be even quicker than warhorses wearing a full set of horse armor. Not to mention that you can easily add additional armor to the Iron Horse, and its defensive capabilities will be far stronger than a horse which possesses a physical flesh and blood body."
306
307I closed my eyes and envisioned what I wanted for the future. In future battles, these Iron Horse-riding knights would wield spears and dwarven firearms which would enable them to strike the invaders in lightning-like ambushes. Yet they were only the first part in my planned iron-outfitted warriors!
308
309"This is merely the beginning. I can tell you all right now that self-propelled super small mechas have already been developed. They are capable of greatly increasing any individual's combat strength and survivability. We're also developing heavy mechas with similar specs to war mammoths, as well as large Titan mechas and siege weaponry that are currently undergoing mass production. Soon, the field of engineering that you've all ignored for forever will develop from a joke field into a way of truth that's more than equal to magic. Not only that, the users of these mechas will be the ordinary people that you look down upon. The ordinary people of the future will have far more power than any of you realize."
310
311To use a cliché phrase: "The tides of history are unstoppable." Heroes would forever rise throughout the times, and revolutions would occur when the winds were right. Even without me, there was destined to be a "magical engineering" revolution in the future regardless.
312
313In the game's "history," after Armageddon finally descended and the Auland Empire suffered many serious losses and setbacks, pushing it to the brink, the Auland Empire finally gave everyone their secret technology of small portable batteries which had the power to change the world. What came with it was a revolution in magical engineering.
314
315Even though it was still a thorny road afterwards, magical engineering products changed the entire world in the game's "history," changing the way people lived, how they fought, and even Eich's very culture.
316
317Yet since I was now here in this world, how would I possibly waste precious time that could be used to prepare for future battles? Thanks to the butterfly effect that I intentionally caused, Olivia invented this all-important technology more than ten years earlier than she was scheduled to. Nor did Timlad need to waste so much time in "maturing," thanks to my "experienced" guidance. This helped them avoid many incorrect paths in their research, making their paths much clearer and straighter.
318
319It wasn't merely my knowledge of the game's storyline. Even my memories about how modern-day wars worked in my world would help push engineering developments forward in this world by thousands of years. After all, it was common that even one small technological improvement would take countless years of hard work and combat experience to otherwise obtain.
320
321The most obvious was how Russia had once modified bulldozers into tanks. Plus, even World War 1 tactics like barbed wire fences, trench warfare, and stationery machine gun turrets were usable in this world as well! Perhaps just a tiny little moat and a small defensive structure guarded by a squadron of ordinary people would require an entire squadron of knights to use countless sacrifices in order to conquer.
322
323"In the upcoming generation, it will become hundreds of times easier to obtain power. Even an ordinary person will be able to defeat or kill the strong! This is a revolution! This is no simple invention, this is an industrial revolution which will bring about an entirely new generation! This is the goal of my mage organization, the Great Industrial Party!"
324
325Of course, chaotic worlds would always give birth to heroes, as if the world itself would instinctively refuse to die off. Soon, new technologies, new magics, and new powerful individuals would appear endlessly like how new plants would sprout after a spring rain. As this world's enemies continuously increased in strength, the original residents would improve in strength in leaps and bounds as well. And what I needed to do right now was to prematurely bring the "Industrial Revolution" to this world of fantasy and magic in order to strengthen its foundation.
326
327"Perhaps some of you here are thinking that such a revolution is unnecessary, and that you should try and stop me… so what I'm going to show everyone here next is the most truthful information of all. There are prophecies among what I'm going to show you, as well as current situations. I swear on my own name of the veracity of this information."
328
329I took a deep breath here. After all, these were things I needed to show them.
330
331"…You all still want to act like cowardly turtles hiding in your shells? Let me just see how you're going to hide in your shells when enemies are knocking at your door!"
332
333And so, I showed the mages here the same information that I had once broadcast on the Borealis back in the day.
334
335These were images that resembled prophecies, with countless hordes of demons walking on the streets, cities burning and screaming as black knights trampled everything underfoot, the undead invading the living's territory, the elves' holy grounds becoming nothing but rubble and craters, and magma covering lands that used to be filled with ice and snow.
336
337And, the most astonishing sight of all for everyone here was a pile of rubble that still shone with remnants of mystical light at the broken tower's tip. This place was doubtlessly the Cloud Tower which was flourishing so much today.
338
339At the same time, my memory crystal also showed them the recent battles that had just occurred.
340
341They saw the demon armies invading the Underground World, the fierce beastmen ambushing the Northlands, the Undead Calamity invading the Bardi Empire, the forbidden spell duel I had against Undead Emperor Aso which ended in Aso's death, the current situation in the Auland Empire's Rain Capital, the battle against Emordilorcan in the Earth Elemental Plane and the Divine Sins birthed there. No easy battle had been fought; each one was a close battle to the death.
342
343The entire world was quietly changing around them, with wars on the level of myths occurring continuously. Yet the mages of the Cloud Tower continued living secluded off in their own little world, with the topics about the ongoing wars being nothing more than idle gossip to them. No matter how fierce "someone else's war" was, they would merely sigh or be slightly moved before forgetting about it entirely.
344
345However, scenes that they could witness would be far more impactful than reading words on a report. All these scenes of Armageddon in the future as well as current and recent battles interchanged with each other, showing them both the current reality as well as prophecy. All of the mages naturally recalled the recent Gods' proclamations as well so even the most self-confident of mages would now be closely considering just how large in scale the current Holy War was likely to develop and whether they would be able to safely stay out of things as they had originally wanted.
346
347The facts would be more powerful than any argument I could make, so I didn't waste words. Naturally, it was now time for me to deal with any doubts.
348
349"…Just how did you obtain these images that are like prophecies? Divination magic can't possibly divine such results. Not to mention, divination magic can't even be used anymore ever since the God of Fate used his power during the Gods' proclamations. Also, just when exactly did you learn about such prophecies?"
350
351It was only natural that Oslowen, who was the highest-ranking member of the Mystical Blade present here, would be the first to question me on this.
352
353"The source? I could describe it as a mere coincidence. I can swear right here, right now, using the powers of the Holy Light, that this is the truest 'history' and 'future' of this world. If I don't intervene, everything in these images will certainly occur without question."
354
355From a certain standpoint, my status as a user of Holy Light was incredibly helpful to me. At the very least, it was incredibly helpful whenever I needed to tell a "truthful lie."
356
357"As for when I knew about these prophecies? Would you believe me if I said that I learned about them more than three hundred years ago? That's right, I swear in the name of the Holy Light, that more than three hundred and seventy years ago, when I was still a seven or eight-year-old little brat, I already knew that all of this was destined to occur."
358
359The blinding Holy Light surrounding me proved the veracity of my words, which sent the entire classroom into the biggest commotion so far.
360
361As for me, it was now time for me to make my escape after successfully saying everything that I wanted… Fine then, I actually didn't have much else to say, and I felt that I would be caught out in a lie somewhere if I continued speaking on this topic any longer.
362
363"A hidden truth behind the Yongye Calamity!? The history books should be rewritten!"
364
365"A slandered hero of darkness? The only one who knew the truth about the upcoming Armageddon? A maniac forced to insanity by the burden? The truth about the Northlands prince!"
366
367"The newest research and discussions on the veracity of the prophecy on Armageddon—an interview with the dimensional expert archmage, Fensoan!"
368
369I was quite impressed with the hard work that the dimensional reporters put in as I looked at the thick stacks of magazines and extra edition newspapers before me. Even I hadn't realized that I had supposedly done so many things in secret before, turning into a tragic hero who had to bear such a reviled reputation in order to save the world.
370
371"Hahaha, this article even discusses your past romantic history, claiming that you used to have two lovers and a mistress. Could it actually be true? Roland, did you take revenge against the Holy Church because of a dead lover back in the day?"
372
373The black cat dexterously used her claws to flip through the newspapers to constantly look for more hilarious articles on me. When she had laughed enough, she even sipped on some milk. Harloys really was becoming more and more like a real cat.
374
375"Hmph, I died in that life at only fourteen years old. Do you really think that anyone will believe this article?"
376
377Publicly making my statements while swearing to their truth using the power of Holy Light was quite worthwhile. By the same afternoon, just about all the mage organizations learned the content of everything I declared. Meanwhile, although it was already a publicly known secret that I, Roland, was also Emperor Yongye, none of the publicly sold magazines or newspapers made any direct mention of me being Yongye. However, there were plenty of guesses and rumors within the mage organizations' personal publications.
378
379Some slightly good news was that most likely, the various mage organizations didn't want to aggravate me, so all the reports were still rather positive and easily acceptable ones. Although it seemed rather strange that I mysteriously became a dark antihero, it definitely felt much better than how I was simply blamed for everything, no matter if it was my fault or not, in the past.
380
381After I revealed such explosive news to everyone, if the major mage organizations wanted to cooperate with me in order to receive more benefits, they would naturally try to give me a good name.
382
383As for killing off this relatively new invention? Or forcefully stealing it? Let's not mention how impossible that would be due to a certain reason. Sometimes, I even felt proud of how infamous my villainy was. It was quite useful in so many situations.
384
385However, the only downside of what I did today was that Thorn Garden had a poor day of sales yet again.
386
387"Are things still the same outside?"
388
389"Yep. There are many people standing around, looking at the store, but very few are coming in and purchasing anything. The only ones that are buying products are the old familiar customers who are all at the mage-teacher level. It would seem that all those new faces outside are here for you. Are you going to go out and greet them?"
390
391"Forget it. Earlier this morning, when I went out simply for some exercise, several tens of them were so scared that they took off running upon seeing me, and some even fainted on the spot. I'm beginning to think that I'm a medusa now, with the ability to petrify anything I see. Oh, and with additional sound effects of crying and howling."
392
393"Why aren't you mentioning the young female mages who have lost themselves due to those stories about how much of a tragic hero you are? It must feel wonderful to have received the first ever love letter of your life."
394
395"Hmph, that definitely wasn't my first love letter… fine then, don't look at me like that, I admit it's the first love letter that I can recall receiving, alright? But I've definitely received many challenge letters, duel letters, curse letters, and letters about never wanting to see me again. Perhaps there was someone in the past who intended to send me a love letter but sent it to the wrong person, or wrote the wrong person's name inside, or there was a girl who wrote one to me but was too embarrassed to send it…"
396
397I felt that I was more and more pitiful as I kept trying to defend myself, so I decided to change the topic to something more interesting.
398
399"That girl is still crouching there, waiting for me?"
400
401"Yep. She said that as an honorable executor of the law, she was definitely going to keep a close eye on you, and that I should tell you, 'Don't even think about causing any trouble in this city.'"
402
403Harloys even imitated that silly Cher's tone of voice—a really good imitation, in fact. At the very least, it was quite obvious from the way she grit her teeth and her expression that she didn't intend to allow me to have a comfortable life here.
404
405I glanced out the window at the tree where the female mage Cher and her public security team was waiting for me. I could only helplessly shake my head. At any rate, I didn't intend to do anything illegal here—for the time being—so she could just wait there all she liked.
406
407"Hmph! If she wants to be a free police mage in her spare time, then let her be. It even saves us money on hiring extra security."
408
409Yep, that was what I was thinking at the time. After all, from a certain standpoint, having police mages around here would help make our customers feel safer.
410
411"You really should think of a method to make her leave as soon as possible."
412
413"Why? I'm not intending on breaking any laws here or ruining public order."
414
415"Just this morning, she came in for three surprise inspections…"
416
417"Who cares!? It's not like I'm doing anything illegal! Let her check whatever she wants!"
418
419"The reason she's been giving for searching us is 'tax evasion.' Each time, she's been seriously going through our accounts. Are you sure your fake account books—"
420
421"I must think of a way to make her leave! Immediately!"
422
423Chapter 304: My Relative
424
425
426
427Since the bait I had tossed out that day was quite attractive, and since my lecture had been an incredible success and had gained everyone's attention, countless people signed up for my Great Industrial Party the very next day. It instantly became one of the largest mage organizations in the Cloud Tower… I'm joking; that was all obviously made up!
428
429Reality often developed differently from what one planned. Even though I made tons of advertisements, not a single person had signed up for my mage organization as of yet— perhaps it was the mages' nature to be cautious, or perhaps it was simply that I had been far too villainous in the past.
430
431However, there was one person who kept coming to find me of her own volition, though—someone who I didn't welcome at all, someone who made herself into my "guardian…"
432
433"I shall be watching you closely!"
434
435Don't misunderstand. This was no confession. It was a police mage's angry justice-filled roar towards a suspect. Cher decided to find a reason to arrest me at all costs…
436
437And so, my Great Industrial Party, which didn't have any members except for my people, now had an internal overseer working for us for free. This was a specialized treatment typically only given to large mage organizations with over one thousand members. However, since we were technically a mage organization under the Mystical Blade, we were unable to refuse this overseer from the main branch from staying here as long as she wished.
438
439As for the Great Industrial Party… fine, I know this sounds awkward. The only property this organization possessed was the Thorn Garden shop, which was why Cher spent her free time idly here, inspecting our accounts every day… how could I possibly allow her to do as she pleased!?
440
441Any normal merchant aimed for profits, which meant the merchant wouldn't be entirely legal. Something like account books? There needed to be a minimum of at least three sets. One set was for the tax inspectors, one set was for yourself, and one set was for when you were forced to the brink so you would toss that out to sacrifice part of the profits to protect the whole.
442
443According to the Mage Country's laws, all transactions conducted within the Mage Country would be taxed at a 10% rate. This was quite a hefty sales tax that would add up, so we typically did many transactions in secret in order to avoid taxes. We also made an excellent fake account book, but…
444
445"What? She's comparing our account book of what we've sold to the amount of stock we have left in the warehouse? She's counting all the stock gone from the warehouse as how much we have sold instead? That's not following the most basic rules of tax regulation!"
446
447"And do you think that you're completely following the rules by creating a fake account book?"
448
449"Of course! Is there any merchant in this world who doesn't make fake account books!?"
450
451"…At the very least, those of the royalty who are also merchants don't need to make fake account books."
452
453Harloys thought over it for quite a while and finally had to admit that despite her lengthy life, she couldn't recall a single merchant who didn't make a fake account book. She had no choice but to hesitatingly speak about her most ancient memories from when she was still a princess, about the royalty who were also merchants and seemed to be quite honest.
454
455"That's because they don't even need to pay taxes to begin with! They're the people whose wallets are being filled with tax money!"
456
457My angry roar echoed across the room. No matter which world it was, public enterprises or companies supported by the government would be an excellent way to make money. They would have advantages in areas such as taxes, trustworthiness, and financing. Independent privately-owned businesses simply couldn't compete in those areas.
458
459But that wasn't the important part…
460
461"Twelve products aren't listed in your account books. There's at least a minimum of four hundred transactions that haven't been listed in your account books. In less than a week, you've already evaded taxes that add up to a minimum of 50,000 gold coins. Your fake account books are marvelously well written with no evidence of any wrongdoing to be found anywhere. I'm even beginning to suspect that you came from a merchant family."
462
463When I looked at the tax evasion slip that Cher gave me, which stated I owed 52,452 gold coins, plus another 20,000 coins on top of that as a fine for tax evasion, I my heart bleed. This was all money I earned through blood and sweat! (Ok, fine. That last part was a lie).
464
465"Hmph! Are you praising your own auditing ability in a roundabout fashion?"
466
467After all, my talent in creating false account books came from another world to begin with, meaning that I was far above the level of anyone here. Unfortunately, she still saw through me. If only I knew that she was crazy enough to go inspect the warehouse and patiently count all the stock one by one, for an entire day, I wouldn't have been so nice to her and allowed her to come in and do as she pleased.
468
469"No, I'm being honest with you. Although your accounts may seem simple, the mathematical techniques involved have far surpassed any ordinary mage's math abilities. I'm even suspecting you're a professional swindler and counterfeiter. That's precisely why I had to resort to non-regulated methods in order to find evidence of your crimes."
470
471"…So, you're saying you're not investigating me because 'I have committed a crime?' You investigated me because 'I definitely have committed a crime, so no matter what, you're going to investigate to the end?' Do you know that you've already broken one of the most basic principles that executors of the law should follow? Innocent until found guilty!"
472
473Even though Cher had a blank expression, likely because she had never heard of this phrase from my original world, I didn't really care right now. Seeing the enforcers of the law here act as they pleased made me mysteriously displeased as I frowned.
474
475Rip!
476
477However, I was surprised to see Cher tearing this tax evasion fine slip to little pieces in front of me. She even tossed all the little pieces on the ground, littering scrap paper everywhere.
478
479"I wasn't intending on using this to threaten you. I merely wanted to ask you one question that I want your honest answer on."
480
481"…What's your question?"
482
483Since Cher used an entire day's worth of time to find my weak spot, her question couldn't possibly be about anything small and unimportant. However, what I really needed to do right now was…
484
485"Hey, stop just standing around and gawking, hurry up and help me destroy the evidence and restock the warehouse! Also, randomize the stocking procedures, and redo the account books! If she catches us for anything again, you'll all be paying the fine out of your salaries!"
486
487Yep, in order to avoid being caught in the same fashion again, I first needed to deal with this immediately. I decided to ignore Cher's expression of condescension upon me, and then…
488
489"Since you're being so sincere in asking me, I shall do my best to answer your question."
490
491Cher hesitated for quite a while before she gritted her teeth and finally asked me her question.
492
493"Are you my blood-related grandfather?"
494
495"Ptui!"
496
497Everyone who was watching this spouted fountains of tea from their mouths, and even the silly cat knocked over her bowl of milk as she rolled around on the ground, laughing. I was so shocked that I felt as if my soul was leaving my body. Where exactly did such a question come from!
498
499Thanks to a certain female mage's astonishing question, there was a huge ruckus in Thorn Garden. It took more than ten minutes for everything to calm down. During this entire process, my mind was completely blank.
500
501"What on earth? Is she here to ask me for child support money? Or am I being scammed? Am I suddenly going to be called Daddy next? I joined no such competition! Something seems wrong with the script! I don't even have a wife so how could I have a granddaughter?"
502
503Cher Allen, someone who appeared to be human on the surface, at the Gold rank, with an unknown age, had started out as a self-taught mage. Her specialties were divination and rune magic. From looking at her personal information, it didn't seem like she had any special background. She was already a Silver-ranked mage when she arrived in the Mage Country. It could be said that she was a classic example of a successful self-taught independent mage.
504
505Based on her personality, I doubted that someone like her would want to "adopt a criminal as a father" in order to have a better relationship with me for whatever reason. It was just the opposite, as when she asked me her question, she had such a look of disgust that basically said "how could my relative be someone like you?" which was still fresh in my mind.
506
507Soon, she gave an unforgettable explanation of why she asked such a question.
508
509If you went by her birthplace, she was born in the Bardi Empire so she technically counted as a Bardi citizen. However, she was born as an orphan who didn't know her parents, and a powerful dragon had raised her and taught her magic. Later, she became an adventurer in the Bardi Empire. Then, Orloss began to force all adventurers and mages to officially register and work under the government, so Cher chose to leave the Bardi Empire rather than stay and work for Orloss.
510
511"…The Bardi government started forcefully recruiting mages more than twenty years ago, right? In that case, this means that Lady Cher is at least forty years—ahhh!"
512
513As expected of my disciple—he was incredibly perceptive. Cohen instantly noticed the important point, one that I was paying attention to as well. He even rushed to say it out loud before I could, but Cher's movements were quite swift as well. She stomped quite accurately on Cohen's foot, a perfect combination of swiftness, accuracy, and viciousness. It seemed rather painful for Cohen and made one wonder if she was also in a monk sub-class.
514
515As I watched the unfortunate Cohen, who deserved what he got for saying too much, I felt quite pleased. I had been too slow in saying the same thing. I inwardly sighed; Cohen was still too inexperienced. After all, some things simply couldn't be said out loud even if one had their suspicions. Wasn't that simply being suicidal?
516
517"Female mages are women as well. Hmph! Haven't you seen how I've never discussed the topic of age with Harloys and Amelia? That would be suicidal. Oh right, Amelia should be only a few centuries old, with three digits. But as for the princess from the elven empire, could she possibly have a five digit age? Haha! That's so old—ahhh! It hurts! Silly cat, stop clawing me! Da—damn it! I forgot about our soul connection!"
518
519This time, Harloys wasn't biting me in her typical joking manner. She even transformed her claws into metal, not going easy on me at all. I felt a fiery pain on my nose, and I looked in the mirror to see eight bloody claw streaks on my face along with a silly cat still attached to my head with an iron grip. I began seriously considering just how I was supposed to go out tomorrow, and if I should be creating a cat-fur scarf.
520
521"…By the time I had an understanding of the world around me, I was already being raised by that humongous three-headed dragon. She taught me everything I know, but she never told me who I was or whether or not I still have relatives left in this world."
522
523Cher seemed to have lost her patience for idle chatter as she directly started talking about her past.
524
525"A three-headed dragon raised you? That's something that only exists in myths and legends these days. You're truly fortunate."
526
527"You actually believe me? I've told others before as well, and none of them believed me, telling me that three-headed dragons don't exist in this world and that I must have been dreaming. Evelyn clearly exists! In a way, she could even be considered my mother!"
528
529Evelyn was the name that I had seen just recently in that letter that was seemingly filled with grudges and was addressed to me. This instinctively caused me to retract my casual attitude of thinking that Cher had nothing to do with me. I felt an unnatural chill running down my spine. My ominous premonitions were always on the mark, and this time, I felt that there was truly a huge amount of trouble in store for me.
530
531"My job class is Weaver of Fate…"
532
533The moment Cher mentioned this, everyone around her instinctively retreated several steps, while Cher helplessly shook her head and smiled wryly, apparently having gotten used to such treatment. This wasn't actually because the bastards under me were such cowards, it was because this job class truly had such a frightening reputation.
534
535The Celestial Tower's fate was already the best evidence that divination magic was something unreliable. Changing fate would only cause one to suffer even greater misfortune. That was one of the basic laws that the God of Fate had taught mortals. However, mages weren't scared of anything, so why would they be willing to obey the concept of Fate? That was how this incredibly special high-level job class known as Weaver of Fate was born.
536
537As a high-level job class which required being at the Gold rank or higher to progress into, this special job class had basically zero requirements. Yep, mages could enter this job class as well with only Silver rank, but as for the success rate of entering this job class… There was a saying about the Weaver of Fate job class that it wasn't that there were zero requirements for entering this job class, it was that this job class itself had, from the very start, picked those who could enter this job class. No matter what, those who weren't chosen wouldn't possibly be able to enter this job class, so the so-called requirements for the job class didn't matter at all.
538
539This job class was so rare that there were less than ten individuals with this job class in all of Eich. So, it was natural that those with this job class were considered as mortals favored by the God of Fate, Catio.
540
541The Weaver of Fate job class wasn't a particularly strong combat job class, and it wouldn't have any additional benefits for mages' magic spells, either. However, this job class had two basic abilities. The first was to analyze an object's past and future, and the second was to change someone's future fate.
542
543However, since forcefully changing anyone's fate would only result in that person's fate becoming worse, even if a Weaver of Fate had kind intentions in using their powers, such as trying to change a person's fate of an upcoming death, all that would happen is that the person would die in an even more pitiful or painful manner. That was why this job class had a very famous nickname: Summoner of Misfortune.
544
545From a certain standpoint, this job class was literally one where anyone that they looked at would suffer misfortune. Anyone they glared at would become even more misfortunate.
546
547"Our abilities aren't quite as wondrous as depicted in the legends. Divination abilities have long since lost their power from the ancient eras. Even if I use all my power on 'Fate Analysis,' I can only see approximately one minute into the future about what will likely happen to a nonliving object. Rather than calling it a prophecy, it's more accurate to call it a prediction. As for my job class's ability to 'Weave Fate Lines,' it can only bring negative effects on others, which is why Weavers of Fate don't typically use their abilities."
548
549I had researched about divination and fate-related magic as well in the past. Although I didn't gain anything myself, I had some basic knowledge about it. Stargazers would typically trip over rocks under their own feet; the more closely something's fate was related to oneself, the more difficult it would be to divine. However, it was publicly recognized that this job class was one that nobody should antagonize. Weavers of Fate definitely weren't as weak as she made them out to be. After all, the #2 ranked individual in the Calamity Rankings was the 'Misfortune God' Ain, the most famous Weaver of Fate in the entire world.
550
551However, ever since the God of Fate Catio used his divine power for that divine-level forbidden spell, transforming his own power into that star net which covered the entire dimension, the Fate Lines should have been completely messed up. All divination should have become ineffective. Perhaps that would allow us to somewhat relax about her powers.
552
553"…Although direct divination magic spells are no longer usable, perhaps Weavers of Fate really are the children favored by the God of Fate. I can currently use the divine star net's power of Fate, and my power has become far stronger than before. Although it's still difficult for me to see future fates of anything living, merely summoning misfortune upon anyone is quite easy now. All I need to do is slightly change their Fate Line."
554
555Alright, now even I wanted to run away at top speed.
556
557"Catio gave all of us Weavers of Fate a special gift as his favor to us. I'm allowed to directly ask him one question, regardless of what it is, or what rules it breaks. However, I can only use this ability once in my lifetime."
558
559She paused here with a rather strange tone of voice and expression as she looked at me. Then, an expectant look even came into her eyes.
560
561"When I was at my most lost and confused, I decided to use Catio's gift. I asked him, 'Where is my family?' Catio told me, 'Go to the Cloud Tower and wait for the Lord Yongye.' So, Your Highness Roland, are you my grandfather?"
562
563"No, Cher. I am your father."
564
565This caused everyone to become astonished. I was so proud of myself that I was about to start laughing out loud. However, a sudden dark premonition caused me to recall that Cher was a Weaver of Fate, and that my joke had apparently gone overboard?
566
567"…Don't take it so seriously, it's just a joke! I'm just making a reference! A truly awesome reference! Have you ever seen Star Wars!? I highly recommend it! It's an amazing story! I really love this quote from it—who doesn't?!"
568
569Alright then, after experiencing three continuous days of misfortune where I almost choked to death every time I drank some water and suffered from endless amounts of cat bites from a certain silly cat, I learned that some jokes wouldn't be appreciated.
570
571Chapter 305: Inheritor
572
573
574
575My memories were missing more parts than I had expected, and since I didn't even have anything possibly related to Cher in my logs, then it probably wasn't anything good. It was likely to have been something I intentionally forgot of my own volition.
576
577"…How do you feel, suddenly becoming a daddy? Are you delighted?"
578
579"It's a very complex feeling. Also, if you keep intentionally misusing certain words like daddy, I shall make you into the ammunition for the next test firing of the new cannon in the experimental laboratory."
580
581I smiled and nodded as I accepted Harloys' taunt, before threatening her right afterwards.
582
583However, she seemed to not care about this punishment at all, which made me realize that such a common punishment wouldn't be able to scare her. Wait a moment, who would use stuffing someone into a cannon and firing them off as a common punishment anyways?
584
585"Beifeng—"
586
587"I shall pay extra attention that it shall never happen again."
588
589I nodded in satisfaction at this. Threats, after all, didn't need anything new. They only needed to be scary enough. Since a certain Banshee Queen was becoming more and more used to her cat form, the Saint-ranked beast tamer was definitely her mortal enemy. Thankfully, Beifeng still had some very basic morals. At the very least, I had never heard any complaints about him forcing anyone unwilling before.
590
591But to be honest, I really did have complex feelings towards what Harloys intentionally worded in a way to make fun of me.
592
593To begin with, I had no way of knowing if Cher truly was my descendant or not. Although there were many ways of ascertaining if someone was related to you or not in this world, none of those methods were usable in this particular situation. There was just no way to find out if she was 100% related to me or not.
594
595In this world, in order to determine if two people were related by blood, apart from the now completely unreliable divination magic, it would require something related to the physical body. No matter if it was secrets of a bloodline or magic that searched for a soul's origins, they all needed a part of the physical body as a basic catalyst.
596
597However, my physical body had been restructured after being revived this time. Although my physical appearance was the same as it was in the past, and I greatly resembled a human on the surface, I was probably no longer human internally.
598
599"System?"
600
601[…]
602
603Alright then, just as expected, the System was completely unreliable at such a critical moment. However, Cher had her own thoughts about this as she was a Weaver of Fate.
604
605"I can tell that your Fate Line is connected to my birth. Even if you aren't one of my ancestors, you have a very deep connection to my ancestor."
606
607Not to mention, with Reyne and East Mist as an excellent example, even if Cher was indeed related to me by blood, she might not necessarily be my descendant. After all, I had a headache-inducing playboy younger twin brother.
608
609"This time, it has nothing to do with me. Second Brother Karwenz told me to tell you this."
610
611Alright then, I didn't know what to say anymore as I saw how happy and excited Reyne seemed to be.
612
613"You're really delighted about this?"
614
615"Yeah, yeah, of course! If she's Brother Roland's descendant, doesn't that make her my relative as well? I finally have another relative apart from little sister Clint."
616
617"Little sister Clint? Shouldn't you be calling her big sister Glina?"
618
619I finally came to the conclusion that perhaps it was the destiny of descendants of the Mist to have great misfortune. Both Glina and Reyne could be considered textbook definitions of orphans, not to mention the two of them didn't have a good relationship with each other… Fine, from a certain standpoint, neither of them was anyone normal. Glina was especially a strange one that most people would have trouble getting along with.
620
621"Right, how are things with Glina these days?"
622
623"Very successful. Since the north and east have all been quiet, and they no longer need to worry about their backs, the Sleuweir Kingdom's restoration has been better than the other areas. In the letter I received from her two days ago, she was even complaining that she wanted to come out and play. Hmph, little sister Clint has far less to do than us. How could I possibly give her the chance to come out and play?"
624
625Although the Sleuweir Kingdom suffered significant losses during the battle in the Northlands, it had a solid foundation and was able to recover quite quickly. It was originally a country where trading was an important business to begin with, and it now had opportunities to trade with the elves and the new beastmen tribes.
626
627Meanwhile, East Mist was more limited in population and basic industries compared to Sleuweir. Even focusing the entire country's resources on preparing for the spring crop planting would be quite difficult for East Mist as they still needed to focus on basic military defenses. Although Reyne and Glina were both the leaders of entire countries, there was still a huge difference between them.
628
629Of course, if I looked at military capabilities, things were exactly the opposite. East Mist was my most important base of all in the Northlands, not to mention it was also the main headquarters of the Church of Law. The newly-born technologies and military squadrons all came from East Mist as well. They were top-level in military power out of all the Northlands countries despite East Mist's size. However, it was precisely because East Mist focused too much on military development that even the East Mist royal knights had to participate in planting new crops during spring.
630
631"Sleuweir is fine, but East Mist seems to have become rather unbalanced in its development. Military-related matters are taking up far too large a percentage of the government's tasks. The earth there is also poorly suited for agricultural development. I hope Amelia's new crops will be able to bring about an abundant harvest. Otherwise, I'm going to have to find some other rich fool to scam for East Mist's food money."
632
633I was slightly worried about the current situation when I thought about it. After all, the domain lords there would all have their own expectations and ambitions. If Reyne kept playing around outside in such an idle manner, there would be many troubles if something happened back in East Mist.
634
635"How about you go back to East Mist and take charge there? I have plenty of people here with me right now."
636
637Although Reyne hadn't become queen yet, everyone knew that she was the leader of East Mist. However, Reyne obviously wasn't the type to obediently stay in the royal palace and rule like a proper queen. This time, just like before, she claimed to come here to support me and came along with the Borealis of her own volition.
638
639"Even if I go back, I'm nothing more than a rubber stamper. That's so boring."
640
641Reyne pouted and seemed to disagree with me.
642
643This gave me an even bigger headache. After all, in a way, Reyne was right. The military matters in East Mist were being taken care of by my Red Hunting Hounds, Kelly could deal with political matters, and the Church of Law's authority was beginning to exceed royal authority as well. If you looked at it from a certain standpoint, it would even make us seem like we were intentionally usurping power from the orphan princess for a nefarious scheme.
644
645"Fine, fine, forget it. Do whatever you like. But here is—"
646
647"Yep, it's really boring here as well. I can't understand all these mage things anyways, which is why I was about to say goodbye to you and go on a journey."
648
649"A journey? Where to?"
650
651"I was thinking either the Forest of Dreams or Auland."
652
653Although Reyne was still smiling and acting so casually like always, I immediately understood her wish. There was no need to go more into the details. Judging from her honest and direct tone, she had already made this decision, and now she was merely notifying me.
654
655"Yep, it'll help me to gain more strength through practical combat experience, and I also want to earn Justice Points. There are plenty of treasures that I have my eyes on."
656
657Since the rules were set, they couldn't be changed so easily. Reyne, who had been following me for all this time, naturally understood just how important Justice Points were. Since she wished to become stronger, she would, of course, be quite interested in obtaining Justice Points. She also understood that now was the easiest time to obtain Justice Points and strengthen herself before everyone caught on to their importance.
658
659There were many items that could be exchanged for which were one-of-a-kind. Those that wanted such items would obviously have to act as quickly as possible. I had heard news from the Forest of Dreams that many people had already arrived there, including plenty of powerful individuals that had formerly preferred to remain as hermits.
660
661However, Reyne's plans weren't so simple as merely strengthening herself.
662
663"If you need them, just tell me. Otherwise, if there's not anything, I'm going to take the Silver Cross Squadron with me, as well as the Aurora Knights. It's too much of a waste to have them standing around here in the Cloud Tower acting as employees of Thorn Garden. I've already set aside five thousand Hero Armlets for their use. Just treat it as the appropriation of governmental property."
664
665This was obviously well-planned by her before she notified me. She was intending to go into battle. Not only would this help train herself, she would also train the soldiers and knights under her as well. They would obtain Justice Points and grow stronger together with her.
666
667This was Reyne's choice. She chose to lead her own people and knights to grow stronger together to deal with the future challenges and difficulties.
668
669A bright spring sun shone in through the window as the smiling Reyne waved goodbye to me. I felt like this all happened too quickly and mysteriously without me even realizing it.
670
671Her silver armor flashed with solid metallic plating, and traces of fear and hesitation had long since disappeared from her beautiful face. Her smile wasn't forced at all, and the silver Roland Sacred Sword was glowing with a resolute light. When I finally woke up, I discovered that time had flown by and that this girl had imperceptibly become a warrior who was a leader in her own right.
672
673"Right, I also brought that flag with me. You don't mind if I use it, right?"
674
675This famous dragon-slaying princess of the Northlands was still using that tattered flag of the Mist. At this moment, I paused in surprise, before I finally figured everything out.
676
677Obviously, Reyne had already planned all this out. She wasn't escaping from her responsibilities as the leader of a country—in fact, it was the opposite. She believed that since calamities were destined to endlessly come in the future, merely guarding what one had wasn't enough. After all, that was a passive way of defending. Only by obtaining enough strength would one be able to overcome the upcoming difficulties. And now was the best time to obtain greater power and reputation.
678
679In this world, even something as intangible as reputation could transform into solid, actual fighting strength. When faced with calamity and danger, a well-known hero's summoning for assistance would be able to attract numerous people who trusted in them as allies.
680
681Reyne made her choice. She chose to take her knights with her to experience the battlefield and to avoid the safety of my protection. She chose to obtain the power to protect herself and her people through life-and-death experiences, both to help herself gain a reputation as well as to inject new history and fame into the flag of the Mist. The entire land of Eich would witness once again what it was to be a descendant of the Mist.
682
683She knew that mentioning such ideas of hers in East Mist itself would be impossible. Since Reyne was the only royalty left, Kelly and all the other long-time retainers would definitely refuse, which was why she used the excuse of supporting me to come here. Then, she would go to the frontlines as planned before finally informing Kelly and the others afterwards.
684
685Right now, although the girl before me still looked the same as before, that formerly hesitant "flower-vase princess" had completely vanished. This princess knight was now someone who smiled while facing future calamities and was bearing the burden of a country and her citizens' trust.
686
687I really didn't know what to say even after thinking for a long while. Even though she was asking me about it on the surface, she probably never even considered the possibility that I would reject her.
688
689Would I reject her? Of course I wouldn't. Since the young bird had now matured into a soaring eagle that was ready to spread her wings and leave the nest, there was no way I would force her back into the nest and fold her wings. That would only make a talented individual waste away into an idiot.
690
691"You're really going to make me suffer with this. You want Kelly to lecture me to death that badly?"
692
693"…Hehe, even Brother Roland has something you're afraid of? I apologize for that; I'll write a letter to her. So, this means you'll allow me to go?"
694
695"Even if I don't allow you, you'll probably sneak off on your own. Honestly, there's nobody at all around me that doesn't make me worry."
696
697I laughed as I shook my head. I was both feeling relief as well as regret.
698
699"I love you the most, Brother Roland."
700
701When she discovered that her request had been approved, the mature female knight instantly became a defrosting ice mountain that transformed into a shy young girl who was smiling as prettily as a flower… and then she jumped on me, knocking over both me and my chair.
702
703Kiss!
704
705I felt a light peck on my cheek, and when I finally came to my senses, there was nothing before me anymore other than a faint smell of orange-scented perfume and Reyne's figure escaping in the distance.
706
707I rubbed my cheek where I could still feel a lingering soft sensation, as if her red lips were still brushing against my cheek. I had no idea what to say anymore, and it took quite a long while before I finally managed to make a comment.
708
709"…Heh heh, that little girl is such a passionate one."
710
711"Sometimes, intentionally acting dumb when dealing with something awkward can be considered gentlemanly. Sometimes, even though you clearly know what's going on, you still intentionally act dumb, which is something ridiculously overboard. Little Roland, which type do you think you are?"
712
713"Shut up, Harloys. Otherwise, I'll feed you to Beifeng."
714
715"…"
716
717My best weapon against her was far too threatening so the silly cat fell silent. However, a while later, I couldn't help but ask.
718
719"Was I really being overboard?"
720
721"…Scumbag, demon, pervert, bastard, gentleman, Roland, Beifeng!"
722
723Alright then, it appeared as if my and Beifeng's names had the potential to turn into adjectives. Since my level of wickedness in her mind was only one level off from Beifeng's, it seemed that I really needed to start self-reflecting.
724
725After Reyne escaped at top speed as if she was fleeing the scene of a traffic accident, my emotions that were already in a mess, due to the issue of Cher's identity, became even messier. Not to mention, the silly cat continued adding to my burden.
726
727"…Oni Chichi, Beifeng, Roland, Oni Chichi, Beifeng, Roland…"
728
729When I began seriously considering if I should try tasting some cat meat for the first time in my life—and started taking action as well—only then did she snicker at me and disappeared into a shadow.
730
731After thinking about things for another two minutes, I decided to focus on something else, instead.
732
733"Reyne, you're becoming more and more like him."
734
735Mysteriously, in my mind, my impression of Reyne was beginning to overlap with Karwenz, the idiot who sought strength above everything, to an incredible degree. From another standpoint, Reyne's determination to go train herself in battle gave me a warning as well.
736
737"Since I've already made all the plans I can, it's about time I started focusing on my own cultivation. In the end, power levels are more important than anything else. Even Reyne understands this much, so how can I possibly fall behind her? When I finish all these things here at the Cloud Tower, I should go find a place to cultivate as well, along with earning some Justice Points."
738
739As long as I could steady the situation here before the Undead Emperors descended, this would be the final period of peace for the mortal plane. Karwenz's overwhelming power was a thousand-kilogram boulder weighing in my mind. Not only that, ten years from now—no—perhaps only seven or eight years from now, all the Undead Emperors would be able to descend to the mortal plane at full power, which was the biggest threat before me right now.
740
741I had already solidified my foundations and discovered my own future path. The rest would be to persist down my own path and furiously train myself through actual combat and earn both Fate Points and Justice Points to improve at an almost rule-breaking level of speed.
742
743"Right. If I want to enter the Legend rank, I need to restore three more Soul Imprints. I still don't have any methods for Holy Light and Law right now, but I'm currently in the Mage Country. My undead magic has long since reached a bottleneck, and I bet I can find some relevant knowledge here to make a breakthrough. Also, I need lots of top-quality elemental materials to improve my Frigidwinter Earth. It seems that it's time to rob my old friends—er—have some discussions with them."
744
745Chapter 306: Revolution
746
747
748
749The area around Loyu Street was originally one of the most unnoticeable areas in all of Arlo. After all, this area was the goblin and dwarves' district. They weren't popular in this country of magic, and the estate prices here were the lowest.
750
751This was the Mage Country. Goblins' and gnomes' engineering technology would always seem extravagant but impractical in front of the mysterious power of magic—like a firework, beautiful yet otherwise useless.
752
753"Engineers' cannons? Goblins' explosives? They don't even have the power of three-circle magic spells, and it's so easy to accidentally injure oneself with an explosion. Most importantly, they're really expensive, really heavy, and really unreliable."
754
755"Goblin harvester mechas? A Silver rank can easily deal with the small ones, while the large ones require astronomical prices due to the need for an energy source. Nor can large mechas be mass-produced, and I'm doubtful of their practical usability."
756
757"Gnomes' daily-life products? Are you joking with me? Are you intending to try that water-flushing toilet of theirs that can shoot you up into the clouds? Or use a gnome sleeping mask that will easily fry your brain? Yep, you could also try their large 'mega-comfy' massage chairs that are rumored to be so comfortable that they'll break every bone in your body. Forget it, those items all belong in a dump."
758
759For quite a long while now, the products of engineering had always been treated as unreliable. Apart from the fact that the goblins and gnomes that excelled at engineering indeed had problems with their moral conduct, it was more about the limitations of technology.
760
761"It's impossible for engineering to produce reliable products without a reliable power source."
762
763To use an analogy from my previous world so that you readers can understand, not a single person would buy a car that would randomly choose a number between 1 and 100 horsepower when you stepped on the gas pedal. If a hair dryer or a microwave had voltage that would randomly jump several tens of thousands at a time, they would be no different from a ticking time bomb.
764
765The energy sources that the gnomes and goblins used were far too crude. Either they used highly flammable substances like oil as the energy source, which meant that it was hard to control the energy output's power, or they would use rare resources obtained from magical beasts or precious minerals. That would cost astronomical amounts of money, on top of a low efficiency rate of conversion to energy. Not to mention, these magical sources would be difficult to control if they ran amok. And so, energy development was basically a huge mess.
766
767That wasn't because the goblins and gnomes didn't view energy as important. It was that every natural-made or ancient energy source had different activation methods and fundamental workings. These energy sources could only be researched individually. Since all the different parts for energy sources were of such a wide variety, how could they possibly come up with an all-around mass producible energy source?
768
769And since there was no way to mass produce any reliable energy sources, it was only natural that engineered products were also similarly unable to be mass produced. There was no consistency to engineering at all.
770
771Of course, goblins and gnomes weren't satisfied with restrictions like this. Goblin engineering was just a typical goblin way of thinking… or perhaps I should say a goblin way of not caring about the consequences.
772
773"Since I don't know when it'll explode, let's just make this into an explosive with the target of exploding in the first place."
774
775And so, all sorts of Goblin Mines were invented. After a long time passed, the goblins lost sight of their original goal of improving goblin engineering. Their goal instead became the abnormal one of making more and more powerful explosions, something they considered glorious.
776
777"Since there's no way to reliably control the energy output, then let's just think of ways to maximize the energy output, instead." And so, the goblin rocket cars and rockets were invented that had such a high fatality rate…
778
779Should I say that it was thanks to the gnomes inventing the parachute that pilots were given the chance to return to the ground alive? However, I found it incomprehensible how goblin rocket car races became the goblins' most favorite sport of all.
780
781"Danger? What's that? Please call it unpredictable excitement!"
782
783That would be a very typical goblin-like answer. Perhaps it would be more convincing if it wasn't for the fact that the goblin rocket car races caused several hundred goblin casualties every year—all due to explosions.
784
785Meanwhile, the gnomes had a much more normal way of thinking. At the very least, they were working hard to make up for their technological weaknesses. During the process of searching for better energy mechanisms, they invented gears and attempted to use gears to transmit torque, change speed, and change the direction of torque. The gnomes attempted to use gears to control the output of energy and control what was originally uncontrollable.
786
787It was precisely because of gnome gears and conductors that gnomes possessed far higher quality engineering products in the areas of mechas and transportation tools compared to the goblins. The gnomes' products were far more exquisite as well.
788
789After all, the goblins considered all "large and creaky products" as "consumable products which bring excitement and explosions," so there was no reason that the goblins would research any deeper about the subject. However, the goblins far exceeded the gnomes regarding anything dangerous or high speed, such as rocket cars.
790
791With current technology in this world, using gears which were still a relatively new invention here to begin with to control an energy source that was completely unpredictable would be no different from using oars designed for a wooden rowboat to try and control a heavy battleship constructed of metal. It would naturally be unreliable, and even for the coincidental successes, the amount invested in the construction would far exceed what was earned from selling it. And, in the end, it would still be unable to be mass produced.
792
793The worst part was that even though the gnomes hadn't yet mastered the gears that they invented, they still believed that "it'll somehow succeed by using as many as possible." The gnomes created a large amount of daily life products for practical use that became known as "killers." The end result was that no matter if engineered products came from goblins or gnomes, the products all became known as bad, unreliable deals.
794
795As for me personally, I felt that the gnomes were at least more reliable than the goblins. If the gnomes were given another two or three thousand years of time, perhaps they would be able to coincidentally discover some energy source and develop technology similar to steam-engine technology from my original world. But since this world was facing numerous impending calamities, such time was obviously unavailable.
796
797To be honest, if the goblins and the gnomes cooperated, they would perhaps be able to invent some amazing new technologies. However, those in the same line of business always viewed others in the same line as competitors, not to mention how scientists were always the stubborn type. Researchers with just slightly different ways of thinking thought it natural to view each other as competitors and even enemies. It was basically a daily occurrence to attack others' research for simply being different from one's own. The goblins and gnomes never had a good relationship.
798
799Only a place like Sulfur Mountain City would be able to make these two species, who always viewed each other with enmity, finally put aside their differences and cooperate, which resulted in abnormal products like the Roland Titan. Of course, even in Sulfur Mountain City, the two species still argued aplenty. Only when they were locked in jail as prisoners together did they finally manage to come to a temporary mutual accord.
800
801But now, Olivia's Magic Box meant that there was a reliable source of energy. The engineers would finally be able to let go of their old outdated and mistaken ideas while focusing on developing more important technologies.
802
803"Every change in how energy is supplied represents a new industrial revolution. And for Eich, what the Olivia Magic Box will bring is probably this world's first ever industrial revolution."
804
805Although the Olivia Magic Box's core was the Miracle Alchemist Olivia's energy conservation cycle magical array, what allowed it to operate consistently was mostly the work of master engineers led by Timlad. The current newest edition, "Olivia Magic Box 8.1," had far higher specs than even the version in the game's "history." That was why all sorts of engineering products were developed so quickly in this current version of history.
806
807Not only did it involve the hard efforts of Jinya, Millhouse [1][1], and various goblin and gnome engineers, the information that Timlad provided stemmed from secret knowledge possessed by ancient races. After all, Timlad was the final remaining member of that ancient species. This was a miracle product born out of necessity of the times. If it wasn't for being pushed to the brink and despairing, the Timlad in the game's "history" would never would have given up his own precious information to others.
808
809Now, the entire Loyu Steet District became the Great Industrial Party's district after purchasing, merging, and recruiting the entire area.
810
811Yep, merging. Basically, I would just purchase an entire store, which naturally made the store's employees ours. Then, I would have the stores demolished and modified into factories. Although this did cost a lot of money, I had earned plenty in recent days, not to mention my previously saved up funds. It wasn't too much of a financial burden.
812
813There were plenty of goblin and gnome engineers along with dwarven alchemists making a living in the Mage Country. However, most of their business came from smithing, alchemy, and enchantments. Smithing was quite close to engineering, anyways, and I really lacked people in this department. I also hankered after more alchemists as well.
814
815As for the goblins and gnomes, engineering was a part of their daily lives. Even goblin master alchemists would be quite skilled in engineering, and their archmages were quite willing to work for me in exchange for the newest technology I possessed. No, I should say that since this was the revolution that would herald a new generation, and that the goblins and gnomes were species sensitive to the importance of new technology, they had practically gone crazy over the technology I showed them.
816
817What made them furious was the fact that this invention destined to become a historical achievement wasn't invented by either of their races. This caused them to want to vent in frustration out of pride.
818
819In fact, when I tossed out recruitment advertisements stating that Thorn Garden was hiring engineers and alchemists, mentioning that a long-term contract of ten years was required, many top-level gnome master enchanters and dwarven alchemists voluntarily came to offer me their services. There was even a Myth-ranked gnome archmage, Cromwell Manastorm, a master magical puppet artisan, that came to show me his acolyte-level engineering certificate in a pitiful attempt to be hired by me.
820
821"Actually, I've always wanted to be an engineer—hey—hey—please don't leave! I can work for you while researching new technologies! Wouldn't you like to see the combination of runic magic puppets and engineering technology!? That'll definitely be by far the scariest—I mean cutest little things this world has ever seen!"
822
823The gnome archmage's raspy voice echoed throughout the room, with shiny and dangerous purple mana waves crackling. I even suspected that if I refused him, he would directly attempt to explode this entire room.
824
825"Fine, just sign this ten-year contract here, and you'll be working for me, Roland, from now on… Hey, you're signing without even reading the contract? I'm that trustworthy?"
826
827"Heh heh, as long as you give me that technology, I'm even willing to pay you every single bit of my wealth. It's merely working for you for ten years, such a little thing. Besides, I've already heard from other gnomes about you, and I'm really looking forward to working for you."
828
829The white-bearded gnome archmage laughed in delight, almost as if I was the one signing a ten-year contract to work for him, instead. Not to mention, this gnome archmage wasn't even the first archmage to show friendliness to our cause. The unexpected part was that almost all the archmages expressing interest in joining us so far weren't human archmages.
830
831I had plenty of subordinates, money, and technology. The factories were completed quite quickly, and Loyu Street became my turf.
832
833Of course, the consequence was that it no longer became possible for other mages to come to the gnomes and goblins for the original services provided. The mages would now have to go look for human smiths and alchemists. Naturally, this would attract enmity in my direction as I was being quite grand in my actions. Still, why would I care?
834
835"The next products we're going to start selling? The Starcraft Marine and Sith Warrior mechas are all finished, so let's start selling those. Hmm, it's time to increase the speed at which people start using Justice Points. We're only going to sell the mechas to those who can pay 10 Justice Points in addition to the price in gold coins. That's a very low amount of Justice Points, but it'll force the mages to start thinking of ways to earn them."
836
837However, sometimes things simply wouldn't develop as planned.
838
839"Um, my apologies, but we don't have enough money to purchase and create so many production lines."
840
841"How is that possible? Thorn Garden is highly profitable, right? I even set aside an amount of money for purchasing land, so why is there no more money? Was there an error in your calculations?"
842
843"Milord, you signed so many master engineers and archmages to ten-year contracts, so the costs for housing them and first installments of paying their salaries constitue no small amount. The cost has exceeded the budget! Also, Milord, you currently have four research projects active at once. Especially your Roland #7, it costs a ridiculous amount of money every day. Everyone in the finance department is of the opinion that Milord should stop one of your research projects."
844
845I didn't know what to say to the hesitant young accountant who had been forced here by his coworkers to be the bringer of bad news. Although I could still think of other ideas to move funding from other sources, this would definitely slow down the overall progress of things I wanted. I hesitated for a moment and ended up thinking of a little scheme to obtain some extra money.
846
847"How about we try something a little crooked?"
848
849However, when I told everyone my plan, they were all cool to the idea.
850
851"If you rob or scam someone, won't you lose the ability to use the power of Law? Milord—"
852
853When I heard this, I laughed in satisfaction.
854
855"Hmph! This isn't robbing or scamming at all. Such talentless actions like robbing or scamming couldn't possibly make as much money as this idea of mine!"
856
857Notes:
858
859[1] TL/N: Apparently Miheuer in the glossary, but I'm changing it to Millhouse because Millhouse Manastorm is actually a WoW reference.
860
861[1] TL/N: Apparently Miheuer in the glossary, but I'm changing it to Millhouse because Millhouse Manastorm is actually a WoW reference.
862
863Chapter 307: Goblins vs Gnomes [1]
864
865
866
867"Have you bought one yet?"
868
869Nobody could have expected what exactly would happen as a result of the above phrase becoming one of the most popular greetings among mages.
870
871"Last night I had a dream in which my ancestor informed me that this time, it'll definitely be red-blue, red-purple, and black-white!"
872
873Did that sound confusing? Each color combination represented a choice. This was much simpler than number combinations. It was much easier to understand, right?
874
875Yep, this was a lottery system. Apart from a crazy archmage like me who was actually from another world, who else would think of starting a lottery system in a magical fantasy world in order to earn money?
876
877As for this young mage who supposedly received a message from his ancestor in his dream, he was no different to those lottery addicts from my original world. He decided to spend his entire family's fortune on this one series of colors.
878
879Of course, compared to my original world where, in China, the lottery system often had tricks involved and the lottery holders themselves often won their own lottery, I considered myself quite conscientious. I merely had my own people win only 30% of the total lottery rewards.
880
881What? You think I'm immoral? Actually, I considered myself quite moral compared to many lottery officials.
882
883Those who won prizes in my lottery didn't win only gold coins. After all, there were plenty of mages who were already quite rich. My prize pool contained rare magical ingredients, Thorn Garden's limited-edition goods that couldn't be purchased in the store, Justice Points, and even the right to be taken in as a disciple by an Emblem of Endless Truth archmage. These potential prizes successfully allured mages into playing my lottery.
884
885I also intentionally raised the rate of winning prizes during the first few cycles of the lottery. Plenty of mages even won the consolation prize, the limited-edition Iron Horse #8, nicknamed Red Lightning. The winners happily rode their new red steeds and raced everywhere, causing certain collectors to even go into a mania trying to obtain one.
886
887What was with the name of Red Lightning? Actually, they were just the same as Iron Horse #7, just with an outer layer of red paint and renamed #8…
888
889What? Merely changing the color scheme and counting it as a limited-edition product seemed like a devious tactic…? Actually, I felt that I was quite moral! At the very least, I didn't start selling the Red Lightnings at a jacked-up price by simply claiming that they were limited editions. I was even kind enough to change the name!
890
891Fine then, I supposed I was a devious no-good merchant, but was there such a thing as a successful merchant who wasn't devious and no-good? At the very least, I provided the mages with entertainment while I made money for myself. Plenty of people had fun.
892
893And once certain things got started, they would be quite hard to stop, especially since the natives here were "honest" folk that had never known addictions. Once they got started, how would I possibly let them stop… After they took the bait, the prizes they won became the least important. The excitement and anticipation at revealing what prize they could get, just like people making random draws in a cell phone game, was what people became addicted to the most.
894
895And this was just a beginning. They would soon become numb if I merely repeated the same type of stimulation over and over again. I needed to give them endless amounts of new things they could bet on.
896
897"Who do you guys think will win this time? Jinya's Mega Apollo, or Manastorm's Maniac Gear 07?"
898
899"I think the result will be the same as last time, with both of them exploding before they reach the finish line. Damn it, who could have guessed that there would be such a result last time? I bet on the gnomes last time and lost so much money!"
900
901"Hmph, that's because you all still don't know enough about engineers. Last time, I bet that neither the goblins nor the gnomes would reach the finish line. There was a 1:3 betting ratio so I won three times my bet! But still, it was such a pity as I was too conservative with how much I bet. Otherwise, I could have made so much money…"
902
903"Damn, you actually bet successfully on such a ridiculous result? Why were you so conservative?"
904
905"I was quite hesitant at the time. If only I bet on neither side being able to finish even half the race. That would have been a 1:9 betting ratio!"
906
907"Amazing. How about we all bet on the same thing as you next time?"
908
909"Oh, how you heard? Since too many people are betting this time that nobody will reach the finish line, the betting ratio has already been changed to 1:0.8. It's such a pitfall. But I feel like that's the only place to bet."
910
911"Hmph, how dumb of you. I heard that due to last time, both the goblins and gnomes were so angry that they spent great amounts of effort in making improvements. Not only that, Blue Tower's Iron Horse team is joining in for this next race. Do you really think nobody will reach the finish line?"
912
913"How come I've never even heard of this, damn it! The race's hosts are so insidious!"
914
915Goblins vs. Gnomes was the name of the newest popular competition that these mages were currently discussing. Goblin engineers and gnome engineers would assemble their racecars and participate in an obstacle course race against each other. During the race, they would be allowed to interfere with each other; tossing rockets and small explosives at each other was as commonplace as breathing. The first to cross the finish line would be the winner.
916
917However, since the goblins and the gnomes went overboard during the last race, becoming seriously angry with each other to the point of exploding both teams' race cars, many spectators were dissatisfied about how there was no victor at all in the end. So this time, another team volunteered to join in—the Blue Tower Iron Horse Squad. Although their equipment and speed were far behind the goblin and gnome engineers' custom modified Iron Horses, as long as the goblin and gnome race cars kept exploding and attacking each other on the way, the Iron Horse squad would naturally become the only victors in the end. And so, after news about this spread, people viewed the Iron Horse Squad as the most reliable one to bet on, but…
918
919"How are the betting spreads looking like? What result will be the most profitable for us?"
920
921"Fewest people are betting on the goblins as their race car is always exploding before reaching the end of the track. The most commonly bet-on team is the Blue Tower Iron Horse Squad. If they win, we'll be losing a huge amount of money with the current betting ratios."
922
923"Okay, install the newest and most reliable engines in Jinya's race car, while secretly loosening the gears in Manastorm's race car. We're going to make the goblins into the victor of the next race. Right, is the new project ready yet?"
924
925"Of course. 'Goblins vs. Gnomes 2: Hot Air Balloon Airships vs. Combat Helicopters' will soon be available!"
926
927"Yep, make plenty of advertisements for them and begin selling tickets to the first show in preparation to scam mon—er—sell betting tickets. But remember, there's an iron rule that only those with Gold rank and above are allowed to be the goblins' and gnomes' pilots. With how their contraptions are, any with a lower power level is likely to die sooner or later. Is there any news from the other mage organizations?"
928
929In order to help increase the sales for the best and most expensive front-row seats to the competitions, I made the front-row tickets into a mini collection game which awarded a random card each time. If one collected a full set of cards, they would be able to exchange the cards for a free Iron Horse. Of course, there were two specific cards that I had less than ten copies printed, so this seemingly excellent way of receiving an Iron Horse for free by simply buying the most expensive tickets had only given out few Iron Horses so far.
930
931"While there were a few mage organizations that objected to some activities, there were no mage organizations that are actually taking action against you. After all, we really lack good entertainment, which leaves everyone quite bored. Even those who didn't join in the betting can simply enjoy watching the competition. Oh, but there are many that hope that they can enter the competition themselves. However, they want to use their own steeds, such as phantom horses, hell travelers, and so on…"
932
933"…Let them join in the next competition. I've already prepared the advertisement's slogan: 'The mage racers intending to take revenge for the Blue Tower mage's failure.' But you need to accurately test their steeds' abilities first for top speed and natural talent abilities. No more dragon knights or frost giants that are overwhelmingly more powerful than everything else. Such shows won't earn us any money!"
934
935The first few rounds had allowed other mages to participate freely as they pleased, until a top-level summoner decided to participate and summoned a flying SemiDragon that flattened the goblins' race car. Another brought out a frost giant that kicked Manastorm and the gnomes' race car out of the obstacle race in a single blow. "Don't you dare use your stinky shoes to kick a gnome, and don't you dare kick a gnome's mecha!"—Manastorm. The competition became absolutely boring to watch as there was no doubt who would win so we began to limit who could participate. We would publicly list all information about the race's participants beforehand.
936
937"It doesn't matter who wins the race. Since we're the house, the house always wins."
938
939Okay then, I admit that from a certain standpoint, this was indeed rather immoral of us as we were intentionally manipulating those who won the races. Since I was shameless enough to get the mages addicted to gambling in the first place, I no longer cared if I acted even more shamelessly. But based on my usual premonitions, I knew that good things like this wouldn't last long.
940
941"The Mystical Blade's tax department is here again. They want to check our account books."
942
943"Tsk, those carrion birds have such excellent noses. Tell them that this isn't something under their jurisdiction. We're not making any transactions or trades here, we're merely holding a competition. As for the tiny amount of betting going on… the Mage Country doesn't have a gambling tax yet. Tell them that they're free to come collect taxes from us after the Mage Country passes such a law!"
944
945"Okay, but what about Her Ladyship?"
946
947"Her Ladyship? Who's that?"
948
949"Lady Cher. She's the one leading the tax department again…"
950
951As expected of a daughter, never loyal to her family. Just how many days did I know her before she was turning on me…? Wait a moment, why am I calling her my daughter? This was all still just an unknown, an unknown!
952
953"She's not Her Ladyship in our family, and I don't have a daughter! How am I supposed to live like this! I haven't even gotten married yet! What am I supposed to do if word of this spreads? That little girl Cher? Just make her wait outside!"
954
955Suddenly, the young brat giving me the report had a strange expression as he looked at me. Then, I heard a soft cough behind me that sounded familiar.
956
957"Cough, it reassures me to know that you think like this… Everyone, come check the accounts together. We're first going to go over Thorn Garden's sales taxes for their transactions. Be careful, the owner of this store is incredibly sly and clever. Only checking the account books won't be enough. We're going to start from the warehouse…"
958
959The blue-haired Cher was most definitely angry as she started giving orders to her companions. It seemed that I was going to be losing a lot of money again—no—I couldn't give up! That girl seemed tough on the outside, but she had a soft heart inside. Perhaps begging her would work!
960
961"Wait, wait, my good and obedient daughter, it's not easy for daddy to make some money. At least leave me some retirement funds."
962
963At this moment, everyone was shocked at just how shameless I was capable of being. Meanwhile, a certain silly cat who brought Cher in here, fully intending to see the awkward situation it would put me in, was now laughing so hard that she was rolling around on the ground.
964
965Well, in the end, thanks to all the mages' passion for gambling, I was highly successful in being able to make the money I needed for funding my projects.
966
967Of course, there were some slight side effects, such as how my reputation became even stranger… Reputation? Could it be eaten?
968
969Even I was surprised by how lacking in entertainment the mages were. Although the mages had so much knowledge, their daily lives were quite simple and boring. In front of certain temptations, particularly since the mages were bad at controlling their own spending habits, they were really easy to fool. I looked at my real accounts and simply did some rough estimations and discovered that the income from selling betting tickets far exceeded what I made from Thorn Garden.
970
971And since I earned money, I was naturally going to spend it, as long as the money was worth my time. I was quite attracted by the treasure troves of several-hundred-year-old archmages. Their treasure troves wouldn't be in any way inferior to dragons' treasure troves, and since I was a mage as well, of course I would be attracted to the most by magical secrets. Of course, since my specialty was rather unconventional, this would attract some controversy.
972
973"You want to make a trade with the 'Soul Demon Association' which is under the Sword of Order? They have an absolutely terrible reputation, and they're all undead mages. Graverobbing and stealing is practically an everyday occurrence for them. Are you sure that you want to associate with them? Aren't you worried that your reputation will be affected?"
974
975"…Can my reputation get any worse than Yongye's?"
976
977This one sentence of mine blocked off everyone else's complaints, and I satisfactorily looked through the information I purchased from the Soul Demon Association. From a certain standpoint, although Harloys taught me my foundational undead magic, most of it was actually self-taught in a haphazard fashion. It would be different from the Soul Demon Association which would have a systematic way of treating undead magic, and comparing my magic to theirs would benefit me greatly.
978
979By the way, if it weren't for Yongye's reputation, perhaps this mage organization that was quite ill-reputed wouldn't have been willing to make an equivalent exchange with me. They indeed looked down on fair trades. Nor would they have given me such top-level undead magic information.
980
981There was now a large amount of undead magic information before me, including much that was limited or one-of-a-kind. Although I still didn't know how to fix my undead magic Soul Imprint, it was sufficient to shore up the gaps in my knowledge as well as give me plenty of inspiration.
982
983"…Amelia has already surpassed me. I'm so envious of her wood spirits and Forest of Dreams. With all this new undead magic information, I can still try creating something new even if I'm unable to create Undead Lords on the level of my Original Sins."
984
985Note:
986
987ED/N: Title is a Hearthstone reference.
988
989Chapter 308: I Can Do Whatever I Want Because I’m Rich!
990
991
992
993"My fireball will tear you apart!"
994
995"Ha! Taste my gunfire!"
996
997In Arlo's arena, a high-level mage was dueling with a ranger. Normally speaking, the ranger would continuously adjust the distance and angle between them, making all sorts of fancy movements to dodge the mage's spells in order to find a chance at landing a winning attack. However, if the ranger happened to have a steed, the ranger would have an even greater advantage in mobility and the number of their attacks.
998
999Meanwhile, the typical tactics of a high-level mage were the opposite. The mage would cast a bunch of defensive magic spells on themselves and then summon a bunch of cannon fodder. They would finally balance attack and defense magic spells and search for a chance to defeat the opponent.
1000
1001This was still a duel between an elf ranger and a mage. However, the spectators didn't really understand what was going on this time.
1002
1003This purple-haired elf ranger wasn't wielding the elves' typical weapon, an enchanted longbow. Instead, this ranger was wielding a dwarven gun that the elves typically looked down upon as being unreliable—it would often self-destruct and explode. Nor was this ranger using a typical forest's holy unicorn as the steed. Instead, the ranger rode on a boomingly loud Iron Horse.
1004
1005This royal elf [1][1] was wearing a black punk-style jacket and a leather cap. One hand skillfully controlled the Iron Horse in rapidly circling around the arena, jumping around, going up the wall, making sudden stops, standing on one wheel, and all sorts of other fancy tricks.
1006
1007His other hand held a silver shotgun, and he continuously attacked his opponent whenever he saw an opening. Compared to dwarven firearms' typically lead bullets with low attack power, this gun used high-quality diamond bullets with an outer covering of silver and magic paint. The bullets glimmered in all different sorts of colors.
1008
1009The handsome elf ranger seemed to be extremely confident in his own skills. His movements were quite smooth, and he would occasionally swing his shotgun in midair, causing the ammo to automatically reload. His hair that flowed in the wind made him look really cool. Many female audience members shrieked their support for him.
1010
1011Yet the elf ranger's opponent didn't care about any of his actions. This mage clad in silver armor ignored all of the ranger's attacks and merely stood still. The mage casted all sorts of spells such as blizzard magic, frost magic, hail magic, and ice pillar magic. Lots of high-level area of effect magic spells rained down, as if this mage possessed limitless amounts of mana.
1012
1013Meanwhile, the ranger's magical shotgun would shoot large holes into the arena's walls and ground with every missed bullet, but they merely bounced off the mage's armor with blinding sparks. Concurrently, the mage's constant bombardment of AOE magic caused the Iron Horse-riding ranger to have to dash all around the arena.
1014
1015The ranger's attack power wasn't low at all. The Gold-ranked ranger Ade was already skilled enough with the shotgun to use the elves' special magic arrow techniques with it. The only reason the mage was able to ignore his attacks was that the mage's armor had a ridiculously high defense power.
1016
1017The mage was wearing silver armor that covered his entire body. The fact that every last bit of skin was covered meant that nobody could even see his face. Under the obsidian crystal face mask was an expression that was as calm as still water. The armor's outer layer shone with a special glow that was unique to mithril. Magic enchantments on the armor provided it with an additional three protective layers of defense, while the attention-grabbing dragon crystal on the armor's chest emanated frighteningly powerful waves of mana. No matter how rich anyone was, they would all shout "just where did this mega-rich person come from!" upon seeing such a suit of armor.
1018
1019Also, the silver thorned rose emblem on the mecha armor's back doubtlessly indicated that this mecha armor was Thorn Garden's newest product: I Can Do Whatever I Want Because I'm Rich! #1. Yep, from a certain standpoint, this somewhat strange name I had given to this suit of mithril was the best explanation of its properties.
1020
1021The mecha armor's internal batteries provided force, ice, and thunder; three different types of defensive layers. The thick armor was constructed entirely out of mithril, the best magical metal of all. These four combined layers of physical and magical defense caused Ade's magical diamond bullets to be unable to pierce the armor even the slightest bit. The bullets hit the armor in a continuous stream only to ricochet off of it. They were deflected by the magical barriers as well, causing Ade to become quite frustrated.
1022
1023It was simple common sense that a duel when one side was completely unable to harm the other would mean that it would be one-sided. Unless something happened to overturn the situation, the popular elf ranger Ade, who was currently on a winning streak in the arena, was destined to lose.
1024
1025"It's over!"
1026
1027When Ade's Iron Horse drove over a layer of ice created by some blizzard magic, the wheels suddenly went skidding. Right when Ade lost control of his Iron Horse, a prison of ice descended upon him. Now that the elf was trapped with nowhere to go—an easy target for the mage's next major spell—Ade unhesitatingly rose his hands up in surrender.
1028
1029"…That mage has won fifteen duels in a row. Even 'Blood Moon Hunter' Ade has lost to him, and it's still so one-sided. That armor is just ridiculous."
1030
1031In the Cloud Tower, the mages and warriors that loved to fight had the arena as one of their few source of entertainment. The arena was also one of the very few places where mages would actually gamble in the Mage Country. The Abo Arena was one such arena where countless duels would happen every day. The types of duels included training duels for gaining practical experience, duels to simply see who was better, duels between teacher and student for the purpose of teaching, and of course duels between enemies that were seriously trying to kill each other. However, today's duel was the most common type of duel, just a regular duel that spectators could gamble on who the winner would be.
1032
1033A regular duel would mean that battles wouldn't be to the death, and both sides would be wagering something on it. This would help both sides gain combat experience as well as help the victor obtain tangible benefits and reputation. However, since most mages weren't interested in personally entering the arena, most arena duel participants were actually in warrior and ranger-type job classes despite this being the Mage Country. The participants of these duels were typically non-mage residents of the Mage Country or some mage's bodyguards.
1034
1035The ranger Ade was the bodyguard of an royal elf prince. Ade was considered a famous ranger back in his hometown, and after he purchased an Iron Horse and magical shotgun from Thorn Garden, he was able to speedily learn a series of self-taught high-speed Iron Horse riding and shooting skills. Many of his opponents that actually had higher power level rankings than he did were all defeated by his high-speed, high-mobility attacking style.
1036
1037However, after Ade reached ten consecutive victories, he met the most difficult opponent he had ever faced in the arena—this mage who wore a full-body mithril mecha armor. This mage's armor would make even a dragon seem poor in comparison.
1038
1039The mage didn't need to pay any attention to his own positioning or cast any defensive magic spells. He merely had to stand there without moving in his heavy mecha armor, and none of his opponents in the arena had been able to break through its defense. Then, the mage would simply utter long magical incantations at his leisure and act as a stationary artillery. If the mage ran out of mana, he could even replenish his mana using the mecha armor's battery packs. With ridiculously high defense and nearly limitless mana, it was definitely a shameless tactic.
1040
1041"Go, I'm Ridiculously Rich!"
1042
1043"Be careful, a dragon might rob you when you go outdoors!"
1044
1045The spectators were cheering on this newly rising arena star. "I'm Ridiculously Rich" was the nickname that this mage signed up for arena battles with, and nobody knew the mage's real identity. Even though the mage was clearly using only Silver rank magic spells at best, he managed to forcefully defeat many powerful opponents, including two who were at the Legend rank!
1046
1047If Ade's self-mastered, self-taught new techniques based on the new technology gave evidence that new technologies could improve combat strength, then I'm Ridiculously Rich proved an even more basic maxim of the world: the rich would always be the most powerful.
1048
1049When this mage in the brilliantly shining silver armor strode back to his personal resting area in the arena, he suddenly collapsed on the ground, as the armor started venting large amounts of steam from its exhaust pipes.
1050
1051Meanwhile, several gnome and goblin engineers had long since been ready and waiting. They immediately started working on the armor's maintenance. When the armor's helmet was removed, a younger face than one might expect was revealed underneath.
1052
1053"Cohen, how do you feel?"
1054
1055That's right, the real identity of "I'm Ridiculously Rich" wasn't a high-level archmage. Instead, he was my acolyte, Cohen, a Four Elemental Swordcaster who barely even counted as a Silver ranker.
1056
1057"…With a dragon crystal's mana replenishing my own mana, I can basically cast spells without ever running out of mana. But dragon crystals are so expensive…"
1058
1059"No worries. Just have fun out there and treat it as valuable experience. As for the dragon crystal and other magical materials? Relax. Someone else is footing the bill for us."
1060
1061In my previous world, war was always the greatest stimulant for technological innovation. Only when humans were forced to the brink would they bring out their unreliable and untested technologies and think of methods to use these undeveloped technologies for slaughtering the enemy.
1062
1063Magical engineering was a new area of science that was born as a result of war as well, and it, too, was destined to grow through war. The resulting products were immensely popular when I started selling them through Thorn Garden for the first time. For example, the two types of mechas which I named after elements from Star Wars, the Sith Warriors and Jedis, became highly accoladed right after I started selling them on the market.
1064
1065I actually didn't expect how popular my Star Wars mechas would become. I hadn't even intended to make them the store's main products because although both mecha types greatly increased the pilot's mobility and defensive power, not to mention they were equipped with portable batteries, the fact of the matter was that they were still constructed out of ordinary metals. This would have an evident impact on the efficiency of casting spells. Although the Four Elemental Swordcasters and Magic Gunners that relied on "outside help" for their magical combat strength could ignore the interference of metal on mana, pure mages obviously wouldn't find these Star Wars mechas to be the most efficient environment to cast magic spells in.
1066
1067What I underestimated was… just how rich the mages were!
1068
1069Indeed. Current technology was limited, but the mages' wealth was limitless. As long as I changed out every part in a Star Wars mecha to the highest quality materials available, there would be a huge difference in quality even if the blueprint for the mecha was identical. Ultimately, the highest quality materials were all magical. The resulting mecha armor would be on an entirely different level if all the parts were exchanged for the highest-quality magical materials.
1070
1071Metal affected casting spells? Well, it wouldn't affect casting spells if it was the highest quality magic metal, mithril! This mecha armor was constructed entirely out of the best quality mithril crafted by master alchemists. Of course, it was just slightly more expensive than usual, approximately one hundred times more expensive than gold.
1072
1073Lacking mana replenishment magic materials? What about equipping it with a basketful of dragon crystals! There were also plenty of phoenix feathers and great demon's hearts! We could even sell you giant wolf king skins by the dozen as long as you have the money. We were even capable of supplying inferno dragon eyes, which could only be found in the lower dimensions.
1074
1075You don't know how to etch defensive magical spell arrays? Emblem of Endless Truth level enchanter archmages can do that for you. Would you like to have the spell "Absolute Defense," "Precise Long-Distance Teleportation," or "Meteor Rain" etched into your personal mecha armor as defense spells? What? You only want to etch some four-circle magic spells? You dare to look down on us?
1076
1077You're worried about our mecha armors being overly heavy, causing the speed to become slow? Are you joking with me? Have you ever heard of goblin rocket backpacks? Plus, we can just etch a few extra anti-gravity spell arrays that will lessen the weight of the mecha. After all, we have plenty of top-level magical materials available.
1078
1079Right, don't forget about our elf artisans' enhancements. I wanted angel feathers on the helmet, the mecha's appearance must be in the currently popular steampunk style, with two volcanoes tattooed on the shoulders, and illusion magic that constantly spews out magma? Cool, right? I also wanted an eyepatch with three red-glowing deep emeralds, along with an evil dragon's eye!
1080
1081Alright then, apart from my personal requests which caused everyone around me to wonder at my sense of aesthetics and how chuunibyou I was, the other archmages ordered much more normal suits of mecha armor. They all wanted practical customizations that would improve their personal safety. The most important part was that they were plenty rich, with countless treasures horded over the years. After these mages discovered, from my previous announcement, that they might be forced into battle against powerful future opponents, they were now naturally willing to part with their money in order to protect their lives.
1082
1083I did some slight calculations and unhesitatingly tossed the job of creating the mechas to others, while I personally took care of the most profitable part: negotiating the orders for the armors.
1084
1085The prerequisite for such long-term orders was that we needed to deliver on what we were paid to do. Being paid such high prices meant that we had to deliver high-quality goods. And if I wanted to attract more and more rich customers who were willing to pay the ridiculously high prices and even invest in us, I would have to show them high-quality goods worthy enough for them to pay the price.
1086
1087That was why a weak mage novice like Cohen was now wearing the I Can Do Whatever I Want Because I'm Rich! Mecha #1 and battling in the arena. Plenty of top-level archmages witnessed his battles, and some top-level mages even personally tried dueling him in order to test this ridiculously pricey 'armor of money's' true defense power. After the archmages found out that the pilot was merely a novice who had started learning magic less than two years ago, they unhesitatingly tripled the amount of money they were paying me, swearing that their personal customized mecha armors would surpass this #1 model that Cohen was wearing.
1088
1089Actually, I heaved a great sigh of relief at receiving the mages' money. I would have otherwise been forced to think of some idea to come up with the funding for all the top-level magical materials.
1090
1091Why was I lacking magical materials? Well, I hadn't started the work on the other magic mechas. Back in the old times, when tailors stocked up on cloth to make clothes, there was an unspoken rule about how the amount of cloth they ordered and the amount of cloth they had in stock would never exactly match up. Each roll of cloth would be ever so slightly shorter than what was listed. And after making several sets of clothes, the tailor would mysteriously have enough cloth left over for a set of clothes for himself.
1092
1093I didn't have that many top-level magic materials in stock. The "I Can Do Whatever I Want Because I'm Rich! #1" was created using the funds from the pre-orders I had received beforehand. If I couldn't receive enough orders to continue funding the magic materials I needed, it would form a huge hole that I would need to fill in somehow.
1094
1095I gave Cohen some encouragement. My goals here were both for him to accumulate practical combat experience as well as to show off Thorn Garden's power and combat strength. It would also make for an excellent test run for the mecha armor. I couldn't help but sigh and exclaim at how things were going.
1096
1097"The mecha armors' functions have far succeeded our original expectations. I suppose that this is the saying of how even an inventor can never predict the effects of his own invention? I originally thought that this phrase was just nonsense. I never thought I would one day be proved wrong."
1098
1099Just thinking about how my butterfly effect would cause the top-level archmages to be well-armed to the teeth when entering battle, turning them from their former glass cannon selves into movable impregnable artilleries—forbidden spell mages would no longer be so easily picked off by assassins in the shadows—I felt that the game's "history" would definitely take a different path.
1100
1101"By the time we face demons equipped with powerful huge swords from antiquity and Evil Gods riding gigantic wild beasts, our side will have archmages wearing mecha armors and rangers zooming around the battlefield on Iron Horses. We'll also have taurens equipped with heavy cannons and zombies with electric saws… Hrm, teamfighting like this makes it feel like there's something wrong with the drawing style, though.
1102
1103There was plenty of work waiting for us after we left the arena. I had unknowingly become the largest weapons dealer in the Cloud Tower, and I now had to check on the progress of another program of mine.
1104
1105This program wasn't one so honest and open that it could see the light of day.
1106
1107It took an entire two hours by horse-drawn carriage to finally reach our destination. We crossed several mountains and rivers, and it was almost completely dark outside before we finally arrived at a graveyard outside the city of Arlo.
1108
1109It was already dusk, and a chilly wind swept through the mountains. The trees around us shook as if they were possessed by demons. Our horses seemed to be spooked by something as they collapsed listlessly on the ground, refusing to go on any further.
1110
1111"Sigh. Every time, I can only go the rest of the way by foot after reaching here."
1112
1113"No wonder the 'Soul Demon Association' loves this place so much. The negative energy here almost matches the scale of negative energy in the Undead Planes. It would be strange for corpses to not become undead after entering such a graveyard. Judging from the surrounding environment, this place should be the byproduct of some failed experiment.
1114
1115Since she was a half undead living creature, Harloys had always been particularly interested in this location. I could see the black cat appearing and vanishing in the shadows of this remote mountainous location, which really did make this place seem like one right out of a ghost story.
1116
1117"Look over there, it's so out of the way, but there's still a crop field here."
1118
1119"Hmph! That's definitely a secret scout for the Soul Demon Association. Do you think that any crops planted here would be harvestable? The only harvestable product here are the zombies."
1120
1121Alright then, I actually knew it as well. Nobody but the insane would think of planting crops in such a location with chilly winds and negative energy.
1122
1123Although we were cooperating with the Soul Demon Association in trading our money for their magic information, it was evident that they were still intent on collecting information on us. They had planted a scout next to this area of land we had purchased which was filled with negative energy.
1124
1125Well, we did have a goal with this land, after all.
1126
1127"How's the big guy's condition?"
1128
1129Harloys sat there quietly on the ground, and her eyes seemed rather hollow and unresponsive. However, this simply meant that her clones were currently gathering information for her. Soon enough, her eyes filled with the light of life again.
1130
1131"Excellent. It's already entered a semi-hibernation period. It should be able to move around after two more weeks or so."
1132
1133I nodded in satisfaction. Since everything was going smoothly, we would simply need to return here in two weeks to harvest the end product.
1134
1135"…It's just that the brats from the Soul Demon Association kept coming over to check things out. It seems that they still haven't given up on finding out just why we purchased this piece of land. Heh, can't blame them. You are Yongye, after all. It's only natural for ordinary undead mages to be curious what you're up to."
1136
1137"Let them look around all they want. They won't be able to discover anything, anyways. Who would imagine that what we really want is simply the ground here that's filled with negative energy? Our goal isn't a singular new undead, but an entire group. Our new product is this entire graveyard, that's all."
1138
1139We recently created and named this new undead species as graveyard demons. They were half-undead, half-elemental creatures created by large amounts of negative energy corroding the earth. Graveyard demons were powerful sources of negative energy pollution. Not only were they capable of strengthening other undead, but they were even hosts for medium and small-sized undead.
1140
1141These undead creatures weren't our original invention. In ancient times, there was a similar existence among the undead, but no such creatures existed in recent times. This was an experimental species that we recreated using modern technology and knowledge from ancient texts.
1142
1143When I was in the Forest of Dreams, what I envied the most was the forest's home turf advantage and Jill's ability to change the environment. Even if one couldn't choose the environment to fight in, one would be able to change the environment to a more advantageous one.
1144
1145That was the use of graveyard demons. They were moving graveyards from which undead could replenish their negative energy, exchange body parts, and power up combat strength. Any injured undead that wasn't completely dead would be able to recover quite quickly when within a graveyard demon.
1146
1147The wood spirits' method of battling had given me inspiration. Perhaps the undead didn't actually need powerful troop types anymore. What the undead lacked was a job class that could heal them like druids or priests could for the living—a supporting job class. The undead were supposed to excel at attrition to begin with. If they had the ability to heal themselves on the battlefield, their overall fighting capabilities would increase to be far more than any other fighting undead species.
1148
1149Of course, we didn't come all the way for just this alone.
1150
1151A crow landed on the black cat's head before transforming into a silver liquid that combined with her body. When Harloys received her flying clone's information, she slightly nodded, which greatly delighted me.
1152
1153"The big fish has finally been hooked?"
1154
1155Note:
1156
1157[1] ED/N: Royal elves are those of the Four Elven Aristocracies. All previous instances of superior/upper elves mean the same, and I'll change them in the future. It is to distinguish them from the extinct high elves.
1158
1159[1] ED/N: Royal elves are those of the Four Elven Aristocracies. All previous instances of superior/upper elves mean the same, and I'll change them in the future. It is to distinguish them from the extinct high elves.
1160
1161Chapter 309: Villain
1162
1163
1164
1165"Archmage Sandro, the second of the Sword of Order's four vice leaders. On the surface, he's a windstorm archmage, but he's secretly the leader of the Soul Demon Association and a Myth-ranked undead archmage. He doesn't have an Emblem of Endless Truth in undead magic, but it's only because he's never published any research results. After all, nobody is more qualified to receive the Emblem of Endless Truth in undead magic than he is."
1166
1167"…Also, Sandro just happens to be my junior under the same teacher. Harloys, you really taught so many excellent disciples."
1168
1169"No, I met him before I met you. That technically makes him your senior."
1170
1171The silly cat before me still pretended to be a ditz, but since she was once one of the core leaders of the Sword of Order, it would be only natural for her to recruit fresh blood into the Soul Demon Association under the Sword of Order In a way, she was an even greater veteran than Sandro.
1172
1173"How's your relationship with that leader of the Sword of Order who never shows himself around?"
1174
1175"You already mentioned how he never shows up so how could I possibly have any relationship with him? Don't even mention Blackeye, that Sword of Order leader who always hides in the shadows. Even my disciples are probably being spied on ever since my identity was exposed. Blackeye probably fears I'll usurp his authority. Otherwise, he wouldn't have forced me to leave back in the day. Heh, what would it matter to us if one of us became undead? It was just an excuse to chase me away."
1176
1177"…So, it means that without a miracle occurring, you'll never be able to surpass the SemiGod-ranked Blackeye in your life."
1178
1179"Can't you say it in a nicer way? That's right, hurry up and improve your personal power level. The contract limitations on a magical pet is so painful— being unable to surpass the master in strength. I want to experience what it feels like to become a SemiGod undead as well. As long as I can regain the peak of my strength, how could I, the All-Knowing Harloys, possibly be any weaker than you little brats?"
1180
1181The silly cat seemed to get angrier and angrier as she spoke.
1182
1183"…Even if it's easier for the living to surpass the Myth rank, are you that confident that you'll be able to break through the Three Heavy Doors?"
1184
1185"Ridiculous. Back in the day, I was already at those doors, but I didn't even have a physical body. How could I possibly break past those doors as they required the body and heart to be one? I finally found a suitable physical body, a high elf with ancient divine blood, but I used it for less than one day before you and that Adam sliced it up… the more I think about it, the angrier I'm getting. I really feel like biting you right now."
1186
1187"Whoa there, you're already biting me! Why are you saying you want to bite me still?"
1188
1189"Don't you dare move! Let me take a few extra bites to vent my anger!"
1190
1191I felt rather helpless as I let the silly cat bite me from my chest all the way up to my neck and then even on my face. It gave me a rather numb and itchy sensation. I wanted to laugh, but I knew that if I really did laugh out loud, Harloys would truly become furious.
1192
1193Just when was it that this undying queen of grudges was trained into becoming a tsundere house cat?
1194
1195Was it from the day she signed a magical pet contract with me so we mysteriously managed to get used to each other somehow?
1196
1197Or was it Lorci's death that finally gave her hope that her journey of revenge could finally end one day? At the very least, she finally had something other than revenge in her heart right now. She no longer sealed off her heart in her own little world.
1198
1199Or was it because we were now fated to be together forever, with her being immortal as long as I lived? From a certain standpoint, the magical pet contract was indeed something way overboard as it forcefully tied two different souls together for a lifetime.
1200
1201Or was it that Harloys, who had always been alone, was now always connected to me via our souls? Soul communication was far more effective than any verbal communication could ever be in transmitting what we really meant. The lonelier someone was, the more they would actually desire to communicate with another.
1202
1203Or was it that she unknowingly got used to my warmth? Perhaps she got used to me saying good morning to her every day when I woke up? Perhaps she was treating me less and less like an outsider since that day?
1204
1205Fine then, I should stop thinking so much about this. Judging by how her bites went from numb, light bites to painful tearing, this silly cat was acting like a tsundere again!
1206
1207"Hey—hey—hey—don't go overboard. I still need to meet with others later. What am I supposed to do if I have all these cat bites on my face? People will think that a pile of furniture collapsed on me."
1208
1209"You can just tell them the truth, that your pet cat gave your face all these nice scratches and bites."
1210
1211"Does that have any difference from saying that furniture fell upon me? They're all excuses typically used when a woman scratches your face! You're doing this to me on purpose so that I'll be too embarrassed to meet with others!"
1212
1213Alright then, when the top-level archmage Sandro's horse-drawn carriage stopped in front of us, Sandro had a look of stunned amazement as he watched me who was trying my best to remove the stubborn silly cat from my head.
1214
1215"…Second Senior Brother, I'll have a discussion with you later when I finish beating up my teacher."
1216
1217"Ptui! If you can't win, you're going to depend on others to help you? Such a useless man!"
1218
1219However, the later developments completely ruined my image as a mysterious archmage of darkness that I had carefully cultivated… After all, if you saw me fighting with my own pet cat, rolling all around on the floor for more than half an hour and even losing in the end—with the result being covered in claw and teeth marks—there would be no way for you to respect me, would there!?
1220
1221"My image! My image! We're supposed to be archmages that represent wisdom and knowledge! Can't you have some sense of shame at all?"
1222
1223"Ptui! Shame? Can I eat it? Ever since I started hanging out with you, I feel like I've played every type of embarrassing cosplay there is. You always force me to transform into this and that. Are you actually into animals? Now that you're supposedly famous and known as a major personage, you intend to put on your pants and forget about your past? Let me tell you: don't even think about it!"
1224
1225"…Don't intentionally word things like that!? Just look at Second Senior Brother and how icy his gaze is when looking at me now! It's almost as if he's looking at Beifeng! My reputation!"
1226
1227"Actually, there are plenty of warlocks that take their own succubi as lovers. I'm not biased against such things. Even if archmage Roland's interests are somewhat unique—okay—extremely unique, that's still his personal freedom. Yep, yep, I perfectly understand."
1228
1229Alright then, Sandro's polite words, emphasizing that he understood, as he backed up ever so slightly was the perfect salt on my wounds. Fortunately, Harloys finally recalled that now was the time for serious business.
1230
1231"Hmph, Roland, just forget about your reputation. It's long been unsalvageable. Sandro, long time no see. I think it's been about two hundred years. By the way, can't you change your name to something cooler? Your name Sandro sounds like it came right out of an undead magic textbook."
1232
1233"…This soul wavelength? Harloys! Teacher Harloys!"
1234
1235Alright then, the appearance of the All-Knowing Harloys finally helped me to somewhat save face. With this "Demon Professor" taking the part of a connection between me and Sandro—we were fellow disciples of the same mage teacher—it was much easier for me to have a conversation with him.
1236
1237"Sandro, would you like to become the leader of the Sword of Order? Would you like to make the Sword of Order into a completely lawless holy ground for heretical mages?"
1238
1239That was the first sentence I greeted Sandro with for our formal negotiations, as well as the main topic of what I wanted to discuss with him. I spent quite a lot of time, in fact, and both sides walked away having gained much from the conversation.
1240
1241Sandro hurried off at a greater speed than when he arrived. It seemed that he was indeed delighted with what he received. After all, both of us had benefited more from this discussion than we anticipated.
1242
1243"Will it actually succeed?"
1244
1245However, I was no longer acting as confident as when I was trying to convince Sandro. After all, nobody would have a one hundred percent chance of victory when dealing with an old fellow like Blackeye who had been the leader of one of the strongest mage organizations for the past three or four hundred years.
1246
1247"If he's the only one we were relying on, it would be impossible. He's too stupid. Sandro's intelligence is probably the third worst out of all the disciples I've ever taught."
1248
1249I suddenly felt a twinge of pity for the archmage Sandro, who happened to be bald. Even though we had such a friendly discussion just now, teacher and student seeming so harmonious, Harloys even said several times how Sandro was "the future leader of the Sword of Order" "my most trusted disciple" and so on, which really made him happy.
1250
1251"He's that stupid, yet he still made it to become one of the vice-leaders of the Sword of Order?"
1252
1253"That's because the ones that aren't stupid were all killed off by Blackeye. Even though there are clearly so many heretical mages in the Sword of Order, and even though there are clearly no taboos whatsoever in what the Sword of Order mages are learning, the Sword of Order is still slightly behind the other top-level mage organizations because Blackeye is intentionally keeping the leadership under him weak."
1254
1255"And yet you still called him your most trusted disciple?"
1256
1257"Heh heh. Of course he's my most trusted disciple. After all, all my other disciples are too sly and untrustworthy. Especially a certain person I know. If only he hadn't sold me out."
1258
1259When saying this, the silly cat even glared at me. It was obvious who she meant, but I merely looked at the sky and pretended not to understand.
1260
1261"In that case, it means we can't count on Sandro."
1262
1263"Still, only by convincing him to become the vanguard, which will attract Blackeye's attention, will we have some hope of succeeding."
1264
1265"…In that case, this means you have other plans set in motion as well."
1266
1267"Yep. The Sword of Order has quite a different structure from other mage organizations since more than seventy percent of its members are considered heretical mages. Their way of distributing resources and research funding closely follows the law of the jungle, and there are plenty of members that have ambitions about their status. It's a powerful organization that can be taken advantage of. Back in the day, I really wanted to obtain this mage organization for myself."
1268
1269"Which is why Blackeye exiled you—"
1270
1271"But nobody truly knows how many disciples I left behind and how many are actually working for me. Nor do people know how many top-level archmages like Sandro I have under me. Actually, one of the other vice leaders of the Sword of Order is one of my subordinates as well. She's also a much smarter person than Sandro."
1272
1273From a certain standpoint, the fact that Demon Professor Harloys was able to enter the Calamity Rankings wasn't because her own personal existence was dangerous. Apart from her desire to take revenge against the Elven Gods, she could be considered harmless.
1274
1275The most dangerous part about her was that she often taught forbidden, dark knowledge to geniuses that walked extreme paths. Perhaps nothing would come of it in the short term. Yet akin to a farmer who casually tossed a handful of seeds into fertile soil, there would always be several dangerous seeds that would manage to sprout even if most of the seeds would simply hibernate there for a long period of time. This naturally caused much trouble for everyone else.
1276
1277Back in the day, Amelia was like this as well, and so was I. Sometimes, I would ask my conscience: if I hadn't met Harloys in this city back in the day, would that mean that I wouldn't have learned the taboo knowledge, that I wouldn't have become Emperor Yongye, and that my life would have turned out utterly different?
1278
1279"No. I'm quite clear of my own personality. Personality determines one's fate. Back at that time, I never would have let go of my desire for revenge. Even if I didn't meet Harloys, perhaps the process would have been different, but the result would have been just about the same."
1280
1281I was no fool who would blame my own wrongs on others. I shook my head and decided to stop thinking such unnecessary thoughts. Right now, the most important was the present. If I wanted to influence the Truth Symposium conference's final conclusion, I really did need the support of multiple large mage organizations.
1282
1283"So you think we have a good chance at being able to get the Sword of Order fully under our control?"
1284
1285"No, since Blackeye has already controlled this organization for several centuries. I think that no matter what we do, our plan will have at most a thirty percent chance of succeeding. But, as long as we prove that we have the ability to majorly shake up the Sword of Order, Blackeye will surely make some concessions to us. Besides, our goal won't be asking for all that much from him so he'll surely be able to accept them."
1286
1287The silly cat jumped on my shoulder and chuckled in delight. Apparently, she had seen through to what my real goal was.
1288
1289"Heh, indeed. After all, no matter if our plan to take over the Sword of Order succeeds or not, there's no loss either way. The worst result still ends in him being forced to support us at the next Truth Symposium conference."
1290
1291"…Actually, I originally thought that you would oppose my plan." Harloys was hesitant about saying this.
1292
1293"…Why would you think that? Your recommendations helped greatly increase the success rate of my plan. I'm actually quite grateful to you."
1294
1295"After all, back at Sulfur Mountain City, you invented the Concept of Law and the legal process, which kept emphasizing the fairness of justice and the importance of following the rules. I thought that you were someone who cared about the means more than the end. No matter how you look at it, usurping someone else's mage organization and making an originally stable mage organization split up into factions and have internal conflicts aren't actions of justice at all."
1296
1297"No, it's actually the exact opposite. Of course, I highly value the means. After all, that's what everyone sees, and rules are there to give people feelings of trustworthiness and safety. But sometimes, one must make a choice between the ends and the means. If I'm in a situation where I can only choose one or the other, then of course I'd be the type that would say the ends justify the means. As for me? I'm simply a villain."
1298
1299I wasn't lying at all. Not to mention, it was impossible for me to lie to Harloys about anything as we had a soul connection. Back when I was in Sulfur Mountain City, my personal jail was filled with incredibly villainous bastards that couldn't be judged with only the law. Even if the process wasn't all that honest and correct, I could accept it as long as the result was justified. However, I knew that I wasn't foundationally different from those villainous bastards that only did as they pleased. I was a villain as well, one who did such things only for my own self-satisfaction.
1300
1301The silly cat seemed to be quite satisfied with my reply.
1302
1303"…I don't care if others die for my cause. As long as I achieve my goal, who cares about everyone else's lives? We really are such excellent villain partners."
1304
1305"Of course there's no difference between us. No matter what the reason is, some things that we've done can't be described as anything other than villainous. I've never denied this part about me."
1306
1307"In that case, my fellow villain, when will you give me my freedom and release me from jail?"
1308
1309"I truly apologize. After what just happened, I have reconfirmed that you simply are too dangerous. The verdict is that you shall still be locked up for eternity with no chance of an early release."
1310
1311"…How terrible. Well, since there's no helping it, I'll be counting on you in the future, my dear jailer."
1312
1313"…I suddenly understand how helpless Adam and the others felt when they were locking me up. Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call us jailmates? After all, I locked myself in here together with you."
1314
1315"Is there any difference?"
1316
1317"I think that there is at least a difference. After all, there isn't much difference in treatment between jailmates, while a jailer has plenty of opportunities to bully someone he's jailed that he's displeased with, and the jailer can even take away the jailed's basic rights, and the jailer can even go on vacation… I suddenly feel like I want to be the jailer after all. Can I change my mind?"
1318
1319"Don't even think about it! We're destined to be eternal villainous jailmates. Since you're a man, make good on your word…"
1320
1321I continued to chat and joke around with the silly cat in this spooky and remote mountainous area, discussing calamitous and nefarious schemes. It seemed like a scene right out of a ghost story, but only we knew that this was a rare time, a time both of us could truly have fun.
1322
1323Chapter 310: Change
1324
1325
1326
1327A golden flag of Holy Light flapped in the wind, above an orderly army on the tall mountainside.
1328
1329The venerated knights were at the forefront. Atop horses equipped with iron armor that reflected the brilliant sun, their needs were attended to by squires. After they mounted their horses, their squires helped equip them with spears, shields, and swords, which finished the preparations for their charge.
1330
1331Judging by the fact that this armor and horses in this army appeared to be of various types, it was evident that the soldiers fighting under this banner weren't from the same country. However, they still fought together for the same cause.
1332
1333The horn indicating that their charge hadn't yet sounded. The knights gripped their reins tightly in order to avoid any impulsive warhorses from disturbing their combat formation. Behind the knights were heavily armored dragonspear soldiers, guardian warriors with massive tower shields, as well as archers and stone catapult squads who were currently busy counting how much ammunition they had available.
1334
1335Further to the rear, priests were singing hymns of Holy Light, and the fragrant smell of holy water was all around. Several major personages, including some red-robed cardinals, could be seen among them.
1336
1337Although the cardinals were the higher-ups in this army, the banner of Holy Light didn't merely possess the Holy Church's warriors. There were also flags depicting a moon and a tooth, a gold snake, and a three-headed hound. Numerous famous emblems were mixed with unknown emblems and flags here. Since the Holy Church had sent out its summons, its endless numbers of devout believers gathered to fight under the Holy Light's banner. From the high-up domain lords to the ordinary farmers who picked up their wooden farming tools, they all joined in the Holy War.
1338
1339They were facing no easy opponent—against them was a mega-empire's border guard.
1340
1341The Bardi Empire's border guard wasn't as well-equipped or well-prepared as their opponents. They were also outnumbered by a scale of more than ten to one. However, they had a reason why they would never retreat—this was their home. They were the first military squadron belonging to East Akenford, and all these border guard soldiers came from the city of Akenford which was located less than one hundred kilometers from here.
1342
1343"The Holy War? No, this is just an ordinary battle where both sides hate each other and simply want to kill each other."
1344
1345The border guard soldiers had been trapped and encircled by an ambush. They were in a flatlands district, where they had no hope of outrunning the enemy's knights. Even though they were facing more than ten times their number, even if some of them were instinctively trembling, their hearts remained as solid as stones. Even if some of their arms shook as they held their shields, and some of the novices among them even dropped their weapons, not a single one of them retreated or thought about escaping from this dire situation.
1346
1347"Everyone, prepare to deal with the enemy's charge!"
1348
1349This command had been given to them long ago. Every Bardi Empire border guard in the East Akenford Squadron was waiting for their death sentence from this tremendous army against which they had zero percent chance of victory.
1350
1351Finally, the silver-haired general in charge of the invasion finished his preparations. This Holy Knight commander was clad in gold armor with a lion emblem and continued to patrol to and fro in front of his army, searching for any weaknesses in the Bardi border guards' troop formation with his hawk-like vision. However, he was unable to detect any signs that the Bardi troops were shaken or suffering from unrest.
1352
1353Finally, the general gave up on his hope of being able to win through surrender, which would spare the need for combat. He mentally prepared himself to make a number of sacrifices. His gaze remained sharp as always, but suddenly, the expression on his ancient face changed. He nodded in appreciation of the enemy's resolve, then he started shaking his head in pity at the number of lives that would soon be lost on both sides.
1354
1355He was determined to overwhelm the enemy as quickly as possible, and so he finally unsheathed his sword, indicating the entire Holy Light army to attack. This sword was enchanted with Holy Light properties so that it shone brilliantly under the sun; it could easily be seen from far away.
1356
1357After he swung down his commander's sword that was embedded with sapphires, an ancient beast horn blew—the signal to start combat. The Holy Light priests concluded casting their final buff spells, and the warriors' golden sharp swords had all been sprinkled with holy water. Even though this Holy Light army had mismatched equipment and a wide variety of different divine Holy Light buff magic spells on them, which made them seem rather silly, the Bardi Empire border guard saw it for what it really was: powerful magic that multiplied the Holy Light army's combat strength severalfold.
1358
1359The temporarily combined army had been rather noisy to begin with, but when they truly took action, the sounds of horse hooves, running, and people roaring mixed together, forming an earthquake-like deafening noise that slowly slid forward towards the encircled Bardi Empire border guards like an avalanche. The gigantic army inexorably approached the border guards' camp.
1360
1361"For the Holy Light!"
1362
1363Everyone in the assorted army was shouting this same thing. The cause of Holy Light had once been taken up in yet another Holy War. However, this time, the warring participants on both sides were all humans.
1364
1365"For Bardi! May the Empire win forever!"
1366
1367The eternal conflict between religious and royal authority was depicted here as well. When the avalanche crashed into the pebble, time seemed to freeze over.
1368
1369Tower shields with cross-shaped emblems viciously smashed against war hammers embroidered with dragon heads. Gold javelins pierced and pinned archers to the ground, while stone catapults used their own methods to whip the earth.
1370
1371The Bardi Empire warriors weren't suicidal, nor were they idiots. They had done plenty of homework on how to deal with the knights that would be the vanguard.
1372
1373The Holy Light knights' charge was slowed down by pitfalls and horse-tripping wires. Long dragonspears that were over ten meters long then stole away the lives of these venerated knights. However, the difference in numbers between the two sides was simply too overwhelming. It was just like how a tiny match would never be able to burn an entire river dry. Once these obstacles and the issue of closing the distance was paved over with corpses, the overwhelming difference in numbers caused the East Akenford Squadron to turn into the slaughtered rather than the slaughterers.
1374
1375Pitiful screams and howls could be heard everywhere. Less than five minutes had passed since the start of combat, but the battle had long since lost any semblance of balance. It became a massacre where the many killed the few.
1376
1377The grindstone of flesh and blood was busy harvesting lives. Those unwilling to die could only scream pitifully, while dark clouds filled the sky. It was as if the Gods themselves didn't want to witness such a bloody scene and drew the curtains.
1378
1379Glory? Honor? Courage? For the Holy Light? A battlefield like this didn't have any of these. The only thing that the warriors needed to do was stick the sword in their hand into an enemy's chest before they died.
1380
1381Pity? Justice? Friendship? Atop this stage under the dark clouds, the weapon wielders on both sides only had two choices: kill or be killed.
1382
1383The tremendous difference in numbers helped swiftly draw this battle to its end. Yet this sudden battle that took no prisoners transformed the entire location into a bloody sea of corpses. The legendary old general, who possessed the glorious title the "Eagle of Bejaso," had remained on the tall mountain, observing the course of combat. However, he didn't seem like he was reveling in his side's victory at all.
1384
1385"The entire Bardi army fought to the last person's death without surrendering or retreating and forcibly inflicted more than twice their number to us in casualties despite our advantage in numbers? This is the mega-empire Bardi? Invading such a country seems like a difficult task."
1386
1387The dark clouds in the sky seemed to indicate how inglorious this battle had really been. Even the old General Gordon, who was ranked #7 on the Eich's famous warriors rankings and was nominally the overall general commander for the entire Holy Light army, didn't have the confidence that they would definitely win against the human mega-empire. However, there was no turning back, and he could only set a new target for the army of the Holy Light.
1388
1389"Akenford City. That place is defenseless now that we've cleared out their military squadron. This city shall be the first to fall to the Holy Light."
1390
1391"The Bardi Empire has voluntarily offered to make peace negotiations with the Mage Country? How is this possible?"
1392
1393If it wasn't for how icy Margaret's expression currently was, I probably wouldn't have only shouted out in astonishment—I would have instead called the news she brought me ridiculous.
1394
1395I was currently in the café attached to Thorn Garden. Apart from me, Harloys, and Margaret, the only other person present was Adam, who was currently playing a one-person card game by himself. He was obviously bored. As for why Margaret seemed to be so displeased… well, that really did seem to be my fault.
1396
1397Of course, I understood why she was so displeased. After all, just like always, she never had any time to spend alone with Adam after completing their tasks for me. Every time, before they had much time to rest and relax together, they would be dragged back by me for some reason or the other. And this time, in order to better control the situation in the Cloud Tower, I had summoned them to me once again.
1398
1399This really wasn't me intentionally trying to make it hard for her to get together with Adam. After all, there really were some things that only she could do for me.
1400
1401Let's not mention Adam, who was simply an additional add-on. Although Margaret was originally a self-taught mage, she had the status of a hero mage who participated in the war against Yongye. The cold, calm, and cool Margaret had an excellent reputation in the Cloud Tower, not to mention that she was a member of Star Revelation, one of the largest and most powerful mage organizations.
1402
1403I still counted as nothing more than a tiny little shrimp in the Mage Country. Apart from my few friends in the Mystical Blade, I barely had any contact with the highest-level individuals in this country. However, Margaret had lived here for more than thirty years while she was a candidate for becoming a Truth Overseer, so she definitely counted as a local.
1404
1405Outsiders would forever be considered outsiders, and it would take an incredibly long period of time for an outsider to ever be considered otherwise. And, right now, what we lacked the most was time. If a local archmage helped us out, many things would become far more convenient.
1406
1407I learned long ago from Adam that the last time Margaret returned here, she had the chance to become internally promoted within the Star Revelation and become a Truth Overseer as long as she wanted it. However, she had, instead, rejected Star Revelation's offer and went out adventuring in the world together with me. And now, I dragged her back here so of course she would be displeased; it was only natural for her to feel awkward about seeing the familiar faces here.
1408
1409Not only that, Margaret had to shamelessly return to Star Revelation for my sake, yet I didn't believe the news she brought back to me. Of course she would be even more displeased.
1410
1411"Is there anything else? If not, I'm going to start writing a certain report. It's a report that's half a year late, called 'Report on whether or not Emperor Yongye has shown traces of activity in the Northlands'. Hmph, you're incredibly skilled at making trouble for others."
1412
1413Her exquisite fingers tapped loudly on the table. It was evident that a certain Great Saint Margaret Layde was in a terrible mood.
1414
1415From a certain standpoint, this really was my fault. After all, Margaret and Amelia had used the excuse of investigating whether "Emperor Yongye" and the "undead" had appeared in the Northlands to leave the Cloud Tower under the guise of an investigative expedition. And the end result was that after all this time having passed, not a single person had given the Cloud Tower an investigative report…
1416
1417A publicly funded vacation? From a certain standpoint, that really was the case. Since Amelia was currently hibernating and counted as someone who accidentally became a comatose vegetable while out on a business trip, did this count as her spending public funds for her medical care?
1418
1419Cough—cough—I should be a little more serious. Yep, since it was obvious that we couldn't count on Amelia to be writing the report anymore, the only other Emblem of Endless Truth mage in the investigative group, Margaret, was now on the hook for finishing it now that she had returned to the Cloud Tower. Even if it was now a meaningless report, procedures still had to be followed, and she would even need to explain just why it was that Amelia had been unable to return.
1420
1421And so, the unlucky Great Saint Margaret Layde was just like a naughty child who had too much fun during summer vacation but forgot about the summer homework. Only after the teacher scolded her combined with endless regret did she finally start working on the meaningless homework that nobody would seriously look at. And it was rumored that the Great Saint's greatest pet peeve was doing meaningless things.
1422
1423"I'm quite busy. And that report is due tomorrow."
1424
1425No wonder she felt such displeasure against me. It was also no wonder why Adam was pretending to know nothing about what was going on, doing his best to pretend he didn't exist by sitting there in the corner playing cards. He simply didn't want to misspeak and attract Margaret's attention and anger.
1426
1427"I apologize. It's not that I don't believe you, it's that this itself is just so unbelievable. Why would the Bardi Empire offer to make peace with the Mage Country? Doesn't that seem impossible?"
1428
1429I really didn't think it was my fault for not believing her. What she told me was simply too unbelievable.
1430
1431Two mega-empires like the Mage Country and Bardi Empire entering war with each other would be like a clash between two high-speed trains that carried incredibly heavy loads. The weight and momentum carried would be astonishing so how could they suddenly stop just like that?
1432
1433There was especially that forbidden spell attack which caused enormous losses to the Bardi Empire, and the ongoing fights between the dragon knights and archmages on the Bardi Empire's eastern border was still a current event. Although it sounded like both sides were holding back, it definitely didn't mean that both sides would simply pack up and go home after waving a friendly goodbye.
1434
1435The dragon knights fought for their honor, while the archmages were prideful as well. Since they were now clashing with each other, neither was likely to back down without truly testing each other's mettle. Yet truly going all out against each other would likely make both sides angry, so it was no easy matter to have both parties back down.
1436
1437And even if the Mage Country wanted peace, the Bardi Empire wouldn't possibly agree. After all, they lost an entire fortress and so many people to that forbidden spell. The dragon knights would have to save face, and the emperor would need to show that they achieved some revenge. Otherwise, there would be no way for them all to face the Bardi citizens.
1438
1439Even if the Bardi Empire's leaders could remain composed under the threat of the undead, they would definitely be the side to start conflicts, not stop them. In such a situation, the Bardi Empire had actually requested a peace treaty? Completely inconceivable.
1440
1441However, Margaret chose to remain silent in front of my doubts, and it was Adam, instead, who couldn't bear watching this anymore.
1442
1443"Cough, that's because—"
1444
1445"Don't you dare say it!"
1446
1447"…" Adam and I exchanged glances and came to an unspoken accord to remain silent in front of the furious Margaret.
1448
1449"At the very least, someone needs to write that completely meaningless report for me." Margaret seemed to be talking to herself, but now I knew what it was that she wanted.
1450
1451"I'll go ahead and write that report. I'm awesome at writing reports."
1452
1453Alright then, I won't comment about how ridiculous or strange it was for Emperor Yongye himself to write the report titled 'Report on whether or not Emperor Yongye has shown traces of activity in the Northlands.' Nor will I mention just how long it took me to think about and finish writing that damned report later that night. But, at the very least, Margaret nodded in satisfaction as she gave me top-secret information that very few people in the Cloud Tower would know about.
1454
1455"The Holy War has begun."
1456
1457Margaret's words were incredibly simple, while Adam added on more information for me.
1458
1459"The Holy Church's combined army for the Holy War that they summoned from all the countries has crossed through the Arloton Mountains and ambushed the Bardi city of Akenford on the southern border. The Holy War has truly begun."
1460
1461My mouth was now agape in surprise. I never imagined that the Holy Church would come join in at this time as well. Based on my expectations, the Holy Church wasn't supposed to have joined in the conflict for a while.
1462
1463Akenford City? When I looked at the map, it wasn't even close to the Holy Church's territory!
1464
1465"The Arloton Mountains? Isn't that the area under the control of the Penglin Alliance? Aren't they believers of the Mother Earth Goddess? Why would they possibly allow the Holy Church's allied armies to pass through their territory?"
1466
1467"The day before the ambush on Akenford City, the highest priest of the Penglin Mother Earth Goddess Church converted to the Church of Holy Light. The entire country converted to the Holy Light as well, so the Holy Light allied army was able to enter the Penglin Alliance's territory without any trouble. The Penglin Alliance's strongest ten mercenary groups and their former Mother Earth Goddess Church's knights all joined the Holy Light's combined army as well."
1468
1469Alright then, it seemed that there was plenty of political trickery behind the scenes. It was highly likely that the Penglin Alliance had secretly joined the Holy Light faction long ago. But, no matter how surprising the process had been, there was no denying that the Holy Light army's sudden ambush had been highly successful.
1470
1471"What was the combat situation like?"
1472
1473"Akenford City's defending army died to the last man. The city was lost as well. Also… well, it's the Holy War. You understand."
1474
1475As someone unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a Holy War in the past, of course I understood!
1476
1477The Holy War was a battle against heretics. And heretics' women and children were all considered evil targets that needed to be "cleansed". The heretics' wealth and land were to be rewarded to the Holy Light's faithful believers. There was only one possible result for cities conquered by the Holy Light during the Holy War.
1478
1479"The entire city was slaughtered?" Although I asked it like a question, both Adam and I knew we were certain of what happened.
1480
1481"Yeah."
1482
1483The small café fell silent for a moment. Judging by Margaret's flickering mana, her bad mood was caused by far more than just that damned report about Yongye.
1484
1485It was now quite obvious why it was that the Bardi Empire was willing to begin peace negotiations with the Mage Country. Once the Holy Light believers began a Holy War, there was no stopping it. Not to mention, the undead army was growing at an incredible rate, a cancer in the Bardi Empire's stomach. This meant that the Bardi Empire was basically facing three enemies all by itself. When faced with such a brink, even the most insane of emperors would think about negotiating for peace with one of the factions he was at war with, which would reduce the pressure on the Bardi Empire.
1486
1487"…Heh heh, well, don't have such a sour face. There's at least some good news in this, right? At the very least, it'll make things much easier for our plans once the Mage Country comes to a peace agreement with the Bardi Empire."
1488
1489"I have a second piece of bad news to give you, then. Based on the newest information I received, there's over a ninety percent chance that the peace negotiations will be rejected by the Mage Country. Not only will the war between the two countries not stop, but it's highly likely it'll be escalated! The mages want to take advantage of this excellent opportunity to forever erase their unruly neighbor!"