[V10C6] Come Back, Poppo…
Translated by Jodas 10: A Job for a Con ManAs Hütter made his way back to the meeting room along with Otto, he heard the sounds of frantically shuffling feet from further down the hallway.
He heard the distinctive sounds of waddling footsteps among them, so he figured Tia and co. had been eavesdropping on them.
(Well, that’s not really an issue, but…)
As they walked down the hall, Hütter nonchalantly glanced at the people he passed and the scene outside the windows.
It was to be expected, but he didn’t catch sight of the Apprentices that hadn’t gone with him on the excursion.
Hegelich had said that none of them were seriously injured, but was he really telling the truth? Whatever it was, Hütter was certain that something had happened to them.
When he made it back to the meeting room, he was met with the most dreadful atmosphere.
After everything Abel had told them — that ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ was an Ancient Magical Artifact meant to create a wall through which Monsters could not pass, and that newborn children had been sacrificed to it — it was only natural.
This revelation shook the moral foundations that the Wedge Tower’s personnel thought they were standing on.
Anybody would be stunned to learn that they had spent all this time fighting to preserve an institution built on the sacrifices of young girls.
All of them had to be questioning everything at this point.
Was it really a good thing for them to take back the Wedge Tower at this rate? If they did take it back, would the Wedge Tower continue to build its peace on the backs of more young girls? … And so on.
Hütter took a casual glance towards the Apprentices.
All three of them were in their seats, but Wren was clearly huffing and puffing like he had just sprinted here as fast as he could.
—You guys totally were eavesdropping on me, weren’t you?
When Hütter made eye contact with him, Wren stuck his tongue out with a pretty boy smile.
—Would a pretty boy smile be enough to make you let it slide?
With an expression that said ‘good grief,’ Hütter slipped into his seat. As he did, Spiremaster Lowein of the Second Spire: Golden Needle opened his mouth to speak.
“… Allow me to summarize our current situation. ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower,’ which has fallen into the hands of Monsters, is currently undergoing a phenomenon we’re calling crystal contamination.”
It seemed that the mages’ theory was that this might be caused by inserting crystals from the Crystal Territory into ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower.’ Maybe that was causing the Ancient Magical Artifact itself to change.
Just as the Monsters embedded rivets of crystal into their own bodies, so too had they embedded rivets of crystal into the Ancient Magical Artifact.
“As of now, we’re sure of two phenomena related to this crystal contamination. First: the sudden increase in mana density within the Wedge Tower. The other, then, is the weaponization of crystals. In essence, it appears that it can cause crystals to emerge like thorns or spears from any point in the Wedge Tower. This is what took down Möbius.”
(Wait, wait, doesn’t it sound like it’s just trying to kill us then…?)
In short, the Wedge Tower now had a mana density within which humans could not survive, and as if that wasn’t enough, it was filled with crystal traps to kill intruders.
It was to the point where he started to seriously consider it might be better if they just wheeled a cannon out here and blew the whole Wedge Tower to bits.
(But, since Otto’s daughter is being held hostage there, we can’t use any forceful tactics like that. Besides, no mage would ever even think of trying to destroy an Ancient Magical Artifact.)
Lowein and the others should broadly be thinking only about taking down the Monsters and reclaiming ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ and its contractor.
Whether or not they would continue to use ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ afterwards was a question they could not answer here. Because, if they started to debate about that, they would no longer be able to come together for an operation to take it back. At worst, they could become divided against themselves.
(Starting with Spiremaster Lowein and Spiremaster Alto… The majority of the folks here shouldn’t want to sacrifice Otto’s daughter.)
Lowein and others were probably thinking of starting by entering the Wedge Tower and eliminating the Monsters. Then, they would forbid the inhumane use of ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower.’
However, there were probably some like Abel and Assistant Headmaster Miriam who advocated for maintaining the wall. In fact, now that Monsters had been allowed to encroach so far, there had to be some who resisted the idea of completely retracting the wall.
Thus, they would not discuss such things until they at least retook the place.
From here, the conversation would most likely continue along the lines of how to eliminate the Monsters who’d occupied the Wedge Tower and retrieve the Wedge Tower’s contractor, Fiene.
“Next, regarding the Ancient Magical Artifacts…”
Lowein drew his thick brows together, then groaned deeply.
“Due to the Monster attack, both ‘Ignatius, the Severer’ and ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools’ have fallen into the Monsters’ hands.”
Hütter desperately tried to stop his face from wincing.
(Shit, man… Things get more and more hopeless with every new piece of information…)
‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower,’ which creates a wall to seal away the Monsters.
‘Ignatius, the Severer,’ which could inflict wounds that would not heal.
‘Despina, the Chain of Fools,’ which could place powerful seals.
— At the moment, all three of these had fallen into enemy hands. Meanwhile, the only one they had was ‘Eurydice, the Cackling Foam.’
Sevil wasted no time in stating her position.
“You must reveal the abilities and personalities of these Ancient Magical Artifacts. From here on out, there is a chance that the Monsters will make use of these Ancient Magical Artifacts. Information sharing is a necessary part of plan formation, is it not?”
Hütter put on a face that said ‘Sorry my student is saying crazy things again,’ but internally he was pumping his fist.
(Well, said, Sevil! Thank you! Thank you for saying the things I would have a hard time saying!)
Ancient Magical Artifacts were precious treasures made with technology from the Old Era, so mages were inclined to conceal their capabilities — and sometimes even their very existence. In fact, ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ was one such hidden artifact.
However, there was a huge difference between Ancient Magical Artifacts and modern magical devices.
If magical creatures with vast mana reserves such as Monsters, Spirits, and Dragons were to touch a modern magical device, it was said that the device would malfunction.
But there were no such guarantees when it came to Ancient Magical Artifacts.
While Monsters were not known to use tools, it would be best to anticipate the possibility that the Monsters would use the Ancient Magical Artifacts.
Monsters, which were dangerous enough as it was, using Ancient Magical Artifacts… He felt a chill just by imagining it.
Sevil glanced at Abel, Lowein, and Alto before continuing.
“For instance, it could very well be that, in the chaos of battle, I happen upon ‘Ignatius, the Severer.’ Would I be able to make use of that Ancient Magical Artifact? It would be good to envision such circumstances where they wind up in the hands of people other than their typical wielders.
‘She just wants to take the artifact for herself, doesn’t she,’ Hütter thought.
This Princess would be the kind of person to say “I picked it up, so it’s mine!”
That said, Sevil’s suggestion had merit. If he saw ‘Ignatius, the Severer’ lying at his feet when he was in a pinch, Even Hütter would try picking up and using it.
But that could take a turn for the worse if it turned out that ‘No one aside from the contractor can unsheathe this blade’ or ‘Should someone aside from the contractor lay hands on this sword, they will die.’
“…That is reasonable.”
Lowein muttered quietly, looking to his fellow Spiremasters, Abel and Alto. “You have no complaints, do you?” he asked, to confirm.
Alto nodded solemnly, while Abel nodded with reservation and spoke.
“Very well then, I shall explain about Ancient Magical Artifacts. First: ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower.’ … It is an artifact that creates a wall to seal away Monsters. The scale and shape are up to the user’s discretion. The Western Wall that has been deployed thus far is the product of its highest output.”
He had wondered why it didn’t just surround the entire Crystal Territory, but it turns out that there was a limit to how big the wall could get.
(…If anything, isn’t it more impressive that it had been able to maintain a barrier of that scale for all this time without interruption?)
The Empire had a notable Ancient Magical Artifact known as ‘The Mirror of Bern.’ It could deploy an immense reflective barrier and had famously been used to great effect in the war over fifty years ago, leading the Empire to victory.
Even the ‘Mirror of Bern’ could not maintain its barrier for very long. That spoke volumes of how powerful ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ was.
“As discussed earlier, ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ will not accept anyone as its contractor except for newborn girls. The contractor resides in a room known as ‘The Cradle.’ The Cradle generally has high mana density… Over time, the child who had become the contractor would develop a tolerance for this mana density.”
Typically, humans could not live for long in spaces with high mana density. They would succumb to mana poisoning. However, ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ would train the babies, its contractors, gradually with its own mana.
(…That must be why it had to be newborns. But that must also be part of the reason why the contractors’ lifespans get shorter.)
“…However, there are cases where people other than its contractors can interfere with ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower.’ People who have a certain degree of mana reserves and experience wielding Ancient Magical Artifacts can forcibly influence it.”
The reason the wall had temporarily returned as of now was because Assistant Headmaster Miriam had forcibly made ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ reactivate the wall, then Director Linke had used ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools’ to temporarily seal it in place.
(…So that’s what they meant when they said the wall would only last for three days.)
Even people who weren’t contractors to ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ could activate the wall. However, the price for that was a dramatic cut to Assistant Headmaster Miriam’s life expectancy.
This was not something they could do repeatedly for any stretch of time.
(Besides, there aren’t that many who’ve even touched an Ancient Magical Artifact before. At the moment, it’s pretty much just Saint Helena from the Extermination Office, and Sophie, an Apprentice…)
Even at the cost of Miriam and Linke’s lives, the best they could bargain for was to keep it up for three days.
They had no choice but to settle things in those three days that those two had risked their lives to secure.
(The problem is… How do I get in contact with only three days to go? Ah~ Please come back already… Come back Poppo… Poppo… Poppo popo poppoppopo—)
To escape from the hardships of reality, a new episode of Poppo Showtime began in Hütter’s mind.