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Episode 61
Last number (4)
“Child, what do you think of this roundtable?”
It was then that Jan Lantes asked a question in a quiet voice.
Let’s put aside the shocking words the guy uttered for a moment.
First, I decided to think about the answer to this.
[What do you think of the roundtable…]
To be honest, I’m not sure what you mean by the question.
After a moment of thought, Riley could only give the most formal answer in a cautious voice.
“Wouldn’t this be a good thing for the Lantes Tower?”
“Why do you think so?
“If this meeting is successful, the Tower Lord will officially become a Grand Mage. Naturally, I believe that the Irantes Tower will also benefit from it.”
“hmm…….”
After hearing Riley’s words, Yann Lantes spat with an ambiguous expression.
Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to be very pleased with the answer.
“But, child. Don’t you think something is a little strange?”
As expected.
Jan Lantes slowly began to unravel what he thought was the ideal answer.
“For the past several hundred years, the three major powers have been impatient because they couldn’t catch me. Not only did they periodically hold heresy trials to condemn the Tower of Justice, but they also continued to impose sanctions based on absurd laws.”
“… … .”
“But a few decades ago, they suddenly changed their attitude.”
He continued talking.
“Not only are they gradually easing regulations, but they are also very respectful of me in external settings… … .”
“… … .”
“Now they are even trying to hold a roundtable discussion on the topic of promotion to Archmage.”
Questions about the sudden change in the attitude of the three major powers.
Jan Lantes questioned Riley again.
“Do you really think that there is no evil intention behind the actions of these three major forces?”
Riley, who had been pretending to think for a moment, suddenly stopped talking.
“Well, I think it’s a little too early to discuss blackmail based on that alone.”
“… … .”
“To me, it only seems like the three major powers are extending a hand of reconciliation towards the Irantes Tower… … .”
“under.”
Hearing that, Jan Lantes let out a small laugh.
“You’re talking exactly like those damn noble bastards.”
“… … .”
[… … .]
As soon as he finished speaking, the sneer hanging on the corner of Jan Lantes’ mouth slowly hardened.
He muttered in a cold, grave voice.
“I think differently. The three major powers must have other intentions.”
“… … .”
“Listen carefully. I’ll try to figure out what they’re thinking.”
Jan Irantes continued speaking slowly.
“When the roundtable conference is held, the three major powers will come to evaluate my achievements under the pretext of judging my qualifications as a great wizard. Then, naturally, a judgment on the magic of immortality will follow.”
“… … .”
“However, there is no supporter who will defend me at the roundtable. Therefore, the direction of the conference will flow according to the plan planned by the three major powers.”
He paused for a moment and clicked his tongue.
“Oh, then we’ll be labeled as an evil force without even having time to defend ourselves.”
“… … .”
“In the end, I will be executed on the spot by the hands of the three major powers.”
A voice that is inanimate and lacks even a shred of emotion.
His calm, even voice began to quietly spread throughout the palace.
“Do you understand now, child?”
“… … .”
“The roundtable, which we thought was held with good intentions, may actually be a trap full of such malicious intent.”
With those words, Jan Lantes closed his mouth.
And after hearing all these stories, Riley and I couldn’t come up with an answer.
His reasoning was too accurate to be a mere guess based on circumstance alone.
[under…….]
Since ancient times, humans have tended to become lax just before they achieve their goals.
After enduring so many hardships to reach that finish line, it was only natural that the tension would ease at the last moment.
But Jan Lantes was different.
He never lost his vigilance even though the final challenge of the roundtable conference was right in front of him.
Rather, he immediately realized that the roundtable was a trap.
It may seem that they are intoxicated by the submissive attitude of the royal family that has continued for the past few years, but they have instead used this point to figure out the intentions of the three major powers.
I slowly looked up at Jan Lantes again.
He was still looking down at us with a confident expression.
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“Tell me.”
“… … .”
“Was there anything wrong with what I said?”
Throb─.
Riley couldn’t help but shudder slightly at those chilling words.
It wasn’t that I was afraid of Jan Irantes’ voice. He spoke in his usual, quiet voice.
But what really creeped Riley out was the ‘content’ of what Yann Lantes had just said.
Was there anything wrong with what he said?
It’s almost as if Riley already knew about the plans of the three powers.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about… … .”
“under.”
Riley tried hard to pretend not to notice.
But Jan Lantes cut her off with a laugh.
“Rebecca Duncan and Garon Edward von Theobald crawled into your room last night.”
“… … !”
Jan Irantes continued speaking.
“Hey kid.”
“… … .”
“Do you really think that just because a ‘curtain of silence’ has been drawn, I won’t be able to guess the content of the conversation that took place in that room?”
Once again, silence followed.
I looked at Jan Lantes’ expression.
He looked at Riley with a look of strong conviction.
The moment I saw that sight, I swallowed hard.
shit.
We underestimated our opponents too much.
No matter how dirty Jan Irantes’ tricks were, he was still the one who ascended to the throne as the lord of the five great towers in just 300 short years.
Yes. There is no way he wouldn’t have prepared for an attack by the three major forces.
Whether it was bribing a corrupt high priest in the Great Hall or planting a spy in the imperial palace, they would have used any means necessary to obtain information from them.
Through this, it seemed that Jan Irantes already knew the plans of all three powers.
The Round Table is also a trap set by the three major powers to hunt him down.
And I told Garon Theobald last night and Riley the night before about this whole plan.
-Hey, what do you think about this roundtable discussion?
-Do you really think that these guys’ actions are without any ulterior motive?
But even though he knew all these facts, he asked those questions just to test Riley.
“… … .”
“… … .”
A cold, frozen atmosphere.
Jan Lantes, sitting on the throne, looked down at Riley with an unreadable gaze and muttered.
“Hey kid.”
I felt an indescribable sense of oppression.
It wasn’t Jan Irantes who was wielding magic powers.
It was just the intangible quality he possessed that was being emitted through his energy.
“Let me ask you one last question.”
“… … .”
“Is there anything wrong with what I said?”
The last question from Jan Lantes, suffocating me.
The guy already knew everything, so there’s nothing more foolish than pretending not to know.
After thinking that far, Riley gave an honest answer without a moment’s hesitation.
“Everything is as the Lord predicted.”
She continued speaking.
“The roundtable conference is a trap designed to bring about the downfall of the Irantes Tower. It is the intention of the three major forces to define the Tower Lord as evil in a space where there is no force defending the Irantes Tower.”
Hearing those words, Jan Lantes slowly leaned back on the throne and fell into thought for a moment.
“Umm… … .”
The guy swallowed and stared at Riley.
After a long silence, he slowly opened his mouth.
“Aren’t you curious?”
“……yes?”
“I said I would eliminate all three powers before the roundtable conference. Aren’t you curious about how I will do that?”
Jan Irantes continued speaking.
“It was a fight where we were at a numerical disadvantage from the start.”
“… … .”
“The Imperial Knights, the Grand Inquisitors, and the countless other magic towers belonging to the Five Great Magic Towers… … .”
Swish.
He stopped talking and looked at Riley intently.
“Child, our Irantes Tower must face these many enemies alone.”
The Imperial Knights.
The heretic inquisitor of the Great Temple.
The five great towers.
Each and every one of them was truly a powerful group.
Even the Irantes Tower did not seem to be able to defeat these three great forces.
In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the fall of Irantes was a foregone conclusion.
But Jan Lantes showed no signs of being intimidated.
Rather, he was confident, as if he were certain of victory.
“… … I wonder.”
That’s why I was curious.
How does the guy plan to eliminate the three major powers?
How can he be so confident in a battle that has a definite ending of downfall?
I was so curious about it all.
“okay.”
Shh.
And when Jan Lantes heard our question, he gave us an answer with a faint smile.
“Then let me show you.”
Taaak─!
Jan Lantes snaps his fingers in the air as soon as he finishes speaking.
In an instant, the surrounding scenery began to change along with the clear sound that echoed through Daejeon.
Hwaaaa …
“… … Ugh!”
A strong wind blows at the same time.
Because of that, Riley had no choice but to close her eyes for a moment.
Saaaa …
After a while the wind died down, and only then was Riley able to slowly open her eyes.
“… … .”
moon.
We saw the moon shining brightly before our eyes.
The distance was so close that I felt like I could touch it if I stretched out my hand.
Now Riley and I were floating through the night sky.
Swish─.
I looked down silently.
A huge night view of the city spread out beneath our feet.
The city of wizards.
Wilhelm.
The various lights streaming in between the buildings became a single dot, illuminating this huge city.
It was as if countless stars were twinkling on the ground. It would not be an exaggeration to say that a small Milky Way was spread out over the city.
And the consolation of this splendid city.
A single, giant pentagram was spread out.
Woohoo──.
I knew the identity of this magic circle.
That was a magic circle created for the first screening test.
But that’s not all Jan Irantes wanted to show us.
Hwaaaa …
Going up.
Up, and up again.
So that the entire empire becomes visible.
“… … .”
The moon’s appearance has become closer.
Before we knew it, the entire empire was visible beneath our feet.
The huge magic circle that had spread out over Wilhelm had now shrunk to the point where it appeared to be nothing more than a single ‘dot’.
okay.
Dot.
One little dot.
And across the continent, there were hundreds more of these dots.
Gooooooooooo────!
A large number of dots come together to form a line. And these lines come together to form another large shape.
A star. To be precise, a pentagram turned upside down.
This serves as the central circuit that forms the basis and core of all magic circles.
[… … .]
It gave me goosebumps.
The Irantes Tower was now using the entire continent as a single magic circle.
Wilhelm’s magic circle, which was thought to have been created only for the first test, was merely a cornerstone supporting this grand design.
“… … .”
[… … .]
I wonder how long it took to create that giant magic circle?
10 years?
50 years?
No, that would take hundreds of years to accomplish.
I did some calculations to figure out the minimum amount of time it would take to create that magic circle.
[… … 300 years.]
300 years.
That period coincides exactly with when the Irantes Tower was first established.
“Child, this is my plan.”
I turned my gaze in the direction where the voice came from.
Before we knew it, our surroundings had changed back to the top floor of the Irantes Tower.
“It is my lifelong plan that took 343 years to complete.”
“… … .”
“The plan of the three major powers, hastily put together in just a few decades, is completely different in its completeness.”
Jan Lantes continued speaking slowly.
“Do you understand?”
“… … .”
“We will use that magic circle to wipe out the three major powers before the Round Table Conference is held.”
He ended his speech with an eerie smile.
Only then did I realize.
Jan Lantes.
From the moment he built his magic tower, this son of a bitch had his mind set on taking over this entire continent.
