CH 61.1

—The Empire. It is a country with a rich history, founded a thousand years ago.

It is the most historic country on the continent, where it has been merging with the rest of the world.

Surrounded by rugged mountains and forests, the history of the Empire is the history of the exploration of uncharted lands. The imperial people are a late-blooming power, who have followed the orders of their brilliant emperors for generations, clearing numerous mountains and forests and continuing to increase their human territory.

Because of the many challenges to nature, there are many old legends that have been passed down to future generations.

─ ─ It is said that beneath a certain volcano lies the Black Dragon, which will destroy the world.

─ ─ It is said that somewhere in the great mountain range that separates the Empire from the eastern countries lies the entrance to a dungeon, and that the holy sword [Excalibur], which only a hero can pull out, is stuck in a large rock at the back of the dungeon.

The White Tower has stood tall since the founding of the Empire. No one, not even successive emperors, has ever reached its summit. The truth of this world exists there, where everything is shrouded in mystery.

… and so on.

However, since childhood, imperial subjects have been frequently exposed to these stories and are familiar with them, especially the men, who even after they are old enough to drink, say things like ‘If I was a little younger, I would go looking for it…’. It has become a standard topic of conversation, especially among men.

In the past – and nowadays. The White Tower is one of the stages of such folklore.

On the lowest floor of the tower, a large number of sorcerers in black dressing gowns are gathered. In a space lit by a minimum of torchlight, they were mumbling and chanting enigmatic spells around a large magic circle drawn on the floor with lime ladders.

“More… put more magic into it.”

At first glance, the one giving instructions to the magicians was a young woman… but in fact it was Agranis, a [court witch] who had been alive for more than a century.

“What do you think? Are you going to succeed?”

A young man asks Agranis, with his arms crossed next to her. Agranis smiled and bowed to the man graciously.

“Yes, of course – Emperor Sieg. All is well, everything is going according to plan.”

“Mm. Good.”

The man who had been called “Emperor” let out a single breath, as if to take the strain out of his nervousness.

“I’m not very versed in magic, so… from what I can see, I don’t know if it’s going well or not.”

“That’s not surprising. After all… it’s a magic that was supposed to have been lost a hundred years ago. It is a magic left over from a civilisation completely different from the civilisation of this world. Even those who are less knowledgeable about magic wouldn’t be able to recognise it.”

“Mm…”

The Emperor re-folded his arms, looking restless.

“…Your Majesty, I don’t think you need to be so nervous.”

“Not so fast, a hundred years ago, a third of the Empire was nearly destroyed by this ritual, by humans summoned from a different phase of life than ours – the [Otherworlders].”

“The mistakes of that day still remain as thorns in my heart.”

Agranis closed her eyes and seemed to be ruminating bitterly on an old memory, but smiled wryly when she said, “But…”

“Your Majesty, it is said that failure is the mother of success. The last time we failed was when we forced ourselves to take hold of their reins.”

“Mm. You heard that. As I recall, our ancestors tried to treat them too much as a mere force of arms. It was utter folly…”

“It can’t be helped. No one knew at the time that the [Ritual of Summoning the Seven Warriors] was to summon otherworlders with intelligence and self-awareness equal to ours.”

“‘A usable golem was supposed to be summoned,’ was it? … but even so, the response is too late. If you were going to perform an unknown ritual, you should have thought about how to deal with cases where the summoning target showed traces of civilisation. Including how to subdue them and how to bring them under Imperial control afterwards.”

“Hmmm, that’s a very painful story to hear.”

“This time, of course, you’re not going to be slacking on that front, are you?”

Agranis nodded.

“Yes. Of course, of course. We know from the previous results that summoned Otherworlders have powerful [unique skills] and tend to be easily swayed by a sense of justice or don’t want to be under someone else’s control… so this time we’ll give them the authority to enforce [justice] and have them act [voluntarily]. We have prepared a plot to get them to act [voluntarily].”

“…You will teach the Seven Warriors that [the Kingdom], the greatest enemy of our Empire, is an absolute evil, and you will dangle a reward in front of them, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Agranis grins confidently.

“[A way to return to the original world], and if it’s somewhere in the kingdom, the interest of the otherworlders will be drawn to the kingdom as well.”

“…Hm. The pleasure of being able to strike evil with one’s own sense of justice, and even the hope of returning to one’s own world afterwards. With that much on their plates, the bellies of the otherworlders should be full, shouldn’t they?”

“Yes. I thought this would keep them under control long enough.”

“…I hope this doesn’t end up being a theory. For our own sake.”

The emperor nips back at his heels as he says this.

“Let me go back ahead of you. You know that as soon as the ceremony is successful, you will bring the [Seven Warriors] back to the court without detouring them. Be very polite, but keep the information we give you to a minimum.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The emperor then called for a single elderly male sorcerer, who ‘teleported’ away in an instant.

“Well… I guess we have about an hour left.”

When the emperor disappeared completely, Agranis, like the other sorcerers, also began to channel his magic towards the magic circle.