Vilheim Magic Tower (1)
“You’re saying he completed a fusion spell on the spot?”
“Yes, Chief Mage.”
At Mel’s reply, Roimdel nodded.
“I saw it with my own eyes. In the middle of battle, he pulled out the materials and completed the fusion spell right there. It was a special fusion magic that corroded mana barriers.”
“Impossible.”
Roimdel’s voice dropped.
“Fusion magic requires advance preparation and precise calculation. To build a fusion formula in the middle of combat, in a situation where your life is on the line… that can’t be done.”
He fixed me with a sharp look and went on.
“Tell me, did you really do that?”
“…Yes.”
“How could that even be possible? To construct a fusion formula in the middle of battle…”
Roimdel let his words trail off and glanced at the other mages around him.
“As all of you know, I’ve devoted fifty years to magic fusion. Even I need more than ten minutes to perform a two-system fusion, and that’s in a laboratory, with everything perfectly prepared. Yet a third-rate mage of only the 2nd Circle did it on the battlefield, on the fly?”
At Roimdel’s words, the surrounding mages began to murmur among themselves.
“That’s absurd…”
“But Master Mel said he saw it himself…”
Roimdel walked toward me again.
“What did you say your magic tower was called?”
“The Fusion Magic Tower.”
“The Fusion Magic Tower…”
Roimdel stroked his chin, lost in thought.
“Never heard of it.”
“…It’s a small tower out on the borderlands.”
“Hmm… Mel, are you absolutely certain there’s not a shred of falsehood in this?”
Roimdel still seemed unwilling to believe it, so he confirmed the facts with Mel once more.
“Yes. I am.”
“I saw it too, Chief Mage Roimdel. I saw him create a fusion spell on the spot.”
“So did I.”
One by one, the other mages began testifying as well.
“He was definitely in combat. He took out the materials and completed the fusion spell in less than a minute.”
“Without that spell, we wouldn’t have been able to tear through the leader-class barrier.”
Roimdel’s expression hardened little by little.
This wasn’t one or two people repeating the same story; several mages were giving the same testimony at once. If that was the case, then it couldn’t be a lie.
“...Mel, tell me in a little more detail.”
“The initial extermination operation went smoothly. But once the leader-class Grim Wolves appeared, the situation…”
Mel reported everything that had happened during the extermination operation to Roimdel, leaving out nothing.
“...And that is what happened.”
Roimdel looked once more at the leader-class corpse beside him, then spoke.
“Hard as it is to believe, I have no choice but to accept it as fact.”
He looked at me again.
This time, his gaze held more curiosity and greed than wariness.
“Grace, Tower Master of the Fusion Magic Tower. I’ll give you a choice.”
“A choice?”
What choice was he talking about?
***
Roimdel had come running here as soon as he received Mel’s emergency report.
He had expected the situation to be serious.
And yet, what did he find?
The leader-class Grim Wolves had already been dealt with, and only the lesser fry remained.
...They said this was a special specimen and that complete annihilation would be unavoidable.
With that thought in mind, he cleared away the stragglers and began taking stock of the situation.
But then…
The Fusion Magic Tower? Grace created a 2nd-circle fusion spell on the spot?
At first, Roimdel assumed Mel must have been mistaken, or that the report had been exaggerated.
But while investigating the scene, his mind changed.
The corpse of the leader-class Grim Wolf. The corrosive traces left all over its body.
This was unquestionably the result of a special fusion spell.
The combination of dark and wind… and it corrodes mana shields?
Roimdel had spent fifty years researching magic.
And yet he had never seen a combination like this.
No—strictly speaking, he had never even tried it.
That was because the fusion of dark and wind had such poor compatibility that the success rate was vanishingly low.
And yet that third-rate mage made something like this on the fly, in the middle of combat?
Impossible.
But the testimonies matched, and the evidence at the scene was clear.
Roimdel’s heart began to race.
If… if that really is possible…
The Vilheim Magic Tower had been researching a fusion spell for twenty years.
Twenty years.
That was the total span of time Roimdel and the Vilheim Magic Tower had poured into the project.
Mana Amplification.
A technique that artificially increased a mage’s mana pool.
A revolutionary spell that would shake the continent to its core by allowing a 3rd Circle mage to wield mana on the level of the 4th Circle.
But even after twenty years, they still hadn’t completed it.
There were many reasons.
It requires a four-system fusion.
To realize Mana Amplification, they needed to fuse at least four systems of magic.
But for Roimdel, whose success rate on even three-system fusion was only thirty percent, a four-system fusion was literally beyond the realm of possibility.
...And we still haven’t found the right formula.
Fortunately, they had identified the required attributes after twenty years of study.
Fire, water, light, and dark.
But the bigger problem was the order and method of fusion.
For twenty years, they had researched the sequence in which those four systems should be combined, and how, in order to produce the effect of mana amplification.
And yet it still felt like they were wandering through fog.
The combinations we’ve tried so far must number in the hundreds.
Of those, only two had ever succeeded in achieving a four-system fusion at all.
But the magic they produced was nowhere near the mana amplification effect Roimdel wanted.
Materials are a problem too. Even with the finest materials, the success rate barely reaches ten percent.
As a result, the research costs had been astronomical. It had only been possible because the Vilheim Magic Tower was one of the empire’s Five Great Magic Towers.
Any other tower would have given up long ago.
But…
Roimdel’s gaze moved to Grace.
If that man truly has the talent to create fusion magic on the spot…
Hope began to appear, faint at first.
If he can succeed in four-system fusion.
They could not let him slip away.
What would be the best way? How should I entice him?
Roimdel’s mind turned over the problem.
He said it was just a little border tower, buried under debt, didn’t he?
Roimdel recalled the information Mel had given him.
The Fusion Magic Tower was on the verge of bankruptcy, and Grace was desperately in need of gold coins.
Perfect conditions.
A smile spread across Roimdel’s mouth.
A starving man could be won over by a single piece of bread.
And a tower master on the verge of ruin could be brought to heel with a few gold coins.
But I can’t be too obvious. He’s not a fool.
Carrot and stick. He would need both.
He would begin by pretending to propose a cooperative relationship, while in reality binding him to the Vilheim Magic Tower.
That was one of Roimdel’s specialties, honed over twenty years surviving the imperial political arena.
Good. I’ll give him a chance to challenge four-system fusion first.
If he succeeded, they would fully employ him in the research into Mana Amplification.
If he failed? That hardly mattered.
Either way, someone with that level of talent would still be valuable to keep in Vilheim.
Whichever way it goes, I have nothing to lose.
Roimdel finished his calculations and met Grace’s eyes.
***
“What choice?”
Since he hadn’t said anything for a while, I asked again.
What exactly was he trying to make me choose?
“First, you sign a subordinate contract with our Vilheim Magic Tower right now. The Fusion Magic Tower becomes a branch tower of Vilheim, and we gain the right to review every fusion spell you create before anyone else does.”
Roimdel’s voice remained cold.
“In return, you receive Vilheim’s protection, along with support in the form of high-grade materials and research facilities.”
“……”
What the hell? That’s just telling me to become a slave, isn’t it? A subordinate contract?
“And the second?”
“Second, come to our Vilheim Magic Tower immediately. Become my direct researcher and study the secrets of magic fusion with me. Of course, all of your fusion techniques and methods will become the property of Vilheim Magic Tower. In return, I, a great mage of the 6th Circle, will teach you personally and provide you with the finest research environment in the empire. And if you accept my offer, we may even be able to clear your debts.”
What the… isn’t that the same thing?
Whether the tower became subordinate, or I did.
That was the only difference, wasn’t it?
“……”
“Why are you silent?”
Of course I was silent. No matter which I chose, it was a life of slavery.
“What if I refuse?”
“……”
“……”
At my words, Mel and the other mages, who had been listening beside us, fell silent for a moment.
“...Grace. Refusing isn’t an option. The Chief Mage of Vilheim Magic Tower is making you an offer personally.”
Mel said that.
“Mel, be quiet.”
“I’m sorry. I overstepped.”
Roimdel’s gaze remained fixed on me.
“If you refuse? An interesting question.”
Roimdel slowly smiled. But there was no warmth in that smile at all.
“Of course, you’re free to refuse. I’m not the type to drag people away by force.”
He paused for a moment, then continued in a colder tone.
“But from that moment on, the fusion techniques you possess become a matter of imperial secrecy. I’ll be obligated to report them to the Magic Tower Association.”
My heart dropped.
“A matter of imperial secrecy?”
“That’s right. The technique for creating a 2nd-circle fusion spell with a power rating above thirty is a strategic asset at the imperial level. If it were ever to fall into enemy hands, it could become a serious threat to the empire’s security.”
He was talking about Explosive Flame Vortex, which Mel had mentioned.
“In that case, you would fall under the surveillance of the Imperial Magic Tower Association. Of course, free research or trade would no longer be possible. Every fusion spell would have to be submitted to the empire first, and private sales would be prohibited.”
It was a threat. Open and blatant.
He had called it a choice, but in reality he was driving me into a situation where I had no choice at all.
Damn it… so this world is just the law of the jungle too.
I clenched my teeth.
If you didn’t have power, this was exactly the kind of thing that happened to you.
Wait… power?
Then, like a spark, one thought flashed through my mind.
Power… I have that too. A power more brilliant than anything else.
At once, the list of fusion spells swept through my head, and I thought of a way to break out of this situation.
“Chief Mage Roimdel. On the other hand, may I make a proposal of my own?”
Roimdel’s eyebrow twitched upward.
“A proposal? Interesting. A mere borderland tower master of the 2nd Circle is going to make me a proposal?”
There was open mockery in his voice.
But I didn’t back down.
“Yes. A proposal.”
I held up the beads for Explosive Flame Vortex and Lethal Corrosive Mist on my wand and said, “This fusion spell right here. It’s a result that surpasses the highest level of research you’ve devoted your entire life to, isn’t it?”
Roimdel’s face stiffened.
“So?”
“Then what if I complete not a 2nd-circle fusion spell like Explosive Flame Vortex, but a three-system fusion spell… no, a brand-new four-system fusion spell? For example, Mana Amplification?”
At the moment I said Mana Amplification, Roimdel’s eyes changed terrifyingly.