Chapter 236

Chapter 236 - The Sharpest Arrow

Fortunately, thanks to the Wind Dragon stepping forward, their worries about the Fire Dragon could be postponed.

Everyone in the conference hall except Cos let out a sigh of relief.

It was now time to examine once more the issue that had been raised a little earlier.

The Master of the Tower of the Sky once again conjured light and brought an image split into two before the mages.

“What remains is the issue of the Tower of the Sky’s deployment. Since the Wind Dragon has said he will push away the clouds, Millesdusk will certainly be visible as it approaches through the clear sky.”

However, deciding after Millesdusk came into view would be too late.

They had to prepare for more than half of the countless possibilities in advance, and only then would the mages feel satisfied.

“There is a high chance Millesdusk will come with both the ground and the sky covered in an undead legion.”

“Because that was what happened eighty years ago.”

“The Third Son is correct. The undead legion that appeared eighty years ago was so vast in number that a uniform tower deployment could not stop it.”

“Then we will have to use a concentrated deployment in the end. The role of the scouting unit will be extremely important.”

The burden had been somewhat reduced thanks to the Wind Dragon, but that did not mean the importance of their role had lessened.

“We will have to invest manpower. It would be better for one of the blood kin to go to the neutral zone as part of the scouting unit along with the Sky Mages.”

“I agree.”

Pia nodded at her younger brother’s words and continued.

“Then I will lead the Sky Mages—”

“I will go.”

“W-Wha?”

She stammered in bewilderment. The unexpected volunteer who had suddenly cut in was Cos, who herself had suddenly appeared in the conference hall.

“I am not saying I will lead the Sky Mages, but I will go to the neutral zone as part of the scouting unit too.”

“Th-Then will you do that?”

“Yes.”

Cos gave a short nod and turned her gaze back into empty air. Before she could space out again, Pia quickly stepped in.

“But Big Sister, is there a particular reason? Why did you suddenly volunteer for the scouting unit?”

The amethyst-like eyes that had been staring only at empty air turned toward her younger sister.

“I am a member of this family too. I think that is reason enough for me to work hard.”

“R-Right.”

Pia agreed and ended the conversation there. At the same time, a single thought passed through everyone’s mind.

—If you were going to work hard, you could have come a little earlier!

The First Daughter was an existence whose next move could not be predicted, and the same was true of the Family Head.

However, with magical talent great enough to make even a dragon marvel, she was the next Family Head.

Even so, the Tower of the Sky on the front lines had no choice but to formulate its operation without including her.

It was fine to build a plan around a powerful cannon, but not when that cannon kept appearing and disappearing.

That simply would not do.

“…Very well. Then I will understand that the Sky Mages and the First Daughter will act separately, and that their reports to the tower will also be made separately.”

There was no answer from Cos. Her eyes had grown blank again.

Unless a book was placed in her hands, the First Daughter’s mind usually stopped like that.

A moment ago, she had said she had more than enough reason to work hard, so what on earth was going on inside that head right now?

The Master of the Tower of the Sky massaged his throbbing head and took out the next agenda item from his spatial storage.

“What you will see next is Millesdusk’s Dark Elixir.”

A pitch-black liquid was contained inside an angular, square bottle. However, this information was also outdated.

“According to Messenger Paras, who returned from the East, the Fifth Son called this the 1st process, and said that they had completed the 2nd process.”

“Then that 2nd process Dark Elixir is not in our hands.”

“…Unfortunately, that is correct. Our personnel tried to obtain it by any means possible, but it seems the 2nd process Dark Elixir is given only to the blood kin.”

The Third Son and the Second Daughter did not notice, but a light appeared in the First Daughter’s eyes.

Her unfocused eyes, which had gone blank from spacing out, lit up, and those amethyst eyes turned toward the Dark Elixir.

Meanwhile, the meeting did not stop.

“The 1st process Dark Elixir fills the body with something called yin energy and freezes it, then induces a mana-overheating phenomenon.”

Pia nodded at Ryan’s words and added to them.

“The frozen body is warmed by mana overheating, and during that time, the user can unleash high-output curses one after another within the limits allowed by their mana, without suffering from the overheating problem.”

Sighs escaped from among the mages.

They certainly already knew this, but hearing it directly like this only made them sigh even more.

“The 1st process alone is at this level, so what will the 2nd process be like? In the end, we have to rely on predictions.”

Mages were, at their core, scholars. They were specialized in researching and exploring things.

They were experts who started from a tiny seed, nurtured it, grew deep roots, and even brought it to bear fruit.

Now, a seed called Dark Elixir had entered their hands.

“We have the research data on the 1st process so far. Based on this, we will predict the power of the 2nd process Dark Elixir and prepare for it.”

Yes—!!

The mages gathered in the conference hall answered at once.

. . .

The sun visible beyond the window set.

Until then, not a single mage rose from their seat.

They left their bodies still and moved only their hands busily, branching from existing data into new data.

CLACK— CLACK—

Cos also sat still, but instead of handling documents, she fiddled with a cube.

“SNORE….”

The Wind Dragon, who had been yawning at length at some point, was already lying in midair, asleep.

Then, when the sun had completely set, the Master of the Tower of the Sky quietly turned on the lights in the ceiling.

Now that the moon, as bright as those lights, had risen in the sky, the mages moved their arms until every inkwell was emptied.

The floor became a mess of the equations, formulas, and discarded theories they had written.

“Hmm….”

Cos looked at the cube in her hand.

“It is finished.”

She had truly scrambled it perfectly. The most difficult form this cube could possibly take had now been completed.

The Youngest Son who would receive the cube would try to solve it immediately, but it would absolutely not be easy.

“It will take at least four days.”

Since it had taken her four days just to scramble this cube, the minimum time would also be four days.

Cos looked with satisfaction at the regular icosahedron cube, its colors chaotically mixed.

Then, when she turned her eyes aside for a moment, she saw her younger siblings sitting beside her.

Everyone was working hard. A little earlier, they seemed to have been talking about something involving the 2nd process Dark Elixir.

‘Shall I try?’

As it happened, there were blank paper, an inkwell, and a quill in front of her.

Unlike the others’ inkwells, the full inkwell received the quill for the first time.

SCRATCH, SCRATCH—

Formulas in the First Daughter’s handwriting were inscribed across the parchment.

At the sound of that quill, all the other quills fell silent.

The eyes of every mage turned toward the First Daughter, but whether she knew it or not, she did not stop her hand.

However, that did not last long either.

“This should be about it.”

“…Already?”

Pia muttered without meaning to.

“I do not see anything else.”

Unlike the mages, who had worked through the night until now, she stopped after a single page.

“I will go now. I will leave for the neutral zone with Lord Ventus as soon as the sun rises.”

“Uh, yes. Take care.”

“Yes. See you later.”

The First Daughter Cos, after touching nothing but the cube for a long while, left behind only a single sheet of paper and departed.

The last thing they saw was her dragging the still-sleeping Wind Dragon out by the ankle.

THUD—

Only the original group remained in the conference hall once more.

At the same time, Pia snatched up Cos’s paper, while Ryan and the nearby mages crowded around her.

“To begin with, there is only one possibility.”

“It is only one sheet of paper too. There probably is not all that much written on it.”

The mages had gathered, but the only ones who could speak here were the two blood kin.

The rest held their breath and craned their necks somehow to read the thoughts Cos had written on the paper.

“The 2nd process Dark Elixir must certainly have been refined more than the 1st process….”

The First Daughter’s handwritten argument spread through the hall in Pia’s voice.

It was a somewhat unusual thought, but it was not as though the mages and blood kin present had never considered it.

However, there was a difference. The ending of the sentence was clearly different from every other opinion.

“…She says ‘must certainly.’ Does Eldest Sister really think this alone is the answer?”

“Let us keep reading for now.”

The First Daughter was speaking from a single sheet of parchment. Her opinion was conveyed through the Second Daughter’s mouth so that everyone could hear it.

“The greatest characteristic of the 1st process is its ‘roughness.’ If the Fifth Son is prioritizing marketability for sales to sorcerers, he will try to satisfy the majority by modifying that roughness.”

“…It is not an unreasonable example.”

“I think so as well. However, with this alone, it is difficult to infer the true power of the 2nd process Dark Elixir.”

“There is the back of the parchment too.”

The First Daughter had known that as well, so she had written more.

“As the 2nd process Dark Elixir has become much smoother, the direct-line Millesdusk blood kin will sublimate this into various advantages.”

The First Daughter listed those expected advantages.

Duration. Enhanced output. Amplification of curse effects, and so on. She could have simply used more paper, yet she had somehow written it all in tiny, meticulous letters.

“……”

After reading all of it, Pia lowered the parchment.

“Master of the Tower of the Sky. Organize the data from the two of us and the rest of the mages, but make this the highest-priority material for the plan.”

“…Understood.”

The Tower Master carefully accepted Cos’s parchment while gauging Pia’s mood.

She pushed her chair back and rose.

“That is all for today. Everyone worked hard, and you may return to your respective posts.”

Once the order to disperse was given, the mages bowed their heads and left one by one.

As they did, they quietly whispered to one another, but it was obvious what they were talking about even without hearing it.

Pia herself had marveled several times while reading the parchment.

The only ones who remained in the conference hall until the end were her blood sibling Ryan and the Master of the Tower of the Sky, who was compiling the materials.

“…How can this be possible?”

At Pia’s murmur, Ryan, who had stayed in his seat, turned his head slightly.

“Eldest Sister has never once been told that she cannot do something. When it comes to self-conviction, who could ever match her?”

“Is that really how it works?”

The mages had not marveled because her opinion was special.

She had chosen and carried through a single possibility among countless possibilities, and in the end, it had become the most outstanding answer.

The most outstanding answer. A single sharpest arrow that surpassed an entire rain of countless arrows.

They had marveled because that one arrow had defeated all the arrows the mages here had produced in such disorderly abundance.

The Second Daughter’s rain of arrows and the Third Son’s rain of arrows had all shattered before the First Daughter’s single arrow.

“…Princess, perhaps you should sleep now. Most of what was urgent has been settled, so now it is time to observe the situation.”

“The Tower Master is right. Come with me for now.”

“No. I will go alone. Everyone worked hard. I will see you tomorrow.”

Pia rose from her seat and descended the Tower of the Sky alone.

The Master of the Tower of the Sky had given the blood kin rooms in his own residence.

The three siblings’ rooms were lined up side by side, and Pia was about to enter her own room when she stopped for a moment.

From the room beside hers, its owner seemed to be packing, as clattering sounds kept coming from inside.

Knock, knock—

“Big Sister. Are you inside?”

Instead of going into her own room, she knocked on her sister’s door.

CREAK—

Before long, the door opened, and Cos came out from behind it.

“What is it?”

Her eyes were still innocent. Pia spoke into those eyes.

“Before you go to the neutral zone, will you spar with me just once?”