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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Second Prince's Visit
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Research had entered its final stages.
Full sensory immersion through illusions. NPCs that moved on their own without my control.
Even in its current state, it was close enough to a virtual reality game.
Borrowing the power of the super-genius grand magus and Illusion Tower Lord Yuna, the modeling work was progressing smoothly too. It struggled a bit with unfamiliar things like wuxia or sci-fi elements, but anything the Tower Lord had experienced herself was completed at an astonishing speed.
With the team size doubling to two, an unexpected benefit emerged: the ability to incorporate fresh perspectives.
The Tower Lord suggested putting a choker around the butler's neck, and satisfaction among the women of the Illusion Magic Tower rose significantly.
Now, there was only one thing I needed.
A semi-permanent power source.
You need a ton of electricity pumping into the server room to keep a game server running, right? I required immense magical power to maintain my world indefinitely.
Such an item wasn't easy to obtain, no matter how much money you had. It would have to be a national treasure of some kingdom to output that kind of power.
Scrounging up cheap magic crystals and pouring them into server maintenance wasn't feasible, even with the increased funding flowing into the tower.
So I consulted the Tower Lord about it.
"A semi-permanent power source... Hmm, well. From what I know, the imperial family has a Dragon Heart from a millennium ancient dragon. It naturally generates vast magical power... It's the dream artifact of any magus."
"Then should we ask them for it?"
"Are you insane?"
Her crisp pronunciation stabbed "are you insane?" right into me. Looked like it was a tall order.
The Tower Lord went on to list a few more examples of semi-permanent power sources, but none were obtainable.
I couldn't just grab a sword and go hunting dragons for their necks either.
"Maybe we should request a permanent loan from the imperial family..."
"That's what I'm saying—you're insane! Th-the current political climate is volatile. This is a time to be cautious!"
"I've been so buried in research that I'm out of touch with the outside world... What's the situation like these days?"
"Sigh."
The Tower Lord let out a deep sigh and conjured a whiteboard with illusion magic.
This was one of the few perks of illusion magic. Saved on paper.
"His Majesty the Emperor has declared he'll decide on a successor in three years."
"Oh."
"His Majesty has three children: First Princess Elaine, Second Prince Irid, and Third Prince Sledo. Word is, all three are vying for the throne."
I could smell bloody intrigue and shadowy plots.
Was a fratricidal struggle unfolding over the imperial throne?
"He's apparently using 'who has made the empire stronger without carving into its flesh' as the scoring criterion. His Majesty has said he'll overlook interference but harshly punish familial murders, so things have been relatively quiet."
Not bloody after all.
"The First Princess is pushing hard to reclaim the lost eastern territories, the Second Prince is focusing on nurturing future talents, and the Third Prince is building strength at the academy."
"There's an academy here too? Where nobles and commoners attend together, it's merit-based in theory but full of faction fights, random terrorist attacks make it deadlier than a battlefield?"
"Nobles and commoners do attend together, they do fight, and terrorism does happen—but it's not deadlier than a battlefield. It's an educational institution."
Terrorism does happen, though.
Even in this world, the academy tropes held true.
Speaking of academies, I'd once wondered if my isekai reincarnation followed the "book possession" template.
But there was no Demon King plotting a revival or some axis of evil threatening the world, so probably not.
Besides, the trends from before I died weren't from the original novel years ago. Who knows what might happen.
The Illusion Tower Lord continued her explanation, drawing on the whiteboard.
The key detail was her standing on tiptoes because she was a bit short. She could've just made a smaller board.
"The First Princess has the nobility's support, the Third Prince is bonding with the new generation at the academy. The prevailing view is that the Second Prince is in a middling weak position. They're all pursuing different ideals, so opinions among supporters are sharply divided..."
I nodded along silently, absorbing it with one ear while pondering other things with the other half of my brain.
The Illusion Tower Lord seemed subtly interested in politics. Makes sense—the imperial family was directly funneling us funds, after all.
If the next emperor declared "illusion magic is worthless, no more research grants," the Illusion Magic Tower would turn into a ghost town overnight. No other noble sponsors either.
Thinking that way, maybe it was better not to make outrageous demands and risk offending an emperor candidate. We could look for a power source slowly. But...
Wasn't this actually an opportunity?
Invite the next-gen emperor hopefuls and blow their minds with my TRPG.
Turn them into TRPG addicts who can't live without sessions, then blackmail them for the Dragon Heart in exchange for the next one.
Two birds with one stone.
...Of course, that's a joke.
No matter how much I love TRPGs, I'm not devoid of common sense. I only pull stunts like "butler charges ahead" because I'm comfortable with the Tower Lord.
I had zero intention of aggroing someone who held funding in one hand and state power in the other. Who'd take responsibility if my head rolled?
This bizarre standoff—her explaining, me lost in thought—lasted about twenty minutes.
"Tower Lord! Tower Lord! Breaking news!"
Bang bang bang bang bang.
A senior staffer, sweating buckets and making his urgency obvious with his whole body, burst through the door rolling on the floor.
Illusion Tower Lord Yuna Yurensuto Violetiris was competent and humble, so instead of turning the rude intruder into a frog with "you insolent fool!", she listened intently to what had happened.
"Th-the Second Prince... is visiting right now!"
"?"
The Tower Lord's icy gaze shot toward me. Sharp enough to drill a pretty hole even through eternal cold iron. I frantically shook my head in denial.
"Did you secretly send a letter?"
"No, I swear."
"...Using TRPG as bait?"
"TRPG as bait."
With no one left to blame, her anger subsided. And with anger gone, pent-up panic, dismay, and worry burst forth. Have you ever seen a flower wilt?
Speed that up a thousand times, and it'd look just like this.
The Tower Lord trembled, biting her nails.
"Why? Why? Seriously, why... the Illusion Magic Tower of all places...?"
"Hm."
I considered the worst-case scenario.
"Maybe the funding clerk wrote the wrong amount, and he's here to collect the overpayment..."
"Hiiieek!!"
The Tower Lord collapsed with a soul-rending scream.
Seemed the mere imagination was too much to bear.
Anyway, the Second Prince was already on his way. We couldn't very well snub royalty at the door, so we had to receive him.
I gathered my magic. From behind me, Heart and the butlers began to appear one by one.
Now a hologram legion capable of semi-autonomous action and even light physical intervention.
"Heart, hide the shut-in magi somewhere out of sight with the butlers."
"Yes, sir!"
The illusory army dispersed. To conceal the decrepit magi littering the Illusion Magic Tower.
This was just emergency first aid. Proper command required the Illusion Tower Lord's orders.
I knelt beside the fallen Tower Lord and massaged her limbs.
...I'd thought she was slim by eye, but she had more flesh than expected. Not fat, just nicely padded. And zero muscle—super soft.
The unconscious Tower Lord cracked her eyes open.
"A dream... right? What I heard..."
"Not a dream, Tower Lord. Pull yourself together. Royalty is coming!"
"Ugh, urgh... Why..."
"For the research funding!"
Even after snapping to, she groaned weakly, but rose resolutely to defend the grants.
We didn't know why the royal was visiting. Without knowing, we had to prepare for everything.
The Tower Lord picked up the crystal orb linked to the tower-wide voice system.
"Charlie! You still have that performance-reflection essay and wheelchair for screw-ups? Prep them just in case!"
"Orena, corral all the shut-in types into Research Wing A and lock 'em down... Heart's handling it? Got it. Then pretty up the ones with decent faces!"
"Mayrel, drag everyone from Wing C and clean-sweep the tower from the first floor up!"
Seeing Napoleon in person must feel like this...
Illusion Tower Lord Yuna Yurensuto Violetiris completed her preparations perfectly. Tears-of-regret potions in case of scandalous visits, and impressive research records for surprise inspections.
After dousing the immediate fires, the Tower Lord drilled it into me sternly.
"Even when meeting royalty, don't stumble, answer clearly and crisply, don't hold eye contact too long, don't freeze up—and above all, be polite. Got it?!"
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"I, uh, I am... Yuna... Yurensuto... Um, Illusion... Tower... Lord... Violet... Iris..."
"......"
The Tower Lord stumbled, stuttered her answers, locked eyes with the Second Prince, and froze into mechanical doll-mode.
All I could do was pray the Second Prince was a gentleman...