The inferior version of the lucky stone that I had destroyed appeared in the most unexpected place. I absolutely had to investigate it. Of course, in my own way.
“Hey.” I shouted at the guys dangling helplessly in midair. “What are you?”
“W-What?”
“I’m asking what this magic artifact is.”
Those crazy b*stards. How dare they carry around something that had been benchmarked off the lucky stone right in front of me? And it’s a pretty shoddy version of that. Which also meant it was something that wouldn’t work on an archmage like me.
Count Melandorf, was this what you’ve been doing? What trash.
Normally, nobody even knows that something like this exists. Everyone probably knew their research results had been stolen, but they wouldn’t have known that their mana itself was disappearing.
I smiled sweetly at them as I had gotten my confirmation. The reason they had grown stronger, became Count Melandorf’s dogs, and why this magic tower had fallen into their hands. I understood all of it.
“Looks like we have three future mosquitoes right here.”
“What? Mosquitoes?”
They curled their lips into unpleasant smiles.
“Ha, I see. So you too?”
“You want this magic artifact as well, don’t you? Or have you already used it?”
And apparently, they had reached some sort of conclusion of their own.
I lifted the magic artifact and smiled brightly. “Nope.”
“Hai! Then what is it? How did you know?”
They looked like they didn’t believe me. Seeing the three of them glaring at me while dangling like cocoons was genuinely hilarious, though.
Shall I confirm their objective now? I casually snapped my fingers. Snap! With a loud sound, three potion bottles were shoved into their mouths.
“Uhp, mmph!”
“Here, drink them first. They’ll taste good.” After grinning, I carefully watched their throats as they swallowed. Then I snapped my fingers once more and retrieved the potion bottles.
“Y-You…!”
“What did you do! The potion actually tastes really good, but…!”
“No, what on earth are you!”
“Mmm, truth potions.” I grinned. While waiting for their faces to gradually turn red and for the potion’s effects to fully take hold, I whispered softly. “Now, let’s start talking. What did you guys do with this magic artifact? What was the purpose of making it?”
Did they want to become a person of power like that b*stard Reshaniel? Something like destroying the world? That forgettable count b*stard. Count Melandorf, who had done nothing but bow before me, laughing heartily while claiming to respect me. Did that good-for-nothing b*stard have some ulterior motive like that?
My palms were genuinely getting sweaty as I waited for the answer. Then their mouths opened.
“You too, just like Count Melandorft.”
“What?”
“A-And just like us.”
“Do, do you have the same goal as us?”
But what even is their goal? Sweat definitely gathered on my palms again in anticipation. If I could find out what their goal was, I would start by completely smashing that goal to pieces—
“You’re acting like this because you want to get on Duke Kalinos’s good side, right?”
“Yeah! And you want to get the good side of the duchess, and the Archmage Giselle too!”
…Why is my name suddenly coming up here?
* * *
I wrung those guys completely dry. By that, I mean I made them dance while hanging in midair. And I learned the whole truth. According to what they said, the count had invested in the magic tower in order to create something called a ‘magic artifact that takes away mana’ to present it to me. Apparently, he had been inspired by something I had said in the past.
These guys are completely insane. It was completely misguided and twisted loyalty. What crazy b*stards.
In the end, the truth they spat out was hardly worth listening to. It was almost a waste of the truth potions.
I spoke sternly to Gold, Silver, and Bronze. “So you carried around this piece of trash?”
“Yeah. We wanted to become stronger, and the count wanted to experiment with this magic artifact through us!”
“He said it was a completely groundbreaking invention!”
As Duchess Kalinos, I calmly began planning what to do next. “Now then, tell me how you stole other people’s mana.”
At my question, they looked as though they wanted to curse at me. But the truth potion is still working.
Silver muttered reluctantly, like he was swallowing bitter medicine. “S-So, if you put it against a person’s body and activate it when that person uses magic, you can steal their mana.”
I then smiled sweetly. “Alright. Then I’ll confiscate the mana obtained through illicit means.”
“W-What?!”
“You can’t!”
“Oh, I can. Absolutely can.”
I muttered to myself while rubbing my chin, then took their magic artifact and pressed it firmly against my body. Smiling sweetly, I tapped them lightly. The mana they had illegally siphoned away slowly flowed into the magic artifact.
The proper thing to do with ill-gotten gains is to confiscate them and return them to their rightful owners. Once the magic artifact’s effects completely disappeared, they would return to being 1st-circle mages.
I smiled brightly at them and drove the final nail into the coffin. “Go back to being 1st-circle mages.”
“What are you doing…!”
Alright, now I have gotten everything I need. I stared at the three of them, still dangling in midair. “Oh, before you start protesting, why don’t you come down first?”
“…”
After a brief silence, they screamed at the top of their lungs.
“You have to let us down for us to come down!”
“Oh, no way.”
“…”
“I have no intention of letting you down. You’re strong, aren’t you? Figure it out yourselves.” I shrugged at them.
As expected, the three of them were completely lacking in brains.
“Y-You! This is, a serious, crime. I’ll contact the tower master immediately—!”
Oh dear. The tower master had personally asked me to clean up the corruption, so what to do? But there was no need to tell them that, was there?
Smiling kindly, I spoke. “Then go contact the tower master. Tell him you’ve been reduced to 1st-circle mages. And tell him that you lost your magic artifacts because of me.”
“That’s not the point!” At least Gold, who had a little more sense than the others, began chattering noisily. “You can’t just force someone to drink a potion! This is a serious problem! You’ll be disciplined, and it’s grounds for expulsion—!”
“Sure, I’ll get expelled. Go ahead and tell him everything.”
“…!”
They knew it, too. If they directly confronted the tower master, the bullying they had been carrying out in the magic tower, with everyone else turning a blind eye, might be exposed.
“But before that, don’t you have something more urgent to take care of?”
“What…?”
I grinned as I looked at them, still hanging in midair. “You said you were going to report me, didn’t you? Wasn’t it urgent? Why aren’t you going?”
“How are we supposed to go…?!”
Right, because I was leaving them dangling in midair. But I had no intention of letting them go.
“Well then, guys. I’m leaving now, okay? Make sure you file that report.”
I hope you get exactly the same answer I did. Just like the other mages who had been bullied by you, who couldn’t even properly report it because it was a ‘violation of the rules,’ and ended up frustrated and helpless.
I grinned and started to leave, but then stopped and turned back. “Ah, but you know…”
“What?”
They raised their chins toward me and asked.
“Where are the research records you stole from the other people?”
These guys were more or less finished. Now, there was only one thing I needed, which is the [Time Travel Research Records].
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