Bart narrowed his eyes and fell silent for a moment. "Sorry, Rorschach, but I still don’t think you should be betting everything on this."

His relaxed and cheerful expression vanished as he adopted a serious one, hoping it would convince Rorschach of his judgment. "I believe in you, Rorschach. Since we parted ways after graduation, I’ve noticed you’ve changed a lot. You’ve become stronger and more confident, always full of good ideas and an incredible drive to act on them."

"So if I were to pull some strings for you with His Highness the Prince again, I’m sure your plan could be carried out. But why the rush? We’re both so young. Why not conserve our strength during these turbulent times? Once things stabilize, building your factory, or your Mage Tower, will surely be a piece of cake."

"If you build the factory or the tower now, even if you overcome all the difficulties and establish your ’kingdom,’ I’m afraid you’ll only face more trouble later. No matter what your factory produces, it takes time to go from planning and construction to trial runs and then stable mass production. Meanwhile, a war could break out at any moment—maybe between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom, or even the Empire and Bayern... Will you have enough time?"

"If your products are for the general public, you’ll lose a stable market during a war, failing to make that perilous leap from product to commodity. If your products are for the military, then as tensions rise, you’ll likely be unable to recoup your funds immediately. You’ll be paid in things like war bonds, and you’ll have to pray that your debtor wins the war."

"If Bayern is defeated, things will be even worse. Your factory, your Mage Tower on the edge of the city... everything you’ve poured your heart and soul into will become someone else’s spoils of war." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Oh, and you also have to consider the price and supply of raw materials and currency fluctuations during a time of chaos..."

"In short, no matter what you do right now, you’ll face enormous risks. At this moment, no matter how high the potential profits are, the risks will always be greater."

"So just give it up. Your current savings should be enough to keep you comfortable for a good long while. Why not find an undisturbed place to live in seclusion and hone your Magic? That’s what many Mages have done."

As expected of the young master of a merchant guild, Bart did his best to lay out the pros and cons for Rorschach. He had concluded that if Rorschach acted so recklessly, the disadvantages would absolutely outweigh the advantages.

Rorschach listened intently to his friend’s sincere advice before responding, "You’re right, we are young. And if we can be promoted to Great Mage, we’ll gain an even longer lifespan... So even if the worst-case scenario you described happens, as long as we’re still alive, can’t we just start over? If that’s the case, why not take the plunge and do what we really want to do?"

"So what you want to do is go into business?" Bart laughed. "If you were my old man’s son, he’d be thrilled to name you his successor."

"No, I’m not doing this to make money!" Rorschach said decisively. "I’m doing it because I want to. And because this world is just too boring."

"Boring?" Bart’s eyes went wide. Rorschach didn’t look drunk, but hearing those words made Bart wonder if his friend had had too much to drink. "This is the first time I’ve ever heard a Caster call things boring."

"It *is* boring!" The wind at the top of the Mage Tower blew through the room, carrying Rorschach’s words with it. "Since the Age of Silence, has the world been any different with Mages versus without them? In other words, if we didn’t exist, would the lives of commoners be any worse?"

While Bart was still thinking, Rorschach blurted out, "They wouldn’t be! Our Magic, Scrolls, and Potions are ridiculously expensive; they can’t afford them. In the countryside, many people go their entire lives without ever witnessing Magic. To them, Magic is practically a legend."

"And even when Magic does crash into their difficult, laborious lives, it’s no different from a natural storm or earthquake. It only brings them fear and harm, while the Caster probably acts as if those people don’t even exist."

"Most Mages treat the tricks of manipulating Ether as a secret to be guarded with their lives, and then they stick their noses up in the air. Just look at the bullshit most Mages spend their days researching..."

He rattled off the titles of Mages’ research papers from memory: "’The Mimetic Pattern Design of the Spirit Armor Skill,’ ’A Study on the Trajectory and Attenuation of Magic Missile in a Non-Air Medium’..."

"Oh, and the topic for those two Apprentices I’m mentoring: ’A Study on the Optimal Deployment Shape of the Blue Light Barrier in Multiple Scenarios’... Most of it is just plagiarized from an old paper, applied to a new Magic I developed, and passed off as new research!"

Bart thought Rorschach was being a little too cynical. "You can’t say this research is useless. Not everyone is as talented as you, and not every Caster can become a Great Mage."

"It’s through research, communication, and sharing that the skill of our Casters improves. Even if they can’t become a Great Mage, they can still master a specific field..."

"And produce nothing of value? They research techniques for killing each other, and then when war breaks out, they use Illusion Techniques and Teleportation Magic to hide and watch from the sidelines?" Rorschach was growing more agitated as he spoke.

"There are some promising signs, like how the Mages of the Tower of Forest are willing to investigate and document the ecosystems across the continent, or how they go into the fields to find the cause of reduced grain yields and try to find a solution. Then there’s the Tower of Stars, which is willing to release some of its alchemy technology so that ordinary people can also experience some of the conveniences brought by Magic."

"But most of them, like those Mage Towers in Istani, or the Secret Technique Tower in Bayern, are always so mysterious and secretive. For the citizens of Bayern, what difference does it make whether the Tower of Secret Techniques exists or not?"

"The Mages of the Tower of Storms gaze at the blue sky and white clouds by day and watch the stars and moon by night, but do they ever give weather forecasts to farmers and townspeople to help them with their travel and work?"

On this point, Bart still disagreed with Rorschach slightly. "But the Tower of Secret Techniques just happens to be located within Bayern’s borders. You can’t force every Magic Tower to be like the Tower of Forest... According to Andre, even at the Tower of Stars, it’s only the Alchemy Department that has close ties with the public..."

"You’re right, but I don’t want my Mage Tower to be like that. And I don’t want to wait anymore—to go learn some immortality spell, or become a Witch Demon and wait ten thousand years for the world to stop being boring before I come out and experience life. I’m going to start now, and I’m not going to be idle from morning till night."

"The first time I met Master Kano, he told me that out of every thousand people, about three have Magic Talent, whether strong or weak. But out of every ten thousand people, only seven become Casters. And that’s with the Empire deliberately training people of common birth like us in rudimentary Magic."

"In the world I want, all three of those people in a thousand should learn Magic, and everyone else should be able to enjoy the miracles created by Magic... equally." The final word was spoken with biting emphasis.

Bart was momentarily speechless. He suddenly had the urge to light up one of those newfangled things called a "cigarette." But Amelia hated the smell, so while other members of the Nobility and wealthy merchants were puffing away, he had always politely refused their invitations to join them.

A drink would be nice, too... Bart felt a little lost, unsure if he wanted to extinguish something in his heart or fan its vague flames even higher.

After a long moment, the Town Mage made a joke. "Well, if you want to realize your ideals, I suppose striving to become a Great Mage, and then a Divine Spirit, would be a relatively feasible path."

"So that’s how you really think." Rorschach looked directly into Bart’s eyes. "Isn’t it?"

"I have no desire to become a god." Bart held up his palms, as if begging Rorschach to spare him.

"Why do you want to become a councilman? Why go into politics?"

Bart looked as if he was choking on his words, confessing with difficulty, "Everyone knows I’m the ’young master’... The others in the merchant guild do everything to get on my good side, and they obey my father’s every command. When I was a child, I thought he was like a king from a story, the absolute ruler of Balderom, a master whose word was law."

"Until one day, I accidentally saw my serious, imposing father in the reception room, bowing and scraping before a nobleman, fawning over a councilman. His cramped, almost ugly smile was worse than that of any servant or subordinate."

"So you want to become one of the Nobility, to become a councilman." Rorschach’s gaze seemed to see right through Bart. "It’s just like how, after hearing my ideal, your first reaction was that I should become a Great Mage, and then a god."

"Becoming a councilman, or even the council speaker, won’t change this world where you have to bow to the powerful. As you climb the ladder, you’ll be forced to bow to those higher up, and you might even start enjoying the flattery from those below you."

"Even if you become a Great Mage, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll be completely above it all."

"Even if becoming a god is what it takes to make my vision a reality, that would only be a means to an end, not my goal."

"...Alright. I support you. I’ll support you with everything I have." The sun had risen a little higher, its light piercing through the Mage Tower’s window, so dazzling that Bart couldn’t keep his eyes open.