Guns, Magic, Sanctuary (1)
I rocketed from a 2-circle mage straight to a 3-circle spiritist Iron Man overnight.
I didn't notice at first, but the aftereffects hit me hard and fast. I didn't even have time to drag myself home before I had to borrow my master's bed to crash.
I think I ended up hugging something soft and warm-smelling while I slept, but whatever.
After that, I spent time with my master popping in and out of the spirit corridor for meditation sessions, slowly working to connect my existing mana circuits to the Spirit Stone.
Four days like that.
The moment I wrapped up that sweat-drenched closed-door training, the first to greet me was, predictably, our GOAT old-timer, the badass elder Claude.
"I heard from the head librarian. You went through quite the ordeal."
"I had no idea becoming a spiritist would be this intense."
"Haha, but you achieved something huge, didn't you? Congratulations. I've been so bored lately, but now I have a good conversation partner thanks to you."
"Conversation partner? Didn't we already have the dev club folks?"
"They're in charge of the Cube room, aren't they? The chief librarian's been too busy to drop by much these days, so the east wing and central lobby are all on me."
"Uh... sorry?"
Was this a protest about leaving him to handle all the solo shifts?
Come to think of it, I'd been shoving library duties to the back burner lately.
Claude panicked when I apologized and quickly added,
"No, no! Not at all, Eugene! That's not it. Now I get to see Wiki too. The spirit of knowledge is incredibly bright and lively. It's added some real joy to my otherwise dull routine."
"Huh?"
What was this now?
"Speak of the devil, and here you are."
A gentle breeze whooshed in—even though we were indoors—and a translucent figure materialized smoothly.
No way I wouldn't recognize her after the contract. If I focused, I could even remotely sense where Wiki was and what she was up to.
But this was different from the form I'd seen before.
"You have... hands now?"
White-gloved hands floated in midair.
Wiki spread her palm wide, then flashed a V-sign and wiggled her fingers.
And that wasn't all.
"Hold on, so you can talk to Wiki too, Claude?"
"Yes, of course."
"Unlike you, Sir Claude is so refined and has impeccable character. Maybe it's time to hand over the chief librarian spot?"
Wiki chimed in slyly from the side, but I was floored by the implications.
Just one contract, and this happened?
Sure, I'd seen spiritists summon and command spirits freely before.
But permanent manifestation? That was new to me.
Come to think of it, fire spirits can take lizard or dragon forms, wind spirits appear as birds or horses... so knowledge spirits show up as humans, huh.
I pictured Wiki in human form for a second, then shook my head.
No way she'd be some beauty.
"You just imagined something pretty offensive."
"Nah, wasn't thinking anything."
"Hmmm..."
"Anyway, who's on Cube room duty today?"
"Micrel and Fayjons."
"Art team folks, huh. No planners? We need to start brainstorming the next project soon..."
Dead Wizard's City and Queen of Maryland Maker were still riding high on popularity, but we couldn't just coast forever.
We had to at least get some planning done, even if we weren't jumping into production right away.
With Dead Wizard's City's shelf life winding down, maybe it was time for some DLC?
"I was meaning to mention—while you were in seclusion, some visitors stopped by. They said to have you come see them as soon as you're free."
A bad feeling crept in.
If Claude was calling them "visitors," they weren't your average mages.
Every bigwig who'd shown up so far had been a heavyweight.
Did the emperor himself drop by this time?
I'd been quietly worried after slipping in that king-picking theme, but Riana and Dante had sworn the emperor wouldn't care about our little games.
Luckily, my dread was off-base.
"Duke Pavel Ishinkiore and Commander Cassian Valerius."
Oh, those two old guys.
The ones who'd been seriously hooked on the Cubes.
...Now that I think about it, I never got proper feedback from them.
Especially Cassian—he'd left such a brief impression before vanishing from the library entirely.
I'd been too stunned by his 7-circle to 8-circle awakening to even try holding him back.
I do need their input.
Both Pavel and Cassian had played special setups—not the standard versions, but custom jobs or order-mades.
Cassian was the only one who'd hit 100% sync, so chatting with him would be gold for iterating on the Cubes.
"Should I just head straight there? To the barracks?"
"Anytime except late at night, they said. If it's inconvenient today, I can send a telegram for you."
"Nah, I'll go myself. It's my day off anyway."
I left the library and headed for the facility where Cassian's unit was stationed.
Imperial Army 2nd Magic Infantry Battalion.
It had a fancy name like "garrison," but it was really just a small clearing next to the Imperial Guard barracks.
It was a unit made entirely of mages, after all.
Like the Guard, it answered directly to the emperor, but it wasn't huge, and they didn't have proper training regimens.
What kind of drills do mages even do? Just grind magic practice.
Still, they were the empire's core strike force.
Loyal to the emperor and the empire—not the council—one of the few mage units like that.
"I'm here to see the commander. Mention Eugene from the Central Magic Library, and he'll know."
I told the regular soldier on sentry duty, and soon a sharply dressed man in uniform appeared.
"I'm the commander's aide. Commander Valerius is in the back yard right now. This way, please."
Following the adjutant's lead, I found Cassian Valerius—this time in casual clothes instead of armor.
"...?!"
I couldn't help but gawk at the thing in his hands.
A long wooden body, a blue crystal mounted mid-barrel, a sleek silver muzzle pointed straight ahead.
"A mana rifle?"
"Yes, our 2nd Magic Infantry's been tapped as the testbed unit."
I'd heard from Riana that initial mass production had started.
She'd even brought a prototype to the library for show-and-tell.
But I had no idea they were already in active use.
Cassian shouldered the stock perfectly, racked the bolt—er, mana starter—and took aim.
Exhaling steadily, he squeezed the trigger calmly.
Bang! A blue flash erupted from the magic stone, shattering the target glass bottle into pieces.
He lowered the rifle and turned to me, his expression still stiff but the old hostility completely gone.
If he still hated my guts now, I'd be pretty pissed.
Who got you to 8-circle, huh?
"Commander Cassian, long time no see."
But instead of returning the greeting, he hit me with a blunt question.
"What do you think?"
"Of what?"
"My form."
"Oh... your shooting stance. Clean, no wasted motion. Something you picked up in Dead Wizard's City?"
"I didn't use them much there, but I know how to shoot. I practice like this whenever I have time."
"I had no clue they were already in frontline service."
"It's only been a couple days since deployment. That's actually why I stopped by the library."
"I just hit 3-circle recently."
"I can tell. Your mana aura's thicker now. Congrats."
Oh. First outside validation since busting out of seclusion.
Guess I really am 3-circle now.
"Anyway, you might've heard, but His Majesty is very interested in this new weapon."
Yeah, figured as much.
That's why I filed the patent right away.
Before the palace caught wind and slapped me down.
"Its lethality on its own... honestly, it's not going to threaten a proper mage or knight. But in terms of portability and overall efficiency, it's a huge step up from bows or crossbows."
"Is that so?"
"Even with mana, it's still just firing projectiles. Everyone's got defenses against physical attacks anyway."
I wouldn't have filed the gun patent without hesitation if I could lie.
Even treated as a combat magic tool using mana instead of gunpowder, it's still a gun.
I made it, sure, but what if some psycho used it on the emperor or other big shots?
Turned out that worry didn't last long.
Any knight worth their salt layered on limited physical wards.
Don't get me started on armor stacked with spells and magic tools.
A 4-circle mage could just reflect the force with a deflection field.
High nobles or royals? Forget it.
Basically a lucky mana crossbow.
Riana convinced me: if someone really wanted to assassinate VIPs, they could do it with a mana crossbow or throwing knife anyway. So I filed the patent.
"That said, excluding a few types, it's highly effective against monsters vulnerable to physical force—or demons that neutralize magic. You and your master might've even predicted that much."
"..."
I nodded vaguely.
No need to pile on more misunderstandings with long explanations.
"So you called me here to show off the mana rifles in real deployment?"
"No."
Cassian's crimson eyes gleamed.
"It's an imperial order. His Majesty has authorized testing this new weapon using your 'games.'"
"...?"
"The price is non-negotiable. No matter what you do with your games from now on—even if they insult the throne itself—His Majesty will pardon it all."
"W-what? You're serious?"
"The emperor's word is absolute, mage."
I couldn't help but raise my voice.
That Iron Blood Emperor?
The guy who'd purged his own family and irksome retainers without mercy, blood brothers or not.
That's why I'd targeted the games at "mages" specifically.
Get tangled with nobles or the imperial family, and headaches never end.
But that limit's gone?
No more forcing my brain into pretzels to avoid lèse-majesté charges.
Why do you think I set Dead Wizard's City 500 years in the future?
Queen of Maryland Maker's fictional kingdom across the Silent Sea wasn't random either.
From here on, game dev without censorship or restrictions.
In a medieval fantasy where rights mean squat and power and status define life, the emperor's unlimited protection is priceless.
"Don't worry about funding or manpower. The palace will back you fully. So, any ideas?"
With the emperor name-dropped, I had no choice...
"I'll submit a planning doc by next week."
Why say no to the top dog scrapping censorship himself?