Episode 204 The Crusade of the Abyss – Preparation for Battle (5)
Louis Daquiten, now 20 years old, was calmly preparing while looking in the mirror.
He wears a cape over his magic tower uniform and wears a cravat around his neck.
Lewis, who had prepared carefully for quite a long time, looked at his reflection in the mirror.
Beautifully shiny golden hair, blue eyes, high nose, and well-proportioned face.
There is a handsome man in the mirror with a soft feel, who does not resemble his older half-sister Christine, who has an overall sharp look.
Some people might think he’s unlucky, but honestly, he looks pretty good.
Louis Daquiten was confident in his appearance and was popular with the women of the Magic Tower, enough to back up that confidence.
The person he really wanted to win over only saw him as a subordinate and younger sibling to take care of, but wouldn’t Giselle look at him a little differently at this rate?
“…good.”
Lewis lightly tapped his cheeks with both hands and turned around – just as he was freaking out.
“Ugh, Master!”
The old man who came in unexpectedly was stroking his long white beard, which had grown beyond his chest, and then clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.
“I didn’t do well, I didn’t do well. “He’s not doing the magic research that the so-called Demon Tower Master’s disciple told him to do, but is just looking after his appearance.”
“I’m sorry….”
“Don’t the students at the Magic Tower go crazy when you walk around with that smooth top! In my time! “I took that time to write at least one more line in the report!”
“Oh no, that’s not what I meant, Master!”
“If that’s not the intention, what’s the point? “If this magic tower lord personally accepts me as his disciple, I should consider it an honor and pay no attention to the worldly world. He doesn’t do any research and only thinks about women!”
“It’s not that bad…”
The magician looked at Lewis, who was sweating profusely, with pitiful eyes, and clicked his tongue.
“Why would I accept a guy like this who left the magic tower on his own because he was so pretty?”
Lewis just smiled awkwardly.
At that time, I thought that I could be of great help to my sister and that I would be confident in doing my part.
Just for a moment, I was busy showing his growth to his sister and others, and drew a picture of him being active as a magician.
…I thought I had grown up strong due to my unfortunate childhood, but in that fierce and blazing battlefield, I clearly realized that that was just an illusion.
Louis D’Aquiten opened his mouth with a bitter smile as he remembered the face of Leon Durand, or Gilles de Lionel, who had saved him, but at the same time deceived him and left.
“I’m sorry, Master. But it’s an important position. Paying at least some attention to your appearance…”
Louis trailed off as he looked at his teacher’s bushy beard and his robe, which had traces of age that even washing magic could not completely remove.
At this point, wouldn’t it be more of a criticism of the teacher than a piece of advice?
Of course, Matapju took issue with something other than Lewis’ attitude.
“Oops! “If you save that time and devote it to magic research, you can write three more lines in your report!”
Still, even though he was the leader of a group in name and appearance, I wonder if that was too insensitive…
Lewis thought so, but he didn’t say those words out loud and receive another negative order.
The problem is that it’s too sad to be a way of life that I learned through hard work over the past two years.
“Ah, what a waste of time! let’s go!”
“Yes old! “Master!”
Louis quickly accepted the bag that Topju threw to him and began to walk in a huff, following Topju, who was walking with a stride that belied his age.
When I left the Magic Tower, he expressed all sorts of regrets and treated me kindly, but as soon as I became a disciple, he treated me like this.
This is why my seniors told me not to take the professor’s word for granted…
Lewis sighed secretly as he followed his teacher.
“Is this why you are sighing to your teacher?”
“Oh no, did you have eyes on your back too?”
“Is that right? Goyan-”
“Ah….”
Lewis had to endure the shouts and sermons of the Matapju while holding back tears.
* * *
After a while,
“It is truly an honor to meet the tower lord of a famous magic tower on the continent! “My name is Maurice Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France and President of the Revolutionary Party!”
“Nice to meet you. “The magic tower.”
Matapju spoke bluntly and shook Talleyrand’s hand.
“Master Shi. But at least the introduction is proper…”
Louis was shocked and whispered softly, but the magician instead shouted loudly.
“Tsk! “I just gave you the magic tower. What else do you need?”
Oh my, my head…
Louis shook his head, feeling his head hurting in a different way.
Talleyrand let go of his hand in embarrassment, and the magician immediately turned his gaze to the person next to Talleyrand.
“Long time no see, Count of Aquitaine! You still look beautiful and intelligent! Hehehe! The members of the Magic Tower are waiting for the Count to stop by, but he never comes.”
…Wasn’t he the one who scolded me right before arriving here to tell me to do more research instead of worrying about my appearance?
Ma Topju was just smiling, whether he knew that the respect for his teacher was falling into pieces in Lewis’s heart.
“It’s been a while, Lord Magic Tower. I’m glad you’re doing well so far. Although the construction was over, I was concerned that my visit to the Magic Tower in person, as a sponsor, might actually interfere with the research.”
“Wow, such consideration! The count’s personality is as handsome as his appearance. The Magic Tower needs talent like this! It’s okay, it’s okay. The Count’s support has always made a great contribution to the development of magic technology not only in the Magic Tower but also in mankind. Couldn’t our family give the Count a moment of time? “Please feel free to come visit me anytime, hehehe!”
Unlike when he and Talleyrand only shook hands once, Matabju held onto Christine’s hand and talked for quite a while before letting go.
Louis thought to himself as he saw the magician walking the tightrope without being rude.
‘I’m glad the Marquis de Lafayette isn’t here.’
Lewis’s respect was broken twice.
Although they all knew each other anyway, when the magic tower master did not even show any sign of wanting to introduce his student Louis, Talleyrand guided the magic tower master to his seat.
“Now, please come this way.”
“Keuhum khum. “Let’s do that.”
Lewis was about to follow his teacher when he made eye contact with Christine.
Louis also smiled lightly at his sister, who naturally smiled with her eyes wide open.
A reunion after a long time.
A distance where his sister does not hug him or approach him warmly.
Nevertheless, Louis liked the respect he received not as a younger brother but as an adult in his own right.
* * *
“I have heard from His Majesty the King of Holland. “The Revolutionary Kingdom of Franzia wants the Magic Tower’s cooperation in this ‘expedition’.”
When Master Matab opened his mouth while stroking his bushy beard, President Talleyrand answered with a grin.
“That’s right. This war will be humanity’s crusade against the Abyss Corporation, the abyss of demons. The Holy Father of the Holy Church also-”
“Oh, wait a minute. Time is money, President Oh. Let’s keep it short. “There is a request from His Majesty the King, but he has no authority to force the Magic Tower to participate in the war.”
Although it was an extremely rude response by diplomatic investigative standards, Talleyrand, who had heard something from Christine, simply smiled and kept his mouth shut.
“We are a people who make a living through research and development without being involved in the secular world. Here…”
Matapju glanced at Lewis sitting next to him –
“With the ugly student…”
He turned his gaze back to Christine.
“If it weren’t for the request of the Count of Aquitaine, the biggest supporter of the Magic Tower, I wouldn’t have even come here.”
“Haha, I know very well that ‘Storm Witch’ was an unusual case.”
The magic tower lord slowly raised his eyebrows at the word storm witch.
Three wise men.
Now, there are only two people left, but as a result of the magician whose name and character are equal to that of the Magic Tower lord entering the battlefield and meeting his end in vain, the Magic Tower has become even more reluctant to intervene from the outside.
“Yes, that’s right. No one wants to follow in the same footsteps as Wilhelmi and that stupid woman. So one thing is important to us. Nevertheless, do you have something that makes it necessary for us to go to war?”
Talleyrand smiled and nodded.
“It’s simple. “You are probably familiar with the demons’ magic engineering techniques, right?”
“…I know. But it’s so shrouded in mystery…”
Talleyrand replied with a grin.
“If the Magic Tower cooperates with this war, we will hand over all the magic engineering facilities and technologies obtained by winning the war against the Abyss Corporation so that you can study them.”
The magic tower owner’s mouth dropped open.
“entire?”
“Yes, everything.”
Talleyrand watched in a very relaxed manner as the lust for knowledge and greed welled up in the eyes of the Mage Tower.
“Heh heh heh heh. “It’s everything… I guess other countries’ complaints won’t be small, right?”
Talleyrand answered with a slight smile.
“Anyway, there is no country other than the Magic Tower that has the technology to analyze it, right? And I understand that Magic Tower has a regulation that requires some of the researched and developed technology to be provided to sponsors.”
Topju’s gaze naturally turned to Christine.
Actually, there is such a regulation.
In the first place, the Magic Tops are a group of people who only do research and naturally eat money.
This is a place that cannot be maintained without support, and there is no way to receive support without compensation.
Christine has a personal reason for being Louis, and because she is a very wealthy person, the scale of her support is large, but in the end, she did not just provide support without receiving anything from Magic Tower.
When Christine smiled lightly, Matabju let out a laugh and turned to Talleyrand again.
“Oh my. Do you want to hand over everything to us and have Francia receive the interpreted technology through the Count of Aquitaine, your biggest supporter?”
Christine gave the answer.
“Of course Franzia will receive the most technology. But at the same time, we plan to distribute technology to other countries participating in the war according to their contribution.”
The magic tower owner had a sad face.
“That’s right…”
In the end, the enormous compensation handed over in exchange for the support of the Magic Tower flows back to Franzia.
Other countries will have to fight hard for compensation, so only Franzia is left.
Of course, as a magic tower owner, this is a gut-wrenching thing…
“If the magic tower refuses, we will have no choice but to divide it among the participating countries, but honestly, we are also concerned. Countries that are illiterate in magic are being ripped off at will, and how much of that technology is-”
“Absolutely not!”
After hearing Talleyrand’s words, Mabju screamed like a scream.
The Abyss Corporation is certainly a fearsome enemy, but the Eastern Empire is fighting against them, and Franzia has gathered almost the entire central continent.
A situation where the possibility of victory over the devils is higher than ever, perhaps for the first and last time.
But, even though the war was won, the unknown advanced technologies that are beyond those of humans are being shared by ignorant laymen among themselves and damaging them? Do you know how much value that would be!
However, that does not mean that I can volunteer to save the reputation of the Magic Tower…
“I am a supporter, but my reputation will not be saved until I receive a greater reward than the amount I donated to the Magic Tower. Not only other countries but also Franzia will pay a small price for the technology I will provide, so I will donate 50% of that amount back to the Magic Tower.”
As Christine drove the wedge in, Matapju could no longer hold back.
“call!”
Christine smiled softly and answered.
“The Marquis de Lafayette will be very pleased.”
Storm Witch.
How heartbreaking it was for Pierre to confront the overwhelming force of violence, which was like a natural disaster, with only human strength.
But this time the force fights with him.
