“Ahhh…”
“You worked so hard today, Lord.” After giving the children homework and finishing my first lecture, I went to my room to drink some tea. Mora seemed busy, so Reyha was serving me.
“I understood the theory,” Clara said, “but…this ‘chaos’ seems a bit overwhelming. Is it not dangerous?” She sat across from me, drinking her tea with elegance and poise. I didn’t think the slight frown on her face was due to the bitter taste of Reyha’s brew.
“Well, when it comes time to actually start making golems, we will have to be very careful. But I’m thinking I should start them with making potions.”
“Why is that?”
“One reason is that it will serve as practice before actually making golems. Think of it as prudent economic decision, so we don’t waste expensive materials.”
“Oh, I see…”
The silence felt somewhat awkward.
I racked my brain for a topic to change the mood. Just then, I remembered something that I’d wanted to try for a long time. “Now that I think about it, Clara and Reyha, you both like games, right?”
“Huh? Well, I like cards, and I know how to play games of strategy like War Board…”
“I’m very sorry,” said Reyha. “I do not really know much about human entertainment.”
It wasn’t an ideal reaction.
Actually, ever since becoming the lord of Castle Getaeus, I’d secretly wanted to play a fantasy tabletop RPG with genuine adventurers from a real fantasy world. You know, just to see how it went. I didn’t get many chances to work at it, since my duties kept me so busy, but I was already slowly putting together the rules and character sheets.
I did my best to sound enticing. “It’s actually a unique, exciting game that really reflects where I’m from.”
The two of them looked skeptical.
“Heh…”
“Is that so?”
Damn… Even as a genuine wizard, it still wasn’t easy to ask girls to join your campaign.
As I was struggling with this…
“Margilus, it’s almost time.” Ild had suddenly come to get me.
“Ahhh. Mmm.”
It was time for the feast to welcome all the guests who wanted to meet me.
✦ ✦ ✦
While I was away, dozens of visitors had come to Castle Getaeus.
Most of them were messengers from the city-states of the Ryuse Alliance, all of which desired to join the anti-daemon alliance, just like Relis City.
Elisabel had already finished hearing their requests individually. She was currently on a diplomatic trip to the various cities of the Ryuse Alliance, negotiating terms of entry. Relis City Council Chairman Brauze was also doing some negotiations behind the scenes, so I was confident that all the talks would go well. Most of the messengers returned to their homes, satisfied, but some had insisted on meeting the wizard before going home, so they were waiting for this opportunity.
According to Reyha’s scouting, there was a spy among the messengers. I’m sure they wanted to gather as much information as possible, while also ensuring the benefit of the anti-daemon alliance. Considering my suspect existence, I couldn’t really fault them. Probably all of the messengers who’d insisted on meeting me and refused to go home wanted any bit of Great Wizard Margilus information they could get.
I also wanted to show them that I wasn’t a dangerous person. With the exception of illegal trespassing and harming residents of the castle, I ordered the dark elves to ignore the visitors and let them ask reasonable questions.