……The inn on the Floating Island. In that place—a restaurant thousands of meters in the sky, practically a resting spot for the Named—Rohakan was reading Deculein’s report, which he had obtained with some difficulty.
──[Statistics Comprised of Facts: The Path the Continent Must Take.]──
The continent is entering an age of upheaval. The unexplored lands are no longer lands of destruction that “remain there.” Rather, as time passes, they will draw ever closer to our very doorstep.
Thus, not only the countless fractures piled up within the Empire, but also the new challenges pressing in from beyond the continent……
……Therefore, I intend to present an entirely new theory for controlling external threats.
This theory completely excludes the factor known as “luck,” and has been composed solely on the basis of practical observation.
I hope that you will study, understand, and accept this, and that it will be of help to future generations.
───────
One hundred fifty-seven pages explaining collision values, and fifty-three pages of formulas calculating monster waves based on those collision values.
The two hundred ten pages of equations made Rohakan’s head spin.
“Ahem……”
“Is it hard for even you to understand, old man?”
As Rohakan scratched his head, the woman sitting across from him asked.
“……Who knows.”
Twin tails of red hair and the typical attire of a martial artist. It was Ganesha.
Ordinarily, adventurers who were not mages could not enter the Floating Island, but her adventuring party had used an unofficial route.
“I can do the calculations themselves. But perhaps my brain has stiffened with age—I can’t understand the logic behind how this collision value is derived. Deculein, that brat, has become quite the scholar before I knew it.”
“……Haa? That’s all the reaction you’ve got? It was really hard to get that, you know~ Read it properly. These days, even if you want one, you can’t get it. It’s way too popular and controversial.”
Ganesha narrowed her eyes. Rohakan cleared his throat for no reason.
“Ahem. What am I supposed to do if I can’t read it?”
“No, seriously~ The Adventurers’ Guild spent three hundred thousand elne to get that.”
“Ah, and who told you to get it? Good grief.”
“……Weren’t you the one who told me to bring it?”
“Enough. Take the item I promised you.”
Rohakan handed Ganesha a prosthetic arm. Ganesha smacked her lips as she took the artificial limb. After examining it from every angle, she nodded.
“……Made by Al Ros, all right. Thanks, old man.”
Ganesha’s voice turned quite serious. Rohakan then pointed to the boy sleeping with his head against the table beside her.
A child named Carlos. The boy, not even ten years old yet, was missing one arm.
“What happened to that little thing?”
“A lot of things happened~”
Ganesha dodged the question and put the prosthetic away. Rohakan did not ask any further.
Then someone spoke.
“May I read it too?”
It was a cute voice—Lia. The adorable-looking child pointed at the paper in Rohakan’s hand.
“……Very well. Try reading it.”
Rohakan smiled benevolently and handed her the theory.
“Thank youuu!”
Lia took the paper and read. Ziiing—her face was so focused it was as if lasers were shooting from her eyes.
Ganesha and Rohakan watched her fondly, and just then, dessert arrived.
“……?”
At that moment, Lia’s concentration broke.
The sweet thing placed on the inn table. The thing giving off a fragrant, sugary smell.
“……!”
The scent of that object resembling a macaron shook her to the core.
“…….”
Blankly, as if bewitched, she reached out. She picked up the macaron and slowly put it in her mouth. Her plump cheeks squished softly as she chewed.
“Hwaaang……”
Watching the child melt into a puddle, Rohakan chuckled.
“Did you read the paper well?”
“Ah!”
Only then did she come back to her senses. Lia quickly nodded.
Rohakan stroked his chin and asked again.
“What do you think?”
“Umm…… Professor Deculein is smart, so…… shouldn’t we trust him?”
Of course, the formula itself was hard to understand, but the main quest had a “hardcore trigger.” A sudden event in which countless demonic beasts would descend from the Desolate Lands.
Even if it wasn’t that, with the main quest not far off, the thicker the defenses, the better.
She hadn’t expected Deculein to be helpful in this way.
“Hoho. Is that so?”
After answering briefly, Rohakan looked at Lia for quite a while. He examined the neat features arranged on her small face.
“……You really do resemble her.”
“Eh?”
The words fell from his mouth without warning. As Lia tilted her head, Ganesha spoke.
“You mean Deculein’s former fiancée or whatever, right? I’ve already heard plenty. Seems like I’ll be hearing plenty more, too.”
“……Haha.”
Rohakan laughed without saying anything and rummaged in his breast pocket. Lia’s gaze fixed on him.
“Take this.”
A scroll popped out from within.
“What you want is in the North, so go there. I’ll open the path for you.”
“!”
At Rohakan’s words, Lia’s eyes widened.
「Main Quest: Advance」
At last, the scenario was beginning in earnest.
* * *
I began developing the far northern region.
The design plan and scale exceeded that of most knight orders, and there was no need to go out of our way to procure materials. The coniferous forests of the North were of exceptionally good quality.
We raised the framework in a single day. That was because the construction work of capable mages—Epherene and Drent among them, as well as Ihelm’s division—was more efficient than the labor of thousands of workers.
“This should do.”
However, I devoted my 「Psychokinesis」 solely to the construction of the mansion. I did not want to spend even a single day in the same space as the prisoners.
“Woooow……”
Epherene, Allen, Drent, and Ihelm’s division, numbering thirteen in total, looked up at the mansion with astonished faces.
A five-story grand mansion, built with 「Aesthetic Sense」 and harmonized with the northern forest.
Even to my eyes, it was quite satisfactory.
“Whoa. This is insane. How did you build this in a day?”
Ihelm exclaimed in admiration. Without a word, I opened the front door. All the mages trailed after me in a line.
“The inside’s completely empty…… but, well, we can fill it. More importantly, Deculein.”
Ihelm kept talking to me. His abrupt attempt to act friendly was somewhat irritating.
“Rumors about you have been spreading like wildfire lately, you know? That you made an absurd amount of money from stocks, that you defeated Her Majesty, and some even stranger rumors too.”
I glared at Ihelm. As if used to it, he smiled instead.
“Deculein, you…… know which family tried to poison Her Majesty, don’t you?”
“…….”
In this world line where Sophien had overcome the poison, the crime of that day remained an attempted poisoning.
Of course, even that would be a mortal sin worthy of exterminating an entire clan. Thus, immediately after I played that match with Sophien, quite a commotion had erupted in the Imperial Palace.
“Ihelm, get lost.”
“Come on. Hey. Don’t be like that—can’t you build me a house too? Or maybe I’ll live here with you. I can pay enough rent.”
“……Before I kill you—”
“Ah, I’m going, I’m going~ You sensitive bastard. Looks like there are plenty of rooms, so what’s the problem? Hey. Let’s go!”
Ihelm took his division and went outside. Meanwhile, my disciples—Epherene, Drent, and Allen—looked up at me with bright, expectant eyes.
Epherene asked.
“Um…… Professor. Should we just leave too……?”
“You will stay here on the first floor.”
“Yes!…… I mean. Yes~! We’ll bring our luggage~”
The three of them dashed off.
A grand mansion built in the heart of nature.
Standing at its entrance, I swept my gaze over Reccordak and the vast coniferous forest stretching into the distance.
When viewed through 「Wealthy Magnate」, this region was not the worst. Rather, it even scattered golden fragments from time to time.
That was likely because, once the expedition into the Desolate Lands began, this would be the most optimal place to use as a base camp.
“……It would be better to build the facilities first.”
For now, the highest priority was “construction.” Transforming this damned prison so that it could at least sustain itself. Developing it so that it could become Yuli’s foundation.
It was work well worth doing.
* * *
[Stocks Even the Illiterate Can Understand, Volume 1]
Yuli was studying in her office. She was even diligently taking notes in a book she had borrowed from somewhere.
“……The first principle of stocks: never lose money.”
It was because, seeing Reccordak taken over by Deculein in an instant, and seeing Reccordak change dramatically the moment he arrived, she had become quite disappointed in herself for having been ignorant of financial investments until now.
“The second principle: never forget the first principle.”
A knight must distance themselves from wealth.
Had she been too bound by that outdated perspective?
One needed money to protect comrades, and one needed money to maintain a knight order.
“How difficult…… Never lose money, they say.”
A knight must not chase money, but neglecting it too much was not right either.
Even if the realization had come late, she was fortunate it was not too late.
While taking notes, Yuli quietly raised her head. Reilly was reading a book on the sofa in the office.
“Reilly.”
“Yes?”
She turned to look this way. Yuli hesitated a little, then shook her head.
“……It is nothing.”
“Why? Ah, are you studying stocks?”
Reilly closed her book and trudged over. Seeing Yuli’s notebook on the desk, she smiled.
[Not Losing Money: Basic Methods of Market Price Analysis. The foundation of stock trading is using people’s psychology……]
“You’ve been studying hard. You really do work hard at everything, our knight.”
“…….”
Those words made her feel proud for no reason, but Yuli showed no sign of it and looked at the clock.
Nine in the morning. It would soon be time for Deculein’s address to begin.
“But you shouldn’t do stocks if you can help it. They say more people lose than win. Deculein is just weird. How did he make four hundred million elne? Or was it five hundred million elne?”
“I know. That is why I plan to study hard first, then begin with a small amount.”
“……Really? Well, then……”
Reilly nodded as if it were no big deal. At that moment, Yuli rose from her seat.
“It is almost time. Let’s go.”
“Hm? You’re really going?”
Deculein’s address. In other words, the time when he gathered all those affiliated with Reccordak, proclaimed his intentions, and issued orders.
For now, Deculein did not seem inclined to alter Reccordak’s overall framework, and he had acknowledged Yuli’s position as well, but she did not have to attend the address like an ordinary knight.
Yuli was a member of Puhairden, which held forty-nine percent of the shares.
“There is no need to be needlessly stubborn. And if he gives an utterly unreasonable order, I am the only one who can stop him.”
“……True, true. That’s right too. Fine, then. Let’s gooo.”
Yuli went outside with Reilly.
Step, step—
As they walked down Reccordak’s shabby corridor, a thought suddenly flashed through Reilly’s mind. Clap! She clapped her hands and tapped Yuli on the shoulder.
“Ah, right! Knight, did you know?”
“I do not know what ‘that’ is.”
“No, you know, a long time ago—quite a while ago—there was the attempted poisoning of the current emperor, right?”
“……There was.”
Yuli nodded gravely. It was the incident that had shaken the Imperial Family most severely since the assassination of the Empress.
“But Her Majesty apparently said while playing Go with Deculein that Deculein knows the truth behind it……!”
Reilly’s expression hardened frighteningly. Yuli furrowed her brow and asked again.
“……Is that true?”
“Yes. I’m telling you, it is. That’s why the Imperial Palace is in an uproar right now. If that crime is exposed, and if by any chance it was the doing of an Imperial noble…… Oof. Just imagining it.”
Reilly shuddered, while Yuli fell into thought.
As they walked like that, they reached Reccordak’s training ground.
Amid the Imperial knights, guards, warden, and mages standing in formation, Deculein was already on the platform.
“Good to see you. I will not give a preamble or a speech. As the owner of Reccordak, I will begin by issuing duties and orders.”
Deculein spoke as if delivering a lecture.
“This winter’s continuous duty will be ‘thinning out.’ Advancing into the Desolate Lands and slaughtering monsters in advance. The first objective is to kill as many monsters as possible before the wave begins.”
There was no amplification magic, but his voice reached all of Reccordak, and his distinctive charisma seized the entire area.
“For this detached mission, four knights and one mage will form a team, and you may mobilize as many prisoners as you wish.”
Tap, tap—just then, someone touched Yuli’s arm. When she turned, it was Gwen.
Long time no see? Gwen mouthed, and Yuli nodded.
At that moment.
“Who is chatting right now?”
Deculein’s cold voice came crashing down. Gwen cleared her throat, and Yuli silently lowered her head.
“……Furthermore, once a week, all of Reccordak’s forces will advance and disrupt the ecology of the magical beasts. The overall command of that advance will be.”
Deculein swept his gaze over the faces of the knights for a moment.
Gwen, Raphaell, Sirio, and even the imperial knights who would be loyal to Deculein.
There were many people he could entrust with command.
──However.
“I will leave it to Knight Deia.”
Deculein deliberately chose Yulie. It was because he knew that, when it came to leading troops in battle, her talent was the most outstanding.
At that moment, everyone turned to look at Yulie, and Yulie silently nodded, accepting her responsibility.
Right beside her, Rayleigh whispered in admiration.
“Oh my…… You two really are thorough when it comes to separating public and private matters, aren’t you?”
“…….”
Without anyone noticing, Yulie clenched her fist.
* * *
My third day of life in Reccordak.
My daily routine here is simple.
On cold mornings, I train in magic, and once I have expended a moderate amount of mana, I write in the mansion. Also, when I occasionally have time left over, I go outside to make maps or enjoy hunting wild animals.
As for the other miscellaneous tasks, I can simply make use of my three assistants, so in truth, it is not much different from life in the capital.
「The Values This Era Pursues」
「The Magic of Statistics」
「The Economy of Magic」
「Principles of Economics」
For some reason, writing comes easily in this frigid winter.
They say one of the reasons Russia has so many great writers is its harsh climate. I feel as though I understand, to some extent, the principle behind the birth of those authors.
The weather is brutal, and there is nothing to do, so there is no choice but to write.
“……What is all this, Professor?”
Early in the morning, Epherene, who had come to the study to borrow a book, pointed at the manuscripts on the desk. Her face was needlessly full of interest.
“Read them. They should be of help to your empty common sense, not a harm.”
“What? No…….”
Epherene’s expression turned sullen.
“I’m not empty, you know. Why is it that whenever you speak, you always say things like you’re looking down on me…….”
“If someone is stupid, then I call them stupid. What word am I supposed to use other than stupid? If you dislike hearing that you are stupid, then study hard enough not to be stupid.”
“Ah, seriously. How many times are you going to say stupid? I’m leaving.”
Even as she said that, she slipped one of the manuscripts into her arms.
“……Also, the culling operation starts tomorrow, and I volunteered too.”
I looked at her and nodded.
“Do not die.”
“……Ah, yes. I won’t die.”
“Even if you lose all your limbs, you can live with prosthetics.”
“No……. Riiight, riiight. I’ll come back alive~ Thank you so much for your concern.”
Epherene pouted and went outside.
“…….”
The study became quiet and peaceful once again. Suddenly, I looked out the window.
In the training ground below, Yulie was there. As if she were practicing swordsmanship with Gwen, they were mixing sword and mana against each other.
Clang— clang— clang—!
The friction of mana and metal. Just as sparks and rays of light flew up, Gwen suddenly pointed upward.
─Huh? Yulie. Look over there. Your ex-fiancé is there.
That damned woman.
─…….
Yulie looked up at me.
At that moment, our eyes met, but I gritted my teeth. I twisted my face and drew the curtain.
“……Tch.”
I leaned back in my chair and picked up my pen. Strangely, my heart was pounding as if it hurt.
However, as long as I did not show it, no one would know. Also, it would soon be fine.
After all, Deculein was a cold-blooded man “designed that way” from the very beginning……
* * *
……At the same time.
“Huh.”
Epherene, in the lounge on the first floor of Reccordak, was in awe. Her mouth hung open stupidly.
The cause was the writing she had borrowed from Deculein, 「The Magic of Statistics」.
The concepts contained in this theory stimulated Epherene’s neurons and synapses, then whooshed through her blood vessels all the way to her peripheral nerves.
“This is…… revolutionary.”
The union of statistics and magic. Epherene, a mage who already knew enough and had learned what there was to learn, felt it instinctively.
Interpreting magic through statistics; in other words, predicting the damage and scale of magic as “probability” through spell formulas.
“I, I want to learn this.”
Epherene hurriedly pulled out a pen. The eyes of those around her gathered on Epherene as she moved so noisily.
It was because there were quite a few mages on the first floor of Reccordak who had come to assist with the mission.
“……Excuse me? You’re Professor Deculein’s assistant, Ms. Epherene, right?”
“What? Ah, yes.”
“What is it that has you acting like that?”
“What? Ah. Well—”
“What are you reading? May we read it with you?”
“……What? I haven’t finished it yet—”
“Huh? This was written by Professor Deculein, wasn’t it?”
“What? Ah, th-that’s true, but—”
“Oh, really? Let us read just one line together. Just one line.”
“……What?”
Starting with one or two mages from Ihelm’s corps, then combat mages dispatched from Freyden, and even several knights and officers drawn in by curiosity.
Nearly every high-ranking personnel member loitering on the first floor gathered around, and the kind-hearted Epherene, having no choice, said,
“Yes, yes. Then together…….”
Together with them, she read Deculein’s theory.