Chapter 62
Chapter 62
Thud.
A sword wrapped in blue aura bored into the marble floor.
At that cool, crisp sound, the mages turned pale with shock and scrambled outside.
Now, at the teleport gate, there were only me and Arasen left.
Though flustered by the sudden situation, he cautiously asked me,
“Then what Your Highness asked earlier was…….”
“I had some Academy business that required me to go to Britain, but the moment I teleported, a dizzying view spread out beneath my feet.”
“…Hah.”
How could I possibly explain that sensation of floating helplessly in midair, without a single thought in my head?
What followed was the most vivid fear of death I had faced since coming to this world.
Not when I beat up August in the early days of possession and smashed Darius’s nose, nearly getting poisoned to death for it.
Not when I grappled with monsters for a month under the pretext of training in the Sword Saint’s territory.
Not when my lie was exposed by Chris, a grand archmage, and I almost burned to death in hellfire.
Not even when faced with the overwhelming power of the suddenly appearing Hell Archduke.
I had never felt anything like that.
To begin with, there had been nothing to fear.
If I had been bare-handed, I would have fallen straight down and been turned into mush.
While staying in Britain, I spent my spare moments thinking hard about how smashing this thing would best relieve my anger.
I had prepared several alternatives, but in the end, every starting point was the same.
‘Just ram into it first.’
There was such a thing as collective responsibility, after all.
When I was at the bottom, there had been no phrase more detestable than that, but after climbing to a higher class, there was no better excuse for crushing those beneath you.
Thud, thud, thud—!
Using the sword embedded in the floor as a cane, I rested my chin on its hilt and waited briefly.
Soon, I felt several furious sets of footsteps rushing this way.
“Your Highness—!”
A face I had seen a few times while passing by entered my view.
The mages had brought along the Magic Tower Lord and several other key figures.
When I narrowed my eyes and glared at them for their blatant violation of my orders, the mages flinched and turned their gazes away.
“Your Highness, what in the world is the meaning of this?”
The Magic Tower Lord approached me, his face flushed red, his hands trembling.
Given my status, he seemed barely able to suppress his anger, unable to raise his voice.
But I snorted and greeted him in an almost friendly manner instead.
“It’s been a while, Magic Tower Lord. We briefly met during the audience with His Majesty.”
“That is not what matters right now—”
“Hah.”
He did not properly return my greeting, apparently seething with anger.
In response, I deliberately made an exaggerated motion and sprang to my feet.
“Are you refusing to return my greeting right now? How dare you? Since when did the name of Ribera become so light, and since when did imperial mages grow so arrogantly conceited?”
At the end, I fixed them with an icy stare.
The key point was that I was pressuring not only the Magic Tower Lord, but the others as well.
If it had been just him alone, he might not have been swayed by my words.
But if it was his subordinates…
Mages were generally a breed far removed from loyalty or honor.
Their relationships were bound by interests and money.
And within the Empire, tarnishing the name of Ribera was, needless to say, highly undesirable.
“……”
The Magic Tower Lord blew out a rough snort.
The fat under his chin quivered, and his protruding belly jiggled, expressing its owner’s displeasure.
With his potbelly and spiteful expression, he was the very image of a corrupt noble, making a bitter chuckle escape me.
Just as expected, he was more conscious of the surrounding mages’ gazes than of my attitude.
Grinding his teeth softly, he bowed his head.
“My apologies for my rudeness. Please forgive me.”
“I shall forgive you out of my vast magnanimity. But there will be no second time, so be careful.”
“…I will bear it in mind.”
At my warning to be careful, his expression looked as if he had reached enlightenment.
‘First, the opening gambit was a success.’
“This kind of disturbance was not what I desired, but since even the Magic Tower Lord has come, I should properly explain the circumstances.”
Assuming a solemn air, I looked around at them and recounted the whole incident.
The mages fell silent with troubled expressions, and the Magic Tower Lord finally opened his mouth with a twisted face.
“Your Highness, with all due respect, that is impossible. The Imperial Palace teleport gate operates under strict supervision. Transmission is only possible to predetermined coordinates, and even if one attempted otherwise, it would inevitably be detected by the court mage on duty—”
“Then that court mage must be in on it as well. Fine. Bring them too.”
“…….”
At my words, he was left speechless.
Soon, a clear flame ignited in his eyes.
Shaking his head as if determined not to be swayed by me any further, he stepped forward.
“If you continue to make unreasonable demands of the Magic Tower, I will formally report this matter to His Majesty. No matter that you are an imperial prince, this is clearly an unreasonable act! The nobles of the Empire will not remain silent either—!”
Before the Magic Tower Lord could finish speaking, I picked up the sword that had been embedded in the floor.
Once more, I let my aura flare and lightly slashed through the air.
Shraaaaak—!
A streak of blue aura drew a vivid arc as it flew toward the mages.
As if he had never imagined I would truly attack him, his eyes widened, but proving he had not seized the position of Magic Tower Lord for nothing, he deftly formed a mana shield.
Boom—!
A vibration that shook the feet rippled across the floor.
Thick dust rose, but the Magic Tower Lord casually waved a hand and blew it all away.
“Magic Tower Lord.”
He narrowed his eyes, about to say something to me, but before that, I seized the initiative.
“I clearly told you to bring the shameless wretches who tried to assassinate me. Or is there some reason you are protecting them?”
Are you one of them too? At that question, the flesh under his chin trembled violently.
Perhaps feeling insulted, his face flushed red once more.
Barely suppressing his anger, the Magic Tower Lord spoke toward his back.
“Bring the mages and court mages who were on duty that day Your Highness mentioned.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You should have done that from the start.”
“…Your Highness, I love the Empire and respect the Imperial Family, but such baseless accusations and insults will never help your future.”
“Baseless? Whose claim is that? How dare you presume to judge my own future?”
I brushed aside the Magic Tower Lord’s words in the same pattern.
Perhaps giving up on responding to me, he let out a small sigh and waited for those who were to arrive.
But the mages who soon returned merely bowed their heads with expressions of shame.
“…They’re not here?”
“Yes. For several days now, they have all taken leave and departed the palace. The one returning the latest will be back in a week, but……”
“They already fled.”
I nodded calmly as I said it.
I had expected as much anyway.
Since they had even grasped my route to Britain, it would not have been difficult for them to learn that I was alive and well.
Whether they had fled on their own or their backers had cut them loose did not really matter.
Either way, their end would not be pleasant.
“So then, as their supervisor, how does the Magic Tower Lord intend to take responsibility for this incident?”
As I dragged the sword along and walked forward, the Magic Tower Lord rolled his eyes, as if searching for something to say.
Even if he wanted to conceal or downplay the incident, a disturbance had already occurred.
Thus, he gave the very answer I had been hoping for.
“…Your Highness, may I request a private audience for a moment?”
“This is a tea with a fine aroma.”
The top floor of the Imperial Palace Magic Tower, the Magic Tower Lord’s office.
In a space several times more splendid than the Magic Tower lobby, I sat back on a sofa, leisurely savoring the fragrance of the tea.
“Your Highness, regarding this matter, I truly have nothing to say in my defense.”
Unlike earlier, the Magic Tower Lord bowed to me with an obedient attitude.
Holding a position above others, he must have been quite conscious of their gazes.
In response, I lightly waved a hand.
“Well, it’s not something to take so seriously. Threats of that level were part of my daily life.”
“Then…….”
At my words, the Magic Tower Lord’s complexion brightened slightly.
Although the exact facts had not been revealed, the mere fact that all the mages connected to me had simultaneously vacated their posts was suspicious enough.
The charge of attempting to assassinate an imperial prince could be sufficiently proven by that alone.
Naturally, the Magic Tower Lord, as their superior, would also be caught in the fallout.
No—if things went badly, he could even be dismissed from his position, which was why he now needed to curry my favor.
“What can I do for you?”
At his implication that I should freely name whatever I wanted—wealth, artifacts, anything—I gave a bitter smile.
He was truly a man of blunt colors.
Even if he was just a character, was it possible to be this stereotypical? And yet, that very fact made him oddly endearing.
“You’ve worded that incorrectly. You should first propose what you can offer me.”
Whether to accept it or not was entirely up to me.
What the Magic Tower Lord could offer was obvious.
As he had said, some amount of wealth and a few rare artifacts would be all.
An ordinary person might have been tempted, but my status was far from ordinary.
My father was the emperor of the wealthiest empire on the continent; money was so abundant it practically rotted away.
As for artifacts, while not on the level of the Imperial Palace Treasury, my own palace storerooms had plenty of valuable items lying around, gathering dust.
“…….”
Knowing this, the Magic Tower Lord merely rolled his eyes, unable to answer rashly.
‘So, what should I demand?’
I had roughly anticipated things turning out this way.
That was why I had selected a few suitable options beforehand, but receiving material goods felt somehow unsatisfying.
Something more future-oriented, something immediately useful……
‘Ah.’
As I stroked my chin, lost in thought, a good idea suddenly came to me.
What I needed most right now was influence, and to build that, I needed talent.
By chance, he had quite a few outstanding mages under him.
Reaching that conclusion, I snapped my fingers and looked at the Magic Tower Lord.
“Magic Tower Lord, you have many mages under your command, do you not?”
“…Yes, that is correct. But why do you ask…….”
“I’ve been deeply engrossed in magic lately, you see.
But studying at the Academy now would be a bit undignified.
When I thought about it, I realized there were plenty of excellent mages conveniently nearby.”
“Th-that is…….”
The Magic Tower Lord looked troubled.
The reason was simple: no matter that they were under him, he did not want to decide his disciples’ lives with just a few words.
He even clung pitifully to me, saying he would gladly accept punishment himself instead—but unfortunately for him, such emotional appeals did not work on me.
“Then I’ll add a condition. If they refuse on their end, I will withdraw cleanly. That mage will suffer no disadvantage whatsoever. I swear it in the name of Ribera.”
When I glared at him with the unspoken message that he surely would not object after I had conceded this much from a position of power, the Magic Tower Lord instantly changed his expression.
Saying that if it was Your Highness’s will, he would accept it with tears in his eyes, he broke into a broad smile.
What a ridiculous fellow.
“…Do you have someone in mind?”
Even so, he cautiously asked, likely wary that I might try to ensnare talented mages who could become his connections.
“I do.”
I nodded readily.
Isn’t there always one in every novel? A tragic genius, blocked by his own wall and unable to fully display his talent.
Such a person usually gains enlightenment from the protagonist or someone related to them, breaking through their shell.
The one I intended to seek out had once been called a genius as well, but was now a tragic figure, overtaken even by peers he had once looked down upon.
Later, becoming involved with the protagonist and repeatedly awakening, he would be a character put to good use from Part Three onward, alongside the Crimson Flame Knight Damien.