Chapter 13
“That was a good lecture.”
As they walked down the corridor after leaving the classroom, Lumia approached with a bright smile.
Xion calmly shook his head in response.
“Well, if I had to put it in words, I didn’t really teach anything beyond showing the potential of magical engineering.”
“But you caught their attention.”
Lumia continued with a serious expression.
“That’s what matters. It means the lecture left a strong impression, enough to overshadow the image you’ve built so far.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Xion nodded and changed the subject.
“By the way, why were you using invisibility magic earlier?”
“Well, if the Tower Master attended openly, the students wouldn’t be able to focus, right?”
“Hmm.”
Come to think of it, that makes sense. Lumia had clearly considered it carefully.
“As you said, I believe magical engineering is the future of magic. More precisely, it’s the path to a new form of magic.”
“Did Bellusian say the same thing?”
“Yes, my master did. I heard it so often I could practically get earwax from it.”
Lumia looked out the window at the sky, a hint of nostalgia in her tone.
“My master never hid those thoughts. Some people laughed at him, calling his actions foolish, but I was proud.”
“…”
“Of course, because of that, he faced direct pressure from the council, and the situation at the Azure Tower worsened…”
Lumia gave a wry smile and met Xion’s gaze.
“If you compromise over that, you’re no longer a true mage. Isn’t that right?”
“Absolutely.”
Xion returned her smile with one of his own.
“To be honest, the fact that you gave a magical engineering lecture at the main tower will likely spread outside quickly.”
“Most likely.”
“And the council will probably see that as a problem.”
“I’ve considered that as well.”
The current magical council believes magic should only use pure human ability. Not out of respect for magic, but to protect the established privileges of the noble families who dominate magical society.
“I’ll do my best to defend your lecture, so you needn’t worry about that…”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about it.”
“…Huh?”
Lumia’s eyes went wide at Xion’s calm assertion.
“No, the magical council… might even intervene directly.”
“Tower Master.”
Xion looked at Lumia with a pitiful expression.
“From the council’s point of view, the Azure Tower itself is already a problem.”
“…”
“Why is it failing here?”
“Uh, well…”
Lumia fumbled before finally answering.
“It’s because the council has targeted us…”
“Targeted for what?”
“We got caught researching grimoires back in the day…”
“Right.”
A silence settled between them for a moment. Lumia scratched her head and said awkwardly to Xion:
“Come to think of it, from the council’s perspective, our tower is essentially a massive criminal organization.”
“That’s right.”
Any further pressure now would mean they’d intentionally send mages to demonstrate force. But they probably wouldn’t go that far.
“We’re already a criminal organization, so what difference does committing another crime make?”
“…Is that really true?”
“Tower Master.”
Xion quietly placed his hand on Lumia’s shoulder.
“You have to get stronger.”
“Oh, yes.”
“You really need to cultivate your resolve. Only then can the Azure Tower survive.”
Lumia nodded firmly at his words.
“I’ll, I’ll remember that!”
“Good. Then let’s see that resolve of the Tower Master.”
“…What are you planning?”
“Nothing much.”
Xion grabbed the back of Lumia’s neck and started dragging her somewhere.
“Remodeling.”
“…?”
Altair represented the pinnacle of magical engineering.
It’s no wonder a new magical engineering theory is called “Altair Engineering.”
As a trendsetter, Altair hated inefficiency with a passion.
For example…
“The facilities in the Azure Tower are awful.”
“…”
“Well, aren’t grimoires based on magical engineering? You studied that, didn’t you? So why is the building in such a state?”
“Well…”
Lumia quietly tried to defend herself.
“…There wasn’t anything about construction in magical engineering.”
“See? That’s why studying only theory is useless.”
Xion sighed and scratched his head.
The tower isn’t in total ruin, but it’s far from commendable.
“Even if it’s not at the level of a newly built mage tower for modern magical devices, shouldn’t the installed magical devices at least function?”
“…That’s true.”
“Then why didn’t you do anything?”
“How would I do that?”
“This is ridiculous.”
The conclusion was simple. Lumia had studied magical engineering, but only superficially.
Especially since she approached it from a mage’s perspective, things became more twisted.
Without proper guidance from Bellusian, her understanding of magical engineering was inevitably shallow.
“Follow me.”
Xion continued dragging Lumia along.
“Where’s the deputy tower master?”
“They should be down that corridor.”
Xion changed direction.
“Xion? What’s going on? Wait, can you at least explain—”
On the way, he also grabbed Serentia and dragged her along.
They arrived at the heart of the Azure Tower.
“This place…”
“This building, the Mage Tower, is the culmination of magical theory,” Xion explained.
A massive sphere stood before them, its complex engraved symbols glowing bright blue.
“This is the core of the Mage Tower. It powers the magical devices throughout the tower.”
“I-I know that.”
“Luckily, the Azure Tower was once considered one of the four great mage towers, so it was designed to automatically draw mana from the ground. That’s why the flow of light is visible now.”
“I know that too…”
“Then why are there more devices in our tower that don’t work than ones that do?”
“Well… um…”
Lumia began to answer, but her voice wavered and tears threatened.
“It’s my fault…”
“Yes, and partly the fault of the deputy tower master standing quietly over there.”
Xion pointed at both of them alternately.
“Don’t tell me again that you studied magical engineering. It’s embarrassing.”
“….”
Their shoulders sank further.
“But…”
“To repair facilities like this, you’d need at least a four-star workshop…”
“And?”
“Hiring artisans from a four-star workshop costs a fortune…”
“….”
“And they won’t reveal trade secrets anyway.”
No way to learn, and no money to hire skilled labor. Logically, that made sense.
“That’s not wrong.”
“Y-Yes…”
“But then, how did you even develop grimoires without that knowledge?”
Even if incomplete, they seemed to function somehow.
Lumia explained:
“The records of my master helped. That’s why the grimoires worked—specialized knowledge, you could say.”
“….”
Xion struggled to suppress a sigh.
Even if reluctantly, he had to accept it; otherwise, he’d explode in frustration.
[Core operational status confirmed. But there’s a problem with the mana conduit. Cause… hmm?]
‘What’s wrong?’
[The main power source is being diverted elsewhere.]
‘Seems like it.’
Xion clicked his tongue and checked the pipes connected to the core, frowning.
“Wait.”
The mana flows normally through the conduits. So why isn’t it evenly distributed throughout the tower?
“Who did this?”
The answer was simple: someone outside was siphoning mana from the Azure Tower’s core.
“W-what’s going on?”
Lumia asked cautiously, sensing the seriousness in Xion’s demeanor.
He tapped the core.
“Let me ask one thing. Earlier, you said you didn’t call a four-star artisan because it was expensive, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then you mean… you called a ‘cheap’ artisan instead?”
Lumia’s eyes went wide.
“Y-You knew?”
“And that artisan inspected the tower, touched the equipment, said it was beyond their skill, and left?”
“Yes, that’s also true.”
Xion let out a hollow laugh. When it stopped, his expression had grown cold.
“Do you remember who that artisan was?”
“He… was a three-star artisan. Even the ‘Workshop Union’ representative at the time acknowledged it…”
“The name?”
Lumia thought for a moment, then finally remembered:
“Randurin.”
“…Randurin.”
[Searching…]
Akasha quickly looked up the name. If he were connected to the Workshop Union, some record might appear.
A moment later:
[Search result: 1 record found.]
Akasha located the information.
[Randurin. Twenty-four years ago, expelled from the Union. Owner of the workshop ‘Black Fox.’ One of the aliases frequently used by Vash.]
“…Black Fox.”
Xion recalled them.
Twenty-four years ago, during the chaos over the incurable disease, he didn’t directly order the expulsion…
‘Probably because he tried to sell Union secrets to the magical council?’
[Correct. Ultimately, no secrets were actually leaked, so it ended with expulsion.]
Listening to Akasha, Xion concluded his thoughts.
“Tower Master, the workshop we commissioned back then—it’s still nearby, isn’t it?”
“Uh… yes.”
Xion smirked at Lumia, who nodded blankly.
“Let’s go there.”
“…What?”
Though confused, Lumia nodded. Her experience over the past few days had convinced her that Xion never did anything pointless.
“I’ll guide you.”
The three immediately headed toward the workshop in question.
In this world, it’s not easy to obtain high-purity mana crystals.
Most areas rich in pure mana are monopolized by mage towers.
Thus, expensive mana crystals are usually controlled by the towers.
But occasionally…
‘Hah.’
Some towers end up being “easy prey.”
Especially if the tower is led by a young mage with little experience.
And if they’ve been abandoned by the magical council, there’s no fear of retaliation.
By sheer luck, the Black Fox workshop managed to exploit such a target.
“Ha ha ha! Another bountiful mana harvest today!”
Vash, owner of the Black Fox workshop, laughed as he looked at baskets overflowing with mana crystals.
Even though he had to hand over more than half as “taxes,” it was cheap compared to the benefit of protection.
“Soon, it might be time to return to the capital.”
Vash hadn’t forgotten the humiliation he endured before—expelled unilaterally from the Union for merely seeking information!
Of course, the moment he intended to smuggle secrets, he was already out, but Vash didn’t care about minor setbacks.
Then it happened.
“W-Workshop Master!”
“What?”
Vash frowned at the subordinate who barged in without knocking.
“T-the… Tower Master of Azure Tower!”
Vash’s face, full of displeasure, turned to surprise at the following words.
“The Tower Master is here!”
“…What?”
That clueless target?
