Chapter 31

­ Invitation Of The Ivory Tower (1)

“Wow…..!”

“How valuable do you think this would be?”

At the mansion which now belonged to Ian. Ledio, Vanessa, Ian and Douglas were sitting near the treasure box that was given to him by the royal family.

“To earn this much money, I would have to sell potions to the Army for at least 50 years.”

“What if I were to help you?”

“Hmm, then approximately 49 years?”

“Daddy!”

Ledio and his son were focused on the amount of gold coins in the treasure box. How much would it be worth? That was their concern.

“It was given to my boy Ian….”

On the other hand, Vanessa didn’t care about the amount.

She was only concerned that the Emperor gave a present to him.

A present that was given to her son, and not to others.

“By our Emperor who lives in the royal palace…..”

The Emperor was the man with the most authority in the Empire.

Thusly, such a powerful man would give such a magnificent present to her son.

It was the best news she could ever hope to receive in her life as a mother.

“Is it the reason he gave me jewels without hesitation?”

Ledio mumbled quietly.

He unknowingly said it out loud.

“Jewels?”

Douglas, who was sitting next to Ledio asked.

“Did you say jewels?”

Vanessa asked about it, too.

Did someone give him jewels as well? Who?

“N..n..nothing. Haha.”

Fortunately, no one asked further about it.

Ledio let out a sigh of relief.

Recently, he kept unconsciously saying what was on his mind.

‘I haven’t been able to control myself since I returned here.’

The capital Greenriverdium was a nightmare to Ledio. Although he was born and raised here, there were so many bad things that had happened to him here as well. Especially mana addiction. He received that curse in the capital.

‘That mage might already be conducting in another region.’

The man who caused Ledio to suffer from mana addiction.

When he did that to Ledio, he was a mage who was about to graduate from the academy. About one year had passed since then, therefore he must be conducting in another region. It was a normal process to become an official mage to conduct a region.

‘For a while, I am safe. For a while.’

As Ledio knew, the average duration of conduction duties was 5 years.

Hence, he still had enough time.

He may leave this area after finding the cure,

or…

‘I have to stick with sir Ian.’

Ledio had also heard the rumors.

He knew mages better than an ordinary man.

Ian was a genius. An unfathomable genius.

Soon he will be one of the Archmages.

‘I can rely on the stronger side.’

From commoners to nobles, various people formed the Ivory Tower.

Hence, there was no value behind someone’s origin.

To the Ivory Tower, the value of a person was measured through how much magical power and talent they had.

‘Then, that bastard won’t have any choice…..’

There existed many ways.

Ledio felt relieved.

“Please, don’t bend your backs and please don’t bow to me. It makes me feel embarrassed….. I was once a kitchen maid as well. So…..”

“Huh?”

After she finished looking at the coins, Vanessa told the maids not to bow to her with sympathy. They were the maids who were sent by the Emperor along with the treasure. They were stiffly straight and bending their bodies low to bow.(E/N: for those unaware, a low bow usually signifies that they are bowing to someone with more power with them? at least I think, it is like that in japanese culture)

“M…Mrs. Page, we……”

“I know how you think. It’s not a thing I can change. Other higher men wouldn’t be allowed to do so.”

Vanessa was once a kitchen maid of the province castle.

Her rank was lower than most other maids.

She knew how harsh their lives were.

“I won’t force you to sit and take a rest. But please, at least don’t bend your bodies. It will make your backs hurt later. I am one of the victims of such as well.”

She advised them with her experience.

Once the waist is damaged, it won’t recover easily.

“Hmm, Mrs. Page is so kind.”

Ledio nodded while watching Vanessa’s behavior.

Compared to Ian whose identity Ledio couldn’t even figure out, his mother was innocent and kind. One would hardly think that Vanessa was Ian’s mother.

“Waist, wasn’t it? The elixir for bones and joints…..”

“Daddy, wake up.”

Douglas, while leering at his father, he stopped Ledio’s action.

“It will cause you big problems.”

“What kind of problems?”

“She is now a noble, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, because she is the mother of a mage.”

“So you shouldn’t have a relationship with her…..”

“W, what are you saying you little brat!”

Ledio was greatly embarrassed by understanding the point.

He was wondering what Douglas was saying.

“Boss won’t like it if he knew about it….”

Still, Douglas was looking at his father suspiciously.

With his stare, Ledio broke out in a cold sweat.

‘He’s daring to go against me, isn’t he?’

As Douglas hung around with Ian, he acted more like an adult.

He was still too young to experience puberty.

‘It can be a side effect I never expected.’

He decided to take Ian’s deal for his son, but now he regretted it a little.

“Ian. How was the meeting with the Emperor, his highness?”

Vanessa greeted Ian.

Ian had returned to the mansion from the palace.

“You just need to say it to his highness once.”

“B-but……”

As Ian entered, the maids bent their bodies again. They knew that the young mage, Ian Page, was the boss of this family.

“It seems these coins and maids, all of them are gifts of the Emperor, his highness. I don’t know if we deserve to have it….”

“Mom, I told you no more bad times. So you didn’t believe me about it?”

“D, didn’t believe? No way. I just couldn’t imagine this much!”

Truly, she couldn’t even imagine it.

All of a sudden, her son became a great mage in one day.

In addition, he received a call from the Emperor, and was escorted to the capital.

Furthermore, he received these rewards after having a meeting with the Emperor.

‘I couldn’t ever imagine this much even in my dream.’

Vanessa had lived a very harsh life.

Especially after she had lost her husband. She would happily cry out whenever she heard good news about her son. Because it was her only desire and happiness. However this situation, it was not just a ‘little good’ news, wasn’t it? She still felt like she is dreaming.

“Well, then I should wait longer until you realize what has happened to you.”

Ian understood his mother.

So there was nothing to feel sad about nor was there a reason to be in a hurry.

She just needed more time.

‘I couldn’t do this in my former life.’

After she smiled happily, Ian looked at Ledio.

Ian had no idea why, but Ledio seemed nervous.

“Let’s have a conversation.”

“C, conversation? With me?”

Ledio was freaked out.

What’s going on?

“Why are you suprised?”

“N, nothing. Good. Conversation is good.”

While murmuring, he leered at Douglas.

There must be something between them.

Ian shrugged his shoulder curiously.

Then, he entered the quiet room with Ledio.

“I want you to brew a potion.”

“What sort of potion do you want?”

“A potion with this mushroom.”

Ian pulled out the mushrooms he had collected one by one.

Even Ledio had never seen that grey mushroom before.

It was a natural. It hadn’t been discovered in this timeline yet.

“What is this mushroom?”

“It’s called stone heart mushroom, a poisonous one.”

“A poisonous mushroom? What sort of potion would you make with it….”

Of course, there were potions which were based on poisonous ingredients.

However, the elixirs that Ian had wanted before, such that they enhanced the magical power of a consumer, none of them used poisonous ingredients.

“It paralyzes nerve systems. It stops the heart as well.”

“This mushroom?”

“Yes. Treat it with caution since it’s a deadly one.”

It was a scarily dangerous mushroom.

While shaking his body, Ledio looked at the mushroom.

Stone heart mushroom was it? Would it even be recorded on the illustrated book?

“Then what kind of potion do you want me to brew with such dangerous ingredients? I may able to brew a poison, but not a potion….”

“Do you know interrogation magic?”

“I do.”

Ledio also experienced it once in his past.

The bastard mage, who caused mana addiction to him, once used it on Ledio.

Ledio knew it very well.

“I want to avoid the interrogation magic.”

Soon, Ledio understood Ian’s thoughts.

Actually, he was already able to guess it when he heard the words, interrogation magic.

“Can you brew it?”

“I think I can, but is it urgent?”

“It is. The faster, the better.”

“Hmm….”

Ledio thought briefly.

Then he could recite a few ingredients.

He could brew such a potion by mixing those ingredients well.

“Sigh, Douglas won’t like it…..”

Ledio spoke out unexpected words.

“Ah, these types of potions need a lot of experiments. To find out whether the potion works properly, or if there are any side effects. Since we couldn’t just try it on a human, we usually try it on animals. Such as mice and rabbits.

Although Douglas wanted to be an alchemist, he had grown up as a normal child. Killing many animals won’t make him happy.

“Douglas may cry out and beg me not to do experiments on animals.”

“I will try to persuade him.”

It won’t be that hard. Ian nodded his head.

Suddenly,

“Sir Ian.”

A maid’s voice could be heard through the door.

“The ivory tower sent you a letter.”