Chapter 23
“A dragon.”
“…Excuse me?”
Lumia stared blankly at Sion, her expression stiffening, then asked again.
“A wyvern?”
“I said a dragon.”
At those words, Lumia turned her gaze back to the bones once more.
A dragon…?
“…Why is that here?”
“Beats me.”
Sion, who had been the one to take out the dragon bones in the first place, scratched his head and replied.
“But it was there.”
Astonishingly so.
Dragons.
According to legend, they were the beings who passed the concept of magic down to humans.
Of course, that was never proven.
Records had been passed down, but the authenticity of those records had never been properly verified.
Still, the existence of dragons themselves was an undeniable fact.
Their remains were discovered extremely rarely across the world, and naturally, they possessed immense value.
Not merely because of their rarity, but because of the power contained within those remains.
Dragon bones were the best mana-conducting material among all known substances, while also boasting unparalleled durability.
Every staff used by great archmages was made from dragon bone.
Naturally, the price was astronomical.
Even obtaining nothing more than the tip of a tail bone was worth as much as a decent territory’s monthly tax revenue.
And now—
“Y-you’re saying those dragon bones were… buried there? Not just anywhere, but in the magnetite mine?!”
“That’s correct.”
“W-with something this big, wouldn’t we be able to pay off the main tower’s debt entirely?!”
Lumia’s eyes sparkled as she expressed her joy.
“At last, freedom from a life of debt…!”
“We’re not selling it.”
“…Huh?”
Lumia’s face froze mid–daydream of a rosy future.
“W-why not?”
“Tower Master, what kind of tower are we ultimately aiming to create?”
“Th-that would be a Magitech Tower, right? A mage tower built on magical engineering.”
“Exactly. And what is this dragon bone? The most expensive material in existence, and about as close to perfect as it gets for magical tools.”
“Well, th-that’s true…”
“Then why would we sell it? We should be the ones using it.”
“…Ah.”
For a brief moment, she had tasted the sweet illusion of escaping debt—but it was only a misunderstanding.
“I see… So I’m destined to never escape the swamp of debt after all…”
“Don’t be so pessimistic. We’ll pay it off after earning it.”
“I don’t think that mindset is very healthy…”
Lumia timidly tried to protest, but it had little effect.
From the start, Sion’s position within the Blue Tower was practically absolute.
Ridiculous as it was, that was the reality.
The prestige of Lumia—the prodigy mage, youngest Six-Circle magician, and disciple of the former Tower Master Belusian—had vanished at some point.
Or perhaps it had never existed to begin with.
In any case, it was decided that the dragon bones would be stored in the warehouse.
“Alright. That wraps up the dragon bone issue. Now it’s time to check your homework.”
“H-homework?!”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
Sion dragged Lumia by the scruff of her neck and pulled her inside.
At that moment, Akasha spoke quietly.
[By the way, Human. Are you not planning to reveal that for now?]
‘Reveal what?’
[The mine where the dragon bones were discovered. The fact that the bones were found specifically in a ‘cave’ formation… That cave might very well be…]
Akasha continued cautiously.
[…The legendary ‘lair.’]
‘That’s not confirmed.’
Sion brushed off Akasha’s speculation.
A dragon lair.
Simply put, the nest where a dragon once lived.
Dragon bones alone were rare, but a lair was even rarer—and vastly more valuable.
As the dwelling place of such a mighty being, a lair usually contained countless treasures and precious artifacts.
However, no items clearly identifiable as dragon hoards had been discovered in the magnetite mine.
So declaring it a dragon lair right away would be premature.
But—
[It’s not impossible.]
‘That’s true.’
Even if no treasure had been found yet, the possibility remained.
Records described dragons as claiming massive caves as nests, transforming them into hidden cities.
Lairs came in many forms.
Some revealed their grandeur openly the moment you stepped inside, while others were cleverly concealed by magic.
So certainty was impossible.
The magnetite mine could very well fall into the latter category.
‘Until it’s confirmed, I won’t say anything.’
[I see. Then if it’s confirmed to be a dragon lair, you’ll share everything with the Tower Master and exchange information—]
‘……’
[Human?]
‘……’
[You’re not planning to pocket it all for yourself, are you? Haha… surely not.]
‘……’
[Human—!!]
Akasha cried out in despair, but Sion didn’t respond.
He simply kept a calm expression as he dragged both the Tower Master and Vice Tower Master along to inspect homework.
* * *
Several days passed.
The Blue Tower—once said to be on the verge of collapse just weeks ago—was now changing at a startling pace.
First of all, it had become clean.
Students frequently spotted golems busily roaming the interior of the tower.
A sight unimaginable in the past.
Whiiir—
They swept up dust from the floors, then thoroughly mopped afterward.
They even detected cracks in the walls and damaged areas throughout the tower, repairing them with uncanny precision.
“…We had things like that, and we weren’t using them until now?”
“There were power issues, and probably no technicians capable of maintaining them.”
Eira replied to Briella while quietly watching the golems.
“…Still, I never imagined that the legacy of Altair’s workshop was sleeping inside the Blue Tower.”
“Altair… you mean that great magical tool craftsman?”
“Yes.”
Eira nodded, then briefly frowned.
Altair himself had done her no wrong.
Yet she couldn’t bring herself to like him.
Unfortunate as it was, fate had bound them in an unwanted connection.
“Altair’s magical tools are treasures of enormous value even today.”
That didn’t mean she denied his status or skill.
Compared to Altair, even the talent her father had boasted about was insignificant.
“…Tch.”
“Eira? What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Shaking off stray thoughts, Eira tightened her grip on the book she was holding.
A magic reference book.
She wasn’t especially talented in magic, but she tried to compensate through relentless effort.
Her current level was only Two-Circle.
Still, if she kept trying, somehow—
Crunch.
Her grip tightened.
‘…Two-Circle.’
Despite all her effort, still Two-Circle.
Could her effort truly live up to her aspirations?
She didn’t know.
She had studied and trained in this tower for three years, yet still couldn’t break through the wall of Three-Circle.
Yes—until now.
“Briella.”
“Hm?”
“What do you think of Instructor Sion’s lectures?”
“Well… strictly speaking, he’s teaching magitech, right? For now, I think they’re not bad.”
Crossing her arms, Briella continued.
“Honestly, our innate magical talent is pretty average. Though even being average is something.”
“R-right.”
“But that instructor says we can compensate for that lack of talent using magical tools.”
“That’s true.”
“Then isn’t that the best option?”
Briella reached a clear conclusion.
She didn’t have good feelings toward Sion either.
But that was that—and this was this.
“At least the lectures are useful, right?”
“……”
“Well, you’ve never really liked magical tools much, so maybe you don’t see it—but from my perspective, it’s not bad.”
Eira couldn’t respond immediately.
Objectively speaking, Sion’s vision of fusing magic and magical tools was undeniably appealing.
And it had potential.
“You used to say you were attending just to watch when it all fell apart…”
“What can I say? I got something out of it.”
Briella grinned and casually demonstrated a modified Magic Missile in front of Eira.
After wrestling with magical tools for days, she had finally grown proficient at altering Magic Missile.
“‘Sion Rosteri’ still feels wrong, but Sion the ‘instructor’? I kind of like him.”
“……”
“If there’s something to learn, we should learn it. That’s why we came here, right?”
“…That’s true.”
Briella was right.
…Some things had to be acknowledged.
Sion Rosteri was a good instructor.
And if she followed him properly, perhaps—just perhaps—she might obtain what she truly desired.
—Assistant instructor, any interest?
The offer Sion had once made crossed her mind.
“Assistant instructor…”
“Huh?”
“Oh—nothing.”
Eira hurriedly shook her head and quickened her pace.
‘Assistant instructor…’
Yeah, no. That couldn’t be it.
She shook her head again, clearing her thoughts.
* * *
“It’s come back together nicely.”
Surveying the cleaned-up Blue Tower, Sion nodded in satisfaction.
This was how the tower was supposed to be.
Its location was good, it possessed a respectable number of golems, and its magical standards were solid.
It had only fallen into disrepair due to the Tower Master’s sudden disappearance and a string of unfortunate events.
Once those issues were addressed, the groundwork for recovery was already there.
Belusian’s workshop and the neglected golems were prime examples.
Still—
‘It’s a bit too quiet.’
There had been fewer “incidents” than expected during the tower’s restoration.
For example—uninvited guests.
The Blue Tower was tempting prey, and predators never passed up wounded prey.
It was about time someone tried to pick a fight.
“Akasha, based on the information you’ve gathered, who is currently the greatest threat to the Blue Tower?”
[The Red Tower.]
Akasha answered without hesitation.
[The Rosteri family is relatively rational. Devious, but if we prepare the right bargaining chips, they could become allies.]
“True. They’re the ones who sent me here, after all.”
[But the Red Tower is different. They are loyal enforcers of the Magic Council. And among them, Hayden Kaul—the Red Tower’s successor—has been obsessively targeting the Blue Tower Master.]
“…Hmm.”
Sion had already considered how to deal with the Rosteri family.
They would come on their own eventually.
But the Red Tower—
“Annoying.”
[Understandably so. They’ve harassed you ever since your days as Altair.]
“…Yes.”
Soon, the true value of the Blue Tower would be revealed to the world.
And when that happened, pressure unlike anything before would descend upon it.
They needed to prepare thoroughly.
“…Come to think of it.”
Sion, lost in thought, spoke with amusement.
“Since they seem to understand basic magical tool usage now, isn’t it about time we move on to the next stage?”
[The next stage?]
“They’re still mages, aren’t they? I’m not pursuing the path of a tool craftsman. I’m pursuing the path of a ‘mage’ who uses magical tools.”
[Ah, indeed… Up until now, the lectures have leaned more toward tool usage than magic itself.]
“Exactly. But tools aren’t omnipotent. In the end, magical attainment depends on the mage themselves.”
[Which means?]
Sion smirked.
“It means it’s time for the class to move on.”
The foundation of magical tool usage had already been laid.
Now it was time to approach things as ‘mages.’
Most students in the Blue Tower were currently stuck at One- or Two-Circle.
Therefore—
“Within one week, I’ll raise the tower’s average circle level to Three.”
Sion’s eyes gleamed as he declared his new goal.
