Chapter 184

## Episode 184:

The mages from the Magic Tower arrived at Aslan Village.

Despite the long and arduous journey, they didn’t seem tired. It seemed they had cleared the path using various magic.

Most of them were wearing robes and had a gloomy aura.

Fortunately, not everyone was like that.

“Nice to meet you. You’re Sir O’Brien, right? I’ve heard about you. You’re in charge of this construction project.”

A man with long, golden hair approached me first. His hair was truly golden, which meant he had royal blood.

Of course, inheriting royal blood didn’t guarantee a child would be born with blonde hair, genetically speaking.

But in this game world, such rules were completely ignored.

Blonde hair was extremely rare, so it was safe to assume he was a member of the royal family.

“Oh, I apologize for the late introduction. My name is Fabian Windwhisper. I’m the Chief Mage of the Magic Tower and the Tower Master’s assistant.”

“O’Brien von Walker. Thank you for coming all this way. Did you have any trouble?”

“It was quite a rough journey. But it wasn’t too difficult since we only brought mages who are skilled in magic.”

At that moment, Jericho sent me a telepathic message.

— Fabian was born into a collateral branch of the Bellatrix Imperial Family. He’s a genius who could sense mana from a young age. He’s not someone to be underestimated.

That meant Tower Master Eldritch had sent his elite mages.

— I assume the nickname “Windwhisper” means he’s mastered wind magic?

— Probably. Oh, and Fabian has a twin sister. I heard she’s a very formidable mage, so be careful.

This was good news for us.

We needed many talented and creative individuals to build the massive mana storage.

I wasn’t too concerned about Fabian since he was a man, but his twin sister piqued my curiosity.

This game was called ‘Queen Maker.’ If she had a strong background or skills, she could be a protagonist. Or at least a key character.

I looked around at the group of mages, but they were all wearing hoods, so I couldn’t find her.

“Fabian, let’s talk about work after you’ve rested. We’ve prepared accommodations for you, so please head there.”

“We appreciate the offer, but we’d like to see what needs to be done before we rest. There seems to be a lot to consider.”

It was understandable. Small pipes, branching out from a giant pipe like tree branches, were connected throughout the village.

Hot steam was rising from various places.

It was a natural reaction, considering it looked like a village from a steampunk world.

“Alright. Then please follow me. I’ll show you the mana storage and the heating device. Selendis, you and Lady Freya escort the others to their accommodations.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Fabian followed us alone.

He let out a low gasp as he entered. A plant he had never seen before was piercing through the floor and taking root.

Moreover, the amount of mana stored in the plant was considerable. For him, who had expected magic stones, it felt like reality was being denied.

“This plant is a magic crop cultivated by Jericho here. It’s a wonderful plant that the ancient Crusaders improved over a long time. It’s currently a combination of three individuals.”

“Could you give me a moment?”

“Of course. But please don’t infuse it with magic power or touch it with your hands. It’s as fragile as glass and could break.”

“I’ll be careful.”

Fabian took off his hood and carefully examined the magic plant, walking around it.

He activated his mana and enhanced his vision, observing the flow of magic power from the plant’s body to the heating device.

His expression became increasingly serious.

Everything was unbelievable.

“Did Sir Jericho make all of this?”

“Well, I made it, but the idea came from the Inspector here. I just made the parts.”

“Truly remarkable.”

It felt good to be acknowledged by the Chief Mage of the Magic Tower.

“So you’re supplying heat to the village by circulating hot water. But wouldn’t the heat disappear quickly with ordinary pipes? How did you handle that?”

“Look at this.”

I had prepared three samples to show the mages when they arrived. They were in the same state as when Jericho and I had experimented with them.

I skillfully melted snow, heated the water, and infused the outer surface of the pipes with ice magic.

“It’s a kind of enchantment.”

“That’s right. The important thing is to infuse it with ice attribute. And the direction of the magic power should be towards the outside of the pipe.”

“So it’s a principle of repeating the magic power regeneration sequence using the surrounding environment…”

He said something complicated. I assumed it was what I was thinking.

Fabian observed the pipes for a while and then withdrew his magic power.

“There’s one thing I find lacking. It’s a rudimentary enchantment. We can’t expect long-term insulation effects with this.”

I wasn’t offended. I had learned magic through unconventional means, and it was a criticism without malice.

“As expected of the mages from the Magic Tower. That’s exactly the kind of feedback we were looking for. We would like to find a better way to coat the pipes with magic power.”

“We’ll take care of that. We’ll start working on it right away. We should start with the main pipeline.”

“What do you think of the mana storage?”

“That…”

As expected, Fabian was troubled.

I had no intention of just listening to criticism. The Magic Tower also needed to continue developing.

I planned to win over the hearts of the mages from the Magic Tower by exerting a positive influence.

‘The Magic Tower was on the verge of being disbanded because of Muon. If the Crown Prince ascends to the throne, he’ll definitely abolish or reform the Magic Tower.’

If I were at the center of that reform, it would create a loophole for me, even if I didn’t have permission to possess magical power.

It was a kind of insurance.

“I can only say that this is an object beyond imagination. Normally, we create artificial objects called magic stones to store mana, but this seems to be a product of nature.”

“This plant also has many weaknesses. It has a short lifespan and can’t be used semi-permanently like a magic stone. And it’s fragile, so it breaks easily upon impact.”

“Can I see how it breaks?”

I handed Fabian a magic plant that I had placed aside. He carefully tapped it as if knocking.

*Crack!*

“Oh… It’s weaker than I thought.”

“That’s why we concluded that we can’t build a large-scale storage with just magic plants.”

“I agree.”

I activated my magic power and blew away the debris scattered on the floor.

“But if we can combine magic stone manufacturing technology with this plant, we can increase its lifespan and make it more resistant to impact. It’s like developing a hybrid magic object. We’d like to entrust the research and development to the Magic Tower.”

“Wait. You know the concept of hybrids? You seem to have considerable magical knowledge.”

He explained that the Magic Tower had recently started research on hybrid devices. It was a basic concept for a modern person.

“If the Magic Tower is also researching hybrid devices, we can expect good results.”

“It will take some time, but I believe we can make progress if Sir Jericho assists us.”

Fortunately, I could feel the passion burning in the young mage’s eyes. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before an improved version was released.

“Then, Fabian, please request any necessary materials from me. I look forward to working with you.”

I shook his hand lightly and was about to show him to his accommodations, but Fabian politely declined.

“I’d like to organize my thoughts here. Sir Jericho, would you mind talking with me for a bit? I have a lot of questions.”

“Yes, of course.”

So I had to return to my accommodations alone.

As I was about to open the door, I felt a powerful magic power emanating from inside. I had a rough idea of what was going on, and a smile spread across my face.

*Click.*

As expected, when I opened the door, a blonde female mage was standing there, holding a staff.

Looking at her distinct features, I was certain. This mage might also be one of the key characters.

‘Queen Maker’ was, broadly speaking, a male-oriented game. It was natural for protagonist-level characters to be overwhelmingly beautiful.

‘The Magic Tower is an important place, so it’s not strange for it to have a protagonist.’

Then I had to handle this situation wisely.

I closed the door and assessed the situation.

The other mages didn’t seem to want to intervene. They just sat there, watching us indifferently.

‘This isn’t a one-time occurrence.’

Four magic projectiles of different attributes were orbiting in a circle around the mage who seemed to be Fabian’s sister.

The projectiles seemed to be for defense, but they were also fearsome weapons that could attack at the caster’s will.

‘She’s quite skilled. Can she maintain multiple attribute magic simultaneously?’

It was different from multi-casting.

It seemed like she had cast each attribute magic one by one and was making them orbit while maintaining a balance of power. I had tried that before, but it hadn’t worked out.

Fabian’s sister spoke.

“I have a question. I heard you easily subdued Muon’s magic experiment subject.”

“I don’t see the need to deploy magic power like this when we can resolve things through conversation.”

“Hehehe. There are various types of mages in the Magic Tower. Some like research, and some like fighting. This is how mages who enjoy fighting converse. It’s not much different from knights sparring. Are you scared?”

“Are you Fabian’s sister?”

“I’d like to hear the answer to my question first.”

It seemed she was indeed his sister.

I heard they were twins, but their personalities were completely opposite. Fabian was calm and collected, while his sister seemed to be more emotional than rational.

“If I were this easily scared, I wouldn’t have started this huge project in the north. But you seem to be using interesting magic. Could you show it to me again?”

Fabian’s sister chuckled and dispelled the magic.

“Nothing will change even if you stall for time.”

She said it with a tsundere-like tone and then chanted a spell, holding her staff.

Of course, I wasn’t stalling for time.

‘Magic Mimicry.’

The cheat-like skill that had completely drained Jericho’s resources activated.

*Snap!*

The flow of magic power and the spell formula flowed into my mind.

At the same time, Fabian’s sister completed her spell.

“How about it? If you admit defeat…”

She stopped mid-sentence, startled.

She must have been surprised that I had cast the same four-attribute projectiles as her, without any chanting.

I lightly extended my hand, and my projectiles shot out simultaneously, colliding with her projectiles of opposing attributes.

*Boom!*

The projectiles vanished. It all happened in an instant.

Fabian’s sister dropped her staff, her face blank with shock.

“Impossible…”

“It was quite a useful spell.”

I picked up her staff, dusted it off, and handed it back to her.

“I think it would be better for you to focus on research rather than fighting. The world is vast, and there are many strong people out there.”

“W-What did you say?”

She yelled, clearly provoked.

I smiled and offered her the staff again. Everything was going according to plan.