“Ma-master of the Medical Spire?”

Dracan was so surprised that he hiccuped, and it was understandable. Given that the master of the only Magical Spire on the continent was 8th-Circle, it made no sense for a 4th-Circle mage to be the master of a spire, regardless of how small it was.

“What’s the matter?” asked Henry in a sly yet calm voice, pretending not to notice Dracan’s wide eyes.

“Me being the master of the spire? Th-that makes no sense! Considering that the current deputy of the Magical Spire is a 6th-Circle, I…!”

“You’re underestimating yourself, and you shouldn’t.”

“N-no, it’s not that…!”

“Dracan, you should be more confident. Think about it. If it weren’t for your secret research, there wouldn’t be a spire at Killive, let alone medical support.”

“But..!”

“Shh.”

It was rare for Dracan to get so worked up. However, Henry lifted his index finger to his lips and promptly silenced Dracan. He had already made up his mind, and he had no intentions of changing it.

“Dracan, there’s no need to be afraid. If you believe the position is too burdensome, why not prove that you’re worthy with your abilities and skills?”

“Skills…?”

“Yes. Regardless of the field, if you possess solid skills, everyone will undeniably respect you. And if anyone dares to disregard you because you’re still only 4th Circle, I’ll personally step in to handle them.”

Henry had been planning to support Dracan from the start, and he decided to let him know beforehand that he would have his back at all times. Besides, Henry was convinced that Dracan would eventually awaken the 7th-Circle.

Dracan had barely managed to reach the 7th-Circle with Arthus’ support while serving him. However, Henry believed that he would achieve that level much faster with his support.

Henry could tell that Dracan was touched by his gesture as he looked up at him. He quickly glanced at Balak only to see him have the same eyes as Dracan.

The room was silent for a few moments, but Dracan eventually got on his feet, bowed, and expressed his sincere gratitude.

“Thank you, Archmage! I won’t disappoint you!”

“Yes, yes, that’s how a young wizard should answer!”

Henry was satisfied with Dracan’s change of attitude. He patted him on the shoulder and asked him to leave the room for a moment.

As Dracan turned the doorknob, Balak said, “I’ll assign a soldier to assist Dracan and guide him around Killive. Since he’s now part of our family, he should familiarize himself with these lands.”

“Thank you, Warden,” said Henry.

With that, a soldier left the room with Dracan. Now, Henry and Balak were alone, and Henry proceeded to size him up.

‘This Balak definitely seems more gentle.’

Balak the Onir, known as the Punishment King of Killive, was notoriously cold and emotionless, and he had served as Henry’s enforcer during his war against Arthus. However, the Balak standing before him at this moment was quite expressive and seemed to have a rather gentle side to him.

‘Is this what so much blood and torture does to a man?’

Henry had no idea what would cause Balak to become a cold, emotionless man. Frankly, he hadn’t really been curious about Balak’s personality, but now, in a period of peace, Henry had the leisure to reflect on his past.

‘I guess I’ll have to be more mindful of him from now on.’

Balak had eventually become a staunch ally of Henry, but unfortunately, he had also met a tragic end at the hands of Arthus. And so, as a way to return the favor, Henry planned to look after Balak.

The first step toward that was building the Medical Spire in Killive.

‘Once the Medical Spire is established here, the quality of life throughout Killive will definitely improve. That’ll certainly help Balak as well.’

Henry suddenly remembered how he had managed to persuade Balak to abandon Arthus and side with him. The reason the ruthless, cold-blooded Punishment King had changed his allegiance was fairly simple.

Balak was the most righteous figure on the continent, the one who valued justice the most. And so, Henry had promised Balak that he would rebuild the world that was on the brink of destruction as a way to honor the legacy of his late mentor, Grand Duke Henry Morris.

Ironically, even though Balak was the most righteous man on the continent, he had personally seen the world rot, before and after the unification of the continent. Eventually, Balak came to see Henry as the only hope for this corrupt world, the only one who could make a change.

That was why he had become Henry’s enforcer, his mace of justice.

“Thank you very much for your consideration, Archmage.”

“Oh, not at all. This is still far from enough to create a righteous world with no crime.”

“Archmage…!”

Justice—only a few people actively strove for it, since the world had evolved so that success could be achieved simply by working hard and having good intentions. However, no matter what the state of the world was, there would always be sinners out there. Thus, eradicating crime was more of a fantasy, an ideal that seemed impossible to achieve.

However, Henry felt that the least he could do for Balak was to help him improve the world to be as close to his ideals as possible.

***

Immediately after returning to the Magical Spire with Dracan, Henry officially announced his plan to build the Medical Spire. The news sent ripples through the spire, but not because there would be a new spire in the unwelcoming land of Killive.

Rather, the wizards were taken aback because a relatively obscure 4th-Circle wizard would be appointed as the leader of this new spire.

At first, it seemed like there were some wizards voicing disagreement with appointing Dracan as the master of the Medical Spire. Henry knew they were doing that out of consideration for Lore, who was the deputy of the Magical Spire.

But ironically enough, Lore himself had no complaints about Henry’s decision. In fact, he furiously scolded the ones who had dared to protest.

“How stupid are you all! You still don’t understand how Master thinks after everything you’ve been through? Do you think that Master made Dracan the leader for no reason? Of course not! Dracan may be the rare genius who’ll succeed Master later on! So stop worrying about such useless things and focus on your research!”

Henry also heard the scolding, and he couldn’t help smiling.

‘Just what I’d expect from Lore.’

Everything had happened the way Henry had expected. He knew that appointing Dracan as the master of the Medical Spire would cause some noise. However, knowing Lore’s mindset, he had also predicted that the discontent would quickly disappear.

As the murmurs died out, Henry started recruiting wizards specializing in anthropology who were interested in moving to the Medical Spire. Recruitment notices were distributed throughout the Magical spire, which caused a stir among the wizards specializing in anthropology. Although they had heard the rumors, the specific details shocked them.

- Unlimited supply of humans for experiments!

The wizards couldn’t believe their eyes; the notice said that they would be using human test subjects to experiment on, which was clearly against the ethical guidelines of the Magical Spire.

Initially, the wizards who saw the announcement were unanimously critical and vehemently voiced their opposition. However, Henry didn’t respond to their criticism. He simply watched quietly as the days of the announcement passed.

Then, something surprising happened.

One night, some of the wizards who vehemently criticized the announcement in the presence of others discreetly came to sign up for a post at the Medical Spire.

‘I knew it. They’re studying anthropology, so they’d be foolish to miss this opportunity.’

Henry clicked his tongue as he looked at the applications. He had known this would happen. Those wizards could complain all they wanted about a 4th-Circle wizard being the leader and about how unethical this project was, but Henry knew that their ambitions were stronger than their convictions.

However, Henry didn’t condemn those wizards for following their ambitions. He understood their desires, regardless of how contradictory they were.

The recruitment process for the Medical Spire eventually came to an end. Seeing that most of the anthropology wizards had signed up, Henry burst into laughter.

“Who’d blame you?”

***

On the inauguration day of the Medical Spire, the anthropology wizards gathered in the lobby. They all felt awkward, knowing how it looked to be there after criticizing the project a few days prior.

Henry found their hypocrisy rather amusing. With a wry smile, he shouted, “Very funny guys! A bit hypocritical, don’t you think?”

Of course, Henry wasn’t denouncing them; he was just making a rather harsh joke. But regardless of his intentions, the wizards lowered their heads in shame.

Henry knew that the wizards felt bad for their hypocrisy, so he quickly moved on to why they were gathered there to lighten up the mood.

“Alright then. I’m grateful to everyone who’s applied for a post at the Medical Spire. Since you’ve applied for this, I’ll take it that you acknowledge Dracan as the first master of the Medical Spire and that you’re committed to advancing the field of anthropology. Without further ado, welcome aboard!”

Henry kept his speech short and to the point. He generally considered long speeches to be pretentious, but there was an additional reason he didn’t want to talk for too long.

After stepping down from the stage, Henry pulled Dracan, who was waiting backstage, into the spotlight and ushered him onto the stage.

As Henry came down, he whispered to Dracan, “Are you ready?”

At this, Dracan gulped. Although Henry had given him a heads-up that he would need to stand on the podium to give a congratulatory speech or testimonial to his senior wizards on the day they moved to the Medical Spire, he still couldn’t help but be nervous.

But even so, he felt he was ready. He had spent the past few days tirelessly preparing for the inauguration ceremony, not getting much sleep.

Before getting on stage, Dracan took a slow, deep breath to relax. Then, he brought himself together and stepped up to the podium.

Dozens of eyes locked on Dracan, and he felt like they were suffocating him. Even so, he knew he had to endure everything. He knew that if he crumbled under pressure here, he would never be able to move forward.

Dracan recalled the gloomy days of when he used to conduct experiments in solitude, hidden in the shadows. Indeed, the pressure he felt now was nothing compared to that.

And so, Dracan composed himself in his own unique way. He bowed slightly before speaking, a gesture of respect to the senior wizards.

“Respected senior wizards,” he began.

His voice echoed through the lobby. The stares of the wizards were far from kind. They had felt compelled to apply for these posts, regardless of what the notice stated, in order to have access to human test subjects for their respective research. However, that didn’t mean they genuinely acknowledged Dracan as their leader.

“I’m aware that some of you disapprove of me being the master of the Medical Spire.”

The crowd was silent, but that was good. Silence was golden, and it also meant agreement.

“Truth be told, I’m still in a daze myself. However, I didn’t want to reject this position that the Archmage offered me simply because it seemed overwhelming. At the end of the day, this is a valuable opportunity for me.”

As Dracan continued his speech, his eyes started to glow with enthusiasm.

“So I’ve been thinking about what to do. It’s been a week since I came back from Killive and since the recruitment began. All I could think about for the past week was how I could prove my commitment to each of you.”

Dracan’s confidence grew along with his enthusiasm. Seeing him more self-assured, the audience seemed to be looking forward to what he would say next.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“It took exactly a week. To be frank, I also felt a bit bad about being the master of the spire despite only being 4th-Circle. Thus, for the past week, I’ve focused on one thing solely, and I’ve managed to achieve it in just a week.”

“Achieved it in just one week? What is he talking about?”

Those in the crowd started whispering to each other, but one wizard picked up on it and covered their mouth in surprise.

“As of today, I, Dracan Rotique, am no longer a mere 4th-Circle chief mage. I have officially become a 5th-Circle wizard.

“...!”

“...!”

The crowd fell silent, everyone shocked. One wizard even pinched himself in disbelief. However, the silence didn’t last long.

“You advanced to the next circle in just one week?”

“But how?”

The crowd began to stir, a mix of shock and admiration rippling through them. Yet despite the uproar, Dracan continued with his speech in a firm and powerful voice.

“Everyone! My sincere wish is to stand proudly before you all! So, I am confidently making this promise right here, right now. I, Dracan Rotique, will soon rise to become an Archmage and prove myself a wizard worthy of the Medical Spire! So please, watch over my relentless efforts!”

Dracan hadn’t used any magic to amplify his voice, yet his voice filled the entire lobby. After he finished his speech, the lobby was plunged into silence once again. Everyone was stunned by the energy of Dracan’s inaugural speech.

However, the silence was soon shattered by a faint sound that came from one side of the lobby.

Clap- clap- clap-

Dracan’s gaze shifted to the source of the sound. There, he saw Henry clapping his hands. Soon after, thunderous cheers and applause filled the entire room.

“Amazing!”

“Alright! You give it a try!”

“Good energy and determination, Dracan!”

With that, everyone acknowledged Dracan as the true master of the Medical Spire.