Alon, stunned speechless, checked again.
“...So that means that thing is Castle Number Four?”
“Yes!”
“And Castles One through Three exist separately too?”
“That’s right. The place where Your Majesty will be staying is Castle Number One.”
At the cheerful answer, Alon fell silent.
He had absolutely no idea where he was even supposed to begin objecting.
'...No matter how I look at it, it’s excessive.'
Of course, he had no intention of blaming Alexion.
What Alon had ordered him to do was build the castle as cost-effectively as possible, and Alexion had been following that order thoroughly.
The problem was that Alexion’s ability had turned out to be far beyond what anyone expected...?
'...No, in this case, does that even count as being competent...?'
Blankly lost in thought, Alon came back to his senses a moment later and cleared his throat.
“Alexion?”
“Yes.”
“For now, bring me the blueprints.”
Of course, he could simply say the castle itself was too excessive and order it downsized.
But if he did that, then all the effort Alexion had poured into it until now would be no different from being turned to nothing with a single sentence, so Alon intended to try proper persuasion first.
Even if it ended with the same result in the end.
Because there was a difference in feeling between being ordered without question and being led there through rational reasons.
“Understood.”
After stepping out briefly, Alexion returned with an armful of papers.
“...Are all of those blueprints?”
“Yes, they are.”
“...Heeek—”
There had to be at least fifty sheets.
Alon wore a dazed expression, and Penia’s mouth fell open with a little “hah.”
[...This is a bit much.]
[Q-kyu—]
Around the time even Basiliora and Blackie were making the same expression—
“Your Majesty. Also, the two mage tower masters have requested an audience as well. What would you like me to do?”
“...The two mage tower masters?”
“The Purple Mage Tower master and the Brown Mage Tower master, who have been helping with the castle construction this time.”
“Let them in.”
At that report, Alon nodded as if in a trance.
“We offer our greetings to the sky of a nation.”
Soon, the two mage tower masters entered the office and bowed in greeting.
'...That feels more embarrassing than I expected.'
Alon steadied himself, then replied at once.
“There’s no need to be that formal.”
“Even so—”
“I mean it, so there’s no need to mind it. You may speak comfortably.”
At that, the two tower masters subtly watched his reaction, then—
“Haha, then I’ll speak a little more comfortably.”
“Same here. You have quite an easygoing side.”
—immediately shifted the heavy atmosphere from just a moment ago.
Alon exchanged light greetings with the two tower masters once more.
“The truth is, I heard you said you wanted to review the blueprints, so I came in case an explanation might be needed.”
“That is the case, but...”
At the Brown Mage Tower master’s words, Alon acknowledged it and looked over at the blueprints.
...There were so many that he found himself wondering if he could even read them all today.
But even so, he could not not check them.
“For now, let’s do that.”
Alon picked up the blueprints.
How much time had passed since Alon spread the blueprints open?
His impression after looking through almost all of them—
No, to be honest, he had not looked carefully from around the middle onward, but he had still seen nearly all of them—
was only one thing.
'This is insane.'
Whether in a good sense or a bad sense, that was the impression these blueprints left on Alon.
And for good reason. They really were extraordinary in every sense of the word.
Maybe it was because two tower masters had designed it, but there was not a single place in this castle where a magic circle had not been worked in.
It would not have been an exaggeration to say that the entire castle itself was one gigantic magic circle.
The five castle gates leading from the outer castle to the inner castle each used different materials and different magic circles.
And throughout the entire castle, there was a large-scale illusion spell prepared, one that could be activated at any time if the owner wished.
And that was not all.
So far, that only described the magical aspects, but it was obvious that they had put tremendous thought into the architecture as well.
If this were not being built in Palantia—
it was enough to make one wonder if they were actually building a Demon King’s castle.
In other words, the castle the two tower masters had created was “insane” in an incredible sense.
...But it was also insane in a bad sense.
'...Can this thing even actually be operated properly?'
This world was, by default, give and take.
In other words, if something was given, then something had to come in return.
Of course, the two tower masters had somehow become inexhaustibly giving trees, providing the design, the construction, and from what he had heard, even the cost of materials without holding anything back.
But that was not the point Alon wanted to make.
Magic circles were not something that activated just because they had been drawn.
Naturally, they required mana.
Of course, most of the magic circles in these blueprints were efficient ones that consumed little mana, but...
that changed when the number of magic circles easily exceeded one thousand.
No matter how little mana each one consumed, if the number itself was beyond what could be handled, then it was effectively the same as not having enough mana at all.
And as for things like the illusion mana circle or the large-scale attack spell mana circles, which consumed monstrous amounts of mana—
even if they were only intended as preparations for emergencies anyway, maintaining a thousand magic circles in constant operation would require an enormous amount of mana.
In conclusion, the building currently under construction was the kind of castle that consumed a tremendous cost simply by existing.
...And above all else.
Alon had no need for a castle this enormous.
And so—
“Ahem—”
Just as Alon was beginning to sort out what he wanted to say about the blueprints and was about to speak—
“Um, no matter how I think about it, isn’t this way too excessive?”
Penia, who had been staring intently at the blueprints just like Alon, beat him to it.
“This is way too much. If you operated a castle like this for even a month or two, the territory would go bankrupt from the magic circles alone.”
“I’m inclined to think the same. And besides— to be honest, with the territory still this size, wouldn’t a castle this absurdly large just be wasteful?”
As if he had been waiting for it, Evan immediately added on.
Seeing the two of them speak as though they already knew exactly what he was thinking, Alon smiled inwardly in satisfaction.
It made him think that, after traveling together for so long, they really did align well in their opinions.
“Hm, neither of you is wrong.”
The Brown Mage Tower master, who had been listening quietly, nodded first.
However—
“But there is a solution when it comes to the magic circles.”
“...There’s a solution?”
“Of course. Did you think we would construct a building without even considering something at that level? Naturally, all countermeasures have already been prepared.”
“What is it?”
“This, of course.”
As if he had been waiting for the question, the Brown Mage Tower master confidently pulled out one of the blueprints.
“This is...?”
“A mana circulation circle. Just as the name suggests, it draws in mana from the atmosphere and converts it into power.”
“...I know that much too, but doesn’t the efficiency come out poorly?”
“The one we made this time is an improved version. And for the materials used to draw the magic circles—”
Penia listened to the Brown Mage Tower master’s explanation as if entranced.
Then, after a short while—
“If you do it that way, then the mana issue really won’t become that serious.”
“Exactly. It’ll still cost more than an ordinary castle, but it will come quite cheaply for what it is.”
Before long, she had already sided with the Brown Mage Tower master and was fervently studying the blueprints.
“Waaah—... Ah.”
Only afterward did she come to her senses and cough awkwardly.
This time, Evan, who was still maintaining his sanity, stepped in.
“I don’t know much about magic circles, but even so, shouldn’t the castle still be reduced a little?”
“Shouldn’t a castle naturally have dignity?”
“I agree with that, but it doesn’t need to be needlessly spacious.”
At that point, the Brown Mage Tower master let out an “Mmm—” and sank into thought, then looked at Alon.
“Does Your Majesty think so as well?”
“To be honest, I do think it’s excessively large.”
At that, the Brown Mage Tower master smacked his lips as if disappointed.
“If Your Majesty says so, then I suppose we’ll have to reduce the scale a little.”
“It can’t be helped—”
The Purple Mage Tower master let out a small sigh as well.
Scratching her head, she muttered—
“Good grief, then I guess we’ll have to merge them? Castle Number Three was deliberately meant for the knight order.”
“...The knight order?”
At that, Evan’s eyes widened at once and he reacted immediately.
“True, and I was planning to make Castle Number Two like a mage tower.”
“A mage tower...?”
This time, it was Penia who reacted to the Brown Mage Tower master’s next words.
“Hm? Well, yes. Since Your Majesty must be protected anyway, we planned to make quarters for the knight order in the great outer castle and have you, as the escort knight, manage it. And Castle Number Two was to be structured for Your Majesty’s magic research.”
Well, it’s become a shame, though. The Brown Mage Tower master shrugged, then suddenly let out a small exclamation.
“Though Castle Number Two could not have been built there anyway. Come to think of it, that position is usually where the consort’s castle is built. Even if we made it, it would have had to be built elsewhere.”
With Penia’s eyes widening once again as though startled—
“...Lord Alon?”
“...What is it?”
“To tell the truth, isn’t a large castle actually not such a bad thing?”
“I think so too, Lord Alon.”
In less than thirty seconds.
The two of them had been won over by the two tower masters.
The way they switched stances was as fast as characters Alon used to play often a long time ago.
Watching them, Alon felt a small sense of betrayal, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The time it took to review the original draft of Palantia Castle after that was—
“...Then we will proceed without changes!”
“Do so...”
—a mere ten minutes.
The next day.
After finishing the discussion about the castle, Alon headed straight for the Divine Land.
He had had business there from the start.
Inside the carriage as it rolled along in silence—
“Oh, right, Lord Alon. There’s a piece of news I heard yesterday that I couldn’t tell ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) you right away.”
“What is it? Is it urgent?”
“No. It’s nothing like that, but it is a little strange.”
“...What is it?”
Evan brought him a peculiar rumor he had not expected.
“Well, recently I told you that Divine blood have often been fighting among themselves, didn’t I?”
“You did.”
“But recently, it seems those Divine blood have formed some sort of organization.”
“...The Divine blood formed an organization?”
“Yes. From what I hear, it’s an organization called ‘Star Root.’”
“...Star Root?”
For some reason, it was a very peculiar rumor indeed.

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