’Bungee jumping really is a great stress reliever. What I just saw definitely wasn’t someone jumping to their death...’ Rorschach composed himself and followed Mage Ouyeni into her office, where another Gargoyle shuffled over with tea.

"Thank you."

The Gargoyle could even speak, in a horribly grating, duck-like voice. "You’re welcome."

"You’re quite polite to a Demonic Puppet," Elizabeth said, covering her mouth with a light chuckle.

Rorschach stated his purpose: he wanted to build a personal Mage Tower within the Bayern Kingdom and was asking if the Tower of Secret Techniques could provide assistance, as the Guild had promised him.

"It depends on what type you want. If Rorschach Mage intends to live in seclusion in the mountains, we would be happy to support you. But if you want to recruit Apprentices, we’ll need to be more cautious."

"By convention, if a Mage from the Tower of Secret Techniques is outstanding enough, we are willing to support him or her in building their own tower. However, we must be the ones to recruit and then assign Apprentices to them. Not only that, but we also need to conduct assessments on these towers."

’So it would be like a research lab affiliated with the Tower of Secret Techniques... If that’s all it is, why would I come all the way out here to suffer when I could be perfectly comfortable back in the research building in the Royal Capital?’

"And if I don’t accept those terms?"

"Then we can provide materials and a construction team for the Mage Tower, ensuring your tower has a Protective Array and a Tower Spirit with rudimentary intelligence. We can also assist with negotiations with the local Lord and administrative bodies. All of the above costs money. But you should know that for magic-related materials and services in Bayern, this is the only place you can buy them, no matter how much money you offer."

"Wonderful. Money isn’t the problem. The problem is I don’t have that much money right now." Rorschach’s words almost made her choke. Elizabeth wiped her mouth. "How much capital do you currently have?"

’Is she trying to see my hand?’ "My mentor, Master Kano, is willing to support me, and I also have some disposable funds of my own."

"If Master Kano is willing to provide you with support, I believe you could build a medium-sized tower. Fifty thousand Golden Eagle Coins is a suitable price. It can be paid off in installments, but there will be interest. If you have collateral, we can recommend a bank loan for you."

’Wait a minute, is this a Magic Tower or a real estate sales office?’ At first, Rorschach had been thinking his disposable assets were around a hundred thousand Gold Lang, which converted to sixty thousand Golden Eagle Coins. If he sold his Hercules stocks, he could pay it all off in one go. But now it was dawning on him that this felt just like buying a house.

"Can I make a down payment and then get a loan?"

"Yes, that’s exactly it."

... "I have the ability to pay in full, but right now I’d rather make an investment. That’s why I don’t have the money ’at the moment’." Rorschach mentioned his plan to partner with the Valuvan Merchant and the Balderom Chamber of Commerce to build a factory, and also brought up the setbacks he encountered with the Glass Guild.

But Elizabeth shook her head. "It seems Rorschach Mage is unfamiliar with the rules of the game here."

Within Bayern, the three pillars were the Brewing Guild, the Wool Guild, and the Dyeing and Weaving Guild. But looking at the entire Duma Alliance, the four most powerful guilds were the Lawyers Association, the Banking Federation, the Mason Brotherhood, and the Logistics Guild. And the first three of those were all under the control of the Tower of Secret Techniques.

’Well, law is its own discipline. It makes sense for Mages to study it, I suppose. Nothing wrong with that! No wonder they can offer construction, loans, and negotiation services with Lords. Turns out it’s all in-house business.’

The truth was that all three industries required a highly educated populace. The long apprenticeship at the Tower of Secret Techniques caused many to drop out, providing a steady stream of talent to the legal, financial, and civil engineering sectors. The reason behind it was truly heartwarming.

"Do you know Master Granor? What’s the connection between the Mason Brotherhood of Valuva and the one here?"

"The Mason Brotherhood is a society that grew alongside the Magic Guild. They worship the Creator and advocate for mutual aid among members. According to research, it was founded in Istani. There are now five major Chapters, all parallel to one another."

"The Mason Brotherhood here is more of an architectural guild in the literal sense. But as far as I know, there are members within the Tower of Secret Techniques as well. Most of the artisans are in the Outer Ring, while the Inner Ring has its own structure. The leader of the Outer Ring is called the President, while the leader of the Inner Ring is known as the ’Venerable Lord’."

’That sounds pretty dark.’ Rorschach suddenly recalled that Granor was a "President." ’Could it be that the "Venerable Lord" of the Brotherhood in the Holy Kingdom is someone else entirely?’

Finally, Elizabeth concluded, "So, what I mean to say is, we won’t proactively change the current situation, but of course, we won’t hinder your plans either, Rorschach Mage. Good luck."

Even though the negotiation hadn’t been successful, he still had to keep up the appearance of an "academic visit." The arrangements Kano had made with the Tower of Secret Techniques were a bit rushed, so Rorschach started with a simple tour and a meal at the restaurant on the fiftieth floor of the Tower.

"My apologies in advance, but I’m not very good with table manners. As a child, I preferred riding horses in the mountains over lessons on being a lady." Taking off her large, pointed hat, Ouyeni revealed a cascade of long, wavy hair that tumbled over her shoulders and back. Her hair was the exact same color as Bart’s fiancée’s.

"No one here would mind, beautiful lady." ’Damn it, why did I slip into that suave Valuvan accent?’

"I hope the food here is as authentic as your accent." The female Mage smiled. Several other teachers from the Tower of Secret Techniques were also present. The lunch featured cuisine from the Holy Kingdom.

In the afternoon, Rorschach was invited to give a lecture in the auditorium of the Tower of Secret Techniques. When he had communicated with Kano, the Master had reminded him to be prepared. Thus, the lecture titled "The Relationship Between Shaping Spells and the Thermal Motion of Matter" began.

When they heard it was a lecture by a "Tier Five Mage under the age of eighteen," the Apprentices completely took over the auditorium. Even the Mages could only stand at the back to listen. There was a simple reason for this: the Tower of Secret Techniques hadn’t produced an Official Mage under the age of twenty in over thirty years, and now there were two of them on the stage.

Moreover, Rorschach was a Middle Tier Mage, which made the Apprentices even more curious about his physiological makeup.

"...Therefore, there are certain similarities between how Magic Power intervenes with the kinetic energy of microscopic particles and how it interferes with the kinetic energy of macroscopic objects."

"However, for a spell like Frozen Ray, how the magic actually works—whether it consumes or cancels out the kinetic energy, or if the magic transforms it into another form of existence—is something we must continue to investigate..."

Thunderous applause.

"That’s all for my personal, humble opinions. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask."

Dead silence.

They all stared at each other blankly.

Ouyeni spoke up to break the awkwardness. "The Shaping Power Energy System is indeed a domain that most Apprentices and Mages at the Tower of Secret Techniques have not deeply explored. We thank Rorschach Mage for broadening our horizons. It was very enlightening."

A second round of thunderous applause was followed by a second dead silence.

’Time to lighten the mood.’ Rorschach cleared his throat. "Since no one has any questions for me, let me ask you all one. Okay, you there."

Rorschach pointed to a round-faced boy with freckles. "In Valois, they have a type of bread that’s about this thick and this long," Rorschach said, gesturing with his hands to indicate a size that could pass for a melee weapon in Valois. "How many of them can you eat on an empty stomach?"

The boy thought about it very seriously. "Five."

’Looks like I picked a big eater.’ Rorschach delivered the punchline: "Wrong answer. After you eat the first one, your stomach isn’t empty anymore. Thank you, Apprentice."

Finally, applause and laughter rang out together.

The next day, the Apprentice who had been called on excitedly retold the imported Valois joke to a classmate who hadn’t attended the lecture. "A loaf of bread about this big—how many can you eat on an empty stomach?"

The female classmate considered it. "Two... what’s wrong?" she asked, noticing his crestfallen expression.

"That’s not right! You were supposed to say five, just like I did!"