This Scheme Feels Familiar

"No."

The next five leather armors showed no reaction. It seemed the first two successes had merely been good luck; the actual drop rate was not high. Better that way—it was safer.

Of the six leather armors they had obtained at great risk, only one proved useful. Neither agent was willing to accept that. "None of them? Should we try another method?"

"If you can't let it go, go ahead and try." Rorschach then put on some flashy light and sound effects, convincing the two that the remaining five were indeed nothing more than ordinary leather goods.

"...To summarize the two manuscripts, they were a spellcaster's hypotheses and verification regarding the changes in Environmental Magic Power caused during spellcasting."

Rorschach did not mention the later content concerning magical restrictions. "The manuscripts came out of our Empire. This summary and Night Owl's records should be enough to pinpoint the exact contents, right?"

The two agents truly could not understand what Rorschach was talking about and could only nod in agreement. They were merely here to complete their assignment, after all. They could hardly be expected to find a Magic Tower or mage academy and sit in on classes for years until they understood everything.

"We'll be leaving for the Empire. From here on, the trading company and embassy personnel will handle Docking with you."

Rorschach nodded and shook hands with them one by one. Their hands were rough, with calluses along the sides of their fingers, the edges of their palms, and the webs between thumb and forefinger.

"Take care."

Following Night Owl's instructions, Rorschach left first. When he passed Green Wave Tea House again, a "Closed Temporarily" sign had already been hung up. Through the display window, he could see that some tables and chairs inside had been overturned and smashed.

At some point, clouds had covered the sun. The late-autumn, early-winter wind was chilly, and Rorschach pulled his robe tighter around himself.

This weather was no longer suitable for a pleasure boat. Rorschach hailed a hired carriage. Its body was painted a fruity green that had oxidized into yellow, though the carriage itself was still fairly clean.

"Stella Garden." The maze entrance to the Tower of Stars was there.

"Hold tight, sir." The driver pulled a bell. After a burst of jingling, the horse began to move on its own, the reins continuously guiding it toward the garden.

Rorschach watched the scenery outside the carriage window all the way.

Valuan pedestrians dressed in more varied and colorful styles than those in the Imperial Capital. Ladies now often wrapped themselves in black or white furs, or camel-colored velvet cloaks, though lace collars and skirt hems could still be seen beneath them. Gentlemen often wore loose overcoats, tight trousers and gaiters, along with eye-catching, exaggerated collars.

When they passed a church, many thinly dressed people had gathered at its entrance. They crowded around the priests' stall to receive wheat porridge and a small slice of black bread. Among them were old women leading children, making gestures of prayer and worship toward the priests and the church entrance.

"Seven in ten thousand... Hah."

After traveling for roughly half an hour, the carriage reached a stretch of road Rorschach was somewhat familiar with, near Pastoral Avenue. From here, he could see Starlight Torch Tower.

So Starlight Torch Tower was this close to the entrance? The first time he had come, he had turned back and gone to the Mage Guild. Now, not long after spotting Starlight Torch Tower, they arrived at the maze entrance.

"We're here, sir. My carriage can't get through the iron gate." The wrought-iron gates at the garden entrance were closed. Rorschach paid, stepped down, and walked inside. The gates creaked open automatically.

The maze... Once he reached a fork in the path, Rorschach took out his Mage Emblem. The edge on its right side lit up, and the youth followed the path to the right.

In this way, Rorschach traversed the maze alone and reached the entrance.

Don't let anything go wrong like the first time... Fortunately, Rorschach entered the Tower of Stars' hall without incident.

Although the Chief Professor's office was on the third floor of the Tower of Stars, Kano usually worked near Starlight Torch Tower unless he was teaching. Now that Rorschach was teaching in his place, the days when he needed to report to the Tower of Stars were even fewer.

"This building belongs to the Magic Tower too?" At the foot of Starlight Torch Tower stood a building whose notable features, aside from its high ceilings, were its thick, sturdy walls.

In the latter half of the month, on his first day entering the laboratory, Rorschach followed Kano into the building. The first floor rang with the clatter of metal and the roar of machinery. An indescribably nauseating stench drifted from the second and third floors. Only on the fourth floor did things improve.

"That's right."

Master Kano introduced it to Rorschach:

After the Mage Guild proposed building Starlight Torch Tower as a birthday gift for His Majesty the King, the generous king waved his hand and granted them a large plot of land at the end of the capital's central axis. He also urged the city administration to build Pastoral Avenue, the widest road in the entire city.

Starlight Torch Tower itself did not occupy much land. To avoid disappointing His Majesty the King's magnanimous generosity, the Tower of Stars constructed a great many buildings on the allocated plot.

"Who knew every inch of land here would become worth its weight in gold? But Valuans love chasing trends. If something is interesting, they like crowding around the tallest landmark in the city."

The area at the foot of the High Tower became highly sought after. Wealthy merchants and nobles took pride in owning property nearby. Through the income from selling and renting out the auxiliary buildings, the Tower of Stars and the Guild not only recouped the costs of the massive project but also gained a steady stream of revenue.

The current building was the Tower of Stars' retained research site.

The king was happy, the Mage Guild and the Tower of Stars were happy, the Dwarf Builders' Guild that took on the project was happy, and the wealthy merchants and nobles who bought properties and storefronts beneath the wonder gained prestige and profit, so they were happy too. Everyone was happy—everyone was happy indeed!

Hiss... Why does this scheme feel so familiar? The soul of a transmigrator shuddered.

"What a wonder-driven nation!" Right, a world with magic would definitely get buffs from building wonders. Perfectly reasonable.

Kano was delighted as well. "Well said! We're here. Come on, come on, let's start the group meeting..."

The fireplace had already been lit in this weather. When the meeting room door opened, warm air and a faint fragrance wafted out. Several high-backed chairs surrounded the marble conference table, each covered with a soft cushion. Filing cabinets crammed with documents and books lined all four walls, while beside the fireplace stood a presentation board covered in scribbles and diagrams.

For its purpose, the room seemed overly comfortable. The proof was that Pascal was already nodding off.

Besides this apprentice, who was even older than Rorschach, there was also a girl with a high ponytail. She sat upright as she browsed through documents, occasionally marking them with a quill pen.

"Let me introduce you. Oh, Pascal, you've met each other already. This is your senior sister, Paulina."

"Hello, Rorschach. First-rank mage."

Paulina nodded with a smile. Her lips were thin. "I'm very glad Master Kano has recruited someone new. Paulina, third-rank mage, in the same cohort as apprentice Pascal."

"Paul, you didn't need to emphasize that last part." Pascal yawned.

Kano had Paulina introduce Rorschach to their current project. The group was researching teleportation magic that could directly reach the Astral Realm:

Although spells connecting to other Sub-planes had existed even before the Old Empire, no correct ritual or spell had ever been found that could reach the Astral Realm of the Main Plane. Dwarves had once built rockets powered by concentrated phlogiston, but after leaving the atmosphere, they encountered Transmutation Dust Turbulence and gave their precious lives to exploration.

"A shell formed from Transmutation Dust separates us from the Astral Realm. Breaking through it may require an enormous aether flux. This is the result of Master Kano's research."

This meant that attempting to cast the spell under research would require multiple Archmages casting together, assisted by rituals and minerals brimming with magic power, or...

"Converting other forms of energy into aether. The theoretical model for magic-energy conversion was proposed in a paper by an Imperial mage."