Demonstration (7)

The commotion that James Bren nearly caused was suppressed by the tower masters.

James Bren quietly returned home with the support of the court magicians.

The solid defensive mechanism of the spell couldn't be resolved even with the tower master's abilities, the incident was left unresolved, not escalating further.

The banquet hall, unaware of what had happened, continued.

Adonis, who was the target, also narrowly escaped.

'I can guess what would have happened if Adonis had been attacked directly.'

Adonis, who would not know what was going on, would panic, and this whole situation would be immediately conveyed to the nobles in the banquet.

The aftermath was obvious.

She would not have known that her social re-debut after 8 years would become her own grave.

'All of this is Freesia's plan.'

The fact that she cast "Trigger Hypnosis" on James Bren.

And sending perfume to Adonis.

There was no doubt that everything was a plot orchestrated by Freesia.

'James Bren said he didn't know he had talent for mana, so it's clear that she forcibly awakened his mana and put a suggestion on him.'

Awakening mana is a difficult task even for advanced magicians.

However, it was understandable if it was Freesia.

Before being a master of the necromancer lineage, she is one of the great magicians in history.

Simply awakening the level of "Elemental Sensitivity" was something that Freesia could easily do.

'She will soon realize that this operation has failed.'

And she will also immediately realize that Reed is at the center of it.

'I need to prepare for her response.'

However, he merely kept it in his mind for now.

Right now, he needed to act like the host of the party.

Reed prepared the music performance that everyone had been eagerly anticipating.

As the sky turned pitch black and scattered white dots appeared.

The music of the band stopped, and court magicians and workers started decorating the banquet hall again.

Reed supervised the decorating of the stage location as he had prepared in advance, and finally, the stage was set after 30 minutes.

Reed drew the curtain to completely hide the stage.

'The table is over here, and I have the Magic Recording Device in my hand already...'

While double-checking the plan,

Creak...

He turned his head at the very faint sound of the door.

This sound was very familiar to Reed.

It was a sound he occasionally heard when he was in the tower.

'No way...'

As he suspected, it was indeed.

The girl with white hair, peeking around nervously, came into view.

It was Rosaria.

Rosaria Adeleheights Roton.

Morgan Hopper the second.

Yuria Frenda.

These three, who had escaped from the children's social hall, had literally started adventuring in Cohen City.

They referred to patrolling guards as evil monsters and cleaning maids as devils, quietly wandering the corridors of the castle with their short legs, avoiding the eyes of their enemies.

Leading the pack was Morgan the second.

Since the castle was his home, he knew the structure best.

"Lady Roton, Lady Frenda, this way."

"Hide!"

"Uh uh..."

Morgan lifted up the tablecloth and went inside.

Yuria was persuading Morgan and Rosaria.

"Prince and Lady Roton, it's not too late to turn back now..."

"Shhh."

Rosaria placed her index finger on her lips.

Faced with her serious expression, Yuria had no choice but to close her mouth.

Shortly after, the sound of the patrolling guard's footsteps got closer and then faded away.

Morgan the second came out from under the table and spoke to Rosaria and Yuria.

"There's not much time until the next patrol. Let's move quickly during this gap."

"Yes!"

"Uh uh..."

With an uncomfortable look on her face, Yuria followed Rosaria and glared at her.

'How rude must the Lord of the Silence Tower be to have raised her this way?'

Yuria roughly imagined the appearance of the person who raised this unruly girl.

He was undoubtedly a man with a protruding belly and a dull-looking face.

"We're here."

Morgan cautiously opened the door.

"Oh? It's dark. I think this must be behind the stage."

"Rosaria will check."

Rosaria, who was sneaking her small head through the door crack, looked around and suddenly flung the door open.

Then, as if she had seen a mountain of gold, she shouted with such a face.

"Papa!"

As if there was nothing more to be wary of, Rosaria just ran out.

Morgan and Yuria, taken aback by her sudden action, went inside.

"Rosaria, how did you get here?"

"Papa, I missed you. And I came because Morgan promised."

"Morgan? Ah, you mean the prince."

At that, Reed, turning his head, saw a blonde boy with green eyes and a red-haired girl in his sight.

Reed politely greeted them first.

"I am Reed Adelheits Roton, the Master of the Silence Tower."

Finally faced with the person who raised this unruly girl, Yuria could only say,

"Ah..."

She was lost for words.

Ashen hair and golden eyes.

A faint smile and a neat ceremonial suit.

Despite being in a dark place, he shone brightly as if he had a halo.

"Ah..."

Yuria couldn't say anything.

A line of poetry she once found impressive came to mind.

-Love is like a meteor.

Because you cannot stop it, even though you know it will fall.

Yes.

First love was a meteor.

Meanwhile, Reed was looking down at Rosaria with a headache.

He had kept a secret back door so he could sneak things in.

So if she hadn't been caught yet, the only one who knew she was here would be Reed.

'How did she break the barrier again...'

In fact, breaking the barrier in the children's social room wouldn't have been difficult.

Because Rosaria was an exception to the rules.

She probably broke through easily.

'One is Morgan the second, and who is the other one?'

A redhead girl.

Judging from her clothes, she seemed to be the daughter of a high-ranking wizard, but she seemed a little naive, staring blankly at him.

"Excuse me, but may I ask who you are?"

"Ah, I, I, I, I...!"

Yuria, who had been standing still as if her brain had stopped, introduced herself.

"I, I, I, I am Yu, Yu, Yuria, the eldest daughter of the Fr, Fren, Frenda family..."

She barely finished her greeting, trembling.

'Yuria of the Frenda family...? Yuria Frenda?'

Reed was taken aback.

He knew who this person was.

'Isn't she one of the main characters who follow the protagonist?'

A girl who showed prodigious talent and awakened her mana from a young age.

A naive girl who started her adventure to make a great achievement in the turbulent world and make a name for herself as a wizard of the Empire.

She was one of the most promising wizard characters Reed knew of.

Her "Magic" level was as high as 7, and her "Mana Reaction" reached level 6.

However, she had a fatal problem.

-So annoying.

It was her personality.

As if to prove she was a high-nosed noble, she often disregarded the party members, including the protagonist.

As soon as they started camping, she would whine about the bugs and shatter the protagonist's mental state.

Of course, she still whined even when they were in an inn.

She was just that kind of woman.

'I threw her away at the first playthrough because I didn't know her performance, but she's absolutely necessary for defeating the final boss...'

Reed recalled his past self, fawning over her and doing all sorts of humiliating things in front of her.

But overcoming such humiliation and embarrassment, Reed figured out how to win her over.

'She's weak for handsome guys.'

If you put in the most handsome character among the supporting characters, and Yuria, her complaints would disappear.

The woman who threatened to kill if bitten by a bug coquettishly asked to be comforted instead.

No, asked to be comforted...

Even now, Reed found it unbelievable.

It was clear she was smitten by him, proving that nature doesn't change.

'Being handsome sure is nice in these situations.'

He never expected to see the whiny Yuria stuttering like this.

Putting his astonishment at such a rare sight aside, Reed started to lecture the two who came with Rosaria, looking down at them.

"But this is a social event for adults. It's a problem for all of you to be here."

"Uh, I don't like that..."

Rosaria frowned.

Morgan calmly acknowledged the fact.

"That's fine. If we were to make a scene, it would be a discourtesy to the Tower Master. We shouldn't cause any more trouble."

As Reed was pondering what to do, someone knocked on the back door and entered.

Reed quickly stepped forward to prevent them from seeing the children.

The one who entered was a court magician.

Seeing Reed's face, he quickly apologized.

"Oh, I didn't know this was the backstage door. I'm sorry, Tower Lord."

"It's okay. But what's the matter?"

"Oh, well... the barrier of the children's social gathering has been broken. And..."

"Yuria Frenda, Morgan Hopper II, and my daughter, Rosaria Adeleheights Roton have disappeared, haven't they?"

"Wha? Ah, yes, that's correct."

He was taken aback when Reed accurately named the three missing people.

"Anything else? Any other missing people or witnesses?"

"None. Everyone else is carrying on with the event as usual."

The court magicians must have been thrown into chaos, but if there was no problem for the others, then...

That meant the people at the banquet were still unaware of this situation.

Having finished thinking, Reed spoke to the court magician.

"In that case, let's not report this incident and just let it pass."

"But..."

"You don't understand. If you report this, you'll only be reprimanded. It seems the others at the children's event haven't noticed, so is there a need to cause a big commotion?"

Upon hearing Reed's words, the magician's face turned thoughtful, as if he finally understood his situation.

"The three who escaped from the social event are under my supervision now. As soon as the demonstration is over, I'll take them back, so start working on restoring the barrier. Again, this matter must be kept strictly confidential, understand?"

"Ah, understood!"

The court magician, grateful for Reed's mercy, quickly ran out.

With this, the disappearance of the three wouldn't lead to an uproar.

Reed, having let out a sigh of relief, turned his head to look at Rosaria.

"You little troublemaker."

"Hehe."

He fondly stroked her cheeks that were still babyish.

It was a punishment in Reed's own way, but whether she knew that or not, Rosaria only giggled like a dumpling.

Afterwards, Reed looked at Morgan and spoke respectfully.

"I made a big mistake with Your Highness. I had made such a promise, but I forgot about it."

"No, that's not the case. That promise could have been kept at any time, it was my impatience that was at fault."

"From now on, this escape will be as if it never happened. Please bear that in mind."

"Understood. Thank you for handling this well."

"Now then... I'll let you sneak in, but may I ask for your understanding on one thing?"

"What understanding do you mean?"

Reed spread a red cloth over the table.

As he lifted up the cloth that covered even the legs of the table, he spoke.

"In a way, this could be considered a VIP seat where you can hear my music from the closest point. I'd appreciate your understanding despite the tight space."

Prince Morgan nodded.

"We've already done it five times, what's the problem with going in one more time, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes, yes... that's right."

Yuria also nodded.

The three crawled under the table that Reed had pointed out.

***

Meanwhile, all the nobles, excluding Reed, the host, stood in front of the stage waiting for Reed's demonstration to begin.

During the ongoing banquet, King Morgan Hupper, who had been nowhere to be seen, entered with Adonis and stood at the front of the demonstration.

Finally, the red curtain slowly rose, and the spotlight illuminated the gray-haired man and the object placed on the table.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting. We will now begin the demonstration."

He finished his opening greeting simply.

Reed held up a crystal sphere and said.

"A record crystal. It may be a very unfamiliar object for those who can't use magic, but it's very familiar to magicians."

The nobles, who were seeing a record crystal for the first time that day, nodded.

"It's a magical tool that records everything and can show it as is. However, those who can't use magic can't use this object. So, I've made this item for such people!"

Reed put down the crystal and held up an object that looked like a timer.

Unlike the simple design of the recorder that Reed had previously shown, this was covered with a lavishly carved golden case.

Greed swirled in the eyes of the nobles.

That was the reaction Reed wanted.

"This object is an improved version of the record crystal that magicians use, so even those who cannot use mana can use it."

"We can use it as well?"

"Ho, ho..."

The nobles exclaimed in admiration.

It may seem like nothing special.

But the fact that they could use something considered exclusively for magicians was extremely attractive.

Nobles and bourgeois are those who value themselves.

Those with wealth might think it's easy to hire a magician to serve them, but in reality, hiring a magician was a risky and difficult task.

Magicians, who understand and indulge in mysteries, were always a dangerous presence.

But what if they didn't have to bear that risk?

And even though it was just a recorder if they could touch the mystery exclusive to magicians?

The temptation was irresistible.

And that was exactly why Reed chose magic engineering.