Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Visit of the Second Prince
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The research was entering its final stages.
Implementing all five senses through illusions. NPCs that moved automatically without my control.
Even in this state alone, it could be called close to a virtual reality game.
Borrowing the power of the super genius great archmage, Violet Magic Tower Master Yuna, the modeling work was proceeding smoothly. It struggled a bit with unfamiliar things like wuxia or sci-fi, but the things she had experienced herself were completed at an astonishing speed.
With the workforce doubling to two, there was an unexpected benefit: the ability to incorporate new perspectives.
The Tower Master suggested putting a choker on the butler's neck, and the satisfaction levels among the Violet Magic Tower's female mages rose significantly.
Now, there was only one thing I needed.
A semi-permanent power source.
To run a game, you have to supply plenty of power to the server room, right? I needed immense magical power to maintain my world indefinitely.
Such an item wasn't easy to obtain no matter how much money you had. It would have to be a national treasure of some country to produce that kind of output.
Scraping together cheap magic crystals and pouring them into server maintenance was tough, even with the increased funding flowing into the Magic Tower.
So, I consulted the Tower Master about this part.
"A semi-permanent power source... Hmm, well. From what I know, the imperial family has a Dragon Heart from a millennium dragon. It naturally generates immense magical power... It's a dream artifact for any mage."
"Then, shall we ask them to lend it to us?"
"Are you crazy?"
Her sharp Are you crazy? hit home with crisp pronunciation. It seemed like no easy task.
Afterward, the Tower Master listed several examples of semi-permanent power sources, but none of them were obtainable.
I couldn't just grab a sword and go hunting a dragon, either.
"As expected, requesting a permanent loan from the imperial family..."
"That's why I'm saying you're crazy! Th-the current political climate is turbulent. It's a time to be cautious!"
"I've been so focused on research that I'm out of touch with the outside world... What's it like these days?"
"Sigh."
The Tower Master let out a deep sigh and conjured a whiteboard with illusion magic.
This was one of the few perks of illusion magic. Paper-saving.
"His Majesty the Emperor has nailed down that he'll decide on a successor in three years."
"Oh."
"His Majesty has three children. First Princess Elaine, Second Prince Irid, Third Prince Sledo. From the rumors I've heard, all three are vying for the throne."
It reeked of bloody intrigue and conspiracy.
Was a fratricidal power struggle unfolding over the imperial seat?
"They've made the criteria 'who has strengthened the empire without harming its flesh.' His Majesty will overlook interference but hand down severe punishments for familial murders and the like, so it's been fairly quiet."
Not bloody after all.
"The First Princess is pouring her efforts into reclaiming the lost eastern territories, the Second Prince is focusing on nurturing future talents, and the Third Prince is building his strength at the academy."
"There's an academy here too? Where nobles and commoners attend together, it's supposedly merit-based but rife with faction wars, and terrorism breaks out now and then, making it more dangerous than a battlefield?"
"It's true that nobles and commoners enroll together, they do fight, and terrorism does happen, but it's not more dangerous than a battlefield. It's an educational institution."
Terrorism does happen, though.
Even in this other world, the academy's ironclad tropes held true.
Speaking of academies, I'd once wondered if my isekai reincarnation followed the book-possession template.
There was no demon king scheming to revive, no great axis of evil threatening the world, so probably not.
Who knew what trends from before my death might play out years later, though.
The Violet Magic Tower Master continued her explanation, sketching on the whiteboard.
The highlight was her standing on tiptoes due to her slight shortness. She could've just made a smaller board.
"The First Princess has the backing of the nobility, and the Third Prince is forging bonds with the new generation at the academy. The prevailing view is that the Second Prince is stuck in a middling weak position. Their ideals differ so sharply that even their supporters' evaluations are clearly divided..."
I nodded along quietly, absorbing it with one ear while my other brain mulled something else entirely.
The Violet Magic Tower Master seemed subtly invested in politics. Makes sense—the imperial family was the direct pipeline for funding.
If the next emperor declared, "Illusion magic is trash, no more research grants," the Violet Magic Tower would turn into a beggar den that very day. No other noble sponsors in sight.
Thinking about it that way, it might be wiser not to make outrageous demands and risk offending a crown prince candidate. Better to hunt for a power source slowly. But...
Wasn't this actually an opportunity?
Invite the next emperor hopefuls and blow their minds with my TRPG.
Turn them into hopeless TRPG addicts who couldn't survive without a session, then dangle the next one in exchange for the Dragon Heart.
One stone, two birds.
...Of course, I was joking.
No matter how much I loved TRPG, I wasn't some reality-blind fool. I pulled stunts like "male butler charge" precisely because I was on good terms with the Tower Master.
I had zero intention of aggroing a terrifying overlord wielding funding in one hand and state power in the other. Who'd take responsibility if my head rolled?
This bizarre standoff—the Tower Master lecturing, me lost in thought—lasted about twenty minutes.
"Tower Master! Tower Master! Breaking news!"
BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM.
A senior mage, drenched in sweat and radiating urgency with every fiber of her being, kicked the door open and tumbled in.
Violet Magic Tower Master Yuna was competent and humble, so rather than yelling "You insolent fool!" and turning her into a frog, she listened intently to what had happened.
"The, the Second Prince... is visiting right now!"
"?"
The Tower Master's icy gaze speared toward me. Sharp enough to bore a pretty hole through eternal ice. I frantically shook my head in denial.
"Did you secretly send a letter?"
"No. Really, I didn't."
"You... wagered TRPG?"
"TRPG wager."
With no target for her ire, the Tower Master's anger ebbed, unleashing a flood of panic, bewilderment, and worry in its wake. Have you ever seen a flower wilt?
Accelerate that wilt a thousandfold, and it'd look just like this scene.
The Tower Master gnawed her nails, trembling all over.
"Why? Why? Really, why... the Violet Magic Tower of all places...?"
"Hmm."
I pictured the worst-case scenario.
"Maybe the funding clerk wrote the wrong amount, and he's here for a refund..."
"Eeeeeek!!"
The Tower Master let out a soul-shattering scream and collapsed.
Apparently, just imagining it was too much to bear.
Either way, the Second Prince was already en route. We couldn't very well snub royalty at the gate, so we had no choice but to receive him.
I drew up my mana. Heart and the butlers began materializing one by one from behind me.
Now they were a hologram legion capable of autonomous action with a touch of physical force.
"Heart, hide the shut-in mages out of sight with the butlers."
"Yes!"
The illusory forces scattered. To stash away the decadent mages littering the Violet Magic Tower.
This was mere emergency triage. True command required the Violet Magic Tower Master's orders.
I knelt beside the prostrate Tower Master and massaged her limbs.
...She'd looked slim at a glance, but she had more padding than expected. Not fat, just pleasantly so. And zero muscle—pure squish.
The unconscious Tower Master cracked her eyes open groggily.
"A dream... right? What I heard..."
"Not a dream, Tower Master. Snap out of it. Royalty's coming!"
"Ugh, urgh... why..."
"For the research funds!"
Even after coming to, she groaned fitfully, but rose with fiery resolve to safeguard the funding.
We had no clue why the royal was visiting. With no intel, we had to prepare for everything.
The Tower Master snatched up the crystal orb linked to the tower's voice broadcast system.
"Charlie! You still have the performance-apology letter and wheelchair stashed? Get them ready!"
"Okay, herd the shut-in types into Research Wing A and lock 'em down... Heart's handling the move? Got it. Then pretty up the ones with decent faces!"
"Mayrel, drag everyone from C Wing out and scrub the tower from the first floor up spotless!"
Seeing Napoleon in the flesh must've felt like this...
Tower Master Yuna Yurensuto Violetiris completed her preparations flawlessly. Tear potions for a dramatic meltdown if it was bad news, impressive research logs for a potential surprise audit.
Once the immediate crisis was averted, the Tower Master drilled the warning into me.
"Even if you meet royalty, don't stutter, answer clearly and crisply, don't hold eye contact too long, don't freeze up, and above all, be utterly deferential. Got it?!"
"I, I, uh, Yuna, Yurensuto... V-Violet Magic, T-Tower, M-Mas-ter, Violet, Iris..."
"......"
The Tower Master stuttered, fumbled her responses, froze in a staring contest with the Second Prince, and jerked along mechanically.
All I could do was pray the Second Prince turned out to be a perfect gentleman...