The AI Archmage - Chapter 36
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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 36
Lumia felt suspicious about Cornelia’s attitude.
It was too different from the information she knew.
Though her attitude was polite, what she felt within it was… dejection.
Of course, that didn’t mean she intended to let her guard down.
She shouldn’t have done so in the first place.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Cornelia.”
“Yes, nice to meet you. Blue Tower Master.”
Cornelia greeted Lumia with slightly downcast eyes.
Though her mind was very troubled, she wasn’t so poorly managed as to be rude in such a setting.
As befitting a promising successor candidate of Rostery, she quickly composed herself and began conversing with Lumia.
“The reason I came here so suddenly today is simple. To confirm the Blue Tower’s achievements.”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
Lumia nodded with a calm expression.
Being with Sion, she had learned various things.
One of them was observation.
And.
‘Let’s abandon my conscience just a little.’
Lumia steeled her resolve inwardly once more and continued speaking.
“On your way here, Miss Cornelia must have already confirmed the Main Tower’s ‘growth.’ Isn’t that right?”
“You mean the golems?”
“That’s just one of them.”
Meaning there were more achievements besides the golems.
Lumia handed Cornelia the documents she had prepared.
Cornelia’s eyes widened greatly as she carefully examined the documents.
“The Blue Tower’s debt…”
“Yes, it’s been reduced by a significant margin.”
That wasn’t all.
They had created various new magic tools and even completed verification through the students.
Including the golems, as long as materials for mass production and distribution networks were prepared, they were at a level where mass production was possible at any time.
Looking at those documents, Cornelia couldn’t help but be shocked.
‘It was to this extent?’
This was absurd.
Rostery was not lenient.
If the Blue Tower had been developing to this extent, they would have noticed long ago.
Naturally, their evaluation would have been much higher than now.
But that hadn’t happened, which meant the Blue Tower’s condition had never been good.
A force at the Blue Tower’s level couldn’t possibly have the ability to hide such information from Rostery.
“Since when… have you been preparing this?”
“It hasn’t been that long.”
Lumia answered calmly while closely observing Cornelia’s expression.
‘She’s shaken.’
Cornelia was currently flustered by the documents she had presented.
She wouldn’t have expected this.
Since she had originally come to deliver a death sentence, it was only natural.
Then what Lumia needed to do now was to seize upon that ‘agitation’ and press the advantage.
The documents she had just shown Cornelia were certainly not of a low standard.
Lumia decided to throw out a few baits first.
‘Something must have definitely happened.’
Otherwise, there was no explanation for why that noble lady, who had been the epitome of arrogance, had lost her momentum.
Then what was the cause?
‘Mr. Sion, what could it be?’
Lumia casually asked the Sion in her mind.
Then the fake Sion in her mind spoke with a benevolent expression.
– Who else could it be?
Ah.
Having gained enlightenment, Lumia casually threw out her bait.
“The one who helped me the most was, of course, Mr. Sion. Your brother.”
“…!”
At that moment, Cornelia flinched and trembled. Seeing that reaction, Lumia was certain.
Ah, Mr. Sion did something!
Before coming to me, he had thoroughly cooked her!
Lumia tilted her head with the most innocent expression and asked.
“Didn’t you know?”
“Know what… exactly?”
“About Mr. Sion. He’s your brother, isn’t he? There’s no way you wouldn’t know about Mr. Sion’s talent… hm?”
Lumia touched upon Cornelia’s weak point as if she knew nothing.
“You really… didn’t know?”
Clench.
Quietly, strength entered Cornelia’s hand as she clenched her fist.
…Didn’t know?
‘How could I… have known?’
In the family, Sion had always been a dullard.
Not once had he ever shown a fragment of talent.
Until that incident happened, she had still held some affection for her brother.
But the moment Sion crossed the line, that affection turned into contempt and disdain.
But what if everything about Sion crossing the line… had been a lie?
What if the current Sion brilliantly displaying his talent was the real one, and she had buried that talent?
‘No, that can’t be.’
Cornelia desperately denied reality.
But her reason was telling her.
That given the circumstances, Sion’s talent was real.
If not, this situation couldn’t be explained.
Then.
Throb.
“Ugh.”
She staggered momentarily from the sharp pain she felt in her head.
“…Miss Cornelia?”
“No, it’s nothing. It just… happens sometimes.”
She raised her hand to stop Lumia and organized her thoughts.
The Blue Tower, her younger sibling.
Certainly, the documents Lumia had presented to her were reasonable.
From the standpoint of representing the Rostery, it would be proper to give the Blue Tower more time.
But.
‘That can’t be right.’
Cornelia, who had maintained a thoroughly objective stance in such matters until now, decided for the first time to be unreasonable.
To deny that everything she had done in her childhood was the ‘irrational behavior’ she despised so much.
“…It’s insufficient.”
Cornelia glared at Lumia and said firmly.
“This much cannot overturn the Main House’s decision.”
“What did you say?”
Lumia frowned.
It was absurd.
Anyone could see that Cornelia’s words were unreasonable.
The documents Lumia had shown were more than enough to prove the Blue Tower’s potential for development.
So why on earth was she doing this?
Wasn’t this just like an immature child?
“Miss Cornelia, what on earth…”
But there was no reason Lumia couldn’t pressure her either.
If the other party wasn’t using thorough logic but being emotionally unreasonable, it would be easy to deal with.
Just as Lumia was about to bring up the topic.
Bang!
A loud crash echoed.
“Wh-what was that?!”
Cornelia jumped up in surprise.
But except for her, no one else present moved.
They just quietly stared at Cornelia as if they had expected it.
And after a moment, Lumia spoke.
“Please sit down, Miss Cornelia.”
“The mana in this tower is starting to stir right now. What on earth… are you thinking?”
“The timing just happened to align. We didn’t know that Miss Cornelia would come at this particular time either.”
“…Timing?”
“Yes.”
Lumia continued in a calm voice.
“Today we will restore the ‘Defense Magic’ of my master, the Archmage Belusian Kabala.”
“…!”
Cornelia’s eyes widened greatly.
* * *
“Mr. Sion! I’ve gathered everyone!”
Serentia ran toward Sion while shouting.
“Good, Vice Tower Master.”
Sion entered the lecture hall.
What he saw upon entering were students filling the lecture hall.
Of course, they all had expressions showing they had no idea what was going on.
It was natural since they had only heard to be careful with their behavior because an important person was coming, but hadn’t heard the details.
“Now, everyone.”
Sion stepped up to the platform and calmly opened his mouth.
“I have truly spent a lot of time with all of you as teacher and students.”
“Hasn’t it been less than a month?”
“Be quiet.”
“Kyaaaah!”
Having silenced the wicked student who cowardly spoke the truth, Sion continued.
“Anyway, let’s say we’ve roughly built rapport. Is there anyone who hasn’t built close rapport with me? Or someone who can’t do what I ask?”
“…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I won’t kill you. I won’t kill anyone, so you can raise your hand.”
Still, no one raised their hand.
Sion was satisfied.
To think there would be students who care about their teacher like this! He felt so moved that tears might flow down his face.
“You’ve probably heard roughly, but an esteemed person is here right now. Someone who used to influence the fate of the tower in the past.”
“Wh-who is it? That person?”
“My sister.”
“…?”
Sion decided to explain in a way that would be easier to understand.
“Simply put, she’s a debt collector.”
“Ah, a debt collector…”
“Hey, if you had explained it like that from the beginning, we would have understood. She really is an important person. Now it makes perfect sense.”
The students quickly understood and nodded their heads.
Indeed, should I say these are lives accustomed to being debtors.
“Teacher, so what exactly do we need to do?”
Tult asked with his hand raised.
To Tult’s question, Sion answered simply.
“Restoration.”
“…Excuse me?”
Restoration? Of what exactly?
The students’ questions were quickly resolved.
“The Archmage’s legacy.”
“What?”
The students’ mouths fell open.
An Archmage would be 9th Circle, wouldn’t they?
It would be Great Magic that even if everyone here rushed at it together, they’d have trouble even touching it.
“No way, that can’t be possible…”
Briella looked at Sion with a dubious expression for a moment.
But soon she changed her mind and decided to accept it.
“Actually, there is.”
If it were an ordinary person, maybe not.
But if it’s that bastard, it seemed like he’d somehow pull it off.
“Originally, the Main Tower was protected by ‘Great Magic’ left behind by the previous Tower Master, Belusian Kabala.”
“…It was?”
“You wouldn’t know. It would have been before you all came here.”
Wait, then how do you know about it?
…Such questions arose in the students’ minds, but none of them voiced it out loud.
“It’s insane magic that automatically protects the tower from external threats, and even has an auto-repair function.”
“Wow.”
“If only that had been working properly, the Main Tower wouldn’t have ended up in this state.”
“So you’re saying we’re going to restore that incredible magic?”
“That’s right.”
At those words, Briella continued with another question.
“…But how?”
“To be precise, I’ll be doing the restoration.”
“Uh… Then what about us?”
“You guys, well, how should I put it.”
Sion scratched his head while searching for the right expression.
“You’ll become biological auxiliary power sources that supply the mana and calculations I need for the restoration.”
“…?”
Huh?
The students all tilted their heads simultaneously.
Wait, isn’t this usually the situation where you say ‘let’s go together’?
“Um, Teacher.”
“What.”
“Even so, calling your student a biological battery is a bit…”
Eira’s criticism was quite reasonable, but it didn’t work on someone who had already lost it.
“I believe in you!”
“Huh?”
Eira’s eyes widened at the sudden outburst.
But Tult didn’t care.
“Use me as much as you want!”
“Wow, this bastard…”
Briella gaped in shock.
Following Sion blindly was one thing, but had he now thrown away even his minimal self-respect?
“Hey, people have pride, and as a mage, responding like that to being told to be a biological battery…!”
“Of course, I’m someone who believes appropriate compensation is necessary.”
Before Briella could finish speaking, Sion’s words followed.
“That Elixir Containing Dragon Bone I gave you all last time.”
“Yeah…?”
Sion looked around at everyone with a grin and continued.
“I still have plenty left.”
“…!”
“During the prime time of growing as a mage, the more elixirs the better.”
In other words, that meant…
“Th-that elixir… you’ll give it to us again?”
“Yes, and one more thing.”
Sion smiled slyly and pointed to the students’ wrists.
“Those Magic Tools you’re wearing on your wrists. I’ll upgrade them. Previously they only worked for 1st Circle, right? Now I’ll make them capable of Chantless Casting up to 2nd Circle.”
“…”
Silence fell among the students at the extraordinary compensation Sion had offered.
And after a moment.
“Use me as much as you want!”
“For the Blue Tower!”
Everyone submitted.
After all, proper compensation can make even whales dance.
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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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