〈Episode 250〉 Father-in-law (1)
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There were many questions.
Deep in the night, I was lying in bed with Hilde, the Ice Dragon, who had transformed into a small dragon, next to me.
The dark ceiling filled my vision. I drifted through my thoughts.
The contents of the book left by Dorothy Gale.
The Secret of Aria Lilias.
Game developer Hicks.
system.
The unknown being within me.
A message left by the Primordial Ice Emperor to Hild.
Every single question felt like a series of steps leading to the conclusion.
[Ahh…]
Ice Dragon-Hilde leaned towards me. She was sleeping.
My head became more and more complicated because of the message the guy gave me.
But no matter how hard I tried to sort out my thoughts, I couldn’t find any answers, so I just kept sighing.
Knock knock.
Suddenly a bird carrying a bag flew in and knocked on the window from outside. It was V, the letter carrier.
It was a gentle-natured demon that people with urgent business would use to quickly send letters.
I got out of bed and opened the window. V took a letter out of his bag with his big beak and handed it to me.
Upon receiving it, V flew away, crying and trembling.
I examined the seal on the envelope.
“…you’re here.”
Hegelian seal of the scepter.
This letter was sent by Aria Lilias.
* * *
The Imperial Pagoda is shaped like a city, with a long tower at its center.
The main building of the Imperial Tower, which stretches high in the center. There, Aria Lilias rented an entire laboratory and devoted herself to research.
The Imperial Tower’s academic forums are held unannounced and once a week for approximately two months.
The subjects of the summons are basically magicians. Among them, only about twenty magicians with recognized abilities attend the forum.
Aria prepared her presentation, focusing on research that several of the Tower Masters had previously revealed in forums.
Meanwhile, the magician of the Imperial Tower came to the laboratory.
It was an hour before I sent the letter to Isaac.
“Lord Lilias, this is your summons order.”
“call?”
The magician of the Imperial Tower wore luxurious robes with gold trim.
For the Imperial Tower Lord, who is a member of the Gerber Empire, the authority held by the Imperial Tower Lord is enormous. The person who summoned Aria must also be an Imperial Tower Lord.
Aria followed the magician to the imperial magic tower master’s office. Aria thought it was too luxurious a room for one person to occupy alone.
The person sitting in the chair in the center of the office is an elderly female magician with long, white hair. The Imperial Magic Tower Master, Johanna Calix.
Aria stood before Johanna and bowed her head politely.
“There are two things I need to do.”
Imperial Tower Master Johanna went straight to the main point without greetings. She hated wasting unnecessary time.
Aria, accustomed to that attitude, raised her head without much reaction.
“First. Why didn’t you report the research you were conducting in secret to the Imperial Tower?”
Aria tried to keep her expression calm, but Johanna noticed that her eyes twitched for a split second.
“…It’s not a big project.”
Aria was on guard.
Did you get caught?
The opponent was the Imperial Tower Lord. It wouldn’t have been strange if he had been caught anytime or somehow.
The question was what action Johanna would take.
“‘Small-scale individual research does not necessarily have to be reported.’ It is stated in the law, but… is that really small-scale research?”
“In my opinion, that is the case.”
Aria calmly evaded Johanna’s questioning.
“I see… I will understand that for now. However, please keep in mind that if it is determined that the research exceeds the established standards, you may be punished depending on the severity of the content.”
“… … .”
It was a warning.
What the Imperial Magic Tower wants is the monopolization of information. Except for useless research, all research conducted by the Magic Towers located in the Imperial Empire is managed and controlled by the Imperial Magic Tower.
Changing an era is a miracle brought about by a single genius. Even that miracle was something they were trying to control.
In that sense, the Imperial Tower must have been wary of Aria’s research.
Aria figured it out. It was clear that it wasn’t even clear what the research was about.
The Imperial Magic Tower must have observed a subtle and strange mana melting into nature near the Hegel Magic Tower. It was Aria’s mistake.
However, if it was within the authority of the Imperial Tower, they could have gone to the Hegel Tower and dug it up right away. Why didn’t Johanna do that?
The answer was quickly revealed.
“And second.”
Johanna took out an envelope.
“I have a letter for you.”
“A letter…? Why did Lord Calix Matap do that?”
“Because the sender was Bingje.”
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If it’s ice cream, it’s Isaac.
Aria couldn’t figure out why Isaac had sent her the letter.
“Normally, I wouldn’t bring letters to the Imperial Tower. For security reasons. However, Your Majesty’s business needed to be handled with priority, so I took the time to personally inspect it.”
“How did you know for sure that it was Bingje who sent it?”
“Because it turned out to be Isaac, a student from Merhen Academy. If we detect the fingerprints on the envelope, we can figure that out right away. Our tower also shares information about the academy in the Imperial Palace.”
It was also possible to detect and compare fingerprints at the Imperial Pagoda.
Johanna shook the envelope gently.
“What I did was to check if Bingje-nim had done anything supernatural with this envelope. It was a normal letter sent by Bingje-nim.”
“…contents is?”
“Nothing much. Just ask that you return to Merchen Academy as soon as possible. Take it.”
Aria approached Johanna with an emotionless face.
Johanna was about to hand over the letter, but suddenly bent down and looked closely at Aria.
“You… aren’t you doing something with Bingje-nim?”
The reason why the Imperial Tower cannot recklessly dig into the Hegel Tower, or why it deliberately does not do so.
This was because it was assumed that someone who could not be touched even with the power of the imperial family on his back had a close relationship with Aria.
It was an icebreaker.
If Aria’s research was dangerous, there was no way the Ice Emperor would not have noticed it and would not have left it alone.
Bingje is a great wizard known to be the strongest among mankind.
It was natural for a magician of the Magic Tower with a strong desire for intellectual inquiry to have his eyes on the Ice Emperor, and Johanna was no exception.
Was Aria an exception? It couldn’t be.
That is, given the circumstances, it was suspected that Bingjae and Aria were colluding to conduct secret research.
Aria made a displeased expression.
“There’s no such thing. I don’t know why Bingje is looking for me.”
Johanna studied Aria’s expression.
It wasn’t a lie.
“…is that so.”
Johanna handed Aria an envelope. Aria put it in her robe pocket.
“It is the imperial command that His Majesty’s will be followed as much as possible.”
Johanna ruffled the collar of Arya’s robe.
“Welcome back, Lord Arya Lilias.”
Aria nodded, bowed in greeting, and left the office.
Arriving at the lab, Aria read the letter and wrote a brief reply.
[ Received late due to the letter being inspected at the Imperial Tower. ] [ Scheduled to depart at dawn. ]
A reply was sent to Merchen Academy via letter carrier V.
The distance was far and it would cost a lot of money, but I didn’t want to waste any time dealing with the King.
… …
The next morning.
Aria packed her bags and left the imperial palace by carriage.
“What is that?”
The coachman’s voice was heard in confusion. The carriage suddenly stopped.
“… … ?”
Aria felt a sense of magic and doubt that she had never felt before, and opened the carriage window to look outside.
About ten Düpendorf troops were forming a line around the carriage.
Each and every one of them had a power stronger than Hegel’s Tower Aria Lilias.
[Meet the Lord of the Tower.]
The commander of the knights, Morkan, clad in platinum armor, approached the carriage window and saluted.
Aria opened her eyes and looked at Morkan.
“Ice order?”
[Yes. This is an order to escort them safely to their destination.]
The entry procedure to the Imperial Tower is complicated.
Because it is a place where information is concentrated and is also a symbol of imperial knowledge.
Even if they were the troops of the allied country Dufendorf, who were permitted to roam the Imperial territory, they would not have been able to avoid friction with the Imperial family if they had rashly attempted to enter the Imperial Tower.
That was why Düpendorf’s troops greeted Aria outside the castle tower.
“… Huh.”
Aria smiled happily.
I felt good when a person like Ice sent his subordinates to take care of me.
“I ask you to take good care of me.”
[yes!]
Morkan saluted again and then lined up.
Aria turned her head towards the Imperial Tower.
Are you watching, Imperial Tower Master?
This is my back.
The carriage, accompanied by the soldiers of Düpendorf, set off for the Merchen Academy.
Meanwhile, Imperial Tower Master Johanna Calix watched the scene from her office through the tower’s external surveillance network.
Düpendorf’s troops came out as escorts for Aria.
There was also clear evidence that Aria was under the protection of the Ice Emperor.
Although the escort force consisted of only 10 people, the magical power detection system of the Imperial Magic Tower easily detected how much magical power these 10 people possessed.
Even they are only a small part of Dufendorf’s power.
Düppendorf was a land of ice that was revealed to have a powerful military force.
The person that such a country serves as its king is the current Bing Emperor, Isaac.
The movement of the iceberg would have tremendous influence and could easily change the situation.
“surely….”
It was threatening, Johanna realized.
At that time, towards Merchen Academy.
“Father, I have arrived….”
The Duke of Astreang’s carriage passed the guardhouse and entered the Merchen Academy.
Inside the carriage, Kaya reported in a crawling voice.
Gerald Astreang, who had his eyes closed, slowly opened them.
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fantasy,
