Chapter 162: Starting to Improve My Constitution (1)
Alfoy wasn’t usually the type to be swayed by compliments.
Back when he lived in the Mage Tower, he was an arrogant man overflowing with confidence.
He lived believing he lacked nothing in terms of background or talent.
‘Yeah, I’m Alfoy. A man who never gives up.’
But ever since he started hanging around Ghislaine, his self-esteem had taken quite a hit.
These days, he didn’t even know why he was living and often found himself feeling inexplicably gloomy.
However, after receiving a shower of compliments for the first time in a while, it felt like the confidence from his Mage Tower days was being revived.
“Of course, I can do it! It’s just that… I’m a bit tired, so I tried to poke at the Lord, but it’s not really that hard. If I can’t do even that, can I really call myself the heir to the Mage Tower?”
As Alfoy arrogantly spoke, the mages next to him gasped and turned to look at him.
They knew him well enough to be aware of his flaws.
They knew he was full of bluster, and that he completely lost his mind when others tried to lift him up.
Before the mages could stop him, more praises came pouring out.
“Truly, such spirit is what makes one the heir of the Mage Tower! Such spirit cannot be shown by just anyone.”
“Isn’t this why the Tower of the Bloody Flame is called the best in the North?”
“To think that someone like him is the heir. The future of the Mage Tower is indeed bright.”
Ghislaine raised her thumb and boosted the atmosphere even more.
“You’re truly the best, Alfoy.”
When someone praises him this much, you know the deal is sealed. It’s definitely not common for someone to be called the best by him.
“Tch… Wasn’t it always like that?”
Alfoy began to put on a haughty expression as he started to puff himself up a bit.
Claude, not wanting to miss a beat, pointed to Alfoy’s hand and said,
“Hey, bro! Do you know what kind of hand you have that can use magic?”
“…Right hand?”
“That’s not what I meant, you dimwit… No, the magic that starts from your hand is going to create miracles in this territory! So your hand is truly the hand of miracles! It’s not about whether it’s the right or left hand! You dolt…”
“Wow! The hand of miracles, Alfoy!”
People interrupted Claude’s words and cheered. Since they had started this emotional labor, they might as well see it to the end.
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
As the applause erupted, Alfoy became completely full of himself.
Seeing this, Claude didn’t bother hiding his pity and whispered to Wendy,
“He needs to taste more of society’s bitter side. He must have grown up pampered in the tower, because he seriously has no idea. How in the world did the tower lord raise him?”
“Maybe it’s because he was raised that way, but he really has no sense. How on earth did the Mage Tower master raise him?”
‘You’re the worst of them all.’
Wendy thought to herself without answering.
As the applause and cheers of the people continued, Alfoy’s nose grew more and more high.
The panicked mages tugged at his sleeve, trying to stop him, but it was no use.
When the atmosphere was completely heated up, Ghislaine asked in a low voice.
“Can you handle it within the period? We need it done as soon as possible… Is it tough even for the genius mage Alfoy?”
At those words, everyone held their breath and looked at Alfoy.
Alfoy scanned the eager eyes of the crowd, slowly swept his hair back with one hand.
With a very arrogant and haughty expression, he raised one hand.
“Don’t worry, this Alfoy will handle it all!”
“Waaaaah! That’s Alfoy for you!”
Once again, a huge cheer and applause poured out for Alfoy.
Alfoy lifted his chin high, while the other mages hung their heads in a daze.
*
‘Why did I do that, knowing it wouldn’t work?’
Alfoy regretted it as he faced the Runestone.
After being praised to a near toxic level for the first time in ages, he couldn’t bring himself to say that he couldn’t do it.
That would hurt his pride.
But when he actually faced the workload, there was so much to do that he couldn’t even muster the determination to start.
Even now, mages were desperately searching for him at each construction site, and the administration was hastily demanding the Runestones for the cultivated land.
When it was time for praise, everyone was warm, but as soon as it was time to work, they all seemed coolly pressuring him.
Especially Claude was mercilessly sending someone every hour to check the schedule.
— Hey, Miracle Hand! Hurry and show us a miracle! When is the work going to be done, you idiot!
‘You bastard! How dare you try to control me with such sweet words? That guy must be casting ‘Charm’ magic with his mouth.’
The fact that he, a genius mage, would fall for that guy’s words felt unbelievable. It was as if ‘Charm’ magic had been cast from that guy’s lips.
He would have laughed his heart out if the surrounding people heard it, but Alfoy was unaware of it.
He kept biting his nails, mumbling with an anxious expression.
“No way. When am I ever going to finish this? If I’m to create the Mana Convergence Circle within a week, I won’t have time for other tasks. The schedule just doesn’t match.”
Even with all the mages clinging to him, he just couldn’t align the schedule.
But he couldn’t say he wouldn’t do it again. His pride wouldn’t allow that.
As the heir to the Mage Tower, Alfoy had to be noble and perfect at all times.
While he sat there lamenting, Vanessa cautiously spoke up.
“Um… I have a method.”
“What is it?”
“I can carve the Magic Circle… but it’s a matter of Magic Power, you see?”
After all, Vanessa was already leading the work on the Magic Circle.
However, due to a significant lack of Magic Power, others had no choice but to follow her instructions, resulting in slow progress.
Alfoy responded curtly.
“But why? Are you bragging about leading the Magic Circle? Wow, what a show-off. Hey, I’m the heir to the Mage Tower, you know? I’m better at everything except for Magic Circles. That’s a niche I haven’t studied.”
“No, no. That’s not it… If you could transfer some Magic Power to me… I’ll try to finish it as quickly as possible.”
“Just let me warp us… I’ll do it as fast as I can.”
“What?! No way! You want me to do that again? Are you crazy? What if I die?!”
Alfoy and the mages recoiled in shock.
They had no choice but to be dragged along during the war when they had no idea what kind of mess they were getting into, but they absolutely wouldn’t consider doing something as reckless as that with a sound mind.
However, Vanessa was unusually firm this time.
“If we don’t, we can’t stick to our schedule! If we can’t stick to it, it’s going to be a disaster for territory development! You even confidently said you could handle this, Alfoy! If you can’t, you’ll be humiliated!”
“Humiliated? That’s not allowed… Uh, how about we fill up on magic power using runestones? We have plenty of those, right?”
As soon as she mentioned using the property of the territory, the runestones, Vanessa’s words quickened.
“How can we waste something that expensive? No matter how many runestones we have, it’s not more than the magic power of the mages. To fill as much magic power as through transfer, we’d have to use a ton! We’ll be needing them elsewhere too; the Lord won’t allow it!”
“Wow, you’re suddenly… really good at arguing.”
Alfoy couldn’t refute her pragmatic points, so he just scratched his head and sighed.
Vanessa said soothingly to him, “We won’t drain all the magic power like during the war. It won’t be as dangerous… And we can finish this quickly. You’ll be praised even more, Alfoy.”
“….”
“If we finish quickly, we can at least rest a little, right? Isn’t it better to finish fast and rest than to be humiliated?”
With Vanessa’s strong persuasion, Alfoy and the mages were tempted and cautiously asked, “If we provide magic power, how quickly can we finish?”
“Two days! We can do it in two days. Then we can at least take a break for two more days. If we all work together during that time… we can easily handle the runestone work for the fields.”
“Really… you mean we can actually finish in two days?”
“Yes!”
After a long deliberation, Alfoy decided to risk the fear of death for the sake of his pride and rest.
“We have to go easy… right?”
“Yep!”
Having received the magic power, Vanessa displayed an astonishing level of concentration.
Her unwavering determination to help the territory ultimately created a small miracle.
In just two days, they created one hundred Mana Convergence Circles.
If someone were to be called the ‘Hand of Miracles,’ it would be Vanessa, not Alfoy. The only one unaware of this was Alfoy himself.
Regardless, everyone paid a price for forcing the schedule forward.
By the time they finished the last process, Vanessa was staggering, surrounded by twenty-six collapsed mages.
“Ugh… I can’t believe it was actually possible…”
“This is insane… I feel like I’m dying. You said to go easy…”
“That one, that one isn’t sane at all…”
Their bodies were so emaciated, they looked like skeletons.
At first, Vanessa had claimed they’d go easy, but as soon as the magic transfer started, she devoured magic power like a madwoman.
There seemed to be a personal grudge mixed in as well.
Shivering like a leaf, Alfoy said, “S-so now that we’ve done all this… I can really take two days off, right? Make sure it’s said I led this to success. That way, I won’t be humiliated…”
“Y-yes, yes…”
Vanessa nodded with a pale face.
He nodded with a pale face.
Upon hearing the answer he had hoped for, Alfoy and the mages immediately fainted.
Despite their ghastly complexions, faint smiles lingered at the corners of their mouths.
‘What can a lord do when they can’t even move because they lack magic power?’
As a result, the mages’ plan succeeded.
They finished a task that would normally take over a week in just two days, allowing them a minimum of two days to rest for recovery.
When the news that the magic circle was completed reached Ghislaine, he rushed over in surprise.
“Whoa, you really did all this in two days? But… are you all okay? You’re not dead, are you?”
Ghislaine swallowed hard as he surveyed the surroundings.
It was good that they finished quickly, but everyone looked in terrible condition.
Then, as if to reassure him, Vanessa smiled and said, “If we just rest for about two days… working again shouldn’t be a problem. The next task is runestones for cultivation, so it’s a simple job.”
“Y-yeah. You should rest too.”
“Oh, no. Alfoy did everything, so I’m fine. But I do need to confirm a little more…”
Swoosh.
Vanessa interrupted herself and sniffled.
Then she looked at the bright red liquid on her finger and hurriedly added, “A-and… this magic circle can last longer than the previous ones… at least this week…”
That was incredible news. If the duration increased, they could save on runestones accordingly.
Truly, it was the mark of a genius mage.
Ghislaine didn’t believe for a second that Alfoy did everything. He knew well that Alfoy and the mages had neglected their studies of the magic circle.
But right now, there was no room to nitpick such trivial matters.
More blood was gradually flowing from Vanessa’s nose. Seeing this, Ghislaine said urgently, “I’ll handle the confirmation, so you rest quickly. Your nose is bleeding profusely!”
“I’m fine. This is just because I was suddenly exposed to a large amount of mana and released excessive thoughts, causing a strain on my brain, but the solution is…”
As she rambled on, Vanessa suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed forward.
“Vanessa!”
Ghislaine grabbed Vanessa’s shoulders to prevent her from falling.
Even after reaching the 6th Circle, it wasn’t an easy feat.
She was low on magic power and had drained her mental strength immensely.
Nonetheless, Vanessa pushed her limits because she wanted to help the territory.
“Gosh…”
Ghislaine smiled as he patted the back of the unconscious Vanessa in his arms.
She usually had no presence, yet when it mattered, she accomplished things bigger than anyone else.
That sentiment felt deeply touching, and gratitude surged.
And regardless of the reason, he felt proud of Alfoy and the mages who collapsed after using the dangerous mana transfer.
“Well, as expected of the heir of the Mage Tower. I’ll have to make sure to reward you later.”
Ghislaine ordered the servants to move the mages and immediately called for Gillian.
“Did you call for me?”
“Gillian, we need to divide the training and public order duties into morning and afternoon shifts.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Yeah, it’s time to improve our systems.”
Ghislaine smiled as he turned his head.
Before his eyes, a hundred magic circles glowed with a subtle blue light.
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