A square-shaped box that was in the second drawer.
When I opened the lid, a pure white, round crystal ball reflected the sunlight and sparkled.
A communication crystal ball.
One of the greatest inventions made by the Magic Tower, and to put it simply, it serves a similar function to a mobile phone.
I had never used it since receiving it, so I was worried about whether it would work properly.
But as soon as I rubbed the crystal ball, a faint light appeared, and a familiar face was reflected.
“Hey… It’s been a long time…”
Dark and deep traces of exhaustion under the eyes.
Strands of hair sticking out here and there, and skin that had lost its elasticity—perhaps they had forgotten to wash for days.
Even though it was a face and voice I knew, the drastic change from the last time we met left me shocked.
“Did you just wake up?”
“I’m making a magic tool for next month’s achievement evaluation…
So I don’t have time to sleep.
Just get to the point quickly.
I’m exhausted.”
“O-Oh. Right.”
Keira—my academy classmate and friend.
Back in school, she was called the goddess of the magical engineering department, and now she was a complete mess.
As expected, the people at the Magic Tower are devils.
Just how much did they work her to the bone?
But what can I do?
Even when I tried to stop her, saying it would be better not to go, she insisted on entering the Magic Tower.
I shouldn’t be too harsh on her for being deceived by the sweet talk of those Magic Tower bastards.
She simply made the wrong choice.
“I need something quickly. Can you do it?”
“Let’s see…
I have to finish what I’m working on first, so it might take a while.
Is that okay?
It’ll take at least three days.”
“I don’t mind.
There’s no one else with your skills that I can trust.”
“…Heh?”
Keira’s lips curled up in response to the flattering praise.
I wished she had as much skepticism about people as she had confidence in her skills.
Even though I was the one making the request, as a friend, I couldn’t help but worry.
That’s exactly why she gets deceived by the people in the Magic Tower.
“Alright. What do you need?”
“Can you make a support device for someone with heart problems?
The highest-grade performance possible.”
Even if Serena had trouble using magic due to her heart, she still needed to learn the basics.
But I wasn’t heartless enough to force her into danger when her life was at stake.
Still, I couldn’t just sit and do nothing until the issue was resolved, so I had no choice but to rely on tools for now.
“…This is a really difficult request.”
Maybe my request was more burdensome than expected, as Keira interlocked her fingers and let out a deep sigh.
“Is it too much?”
“No, not at all.
Rather, making such a difficult request…
My heart is racing.
Hehehe.”
Huh.
I misjudged her.
This person is just naturally meant to work in the Magic Tower for life.
I had no idea what part of this excited her, but from my perspective, it was incomprehensible.
Or maybe she had completely lost her mind after pulling all-nighters for days?
“Anyway, I got it.
I’ll make it as quickly as possible and send it over.”
“Okay.
Thanks.”
“Oh, and send the money to my name, not my family’s or the Magic Tower’s, okay?”
“I know.
Don’t worry.”
With that, the communication crystal dimmed and turned off.
Good.
Now that I just have to wait for the item to arrive, I need to think about how to acquire Eldrago.
Honestly, finding it itself won’t be difficult since I can use my [Search] skill to locate it.
The problem is that the mountain where Eldrago grows, Snowite, is in another country’s territory.
A foreigner secretly taking a rare medicinal herb from their land?
That would obviously cause an international issue, not to mention put my own life at risk.
If the country ended up searching for me, I could at least justify my actions, but the chances of that happening were unpredictable.
“Maybe I should place a request for someone to get it…
No, I don’t know what might happen if I entrust it to someone else.
And it’s unlikely anyone would take on such a job anyway.
But still… should I at least try looking for someone?”
Just as I was deep in thought, Ord entered my office.
“What are you so troubled about, my lord?”
“It’s… something.
Anyway, what’s that?”
A bundle in his hands.
It looked quite heavy, as if it was filled with a lot of something.
“Letters addressed to you, my lord.
I haven’t checked them one by one, though.
What would you like to do?”
I had a feeling.
A very strong feeling that most of those letters were completely pointless.
But I still had to check.
If I threw them all away in a fit of frustration, only to realize later that one of them was from Prince Reizen, that would be a disaster.
“Wow… There are so many.”
A mountain of letters piled up on my desk.
My brows furrowed at the sight, but I had no choice but to go through them one by one.
“Nothing important, nothing important…
Sigh, seriously.”
Every single letter I checked had one common theme—marriage proposals.
Some might think it was a good problem to have, but for someone who understood the true nature of noble marriages, it was just an annoyance.
Sure, some noble couples probably married for love.
But at least the ones sending me letters weren’t like that.
Most of them were just clinging to me, hoping my reputation would be tied to their family.
And I was only 21.
I had no intention of getting married yet.
“That one’s from a ducal family, isn’t it?
Perhaps you should at least consider a meeting.”
“No thanks.
What’s the point of meeting someone I have no interest in?”
“Relationships can grow over time.”
“Don’t you know I have no plans to get married yet?
Raising Serena is more than enough for me.”
If—just if—I ever got married, it would only be after seeing Serena and the prince get together first.
Ord wanted to see my children before he died, but I wanted to tell him to give up on that dream.
Anyway, I didn’t see a letter from the prince.
A bit disappointing, but since he said he would definitely come one day, I wouldn’t be impatient.
“These are all useless.
Burn them all.”
“Understood, though it is a shame…
Hmm?
Whose letter are you keeping?”
“This?”
The one and only letter I set aside.
Unlike the others, it wasn’t a marriage proposal but a declaration that the sender would visit my estate.
It might seem rude to say they were coming without the host’s permission, but that changes if the sender is someone I know.
Especially if they’re someone with upright character.
The sender was none other than the captain of the kingdom’s knights, Gelrod.
However, since he sent it under his family’s name, it seemed to be a personal visit rather than official business.
But why?
Well, I’d find out when we met.
“A guest is coming.
I never said they could, but I guess I should at least greet them.”
“Who is it?
Today?
Tomorrow?”
Shaking my head, I answered Ord.
“Today.”
“Sorry for dropping by so suddenly.”
At least he knew it was sudden.
“It’s fine.
I owe you a favor anyway, Captain.”
A few hours after receiving the letter, Gelrod arrived at my estate in a hurry.
As I expected, he brought only a few attendants instead of knights.
As we sat in the reception room, Ord poured tea into his cup.
“I’m not sure if it’s to your taste.
If we had known in advance, we would have prepared something you liked…”
He smiled, but his eyes didn’t.
Gelrod was the same, though his expression was more of forced politeness out of awkwardness and fear.
Well, it was understandable—he was meeting his former superior, after all.
Normally, I would have scolded Ord for treating a guest like this, but for now, I found it amusing to watch.
The moment Ord left the room, Gelrod let out a sigh of relief.
“So, why did you want to see me?”
“Ah, yes.
First, I have something to show you.”
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small glass bottle.
It was tiny—about the size of my pinky finger—and inside was a shimmering golden powder.
When I looked closely, it seemed to emit a faint glow.
At first glance, it looked like gold dust, but he wouldn’t have come personally just to show me that.
“What is this?”
“It’s a drug.”
A word that made my face instinctively harden.
The faint shimmer of the powder, which I had thought was beautiful just moments ago, now seemed utterly worthless.
“This is part of the goods confiscated from a recent criminal organization.
At first, we didn’t think much of it, but after cases of addiction surfaced, we realized how dangerous it was.”
“Aren’t most drugs like that?”
“That’s true, but this one is quite different.
Everyone who took this drug… gained the ability to use magic.”
“…What?”
Magic isn’t something you can just learn by taking a drug.
You have to understand the principles and be able to sense its flow—only then can you wield it.
That’s common sense.
I was about to dismiss it as nonsense, but then—
The impossible event that Serena had performed just a few days ago flashed through my mind, turning it blank.
‘No way…
No, that can’t be.’
“Count?
Are you alright?”
“Ah.
Yes.
It just felt like I got hit over the head for a moment…”
I decided to push my thoughts aside for now and focus on what Gelrod was saying.
“To continue, those who take the drug start laughing to themselves, as if caught in a hallucination.
Then, they go completely mad and begin using magic.
So far, there haven’t been any innocent casualties… but if this drug spreads further, it’s only a matter of time before there are victims.”
That made sense.
Magic, as mysterious as it is, is also incredibly dangerous.
Imagine a lunatic walking down the street, randomly spewing fire from their hands.
“…It’s embarrassing to admit, but I need your help.
These criminals are hiding extremely well, and there’s barely any evidence leading to the source of this drug.
We’re at a dead end.”
Ah, so that’s why he thought of me—just like with the underground slave auction we dealt with before.
Now that I think about it, what happened to the ones we caught back then?
I should ask about that later.
“I know this is a lot to ask, but please—”
“Of course.
You don’t need to bow your head.
This is something I should be helping with anyway.”
If I left this alone, this drug could eventually spread to my own territory.
As a lord, I needed to prevent such disasters.
And personally, I had my own reasons for wanting to investigate this further.
“Thank you! Truly, thank you!”
Gelrod kept bowing, seemingly not expecting me to agree so easily.
For a knight commander, he seemed a bit too quick to lower his head.
But I liked the way he didn’t hesitate to express his gratitude.
“By the way, what’s this drug called?
I don’t need to know, but I’m just curious.”
“We haven’t given it an official name, but the people selling it call it this—”
They say that once you’re intoxicated by it, you feel as if you’ve been transported to a paradise of happiness.
An overwhelming euphoria, as if you’re the protagonist of the world, where everything feels enjoyable.
Like a magical gift from a fairy in a storybook.
And so, they call it—Fairy Tale.
“…Ha.”
What an absurdly elegant name for something so destructive.
A hollow laugh escaped me as I fought the urge to hurl the glass bottle in my hand.