Watching Lord Seed burn merrily away, I checked the rest of the log.
「You have cleared the 20th floor of the Tower of Trials.
- You annihilated Omega Seed’s legion.
- You achieved victory without a single sacrifice.」
For the 20th floor, it was a really short clear log.
Since neither mind control nor mutation had worked, it seemed the system had given up on one thing after another, resulting in a short log.
Come to think of it, the 10th floor had only been two lines too.
「You delivered a new flame to a dying world.」
Do you mean Flame Peace?
「The ember you handed over bloomed anew in the hands of countless mages, and at last burned away despair.」
V.
「Thanks to you, the final light of human civilization was not extinguished.」
VV.
「You were truly a model maid.」
「Overall Evaluation: EX」
「Ability Points +25」
「As you have satisfied a hidden condition, a special reward will be provided.」
Oh. I’d satisfied a hidden condition again.
「- You subdued Omega Seed.」
The special reward from the 10th floor had been Telekinesis, so what would the 20th floor give me?
Since Telekinesis had been one of the Progenitor’s skills, would I get one of Omega Seed’s skills this time?
As I waited calmly, a message appeared.
「You have acquired Legion Commander(S).」
“???”
S-rank? On the 10th floor, I’d received an A-rank skill.
For now, I understood that I’d gotten one of Lord Seed’s skills.
I quickly checked the skill description.
「Legion Commander(S)
- The legion is strengthened by 10% of your stats.
- You can consume energy to further strengthen the legion.
- The effect changes depending on the type of energy consumed.
- Designated Legion: None.
- Current Status: Inactive.
- You can set a legion message. (Current Legion Message: None)」
Oh. It was a skill that could grant a wide-area buff, like Maid’s Management.
It was exactly the kind of skill I needed. I was plenty strong anyway.
But could I designate humanity as my legion?
「Legion Commander rank confirmed. It is possible.」
So it worked. I designated it right away.
「Designated Legion: Humanity」
「Energy consumption increases in proportion to legion size.」
「Select the type of energy to consume.
Mana = Inactive.
Aura = Inactive.
Divinity = Inactive.」
What was this? Maid’s Management didn’t bring up a window like this.
For now, I activated all of them.
A warning appeared, but it didn’t feel particularly burdensome.
For someone like me, who possessed Maid’s Dignity, energy consumption could not possibly be a burden.
Since I’d activated it, I also set the legion message.
(Current Legion Message: VV.)
Maybe the effect didn’t apply to me, because I didn’t feel anything.
How was I supposed to check this?
As I was thinking it over, I heard the mages’ noisy voices.
“Ooh...?! My mana suddenly grew stronger!”
“I used the same amount of mana, but the spell’s power increased as well!”
“I feel incredibly strong too...!”
“My whole body feels full of strength.”
“This too must be the grace of Peace...”
Oh. I could confirm the effect right away like this.
Since my strength and mana were high, even 10% seemed to feel tremendously significant to them.
“I’m really going to die. Hing-ing-ing. Hing-ing-ing. Hing-ing-ing.”
“Oh dear. Lord Seed. Please cry quietly.”
Because the power of Flame Peace had grown even stronger, Lord Seed’s voice, now charred black, sounded even more pitiful.
Serving humanity really wasn’t easy after all.
***
From the additional skill choices that appeared, I chose Maid’s Management.
With that, my Maid’s Management rank became A.
「Maid’s Management(A)
- You can now manage your master’s condition.
- A-rank ingredients have been added to the Subspace Shop.
- A-rank ammunition and grenades have been added to the Subspace Shop.」
Ah. This is so nice. There’s such an abundance of ingredients and ammunition.
Come to think of it, I’d never bought ingredients from the Subspace Shop before.
That was because the ingredients Father, Mother, and Grandfather gave me were already plentiful, and all of them were at least A-rank.
How on earth did you all live like that?
“Father. Mother. Grandfather.”
[Many Constellations are looking at you.]
“This is very belated, but thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to grow up like this.”
[Many Constellations are looking at you warmly.]
Hmm. If Management became S-rank, would I be able to buy S-rank ingredients too?
Starting from S-rank ingredients, the first time you consumed each one, your stats would rise.
I decided to check that later and looked over my stats, which had grown up so healthily and sturdily.
「Name: Han Yuyeon」
「Class: Maid」
「Unique Skills:
- Maid’s Subspace Pouch(EX)
- Maid’s Dignity(EX)
- Maid’s Management(A)
- Maid’s Cheer(C)
- Maid’s Cleaning(C)」
「Owned Skills:
- Mana Circle(S) Aura Core(A)
- Physical Utilization(S) Hand-to-Hand Combat(S) Swordsmanship(S) Spearmanship(S) Marksmanship(A)
- Healing Arts(S)
- Legion Commander(S) Telekinesis(A) Clone Technique(C) Sixth Sense(C) Mind’s Eye(E)
- Cooking(S) Alchemy(S) Woodworking(E)」
「Special Skill:
- Rabina’s Support」
「Stats: Strength 130 Agility 30 Stamina 30 Mana 125 Aura 30 Divinity 100 (Remaining Points: 90)」
Since I’d received an EX-rank evaluation twice, my remaining points had already piled up to 90.
Where would it be best to spend these points?
Agility? Stamina? Aura?
It would be fine to raise them in a balanced way, but I put it on hold for now.
I could decide after seeing the theme of the next trial.
“Mages. When will you begin rebuilding the empire?”
“Ah. You mentioned it at the perfect time. We should be heading to the Seed Vault soon.”
“I nearly forgot.”
“Everyone, gather!!! We’ll do the rest of the research later!!!”
Where had Lord Seed gone?
When I looked around, I saw a small caterpillar wriggling at my feet.
“Could you be Lord Seed?”
「Save me.」
“Oh dear.”
It seemed he had burned too much and could no longer maintain his mimicry, turning into a tiny caterpillar.
When he tried to climb up my leg, I picked him up with my hand and placed him on my shoulder.
Together with the mages, I walked toward the capital citadel, talking about this and that.
We could have flown there quickly, but the reason we deliberately walked was to chat.
“Lady Yuyeon, how did you come to develop Peace-type magic?”
“It would take 42 hours to explain that.”
“Ooh...! So in order to contain so much within Peace, the foundation has to be that solid!”
“Would you like me to explain the first three things I put into Peace?”
“No! Please allow us to deduce that ourselves.”
“You mages really do love deductions. I’ll cheer you on.”
We talked about Peace.
And after talking about all sorts of magical theories, the moment the capital citadel came into view, the topic changed.
“Riet always acted so noble, but after she became a zombie, she turned into a hoeeng idiot.”
“For real?”
“Come to think of it, she cried hoeeng when we were fighting the mutants too.”
“I-I have no idea what you are talking about!”
“She even went awawawang and tried to bite people.”
“Seria!!!”
For this time alone, they simply shared ordinary stories.
Right before the end, they had turned into zombies and were dying, then barely survived, and immediately afterward they had burned with zeal and repeated nothing but war.
Leaving aside the responsibility and mission they had carried as mages of the Isrein Empire, they spoke as human beings.
I listened quietly in silence.
The eyes filled with hope, the skin that had regained its warmth, the Mana Circles that had recovered their stability.
All of it was so good that simply listening was enough.
After walking and walking, we arrived at the capital citadel.
Standing before the Seed Vault, Lord Eldrion infused mana into it, and the magic circle engraved on the Seed Vault’s door activated.
“Eldrion, Master of the Aistrea Magic Tower, announces that all elements threatening the Isrein Empire have vanished.”
From the vault, which had recognized Lord Eldrion’s voice and mana, a voice came back.
- Thank you for your hard work. We pay our respects to the mage who has fulfilled his mission.
Flash—! One by one, the magic circles engraved along the walls of the Seed Vault began to shine.
- Proceeding with final confirmation procedure.
- Activating Isrein Empire Life Preservation Plan “Eden.”
- Ecosystem restoration system normal.
- Genetic repository normal.
- Humanity restoration protocol normal.
- Artificial upbringing facilities normal.
- Educational database normal.
- Commencing civilization succession procedure.
- May there be light in the Isrein Empire.
A thrill ran through me as the cold mechanical voice continued.
The Isrein Empire had been a super-advanced civilization.
I hadn’t known because it had already fallen, but I could feel that its technology was incredible.
Lord Eldrion stood there blankly for a moment, then smiled.
“So the day has actually come when I get to see this activate.”
“You never know what’ll happen in this world.”
“Those who hold out win.”
What was happening inside the vault?
I could feel that some kind of system was running, but the door did not open.
Lord Eldrion, noticing my curiosity, approached me.
“If I were to explain it in detail, I think it would take 42 hours. Do you want to hear it?”
“Gasp. Is there no summary?”
“To summarize it briefly, even if we do nothing now, the Isrein Empire will be rebuilt.”
“???”
“Inside the vault, future generations of humanity carrying the genes of the Isrein Empire will be born anew, they will inherit our culture, and they will remember our names.”
The mages from the other Magic Towers also came over.
“Originally, we judged that by the time we completed our mission, there was a high probability that all of us would be on the verge of death, so we prepared a fully automated system. But it seems we overprepared.”
“Since all of us are alive and healthy, we can also be the ones to look after the next generation.”
“I believe Peace education must be added to the curriculum. If they receive Peace education from childhood, no matter what external enemy appears, there will be no problem.”
Peace education, huh. It certainly sounded amazing.
I had also been able to reach the realm of Infinite Peace because I learned Peace from childhood.
“In any case, it seems we’ve been given free time for a while.”
“So what do we do now?”
“How about a card game?”
“! Sounds good.”
“What are we playing if we play cards?”
“With this many people, Witch’s Round Table would be good.”
“Come at me. I’ll clean you out.”
“I’ll show you the power of Aistrea.”
We could finally play.
I hurriedly made a round table and chairs with ice magic.
When twenty-one people, including me, sat around the round table, Lord Eldrion took a card pack from his robe.
“But is this a game twenty-one people can play together?”
“The more people there are for Witch’s Round Table, the better. Up to forty people can play at once.”
Fwoosh—!
With dazzling hand movements, Lord Eldrion spread out the cards and sent me the rulebook with a swish.
I quickly speed-read the rulebook.
It is a game where you sit around a round table and deceive one another...
The core of the game lies in deception and psychological warfare as you judge who is telling lies...
“!!!”
This was an area I didn’t know how to do. For now, I decided to try my best.
“Do you understand the rules?”
“Yes. I’m ready.”
I’m going to become a card game master.
I began the game with my concentration raised to the utmost, but.
“Lady Yuyeon, I can see exactly what cards you have right now.”
“???”
“Your eyes are too honest.”
“Ugh.”
“Your emotions show transparently in your pupils.”
“Uuugh.”
How was I supposed to stop my emotions from showing in my eyes?
Since I had Mind’s Eye, I could see even with my eyes closed, but the problem was that playing with my eyes closed was against the rules.
“You’re also really bad at lying.”
“I-I’ll try harder.”
“I’ve never seen someone whose emotions are this easy to read even though their expression barely changes.”
“Hing-ing-ing.”
Apparently, I could not become a master at games that required lying.
Even after playing dozens of rounds, I simply could not lie.
Still, card games are fun. Playing together with everyone is so much fun.
As we played, the messages that had piled up appeared.
「You can now receive Omega Seed’s support.」
「You can summon Omega Seed to your current location.
- Summon Duration: 72 hours
- Cooldown: 240 hours」
It was a message saying that, like Lady Rabina, I could now summon Lord Seed.
「You can now receive Isrein’s support.」
「You can summon the mages of the Isrein Empire to your current location.
- Summon Duration: 72 hours
- Cooldown: 240 hours」
And a message saying that I could summon the mages.
“!!!!!”
I had gotten my hands on the Pister Call button.
***
Meanwhile, Rabina, who had cleared the S-rank Gate that appeared in Russia, had now arrived in Korea.
“So this is my benefactor’s homeland...?”
“Yes. Lady Yuyeon will return soon as well.”
“Waaah...!”
Growl—
As Rabina looked around curiously, a hungry sound came from her stomach.
“Would you like to have a meal with us until Lady Yuyeon arrives?”
“N-No... I’m fine... I’ll wait for my benefactor... Before I go back, I really want to go to a chicken restaurant with my benefactor...”
Rabina placed a hand on her stomach, and her breathing was,
“Because now I know for sure what the chicken my benefactor had been searching for is...♥”
decidedly excited.