Currently, this place was a cauldron of chaos.
"Oh, oh? That person is…?"
"Why are they at the Imperial Tower?"
Widro and Nox were dazed in the midst of the magicians' confusion. It was
already overwhelming to welcome the 2nd Princess, but an unexpected
figure had joined in.
"…It's unmistakable. It's the 3rd Princess herself."
Widro muttered in disbelief.
The Angel of the Empire, the Face of the Empire.
The 3rd Princess, Solana herself, had taken a place in the training ground.
"Whew."
Nox adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath to calm his mind. At the
same time, he racked his brain. What could be the reason for the 3rd
Princess to visit this place?
First of all, they shouldn't leave such a high-ranking guest alone. Nox,
Widro, and Anes approached the 3rd Princess.
It was Nox who took the courage first.
"Excuse me. It's an honor to meet you, 3rd Princess! I, umm… ahem."
He tried to give a perfect first greeting in a deep tone, but his voice cracked
from overwhelming tension. It was a complete disaster.
"It is an honor to meet you, 3rd Princess…"
Only then did Solana's sun-like eyes turn to Nox.
Nox, Widro, and Anes took countless deep breaths to calm themselves. It
was only natural. The presence of the 3rd Princess Solana was not only that
of a princess but also that of the highest saint.
In the empire, there was an order that worshipped the Sun God, led by the
saint.
The reputation of their inquisitors was extremely high. Stories of them
purging anything unholy without mercy were well-known. It was said that
nothing remained after their purification.
Could there be something unholy in the Imperial Tower?
…No, but they haven't committed any corruption.
"It is not common for such a noble person to visit the tower, so please
forgive our lack of preparedness. May I ask the purpose of your visit, 3rd
Princess?"
However, there was no response, making them feel awkward.
"Well, how have you all been? No one is frozen, right?"
Just then, Jaekiel appeared in the training ground, and Solana's eyes also
turned in that direction.
The problem was that her gaze showed no sign of shifting away.
"…"
At the same time, the three tower executives broke out in a cold sweat.
Naturally, the Imperial Tower had both strengths and weaknesses. Lately,
the weaknesses were overwhelmingly numerous, but that didn't mean it had
no strengths.
In other words, there were things they could proudly show Solana and
things they absolutely couldn't.
…Things they must absolutely not show?
The three people's gazes simultaneously turned to one place.
Jaekiel, the new auditor.
'Not that auditor…!'
'This is really bad.'
'I should have taken the Imperial Administrator job.'
In an instant, the three stood like a wall. They blocked Solana's view of
Jaekiel and started spouting any words they could think of desperately.
"This Imperial Tower has quite a few sights to see. If you permit, we would
like to give you a tour."
"This old man has something to show you…"
"The view from the upper floors is beautiful. Since the training ground is
noisy, I suggest we move to another location."
Just talking to the 3rd Princess was draining their energy. On the day a
whimsical auditor was appointed, two princesses visiting this place was just
unbelievable.
It was like getting struck by lightning repeatedly.
But.
In the next moment, something unexpected happened.
"…"
Solana gently raised one hand, and as if on cue, the three executives' words
stopped simultaneously.
Everyone felt nervous. They had no idea what Solana would say next.
What if she said something like, 'I want to take a closer look at that
auditor… '? Just imagining that future made their hearts skip a beat.
But Solana simply gave a bright smile.
At that moment, the three of them simultaneously harbored hope.
"Could you please step aside? I want to see, but you're blocking my view."
"…Excuse me?"
There was such a thing as pressure.
When the other person's smile was so bright and their request was so kind
that you couldn't refuse.
"…"
The three stepped aside in a state of resignation.
They hoped it wouldn't be the case, but Solana's gaze was fixed solely on
Jaekiel. Widro and Nox hastily created a transparent mana barrier to
communicate only among themselves.
It was a magic called 'telepathic communication'.
─What do we do now?
─It seems we're already doomed. Just accept it.
As they communicated through telepathy for a moment.
"Hehehe…"
Suddenly, Solana, who had been staring at Jaekiel, covered her mouth and
burst into laughter. It was an innocent smile that was completely at odds
with the saint's maturity.
"…"
The executives felt goosebumps. They even felt fear.
Solana's gaze fixed on Jaekiel.
Solana, not even blinking her eyelids.
Was the 3rd Princess's smile truly one of satisfaction? They didn't know.
Could it be the pride of a saint who had found something to purify…?
At some point, Anes asked through telepathy.
─By any chance, what is the next schedule?
─I plan to showcase the training method that abolished the 2nd Princess's
directive.
─… Who?
─… Who do you think?
"Ah…"
In the end, Anes staggered while holding her forehead.
She must have been crazy to submit her resignation to the imperial family.
Crazy…
The training ground of the Imperial Tower.
In this place where frost still covered the walls and floor, I carefully
examined the clues while stroking my chin.
'So this is it for now.'
To conclude, the level of the magicians was below expectations.
If I were my old self, I wouldn't have cared about the achievements of other
magicians, but now, I am officially the auditor.
As I organized a few thoughts in my head.
"Auditor."
Anes approached me with somewhat hurried steps.
The cube she always spun with one hand was rotating several times faster
than usual.
Snap!
I froze the cube first.
"So now you call me auditor?"
"…Why did you freeze it? It's a soundless cube."
She fiddled with the frozen cube, looking bewildered.
"It's not the sound, I told you. It's distracting."
"Oh, yes. Anyway, the cube is not the issue right now. The real problem is
something else that's distracting."
Anes began to argue with me in a calm, expressionless manner.
"Two princesses are visiting this place simultaneously, and now you have to
present how you will change the tower in front of them. Isn't that much
more distracting?"
"Not really."
"Not really? What's not really? This is serious."
Anes stared at me expressionlessly.
"Auditor, I have a question."
I nodded. It meant she could say anything.
"Why did you make the tower magicians spar?"
"First, I need to understand their level to provide supplementary training."
"That's true. Thanks to that, we blatantly violated the 2nd Princess's
directive, and you didn't even watch the sparring process. Isn't this
meaningless then?"
"Why is it a problem that I didn't watch?"
"The magicians suffered, we violated the 2nd Princess's directive, and now
we have nothing to present in front of the two princesses… What do we do
now?"
Anes was still expressionless, but her voice clearly conveyed her concern
for the survival of the Imperial Tower.
Anes, who prided herself on being much more composed than others, was
experiencing confusion.
In other words, it meant that the current situation of the Imperial Tower was
that urgent.
I might have been as worried as she was.
If I were an incompetent magician, that is.
But the one standing here now is none other than Jaekiel.
That's me.
"I can tell."
Anes's brow furrowed slightly.
"Even if I stepped out, I can still tell."
"What exactly can you tell…?"
But Anes's words were cut off.
Sssssshhhhh.
I summoned the cold into my body. It was a spell requiring five strokes, but
I had done it countless times, so it manifested almost immediately.
"Anes, ice generally has a lot to say."
"…What?"
"It always tells about what it has experienced."
At the same time, all the colors in my vision reversed.
I slowly examined the ice again.
The ice, painted black, had fluorescent traces of magic on it. Observing it
was equivalent to observing the duel. It was easy to infer what magic had
been used and how.
Psychometry.
The ability to read all memories related to an object by touching it, I could
achieve with pure magical ability.
'As expected, it's below expectations.'
Of course, my thoughts didn't change even upon reexamination.
Even though I drove the magicians into the fear of freezing, the results were
only this. The magic displayed here could be described in one word
—'crude.'
Of course, the world might give a standing ovation for this level of magic,
but the goal of the Imperial Tower was to stand at the pinnacle. This was far
from sufficient.
"Gather."
With that one word, all the ice crystals gathered on my palm.
Kagagagak.
They rubbed and chipped against each other, forming a perfect spherical
crystal. Even the inside was transparent.
I closed my eyes and absorbed all its traces.
One.
Two.
Three.
It didn't take long to organize my thoughts.
When I opened my eyes, Anes was staring at me with a confused look.
I suddenly asked her.
"Is there anyone else we should call?"
With a snap, I took out a Sun Grass and bit into it.
"It's a shame to show it only to the ones gathered here."
Finally, the time for the presentation arrived.
Unlike usual, there was a palpable tension in the training ground of the
Imperial Tower that had never been felt before.
The cause was, of course, the presence of two noble figures. The 2nd
Princess Hedera and the 3rd Princess Solana were watching the situation
with their eyes wide open.
"…"
Everyone held their breath and watched the princesses' reactions.
Everyone had similar thoughts. It felt like the sale of the Imperial Tower
was already unstoppable. But they all harbored a subtle hope that the new
auditor might stop it.
Finally, just when it seemed someone might suffocate…
The tower's auditor, Jaekiel, finally appeared.
However, he didn't even bother with formalities.
"I've been thinking."
All eyes focused on one man.
Could he really stop the sale of the tower? What was he going to present
that made him act so confidently to an absurd degree…?
The man who received everyone's doubts at once.
"It's better to just sell off a tower like this."
He suddenly said something no one expected.
"…"
After his statement, silence fell.
"…"
It seemed as if time had stopped; the silence lasted a long time.
"…?"
Nearly a minute passed before Hedera's eyebrow twitched.
"…!"
Belatedly, expressions of shock began to spread among the magicians.
Their eyes grew almost three times larger, and their mouths gaped open.
They heard clearly what the auditor had said, and that made it all the more
shocking.
"Huhuhuhuhu…"
The 3rd Princess, Solana, let out a timely laugh.
At the same time, everyone had a hunch.
…This presentation was already an unprecedented situation.