Chapter 12
With the passing of time after the second release and the acquisition of new illusion mages, things had finally calmed down.
Taking advantage of this lull, we were once again pushing forward with the production of ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
“Ugh, ugh… I don’t want to do this anymore… I want to play games…”
“No, Tower Master! We need to produce at least ten thousand units this time!”
“Huee…”
My goal was to create a world where everyone could enjoy games.
Not just for the nobles who could afford to indulge in culture, but also for the commoners who were not blessed with luck.
To show a world where anyone could enjoy it, regardless of the fate they were born with.
“R-Rai-nim… Please save me…”
“They said I could play a game… but this is…”
“Come on. Once we finish this work, you can play as much as you want. Let’s make ten thousand units by next week.”
Sacrifice is sometimes necessary to achieve this goal.
Hina, along with the newly joined illusion mages, were being used up in artifact production.
Currently, there were 1,500 users. There was still a long way to go.
Leaving the production to the other mages, I headed up to the top floor for the update.
In the centre of the top floor floated a giant maple leaf-shaped artifact emitting light.
It was the main server of ‘Maple Leaf Story’.
Users accessed this illusory world through Illusion Sharing Magic.
The update would be applied by adding illusion magic to this artifact.
“Rain. What are you doing here?”
It was rare for anyone other than me to come here, but there was an unexpected visitor.
“Ah, Rai-kun. Is there something to update?”
“Yes, it’s almost time for the third release. What brings you here, Rain?”
“Nothing much. It’s just that looking at the light from this huge artifact somehow makes me feel good.”
It was indeed a mysterious sight.
It resembled the giant crystal orb at the centre of the room where the mages of Ellinia advanced in ‘Maple Leaf Story’.
“Did you know, Rai? At the top of the other towers, there are massive floating stones symbolizing each tower.”
“Of course. Because of those, Trinity doesn’t even need to turn on lights at night.”
At the very top of each tower, towering high in the sky,
there were massive floating stones radiating the attribute of their respective tower.
The Fire Tower had a giant red stone blazing like fire, and the Ice Tower had a massive blue ice stone emitting light. The other towers were the same.
But at the top of our Illusion Magic Tower, there was nothing.
Instead, until recently, we had raised the height of our tower using an illusion to make it appear taller.
“But we have nothing. Because all of our magic is just ‘illusion.’ In the past and even now, it’s the same.”
As Rain said, our magic was just illusions.
Since they didn’t actually exist, we couldn’t have floating stones imbued with our attribute.
Everything was nothing more than a formless illusion.
“Because of that… sometimes… I imagine this artifact shining at the top of our tower. Just like the other towers, we could raise our tower high up in the sky, and from the top, let ‘Maple Leaf Story’ light up Trinity. I imagine that sometimes.”
“…That sounds nice. Let’s make it happen someday. It will take time, but we’ll get there.”
The height of each tower represented the history and achievements it had built.
But our Illusion Tower had achieved nothing so far.
Naturally, we had no money, no accomplishments, and thus, we hadn’t been able to raise the height of our tower.
Come to think of it, we should consider expanding the tower soon.
When the time comes, we should move this artifact to the top.
“Rai, Rai! There’s trouble!”
Medeia’s clone hurriedly climbed up the stairs.
“The Imperial Family…! The Imperial Family has sent someone!”
“Huh? Is it the 3rd Prince again?”
“No! This time it’s an imperial decree sent by the Emperor himself!”
“What?”
Rain and I hurried downstairs.
There, standing by a splendid carriage, was an imperial official dressed in a golden robe, holding a scroll.
“Illusion Mage Riot is hereby summoned to receive an imperial command.”
“…Huh?”
Am I supposed to kneel like in historical dramas? It certainly feels like that kind of atmosphere.
As I was thinking that, Rain was already kneeling.
I didn’t really want to do that, so I showed an illusion of myself kneeling.
“Illusion Mage Riot has dared to deceive the Imperial Family with a serpentine tongue…”
The gist of it was—do you want to get punished for scamming the 3rd Prince into a fraudulent contract? That kind of vibe.
However, since the contract with a mage from Trinity carried significant weight even for the Imperial Family, the decree concluded with a request to come to the Imperial Palace for a direct discussion.
I had expected something like this. And it wasn’t like I was desperate for the Imperial Family’s money.
“I understand.”
I had no intention of avoiding it.
The Imperial Family couldn’t easily interfere with a mage from Trinity.
A few days later, I headed to the capital with Rain.
***
“Your Majesty. The Illusion Mage Riot has arrived.”
“Very well.”
The Emperor walked in with a commanding presence.
In the audience chamber, the 1st Prince and the instigator of this incident, the 3rd Prince, were already present.
“I greet the Sun of the Empire.”
The female illusion mage first bowed her head towards the Emperor.
The male illusion mage next to her also bowed deeply.
The conversation, led by the Chief Mage, naturally progressed to threatening them.
You dared to deceive the Imperial Family to make a dishonest profit with a malicious contract. We won’t let this slide. It was something like that.
However, a contract with a mage from Trinity carried a certain authority even for the Imperial Family.
Thus, there was a need to reach an agreement on the contract terms to some extent.
Then the Emperor stepped forward and said,
‘I will graciously consider the investment matter. But in order to do so, I need to assess the value of this ‘Maple Leaf Story’ myself. I shall personally use it and decide on the investment amount. The Illusion Tower should be grateful that I’m using their artifact.’
His plan was to get his hands on ‘Maple Leaf Story’ with this pretense.
The foolish illusion mages would then bow their heads saying, ‘We are greatly honoured by your favour, Your Majesty!’
With this, the Emperor could maintain his dignity while still getting to experience ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
Suppressing the twitching corners of his mouth, the Emperor barely managed to contain his excitement at the thought of playing ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
“…Thus, the Illusion Magic Tower has presented a fraudulent artifact to lead the 3rd Prince into an unfair contract, and with that cunning object, sought to disrupt the Imperial Family. Therefore, the Imperial Family cannot accept this contract.”
The Chief Mage’s speech concluded right on time.
The illusion mages were still bowing their heads.
“Ahem. But surely, there was some fault on the part of the 3rd Prince as well, was there not, Chief Mage?”
“That is true, Your Majesty.”
Now, it was time to deliver the prepared lines.
As the Emperor was about to speak in a solemn voice,
“I understand.”
An unexpectedly young voice interrupted.
It was a male illusion mage.
“You understand?”
“Yes. I am Illusion Mage Rai Oat. I created ‘Maple Leaf Story.’”
“Is… that so?”
“I am also the one who made the contract with the 3rd Prince. If the Imperial Family sees it that way, I will annul the contract.”
“W-What?!”
The Emperor stood up abruptly.
The illusion mage’s reaction was completely different from what he had expected.
“It’s true that there were unfair parts in the contract, so I will do that. Also, if the artifact I made is disrupting the order of the Imperial Family, I will take measures to prevent access to the capital city. I created it with good intentions, but if it is causing trouble for the Imperial Family, I should naturally do that.”
“…Hey! What do you mean by that?”
The 3rd Prince, Rikal, shouted.
To be honest, he cared more about the game than the Imperial Family’s money.
“I also apologize to the Prince. I will apologize and undo everything, so please forgive me just this once.”
“W-Wait…!”
The Emperor stammered in surprise.
He couldn’t go back on his words now that the Imperial Family had already declared the illusion mage and the artifact as impudent.
‘W-Wait… This isn’t the outcome I wanted! If things keep going like this…!’
The Emperor could already feel the piercing gazes of his ministers.
Even the Emperor knew that ‘Maple Leaf Story’ was popular within the Imperial Family.
If things continued this way, it was obvious that there would be gossip about the Imperial Family.
And it would mean he could never play ‘Maple Leaf Story’ for the rest of his life.
Not just him, but everyone in the Imperial Family.
But now, if he said, ‘A-All right, let me play Maple Leaf Story,’ it would be an utter disgrace to the dignity of the Imperial Family.
“Then, I will take my leave. I apologize once again for causing a disturbance to the Imperial Family.”
In the end, Rai bowed and began to leave the audience chamber.
‘No…! Damn it…!’
The Emperor’s butt twitched at the unexpected turn of events.
He wanted to stop him immediately, but he, as the Emperor, couldn’t do so.
An immense dilemma.
In that turmoil, Rai eventually grasped the door handle of the audience chamber, and—
The Emperor’s butt finally lifted off the throne.
“W-Wait a moment-hoooooold on-!”
At that moment, a desperate voice stopped Rai.
“?”
The voice didn’t belong to the Emperor.
It was the Chief Mage.
“P-Please wait a moment! Illusion Mage Riot!”
He, too, was a player of ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
***
“Thank you, Rai-kun.”
“No need to thank me. I did it all for the sake of the tower.”
As a result, the Imperial Family agreed to our terms.
From the initial unfair contract to new terms.
Like the other towers, we received research support funds (until now, only the Illusion Tower hadn’t been receiving research support from the Imperial Family) and even part of the development costs needed for ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
Instead, it would be treated as an investment, and we would give a portion of the profits to the Imperial Family.
In the end, it became an ordinary investment contract.
The Chief Mage had come up with various excuses to make it happen,
and seeing how the Emperor accepted it without much resistance, it seemed he really wanted to play ‘Maple Leaf Story.’
In exchange, the next sale would be held in more diverse regions.
I wondered if the Emperor would end up waiting in line for it.
“Still… When did you become so reliable? When you first arrived, you were a child smaller than the Tower Master.”
“Uh, urgh… I can’t breathe, Rain.”
Rain hugged me tightly and threw herself onto the bed.
It was late, so we decided to stay in the guest room provided by the Imperial Family.
“In fact… That man is my father.”
“…What?”
Rain spoke while holding me in her arms.
I couldn’t see her face since I was buried in her chest.
“Could it be… You’re part of the Imperial Family?”
“No~ I’m not a member of the Imperial Family. That man speaking beside His Majesty earlier—the Chief Mage. He’s my father.”
“What? Really? The Chief Mage? He’s extremely famous…”
“Yes. Our family is a prestigious family of mages.”
The Chief Mage was one of the top mages in the world.
Their family had led the Imperial Family’s mages for generations.
Though their reputation had somewhat diminished now.
Even so, none of them possessed the Illusion Attribute.
They never had children with anyone possessing the Illusion Attribute.
If a child were to inherit the Illusion Attribute, it would tarnish the family’s prestige.
But Rain was an Illusion Mage.
“My father was an S-rank Wind Attribute mage, and my mother was an A-rank Metal Attribute mage. But I turned out to have a B-rank Illusion Attribute. Against all odds, a different attribute emerged. An Illusion Attribute, of all things.”
“Ah…”
It should have been me who ended up that way. I should have gotten a different attribute against the odds.
From Rain’s perspective, it must have been a disaster.
“I was kicked out of the family. And the only place left for me was the Illusion Tower. Since I was young, I had never thought of becoming anything other than a mage.”
Currently, all the Illusion Mages were of commoner origin.
No wonder she always seemed to carry herself with such refined manners.
Rain continued talking as she held me.
I listened quietly to her story.
“…So, I’m really grateful, Rai-kun. Thanks to you, we’ve been acknowledged as mages, too.”
“It’s nothing. I was just trying to make some money too. And Illusion Magic is still magic.”
Rain paused for a moment before speaking.
“Rai-kun. Do you want to sleep here with me tonight?”
“…What?”
“For some reason, I don’t want to sleep alone tonight…”
W-Wait a minute, what’s happening here? Is this where the story suddenly goes in that direction?
If this keeps up, the genre will completely change—
Knock, knock—
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“H-Hahaha! We have a guest. I’ll go see who it is!”
I hurriedly got up from the bed.
I didn’t look back, so I couldn’t see what kind of expression she had at that moment.
“…Huh?”
I couldn’t help but be surprised when I opened the door.
It was the person I’d just been talking about—Rain’s father, the Imperial Chief Mage, standing right in front of me.
“Chief Mage?”
“Can I have a word with you, Illusion Mage Riot?”
I looked at Rain, but she seemed fine with it.
“Yes. Please come in.”
“Excuse me.”
After entering the room, he hesitated for a while before getting to the main point.
A very long story.
He kept going around in circles and drawing things out, but in the end, it all boiled down to this:
“…So, you’re telling me that you’re PowerArcherx?”
T/n: LMAOOOOO, That was some twist!
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