Alexion first calmly examined the numerous blueprints the two Mage Tower Masters had brought.
And it didn’t take long for him to reach a conclusion.
‘Are these bastards out of their minds?’
That was his impression after reading through about half of the dozens of blueprints.
Yet whether they knew this or not, the two Mage Tower Masters were confidently smiling as they talked among themselves.
“Alright, let’s proceed with District 5 like that.”
“Then we can conveniently raise District 6 together as well.”
“Oh, but if we do that, we’ll need a bit more materials, so rather than that, maybe this way—”
When they had first visited, the two had been gritting their teeth and fighting as if working together on construction was unthinkable.
Now, to the point where one might wonder if they were even the same people, the two radiated a harmonious atmosphere.
Even so, Alexion’s thoughts remained unchanged.
‘Is this… a mage?’
As far as Alexion knew, mages were, fundamentally, a bit off.
Of course, among lower-ranked mages there were quite a few normal ones, but the higher the rank, the more screws they seemed to be missing.
That was only natural.
In the first place, high-ranking mages were a realm permitted only to geniuses unreachable by ordinary people, and geniuses who could obsess over magic to that extent were bound to have a screw or two loose.
In other words, the hypothesis Alexion held—that a mage’s rank was proportional to the number of missing screws—had quite a bit of credibility(?).
He had temporarily forgotten that fact lately, having only seen Alon.
But today, that thought, long submerged beneath the surface, resurfaced.
Alexion fell silent for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.
“....”
“Oh.”
“Done reading?”
As Alexion tried to speak, the two Mage Tower Masters immediately turned their heads.
Seeing the confidence written plainly on the two mages’ faces, Alexion spoke.
“I didn’t have enough time to read everything, so I only went through about half.”
“Alright, what’s bothering you?”
“That’s not exactly the issue…………… ahem.”
“? Is there some kind of problem?”
The words, ‘You guys didn’t seriously think there was nothing wrong with these blueprints, did you?’ nearly burst out of his throat.
But Alexion forcibly held them back and cleared his throat.
Then he looked at the brown Mage Tower Master, Manram.
“……The blueprints you’ve made are excellent, but realistically speaking, I think they may be a bit difficult to build.”
“In what way do you think so?”
“To start with, to build a castle this massive, it seems like it would require an absurd amount of materials and manpower………………”
The larger the castle, the more astronomically the costs increased.
First, the material costs skyrocketed, and the number of workers needed to construct such a large castle increased.
The construction period grew longer.
And when the construction period grew longer?
The funds required to employ that workforce increased yet again.
In other words, these blueprints were something that could never be realized at the present time.
To Alexion’s perfectly reasonable argument—
“Certainly, it would require quite a lot of manpower.”
“Right?”
“But you don’t need to worry about that part. Support will come from the two Mage Towers.”
“From the two Mage Towers…?”
“Yes. Including us, about several hundred.”
“Several hundred?”
“Yes.”
Manram replied simply.
Several hundred meant—
As far as Alexion knew, the last time several hundred mages had been mobilized was when the half-destroyed Rosario had been restored.
His mouth fell open on its own, but he soon regained his senses and asked again.
“But even if manpower is secured, where are we supposed to get the materials………………”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.”
At the continued concern, this time the purple Mage Tower Master waved her hand dismissively.
“We can’t supply everything, but we can support about seventy percent.”
“……Seventy percent of the materials needed to build this enormous castle……………?”
“Yeah.”
At the purple Mage Tower Master’s words, Alexion felt his jaw repeatedly go slack.
It didn’t seem to make sense, yet he had no choice but to accept it.
After all, the purple Mage Tower was the wealthiest of the five Mage Towers.
They were the ones who made obscene amounts of money through ‘alchemy.’
Huh?
If that was the case, wasn’t this actually a good thing?
He could build this incredible castle almost for free.
That thought briefly crossed his mind, but Alexion quickly pulled himself together.
“But even if all of that is possible, the size of the territory………………”
In truth, even if materials and manpower were fully secured, it was still impossible to build the castle as designed.
Regardless of the reason, the size of the territory was limited.
However, to Alexion’s common-sense rebuttal—
“Why? You can just expand the territory.”
“……Excuse me?”
“Just designate this area as the northern district and build the castle outside.”
The brown Mage Tower Master casually shattered his common sense with that statement.
And then drove the final nail in.
“A king’s castle ought to have dignity, don’t you think?”
“That is… true, but.”
“Honestly speaking, I think building a castle sized to fit this territory would just look strange.”
—Is it really that bad?
Just as a natural rebuttal was about to form, regrettably, Alexion’s thoughts were blocked by the words of the purple Mage Tower Master, Norton.
“You won’t be paying for it anyway, so if you’re going to build it, wouldn’t it be better to make it grand?”
Alexion fell silent.
Because her words weren’t wrong.
And so, for reasons he couldn’t quite explain, Alexion—who had been persuaded(?) into having a castle built—continued voicing realistic concerns that wouldn’t get through to them for quite some time.
After a little while had passed.
“Alright, for now, I understand.”
Alexion reached a conclusion.
“Then we’ll prepare right away—”
“However, even so, this is still too large, so I think it would be good to adjust it somewhat here.”
He judged that fully realizing these blueprints was impossible.
No, even if one were to build a castle, he thought there was no point in constructing even the useless parts, which was why he voiced that opinion.
“Fine. What’s your complaint?”
“First, about this five-layered wall—”
Alexion opened his mouth to persuade the Mage Tower Masters who had made the blueprints—
“Now, think about it. A five-layered wall could actually be quite important. When it comes to protecting the king, the more walls, the better. That means you can have five separate gates.”
“……That’s not wrong.”
—To persuade the Mage Tower Masters—
“This underground facility is absolutely necessary. What if a situation arises where we have to hole up? Facilities of this scale must be prepared without fail.”
“Indeed.”
—The Mage Tower Masters—
“Likewise, the reason there are two large castles centered around the central keep is because of the magic formations. Just building two castles would multiply this fortress’s durability several times over.”
Alexion was persuaded by the Mage Tower Masters.
And then.
“Then let’s begin.”
The construction of Palantio’s castle began.
The construction of a very ominous castle indeed……………
***
“Lord Alon, we’re nearing the central Mage Tower.”
Several weeks after Alon had left Teria.
At Evan’s words, Alon turned his gaze and, as always, confirmed the Mage Tower soaring endlessly into the sky.
“How long will you be staying this time?”
When Penia asked, Alon thought for a moment before answering.
“Even at most, about three days.”
“You won’t be staying long?”
“There’s nothing major I need to do.”
Of course, it wasn’t as if he had no business at the Mage Tower at all.
He needed to receive the interpreted magic from Heinkel, and there were various things he wanted to ask her.
Even so, none of it would take very long, which was why he had set it at about three days.
“But why, is something the matter?”
“Um— no. If you moved faster, I was planning to stay a bit longer to handle something on my own before heading back, but three days seems comfortably sufficient.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. We can return together.”
Penia nodded after seeming to think something over.
Alon also nodded along in agreement, but only for a moment.
“…?”
Quite suddenly, he felt a sense of incongruity.
‘? Wasn’t Penia supposed to normally be at the Mage Tower……?’
It was something he should have thought about long ago, but until now it had passed by naturally.
Realizing that fact anew because of Penia’s words, Alon—
“Is something wrong?”
“……No.”
“?”
“Well, nothing.”
He hesitated briefly over whether he should point it out, then brushed it off.
“…??”
Penia, looking puzzled, soon nodded to herself and took her gaze off Alon.
Soon after arriving at the central Mage Tower, Alon headed to the library as usual to meet Heinkel.
And then.
[You came right on time, didn’t you?]
“……? Is something going on?”
[Mm— I had a lot I wanted to tell you anyway.]
“What is it?”
[I think I’ve found a suitable method, about how to change the means of a magic medium aside from magic itself.]
“!”
He was able to hear something important from Heinkel.
***
Around the time Alon met with Heinkel, in the wasteland between the Allied Kingdom Alliance and the Empire—
[The Arm-Spitting One……………]
[Burned Vegetation, is it.]
No fewer than four divine-blood were facing each other.
To an ordinary human, each of them alone radiated such bizarre energy that it would drive one mad, and with four gathered together, they looked like a calamity in and of itself.
After a brief heavy silence.
[Stand aside quietly. I don’t particularly want to fight for no benefit.]
The massive forest giant, Burned Vegetation, which was constantly aflame, spoke while looking at the Arm-Spitting One that had appeared from the Allied Kingdom Alliance’s coast.
[Regrettably, that won’t be possible.]
[Do you truly intend to fight? I know you’re strong among those who can move right now, but there are three of us and only one of you. You’ll gain nothing and only suffer losses.]
Burned Vegetation’s words.
[No matter how you look at it, you can’t defeat the three of us at once.]
[I’m well aware of that.]
As if agreeing, the two divine-blood behind it also spoke while shifting their grotesque forms, yet the Arm-Spitting One responded without budging in the slightest.
[Conversely, there’s no reason for you to cross into the Allied Kingdom Alliance either, is there?]
[Of course there is. We’re moving because we have business.]
[To deal with the Star Eater?]
[Yes.]
[……………So you intend to carry out the Rotting Mouth’s request, is that it?]
[That’s right. So step aside. There’s no reason for you to fight us needlessly. It would only be a meaningless battle. Or would you like to join us?]
[Join you?]
At the Arm-Spitting One’s question, Burned Vegetation nodded.
[Yes. There are no eternal factions anyway. In the end, you and I are both in positions where we need to choose well, aren’t we? Take this opportunity to join us, deal with the Star Eater, and enter under the Rotting Mouth. I hear they’ll grant a high position as long as the mission is completed.]
Burned Vegetation’s attempt at persuasion.
To that, the Arm-Spitting One responded as if it were laughable.
[Regrettably, I have no intention of doing that.]
[Why not?]
[Because even if I follow the Rotting Mouth, I’d only end up belonging to a faction, and beyond that, there’s nothing, isn’t there?]
[……………Then do you think there’s something to be gained by protecting the Star Eater?]
[Of course there is.]
[What is it?]
[The abilities of other divine-blood.]
To the divine-blood who had come to kill the Star Eater—
[…………What do you mean by that?]
[Exactly what it sounds like.]
He delivered new information.
[The Star Eater can absorb the abilities of the divine-blood it processes and distribute them at will to other divine-blood.]
[What…………!?]
Something very strange information.
