The AI Archmage - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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AI Grand Mage Episode 71

“Well then, you’ve grasped the essence of it, haven’t you?”
“…….”
Maxwell nodded quietly at Sion’s words.
His shoulders sagged.
“Magic Engineering…… the pinnacle…….”
“Excellent. You’ve truly grasped it well. This junior is quite pleased indeed.”
Sion nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Let me ask once more. What was the Magic Engineering you’d been studying until now?”
“Garbage…….”
“And the Magic Engineering you’ll study from now on?”
“The future…….”
“Excellent. You’ve truly grasped it.”
Sion smiled, content with the result.
To think he could make someone grasp things so naturally!
Truly, talent recognizes talent.
[Is “brainwashing” perhaps a more accurate term than “grasping”?]
‘Such harsh language doesn’t sit well with me.’
[……Hmm.]
Akasha’s reply came reluctantly, but Sion paid it no mind.
Proper “persuasion” and “understanding” were things that rarely received understanding anyway.
“Tower Master, have you grasped it?”
“I will make sure to grasp it.”
“A commendable attitude. Then, Vice Tower Master?”
“Do I need to grasp it?”
“It seems I’ll have to make you grasp it by necessity.”
“Now that I think about it, I suppose I’ve already grasped it.”
Serentia came to understanding remarkably fast.
In any case, the direction had been set.
Sion looked at everyone and spoke.
“For now, we’ll retrieve our talented people one by one in this manner. I imagine the other noble families will also recover theirs through similar means.”
“By similar means, you mean through this kind of ‘grasping’?”
“As expected of the Tower Master. I’m impressed by how quickly you grasp my meaning.”
“Hehe.”
Lumia scratched her head, her expression genuinely proud.
Maxwell, watching from beside her, leaned toward Serentia’s ear and whispered.
“I…… it’s strange for me to even say this, but is Lumia really okay?”
“Wouldn’t it be fine as long as she’s happy?”
“……I suppose.”
When he thought about it that way, it wasn’t wrong.
Honestly, Sion made him too nervous to argue further.
He couldn’t explain why he felt such pressure from someone so much younger than himself…….
But the pressure was undeniable.
Once you’d been made to “grasp” something, that was enough—he had no wish for it to happen twice.
“In any case, the Main Tower will grow this way. We’ve already planted the seeds to make it possible.”
“……But Sion.”
Maxwell asked with a grave expression.
“Do you think the Council and Red Tower will simply give up?”
“Not a chance.”
Sion shook his head.
“Once they find a weakness to exploit, they’ll come at us relentlessly.”
“Then they’ll continue to…….”
“But not for a while yet.”
Sion spoke with certainty.
“Rotel Kaul, the Red Tower Master, will have grasped the general situation by now, but he won’t move against us if it means driving away his own disciple.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Rotel Kaul is old-fashioned and not a good person by character, but he looks after his own.”
Especially if that person is not merely a member of the Tower, but a disciple who carries on his legacy.
“In any case, with things as they are, Rotel Kaul will handle the more complex matters on your behalf. There will be friction down the road, but at minimum, you should have half a year of relative peace.”
“Hmm…….”
Sion was moving with absolute certainty.
And both Lumia and Serentia appeared to follow his thinking without reservation.
Yet one couldn’t deny it either.
His knowledge of Magic Engineering was overwhelming, and his magical ability was such that he could effortlessly unravel a seal placed by an 8th Circle mage.
That talent was of a caliber that even Maxwell, who had witnessed Lumia’s genius up close, found incredible.
Having accomplished impossible task after impossible task, it would have been strange not to believe in him.
“Then, then Sion, does that mean I should start learning Magic Engineering from now on?”
“Yes. And while you’re at it, you may as well pursue magical training as well. Things may become busier later on, but for now, that’s about all I can think of.”
“For now…… I understand.”
Of course, studying Magic Engineering was something Maxwell himself desired.
He had entered the Blue Tower in the first place because he admired this very path of Magic Engineering that Belusian had set before him.
“Then, do you perhaps have any reference documents or…….”
“Ah, that?”
Sion casually dropped something onto Maxwell’s desk with a heavy thump.
It was a mountain of documents stacked high.
“……What is this?”
“What you’ll be studying from now on.”
Sion continued matter-of-factly.
“Forget everything you’ve learned half-heartedly until now. Think of it as starting from the very basics. First, you’ll begin by understanding the fundamental structure of magical tools.”
“…….”
“Why are you silent?”
At Sion’s words, Maxwell swallowed hard and spoke.
“Isn’t that…… quite a lot?”
“It’s only the basics.”
At that, Maxwell’s gaze shifted toward Lumia and Serentia.
Both nodded quietly, their expressions grave.
“Only the basics…….”
It seemed the world of learning was endless even for a 6th Circle mage who had been through countless trials.

* * *

The duel with the Red Tower mage.
And victory.
It brought great change to the Blue Tower’s students. What the Blue Tower’s students had lacked was confidence.
Whether they truly possessed any competitive edge.
Though the students had received considerable instruction from Sion recently, even that had failed to resolve this particular doubt.
But now things were different.
“We…… might actually be strong?”
That single missing piece—confidence—had been restored.
And it was a profound change.
First, there was ambition.
“Ah, so that’s how it works? Even when using magical tools, the helical circuit structure proves more efficient in this case.”
“Hmm, this one has more magical resistance than expected. It might be worth investigating further?”
The students began to contemplate the lesson material themselves, and when necessary, they proactively sought out relevant resources.
And that wasn’t all.
Through magical sparring matches with one another, they researched more efficient ways to employ magic in actual combat, and gradually found approaches suited to their individual strengths.
And in that process, a common thought emerged in the students’ minds.
– Don’t we need more specialized instruction?
Sion’s lessons were undoubtedly good.
He explained things in an easy-to-understand way and generously provided the necessary magical tools.
But one person couldn’t spend all day teaching and instructing every single student.
There were time constraints.
And so.
“……is something you hear a lot among the students these days.”
Eira reported this to Sion on behalf of the others.
Since the Artisan Union affair, she had grown considerably closer to him.
After all, if one was the disciple of that Altair, the relationship transcended mere connection—she was to him something like a junior uncle.
“Well, it’s about time such talk would start coming up.”
Sion nodded without hesitation.
The Blue Tower’s condition had stabilized considerably.
Its finances had improved dramatically, and the students’ confidence soared higher by the day.
So naturally, they began searching for ways to improve their skills further.
Now that their direction was clear, they desired even more efficient means to achieve their goals.
Of course, he’d already considered that too.
“I was already thinking of opening additional courses.”
“Mages who understand Magic Engineering well are… nearly nonexistent, or so I’ve heard. Am I wrong?”
“That’s true. But here’s the thing.”
Sion smiled faintly and continued.
“What I’m building isn’t a ‘Mage’s Tower.’ In other words, mages don’t necessarily need to teach the students.”
“You mean…?”
“When else would you use 3-Star Craftsmen if not now?”
People often make a common mistake: that only mages understand the discipline of Magic.
That’s wrong.
Magical Tool Craftsmen must possess equally deep understanding of Magic; without it, they cannot design—much less invent—high-level magical tools.
After all, magical tools are instruments that operate on the foundation of Mana.
Therefore, a 3-Star Craftsman understands Magic Theory itself just as well as most mages do.
“But teacher.”
“Speak.”
“Didn’t those craftsmen come here to participate in your groundbreaking project?”
“That’s right.”
“Do you think they’ll agree readily?”
Craftsmen are all the same in that regard.
Their stubborn streak runs deep.
Especially once they fixate on something, they tend to pursue only that, refusing other work at nearly any cost.
Dute and the other craftsmen were in much the same state.
But would they truly accept this willingly?
No matter how much Sion wanted it, would those obstinate fools actually agree to teach the students?
Sion answered her question.
“What if they don’t participate?”
“Uh, if they don’t participate…”
Eira paused, tilting her head.
If those arrogant craftsmen refused to join, what would happen?
After a moment, Eira stammered out her reply.
“W-well, what happens if they don’t? How would they refuse?”
Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t picture those prideful craftsmen standing up to Sion.
If it actually came to that, wouldn’t they all be beaten down like dogs in front of everyone?
“Are you saying you’ll strike them?”
“What are you saying? Violence is something only the barbarous resort to. Why in the world would a mage stain their staff with blood?”
“Then what are you planning to do…?”
“I’ll have them participate in the project normally and make them do everything they’re capable of doing. Even I have my limits—I won’t resort to blackmail using a contract we’ve already made.”
“But then what exactly…?”
Eira held a certain faith in Sion. The belief that he would employ extraordinary means if necessary to achieve his goals.
She certainly didn’t take his words at face value now.
There had to be a plan behind this.
“But I never said when we’d proceed with that project, did I?”
……
Eira quietly pressed her palms against her face.
“I… I see.”
“It’s fine. I trust our 3-Star Craftsmen. With students in such difficult circumstances before them, surely they won’t ignore their plight?”
Sion smiled brightly as he spoke to Eira.
“Come now, my disciple. Let’s go prove the goodness of humanity.”
[Humans, it seems, possess a thing called conscience by their very nature.]
“That nonsense keeps echoing in my head. Let’s ignore it and go.”
And so Sion and Eira made their way toward the craftsmen’s quarters, holding firm faith in human goodness.

A short time passed.
“Now, now, here’s the contract.”
“…There was nothing in here about us working as teachers?”
“Well now!”
Sion’s eyes widened, and he turned to Dute.
“The students are! Right now! hungering for instruction so desperately! And you mean to deny them that!”
“No, it’s just that a contract, once signed, specifies the terms, and——”
“Push the project back ten years?”
“Gahhhhh!”
At that threat, the craftsmen began to weep tears like drops of chicken droppings, signing the contract one after another.
And watching the sight unfold in silence, Eira quietly carved a single lesson into her bones.
‘……Draw up contracts carefully.’
Good faith is useless.
In this jungle called society, one cannot afford to expect such warmth.
And so Eira drew closer, day by day, to becoming a worn and weathered adult.

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