He Was a Regular of Mine
"Your color is looking much better! Haha! But don't expect to be cured overnight like magic. You'll have to keep seeing me. For a few years, at least. Physical wounds heal quickly, but a damaged soul takes time. There's no shortcut. You need to eat well, sleep well, and fill that empty soul of yours with good memories."
"I will do as you say."
"Once a week. That's how often I'd like to see you. I'm heading up to the North, so if you're interested, you should come there. If not, well, there's nothing more I can do."
Chouka spoke between puffs of her long pipe, exhaling thick plumes of smoke. Her voice was heavily laced with the scent of alcohol.
Last night, she had completely ignored my warnings. Taking the allowance I gave her, she had downed twelve bottles of liquor at a tavern as if it were water, before spending a wild night with four male rabbit beastmen. She still looked dazed, clearly suffering from a hangover.
Yet, despite Chouka's utterly disheveled state, Velmut remained exceedingly polite.
"I will go to the North as well. I cannot do this without you. It has been years since I slept so peacefully. And it is the first time that... that smell hasn't lingered in my mind."
"Good. Stay away from the bad things and surround yourself with the good. Good scents, a good environment. And you need people around who recognize your worth and encourage you. It's nothing fancy. The most basic things are always the most effective."
She certainly knew how to talk.
Velmut tightly grasped the hand of Chouka, who was currently vacillating between a wise sage and a common drunkard.
Velmut's eyes grew red with emotion.
"Thank you. I will do exactly that. Thank you so much. Truly..."
I let out a soft chuckle and patted Velmut on the shoulder.
"You mentioned there are other mages in the Golden Magic Tower suffering from the same symptoms, right? Could you try to persuade them? Tell them they can receive treatment if they come to the North."
"Of course! Absolutely! Aside from me, there are about six others in the Golden Magic Tower. I'll do my best to convince them. They're likely in the same boat as I was. I doubt any of them would refuse."
Excellent.
I had finally found a way to draw mages to the North.
"But will it be alright for you to leave the Golden Magic Tower and head north? Will the Magic Tower Master be willing to let you and the others go?"
"Who cares? My reputation is already in the gutter anyway. Everyone knows I can't even do proper research and just drink in my lab all day. If I say I'm leaving, the Magic Tower Master will probably be thrilled to be rid of me. Don't worry. I'll go and bring the others back. Just wait for me."
Velmut hurriedly rushed out of the tavern.
Something I thought would be impossible was actually falling into place.
"Chouka. Can you gather the other goat beastmen?"
"I already called them last night while I was drinking, Commander."
"You called them? How?"
"Do you take our shamanism for a joke? We goats have our own ways of communicating. We can connect through dreams, courtesy of the great Silvanus. I've sent word to the goat beastmen across the entire continent, so they should already be on their way here."
Chouka's tone was relaxed, almost ditzy.
With that devil-may-care attitude of hers, she might actually adapt to the North better than those prickly mages. Still, I had to ask what needed to be asked.
"You'll be living in the North. Are you sure you're fine with that?"
"Oh, please. Us horned goats don't care where we end up, as long as we have a place to sleep and plenty of food and booze. Besides, I heard Hybel and most of the Eastern rabbits have already moved up north?"
"That's true."
"Then we'll just crash with them. And while we're at it, we can get to know the Northern men too... Hehehe. Hehehehe!"
They truly were a race of chaos and lust, constantly shifting between sages and degenerates.
"I doubt you'd listen even if I tried to stop you, but I must forbid any excessive public indecency. Chouka, most of the people in the North do not lead such... passionate lives as your tribe. Please behave in a way that won't shock them. Pass that along to the rest of your people as well."
"We've spent our whole lives walking on eggshells around others. We know how to read the room. I know what you're worried about. We'll keep it behind closed doors."
"Is there anything else you want besides food, alcohol, and a place to sleep?"
"Just pay us a decent wage, and we won't need anything else. As I told you, this is a matter our tribe must stop at all costs. We would have begged to go to the North if we had to. So no one will complain. Don't worry so much."
Chouka tapped her pipe against the ashtray, knocking out the burnt ash.
A strange, cold glint flickered in her otherwise glazed, drunken eyes.
They might act foolishly, but when it came to the Crow Brotherhood, they were deadly serious.
While her erratic behavior made me slightly uneasy, I was in desperate need of Chouka and the goat beastmen's help.
"I'm counting on you. Let's work together to rebuild the North, Chouka."
I extended my hand to Chouka. She smirked and shook it.
"I look forward to working with you. My people are a bunch of crazy bastards, so it might get a bit chaotic, but we'll definitely liven the place up. Don't you worry."
"Right. I trust you. Just don't overdo it."
And so, the migration of the goat beastmen to the North was decided.
Now.
All that was left was for Velmut to bring the remaining mages.
Just as Velmut said, the Golden Magic Tower had no reason to hold onto mages with broken minds. They would likely let him go without a second thought.
Once I brought them to the North, we could finally resume the research left behind by the original female lead in earnest—
"Volka, I'm sorry. The Golden Magic Tower Master rejected my resignation. He told me to tell you that he cannot allow magic talent to drain into the North."
"What?"
"I... I don't really understand it either. However, he did say he would allow the other mages suffering from Explosion Neurosis to meet with the goat beastmen."
Of course.
Nothing I tried to do ever went smoothly.
Velmut and I went to see the Golden Magic Tower Master again.
And just like our first meeting, he rejected my proposal with absolute firmness.
"I cannot let them go. Mages are precious assets. They are too valuable to be thrown away and wasted in a barren wasteland like the North. Even if they are ill, it makes no difference. I will not release them."
"..."
"Whether you bring an army to threaten us or try to pressure us politically, it will not work on the Magic Tower. Do not waste your breath and leave. I will permit Velmut and the others to receive treatment, but I will never allow them to be taken from the Tower."
At the Magic Tower Master's words, Velmut spoke up.
"The goat beastmen are all moving to the North. Without them, our neurosis cannot be cured anyway. Please just let us go with them, Tower Master. If we aren't cured, we won't be able to do any research regardless—"
"Can we not simply have a few of the goat beastmen remain near the Tower? Why must you go all the way to the North, a magical wasteland, and suffer? This proposal was not made with your well-being in mind. It is merely an unreasonable demand born of the North's desperation."
Velmut shut his mouth, having no reply to that.
"I will pay the goat beastmen for their services. Since there is progress, I will ensure you receive treatment. But I will not allow you to be taken to the North. Absolutely not."
He was so unyielding that we had nothing left to say.
Once we stepped out of the room, Velmut let out a sigh and scratched the back of his head.
"I didn't expect him to be so stubborn. No matter how I look at it, the rest of the neurotic mages and I are just sick people who can't even conduct proper research... Has the North ever offended the Golden Magic Tower?"
"No, never. Velmut, is it not possible for you to simply ignore the Tower Master's decision and leave with us?"
"It is possible, but if I do that, I will be nothing more than a lone mage. Mages who leave with the Tower Master's permission are allowed to take their personal equipment and research papers with them. But if we leave without permission, we must leave everything behind as the property of the Tower. Those are the rules."
I felt a headache coming on.
"Which means you won't have access to proper magic research or equipment support at all?"
"Exactly. If you just needed a tactical mage to help maintain the Blood Wall in the North, I could simply walk out. But if you need proper researchers, we must have the Tower Master's permission."
I let out a heavy sigh.
"I'll tell a few of the goat beastmen to remain in the entertainment district, Velmut. You and the other neurotic mages need to get treated. Let's forget about you coming north. The Tower Master is right. My proposal was too selfish."
"No, Volka, don't say that. I'm just grateful you found a way to help me when I was rotting away, useless. I... I didn't expect the Tower Master to react like this either. I don't understand why he wants to keep me when I do nothing but drain resources until I'm cured."
I patted Velmut on the shoulder.
"Just rest for now. I'll let you know once things are sorted out."
"Alright, Volka. Thank you for looking out for me."
I waved to him and left the Golden Magic Tower.
Then, I headed straight for the Imperial Palace.
I couldn't let this slip away now that I finally had a lead.
I had to secure those mages by any means necessary.
I was prepared to use His Majesty's authority to make it happen, but even after meeting him in person, the outlook was grim.
"It is likely because of the compensation, Volka."
The Emperor, whom I hadn't seen in a while, looked incredibly haggard.
He was aging, the line of succession had slipped from his grasp, he had to rebuild a crumbling empire, and all the while, he had to suppress the rebellion and resistance of the regional nobles.
It would have been stranger if he weren't exhausted.
"It was one of the conditions the Magic Tower demanded when they loaned their mages during the Ten Years' War. There was a clause stating that in the event of a mage's death or injury, they could continuously demand compensation from the Imperial Family until the injury was fully cured. That is likely why they refuse to let go of the wounded mages."
In simple terms, it was a pension.
As long as the neurotic mages remained with the Tower, the Tower could keep squeezing money out of the treasury.
The problem was...
"Isn't that exploitation? Aren't they holding these injured people hostage?"
"The Tower is not doing nothing, Volka. In fact, they have been consistently supporting the treatment of the neurotic mages. Even if they cannot conduct any research, the Tower keeps them on the payroll. And didn't they offer to pay the goat beastmen to stay near the Tower this time? It is difficult to call that exploitation."
The Tower wasn't just pocketing the money while neglecting the mages' treatment.
They were an entity difficult to attack politically due to a lack of justification, and equally hard to shake economically.
Furthermore, even if I could mobilize the authority of the Emperor or the other Grand Dukes, the Magic Tower possessed independent autonomy, making it incredibly tricky to pressure them.
I absolutely need those mages.
Should I go back to the Magic Tower Master and beg on my knees?
Should I offer him money or other benefits and plead with him to let me take them?
No.
That stubborn man would undoubtedly throw me out without even listening.
"Thank you for your time, Your Majesty."
"It is the least I can do. Considering the burden I have placed upon you."
The Emperor's haggard face looked like a grim preview of the chaos that could engulf the Empire at any moment.
With the future so uncertain, having our supply of mages—essential for the reconstruction of the North—blocked like this...
It was a complete defeat.
For the first time, I had encountered an opponent against whom I couldn't even find an angle to get what I wanted.
But what could I do?
I couldn't let Velmut and the other neurotic mages continue to live in a nightmare just for my own selfish desires.
No matter how desperate I was, that was crossing the line.
I went to see Chouka.
I planned to ask her to leave a few of the goat beastmen near the Tower to continue treating the mages.
And then...
"The Golden Magic Tower Master? Ahhh! That guy! The one who told me I had hips built for popping out babies like taking a dump! He was a regular of mine! He loved getting his ass whipped by me! Should I go give him a talking-to? People usually soften up after a good workout in bed, you know."
Once again, at the most unexpected moment...
Chouka had found the key to solving the problem.