Chapter 215: The Tin Knight and The Singing Bones (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 215: The Tin Knight and The Singing Bones (3)
As I’ve said many times, the driving force behind the Tower of Control’s ability to attract talent was its unique hierarchical structure.
Here, one could lord their power over others to their heart’s content, an act that would require discretion in any other magic tower.
But this was only an advantage for those at the top of the pyramid. For those at the very bottom, the system was nothing short of garbage.
Yet, people could not easily escape this structure of domination.
One might think, ‘Why not just move?’ but relocating one’s residence in the Magic State was not a simple matter.
The Tin Knight and his party could roam from place to place in their single carriage without much issue, but that was only possible because they saw bandits as walking treasure chests that dropped money and materials when plundered.
For an ordinary person who had to risk their life at the mere sight of a bandit or a magic beast, leaving their hometown to move to another region with no connections was, in itself, a perilous gamble.
Even assuming one was lucky enough to cross into another region, the problem of where to go remained.
To the north was a vast, empty sea; to the south, the Garden; and to the west, the Tower of Annihilation, which maintained a reasonably amicable relationship with the Tower of Control.
At the very least, if the Tower of Control were to request, ‘It seems some of our people have crossed over to your side. Would you mind sending them back?’, their relationship wasn’t so poor that the Tower of Annihilation would simply ignore it.
With the north and south impassable and the west leading only to repatriation, the subjects of the Tower of Control were left with two choices.
One was to simply give up and live as they were.
Many chose this path.
However, those with a more adventurous spirit, or whose resentment and grievances against their superiors had reached a breaking point, headed east.
There, a sea stretched out just as it did to the north, but with one crucial difference.
Unlike the north, which offered nothing but an endless ocean, the eastern sea had a clear ‘destination.’
And it was within sight.
The Tower of Protection.
Its domain was part of the Magic State, but it was not connected by land to the other territories.
The realm ruled by the Tower of Protection was an island.
The Tower of Protection was known as the kindest to its own people. While it didn't actively poach populations from other territories, it also didn't coldly turn away those who wished to live on its land.
The strait separating the territories of Control and Protection was, at its narrowest point, a mere 35 kilometers wide.
For someone sufficiently skilled in the water, it was a distance that could be crossed by swimming, even without a boat.
Driven by desperation, people threw themselves into the sea as if making a final gamble, thinking they were doomed either way. Most were never seen again.
Only a tiny fraction actually made it across safely.
But whether they drowned in the sea or succeeded in their escape, it was still a loss of manpower, and the Tower of Control did not let it stand.
As long as the numbers weren't unmanageably large, population itself was power.
They had no intention of tolerating the unauthorized desertion of the labor force they were meant to command.
Thus, watchtowers were erected along the coast, permanently staffed by guards, and all ships in the harbors were placed under the Tower's control.
And then, a decree was issued to all ports simultaneously, prohibiting any departures.
“What? We can’t set sail? But… our company has a contractual schedule. They’ll be waiting for us at the Tower of Protection.”
“These goods are dependent on their freshness! If we don’t arrive on time, we’ll have to discard everything. Please, let us go!”
“W-wait a moment, please. We’re just a fishing boat. We have no intention of crossing over to the other side!”
“Hehe, my lord. It’s a small token, but please accept this gesture of our sincerity. If you could just turn a blind eye to our ship—”
At first, people didn’t think much of it.
Restrictions on vessel departures due to a few escapees had happened several times before.
They tried to get their ships moving as they always had—by applying pressure in the name of other factions, begging for sympathy, or subtly offering bribes.
And they were all brutally rebuffed.
“You insolent fool! Do you dare defy an order from the Tower itself?!”
“Oh, my lord, that’s not what I meant at all. I was merely asking for a little mercy—”
“I’ve heard enough! Guards! Seize this man and take him to the prison!”
“Yes, sir!”
“M-my lord? My lord!? Urk!”
Watching the merchant who had offered the pouch of money get beaten and dragged away by the soldiers, the port city’s mayor broke out in a cold sweat.
A cold voice spoke from behind him.
“His behavior seems quite practiced. Don’t tell me you’ve been taking bribes to grant favors all this time?”
As the woman with silvery-white hair that held a faint blue tint glared at him, the mayor felt as if he was about to suffocate.
As a 3rd rank mage of the Tower and the acting mayor of the city, he was normally an absolute authority within his domain. But the person before him was a titan among titans, capable of swatting him away with a single finger.
“O-of course not! That treacherous fool was just spouting nonsense, not knowing his place. Please, do not misunderstand.”
“Hmph.”
“That’s enough, Skoll.”
Despite the mayor’s desperate excuses, the woman’s gaze remained cold, but a young man, who also had silvery-white hair, stopped her.
“This is not the time to worry about such trivial matters.”
“Is uncovering abuse of power and corruption not important enough?”
“It’s insignificant compared to the Tower Head’s orders.”
“…Well, I suppose you’re right.”
The silver-haired woman called Skoll nodded obediently and then spoke to the mayor.
“That’s enough, you may go. Tell the soldiers to keep a close watch on the surroundings. If there are results, I’ll be lenient. If not… you know what will happen, don’t you?”
Skoll made a slicing motion across her neck. The mayor, trembling, bowed deeply before scurrying out of the room.
“It’s always the old geezers. This is what happens when the mayor’s seat is handed out as a retirement plan for the elderly instead of being based on merit.”
“Placing our people in each territory is necessary for smooth governance. The young and capable are doing their best to earn achievements and become consorts to our bloodline, so we can’t station them in places like this. And knowing there’s a place for them later, even if they fail to become a consort, reduces the number of those who fall into despair.”
“Hmph. Must be nice for them to have it so easy. Meanwhile, if we fail to become the heir, we’re just sold off like tools.”
After clicking her tongue in displeasure, Skoll gazed down at the cityscape visible from the window.
“So, Hati. What do you think? Will the ones who killed Jeras and made such thorough use of his corpse really come here?”
“If the predictions are correct.”
The young man called Hati spoke calmly.
“Even using the bodies of Jeras and all the mages under his command, they would have lacked the materials to create enough undead to spread across the entire Magic State. They only used the mages’ corpses for the undead sent to distant locations; for those sent nearby, they mostly used the bodies of ordinary animals. In other words, we can reverse-engineer their location by examining the materials of the undead. The analysis predicted the highest probability of them coming here.”
“I hope that prediction is right. That idiot Valdeus seems to have completely fallen out of favor over this incident. And it’ll take time for the others back at the Tower to reach the coast anyway. If we catch them before that, it’ll be a huge accomplishment for us, right?”
At Skoll’s words, Hati’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Don’t be careless. Our opponents are the ones who annihilated Jeras and his unit without giving them a single chance to send for help. Even we cannot guarantee victory. We must prioritize stalling them, not subjugating them. Reinforcements will arrive if we can just hold out for a few more hours.”
“But that’s only fifty people, right? The number of mages gathered in this area is already four times that, and it’s growing by the minute. Not to mention we have even more soldiers to use as meat shields. Isn’t that more than enough to give it a shot?”
“Skoll.”
Among her siblings, who were all worse than enemies, her twin brother was the only one she trusted. At his word, Skoll shrugged.
“I know, I know. I’m not saying we should fight recklessly. We’ll wear down the enemy first, and then, depending on the situation—”
“That’s not it. My familiar has found something strange.”
“—Huh?”
Skoll closed her eyes for a moment, then recited a short incantation.
As she extended her hand, a strange image began to appear in the crystal ball on the table.
Hati’s familiar was an eagle-shaped spirit, so this must be the landscape the spirit was seeing.
The first thing it showed was a wasteland.
In the center of the wasteland was a carriage, but it wasn’t on the well-maintained road connecting the cities. It was speeding across the rough, obstacle-ridden terrain.
“Where is this?”
“A wasteland west of this city. It would take about twenty minutes to get there on foot.”
“They must be avoiding the main road because they know it’s being watched. How foolish. They might as well not have taken a carriage in the first place. This is like advertising that they’re suspicious.”
“That’s no ordinary horse and carriage. It looks like a special product from the Alchemists’ Association. It would be several times faster than traveling on foot. They must have prioritized speed over stealth.”
“Hmph. Ah, it stopped. …Are they planning to abandon the carriage and approach the coast stealthily? If so, they’re out of luck. To be caught just like this.”
Skoll’s lips curled into a smirk, imagining the pleasure of surrounding the fools who got out of the carriage and ambled toward the coast, crushing them in one fell swoop.
However, no matter how long she waited, there was no sign of anyone getting out of the carriage.
Not only that, but just as what looked like a hand reached out near the driver’s seat, the horse pulling the carriage suddenly vanished.
“What was that? Invisibility? Shrinking?”
“No, it’s not that. …Could it be spatial magic?”
“You’re kidding, right? Spatial magic capable of stowing away a horse that large in an instant? You’d need a large-scale magic circle for that.”
The strange occurrences didn’t stop there. Something bizarre protruded from the front and back of the carriage.
First, the front. Where the horse should have been, a massive lance appeared—a lance of a size that could only be described as absurd.
However, the tip wasn’t a simple long blade but a cone, with curved grooves carved into it.
From the rear of the carriage, blades that looked like a greatly enlarged pinwheel emerged. Its central axis was perfectly aligned with the lance at the front.
‘Doesn’t look like metal. Is that bone and membrane?’
Just as Skoll narrowed her eyes, wondering what on earth she was looking at, the central axis began to rotate.
Slowly at first. But soon, it was spinning fast enough to create a powerful gust of wind.
And then, the horseless carriage began to race forward like an arrow.
Hati and Skoll’s eyes met.
Skoll shrieked an order to her subordinates.
“All units, prepare for battle!!”