[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 234: White Night Festival (2)

The day the great evil known as the Great Demon Emperor was vanquished and peace was finally achieved in the world—

The imperial family of the Calderan Empire named this day the White Night Festival, designating it as the nation's most important holiday.

That’s how significant it was—they treated it with even more care than the empire’s founding day.

“Let’s see… It’s already the final day.”

Fran opened a festival pamphlet while lounging in the annex prepared for mages.

“On the first day, there was the opening declaration followed by the parade, and a memorial ceremony at night... Then the second day was all about the knights’ duels…”

The finals had ended in an overwhelming victory for the heir of the Heavenly Sword family.

The result was expected, but the matches themselves were entertaining enough to receive rave reviews.

“But for us, today’s the real deal.”

If the second day was a festival for knights, then the last day was dedicated to mages.

It was practically the highlight of the White Night Festival, packed with major events.

“Each Tower will present new magic or technologies, there’s the annual performance evaluation, and even the Oscar Awards ceremony…”

It was the day that determined which Tower had performed the best over the past year, and which mage had made the biggest impact.

Naturally, every Magic Tower was on edge.

“...What are you mumbling about by yourself?”

“Oh, Becky. Good morning.”

Veronica sat across from him, still groggy with sleep and glancing around.

Fran asked, seeing her expression:

“Looking for someone?”

“...Was wondering if Oscar came by during the night.”

“I asked around too, but apparently, he hasn’t shown up yet.”

The magic presentations would begin in just a few hours.

If he hadn’t arrived yet, that likely meant he wouldn’t be coming at all.

Fran shrugged.

“Elder Schwein is a nervous wreck, by the way. He’s literally biting his nails waiting.”

“...Is that because of some project Oscar was working on?”

“Yeah. Just in case, the Elder even memorized the portion Oscar was supposed to present.”

“Guess he’s really looking forward to it.”

Veronica murmured while resting her chin in her palm.

“...So, did something good actually come out of it?”

“Not sure. I can't say for certain, but he definitely seemed hopeful.”

On the first day, several mages had noted how giddy Elder Schwein had looked.

It made everyone wonder—what kind of spell or invention had him that excited?

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“The year’s results. Think we have a shot at climbing the ranks?”

“Hm…”

After a moment of serious thought, Veronica nodded.

“Probably. We revived the potion division this year, and the delivery business has made big strides. Not to mention we won the Night of the Mage.”

“Potions and delivery, huh…”

Fran muttered.

From the perspective of a merchant family’s youngest son, both projects had shown excellent returns.

‘But to be blunt, this probably still isn’t enough to meet the imperial expectations for a Great Tower.’

At best, they had managed to start running like a proper Tower again.

Would that really be enough to hold onto their seat among the Four Great Magic Towers?

Fran had his doubts.

‘Of course, we still have the magic presentations later today…’

Information from the other Towers had already begun to leak internally.

“Did you hear? The Yellow Tower is unveiling something called a ‘train.’”

“A train? What’s that?”

“Some new kind of vehicle. Apparently it’s already been test-run near the capital, and some people have even seen it.”

“How new are we talking?”

“It’s shaped like a bunch of carriages lined up in a row, and if you lay down tracks properly, it can automatically travel across the entire continent. They say it’ll revolutionize logistics and distribution—my family’s even been stressed out about it.”

Fran let out a long sigh.

“The Yellow Tower isn’t even considering partnerships with external merchant guilds until the ones they back are fully up and running.”

“...Seriously? But your family’s merchant guild is the biggest on the continent.”

“They must think this train thing can flip that advantage.”

It was a statement of overwhelming confidence—

The belief that they could create the continent’s top trading company themselves.

That’s how much pride and expectation the Yellow Tower had for the train.

“But what scares me more than the Yellow Tower is the Black Tower.”

“The Black Tower? Why them?”

“Let’s be honest—other than us, the rest of the Great Towers aren’t in danger of losing their positions just because they have a few bad years. We're the only ones at risk. But the Black Tower has been too confident these last two days.”

“Their vibe, huh…”

Veronica seemed to understand as she recalled the Black Tower mages she’d seen in the capital.

“They were definitely acting smug. Real high-and-mighty.”

“We all thought they’d fall apart after necromancy was banned, but they’ve just been getting scarier every year.”

After losing the ability to use corpses, they’d shifted focus to a school of magic that specialized in mechanical golems.

It had been over ten years since that internal shift, and now—

The Black Tower was experimenting with fusing golem technology with various other fields.

“Last year’s presentation was something else… I wonder what they’ll unveil this time…”

As Fran licked his lips with anticipation,

a group entered the lounge from the entrance.

The person at the head of the group said something to their companions before approaching the two of them.

“It’s been a while, you two.”

“Oh, you’re from the Black Tower…”

“Kiri Gloria.”

After offering a curt greeting to Fran, Kiri turned her eyes to Veronica.

As her gaze swept her body up and down, a glint of intrigue sparked in her eyes.

“Not bad.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“What the hell are you talking about, showing up out of nowhere?”

“You were still Level 4 during the Night of the Mage, weren’t you? Had some sort of breakthrough?”

“...Breakthrough, my ass.”

Veronica averted her gaze as she muttered.

She had reached Level 5 just ten days ago—

ever since the Fragment Magic Oscar had taught her had started to take form.

“Are you sure? You… you’ve changed.”

Kiri looked at Veronica with certainty.

She still had her usual grumpy demeanor, but there was a newfound calm about her that was hard to explain.

“What are you trying to say?”

When Veronica asked with a frown, Kiri smirked and glanced around.

“I don’t see your two usual companions. Did you have a fight or something?”

“Come on, why would we fight? Killian just went back to his hometown for a bit, and Oscar is still…”

“Hey.”

Veronica glared at Fran, who was answering too candidly.

“Why are you telling that to the enemy?”

“Huh? Enemy? Come on, we were on the same team during Night of the Mages, remember?”

“That was then. Today, we’re enemies.”

“She’s not wrong.”

Kiri crossed her arms and nodded.

“Veronica Fricks, today you’ll bitterly regret leaving the Black Tower for the White. That’s what I came to tell you.”

“You can’t even handle bones, and you’re talking about ‘bitter’ regret?”

“…You’ll see.”

As Kiri returned to her group, Veronica muttered with a tired expression.

“Whatever happens, I refuse to lose to her.”

“Is she your rival or something?”

“Rival? Please. I always had better grades than her.”

“But she reached level 5 way before you did—Sorry! Got it, no need to glare like that.”

Fran quickly backed down before Veronica could launch into a tirade.

* * *

A conference room in the imperial palace.

Dozens of people were gathered, waiting for someone.

Though the White Night Festival was a celebration, it also served as a rare opportunity for the continent’s key figures to convene.

In other words, it was the perfect occasion for an official meeting.

“His Majesty the Emperor is entering! All rise!”

With a booming announcement, Ludwig entered the room.

Regardless of whether they were tower masters or swordmasters, everyone bowed their heads.

After he took his seat, the emperor spoke.

“Raise your heads.”

As everyone slowly looked up, a ripple of surprise passed through them.

The emperor’s complexion looked noticeably healthier.

‘He really overcame his illness?’

‘There were rumors that it was the work of demons… The imperial family truly is something.

With the emperor still strong, that hopeless crown prince won’t be taking the throne anytime soon.’

The first to speak was the Red Tower Master, Kudel Redmane.

“Well, Your Majesty. You’re looking great. Got anything good to share with the rest of us?”

“Watch your tone!”

A knight standing nearby barked, but the emperor calmly raised a hand.

“It’s fine. He’s always been like that.”

“Haha, our emperor is as generous as ever!”

“Let’s skip the pleasantries. The reason I called this meeting is what I informed you of in the letter.”

At that, not only Kudel but everyone’s expression turned serious.

The letter from the imperial household had been about “traitors.”

“As of 6 a.m. today, a total of 87 traitors have been uncovered among the imperial household, the towers, the sword clans, and major corporations.”

“…!”

“Eighty-seven?”

The unexpectedly high number drew mixed reactions—some were shocked, others were already glancing around, trying to guess which group had the most.

“What this tells us is simple: the demons have infiltrated our society far more deeply than we thought. And with the ones we’ve yet to uncover, that number could rise.”

“...Damn. That’s not the kind of demon I remember.”

Kudel muttered, and the Violet Moon nodded.

“At least in the past, they didn’t operate this covertly.”

“One thing’s certain—they’re much more difficult to deal with than before.”

“Hmph. It’s unsettling, seeing them meddle in human society this way.”

“Are they preparing for war again?”

As murmurs spread, the emperor dropped a bombshell.

“A letter arrived—from beyond the mountain range.”

“…!”

“…!”

Everyone held their breath.

The emperor hadn’t named the range, but they all knew he meant the Red Mountains.

Eos, Swordmaster of the Toft Clan, asked a question.

“Did the letter arrive after the traitors were exposed?”

“The timing lines up.”

The emperor nodded and continued.

“They asked us not to misunderstand them.”

“…What?”

Misunderstand?

People started to wonder if they had heard correctly.

That was not a word one would expect from a demon.

But what the emperor said next shocked them even more.

“The sender claimed to be the new Demon Emperor.”

“…What the hell are they talking about?”

Kudel pulled off his sunglasses with an exasperated look.

“A new Demon Emperor? And now they don’t want to be misunderstood? After everything they’ve done on the western front?”

“There’s no need to be too alarmed. Perhaps they’ve simply appointed a new emperor to unite the fragmented demon world. There’s no proof that this one is as powerful as the last.”

“Can we really take that lightly? The more unstable you are on the inside, the more likely you are to find an external enemy.”

As the room started to sound like a marketplace, the emperor quietly added:

“We didn’t respond to the first letter. So they sent another.”

All eyes turned to him.

And then he delivered a line like a bomb:

“The second Demon Emperor… wants to formally establish a peace treaty with humanity. That will be today’s topic of discussion.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]