Chapter 205
Time flowed on, and before he knew it, two weeks and a few days had passed.
“Is it about time it got better…”
Franz slowly began to draw up his magic power.
About three weeks after the battle with the Demon God, the mana core that had been sleeping all this time opened its eyes.
The magic power flowing out of the core circulated rapidly along the circuits within his body.
It was as if he had regained a lost body part. It was a feeling that was both welcoming and awkward.
“The condition is perfect; no, it is even better than that.”
Don’t muscles become harder and larger as they repeatedly get injured and recover?
Although its size hadn’t changed, it was similar to a muscle, having grown stronger as it recovered. To be precise, the total amount of mana it could hold had increased.
In fact, this was like the long-cherished wish of all Mages, because no human could change the vessel they were born with, the mana core.
Wasn’t that why Deliaspi Dyne had fallen into corruption too? While researching the Mana Petrification Disease for his wife, he had eventually reached the point of resenting the world.
Well, it didn’t matter anymore anyway.
“Should I visit the magic training ground for the first time in a while?”
Franz thought that and was about to leave the Magic Tower Lord’s Office.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-!
The sound of someone running could be heard from outside the door.
Based on how the sound was getting closer, the Magic Tower Lord’s Office was definitely the destination…
For some reason, it felt ominous. It felt like someone had caused a huge accident again.
It was then.
“Magic Tower master-!”
The door burst open with tremendous momentum, and Arian entered the Magic Tower Lord’s Office.
Upon spotting Franz, she smiled brightly and jumped, immediately throwing her arms around his neck and hanging on.
“A-Arian?”
Franz was simply bewildered by this situation.
No matter how close they were, Arian had never hugged him like this before.
If there was one fortunate thing in the midst of this, it was that it wasn’t a bad thing, at least.
Arian smiling brightly was the proof of that.
“I was on my way to you, Magic Tower master, and I just so happened to feel your magic power! Are you completely better now?”
Arian’s voice was quite excited, as if Franz’s recovery was her own business.
“There don’t seem to be any immediate problems, but I’ll have to check the details gradually.”
Saying so, Franz untangled her arms wrapped around his neck.
Being so close that they were practically stuck together was a bit much, after all.
Thanks to that, Arian’s lips formed a pout, revealing her dissatisfaction.
“So, what were you coming to see me for?”
“Ah, right. A fight broke out at the magic training ground…!”
“A fight…?”
They do that every day.
…Arian surely knew that fact too, so there must be a bigger problem than that.
He was just about to head to the magic training ground anyway, so could he say this worked out well?
“Let’s go right now.”
“Yes, then let’s depart right…”
It was the moment Arian immediately turned her body and was about to leave the Magic Tower Lord’s Office.
Franz grabbed and pulled her wrist.
“Eep?!”
“Where are you going?”
“T-To the magic training ground, of course…”
As Arian was brought face-to-face with Franz at such a close distance, her face flushed hot.
She had been hugging him just a moment ago, but Franz approaching her was a completely different matter.
“Just in case, could you close your eyes? It’s been a while, so I might not be able to control it well.”
“Y-Yes…”
Arian answered quietly and closed her eyes.
‘I’m nervous since it’s been a while.’
Franz steadied his mind by letting out a 'phew' sigh. Then he slowly raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Snap-.
With a crisp sound, a magic circle was drawn beneath their feet, and soon the magic circle began to shine as the magic activated.
As the light flashed briefly, the figures of the two disappeared from the Magic Tower Lord’s Office.
Only Arian’s sense of anticipation was left behind forlornly in the Magic Tower Lord’s Office.
* * *
The magic training ground looked somewhat similar to a colosseum.
However, that was strictly to make magic experiments, training, and observation easier, not meant to be used as an arena.
“Magic Tower master, this is…”
Looking down from the spectator seats of the training ground, Arian trailed off.
Franz was also looking at the same place, so it wasn’t difficult to know what she wanted to say.
“It seems like a serious fight has broken out…”
At the end of Franz’s gaze, a man and a woman of similar age stood facing each other.
The man was wearing a blue robe, and the woman was wearing a red robe.
Since the color of the robe signified the Magic Association it belonged to, it could be seen as a fight between the Fire Attribute Magic Association and the Water Attribute Magic Association.
“I thought they had been quiet lately, so why are they causing trouble again…”
As he thought that and turned his head, he saw the cheering squads of the two associations divided on both sides.
“You must win no matter what!”
“Let’s crush them completely!”
“If you lose, you have to step down from the vice president position!”
The way they were inciting the fight was quite a spectacle. He wanted to shut their mouths right this instant if he could.
However, contrary to those feelings, curiosity arose about what kind of magic the two Mages would show right in front of his eyes.
“Magic Tower master, shouldn’t you stop them…?”
“Well, let’s watch for now.”
Franz answered Arian’s concern and sat down in a suitable spot.
Still, wasn’t it somewhat commendable? They went out of their way to come to the training ground to fight.
In the past, the moment a verbal argument started, they would swarm out and be busy firing magic at each other, after all.
It was when Franz was recalling the terrible days of the Magic Tower.
“It’s starting!”
“Vice President Luri! Please win!”
“Vice President Karl-! Win-!”
Loud voices rang out from the cheering squads, and the fight began in earnest.
The two simultaneously drew up their magic power to the maximum and deployed their magic circles.
But should he say something was strange…
‘It doesn’t seem like they have any intention of fighting seriously.’
There was no killing intent whatsoever contained in the flow of their magic power, as if they were only trying to pretend to fight.
Seeing as they went out of their way to come to the training ground, they must have been firmly angry at each other. Yet they had no intention to fight; it was a truly ironic thing.
Soon, the magic circles completed at the tips of their fingers sucked in magic power and finished preparations for activation.
It was the moment the two staffs were aimed at each other and the magic was about to activate.
“Then I shall slowly stop them.”
If they were fighting seriously, he could give them some advice, but if not, there was no reason to go out of his way to watch.
Snap-.
With a crisp sound, Franz arrived at the center of the training ground, exactly between the two Mages.
“M-Magic Tower master?!”
“N-No-!”
The flustered voices of the two Mages could be heard.
At the same time, magic activated simultaneously from the magic circles.
On one side was the 5th-circle fire attribute magic blaze, and on the other was the 5th-circle water attribute magic Hydro Cannon.
From the power to the activation speed, it was an excellent display of skill befitting the vice presidents of each association.
Of course, it was far from enough to reach Franz.
Snap.
As Franz snapped his fingers, the two spells gathered into one place and formed a sphere.
Fire and water, magics with completely opposite attributes, swirled as if to devour each other before soon merging into one to form a new magic.
It was a situation where everyone in the training ground held their breath and watched Franz’s feat.
The large sphere seemed to gradually shrink, and soon after, it turned into sparkling magic particles and scattered into the air.
A miracle achieved solely through magic power interference without using his own magic.
In magic at least, it was a skill that wouldn’t be lacking even if he were called a god rather than a demigod.
“Then I shall slowly sort out the situation.”
Franz looked alternately at the two Mages on either side and gestured for them to approach.
Seeing that, the two were startled and moved their feet, soon arriving right in front of Franz.
“I trust you know what you did wrong.”
The two simply bowed their heads without a word. They probably wouldn’t have anything to say even if they had ten mouths.
“Let’s go to the Magic Tower Lord’s Office together and have a little chat.”
Actually, if he were going to hand down disciplinary action, it wouldn’t matter if he did it right here, but…
He had something he wanted to ask of them separately.
Franz immediately took a step, and not long after, he arrived at the Magic Tower Lord’s Office with them.
Crea-k-.
Sitting in his chair, Franz looked at them.
The two had their heads bowed deeply as if they had become high treason criminals.
Why on earth did they do it when they knew it was wrong?
Well, if they didn’t do things like that, they wouldn’t be Mages of the Magic Tower.
It was when Franz was lamenting inwardly like that.
“Magic Tower master, the Water Attribute Magic Association has done nothing wrong. So please, I ask that you do not hold Vice President Luri accountable for any fault.”
Surprisingly, the vice president of the Fire Attribute Association defended the Water Attribute Magic Association.
Then this time…
“Magic Tower master, no. It is entirely the fault of our Water Attribute Magic Association. Vice President Karl just got swept up in it.”
The vice president of the Water Attribute Magic Association defended the Fire Attribute Association.
For Franz, who had only ever seen them growling at each other like bitter enemies, it was simply bewildering.
“Please, I beg of you. I…”
“No. I…”
The two somehow tried to prevent the blame from being directed at each other, but such behavior ended up spoiling someone’s mood.
“You two, you do understand what position you’re in, right?”
Arian snapped sharply at the two.
The secretary of the Magic Tower lord, a genius Mage acknowledged by everyone, and the eldest daughter of the Ducal House of Phrygia.
The things she possessed were enough to shut their mouths.
Thanks to that, the Magic Tower Lord’s Office became quiet, and soon Franz began to speak.
“From what I felt, it seemed the two of you had no intention of fighting. And with what you just said, I am certain that you don’t particularly have any ill feelings toward each other.”
Mages belonging to the two associations who didn’t have ill feelings were a truly rare case.
Even if they had no feelings at first, they would naturally develop ill feelings after being gaslit by the words of those around them.
“So I will make a proposal. Let’s swap the two associations. Honestly, aren’t you sick and tired of fighting too?”
He couldn’t make all the members of the Magic Tower become one. The characteristics of each association were far too different.
However, if it was just about stopping them from fighting, it was entirely possible. It was just that until now, it had been a difficult situation to properly take action.
It was because the emperor, the Goddess, and that damn hologram had aligned perfectly to make him work. Along with that, there hadn’t been anyone he could call his own either.
So this was no different from an opportunity.
An opportunity to solve the Magic Tower’s headache perfectly while also making it “my side”.
“We would very much like to accept your proposal.”
“What should we do?”
They looked at each other and seemed to ponder for a moment, then soon gave a positive answer.
It was a welcome thing for Franz as well, since it seemed he would finally be able to correct the problems of the Magic Tower one by one.
However, apart from that, the issue had to be clearly addressed.
“We can think about that slowly. For now, why don’t you go on a trip for about a week.”
“You mean…?”
“Both of you are suspended for a week. I hope you understand that it can’t be helped since an example must be set.”
Having finished speaking like that, Franz made a gesture that it was okay to leave.
At that, they looked at each other, then bowed their heads to Franz and went outside.
Watching their retreating figures through the crack of the door that hadn’t completely closed, Franz ended up realizing a surprising fact.
Why were the two of them holding hands?
“Arian, what’s the relationship between those two?”
“…It’s probably exactly what you’re thinking.”
He wondered why they were covering for each other, and then realized their secret.
“Should I cancel their suspension and tell them to work…?”
“Then they wouldn’t serve as an example to the two associations.”
He hadn’t asked because he didn’t know. It was just that he was simply displeased.
How did they end up developing from bitter enemies into lovers.
As expected, human affairs are truly unpredictable.
Be that as it may.
“Arian, clear your schedule starting tomorrow. For about a day or two.”
“Are you going somewhere by any chance?”
“Not me, I’m telling you to clear your schedule.”
“…Pardon?”
“Didn’t you want to follow me to my family estate?”
“Magic Tower master…!”
Arian’s eyes widened as she hugged his head from the side.
…It felt like the distance had gotten excessively close, though.