A Magus was someone who used Magecraft as a tool. Such people were generally held in deep contempt by traditional Mages.
"I believe that, given Lord Yuri Phis's pride, there's no way he would ever order a Magus to take my life."
Liddell had considered that possibility, but Yuri Phis's usual air of gloom, like that of a venomous snake, always made people feel that any plot or scheme must have come from him. And with worry clouding her judgment, Liddell had still gotten a little carried away.
"Whose side are you on, anyway?!" Liddell turned and glared at Rimuru with puffed-out cheeks, but then the corners of her mouth and eyes curved into crescents. Clearly, Rimuru's initiative in soothing her had pleased her immensely.
Not bad, not bad. He even knew to give me a massage. Hm, has this block of wood finally figured it out?
Sitting down, Liddell was just a head shorter than Rimuru standing up. That meant she could almost touch his chin with her forehead just by lifting her head. A faint fragrance drifted from her smooth, glossy hair. As Rimuru looked at her delicate collarbones, he suddenly thought... Maybe I'm getting a pretty good deal here, too!
"But no matter what, daring to act within the Clock Tower's territory is a challenge to its authority." Barthomeloi first delivered her verdict on the incident. Then she stood up, leaned against the table, and brought her immense presence to bear on everyone. She spoke each word with deliberate force.
"The Holy Church has already sent over the assassin's file. I believe none of you would abandon a Mage's honor to associate with this notorious Magus Killer. But, given that he was able to succeed—"
"I believe certain Lords must have turned a blind eye."
At those words, all the Lords fell silent for a moment. It was obvious. Without someone turning a blind eye, how could the man have gotten past double-digit familiars and fired that shot?!
"I hope that from now on... nothing like this will ever happen again!"
Barthomeloi's gaze seemed to carry a blade as it savagely raked across the Lords. Then she said with utmost seriousness, "The Clock Tower's dignity—"
"Will not be challenged."
What an imposing presence. Rimuru forcibly suppressed the unease her gaze stirred in him, but his eyes suddenly shifted to the projection in the middle of the conference table. He had keenly noticed the information hidden in Barthomeloi's words.
The notorious Magus Killer... could he be the one Rimuru knew?
That utterly emotionless champion of justice.
Emiya... Kiritsugu.
Chapter 11: So I'm the One Who Set Emiya Kiritsugu on the Path to Sealing Designation?
As the information gradually appeared on the projection, Rimuru finally felt that the meeting had reached familiar territory.
Emiya Kiritsugu. The assassin at the center of the projection looked fairly young, but already possessed a world-weary, gloomy air. Even at this time, his name had reached the ears of all the Lords. However, so far, his greatest claim to infamy was probably that two years ago, he had personally shot down an airplane and killed his teacher.
But now, assassinating a lecturer at the Clock Tower's headquarters had added another major entry to his infamous record.
"Natalia's student, huh..." Yufilis's gloomy voice carried a peculiar sense of regret. "He took a path completely different from Natalia's..."
"Enough with the talk of paths." Liddell seemed particularly attuned to Yuri Phis. She raised an eyebrow out of habit and snapped, "This is the guy, right?"
"Most likely." Barthomeloi clasped her hands together and said coldly, "Judging from the footage recorded by the Lords' familiars and his methods of operation, he favors modern methods and can break through a Lord's defenses. Of the names provided by the Church as well, he's by far the most likely candidate."
"Tch. Modern methods..." Liddell narrowed her eyes slightly. "That's the kind of enemy House Achelotte likes."
After she finished speaking, she tilted her head back slightly. A faint fragrance drifted over, and Rimuru met her smiling eyes. She handed him an intelligence file.
Perhaps in the future, Magecraft that required casting materials and specific tools wouldn't necessarily be more convenient than technology. But at least for now... Rimuru could confirm that Magecraft was convenient. This file, for instance, could transfer its contents with a simple touch.
Rimuru flipped through a few pages. Most of it matched what he remembered, though there were many more detailed records of events. But according to the file, almost everything Emiya Kiritsugu had done had been recorded, meaning there was a paper trail. That left him puzzled.
"With such detailed intelligence... had the Magic Association never considered dealing with him?"
"The intelligence is detailed because many of his deeds could be traced through Magecraft and confirmed to be his work." Hearing Rimuru's question, a seemingly amiable Lord offered an explanation. "But yes, it's true. Although the Holy Church designated him a heretic and pursued him for his actions, the Magic Association hasn't taken action against him in recent years."
"Why not?"
Even Liddell couldn't sit still after hearing that. As a hands-off leader, she usually didn't pay much attention to all the Mage-related affairs, but this concerned Rimuru, so she had to take an interest! For that reason, she even took the opportunity to needle everyone.
"Does he have a prestigious family backing him?"
Yuri Phis's mouth twitched at her words. It sounded as if she was hinting at him, making a veiled accusation.
At that moment, Rimuru spoke up instead. He leaned forward slightly and placed the final page of the file in front of Liddell, pointing to a line with his little finger as he read it aloud:
"Because Emiya Kiritsugu's usual targets are unlawful Mages, and he himself holds the position of Sealing Designation Enforcer."
"Uh..." Liddell was momentarily stunned.
"Remember to read to the end next time you check a file." Rimuru chuckled softly into her ear, then straightened up and said, "I understand the part about him being a Sealing Designation Enforcer. That probably came from his mentor, Natalia... But what I don't understand is, I don't think I qualify as an unlawful Mage, do I?"
"Heh." Hearing the hint of grievance in Rimuru's voice, Kayneth couldn't help giving a snort of laughter. "You needn't worry about those few words, Lord Rimuru. To that fool, what counts as unlawful is at odds with most Mages' understanding of the term."
"In fact, according to the Magic Association's Sealing Designations, most Mages who are pursued are wanted because they've violated the rule against revealing the Mystery. In that sense, bounty hunters who hunt down these unlawful Mages are also protecting ordinary people and upholding the Magic Association's rules. And although Emiya Kiritsugu has always shown some contempt for the Magic Association, his status as an Enforcer has never been revoked."
The elderly Inorai offered an apt explanation. She had been the one to decide nearly all the rules and reasons behind these matters, so she could speak about them with ease.
"And killing his mentor doesn't count?"
Rimuru looked up. In the traditional Mage world, killing one's teacher was far more serious than killing one's father!
"He had a justifiable reason," the old woman continued. "If he hadn't destroyed the airplane at the time, the influence of Magecraft would have spread, and the Mystery would have been revealed. So, although all Mages despised his actions, they were still understandable from a practical standpoint."
"However, ever since he inherited one-fifth of his father Emiya Noritaka's Magic Crest, he hasn't had a single exchange with the Magic Association. In a sense, I imagine he's never cared what the Association thinks of him."
"Fine. I have no more questions." Rimuru set down the file and looked around at everyone. It was clear that, if the man hadn't suddenly attacked Rimuru and challenged the Clock Tower's dignity, most of the Lords would either have been seeing this file for the first time or had never even heard of the records.
That made sense. Though Emiya Kiritsugu was infamous, he posed no threat to these Lords, so in their eyes he wasn't even worth mentioning. Why would they pay him any attention?
Still, this file really was detailed... Looking at the intelligence on the table, Rimuru raised his estimate of the Clock Tower's terrifying reach another notch. In addition to its frightening ability to record everything, the Lords had extraordinary memories—or rather, an astonishing ability to absorb information and process it quickly.
Someone they'd never bothered to notice could become relevant in an instant. Yuri Phis could find details about him in his memory without even looking at the file, while Inorai could clearly explain the reasons behind countless decisions she had once made. All of it showed that these old-timers were still extraordinarily formidable.
"So how does the Magic Association plan to handle this?" Liddell came back to herself, blushed, and gave Rimuru's arm an annoyed pinch before turning to ask. "Surely we won't let him off the hook this time?"
"Oh..." She studied the file a few more times to make sure she wouldn't make another mistake, then calmly added a sarcastic remark. "He even had permission to enter and leave the Clock Tower..."
"He won't anymore," Barthomeloi replied softly. "First, we'll revoke his status as a Sealing Designation Enforcer, designate him for sealing, and issue a bounty and a warrant—"
She paused and glanced at the Lords. "But that's all standard procedure. Since he has violated the Clock Tower's dignity, the point of this discussion is whether to send a Lord to retrieve him quickly as a Sealing Designation Enforcer, and which Lord to send."
"Also, whoever retrieves this valuable Sealing Designation specimen will be allowed to keep him. They may experiment on him or study him."
Chapter 12: Necessary Concessions and Guarantees
Officially, a Sealing Designation was meant to confine Mages with exceptional talents under the pretext of protecting them, as well as to retrieve Mages who violated the rule against revealing the Mystery in the course of their research.
In practice, it was just a way for the Magic Association to eliminate Mages who refused to submit to its rule and make use of them a second time.
Rather than calling it protection, once a Mage was successfully retrieved under a Sealing Designation, they lost all rights as a human being. They were kept and studied as specimens.
Usually, they were immersed in formalin... though living specimens weren't unheard of.
That made it easy to understand why the file on Emiya Kiritsugu had been laid out in such detail for this meeting. Clearly, the Lords were expected to choose and negotiate among themselves.
Whoever wanted him could send someone after him. If more than one wanted him, they could exchange favors.
This left Rimuru feeling somewhat disappointed. He had hoped to use the meeting to determine which Lords harbored ill will toward him, and perhaps find a chance to make an issue of it.
But clearly, with the Clock Tower under the control of the Twelve Lords, the three great aristocratic families weren't going to purge their own ranks and demand justice for a lecturer like him. The most he could hope for was the warning Barthomeloi had delivered at the start, followed by capturing the culprit to placate him.
Still, even though the duty of capturing the culprit was theirs, if they wanted to deploy the forces of a Lord, they had to negotiate—through pressure and exchanges of favors—and put Emiya Kiritsugu in the open for the Lords to decide among themselves. That once again showed the Twelve Lords' unrivaled dominance!
In other words, even though the Director's aide, Barthomeloi, had the authority to issue orders, she hadn't done so. Instead, she'd resolved the matter through a proposal. It might seem that she was simply showing the other families some respect, but it said a lot.
The other Lords looked at one another, but none of them was willing to speak.
They were all seasoned operators. They knew that House Achelotte would definitely be the first to step forward and handle this, so why crowd in?
There was nothing to gain! What was the point? A favor from a future prestigious family? The three great families didn't need that, while the lesser families worried that Rimuru might surpass them if he rose in status. They had no desire to invest.
Besides, even if they were on good terms, could anyone offer more than House Achelotte?
As for Emiya Kiritsugu as a specimen, the Lords didn't know about his Origin Bullet. In their eyes, the only thing he might be worth was his incomplete Magic Crest.
But that Magic Crest only contained twenty percent of Emiya Noritaka's Crest!
And Emiya Noritaka... ahem, was currently soaking in some corner of the Clock Tower's vault.
Seeing this, Rimuru wasn't angry at all. In fact, he felt a little delighted. He immediately sidled up to Liddell and whispered into her ear, "Secure the authority to carry out this Sealing Designation."
These Lords didn't know what Emiya Kiritsugu was capable of, but Rimuru did!
Never mind that Emiya Kiritsugu had improved the formerly useless Reality Marble into a time-based Magecraft formula that could be activated at will. Just the Origin Bullet alone was worth a fortune. With one in hand, Rimuru figured he'd be able to face any Lord head-on from now on!
Well, as long as he didn't run into a True Ancestor or something, it'd be a one-shot kill!
And on top of that, he could gain talents by devouring others, and he had the ability to regenerate at incredible speed—
Emiya Kiritsugu only had so many Origin Bullets because his ribs couldn't regenerate!
But Rimuru... was different! If he could do what Rimuru could in the original story—devour a sword and then endlessly devour and replicate ore—then wouldn't devouring a single Origin Bullet let him produce them endlessly?!
Holy crap, just thinking about it made him invincible!
Hearing Rimuru's voice, Liddell felt his warm breath against her ear. A blush spread over her face, and she rolled her eyes before forcing herself to stay composed. "That goes without saying! I was going to claim him even if you hadn't said anything!"
She'd already said it: House Achelotte liked this kind of enemy.
In other words, no matter what happened at this meeting, House Achelotte was going to hunt this Magus! Nobody else could take him!
"No..." Rimuru glanced at the other Lords, then leaned closer to Liddell's ear. Pressing right against it, he whispered, "I don't want you to take him so you can avenge me. I want you to take him and then leave him alone, so the other Lords don't go after him..."
"???" Liddell blinked, looking utterly confused.
Their little antics hadn't escaped the other Lords. Even though Rimuru had tried to whisper as quietly as possible, they were all Lords. If they couldn't hear him, they might as well be dead.
They'd been happy to pretend not to hear, given the relationship between the two of them. But this time, not only was Liddell confused; the other Lords were utterly bewildered, too...
They could understand wanting Emiya Kiritsugu as a specimen, but what did he mean by wanting to let the man off?!
"Lord Rimuru..." The old woman interrupted their whispering. "Do you want to take revenge yourself?"
"Eh... you could hear us?"
Rimuru first stared blankly, then rubbed his head in embarrassment, looking as honest and guileless as could be.
Of course we could, several Lords thought, rolling their eyes. But they couldn't help lowering their guard around Rimuru a little and feeling more favorably toward him. Wherever you went, honest and guileless people put others at ease.
"Then..." Rimuru blinked and unhappily smacked Liddell on the head. "Why didn't you warn me?!"
At that, Liddell's face flushed. Stammering, she slammed a hand on the table and sprang to her feet. "You dared to hit me?!"
"..." Rimuru looked at her angry expression, her little tiger fangs, and her flushed face, and immediately understood.
Oh... So she was reluctant to let me move away from her ear because she was enamored with my looks.
Heh. Women.
"Heh. Enough. You should save the flirting for somewhere else," Yuri Phis said gloomily.
"Come on, they're young," Gaiusling immediately retorted. "Don't be so petty."
"Sorry." Liddell ground her little tiger fangs and glared at Rimuru. Then she tossed her pink twin tails, which whipped across Rimuru's face with a smack, and sat down in a huff. "Just as Rimuru said, I hope House Achelotte will be entrusted with this Sealing Designation."
"Then, Lord Achelotte, do you intend to follow Lord Rimuru's suggestion and leave him alone after taking charge?" the old woman asked kindly.
"Well..." Liddell suddenly wasn't sure how to answer.
"Lord Rimuru." Seeing her like this, Inorai understood. She turned to him and continued, "I can understand that you want to take revenge yourself, but this also concerns the Clock Tower's dignity—"
"I'll state my reasons publicly," Rimuru replied at once. He was better than Liddell at handling this kind of negotiation. "And I'll cooperate fully with the Clock Tower in all its dealings with the outside world and its public response."
Good. Inorai nodded with satisfaction, her expression growing even kinder. The Mage world also had ways to spread information, including newspapers and dedicated television channels. With progress over the years, public opinion and the spread of information had become increasingly difficult to control. That had always been one of Inorai's greatest frustrations.
"But if that's the case, it seems there's nothing more the Clock Tower can do for you."
"To be honest, Lady Baruereta..."
"You may call me Inorai, Lord Rimuru," Inorai interrupted.
"Uh, all right, Lady Inorai. To be honest, I never expected to use this attack as leverage to make the Clock Tower do something for me or give me anything." Rimuru gave a bitter smile. "But I do hope at least my safety can be guaranteed. After all, something like this shouldn't happen a second time."
Rimuru knew exactly what he lacked at the moment. With House Achelotte's support, he didn't lack resources, and with his Rimuru template, he didn't lack strength. All he lacked was time.
And then there was the malice lurking among the prestigious families, from those whose positions he threatened.
So what he needed was simple.
A guarantee, something that would ensure no one dared lay a hand on him within the Clock Tower!
Normal clashes were fine, and he wasn't afraid of open or covert maneuvering. But don't try anything like an assassination that overturned the table and played dirty. Please don't let it happen a second time!
"Of course!" Inorai nodded. It was a perfectly reasonable request.
"Even if you hadn't said so, we couldn't possibly let anything like this happen at the Clock Tower again." Barthomeloi nodded as well. "The Barthomeloi name guarantees it."
"Agreed." The old fox Trantbellio opened his eyes slightly and uttered two words, then closed them again. At that moment, the three great families had reached a consensus.
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