Domain Expansion
The Lupiento Count's mansion was filled with the sounds of shattering furniture and screams.
It wasn't anything unusual, but some days were especially bad.
"Do you really think that makes any sense?!"
"Hic... "
Today was one of those days.
The count, of course, knew the poor maid crying in front of him hadn't done anything wrong. If there was any fault, it was just that she'd had the misfortune of catching his eye at this exact moment.
It couldn't be helped. Delivering letters to the count was the job of the least experienced maid in the mansion.
"What? You got the deed back safe and sound, but you couldn't recover my money? And you executed the thief on the spot?!"
—Crash!
A shard from the broken plate grazed the count's hand. But even as blood trickled out, his rage showed no signs of subsiding.
"That madwoman. She's insane. Her father died screaming, and now she wants to follow him."
"Wasn't the Grand Duke reported as missing?"
"Shut your mouth!!"
The count's son, Phillipus, caught the pipe his father had thrown and gave the maid a quick glance, signaling her to go.
"Th-thank you...."
The maid whispered as she fled the count's room.
"Calm down a bit, Father. At least we got the deed back."
"That's a given! No matter how strong their forces are, how do you expect them to hold off invasions without mages?!"
The magic beast incursions pouring in from beyond the border. The Grand Duke's noble mission to repel the evil advance was nothing more than a convenient weakness to exploit for some.
The count's eldest son, Phillipus, was a man born with both fortune and misfortune.
His fortune was being born into a central noble family and possessing talent as a mage.
His misfortune was that his father was the exact type of person he despised most.
'When I become head of the family, I can make it up to them then.'
He did feel a bit sorry for the Grand Duke's house being tossed around like this, but that was the extent of his sentiment.
'Assuming they still exist by then.'
Phillipus clicked his tongue briefly and slipped quietly out of the count's study.
Yellow—his mana attribute. Phillipus's golden-flecked eyes gleamed with disgust.
Disgust toward his father, or perhaps self-loathing. Even he wasn't sure which.
The corridors of the Grand Duke's Castle no longer required thick fur coats.
As I strolled down the center, I was lost in serious contemplation.
Am I a genius?
It wasn't even worth pondering. Yes, I am a genius!
'Is there a way to distribute this heating magic to the territory's people too?'
The Grand Duke had come to my room last night and asked me personally.
And now, the solution was right in my hands.
The core of my magic is permanence.
My spells, like a perfectly meshed clockwork, must be eternally stable while active.
That was why simply drawing the magic circle on parchment hadn't solved the issue.
But when something's missing, brute force fixes it.
Parchment wears out? Enchant it with preservation magic!
Need to detect the mana properties of the space? Add a detection spell!
A clear solution with zero chance of failure in debate.
It required major revisions to the original magic circle formula, but after a grueling 1 hour and 12 minutes, I nailed it.
An enormous investment of time—enough to rob the count's carriage ten more times!
"Heh heh."
The magic circle on the parchment shimmered, as if eager to be activated.
Right now, this world felt endlessly amusing!
I was on my way to brag to the Grand Duke after putting my idea into action.
"You've arrived."
The door was massive, no matter how many times I saw it.
The Grand Duke's guard knight greeted me in front of the study.
I nodded back and moved to enter, but...
"Pardon?"
I stared at the knight, and he countered with a question.
"It's heavy. My arm hurts."
"Ah. Sorry."
I could've opened it with magic, but my spells weren't for trivial stuff like that.
Bigger! Way bigger!
I slipped through the gap as the guard, smirking for some reason and bowing deeply, held the door.
"Ruen? Need something?"
I've said it before, but people who prove it with actions, not words, are cool.
The key is to avoid showboating.
I forced down my twitching lips and handed Arwen the parchment with the freshly drawn magic circle, keeping a straight face.
"Hm...?"
Arwen glanced back and forth between the parchment on her desk and my face several times.
Finally, her gaze shifted to the window—to check the time.
It was still early morning. The sun shone brightly, but the snowflakes on the branches hadn't melted.
"This is that, right?"
"Yes...!"
I nearly burst with excitement but cleared my throat and continued calmly.
The usage was ridiculously simple too.
"Just toss the parchment on the floor and stomp on it like this..."
As I demonstrated, the parchment vanished smoothly, transferring the magic circle to the floor.
The moment my foot touched it, a gust of wind surged up, tousling my hair.
At the same time, scorching heat rose from the ground.
Overlapping with the castle's existing circle, it felt like actual summer heat—something the snowy North had never known.
"How is this...?"
"I even added a function to automatically adjust the temperature based on the people inside."
The initial blaze settled into a perfectly cozy warmth.
"I thought it'd take a month..."
This woman knew how to praise.
Her visible surprise and the gasp slipping out—pure delight, even without flowery words.
My body shivered with goosebumps.
"Even non-mages can use it?"
I nodded affirmatively.
"How many of these can you make?"
"Probably one... "
I folded and unfolded my fingers, recalling the process of drawing the circles.
Image creation was done, mana property reading automated.
Now it was just copy-paste.
And that could be automated too!
"About a hundred per hour?"
I lowballed it.
I expanded my domain.
The moment I told the Grand Duke it could be automated, she cheered and started demolishing other rooms.
Even the steward, who'd opposed it citing the castle's foundations, smashed up the interiors faster than anyone after seeing my parchment.
And so, I got my own workshop.
It was spartan—just a desk and chair—but who cared?
"Heh heh..."
Complete takeover of the Grand Duke's Castle was imminent.
About 150 rooms to go! My hut's revenge was at hand.
Grinning, I began the automation work.
I drew a magic circle covering the entire room, envisioning a modern factory.
The moment I focused, the world tinted rainbow.
—Scritch scritch.
Golden lines etched into the wooden floor, red slashes carved into the stone walls.
With the final stroke, light spread across the room, kicking off its inaugural run.
My workshop needed no human hands anymore.
The floor, the walls—everything in this space moved with a will of its own.
Stacked parchments lifted themselves; mana-formed quills danced through the air, inscribing formulas.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution!
The diabolical job-stealing kind had arrived first in a medieval fantasy novel.
Finished scrolls piled neatly in the center.
Starting from one, they multiplied at a terrifying rate, reaching my knee—about 30 centimeters high.
A factory running sequential and parallel processes perfectly to design.
Watching it swell my chest with pride.
Magic is fun.
I hadn't realized because my useful spells had been limited to telekinesis and heating.
Now I got why robbing the count's carriages was such a blast.
Fun plus fun equals blackout bliss.
"How's the work going?"
As I pondered another vital truth, Arwen poked her head through the door.
"All done."
I pulled out one of the mass-produced scrolls for a test.
It worked flawlessly, of course.
The room heated up briefly, then cooled to optimal.
"Uh... Your Grace?"
"Nothing but miracles today."
Arwen stared blankly at the operation for a good while before leaving to plan distribution.
Another spot-on reaction.
Job done.
Stepping out, I glanced at the midday sun through the corridor window.
Nothing else to do...?
Bored.
The downside of fast work: too much time left over.
The only worthwhile hobby in this world was magic.
Clutching a parchment in one hand, I wandered the Grand Duke's Castle in search of improvements.