Chapter 113 — Borrowing a Cat's Paw (5)
Chapter 113 — Borrowing a Cat's Paw (5)
"This is..."
That 'structure' that had been set out in the front garden, not even brought inside the prepared laboratory.
He didn't need to ask what it was.
It was an object Roan knew well.
It was just that its size was unimaginably huge.
"Ah-ha☆ Your Majesty. What brings you here so early."
Roan looked at the count with expressionless eyes.
"I received a report that you had brought something astonishing at this early hour."
"Oh. You heard already!"
The count proudly presented his structure to the emperor.
"It is my personal rest area. With this, I'll have no trouble eating and sleeping right in the laboratory."
"...I prepared a separate bedroom for you. Wouldn't it be better to rest properly there?"
"When I stay in the laboratory, I lose track of day and night."
"Do you not intend to return to Dos? May I rest easy without worrying about the governance of the North White Territory?"
Under Roan's barrage of questions, the Count of the Dark Pit chuckled confidently.
"Worry not, Your Majesty. My subordinates are capable. They have managed the North White Territory well in my extended absences before. If I am needed, I can simply return!"
"..."
Roan merely gazed at the count with sharp eyes.
Well, the great lords had been away from their territories for quite a long time because of the war until recently.
The administrators of the North White Territory had smoothly transferred the trade goods coming in from Arteala despite the tight schedule.
He'd also heard that the supplies and food delivered to each city had been distributed without a hitch.
He suspected their competence stemmed from their subtly indifferent yet cruel superior...
In any case, the count was someone who had received the assessment of "skilled in personnel management" from none other than Shwikviena.
I don't need to worry.
Yes. This feeling,
rather than worry...
...was irritation born of sheer incredulity.
"Even so, that..."
Roan, who had unconsciously nearly called it a 'cat tower,' switched words.
Probably because the people here wouldn't know what a cat tower was.
"...putting your rest area... directly into the laboratory is a bit... isn't it too large?"
"It does seem so. I think I'll need to reduce the size."
The count rubbed his lips with his fingers for a moment, lost in thought.
The cat tower before Roan's eyes
was enormous enough that the Count of the Dark Pit, a cat beastman, could go inside and lie down or sit.
Around six meters high,
roughly six meters wide and deep as well.
It felt like a giant jungle gym.
As if calculating something, the count's gaze shifted little by little while he muttered, and his fingers stretched toward the massive cat tower.
There was no particularly grandiose casting.
Just like other magic in this world.
His will simply needed to manifest in a clear form.
In the count's case, it was a brief word.
"Transform."
And the cat tower began to transform!
Though the demon king's exterior showed no sign, the core inside was startled out of his wits.
Only now, with his mana having increased, could Roan finally perceive it.
How formidable the count's power was,
and how sophisticated the manner in which it was reshaping that structure.
It was just a pity that the subject was a cat tower.
"...Impressive."
Roan's honest praise slipped out.
The poles supporting the upper and lower sections of the cat tower overlapped, reducing the number of tiers,
and the left and right structures compressed in places, rotated 90 or 180 degrees in others, shifting position this way and that.
The resulting structure was roughly 3-4 meters high,
about 3 meters wide and deep,
a compact(?) size that seemed like a drastically scaled-down version of the earlier structure.
But the count was not looking at his own result.
He was staring at the emperor with astonished eyes.
The narrow pupils within his orange eyes suddenly widened.
"...Impressive...?"
"?"
At the honest puzzlement felt in those words,
it was Roan who was surprised and looked back at the count.
"What do you mean? The count's magic must be among the finest in Evirgio. Seeing it firsthand, I couldn't help but admire it."
The count's eyes, which had been fixed on the emperor for a long while without any thought of rudeness, suddenly narrowed.
"Ufufufu, thank you! Your Majesty."
The count's mood improved.
Most people, upon seeing the count's magic, thought about where to use it.
Especially those who had held the count beneath them and given orders.
That hadn't changed until the count rose to the position of great lord, placing only a handful of people,
including the emperor, above him.
But the emperor simply saw his magic,
admired it as if fascinated, and praised it.
The count felt his emotions inexplicably heightened by that expression and attitude, which seemed thoughtful yet innocent.
"To receive praise from Your Majesty. I was truly right to join this research!"
And with his improved mood, he suddenly began pulling things out one by one from his magic bag.
"I'm in the best mood! Well, since it's come to this, let me show you more of my proudest creations!"
"Count, there's no need to..."
But at the ensuing sight, Roan once again closed his mouth.
The count placed the backpack he had brought on the ground, flattened it, and spread the opening wide.
Then he put both hands deep inside.
As if gripping what he wanted, he poured strength into it,
and began pulling it out with all his might.
And what started emerging from the bag was
a gigantic machine.
The machine, which passed through the backpack's opening in a distorted shape, seemed to return to its original size once it had come out to a certain degree.
Like the illustrative technique in comics when something large squeezes out through a small hole.
But the weight must not have been light.
"Y-Your Majesty, a little... help, please..."
While even the attendants stood spellbound, watching the scene, the count asked the emperor standing right next to him for help.
Roan took over the end of the machine the count had been holding and let out a sharp breath.
It was the first tough opponent he had met with his 99-strength body.
"Count, this is..."
He had meant to say, "Even if you take this out, will you not simply put it back in the laboratory?"
But the machine's weight kept Roan from finishing.
After pulling the machine entirely out of the bag, Roan carefully lowered it to the ground.
He'd let the end down gently, but it was so heavy the nearby ground vibrated.
— Thud.
A weight that seemed to be at least several hundred kilograms.
Roan had already hit 99 in Strength, but still.
How in the world had the count lifted this?
The count smiled and displayed the bracelet on his arm.
"It's the Bracelet of Strength. It was well worth the price."
"...What is this."
"Ah. This is the Mana Tracking Camera I developed!"
With a proud voice, the count introduced the machine before them.
Roan looked at the machine with a slight furrow between his brows.
In the frame made of wood and metal, circular panes of glass that looked like lenses were attached in multiple places.
"It can track the flow of mana in real time! It's different from the tools ordinary mages use. Because it's my custom creation!"
Roan was not a mage, so most of the explanation was difficult to understand,
but he simply listened to the count's explanation because he didn't want to disturb him while he was so excited.
The usual tools only had a function akin to taking photographs. But this machine, personally crafted by the count, could show the flow of mana as real-time video.
"You made this?"
"Yes!"
The count nodded proudly at Roan's question.
What could be felt from his explanation was affection and pride.
Perhaps the count even enjoyed the work of building machines itself.
Was that why he had willingly created
the facilities in Dos, the defensive magic circles and structures of the North White Territory?
Subsequently, the count stubbornly hauled several more items out of the magic bag.
The improved Mana Injector,
the Hazardous Material Sealing Device, and more.
He passionately explained they were objects ordinary mages could not even dream of.
In this way, the count boasted of his inventions before the emperor for a long while.
When the explanation finally ended, the count, after groaning and straining for another while to cram the machine back into the bag, bowed his head to the emperor with a satisfied expression.
"I am utterly delighted that Your Majesty has listened to my words so attentively."
"...Hm?"
It was an unexpectedly normal response.
At the unforeseen gratitude, Roan looked down at the count with wide eyes.
The count's orange eyes, above his petite frame and gray-and-black striped ears, curved softly.
"I know it is not easy for Your Majesty, who is not a mage, to listen to me like this. Most people listen to me with bored expressions."
So this guy...
had been living while pretending to be oblivious.
And for the first time, Roan
could see a serious expression on the count's face.
"Working with someone who lends an ear to another's words like this is a pleasure. I, too, will do my utmost. Your Majesty."
The great lord's tail shot straight up toward the air, brimming with resolve.
The fact that even his resolve was expressed in such an honest tail drew Roan's gaze, but Roan had to respond to the count's seriousness.
He exerted all his effort to observe the tail's movements using only sidelong glances and Detection.
"I am grateful."
And apart from that,
the count's sincere research would surely be a great help in producing swift results.
At Roan's greeting, the count smiled.
"Yes. Spring is not far off. I will definitely deliver results that will satisfy you by then."
Roan flinched for an instant.
A good thing is a good thing, but...
Just what kind of experiment did the count want to do on him?
Though he grew a little afraid,
Roan nodded and accepted the count's resolve.
The count, having declared his aspirations, hurried the setup of his laboratory at a speed that was clearly unprecedented.
An attitude starkly different from when he had taken a nap in the study, saying he would observe Roan.
It was only after Financial Officer Liron arrived at work that he belatedly heard the rumor that the Lord of the North White Territory had taken out his inventions in the garden, showed them off to the emperor, and set up a laboratory.
After the small commotion in which Liron rushed breathlessly to the laboratory, greeted the count, and requested an informed look at the inventions,
only to be flatly chased away.
After breakfast, Roan headed to the count's laboratory with Helen.
From now on, it would be Helen who assisted the count by using holy power for the research.
Because Roan had state affairs to attend to.
Helen, who could no longer stay by his side, showed a faint hint of wistfulness,
but as she had personally said before, Helen was prepared to do anything Roan wished.
"Then, Helen, before we go in."
Roan cast 'Blessing of the Stars' on Helen,
and also cast 'Blessing of the Stars' on himself.
The effective duration of the 'Blessing' he had applied upon waking up was about three hours.
He had clearly confirmed that 'Blessing of the Stars' aided concentration and the process of using magic.
It was especially good that it could buff the use of both mana and holy power without distinction.
With his concentration heightened, the casting speed and power of his magic improved.
Consequently, the efficiency of analyzing the obtained results also naturally increased.
Because he had gained the composure to coolly observe how the magic's effects were manifested.
That thing that would've been called 'Experience Points' in a game.
And what followed as a result was the improvement of the Knowledge stat.
So from the beginning of this year, Roan had continuously practiced moving his mana or holy power and casting magic while under the 'Blessing of the Stars'.
His steady efforts had borne considerable fruit,
and now his Knowledge was 58.
If it went up by another 2, he could learn intermediate magic.
"You've become proficient."
Helen, having grasped the flow of Roan's holy power, addressed him with words of praise.
Roan smiled back and opened the laboratory door. Yet the moment he opened the door, the smile vanished from his face.