The Magic Federation

I believe in God not to lean on his omnipotence, but to live a life free of shame, knowing he watches over me always. Recalling the philosopher’s words, I rose from the sofa.

“Haaah… Senpai. Water.”

“Oh, um! Here!”

Avant Garde brought the water crystal over with both hands, and I didn’t even bother with a cup, just crunched down on the crystal straight away. It had an icy texture and a slight sweetness.

“This water crystal is sweet. As sweet as a nap. What’s in it?”

“Hehe! I sprinkled it with sugar, so your mouth wouldn’t be bored!”

“So, it was infused with Senpai’s kindness. I knew it.”

“Hehe.”

Since the Azure Tower Master, who used to manage and supervise me, had disappeared, I had become negligent in my studies as well. Instead of racking my brain over books, I investigated the Floating Isle, reading Senpai’s thoughts along the way.

Lazily taking naps, crunching on water crystals that someone else provided. Nice, so nice. If I could live like this forever, it would be so good.

But the leisure was only fleeting. Avant Garde Senpai huffed and puffed as he placed a mountain of magical tomes in front of me.

…Ah.

“Anyway. Which magical tome will you read today? Elemental Studies? Or perhaps Magic Circle Geometry?”

“…Well, the Ascension Ceremony isn’t far off. Wouldn’t it be difficult to start reading a new book now? Let’s take it easy.”

“No way! If the Ascension is coming up soon, you have to cram even harder!”

Avant Garde Senpai said firmly.

“You need to climb the Dragon Gate, earn the qualifications to stay on the Floating Isle, so you can be with me! …Ah! No, that’s not what I meant! I meant, so you can be a junior at the Crystal Tower!”

“Everyone’s busy with tales of the Human King right now. Aren’t you interested in the Human King, Avant Garde Senpai?”

“For me, you… your Ascension is more important!”

Tch. So stubborn. I’ve already figured out a rough method anyway, and there’s nothing more to study at the Crystal Tower. How do I escape?

Ah, right. How about this?

“I’ve studied enough about mana amplification and magic circle improvement. There isn’t much time left, so I think it would be good to study something a little different now.”

“Do you have something in mind?”

“Not magic, but about the Floating Isle and the Magic Federation. What kind of history does the Magic Federation have, how was the Floating Isle created? What is the Ascension Ceremony?”

I want you to tell me a fun story, since I don’t want to study. It was a request a lazy student might make, but Avant Garde accepted it at face value.

“Ah ah! That would be good too. Even though the Ascension is an event to show off your magical skills, knowing its purpose and format will make it easier! Just wait a moment. The history of magic…”

“I’d rather hear the story directly from Senpai than from history books.”

“Um… I’ve forgotten a lot about history, too.”

“But you know all the major events, right? I can’t remember even a detailed explanation of history anyway. It’s better to hear it directly in Senpai’s voice.”

“Okay! I’ll try! Let’s see… What story should I start with?”

Good. I transformed Senpai into explanation mode, leaned back on the sofa, and finished preparing to listen attentively. Senpai took out a map crystal, projected it onto the screen, and said.

“The Mage Federation is formed from the union of numerous prestigious magical houses. All other regions of the lower realm, save for this floating city, are governed by these magical houses.”

“Magical houses? Something like mage towers?”

“A bit different. Mage towers grant anyone with the desire for the knowledge they hold the right to enter, if they’re of proper mettle, but magical houses are comprised of direct or collateral blood relatives. They devote themselves more to unique arcane arts passed down through bloodlines rather than purely white magic.”

“Unique arcane arts passed down through bloodlines? Do these arts arise through generations?”

“Indeed. It’s a proven fact that direct descendants are more likely to awaken similar kinds of unique arcane arts when raised in similar environments. The unique arts awakened by the heirs of magical houses are evidence of this.”

I’d heard this somewhere before. When was it? Was it the militaristic nation? I seem to recall the communications officer’s unique arcane art awakened in a similar fashion.

“They say the Azure Tower Lord’s unique art is so similar it’s called the reincarnation of Celsius himself. He was said to have contained boiling steam within droplets of water.”

“If we’re speaking of Celsius, he’s one of the great mages who advanced white magic by interweaving the essence of both crystals and steam, right? To be like such a person, the Azure Tower Lord must be an amazing individual.”

“She is… And powerful, intelligent, even magnificent… Someone like me…”

Avangarde suddenly turned gloomy. Oh, why? I was enjoying listening. I subtly steered the conversation back on track to encourage her to continue.

“I don’t know the Mage Federation well, but just hearing about it makes it seem so unreachable. Like a flower on a cliff, beyond all hope of ever daring to reach it.”

Avangarde regained her composure upon hearing my musing.

“…Yes! That’s right! Because they’re so incredible! That’s somewhat challenging, I suppose!”

“Are all the other Tower Lords from magical houses as well?”

“Not all. One of them, the White Tower Lord, is of common origin, from the Aspirant’s Gate.”

“One can become a Tower Lord even by climbing through the Aspirant’s Gate, then?”

“Of course, even that requires possessing immense talent. The unique arcane art wielded by the White Tower Lord, Luelle, is… it’s not a term a mage should use, but it’s nothing short of godlike power. Enough to become the Tower Lord of Ivory Tower.”

I thought the Azure Tower Lord’s unique art was impressive, but judging by Avangarde’s words, Luelle’s art far surpassed it.

“I’m curious. I’d like to meet her someday.”

“You’ll be able to see her if you rise through the Aspirant’s Gate! The five Tower Lords come to evaluate there, too!”

So, the Scarlet Tower Lord and the White Tower Lord are the Tower Lords I haven’t seen yet. I haven’t had a chance to see them until now, but if I rise through the Aspirant’s Gate, I’ll be able to see all five Tower Lords, including the Demon King.

“There are countless magical houses in the Federation, but the houses that produce Tower Lords are especially wealthy and powerful. Their territories are also more prosperous than others. The site scheduled for the upcoming Descent just happens to be in the Celsius family’s territory, so you’ll be able to see the difference for yourself.”

“The stories you tell about the Mage Federation are captivating, senior. I regret not having listened to them until now.”

“Heh heh. No matter how outstanding you are, you can’t ignore a senior’s experience!”

‘Even if I’ve already lost to Hughes in terms of magical knowledge… I can still teach her things like this!’

Avangarde seemed pleased, and I was enjoying it too. A win-win situation.

“Ah! The Descent should be underway by now. Would you like to go see the lower realm?”

“We can see the lower realm from here?”

“Yes. The tower is a gateway to and from the floating city. We should be able to see the lower realm now.”

A stroll to clear my head sounded good. I promptly followed Avangarde.

Until now, I’d only ascended the tower, never realizing there were stairs leading even *further* down from the Crystal Tower’s ground floor. Avantgarde and I set foot upon them.

Even the Floating City had a subterranean level. Unlike the sunlit surface, bathed in the artificial sun’s glow, the underground was a residential sector for the Floating City’s elite. The surface for facilities, the underground for lodgings, making the most of the limited space.

And below even those residential quarters lay the management sector. A place for detecting and repairing any damage or anomalies to the Floating City, a place to observe the Lower Realm.

And, one level further down still.

The only path leading outward from the Floating City lay within the Magic Tower.

The stairs leading downwards looked as if someone had played them like an accordion. Stairs that should have been neat and regularly spaced were twisted as if someone had rounded them off. The floor became a wall, then blended into the ceiling. I averted my gaze from the surreal sight, focusing on the stairs before me.

One step, then another. Concentrating on placing my foot on the next step, I soon found myself in the heart of that unreal staircase.

After passing through a long corridor where up and down were indistinguishable, Avantgarde and I arrived in a room with windows on all sides.

“Look down there. It’s the Mage Federation. Much closer than before, isn’t it?”

Avantgarde pointed to a transparent window above. I was granted the rare experience of looking down upon the earth from above my head.

In this frigid land, water assumed many forms. Freezing on its own, melting, evaporating and rising, then falling once more to blanket the earth. This land was swept away by the water’s ever-changing forms.

Avalanches reshaped altitudes, collapsing glaciers altered coastlines, and melting ice blurred the land. Up here, the boundary between snow, ice, and water was vague, creating a sensation as if time and space were blurred.

The wondrous sight of nature held my attention for a moment, but when I looked elsewhere, I was rendered speechless by the strangeness of it all.

“Senior.”

“Hm?”

“Over there. What is that grid pattern on the ground?”

Upon land that should have been obscured by snow and ice, a grid pattern, undeniably artificial, was etched across the earth.

Farmland, perhaps? But farmland was, at most, a few hundred square meters. It shouldn’t even be visible from the distant heights of the Floating City.

Yet this was as if a god had taken a ruler and drawn lines upon the earth.

Hues shifted along those straight lines. If this were a map, with borders clearly delineated and colored for ease of recognition, it would be a somewhat comprehensible explanation… The problem was, what I was seeing was the real earth.

As I wrestled with these questions, Avantgarde’s voice reached my ears.

“The Floating City is high in the sky, remember? The Demon Lord decreed that dividing it like that makes it easier to view from up here.”

“Decreed?”

“Yes. Makes it easier to descend during incarnations, too. Besides that, defining the boundaries of the territories so clearly reduces unnecessary disputes. The Magical Noble families each have their own rules, and it gets complicated when territories overlap.”

“I understand that. But how do they actually delineate the territories?”

Drawing straight lines for territorial boundaries might be easy enough. With enough power, it could be done. It was a policy worth attempting, even.

But what I was asking about was the unnaturalness I felt emanating from the land.

The strangeness of the land having been warped, disregarding mountain ranges and topography as if pulled taut. The discomfort I felt wasn’t about drawing lines on the land, but about contorting the land to fit the lines.

Avantgarde cleared up my doubts in one fell swoop.

“He used Primeval Magic to pull it into shape, I hear!”