Babel (6): The Birth of Procyon
The moment Babel's Tower crumbled and mana stones rained down across the city.
Some of the humans in Babel must have witnessed its master reborn not as a human, but in some other form. No one could have seen that black humanoid thing bursting from the top of the tower without recoiling in horror. And then the follow-up strike of light. A single blow that reduced Babel's Tower to rubble in an instant. It must have looked exactly like divine judgment.
Some of those who witnessed the spectacle... quickly fled Babel. Shouting that it had incurred the wrath of the gods.
Well, that's not an unreasonable reaction. It really was something like divine judgment, after all. But that judgment wasn't aimed at the other humans in Babel... Hmm... They're being a bit dramatic.
In any case, a good number of humans fled quickly, while those who remained bowed their heads toward me and the Hero standing atop the tower's ruins.
"Divine proxy! Punish us!"
"We had no idea such a monster lurked in Babel's Tower! Forgive our ignorance!"
Hmm. Well, it wasn't really these people's fault. That guy had secretly hoarded and absorbed mana stones infused with darkness— a mad act. How could these folks have noticed and stopped it?
So I forgave their "sins." Not that they were sins to begin with.
I looked at the humans prostrating themselves before me and said,
"First off, let's change the name from Babel. It's got a bad vibe."
A name that dooms every tower built under it to collapse shouldn't be used anymore.
"Then what name should we use?"
"Hmm... I don't have anything specific in mind."
"May we suggest a name, then?"
"Sure. Hope you come up with something good."
They raised their bowed heads and started whispering among themselves.
"How about Sodom?"
"No."
"Gomorrah?"
"Rejected."
Their naming skills were atrocious. Why pick names like that? Do they have a death wish or something? Why not just call it Dal○ran! That's a magician's city for you! Oh, wait, that place got wrecked too!
Maybe I should name it myself. Yeah. Hmm... Not as easy as it sounds, though. What to call it?
"How about... Procyon?"
"Pardon?"
"Procyon it is. That's the city's new name."
I think it was the name of a star. One of the Winter Triangle, if memory serves.
"Procyon... Understood. We shall rename this city Procyon."
Better than something shaky like Babel. Obviously.
"But... with Babel's ruler ending up like this, what should we do now...?"
Hmm. What to do, indeed. This city needs to be preserved, even if we change its name. And we can't neglect supplying mana stones to the magicians.
Hm. Right. From now on, the Life Temple will handle mana stone management. Add a function to collect fragments of darkness during inspections, ensuring no one else gets exposed. That guy's transformation into a demon... seems tied to excessive exposure to the darkness fragment, fueled by curiosity.
Keep others away as much as possible. Maybe borrow Shamash's power to suppress and seal the fragments.
Hmm. But if overexposure caused that... isn't the Hero in a risky spot too? I'll worry about that later.
"Was it that one's power alone that built this city up?"
The magicians shook their heads slightly at my question.
"He played a big role, but it was the effort of everyone else too."
"Then what's the problem?"
Remove the problem element, and the rest can unite their strength, right?
"Divide the city into districts, appoint temporary representatives for fixed terms, and have those reps hold council meetings to govern. Sound good?"
"Temporary representatives...? And a council of them...?"
"Yeah. If one person holds power too long, you might get another case like this. Govern by dividing power as finely as possible."
The magicians nodded slightly at my words. Holding too much power in one person's hands leads to incidents like this—especially with potent things like mana stones and scrolls.
Split the ruler's authority to the minimum. That way, even if one goes rogue, the others have checks in place.
"Understood. Thank you for your profound wisdom. Henceforth, the magicians of... not Babel, but Procyon—will engrave that one's sin in our hearts and bind ourselves to never commit the same."
No need to go that far. But their resolute determination shone through, so I said nothing more. All I could do was nod.
Long ago, it was called Babel.
Procyon.
The city's rulers were neither king nor lord, but the seven Tower Lords. Seven magic towers, each symbolized by a color. Their representatives governed Procyon.
"I'm saying the budget allocation is unfair! We're the most numerous faction—anyone can see that! We deserve the biggest budget!"
The crimson magic tower of the Elemental School, specializing in elemental magic of the four major attributes.
"Hmm? If we're talking numbers, we're not far behind. Plus, we have separate fees for managing summons? Our headcount easily doubles!"
The orange magic tower of the Summoning School, wielding contract magic with summoned beasts as their power.
"Hmph. Seems all that manpower eats up the food budget without matching strength. Wouldn't it be better to cultivate your own power?"
The yellow magic tower of the Enhancement School, focusing on body augmentation magic to maximize physical might.
"Wha— We can't help it! Anyway, looking at this budget plan, the Life Church's donations seem a bit lower..."
The green magic tower of the Life School, famed for recovery magic and pursuing mana-based resurrection—distinct from the Life Church's healing arts.
"If you like the Life Church so much, go join them. Why stay in Procyon? Tsk."
The blue magic tower of the Illusion School, masters of hallucinations and mental manipulation.
"......"
The indigo magic tower of the Soul School. Once persecuted as necromancers, now recognized by the Life Church and reestablished as soul magic, completing one of Procyon's towers.
"Um, well, you see..."
And finally.
The seventh magic tower, purple. Having toppled one of the original towers—the Prophecy School—to rise anew.
"Alchemy does eat up a lot of funds, but we also bring in the most revenue..."
The Alchemy School.
"Th-that may be true, but... this is too much!"
"It's not really excessive... Our allocations increased from last year anyway. Might look smaller proportionally, but..."
"Hmm... If we're just counting silver coins, maybe. But it's not about simple amounts."
The blue tower lord adjusted her glasses and continued.
"Each tower's budget share is like our pride. It ties into 'What portion of Procyon's stake do we hold?' You wouldn't get it, being new to tower lordship."
"Blue. Mind your manners. She's young, but still a tower lord."
The green tower lord spoke up, but blue turned away as if she hadn't heard.
"Really. Sorry. These idiots only know magic—they're clueless about etiquette."
"I-It's fine. I expected some pushback. Oh, and don't worry about the Life Church; we've already talked."
"What? The Life Church? They're usually stingy about donations, especially with mana stone supplies..."
The purple tower lord grinned sheepishly.
"We agreed to ramp up healing potion production and lower the price a bit. Went smoothly."
"Oh my. That's great. But..."
The green tower lord smiled sweetly.
"Nothing reached me—the liaison between the towers and Life Church. When did you contact them?"
"Ah, well... During the potion supply talks... Um..."
The green tower lord's eyes, smiling on the surface, weren't laughing at all.
"Sorry..."
"Give us a heads-up next time. Got it?"
The purple tower lord—a petite silver-haired girl—nodded and adjusted her wide-brimmed hat. Adorned with strange horn-like ornaments.