Chapter 196
“You all went through a lot of trouble because of me. Please spend today freely. And if you submit an official request for yesterday’s lodging expenses, I will reimburse you.”
Arriving at the Magic Tower, Franz spoke to the mages standing before him.
They were usually the ones causing a bunch of troublesome incidents, but right now, he couldn’t help but be grateful.
If it weren’t for them, he definitely would have suffered in that pit for days.
However, the mages who heard his words were wearing dumbfounded expressions, as if there were some sort of problem.
“Why are all your expressions like that?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. It’s just that we didn’t expect Your Highness to say such a thing…”
The Head of the Fire Attribute Magic Association, who stood at the very front, spoke in a flustered tone.
The other mages must have had the same thought, as they were nodding slightly.
'Just what do they think of me…'
He praised good work and got angry at mistakes.
He expressed gratitude when there was something to be thankful for, and apologized when he did something wrong.
He had only been doing the obvious until then, so why had he ended up with this kind of image?
It was truly something he couldn’t understand.
Well, that didn’t really matter anyway.
“Please enjoy some tea and relax for the day. I will be taking my leave now.”
Leaving the dumbfounded mages behind, Franz took the lead.
There were three women following behind him, and naturally, they were Yuna, Hera, and Arian.
Eventually arriving at the Magic Tower Lord’s Office, Franz slowly looked around.
'It’s definitely only been a day…'
It felt like he had been away for a very long time.
Then again, he had been really busy while searching for Deliaspi Dyne’s hideout.
That was definitely why it felt even more like that.
Even so, the fact that the Magic Tower Lord’s Office could be maintained this neatly was all thanks to Arian’s hard work.
It was when Franz was lost in such thoughts.
“Your Highness, welcome back.”
Suddenly, Arian’s voice came from behind.
Turning right away, Franz stood facing her.
The corners of her eyes were a little moist.
Franz wasn’t so dense as not to know the reason for that, so he pondered for a long time about what he should say…
“Yeah, I’m back.”
He let out an answer no different from usual.
For this moment at least, it was a phrase that could convey his feelings better than any other words.
“Would you all like a cup of tea?”
Saying that, Arian went straight into the pantry.
If she asked, shouldn’t she wait to hear the answer before leaving?
Not that he had any intention of refusing, though.
While Arian prepared the tea like that, Yuna, Hera, and Franz sat on the sofa and waited for her.
It was during that time.
“Franz, you asked us to help with work earlier, but could I hear exactly what kind of work it is?”
Hera suddenly asked.
“Just this and that…?”
Asking for help had merely been an excuse, so there was no way he could give a proper answer.
In the first place, there was nothing among the Magic Tower’s duties that anyone could help with. Most of it was done with magic, after all.
“Just relax until I call for you. I’ll have Arian show you the rooms you’ll be staying in later. If you don’t like the Magic Tower, I can get you a room at an inn.”
“I don’t particularly mind staying in the Magic Tower, but…”
Hera seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
If it were up to him, he would have wanted to explain the detailed situation right away, but there was something he needed to check first, so he couldn’t bring himself to do so.
“Don’t worry too much about it and just think of it as resting. It’s been tough lately in various ways, hasn’t it.”
“If you say so…”
Hera nodded slightly.
It seemed she had somehow understood and let it go.
“Yuna, you’re fine with it too, right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. But it feels a bit weird to just sit still, so I want to help with something…”
“If I need help, I’ll call you myself. If by any chance any other mages ask you for a favor, don’t listen to them.”
mages were truly bundles of curiosity.
There was a possibility they would be curious about Hera’s abilities, not to mention the hero’s power that Yuna possessed.
If they started accepting those requests one by one, there would eventually be no end to it, so it was better not to start at all.
It was then.
Arian came out of the pantry.
On the tray in her hands were a teapot and teacups.
“The tea is ready. I forgot that we ran out of refreshments…”
“It’s fine. We can buy some later.”
“Then should we all go out together tomorrow?”
“That sounds good.”
They also needed to buy daily necessities for Hera and Yuna to use, so it was a timely and good idea.
Afterwards, Franz drank tea and chatted with everyone.
The topic of conversation was, naturally, the battle with the Demon God.
Arian, who had been at the Magic Tower, hadn’t been able to be there with them.
“So at that time, Franz deployed a shield. The Demon God’s spear pierced through the shields one by one, going BOOM-! BOOM-! and…”
A sense of liveliness could be felt in the story Yuna told as she added gestures.
If there were a problem…
“That makes no sense… Just how could he use such magic…”
It was that a slight dramatization had been added, exaggerating what Franz had done.
“After we collapsed, Franz stood up alone and defeated the Demon God. If it weren’t for Franz, we all would have died. It was like that when we subjugated the Demon Lord too, but…”
“That’s too much of a leap. Likewise, I would have died a long time ago if it weren’t for you guys.”
Unable to just listen anymore, Franz eventually timidly objected.
However, it was the truth. It was true that Franz had dealt the final blow to the Demon God, but if it weren’t for them, it wouldn’t have even been a proper fight.
“Will you then be receiving another medal for this incident?”
The moment Franz heard Arian’s words, he realized he had overlooked something.
“Your Highness? Is something wrong?”
“I forgot that I would be called to the Imperial Palace…”
Because someone was called a hero who stopped a threat to the world or whatever, troublesome things were bound to happen.
They would probably hold a victory festival, and days of eating and drinking would follow.
It would be a relief if it just ended there.
Not only had he entered another country without permission, but he had also completely devastated pristine land.
If things went wrong, it could even develop into a diplomatic issue.
Of course, if they tried to find fault with that, he had things to say on his end too, but…
Anyway, his future was already clear. It would definitely be full of troublesome things.
Haa-.
A sigh naturally escaped his lips.
“Don’t worry too much. I’m sure everything will turn out fine.”
Yuna raised the corners of her mouth and comforted Franz.
“Yeah, I’m sure it will.”
Franz cleared his mind and sipped his tea.
There was nothing as foolish as worrying about things that hadn’t even happened yet.
How much time had passed since then?
It was when everyone’s teacups had been cleanly emptied.
The three of them, excluding Franz, stood up from their seats.
“Then I’ll take these two and go show them their rooms.”
“Franz, see you later.”
“Let us see each other later.”
The three who said their goodbyes to Franz immediately left the Magic Tower Lord’s Office.
And so, left alone, Franz stared blankly into the air and thought.
'Should I check my body’s condition a bit more accurately?'
Beyond simply knowing that his mana core was in a dangerous state, he needed to grasp the exact situation.
He had to be able to estimate his recovery time to make future plans.
Furthermore, it was an absolutely necessary process to reassure them as well.
Franz closed his eyes and focused on the magic power flowing through his body.
'My mana circuit is still a mess, and my mana core has improved, even if only a little.'
At this rate, a complete recovery was close to impossible. He would be able to use magic to some extent, but even 8th circle would be too much to handle, let alone 10th circle magic.
But it was still too early to give up.
'Is the key the divine power I stole from the Goddess?'
Because it was a half-baked power, creating something from nothing like the Creator was impossible. Even that could only be exerted to a limited extent in the Human Realm.
But if it was just repairing a broken mana core, surely…
Franz slowly drew up the divine power that had seeped into his body.
Then, a holy light began to waver around him.
He knew how to use divine power without anyone having to teach him.
It was something he had naturally realized the moment Mistilteinn’s power dwelled in his body.
Soon, with the power of the divine energy, his broken mana core began to recover little by little.
It was at a level that even Franz himself could barely feel, but it was definitely recovering.
In addition, his messed-up mana circuit also regained its proper form little by little.
Like that, for a moment.
Phew-.
Franz let out a long breath and calmed the divine power.
For now, this was his limit.
Even though he had realized how to handle divine power, it wasn’t a power his body originally possessed, so he wasn’t used to it.
Wasn’t handling magic power clumsy at first too? In a way, it could be said to be similar.
'It’ll easily take a month to recover completely…'
There was no need to be impatient. As long as he could recover even a little bit every day, that was enough.
His mind felt light. At the very least, it seemed there would be nothing to make them worry.
Standing up, Franz moved to the front of his desk.
Since he had finished checking everything he needed to, it was now time to work.
Time passed since then, and it was that evening.
“Your Highness, would you like to have dinner at my house…?”
Franz received a dinner invitation from Arian.