A young man decided to leave his hometown and start an adventure.

‎

The young man sought out the wisest old man in the area and asked him, “Old man, I beg of you, lend me your wisdom.”

‎

The old man answered, “Young one, who will see more nights ahead than you have seen thus far, what do you wish to ask this old man?”

‎

The young man said, “My hometown is too cramped for me, so I’ve decided to venture out to find a new place. Could you advise me where I should go?”

‎

The old man answered, “If noble and ancient blood flows in your veins, you should head south. It’s a place where nobility is valued, and people will pay respect to your blood.”

‎

The young man didn’t want to admit his blood was ordinary, so he made another excuse, “I want to make a name for myself through my own abilities, not the glory of my ancestors. The south doesn’t seem appropriate.”

‎

The old man answered, “If your storehouse is full of treasures, you should head west. It’s a place where wealth is valued, and people will admire your riches.”

‎

The young man didn’t want to admit his family was poor, so he made another excuse, “Wealth comes and goes, appears and disappears. How can prestige based on such an unstable thing last long? The west doesn’t seem appropriate.”

‎

The old man answered, “If you’re confident in your own strength, you should head east. It’s a place where bravery is valued, and people will be excited by your martial prowess.”

‎

The young man didn’t want to admit his martial arts were poor, so he made another excuse, “People should value propriety and law, but isn’t it barbaric to determine superiority through violence? The east doesn’t seem appropriate.”

‎

The old man answered, “If you have a passion for exploring the truths of the world, you should head north. It’s a place where wisdom is valued, and people will respect your knowledge,” after saying this, the old man added one more thing. “If even the north doesn’t suit your taste, the only place I can recommend is outside your hometown.”

‎

The young man, who didn’t want to return to his hometown, hastily nodded.

‎

“The north seems like the most suitable destination for my journey. I thank you for your advice, wise old man.”

‎

The young man who received the old man’s advice walked north, and further north.

– Excerpt from a fable circulating among connoisseurs

***

The Magic State Aeolia.

The impressions of the party as they set foot in its first city were as follows:

[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that it’s not much compared to what he expected!]

“Hahaha… Well, it is relatively ordinary compared to the rumors we’ve heard.”

The rumors about the “Magic State” circulating in other regions were as follows:

Mages walked the streets accompanied by spirits or magic dolls. Convenient magic tools that helped people’s daily lives lined stalls on the street. And the very streets themselves shimmered with colorful magic.

But the street scenery the party actually saw wasn’t that splendid, and there wasn’t even a trace of spirits.

The Tin Knight and Adelaide, who had seen all sorts of things but still hadn’t seen spirits, looked a bit disappointed.

Dorothea, who seemed to have recovered quite well thanks to resting until just before landing, said, “It’s because this isn’t near a magic tower. The Magic State revolves around four magic towers. Well, I hear the Tower of Protection does bestow various things on its governing area, but not so much for the others.”

At the mention of governing area, Adelaide tilted her head, “Is a magic tower an institution that acts as a lord?”

“Well, it’s closer to a king than that, I’d say.”

“What?”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if a magic tower isn’t a place where lots of mages gather to do research and such!]

“That’s correct in its basic outline. However, to say they’re purely academic groups, these guys have a strong worldly nature,” chewing on red berries said to be effective for anemia like a snack, Dorothea continued her explanation. “Remember when I talked about the imperial court mage of the Empire and the Alchemists’ Association of the Federation? Magic towers aren’t much different in that they gather and train mages, and act for the benefit of their affiliated group. However, while those are affiliated under the group called a country, it’s the opposite for magic towers. The magic towers themselves are the leadership of Aeolia.”

Adelaide asked, “Then does that mean there’s no separate royal or imperial family?”

“To be precise, there used to be one, but it seems to have been absorbed by the towers. I don’t know the specific history either, but, um. Sophia?”

“Yes.”

As if she had been waiting, Sophia stepped forward.

Her smiling face was the same as usual, but there was a bit more vitality in her snow-white skin, as if she quite enjoyed teaching someone like this.

In the carriage moving through the streets of the port city, Sophia spread a large paper on the makeshift table and started moving her pen.

“The Magic State Aeolia is a nation operated by a total of four magic towers.”

Foresight. Annihilation. Protection. Control.

“First, the ‘Tower of Foresight’. It’s the founder of the magic towers and the place with the strongest academic atmosphere. It’s the place that most fits the definition of magic towers spread among the public, such as exploring the fundamental principles of magic or the truths of the world, or collecting and classifying magic existing throughout the continent. It’s traditional to that extent, but negatively speaking, it’s also an old-fashioned place.”

Scratch, scratch.

“Next is the ‘Tower of Annihilation’. Of the two towers established by those who rebelled against the stuffiness unique to the Tower of Foresight, this one focuses more on increasing the individual power or skills of mages. Due to its nature, it mainly deals with magic specialized for combat, and actually contributes the most to the military power of the Magic State. In terms of being a core power group that emphasizes military might, it could be compared to the Lennart family in the Empire.”

Scratch, scratch.

“The ‘Tower of Protection’ left the Tower of Foresight along with Annihilation mentioned earlier, but among them, it’s a place that focuses more on magic that helps daily life. They have a big influence on the Magic State being known as a famous producer of magic tools, and they’re also a wealthy tower because of that. They’re also the place that pays the most attention to people’s livelihoods within the Magic State.”

Scratch, scratch.

“Lastly, the ‘Tower of Control’ has a slightly complicated origin, but to put it as simply as possible, as the influence and voice of the three towers grew stronger and the very existence of the royal family became endangered, the royal family directly established a tower and mobilized all their funds and connections to invite mages and create this place. Probably what they originally wanted was to dominate the other towers centered on the tower they established, but in reality, the very existence of the royal family became nominal before they could dominate the towers.”

As Sophia slightly bowed her head saying, “That concludes the explanation,” the Tin Knight, Adelaide, and Rapunzel applauded in unison.

Dorothea cleared her throat with an “Ahem” and took back the baton, “Now you understand? In this country, knowledge, military power, technology, and even legitimacy are all held by the magic towers. That’s why people struggle to learn even basic spells to become a member of a magic tower, and the pride of mages is sky-high.”

“Um, well, then. Won’t it be difficult for me to enter a magic tower?” Rapunzel, who had been listening to the story, carefully raised her hand and asked.

Dorothea shook her head, “The magic towers are in a competitive relationship even among themselves, so accepting outstanding talent is helpful from their perspective too. With your qualities, you shouldn’t be turned away.”

“Phew, that’s a relief. That person—no, my brother taught me how to handle mana, but he never breathed a word about magic until the end. I haven’t learned anything,” Rapunzel said in a slightly depressed voice.

Dorothea could understand the brother’s intention. Especially because she was a necromancer herself, she knew how necromancers were treated by others.

As if trying to change the subject, Dorothea said, “And Adel, I’ll make you a potion to change your hair and eye color, so make sure to take it with every meal. Usually, one dose lasts for a few days, but you have strong resistance to drugs, so you’ll need to take it often.”

“Huh? Change my hair and eye color?”

“Or would you rather go around boasting that you’re from the Lion Duke’s bloodline in the Magic State?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Throughout their journey so far, Adelaide hadn’t particularly tried to hide that she was from the Lion Duke’s bloodline.

After all, the influence and fame of the bloodline was so high, the benefits of revealing it far outweighed hiding it.

But it was the opposite in the Magic State.

The Magic State and the Empire were clearly in a competitive relationship, and although currently in a lull, they were countries that had directly clashed swords several times in the past.

Although during the reign of the Iron Blood Emperor, various reconciliatory atmospheres were established and exchanges improved compared to before, such as the establishment of Lennart dojos in the Magic State, still, if it became known that she was from the Lion Duke’s bloodline, there were more places where it would be disadvantageous than advantageous.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if she can’t just call herself the mysterious Lennart mask!]

“I don’t want to because I’d be embarrassed to be with you.”

“…”

Adelaide was hurt.

Ignoring Adelaide, who was crouching in a corner and scribbling on the floor with her finger, Dorothea glanced towards the front of the carriage.

There, a mysterious horse shining silver all over was guiding the way for the golem horse pulling the carriage.

“Anyway, if we keep going in the current direction, we’ll reach the Tower of Foresight among the four towers. Whether you take the entrance exam right away or look around a bit more before taking it is up to you, but we’re not going to stay in the Magic State forever—“

It was then, as Dorothea’s long speech was about to continue.

With the sound of flapping wings, a bird flew into the gap between the coachman’s seat and the cargo compartment.

The party reflexively took defensive stances, but Dorothea stopped them.

“It’s okay. It’s a reply sent by my teacher.”

The bird, with eyes too dull to be a living creature, landed on the table with a thud and then crumbled into black powder the next moment.

Dorothea alternately looked at the skull of an unidentifiable species about the size of a fist and a rolled parchment among the powder, then reached for the parchment.

She tilted her head, “But the reply came quite quickly for my teacher. I thought in the worst case it might just be ignored, what’s this whim?”

Dorothea unfolded the parchment.

And seeing the contents written there, she twisted her face in anger.

“This vicious witch, really…!”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks what the contents are!]

Dorothea didn’t answer.

She was just grinding her teeth as if something troublesome had happened.

The Tin Knight snatched the parchment from Dorothea’s hand and held it out to Sophia.

It meant for her to read it instead.

So that everyone in the carriage could hear, Sophia read out the contents written on the parchment, “‘Seeing that you’re paying attention to trivial matters, it seems your graduation exam was quite peaceful. Since it’s worked out well, you’ll have to run an errand for me. Hand over the skull I sent together to the Witch of the North, that one with the flowery head. She’ll probably be holed up somewhere among the four towers.’

“‘P.S. If you can’t finish the errand within a month, I’ll put a curse on you that will turn all the clothes you’re wearing into rags, so keep that in mind.’”

A deep silence fell.

Dorothea was now clutching her head with a groan while the others were just blinking their eyes, wondering what was going on.

In the midst of this, the Tin Knight put his hand on Dorothea’s bare shoulder with a thud.

And giving a thumbs up, he said.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says to take it easy since there won’t be much of a difference in exposure whether she gets cursed or not!]

Clang!!

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken