Chapter 13
Rumor had it that the Ridasid Mage Tower was overflowing with people who had recently advanced in tier.
“Please, please don’t let word of this get outside…! Please!!”
“Hmm. I haven’t known you for very long, but this is the first time I’ve seen you look so desperate.”
…did not spread, thanks to Akion’s earnest request.
The reason he had asked them not to spread it, even though it would not exactly have been bad news for him, was—
“I like quiet peace. I don’t like noisy bustle.”
“You mean you don’t want to be dragged around everywhere?”
“As expected, Goldie catches on quickly.”
It was all for the sake of a relaxed and affluent daily life.
Fame was merely a way for him to earn money for that affluent life, and he gave most of the glory to his father, Delford Enersis.
Why? Because if things became noisy, he would be dragged around everywhere, just as Goldie had said.
Banquets, banquets, and more banquets!
“Especially banquets at the Imperial Palace. Ugh.”
“I don’t like those either.”
How many humans would he have to rub shoulders with at such places?
That political arena, where everyone maintained an outward show of propriety while desperately trying to undermine one another’s prestige.
Akion did not want to go. He had no aptitude for it, either.
If he simply gave all the glory to his father, wouldn’t people handle things on their own?
He would rather do more research than spend time becoming acquainted with nobles.
“A shut-in.”
“Stop hitting me with facts!”
It was partly because he was somewhat introverted. Anyway.
He truly did not want to get caught up in troublesome matters.
“Then, to you, I shall bestow the position of alchemist at the Mage Tower.”
“Thanks a damn lot. Hell.”
But he got dragged into it anyway.
After listening to Akion’s entire lecture in the grand auditorium, the Tower Master said,
“He gave an excellent lecture.”
“Admit him to the tower.”
And in roughly this fashion, they inducted Akion as an alchemist of the Ridasid Mage Tower.
“It’s an honorary position, so don’t feel too bad about it.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m hardly upset. I’m so very, very delighted and honored that I’d like to run straight out of this Mage Tower right now.”
“For your information, honorary positions are still recognized as affiliations with the Mage Tower, so you can receive discounts at the alchemy shop.”
“To be honest, I did want to be recognized this way. I would also love to enjoy the honor of taking the Tower Master as my teacher, but please forgive this utterly unfilial Akion for being too busy with research to make time!”
“Sigh. Your flattery surpasses that of any sycophant.”
Of course, Akion became polite the instant discounts were mentioned.
The Tower Master could only sigh at the worldly side of their prospective disciple.
*
“This is….”
A steel badge was clutched in Akion’s hand.
A faint light shimmered across it, and the dragon logo symbolizing the Ridasid Mage Tower was emblazoned on it in magnificent fashion.
“It’s an identification badge showing that you belong to the Mage Tower. It’s made of steel mixed with mana-stone powder, treated to resist corrosion and water, and designed to respond only to your mana.”
“Such a precious thing… Wait, this looks a lot like the iron bar you held up to me last time.”
“…….”
“Tower Master, answer me.”
It was a little lame that they had made it in advance in anticipation of his voluntary (forced) induction into the tower.
“It is pretty, though.”
“Hehe, I knew you’d like it.”
Even so, Akion felt as though he had accomplished something for the first time, apart from his previous life.
To enter the Mage Tower, one had to be at least fourth tier and take an entrance exam without exception.
The difficulty was said to be beyond imagination, with even seventy-five percent of applicants giving up midway.
“I can finally start handing out my business card….”
Even if Akion was an engineering nerd who went, “I love research so much!”, he was still a social animal.
On top of that, the seventeen years of Akion’s withdrawn past had become ingrained in him…
“Huh? Young Master, you’re an Enersis scion, aren’t you?”
“It’s complicated.”
The fact that he had been recognized moved Akion deeply.
Of course, if the other mages of the Mage Tower had heard this, they would have said,
“Young Master Akion? Are you making fools of us? After developing the incandescent bulb?!”
“And what about the motor!! Are you trying to insult us!!!!”
They would all have waved the incandescent bulb and motor in his face and jumped up and down. Anyway.
So what could he do with the Mage Tower identification badge that had been placed in his hands?
“Hmm? This isn’t the alchemy shop.”
“There’s somewhere else we need to go.”
Contrary to Goldie’s expectations, Akion put off shopping for discounted goods at the alchemy shop.
He already had a plentiful supply of materials, and buying more in advance would only make managing the chemicals more difficult.
And with that money, he would rather…
- Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Welcome, Young Master Akion!”
“The fo… forge?”
Shopping at the forge would be better—that was Akion’s thought.
As it happened, the master and owner of the Mage Tower’s forge, a bushy-bearded dwarf, came out to guide him.
“Young Master, are you looking to have a sword made?”
“Why would I?”
“Then why did you come to the forge?”
“There’s something here that can help with my research.”
Was this young master really thinking about research even while on vacation!
Goldie wanted to stuff him into one of Ridasid’s famous cafés right away. Please, stop researching and take a rest!
“Why are you doing something like that on your day off!”
“Instead, once we’re done here, let’s go to Montblanche and buy some cream buns.”
“Gasp, Montblanche cream buns…?!”
But Montblanche’s signature cream buns, from Enersis’s most famous bakery.
That pastry was a little expensive even on Goldie’s salary, and the young master was going to buy one for her?!
“And then we’ll go to the boutique and have some clothes made for you.”
And on top of that, a clothing store—double the treat.
Clothes made just for Akion.
“……I ask this every time, but why are you buying clothes for me instead of yourself?”
To engineering nerd Akion, clothes were for enduring the cold and covering his naked body.
Was he supposed to maintain his dignity because he had noble blood?
He had already given up the countship, so that was none of his concern.
“Goldie has lots of different clothes, but you wear the same thing every day, Young Master!”
“They’re all different clothes.”
“They all have the same design, so how are they different clothes?!”
Of course, Goldie, who watched him every day from the side, was tearing her hair out.
In the end, Akion was dragged to the clothing store as well to calm down the rampaging Goldie.
*
Suddenly, Akion felt that it was unfair for only him to buy clothes.
After all, Goldie was Akion’s loyal retainer, wasn’t she?
“Hehehe…!”
So he bought some for her too, but….
The clothes he bought suited her far better than he had expected.
“Young Master, Young Master!”
A white one-piece dress with a black waist ribbon.
Was there any outfit that could suit a golden-haired, golden-eyed young lady this well?
“How is it? Does it look good on Goldie?”
“It’s pretty.”
Akion honestly believed that anything would suit Goldie.
They said the key to fashion was the face and figure, and Goldie was a pure-looking young lady blessed with both.
“Hehe, you even bought something for me….”
Though Goldie had adamantly insisted that she did not need anything, Akion had bought it for her anyway.
Goldie grumbled with her mouth, but her tail was already wagging wildly.
“I’m glad you like it.”
He had not expected her to like it this much, though.
Akion decided not to mention it. There was no need to ruin the mood by pointing it out.
“Hmph, hmph~! Hehehmph~!”
Though she was on the tall side and took long, brisk strides, Goldie’s gait was closer to a cute little clomp-clomp.
Even though she was a dog beastkin… Seeing her like that made even Akion want to squish her cheeks and ruffle her hair over and over.
So this was why heads of families kept dog-beastkin loyal retainers—Akion finally understood the tastes of his ancestors.
And Goldie,
“H-hehe, hmph, h-hehe….”
Was inexplicably giddy, her heart tickled by some unknown feeling.
“Young Master. Come to think of it, how is the wound on your head?”
“Huh? This? It still aches a little sometimes, but I’m fine.”
Since the young master’s last birthday, Young Master Akion had become an entirely different person.
From a depressed and gloomy young master who seemed to be sharpening the blade of revenge for some day….
“Would you like Goldie to take a look?”
“No, it’s fine. More importantly, I heard Father scolded you quite a lot for failing to keep me safe.”
“That was, well… Goldie’s fault, after all.”
“How is that your fault? I was the one who misstepped.”
- Pat, pat.
He had become such a kind and dependable young master.
Most of all, nobles did not usually treat their attendants this kindly simply because they were their young master.
Suddenly, Goldie thought of a romance novel that the attendants passed around and read among themselves.
The story was about a battered young master who returned from the war and was cared for by his devoted attendant.
Then the young master confessed his love because of the attendant’s devotion, and although the attendant did not know what to do, they eventually shared their love… It even contained some extremely steamy scenes.
“Don’t keep it in your heart. It wasn’t your fault. Understand?”
- Pat, pat.
Because the novel also contained illustrations, the attendants had all projected themselves onto the attendant in the story and gotten worked up.
Goldie had done the same before.
“……Yeees.”
Goldie did not know why that novel had come to mind now… but as she looked up at Akion defending her, her heart pounded wildly.
Then, suddenly,
‘If only that young master were our young master….’
She tucked that small wish away in her heart.
It was a warm, sunny autumn day.
*
After the long(?) two-week vacation ended, Akion’s workshop resumed work.
“Did everyone get plenty of rest? From now on, let’s take our research a little more slowly.”
“Gasp?! Has the young master become kind?!!!”
“The young master has been possessed by a demon again!!”
“I didn’t know you all loved working overtime this much. Want me to put you back on overtime starting today?”
“Noooo!!”
Unlike before, the technology had been roughly developed already. There was no reason to hurry.
So he had planned to slowly develop a relatively simple pressure water tank, but—
“Young Master!! An urgent letter for you!!”
“What? For me?”
A servant who had hurried in handed him a letter.
It was a little grimy from the dust, but the seal stamped on it was something he absolutely could not ignore.
“Why is the Papal See….”
The Heavenly Lord, the god whom the humans of this world worshipped as a matter of course.
The religion that worshipped Him was called Catholicism, and Akion began to tense up at the seal used exclusively by the Papal See.
Of course, Akion had been fairly hardened by the mass tier-promotion incident he had experienced at the Mage Tower.
“What does it say? You probably read it first, so summarize it for me.”
As he unfolded the letter and waited for the servant to speak,
“The Saintess wishes to meet you.”
“What.”
The Heavenly Lord was a concept similar to the God Akion knew, at least in some respects.
The difference was that He truly bestowed divine power upon priests.
“I must have heard that wrong. Who?”
“The Saintess of the Catholic Church… wishes to meet you, Young Master!”
However, they could not casually tell lies, and they spent their entire lives honing their faith and convictions.
In this world’s Catholic Church, which was loved by countless citizens of the Empire on the basis of that faith….
“Why…?”
“She says it is to thank you for the incandescent bulb….”
The three most powerful figures symbolizing the Trinity were
“The Pope, the Saint, and the Saintess.”
“Why……?”
Of those three, the Saintess wished to meet Akion and thank him personally.