7 – return-7

“Why do I have to do this?”

Those who could use magic were all the chosen ones.

Being chosen wasn’t just about the ability to use magic.

Even if a commoner had a talent for magic, if he hadn’t polished it at a young age, his limit would be to make a small fireball out of his hands.

Aristocrats, at least those who lived in a place where the eyes of the upper class could reach, such as aristocratic attendants, could become magicians only if they focused on study and research without any labor.

However, those who learned magic in that way were able to enjoy authority that others could not have imagined.

The strategic value of those who could use military magic was enormous, and their political value was even greater.

Poisoning by magic could not be avoided without magic, and the value of curses and blessings was enormous.

Of course, the high-ranking wizards of the Mage Tower were able to enjoy the tremendous authority, wealth, and honor that came with them.

But even he was in a situation where he was on his knees begging in front of a small kid.

“Tell me what happened.”

Trembling, the high-ranking wizard was picking out what he should and shouldn’t say.

If there was any lie in his words, she would trash all his authority and title right away.

It wasn’t because she particularly hated lies.

By her standards, lying was a waste of time that should be used for the quest for truth. It was to make the information he gave unreliable any longer, thus reducing his value.

And she showed no mercy to useless humans.

“I left the boring work of the Mage Tower up to you, do you think you’ve become anything?”

“no!”

Blue hair, small body. If someone who didn’t know about her saw her, she might be mistaken for a freshman at a magic school.

But those who know her true face know that even calling her ‘human’ is a very harsh and understated title.

She is a mage who has lived for hundreds of years, and the owner of the Mage Tower. Because it was Persian.

“There’s a magic secretly performed. That’s a very large-scale spell… Who the hell did you hold hands with? And, if you handed it over to me. Did you think I’d take on your burden with a smile?”

“It was an order from His Majesty the Emperor! It couldn’t be helped!”

“It’s a pity… It can’t be helped if it’s the emperor’s order.”

Despite her pure and benevolent voice, the high mage couldn’t let go of her tension.

“But should I put someone who is more loyal to the Emperor than me to the Mage Tower?

“Sorry! I can’t trouble you with useless things… I thought it was a light job. Given enough time, I could have done it myself!”

It sounded like they were willing to mercifully let him go, but the high mage was well aware of how to deal with those who had become useless by her standards.

You will pay the price for betrayal. An assassination performed by a magician could not be known unless it was a stronger magician.

If he had the authority of the imperial family, he would be confident in front of her because he had some insurance such as a goddess, a contract with a divine beast, and a high-ranking priest, but he was only a wizard.

The moment he escapes from here, the Farseer will identify him as a traitor and punish him.

Even if you don’t earn her trust and get kicked out, at least you shouldn’t buy her anger.

“Looking at the samples used… strength, force, dimensions, anchors… they look dangerous at first glance, don’t they? I didn’t know you could do something like this.”

“That is…”

“From my limited knowledge, I don’t think there’s ever a need to craft a spell out of these ingredients, outside of interdimensional invasions. That’s odd.”

No wonder Farseer took this seriously. It was more than just blindfolding her and colluding with the emperor.

All of the magic materials used were rare, but the price was not simply a problem.

Rather, the risk was a bigger problem. It was something she hadn’t seen a few times even after living for hundreds of years.

Not a single village or city would simply disappear when an accident occurred.

“His Majesty is not the one who would lead this. Who would it be? Who would have fooled the emperor’s eyes and ears… Huh?”

“Blood, it was necessary. I got permission from His Majesty the Emperor…”

“Then, you should tell us why you need it.”

A small, tender, but murderous voice pierced his ears.

“If you’re having a conversation and one side isn’t writing information and just saying ‘I was wrong’ like a parrot, that’s a genuine attitude, huh?”

“That, that’s…”

This is information that cannot be kept hidden. Breaking the promise to the emperor was in itself a serious crime close to treason, but that wizard would somehow get the information she wanted.

“Reverse summoning… It was a ritual.”

“Whose? The hero of this generation was Eleanor.”

Most of the warriors were created through the summoning of the goddess, but there were no warriors from the locals.

Farseer, who had ventured with her, could be sure. Eleanor was undoubtedly a warrior.

“…no.”

“Are you trying to lie in front of me?”

“No! You know I’m not that stupid!”

“Unfortunately, I also trusted your loyalty. I can’t trust my judgment anymore. So, what do you want to say?”

“There is a hero… with the imperial mage… I used magic that allows the princess to use his power as a proxy.”

Farseer rummaged through the spell and recalled it. However, the possibility that what he said was true was very small.

So far, I felt that it was a weak figure that continued another lie in order to continue a lie.

“That’s a spell that requires the consent of the hero. Not coercion or violence, but consent with the heart. How? When did you see it? Did you even surrender your power as soon as you were summoned?”

“…it’s true.”

“Well, let’s assume that’s true. Then where the hell is that hero? That spell isn’t omnipotent. After all, without a real hero, the goddess…”

I remembered something. Farseer tilted her small face.

No order is made without reason. There may be spells made just to ‘kill the enemy’ or ‘to save the sick’, but spells related to heroes cannot be made for such a simple reason.

Since the interval between summoning heroes is about 300 years, it is a spell that may or may not be usable once every 300 years. The last time it was used was to defeat the demon king almost 1000 years ago.

Of course, such a ‘custom’ order was also enormously constrained. The hero and the person receiving the power must always be by his side, and he had to get permission from the real hero every time he received the protection of the goddess to become stronger.

There can be no such person.

“ah.”

Come to think of it, there was one person I couldn’t understand during the journey of the hero’s party.

It wasn’t unheard of for a porter to assist a warrior’s party, but it was different from the ‘porters’ of history in countless ways.

They didn’t seem to have come together with a sense of mission, and they didn’t have the ability to stand out.

According to her knowledge, some aristocrat was forced into the party to gain resonance.

I’d rarely spoken to him directly, but since I didn’t bother to deny it, I assumed it was something like that.

But, if it’s true what passed through her mind.

“I’m begging you… can you please stop saying I’ve seen him already?”

“Eh, you already know. Since you said you were going on an adventure together as porters…”

Farseer grabbed his forehead. It was a cute act like a child’s charm, but she was seriously worried about the future of this empire, or this world.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“That, His Majesty the Emperor has requested! If we find out about that fact, the party’s trust may be shaken…”

“Yes. It will shake. If I had known that the warriors’ party was going that way, I would have turned it all upside down before long!!!”

For magicians, resource allocation is fate.

Any magician has a wish he wants to achieve, and money, power, humans, experiment materials, and time have limits.

It was a farse language freed from time, but that didn’t mean the habit was gone.

Even if it was a porter, he used a person who wanted to help the warrior party in a ‘useful’ way.

But that wasn’t the way to use a hero.

If you use a precious gem as a scaffolding just because it’s hard and as a butcher’s knife because it’s sharp, what will the gem think?

She gritted her teeth and screamed.

“It’s in trouble. It’s in trouble… What should I do? We’re all going to die. I, my dream. How long have I been living this damn life for this…”

The years and dangers reflected behind her youthful face disappeared somewhere, and there was a girl crying out in pain.

“That, you. Let’s ask one thing.”

She couldn’t afford to think of the punishment for the traitor. Betrayal is betrayal, and even if it’s hidden from her, it’s because the crime she committed was too great.

“yes?”

“What do kids these days do to… reconcile?”