The AI Archmage - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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AI Archmage Episode 14

Naturally, Sion took great pride in being the pinnacle of magic engineering and the master of the workshop.

Of course, he would not forgive anyone who wounded that pride.

And so.

[Human, are you angry?]

‘Yeah, fucking furious.’

Right now, Sion was in quite an enraged state.

‘That bastard Bash. What kind of nerve does he have to be doing business near the Magic Tower after committing fraud?’

[Usually in cases like this, it’s because they have something to rely on.]

‘That would make sense.’

Sion agreed with Akasha’s words.

The confidence that even if caught, it wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense.

“Um, excuse me, Sion.”

At that moment, Sub-Tower Master Serentia cautiously called out to Sion.

“Has some kind of problem arisen?”

“Whether you’d call it a problem or a grudge.”

Sion decided to briefly explain the situation.

“Just think of it as there’s someone who needs to get beaten to death.”

“That someone couldn’t be…”

“That craftsman who was commissioned to maintain the Blue Tower before. No, calling him a craftsman is too generous. Let’s just call him a fraud.”

At those words, Lumia, who had been quietly guiding them, flinched and trembled.

“A, a fraud…?”

“Yes, a fraud.”

“Wait a moment. Then could it be that the reason the Blue Tower’s equipment isn’t working properly is…”

“Because of that bastard. After checking, there was nothing wrong with the Blue Tower’s equipment. If it had operated normally, it would have stably distributed mana throughout the entire Blue Tower.”

But that didn’t happen.

The cause is simple too.

“He’s been siphoning off the ley line mana that should have spread throughout the Blue Tower’s interior. Not all of it, but a considerable amount.”

“…!”

“The Blue Tower probably had some lighting. Heating might have worked somehow too, but things like the communication equipment stopped working, didn’t they?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“That’s all because of him. It wasn’t that the equipment was broken, but because there was a thief in the middle stealing it.”

At those words, Lumia suddenly stopped walking and trembled violently before turning her head.

“So I didn’t even know something so simple and was having the Tower’s mana stolen?”

“Well.”

To simply call it ‘something simple,’ there were several suspicious aspects.

But for now, he decided to keep quiet.

Nothing was certain yet.

And there’s something more important.

“Let’s beat them up first and ask questions later.”

“Ah, yes.”

“While we’re at it, we’ll beat them up and make them cough up everything they’ve embezzled so far. That should help the Tower’s finances a bit.”

And before long, the three of them were able to arrive at the location where the problematic workshop was.

The workshop wasn’t located in a nearby village or city.

A place where there used to be a slash-and-burn village in the past, but now no one lives there.

In other words, a place where there shouldn’t be a workshop.

“This is blatantly suspicious, isn’t it?”

“Y-yes, it certainly is.”

Serentia broke out in a cold sweat and avoided Sion’s gaze.

“No matter how you look at it, it’s suspicious. Have you never suspected anything? What on earth did you have to do…”

“I-I’m reflecting on it.”

Serentia began making excuses hesitantly.

“But at that time, they said the workshop’s circumstances weren’t good, so they had no choice but to build the workshop in such a place…”

“And you believed that?”

“…Yes.”

Not only Serentia, but Lumia also lowered her eyes.

“We were young back then… both me and my sister…”

“Tsk.”

Sion didn’t bother to question them further at those words.

Though it made him sigh, he could understand that it couldn’t be helped.

In the first place, it wasn’t a situation where they had gained experience to inherit the Blue Tower, and it would have been a situation they suddenly had to take on at a young age.

Considering such circumstances, it was possible they couldn’t think about such aspects.

No matter how great a genius they might be, it would be nearly impossible for a young mage with little experience to take the place of one of the Continent’s leading archmages.

“Well, it couldn’t be helped.”

“…I have no excuse.”

Serentia bowed her head with a dark expression.

Sion didn’t bother to press the matter further.

It would have been meaningless anyway.

“B-but, Sion.”

“Yes.”

“What if those workshop scammers are moving as an organized group? Then with just the three of us…”

“Tower Master, don’t you know what kind of existence a 6th Circle mage is?”

“I-I do know that, but…”

“Besides, even if problems arise, I’ll handle it myself, so you don’t need to worry.”

In the first place, at the point where Chantless Magic was possible, the mage’s weakness of ‘speed’ had essentially disappeared.

“…Though it’s shameless of me, I’ll ask this favor of you, Sion.”

“Why act so formal all of a sudden.”

In fact, Sion had also been roughly feeling lately just how absurdly powerful Chantless Magic was.

During his time as Altair, this was something he had only considered theoretically, so he hadn’t fully grasped its power until he actually used it.

‘Still, just in case.’

Tap.

Sion lightly flicked his finger and used mana to detect the surrounding area.

‘Nothing particularly noteworthy is being detected for now.’

However, judging by the signs of busy movement he could sense, it seemed they had already noticed their presence.

“Tower Master, Sub-Tower Master. From now on, don’t show your emotions. Just act as you normally would.”

“A-act normally…?”

“Get taken advantage of.”

“…Yes.”

Lumia nodded with a dejected expression.

And before long, they stood in front of the workshop door.

At that moment, the workshop door opened as if they had been waiting.

“Welcome, Tower Master!”

And the workshop employee greeting them.

Lumia fidgeted and nodded while laughing awkwardly at the employee’s words.

“He, hehe, hello…”

Sion, who was watching from behind, quietly asked Serentia in a small voice.

“Was she always like this?”

“…She never socialized and only did magic research all the time.”

“She wasn’t like this at the Tower though?”

“People usually act like royalty in their own homes, don’t they?”

“Hmm.”

That does make sense when you put it that way.

Sion fell into contemplation as he watched Lumia getting taken advantage of so naturally.

‘…I don’t think magic engineering should be the first thing I need to teach her?’

Well, that’s something to think about later.

Sion quietly followed behind Lumia.

Lumia was acting like a perfect pushover, being led around by the workshop employee.

“Did you come because there’s a problem with the Blue Tower’s equipment?”

“Yes, th-that’s right. This time we have a problem with basic equipment, so I was wondering if repairs might be possible…”

“Ah, then you’ve come to the right place!”

The employee said with a business smile.

“As it happens, our workshop has recently recruited several skilled craftsmen. Even someone from a 4-Star Workshop who was active in the Capital! This time we’ll definitely complete your commission!”

“D-definitely?”

“Yes, of course, since the craftsmen’s level has improved, the commission fee will go up a little…”

With those words, the employee subtly brought up the topic of money.

“Still, since we have a relationship with the Tower Master, at about this price…”

“Oh.”

Lumia’s eyes lit up.

It didn’t seem like acting at all.

‘Well, well.’

Sion let out a hollow laugh and glanced sideways at Serentia.

Serentia avoided his gaze and tried to make excuses.

“It’s acting, acting.”

“It’s acting, right?”

“….”

Even Serentia couldn’t bring herself to cover for her any further.

Anyway, Sion quietly listened to what the so-called employee was saying.

The more he listened, the more irritated he became.

[I’ve confirmed what that fraudulent human is saying. He claims that since a craftsman from a 4-Star Workshop in the Capital is being dispatched personally, they should charge more money, but he’ll solve it at a cheaper price than usual.]

‘How much is he asking for?’

[A total of 100 gold.]

‘A typical scam method. It was popular back in my time, and they’re still using that trick.’

The price the scammer proposed was also ridiculous.

To begin with, repairing a Magic Tower at the level of the Blue Tower for a mere 100 gold was impossible.

This was once one of the Four Great Magic Towers.

Naturally, its equipment was also top-grade, even if it had aged.

While 100 gold wasn’t a small amount, Magic Towers themselves were money-eating monsters.

So why were they trying to lure Lumia in with such an absurdly cheap price?

‘Because that way they can naturally enter the Blue Tower and work their schemes.’

They probably planned to replace expensive parts with cheap ones under the guise of repairs, then steal the expensive parts.

They probably thought only young mages who didn’t know the ways of the world would come, and wouldn’t understand the structure of Magic Tools.

He had roughly figured out their scheme.

‘These bastards are really determined to pull off an organized job.’

And that wasn’t all.

When he briefly used Detection on the surroundings, he could feel the distinct presence of mana everywhere.

The source was probably the Blue Tower.

‘Are they planning to process the mana coming from the Blue Tower and solidify it into crystal stones to sell?’

Mana Crystals were essential for operating Portable Magical Tools.

Therefore, there was high demand, and high-purity varieties were expensive.

They probably made enormous profits using this method until now.

‘Ha, this is ridiculous.’

After confirming all this, Sion approached Lumia, who was being scammed.

“Excuse me.”

“If you sign the contract now, for just 100 gold… Yes?”

“It is cheap. 100 gold.”

“That’s right!”

At those words, the employee’s body stiffened for a moment, then he continued with an expression that said he’d found a sucker.

“At this price, you couldn’t find this anywhere on the Continent…”

“Yeah, you won’t find prices like this anywhere else.”

Sion said with a snicker.

“It’s all a scam, isn’t it?”

“…What?”

“I’ve already assessed everything. You don’t even have the basic crafting tables that should be in a workshop, and your attire isn’t what a workshop craftsman would wear.”

Sion continued coldly.

“The location of this workshop is suspicious too, and there’s no equipment for a craftsman from a 4-Star Workshop to work with.”

“…”

“Let’s just be honest and end this. You were trying to scam the Tower Lord here, thinking he doesn’t know how the world works.”

At those words, the employee froze completely, then frowned.

And at that moment.

“Ah, damn.”

As if annoyed, he immediately changed his attitude and scratched his head.

“Boss, he’s not falling for it.”

“So I see.”

With that voice, someone came down the stairs.

Akasha, who confirmed the identity, spoke to Sion.

[Confirmed. It’s Bash, who was the workshop master of Black Fox.]

“…Hmm.”

He had aged somewhat, but he was definitely that same impudent brat he remembered.

His beard was unkempt and messy, and his eyes held an unmistakable greed.

Bash glanced over Lumia, then spoke with a disgusting smile.

“You’ve grown up well.”

“…You.”

Lumia was already glaring at Bash with a coldly hardened expression.

Even facing three mages, Bash showed no sign of fear.

Rather, he only showed signs of regret.

“Ah, I was hoping to milk this a bit more, but we had to get caught here of all places.”

“Are you confessing to what you’ve done?”

“Well, didn’t you all come here knowing everything already?”

Bash smiled wickedly as he looked back and forth between Lumia and Serentia.

“6th Circle and 5th Circle. Well, well, only the distinguished ones came, and all prime catches at that.”

“To be so relaxed even knowing that…”

“Well, you see.”

Snap!

Bash lightly flicked his fingers.

At that moment, the workshop door closed by itself and the entrance was sealed.

Simultaneously, workshop employees who had been hiding throughout the workshop revealed themselves.

Click!

“I came prepared.”

“….”

“You know what the advantage of a secluded place like this is? No one really notices whatever the hell happens here.”

As if that wasn’t all, Bash snapped his fingers again.

At that moment.

“Kugh…?!”

Lumia and Serentia, who had been standing perfectly fine just moments before, staggered and collapsed to the ground.

“Th-this can’t be….”

“Wow, the effect is immediate. Heh, it was worth spending all that money to install it.”

Bash said with a snickering laugh.

“Guess what I installed? Was it 30 years ago? It’s something made by a madman the Council put a dead-or-alive bounty on.”

“Don’t tell me it’s from that 【Magic Killer】, Roteus…!”

“You know your stuff.”

Bash said with a sinister grin.

“It’s the ‘Mana Sealing Magical Tool’ that Roteus created.”

“How did you get something like this…!”

“Oh, well.”

Bash approached Lumia with a cruel smile.

“Let’s just call it my own resourcefulness.”

“…!”

“Perfect timing. I was just thinking about withdrawing soon, but here you come at just the right moment.”

At those words, Lumia and Serentia’s faces turned deathly pale.

If it were simply a matter of being outnumbered, they could somehow manage, but a Mana Sealing Magical Tool was a different story.

It blocks Mana Operation itself, the very source of a mage’s power.

“Sion…!”

Lumia cried out urgently.

Just then.

“【Fire Lance】.”

Whoosh!

As if nothing was wrong, a Flame Spear was summoned in Sion’s hand as he watched calmly.

Bash, who had been certain the situation was already over, widened his eyes in shock.

“…Huh?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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