Chapter 184
One of the Seven Sages of the Ridill Kingdom, 〈Gemstone Magician〉 Emmanuel Darwin, had three favorite things.
Tea after a meal, money, and power.
However, this morning, his servant had run out of his usual tea leaves, so he could not have tea after breakfast.
To make matters worse, the rent on the magical-device workshop he ran had gone up, his apprentices had been poached by other workshops, and his sales were in the red.
Swallowing down his pent-up frustration from the morning, Emmanuel made his way to the venue for lunch.
Today's lunch was with the Second Prince, Felix Arc Ridill, who had invited him.
The venue was a restaurant in the upscale district halfway between the royal capital and Serendia Academy.
Emmanuel was looking forward to the meal, but even more than that, he was excited to have been summoned by the prince rumored to be the next king.
Compared to the politically inept First Prince and the inconspicuous Third Prince, the Second Prince was capable.
He had Duke Clockford's backing, an impressive record in diplomacy, and the military achievement of defeating a Cursed Dragon. Everything was in place.
Emmanuel fawned on Duke Clockford and was frequently granted favors by him, but he had little contact with the duke's favored Second Prince. He had tried to close the distance at social gatherings, but he was treated no differently from the other nobles and had not managed to get any closer.
When Emmanuel arrived at the elegant restaurant, he was shown to a private room at the very back. Felix was already seated there.
When Felix noticed Emmanuel's arrival, he looked up and gave him a refined smile.
"Good afternoon, Lord Darwin."
"Thank you very much for inviting me today."
"The pleasure is mine. Thank you for coming. Please, have a seat."
As soon as Emmanuel sat down, a servant poured an aperitif into his glass.
Sipping the fine red wine, Emmanuel considered how he could ingratiate himself with Felix.
The Seven Sages were said to be advisors to His Majesty the King, but the only one who primarily served as an advisor to the current king was the 〈Star-Seer Witch〉. Astonishingly, the others had little interest in the affairs of state.
Emmanuel had always thought that he, at least, ought to be elevated to that position, but perhaps because Duke Clockford's influence was too strong, the current king would not appoint him as an advisor.
That was why Emmanuel wanted to deepen his relationship with the Second Prince, who would become the next king. If Felix came to rely on him, Emmanuel could become the king's advisor in both name and reality. He could rise above the other Seven Sages.
Surely it would be safest to bring up the Cursed Dragon incident and lavish praise on Felix for his achievements. Just as Emmanuel was thinking this, Felix set down his wineglass and spoke.
"By the way, I had the pleasure of touring your workshop the other day, Lord Darwin. It was truly magnificent."
Rather than being pleased, Emmanuel was immediately alarmed. He had not heard that Felix had come to tour his workshop. Could he have been there incognito?
"You had so many splendid magical devices, worthy of the epithet 〈Gemstone Magician〉. I was amazed not only by their functions but also by their beautiful decorations. Your apprentices are all highly talented as well."
Felix kept heaping praise on the workshop, but Emmanuel could not help feeling uneasy.
"Oh, I'm honored by your praise."
He laughed, but somehow it came out sounding dry and unnatural.
Even so, he managed to keep his smile in place as Felix took something from his pocket and placed it on the table.
It was a topaz brooch with delicate decorations.
"By the way, Lord Darwin, do you recognize this brooch?"
"Hmm, it appears to be a magical device, but... Excuse me."
Wrapping the brooch in a silk handkerchief and picking it up, Emmanuel read the magic formula engraved on it, and his eyes widened in shock.
When a magical device is put on the market, it is standard practice to engrave the name of the mage who embedded its magic formula. That makes it far more valuable than a nameless magical device.
And the name engraved on this brooch was Emmanuel Darwin.
"Your Highness... where did you..."
"It was being sold at a certain street stall. The shopkeeper said it was supposedly made by the 〈Gemstone Magician〉. But even so, the magic formula built into it is far too crude."
A cold sweat trickled down Emmanuel's back.
Even so, Emmanuel put on a thoroughly perplexed expression and spoke rapidly.
"Goodness, it seems there are sly people these days who engrave my name on shoddy magical devices to make a profit... It is truly infuriating. In particular, the people circulating this kind of inferior product are unlicensed, back-alley craftsmen who don't belong to the guild..."
"The shopkeeper said this brooch was secondhand, so I sent my men to investigate its original owner. According to that original owner... it was purchased directly from Darwin Workshop."
Emmanuel's cheek twitched, but he desperately kept his smile in place.
"Oh, surely there must be some misunderstanding. My workshop handles nothing but first-rate products! A shoddy magical device like this..."
"Lord Darwin, when was the last time you made a magical device yourself?"
Felix was still smiling. And yet, the air around him changed the character of that smile.
...From a gentle smile to a cold one.
"Your apprentices testified that you haven't made a magical device yourself in years. You have your apprentices make them, then put your signature on them and sell them... It seems that apprentice could no longer bear the pangs of conscience and moved to another workshop."
That was precisely the apprentice who had been poached by another workshop, which was why Emmanuel had been so irritated.
But how did Felix know about it?
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about..."
"If this is true, your workshop will be raided, and your position as one of the Seven Sages will be in jeopardy."
With beads of clammy sweat on his forehead and his eyes darting about, Emmanuel stubbornly continued to make excuses, saying, "I have no idea what you mean..."
Felix still smiled at Emmanuel.
This time, however, it was not a cold smile... It was something far more ominous and unfathomable.
"Lord Darwin, would you do me a favor?"
Felix took a small vial from his pocket. It was so tiny that he could conceal it entirely in his closed palm, and a colorless, transparent liquid swayed inside.
"I want you to make Duke Clockford drink this."
It was obvious that the liquid was harmful to the human body. Felix was telling Emmanuel this:
If he wanted to keep his position as one of the Seven Sages, he was to cooperate with Felix and assassinate Duke Clockford.
But although Emmanuel wanted to ingratiate himself with Felix, he had no intention whatsoever of becoming the young prince's puppet.
I'm not going to let this young upstart have his way with me! Suppressing his agitation, Emmanuel laughed loudly.
"Ha ha ha! I'm afraid your grandfather, Duke Clockford, has been turning a blind eye to this as well. You see, I'm a very busy man. I can't devote myself solely to making magical devices."
Emmanuel was busy dining with his patrons and making the rounds of high society, and he had barely made any magical devices himself in the past several years.
That was why he had his apprentices make them instead, then put his own signature on them and sold them.
Duke Clockford knew about it. He knew, yet continued to protect Emmanuel. Having one of the Seven Sages as an ally was beneficial to the duke.
Emmanuel was confident that even if Felix made this fact public, Duke Clockford would surely protect him.
If he buried the evidence, he could make anything go away.
(That young upstart... He had to go and put me through that!)
Even so, telling him to poison Duke Clockford was hardly a harmless request.
Naturally, Emmanuel ought to report this to Duke Clockford. But if he deliberately kept quiet, he could make Felix indebted to him.
Between Duke Clockford and Felix, he would naturally side with the duke, who held real power. But the duke was old. With the future in mind, it would not be a bad idea to create an obligation with Felix as well.
As Emmanuel craftily weighed his options, Felix let out a soft sigh.
"I see... So you think anything like this can be explained away."
Felix then picked up the bell on the table and gave it a ring.
A servant with unusual pale blue-tinged white hair placed a plate covered by a cloche in front of Emmanuel.
Emmanuel thought the food had finally arrived, but the plate had been placed only in front of him.
A foreboding feeling came over him, and Emmanuel studied Felix's expression. As expected, Felix wore a smile whose true meaning he could not read.
"Please, lift the lid. Ah, there's nothing dangerous inside."
"..."
Just to be safe, Emmanuel gripped the defensive magical device he always carried in one hand and opened the lid.
"...What is this?"
Resting on the white plate was something every mage had seen at least once: a mana-capacity measuring device.
As Emmanuel froze with the lid still open, Felix interlaced his fingers and spoke.
"It's an ordinary mana-capacity measuring device... Naturally, the reading hasn't been tampered with, has it?"
"...!?"
It was generally said that a person's mana capacity grew until the age of twenty, then gradually declined.
A mana capacity of 150 was required to remain one of the Seven Sages. Anyone below that threshold could no longer hold the position.
Emmanuel's previous reading had been just under 160... But...
"Go ahead and touch it, if you have nothing to hide. Lord Darwin?"
"...Nnngh..."
Emmanuel touched the measuring device with a violently trembling hand. The gauge began to rise slowly.
──Attribute: "Earth" Maximum Mana Capacity: 138
That was Emmanuel Darwin's mana capacity now.
"Ha, ha, haha... It seems this measuring device must be broken!"
"If that's what you think, shall we measure it again at an official venue? ...Using a measuring device supplied by an impartial third party."
Felix knew that Emmanuel had tampered with the measuring device to make his mana capacity appear higher than its true value.
Duke Clockford could deal with the matter of selling his apprentices' magical devices under his own name... but there was no way to fudge his mana capacity.
The moment it became public, Emmanuel would be stripped of his position as one of the Seven Sages.
Felix shook the vial of poison, making the liquid slosh as if deliberately displaying it, then set it down with a soft clink in front of the rigid Emmanuel.
"Lord Emmanuel Darwin, one of the Seven Sages and the 〈Gemstone Magician〉... I hope we can remain on close terms, you and I. From now on, too."
The words "from now on" presumably referred to after Felix ascended the throne.
Emmanuel was being tested now. By the future king.
──I won't tolerate fence-sitters. Choose me or Duke Clockford...
"...You'll show me your loyalty, won't you?"
Emmanuel picked up the vial with a trembling hand.
To remain one of the Seven Sages... he had no choice but to assassinate Duke Clockford and obey this young man, the future king.