I Didn't Want to Become the Emperor of This World

Chapter 10

I thought all preparations were going perfectly, but an absurd variable had suddenly appeared.

‘The Kingdom Mage Corps? Was there a Mage Corps in this kingdom?’

It could be that I didn't know because it had only been a month since I came to this world, but I had never heard of a group called the ‘Kingdom Mage Corps’ until now.

‘…Well, for the past month, I haven't gone out except for the library and my room, so I might not know. I've hardly ever talked to anyone else besides Elly.’

In any case, what was important now was to find a force to deal with the ‘Kingdom Mage Corps’ that would interfere with my purge.

‘The future me said it. To deal with the Kingdom Mage Corps that follows the noble faction, Jereuth alone is not enough. So I should have gotten mages to deal with the mages of the Mage Corps.’

The problem was that there was unlikely to be a magic force comparable to the Kingdom Mage Corps. Because they were the foremost mage organization in the kingdom.

Even if there was a strong force that could deal with the Mage Corps, there was no guarantee that they would follow me.

But I couldn't just sit still and waste time. So I planned to call Jereuth and consult with him.

He had just left the room, so he should still be nearby.

Just as I hurriedly got up from my seat.

Knock, knock.

—Your Highness, it is Jereuth. I came back because there was something I forgot to tell you.

Perhaps God had not abandoned me, as Jereuth's voice was heard at a good time. I immediately answered.

“Yes, come in!”

—Yes!

He came in and, after politely greeting me as he had when he left the room just a moment ago, said.

“I came back because I wanted to apologize for getting angry at ‘Your Highness's maid’ earlier.”

“At Elly?”

“‘Elly’… you call the maid by her name?”

Jereuth was a little surprised, then quickly controlled his expression and continued to speak.

“That is correct. I came to apologize to that maid.”

“I will tell her when she comes to the room in a little while. More importantly, Commander, I also have something I would like to ask.”

“Please speak.”

“Do you happen to know of a mage group that is on par with, or could possibly deal with, the ‘Kingdom Mage Corps’?”

“…A mage group that can deal with the Kingdom Mage Corps, you mean?”

Jereuth tilted his head as if he couldn't grasp the intention of my question, then answered.

“As you know, Your Highness, the Kingdom Mage Corps is, in name and reality, a corps where the best mages in the kingdom are gathered. There are not many mages in our Plank Kingdom with similar skills to them.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. But may I ask why you are asking that?”

Because the Mage Corps is part of the noble faction and will interfere with us during the purge.

—I wanted to say that, but if I said that, he would probably ask back, 「“How did you know that?”」, so I changed my words a little.

“I'm worried that they might interfere with us during the purge. If so, I think we should also prepare a magic force.”

“Hmm… Your Highness, you probably don't need to worry about the Mage Corps. They basically do not get involved in politics. Not only the Mage Corps, but most mages are like that.”

It was written in the that Jereuth thought this way. That there was no need to worry about the Mage Corps.

But that thought was wrong.

Since it was already written in the diary that the Kingdom Mage Corps had been won over by the nobles, I had to change Jereuth's mind.

“What do you think will happen if the Mage Corps sides with the noble faction during the purge?”

“…Your Highness.”

“Please answer. If the Kingdom Mage Corps supports the nobles, do you have the confidence to deal with them as well, Commander?”

At my words, Jereuth pondered, then replied apologetically.

“To be frank, the power of the 3rd Knight Order alone is not enough to deal with the knights who follow the noble faction and the Kingdom Mage Corps all at once.”

“I thought so. So I plan to first consider the Kingdom Mage Corps, which is not on our side, as an enemy and make a plan.”

“Hmm… I see. But Your Highness, as I said, the Mage Corps does not engage in politics—.”

“In any matter, you must always assume the worst-case scenario and make a plan. Only then will there be no failure. Since the Kingdom Mage Corps is not on my side, I must first consider them an enemy and make a plan.”

“…!”

Jereuth's eyes widened slightly, then he nodded his head.

“Your Highness's words are correct. Even on the battlefield, we make strategies based on the worst-case scenario, it seems I have been at peace for too long.”

“You don't have to blame yourself. Anyway, back to the main point, is there a force that can deal with the Kingdom Mage Corps? You said there were ‘not many’ mages with skills similar to the Mage Corps earlier, so it seems there are some.”

“It is a bit ambiguous to call them two organizations, but there are two ‘groups’.”

There are two?

“Who are they?”

“One is the Elves in the ‘Foothill's Rest’ beyond the northeast border of the kingdom. In the past, His Majesty and I adventured with several companions, and among those companions, there was an elf….”

Jereuth said the word ‘elf’ and then paused slightly. It was probably because he was reminded of the woman he loved, Queen Hael.

“Elves are a race that cares deeply for their kin and comrades, so they might help if I ask for it, but they basically do not get involved in human affairs. Especially, they would never get involved in politics. It might have been different when the queen… was alive, though.”

Jereuth spoke as if recruiting the elves would be difficult.

In any case, there was no time to meet the elves in the Foothill's Rest beyond the northeast border, persuade them, and bring them here now.

“Besides the elves?”

“There are the mages of the ‘Magic Tower’.”

Magic Tower?

‘The mages of the Magic Tower… are they the mages in that tall black tower?’

As I was recalling the ‘tower’ I had seen from afar in the garden yesterday, Jereuth continued to speak.

“The mages of the Magic Tower would not be pushed back by the Kingdom Mage Corps. Especially since the Magic Tower Master and the Magic Tower elders are definitely superior to the Mage Corps Commander, if we receive their help, we can easily crush the Mage Corps.”

“Their skills must be amazing.”

“That's right. However… the mages of the Magic Tower care even less about politics than the Kingdom Mage Corps. Strictly speaking, they have no interest in the affairs of the world itself.”

“…They have no interest in the affairs of the world?”

“Yes. The mages of the Magic Tower are ‘mad about magic’. They just eat and research magic.”

So it's a hardcore mage group.

Then, like the elves, they are a very difficult group to recruit.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

As I lightly bit my lip in frustration, Jereuth, while looking puzzled, continued to speak.

“The mages of the Magic Tower do not get involved in outside affairs at all unless someone attacks the Magic Tower. Conversely, if they judge that the Magic Tower is in danger or in a situation of being attacked, they will step in. The reason they participated in the war with the demons was also based on that. Because that was a matter of the survival of humanity.”

“So they won't come out of the Magic Tower unless it's an event on the scale of the Great War with the demons.”

“That is correct.”

“Is there anything else you know about the Magic Tower? What they like or dislike, anything is fine.”

“Hmm….”

Jereuth stroked his chin and carefully answered.

“The mages of the Magic Tower, being engrossed in magic, are very greedy for precious magic ingredients.”

“Then if I offer that as a price for them to be on my side, will they agree?”

“No. That will not be enough to move the Magic Tower. No matter how precious the magic ingredient is, the Magic Tower has an ironclad rule. The ironclad rule that ‘if they are not attacked, they will not attack anyone’.”

Ah, right. He did say that.

‘Then I have to make the noble faction attack the Magic Tower… can I make that happen?’

No suitable method came to mind. In the first place, the noble faction would also know the power of the Magic Tower and their ironclad rule, so there was no reason for them to attack the Magic Tower unless they were crazy.

‘Then I have to make the Magic Tower follow me through other means. This is driving me crazy.’

While only complex thoughts continued, Jereuth spoke.

“I don't know much about what the Magic Tower dislikes, but there was an incident 10 years ago. You were too young then, Your Highness, so you may not remember.”

“An incident?”

“From old times, the Magic Tower and the Mage Corps were in a rival relationship, shall we say? They were not on good terms with each other. They would pick fights with each other over every little thing.”

“Continue.”

“Yes. In the midst of such squabbles, the representative of the Magic Tower and the representative of the Mage Corps had a magic duel. It was to compete to see who could use stronger and more beautiful magic.”

“10 years ago was during the war with the demons, wasn't it? They had a duel then?”

“So the level of the mages who came out as representatives at that time was not very high. Because all the strong mages had gone to the war. I was also on the battlefield at the time, so this is a story I heard after the fact.”

I see.

“The one who came out as the representative of the Kingdom Mage Corps at that time was the son of the then-Mage Corps Commander, and the one who came out as the representative of the Magic Tower was the daughter of the Magic Tower Master. Because they were the strongest among the mages who did not go to war.”

“So what happened?”

“To give you the conclusion first, the representative of the Mage Corps, the commander's son, won. If it had ended there, it would have been a smooth affair… but after subduing the Magic Tower Master's daughter, the Mage Corps Commander's son is said to have cruelly taunted her. For the reason of ‘showing the gap between the Mage Corps and the Magic Tower’.”

“……”

“As a result, the Magic Tower Master's daughter became unable to use magic ever again. Moreover, hideous scars and tattoos with various curses were carved on half of her body. After that, she is said to have never shown herself again.”

To suffer such an injury and incident in a duel, it was a terrible thing for the daughter of the Magic Tower Master.

But for me, it was a clue. A clue to win over the Magic Tower.

‘No human can endure hatred, regret, and a grudge. The history of mankind is also said to be a history of revenge. Can't I use that?’

“Then what happened to the Mage Corps Commander's son? The one who won the duel.”

“He is the current commander of the Mage Corps, 1st-Class Mage Kasemiru. The then-commander died in the war, and he succeeded his father to become the commander.”

“Did the Magic Tower Master return alive?”

“Yes, the Magic Tower Master returned alive from the war. Rumor has it that after the war ended, he returned to the Magic Tower and has been researching to remove his daughter's scars and lift the curses ever since.”

“Then the Magic Tower Master must greatly hate the current commander of the Mage Corps.”

“It's not certain, but as you said, the Magic Tower Master will greatly despise the Mage Corps Commander. In fact, the Magic Tower Master and I knew each other for a long time during the war, and the Magic Tower Master doted on his daughter so much that he would brag about her even on the battlefield.”

He must have. That's why he was still trying to cure his daughter even after returning from the war.

“You said you knew the Magic Tower Master for a long time on the battlefield, could you perhaps introduce me to the Tower Master?”

“It will probably be difficult. Since I returned from the war, I have only heard news of him from time to time and have never met him once.”

“I see….”

It was very disappointing. Still, thanks to Jereuth, I got important information.

‘Now that I've gotten this much information, let's check the . The future me might have written something.’

“Thank you for talking with me for so long. You must be busy.”

“Not at all, Your Highness. I am always available, so please call me if you have any more questions or things to ask.”

Thump!

Finishing his words, Jereuth politely bowed and left the room.

I was alone in the room again, and I immediately opened the .

…….

Jereuth said that the Kingdom Mage Corps would not take the side of the noble faction. But since I knew the future to some extent, I said that we had to prepare for it.

At my words, Jereuth showed doubt, but still told me about the ‘forces that could deal with the Kingdom Mage Corps’.

Those forces were the elves and the mages of the Magic Tower….

—Omitted—

The Magic Tower had an ironclad rule that they would not come out of the Magic Tower unless someone attacked them.

So I could not come up with a suitable way to win them over to my side.

After pondering for a long time, I came to the conclusion that I had to persuade the Magic Tower Master using the terrible incident that happened to his daughter in the duel with the Mage Corps 10 years ago as material. Although it was a duel and happened 10 years ago, in a way, it could also be that ‘the Magic Tower was attacked’.

…But just bringing up what happened 10 years ago was not enough.

To persuade the Magic Tower Master, it was not enough to just bring up the incident that happened in the past; I should have also enraged the Magic Tower Master by telling him that the Mage Corps, which had attacked the Magic Tower in the past, would prosper with the support of the noble faction in the future.

For example, in a way like, “Your daughter will suffer from the curse for the rest of her life, but the Mage Corps Commander and his family will live happily.”

Also, I should not have forgotten what Jereuth had said, 「“The mages of the Magic Tower covet precious magic ingredients.”」

In the kingdom's treasure vault, there was mithril powder needed to lift the curse on the Magic Tower Master's daughter… if I had brought that as a gift, it would have been much more advantageous in persuading the Magic Tower Master.

The day of the purge approaches. The die has already been cast, so there is no way to turn back.

As the purge, which was destined to fail, approached second by second, I felt a heavy sense of fear.

‘…It seems the future me failed to recruit the Magic Tower Master.’

But thankfully, the stated the reason for failing to persuade the Magic Tower Master.

So, what I had to do was to go to the Magic Tower Master based on that information and win him over to my side.

‘Please let this be the last of the purge preparations. I really don't have much time now.’

Swish!

Wiping my dry face with my hands, I got up from my seat.

Now that I had reached a conclusion, it was time to move.

‘First, I should go to the kingdom's vault and get the gift for the Magic Tower Master—the thing called ‘Mithril Powder’. Before I meet the Magic Tower Master and persuade him.’

I immediately summoned Elly.

Ting-a-ling―.

When I rang the summoning bell, Elly entered the room. The surprised expression she had when she was scolded by Jereuth earlier was gone, and she had her usual calm expression again.

“Did you call, Your Highness?”

“Yes. I want to go to the royal treasure vault.”

“The treasure vault….”

Elly trailed off, then cautiously continued to speak.

“Are you perhaps going to look for a gift for the Duke to whom you will hand over the throne?”

“That is not it. Why do you ask?”

“That is… because the royal treasure vault has long been empty. The nobles have already taken everything, haven't they.”

…The nobles emptied out the royal treasure vault?

Drop―.

Was it due to stress?

I felt a single strand of my hair fall.