Interlude: The Daily Life of the Current Fourth-Ranked Analian Grand Magi, Clark
SEVERAL months have flown by since First-Ranked Grand Magi Julius and Fourth-Ranked Grand Magi Elle vanished from Analia. I was originally a researcher at the Centers for Magic Research run by the fourth-ranked Grand Magi, but the Demon Lord appointed me to fill the vacant position.
I knew I had slightly more skill than others, but I never expected to be selected as one of the Four Grand Magi. But it looks like I’m one now, so I’ve come to the former fourth’s lab to take over her research…and I can’t make heads or tails of it.
“What in the magic world was former fourth-ranked Grand Magi Elle researching?” I mutter, staring at the magic circle for wide-area spells drawn on the floor. I push up the glasses sliding down my nose.
Elle’s research is a complete enigma. “I haven’t seen such overly complicated configurations since my time repairing the circle in the Demon Lord’s inner sanctum at the behest of the DemiOracle…” I crouch and run my fingers over the slightly deformed magic circle I assume she drew. The not-so-pretty lines look like an Explosion spell. But the way it’s configured would drain too much magic from the caster.
If I had to guess, I’d say this spell is used to gauge how much magic the caster has. That would explain why it’s such a magic guzzler, but wouldn’t that point to Elle’s research being into her own magic supply?
“Lord Clark, the other two Grand Magi have summoned you to the council room,” says Alex, the man serving as my secretary of sorts. I’ve become one of the Grand Magi, so he’s kind of like my subordinate.
“Oh, we have a meeting today? Whoops, I forgot… Not like the meetings mean anything. Do I have to go?”
“The second- and third-ranked Grand Magi are asking you to come.” Expressionless Alex is giving off an aura that nags, “Quit whining and get going.”
Well, darn. Looks like attendance is required after all.
“Okay, okay. I get the picture. I’ll go. I will.”
What a pain. I have a strong feeling that analyzing what Elle was researching here will be far more beneficial than attending fruitless meetings.
A job’s a job. I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose and head to the council room.
✦ ✦ ✦
“YOU’RE late, newbie!”
Sereniel the Temptress, second-ranked Grand Magi, greets me with a frustrated groan, folding her arms over her ample chest, which is barely covered by a chilly-seeming outfit that looks like nothing more than an armored lingerie set. I never know where to look when it comes to her attire. Her breasts are practically falling out of the cups. Is magic holding them up?
“Ah, sorry ’bout that. Busy with a buncha stuff.”
“I’m busier than you!” she snips. “Julius is gone, there’s no first-rank replacement, and I’m stuck commanding the army on my own, y’know?!” She stomps over to me, angrily flipping her long, wavy flaxen hair over her shoulders.
The first-ranked Grand Magi is normally responsible for the Demon Lord’s Army, with the second serving as assistant. But with the first missing, Sereniel is commanding the whole army alone.
Sucks for her, but it’s not my problem.
“I see. You have it rough.” I parry her irate ranting with unfeeling sympathy. Her brows snap together and she whips her head away.
Maybe it’s just me, but Sereniel seems to be on a short fuse these days. She used to be a mature older woman—er, woman in the prime of her life—with the bewitching allure of always being in control. Did she suffer that big of a blow with Julius and Elle’s disappearance? Rumors always pinned her as having her eyes on Julius.
“Clark, my boy, how fare ye? Have a handle on wee Elle’s whereabouts?” a man with short white hair asks, his face drooping with exhaustion.
He’s Steel Regulus, one of the rare few Analian men to have more muscle than brain. As the third-ranked Grand Magi, he’s in charge of national security.
“Aha, sorry. I have Detect constantly running a search, but I haven’t caught the slightest trace of them. Chances are high that a more skilled sorcerer than me has an ingenious spell blocking any detection.”
“I see. No use, eh? Even the hope of the Centers for Magic Research is stumped, eh? My boys have been bellyaching about not finding her, either… Oh, I know! Julius is the man for the job! Let’s ask him to find her! He’s a surefire candidate to sniff her out!” Regulus exclaims with optimistic glee, earning a cutting glare from Sereniel.
“HOW! MANY! TIMES! MUST! I REPEAT MYSELF! We’re out searching because Julius is missing, too!”
“Ah, is he? Aaah, it’s too inconvenient without Julius around. The boy could do anything,” Regulus bemoans, taking an emotional swig of tea.
Regulus…that was my tea you just drank, you old coot. Oh well.
Regulus’s default mode is senility unless it’s an emergency or combat is afoot. I’m kinda worried about this country when its generals are made up of a crotchety middle-aged woman, an old man teetering on senescence, and someone who’s utterly useless outside of research like me.
Well, the country won’t fall apart as long as we have the Demon Lord.
“Oh my Demon Lord! I hate this! The Demon Lord isn’t helping, either! I can’t begin to understand what he’s thinking!” Sereniel complains.
Regulus arches an eyebrow. He’d been the picture of a nice old man until she said that. Now his relaxed face has hardened, his green eyes narrowing in on her.
“Sereniel. Your word choice is disrespectful. We must never suppose we can understand the Demon Lord’s boundless wisdom,” he says, completely changing his tone and manner of speech.
Sereniel frowns like she didn’t expect he’d be upset.
“B-But aren’t our orders strange?! Two of the Grand Magi disappeared at the same time, so why is the order only to find one of them?!”
“…It is not our place to question orders. We merely move as the Demon Lord commands,” Regulus finishes, folding his arms and closing his eyes.
Indeed, the Demon Lord’s orders in regards to the disappearance of the two Grand Magi pertain only to capturing Elle. There’s no order to find or apprehend Julius. Julius is said to be the most skilled sorcerer in Analia’s history, and he’s the man everyone accepted as the kingdom’s commanding officer.
It’s extremely likely that my Detect spell and Regulus’s subordinates’ search attempts are coming up short because Julius is hiding their location with powerful magic. In short, three of the Grand Magi can do nothing before his mastery of magic. So there’s definitely something suspicious about the Demon Lord ignoring his loss to focus obsessively on Elle.
One order in particular is questionable…
“Are you really okay with that, Regulus?! Those orders…are outrageous! Why is it just Elle?! And what the Demon Lord is really after is…!” Sereniel didn’t finish that statement. Maybe she didn’t want to say the rest.
So I happily fill in the blanks for her.
“The Demon Lord is only after Elle. Dead or alive. However, her heart must be brought back unharmed,” I finish with clerical disinterest. Sereniel shoots me a loathsome look. I shrug and let her piercing gaze slide right off me.
All I did was say what she couldn’t. It’s so cruel of her to glare at me for that.
Regulus exhales a heavy sigh with his eyes shut. “We are the Demon Lord’s hands, feet, eyes, and ears. But we can never know his heart. That belongs to him alone. We must never speak out against the Demon Lord’s plans.”
Sereniel gnaws on her bottom lip to stop from voicing her opinion and stalks out of the meeting.
Hah. This has become yet another meeting without any results. At least this means the meeting is over. I push up my glasses and move to leave the room when I catch Regulus staring at me.
“Wh-What is it? I can leave now, right? Sereniel already left.”
The power behind his stare holds me hostage. I can’t pry my eyes away.
Regulus may be ranked third now, but he has a history of serving as the first in his heyday. He has a certain powerful aura like no one else.
I stay perfectly still, awaiting what he has to say. He cocks his head.
“Where’s my lunch?”
……
“…Regulus, I believe it is almost three o’clock. You likely already had your lunch,” I respond.
“Is it?” he says and slowly ambles past me out of the council room.
……
What can I do? I’m becoming extremely worried about the future of Analia.