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Argus, the head of the biology school, quickly used healing magic to massage Maker’s heart, and soon, he was breathing again.

With a serious look, Lore asked, “Archmage, are you being serious?”

“Of course. It’s not that hard,” Henry responded nonchalantly to Lore’s question.

“R-really…?”

Henry was being serious. Since he had already made it to the 8th-Circle in his past life, reaching the level before that, the 7th-Circle, had proved to be easier than he had thought.

‘Only the first time is hard, but after that, it’s easy.’

In addition, Henry had reached 7th-Circle twice so far, once in his previous life and once in this life. Therefore, helping another archmage awaken the 7th Circle was possible as long as all the conditions were met.

Everyone’s eyes were glinting with anticipation. This wasn’t just anything. They had the chance of awakening as 7th-Circle archmages.

For them, reaching the 7th-Circle was an achievement that would require a lifetime of relentless effort, and even then, it was more of a dream than anything else.

Gulp.

The archmages made up their minds to disregard any stupid pride dictating that awakening was worthless unless they achieved it on their own.

They had already experienced one awakening, which had made them physically younger, but in reality, they were still old. Furthermore, wizards led such lives that they could face their end at any moment. For all they knew, tomorrow was never guaranteed, and that was normal for them.

Therefore, given the way they led their lives, the desire to awaken as a 7th-Circle was far greater than any pride they had.

“Of course, I will only help you awaken after all of this is done. So until then, I need all of you to cooperate with me. Does that sound good?” added Henry.

“Absolutely, no question about it, Archmage.”

“Really? Okay, so Lore agrees, but what about everyone else? Does everyone else agree?”

Lore had been the first to answer.

Henry exchanged looks with all the wizards sitting around the round table. There was an undeniable look of agreement in everyone\'s eyes.

“It seems like everyone agrees.”

There was no one arguing against it. Unless they had given up all ambition to advance to the next level, none of the archmages could really refuse Henry’s offer.

Only when Henry was sure everyone was on board did he get down to business.

“Did you all maintain the regulations of the Magical Spire even after my master’s passing?”

“Of course. Not a single person in the Magical Spire has broken any rules.”

“Really? You might’ve followed the rules, but can you guarantee that all your subordinates, too, have done the same?”

“That…”

It appeared to be a straightforward question, yet in truth, it was a sharp and biting remark. Henry would often speak this way in his previous life. Back then, he had been called the sage of the empire, but his long time spent in war hadn’t made him the kindest person.

‘He has the exact same personality as the Grand Duke. One could even call him a younger incarnation of the Grand Duke.’

Lore and the school heads nervously swallowed at Henry’s question. Every word Henry spoke reminded them of the late Archmage.

“Why isn’t anyone saying anything?”

Lore got nervous when Henry repeated his question. Why was the Archmage suddenly bringing up the regulations of the Magical Spire? Did he know something? Was that why he was asking?

As a longtime adviser to the school heads and subordinate wizards, Lore was certain that Henry was asking this question with the intention of scolding them.

“I apologize. We have tried our best, but if there’s anything we’re not aware of, could you please let us know?”

As expected of Lore.

Henry nodded in satisfaction and replied, “There’s a wizard in the Magical Spire that’s secretly communicating with Arthus.”

“What? With Arthus?”

“Yes. I’ve recently encountered a Chimera.”

“...!”

At the word ‘Chimera,’ the school heads all looked at Maker Swarth, the head of the alchemy school.

Maker’s eyes widened and he blurted, “W-what? It’s not me!”

Maker vehemently denied the accusations.

Alchemical beings were a precious property of the Magical Spire, which could only be let in and out with permission from the Magical Spire.

Henry also defended Maker.

“Maker’s right. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions when we don’t know who the culprit is yet, and…”

Henry cocked his head slightly.

“I never said the Chimera was an alchemic being. The one that I saw was a person.”

“...What?”

“A-a person?”

Once again, everyone was stunned.

Creating a new being by bestowing life upon inanimate matter was the basis of creating a Chimera in alchemy school. However, the Chimera that Henry had seen was a person. Such an atrocious deed was clearly a violation of the Magical Spire’s ethics and a crime against humanity.

The first one to get angry was none other than Argus Druid, the head of the biology school.

Bang!

“A human Chimera? Archmage! Are you certain that Chimera was human?”

“Yes, I’m certain. Also, I didn’t just see one Chimera, but two.”

“T-two?”

“You know both of them too. One was Mordred Highlander, the 6th sword of the Imperial Ten Swords, and the other was Waled Etherwether, the eldest son of Marquis Alfred.”

“M-Mordred!”

“Waled, as in that spiritualist?!”

The atmosphere of the room became chaotic.

The human Chimeras were neither prisoners nor commoners, but the son of a marquis and an imperial knight. They were well-known nobles.

This made it even more shocking.

Everyone went silent. They had a lot of things they wanted to say, but because they couldn\'t figure out what to say first, they just decided to keep their mouths shut.

However, the silence didn’t last long, for Stan Hardiradi, the former deputy of the spire, expressed his anger.

“We must summon all the wizards and interrogate them now!”

Stan Hardiradi was a 6th-Circle archmage and a Double in the sense that he had two degrees, one in alchemy and one in biology. He had quite the authority as he was recognized in both fields for his knowledge.

Therefore, given his love for alchemy and biology, human Chimeras was a topic that utterly disgusted him.

Lore nodded and said, “I agree with Stan. An experiment of that magnitude would’ve surely left a trail, so I don’t know how on earth it has gone undetected… We need to investigate all the wizards right now!"

Everyone around Stan started cursing the anonymous culprit.

Henry raised his hand to silence them and said, “There’s no use.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“The culprit has already left the Magical Spire. I checked earlier when all the mages were boarding the gate.”

“What? Do you already know who the culprit is?”

“Yes. His name is Dracan Rotique, the mage of anthropology school.”

“Dracan!”

Bang!

Argus slammed his fist on the table and stood up from his seat.

Anthropology was a more specific area of study, affiliated with field biology. Besides, a mage-level wizard was someone Argus was well aware of.

“That bastard! He really…!”

Argus looked like he had a lot to say. However, before listening to Argus’ story, Henry decided to say what needed to be said first.

“This is accurate information that I have received from Marquis Alfred, Arthus’ right-hand man. He also told me that Dracan has built a private spire, called the ‘Stop Spire,’ within the palace, and he is being supplied with test specimens from the Three Great Families.”

“The palace!”

It was said that some things were right under one’s noses. Who would’ve thought that someone would build another spire inside the imperial palace?

“By the time I found the Stop Spire, it had already been cleared out, and all evidence was gone. Judging from the condition of the last Chimera I encountered, Dracan had already rapidly advanced the procedure of creating the creatures,” Henry continued.

“T-thats…!”

“That’s not all. I’ve also heard that Arthus is attempting to create a new kind of army, not only with the Chimeras, but also with beings created with forbidden anthropology.”

Every single one of Henry’s statements were shocking. Of course, all this information was accurate as it had come from Alfred.

‘But I bet he didn’t expect his son to end up like that.’

Henry had thought the Chimera procedure had been done on Waled with Alfred’s permission, but it was actually the other way around. Dracan had secretly performed the Chimera procedure on Waled without telling Alfred.

In addition, when Alfred had later found out that his son was dead and heard about the Chimera procedure, the emotions he expressed were indescribable.

‘Well, it’s none of my business anyway.’

Henry also told them all the little things he thought they needed to know, such as the truth about the rebellion in Shahatra.

By the end of the story, the complexion of the wizards around the table had turned grim. They were ashamed of the fact that they had been so concerned with their own well-being that they hadn’t paid any attention to the state of the empire.

“We shouldn’t have been making daily life magic all day long…”

After hearing the whole story, Stan quietly expressed his regrets about the past.

However, Henry didn’t agree with Stan.

“No, none of us could’ve foreseen such things. Rather, I’m grateful to see that you have continued to create daily life magic in accordance with the wishes of my master.”

“But the emperor is dead and the empire has fallen, which means there will be war across the entire continent, so what good will daily life magic be?”

“You still have a way to go.”

“What?”

“Who was it that divided magic into military and daily use?”

“What?”

“Answer me. Who was it that divided magic into military and daily use?”

“That’s…”

“It was people, was it not?”

“...That’s right.”

“Magic can be used for military or everyday purposes. It just depends on how you use it. So, there’s no such thing as useless magic in this world.”

Henry was right. However, this wasn’t what Stan was trying to get at, and of course, Henry also knew what Stan was actually trying to say.

Henry continued, “I think that’s enough of an explanation. Now, let’s talk about what you all need to do.”

Snap!

Henry snapped his fingers, then a map of the continent appeared on top of the table.

* * *

“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

The coronation ceremony was completed.

Arthus had made the Highlander region into the new capital and named this empire ‘Aenia.’ No one knew why he had named this empire Aenia. It was simply Arthus’ will.

Arthus was the new emperor of the Aenia Empire, and he ruled over everyone.

Founding a new empire didn’t make him emperor over the entire continent, because there were some areas that weren’t a part of Arthus’ domain, such as the free cities that Henry had united or kingdoms like Shahatra.

However, with the majority of the former imperial nobility under his control, it was certain that the territory the nobility owned would now become part of the Aenia Empire. Therefore, since those territories covered sixty percent of the continent, the empire Arthus created was indeed an empire in its own right.

However, it was certain that some people would be unhappy with the sudden shift in power. For example, powerful vassal states like Shahatra would have such people.

Nonetheless, Arthus didn’t think they would be an obstacle, because even if they weren’t satisfied, they were only a minority, not even a part of the sixty percent.

Arthus also knew very well what their weaknesses were because, as a grand duke, he had gained access to all confidential information about Eurasia before he had become the new emperor.

With a new crown on his head, Arthus rose from the throne, and addressed the numerous nobles looking at him, “I will give you my first command.”

Arthus had always spoken in a formal manner, but after becoming the emperor, he stopped doing so.

Everyone carefully listened to Arthus’ first command.

“Starting now, we will announce the founding of the Aenia Empire throughout the entire continent. The grand dukes shall send letters to the kingdoms that have not yet heard of this news, and let them know that there will be mercy for those willing to become vassal states, and no mercy for those who won’t.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“And…”

Arthus wasn’t done.

“At the same time, I order you to kill all of the wizards on the continent. For those that surrender, capture them alive, and for those that resist, give them as painful of a death as you can.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

This was year one of the Aenia Empire. Arthus’ full-scale conquest of the continent had officially begun.