The AI Archmage - Chapter 92

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

AI Grand Mage Episode 92

Foresight Ability.
Honestly, merely hearing of it was enough to make the heart race.
It was, after all, a beyond-standard capability whose very existence remained uncertain.
Even Sion had felt a spark of interest when he first heard of it.
Yet.
“It’s not even complete, and now it’s broken—what am I supposed to do with this?”
Sion let out a hollow laugh and gazed down at the slate in his hand.
To make use of it, he would have to understand the slate’s design and restore it to proper function.
‘No, that’s not quite right.’
He’d need to fix it and then improve it. It was fundamentally an incomplete product, nothing more.
[Still, once it’s complete, it will undoubtedly become an invaluable Magic Tool.]
“That much is true.”
If he used it as Belusian intended—as the Blue Tower’s Core—it would certainly work.
A Magic Tower was both a building and the most intricate, magnificent Magic Tool in existence.
And the most troublesome aspect? The Core itself. The Core functioned as the Tower’s brain, requiring immense computational power.
Everything from simple temperature regulation within the building to the spells maintained through the Tower as a conduit.
All of it grew more efficient with a higher-grade Core, and both the number and level of available spells increased accordingly.
Considering that, this slate held tremendous value for Sion.
The Blue Tower’s growth was rather important to him, after all.
For now, Sion placed the slate into his Subspace.
There was no rush to decide exactly how to approach its repair—that could wait until after his return to the Blue Tower.
“Good, then let’s call this settled. Anything else worth taking?”
Naturally, the slate with the Foresight function that Belusian had invented himself was a significant prize.
And yet something still felt lacking.
Not that Belusian appeared to have prepared anything else, though.
[Human, but wasn’t your original purpose here not treasure, but rescuing your biological brother?]
“I trust my disciples. They’ll handle that Treasure Goblin themselves.”
[But, that is…….]
Biological brother or not, a Treasure Goblin was rather…….
Regardless of what Akasha said, Sion proceeded to ransack the room thoroughly.
He began tearing out any materials that looked remotely useful and hurling them into his Subspace.
“Hmm, the wall material here is decent. Worth peeling off. Oh? The flooring’s not bad either.”
[…….]
Crack! Crunch!
He started ripping the walls apart.
That wasn’t the end of it.
“Good grief, did that fellow have money to spare? How does he have cash plastered all over the place like this?”
Next, he tore up the floor.
Akasha giggled softly, shaking his head at the sight of Sion dismantling the room.
And then, shortly after.
“That should do it.”
He brushed his palms together briskly, surveying the room in its fully deconstructed state.
“Nothing in this world lasts forever. Truly a shame.”
[To be fair, it was the human who caused it to reach this state.]
“That’s not the point.”
[I see.]
Akasha decided to simply agree with Sion.
There was nothing to be gained by disagreeing, after all.
[But Human, doesn’t Belusian trouble you at all?]
“How so?”
[Whether he’s still alive, or why he made these preparations despite seeing only a single Foresight through the slate.]
Akasha tilted his head, continuing.
[My data records Belusian as eccentric but not one for meaningless action. Is that incorrect?]
“That’s true enough.”
Certainly, it did nag at him somewhat. Sion privately believed Belusian was still alive.
He wasn’t the sort to die easily.
But if that were so, why had Belusian allowed the Blue Tower to fall into such disrepair?
‘……I never taught Lumia the secret techniques either.’
It was as if Belusian believed that someone would guide Lumia in his stead and revive the Blue Tower.
It wasn’t pure speculation, either.
Belusian wasn’t the type to disappear from the Blue Tower without any contingency.
Perhaps Belusian was…….
“Did you have certainty about this?”
[Human?]
“No, it’s nothing.”
For now, I’d treat it as just a possibility. Either way, it’s no great concern.
In any case, I’ve taken care of everything I needed to.
So all that’s left is to retrieve Treben and bring him along.
“Why not pay a visit to my biological brother for the first time in ages.”

* * *

Meanwhile, the students of the Blue Tower found themselves locked in a standoff, the atmosphere thick with tension.
“Calm yourselves. There’s no reason for us to turn our magic on each other in a situation like this.”
Tult, who came from a merchant family and had some experience with negotiation, spoke while looking around at everyone.
But the students didn’t simply nod at Tult’s words.
“Can’t you stop wagging that wicked tongue of yours!”
“It’s obvious you’re trying to shape public opinion before slipping away with the Treasure Goblin all by yourself!”
The students glared at Tult with a low growl.
Tult cried out in protest.
“What? I’m just trying to mediate, so why won’t you cooperate—cooperate!”
“Shut it, you cunning merchant!”
“What, me?!”
All the students placed absolute trust in Sion’s words.
Which meant they believed the reward Sion had promised was ‘genuine.’
So it was no wonder their eyes had lit up with fervor.
In their minds, the compensation Sion had promised was anything but trivial.
“I found it first!”
Briella shouted.
“Which means the actual hunting rights to the Treasure Goblin belong to me!”
“But you… you didn’t even lay a hand on it, so…… isn’t that meaningless?”
“You little—!”
…….
Treben stood with wide, vacant eyes, watching the students surrounding him.
‘What is this?’
He couldn’t fathom how things had come to this.
Just moments ago, he had arrived here to obtain the legacy of a great Artisan…….
‘Was the secret map I discovered actually public property?’
Now that matters had come to this, no other conclusion came to mind.
The young mages who had surrounded him in an instant were growling at one another.
Somehow, he felt he had become spoils of war in their dispute.
“Um, uh…….”
For a 6th Circle mage to act this way was admittedly absurd, but Treben raised his hand with a timid expression.
“Why, why are you doing this?”
“The Treasure Goblin should please stay still!”
……Yes.”
He’d mustered courage to ask the question, but at the response he received, Treben bowed his head with a dejected look.
‘This is too much, really…….’
Cruel as it was, what could he do about it?
He was outnumbered, and he couldn’t be certain he had a decisive advantage against Chantless Magic.
At the same time, it was rather shocking.
How were students younger than him able to use Chantless Magic as though it were second nature?
It made no sense by conventional standards.
Yet that very impossibility was unfolding before his eyes.
Rather than deny reality, he preferred to try to understand it somehow.
‘What kind of Tower is this, anyway?’
A Tower where the students knew the location of Altair’s buried legacy and possessed such mastery of Chantless Magic.
Surely even the White Tower, where his younger sister resides, wouldn’t be at this level.
But then it happened.
“Well done.”
A leisurely voice filled the cavern. It wasn’t particularly loud, and there was no overwhelming power behind it.
Yet in that instant, the students who’d been snarling at each other fell silent as one.
“Huh……?”
Treben, trembling as he stood surrounded by students, opened his eyes wide and turned his head toward the source of the voice.
And there, to his amazement, stood a face he knew all too well.
“Si, Sion……?”
Sion Rostery.
His younger brother, cast out by the family and expelled to the Blue Tower, stood before him.

* * *

“It’s been a while, brother.”
Sion smiled faintly, speaking to Treben, who stared at him blankly.
Treben nodded with a hesitant expression.
“Oh, it’s been… a while.”
“How long has it been? I’d say at least three years.”
“Yeah, about that?”
Treben’s expression was decidedly odd.
Of course, that was only natural enough.
He could hardly have expected to meet his younger brother in a place like this.
“But what are you doing here…….”
“Oh, we’re on an excursion. You see these students? They’re all enjoying the trip right now.”
“……?”
Treben blinked.
An excursion—honestly, he couldn’t make sense of what his brother was saying.
“An, an excursion here……?”
“It’s exciting, isn’t it?”
“Exciting……?”
Is it?
No matter how he thought about it, this seemed like the last place for an excursion.
Watching Treben’s bewildered face, Sion found his memories stirring.
‘Still the same as ever.’
In Sion Rostery’s memories, Treben had always been rather timid.
Talented and possessing many of the qualities the family demanded of a successor, yet he’d never wanted any of it.
The heavy responsibility of leading the family simply didn’t suit him.
He didn’t want it, either.
But the family…….
No—certain retainers within the family had wanted Treben to become the successor.
And so, whether he wished it or not, Treben found himself inevitably drawn into the succession struggle.
And this was the result.
“Teacher! The treasure goblin……!”
“He’s my brother.”
“I was the first to spot your brother!”
Briella eagerly insisted that she deserved considerable credit for this discovery.
In that moment, Tult’s eyes snapped open and he shouted.
“Briella! Did you just—did you seriously just call the teacher’s ‘family’ a treasure goblin?!”
“……!”
“How could you say something so cruel?!”
Tult seized on the gap Briella had exposed and wouldn’t let go.
In that instant, cold sweat began to bead on Briella’s forehead.
“That is……!”
“Hmm, you know, calling a person a treasure goblin really does seem pretty bad when you think about it.”
“I didn’t think she was like that, but she’s quite a scary person.”
The students shook their heads and promptly began to shun Briella.
Of course, they’d been the ones calling him a treasure goblin repeatedly, but that was hardly the point.
“Ugh, uuugh……!”
Briella broke into a cold sweat, finding herself utterly isolated with no one to turn to.
“Eira! You’ll understand me, won’t you?!”
“Who are you?”
“……!”
Thump.
Watching Eira coldly cut ties with her friend, Briella finally sank to her knees in despair.
Such was the ephemeral nature of friendship in the Blue Tower.
In the end, Sion, who had been quietly observing the spectacle, decided to intervene.
“Don’t worry. The rewards from this excursion will be distributed equally to everyone anyway.”
“But you said earlier that whoever caught them would receive an enormous reward?”
“I did say that, but strictly speaking, the current situation is no different from all of us discovering them together.”
“That’s…….”
Briella assessed the situation in light of his words.
Sion’s logic did seem sound, when she thought about it.
“You’re right.”
“Exactly. Now that it’s all over, why don’t you quiet yourself by dealing with those traitors instead.”
“Ah.”
At his words, Briella’s gaze snapped toward Eira and Tult.
Flash.
Her eyes blazed with the ferocity of a hunting beast.
“Traitors…… you two……! And I even shared my survival tools with you!”
“……!”
Sensing imminent danger, Tult and Eira bolted, with Briella in pursuit close behind.
And so, as the students’ commotion wound to a close…….
“Wake up, brother.”
“Ugh, mm…….”
“I came here because of Father’s commission. He asked me to find you.”
“……!”
Naturally, for Sion, completing the commission was all that mattered.
He had already received what was due.
Still.
“But as your brother, I thought I should ask you first.”
After all, he had never promised how this commission would end.
“Do you wish to return to the family?”
The question hung in the air—a decision point for what would come next.

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