Chapter 248: You Know Me, Right? (2)

The voice thundered across the vicinity of the Tower of Wishes, emanating from a Transcendent. It was the same Transcendent Legion that had devastated Lord’s Castle hours earlier, now aiming a Starlight Cannon directly at the Tower itself.

Behind the lead Transcendent, a hundred others, each emblazoned with the crest of Count Syron’s family and wielding their own Starlight Cannons, spread out in a wide semicircle.

As the lead Transcendent began to reiterate its warning,

Poof!

Louis’s figure materialized in mid-air.

Louis smirked as he surveyed the Transcendent machines of Count Syron’s forces.

“Where did these things even come from?”

By now, Lord’s Castle was likely being disarmed and razed to the ground by Agus’s forces.

But suddenly, over a hundred Transcendent machines appear?

And so soon after I arrived at the Tower of Wishes?

That meant these machines hadn’t originated from Lord’s Castle at all. They had been prepared for this situation well in advance.

“Tch.”

Louis clicked his tongue irritably, his eyes widening as he took in the Starlight Cannons mounted on the Transcendent machines.

“William, that bastard…”

As far as he knew, the Starlight Cannon was still in the experimental phase at the Tower of Wishes, a weapon not yet ready for mass production.

Yet here were over a hundred Transcendent machines of Count Syron’s forces, fully armed with these cannons.

It was as clear as day who had leaked the information.

As Louis frowned,

Tzzz—

Light coalesced within the Starlight Cannon wielded by the leading Transcendent.

Was this their signal?

One by one, the Starlight Cannons of the Transcendent Legion arrayed behind it began to glow as well.

A flicker of interest flashed in Louis’s eyes.

“Oh? Look at this. They’re firing after just two warnings?”

He himself would have acted without warning, but Count Syron was currently being held captive in the Tower of Wishes.

Yet these bastards were about to obliterate the Tower without hesitation.

This confirmed Louis’s suspicions:

These bastards… rescuing the Count was never their true objective.

Perhaps they didn’t care if the Count died, or worse, they might even want him dead.

Whatever their motives, Louis had no intention of standing by and watching.

Whoosh.

Louis flicked his hand with effortless grace.

A beam of light descended upon the center of Count Syron’s Transcendent Legion.

Flash!

For a fleeting moment, the surroundings were brilliantly illuminated, extinguishing the glow of the Starlight Cannons and all the Transcendent Machines in the vicinity.

This was Louis’s signature EMP, the same one that had silenced the Dominant Empire Army’s Transcendents en masse, now manifesting before the Tower of Wishes, the very birthplace of Transcendents.

While the pilots panicked, Louis’s new God-class machine plunged toward the leading Transcendent, the one that had issued the earlier warning.

Then…

CRACK!

Louis tore open the Transcendent’s rear cockpit hatch.

“W-who’s there?!” the man inside the cockpit shouted in alarm.

Louis stared at him and asked, “Who are you?”

“You?”

A cold smile crept across Louis’s lips.

“The bastard who was in league with William.”

Louis remembered him clearly—the voice and face of the man he had seen talking to William.

He had already planned to take down the Duke to find this man. The fact that he had crawled right into his trap made him even more delighted.

Just then, a voice crackled through the communication stone the man carried.

“Young Master! Young Master Dwenn, are you alright?!”

“Ah, so you’re the heir to Count Syron?” Louis’s smile deepened as he heard the voice from the communication stone.

Only then did the full extent of the situation begin to come into focus.

The Lord’s Castle had fallen even more pathetically than he had imagined.

The Lord’s heir had diverted his military forces, only to belatedly reappear with the intent of destroying the Tower of Wishes, regardless of whether the Duke lived or died.

There was likely some internal power struggle within the Duke House regarding the succession.

But Louis had no need to concern himself with such matters.

His only task was to crush this moth that had recklessly flown into the flames.

“Welcome, you little bastard.”

Louis roughly grabbed Dwenn by the scruff of his neck and dragged him out.

The entire Tower of Wishes contingent rushed outside, desperate to chase after the vanished Louis.

“Lock this piece of trash in William’s room. Make sure they face each other.”

They merely nodded at the man Louis had thrown before them, their thoughts unspoken.

Count Syron’s secret sanctuary.

Key figures of the Syron Marquis Family had gathered here after narrowly escaping the Tower of Wishes’ surprise attack.

Leading them was none other than the Marquise Syron herself.

Bang!

The Marquise slammed her fist on the table, her voice rising in anger.

“What… what did you just say?!”

“Well…” The Chief Steward, who had delivered the report, paled visibly. “The Young Master, who went to rescue His Excellency the Marquis, has also been captured.”

“Ah…”

The Marquise staggered, reeling from the news that her husband had been captured and her only son, who had gone to rescue him, had also been apprehended.

“Are you alright?!”

Startled, the Marquise raised a hand to stop those rushing toward her in alarm.

Clutching her throbbing head, the Marquise leaned back in her chair for a moment.

She exhaled softly and turned to those watching her. “Now… tell me what you all think we should do.”

“Hmm…”

Everyone avoided the Marquise’s gaze. None of them had a viable plan.

Everything had unfolded with absurd, breakneck speed.

Even in times of war between domains, it was customary to observe mutual respect and adhere to established rules of engagement.

But who could have predicted that a domain’s own tower—especially one that had just declared war—would launch a merciless bombardment on the very same day?

The invaders had utterly devastated Lord’s Castle in short order and captured the Duke, a noble of the realm. Given their audacity, it wouldn’t be surprising if they committed even worse atrocities.

To make matters worse, reports kept pouring in that Dwenn and his Transcendent Legion, whom we had relied upon, had been captured and were being dragged in chains to the Tower of Wishes. I was at a loss, unable to even imagine what to do next.

“Um… perhaps we should consider issuing a Conscription Order for the domain?” someone hesitantly suggested.

Voices of support echoed from all corners.

“But His Excellency the Marquis and the Young Master have been captured. Who will issue the Conscription Order now?”

“Isn’t Gamo still here?”

“Very well, even if we issue a Conscription Order, what reason will we give the people to persuade them? To fight the Tower of Wishes? Don’t you understand the current public sentiment? Just go to any nearby tavern, and you’ll hear countless voices ranting that our Duke House brought this crisis upon ourselves by plotting to seize the Tower! In that climate, how can we expect the people to willingly follow a Conscription Order to attack it?”

“Hmph! What if they refuse? A Conscription Order is the Lord’s prerogative, and obedience is the duty of the Territory’s people! Once issued, they must comply, whether they like it or not!”

“Goodness, how can you be so utterly blind to the current trends? Even if you force the people into military service, who among them would willingly raise a sword against the Tower of Wishes? What use is a soldier with morale at rock bottom? We’d be lucky if they didn’t turn the very weapons we gave them against us!”

“I agree,” one of them said. “Issuing a Conscription Order would completely halt all productive activities in the territory, resulting in astronomical losses.”

“Are you out of your mind?” another retorted. “With the very survival of our domain at stake, what does financial damage matter?”

“You’re being short-sighted!” the first speaker replied. “When the situation stabilizes and His Excellency the Marquis returns, how do you plan to compensate for the losses incurred during this crisis?”

The initial exchanges, which had begun as measured words, gradually escalated into a heated shouting match. Frustrated by the lack of solutions or even concrete contingency plans to address the crisis, the Marquise’s voice rose again.

“Silence!”

Her sharp command finally silenced the crowd.

The Marquise took a deep breath, her face etched with bitterness. “Contact the palace immediately.”

“G-Gamo!”

Her words meant reporting the situation to the Meldeyck Royal Family. To admit that the prestigious Syron Marquis Family had been defeated by a mere tower within their own domain would be a humiliating disgrace.

Sensing their reluctance, the Marquise spoke firmly. “This will come to light eventually anyway.”

“But… we must try to contain this ourselves!”

“The family’s Transcendent Legion has been neutralized, and the Lord Marquis and Dwenn have been captured! What more can we possibly contain at this point?”

”…”

“If this is bound to become public knowledge anyway, requesting assistance from the palace as soon as possible to resolve the situation is the best way to minimize the damage to our family.”

Silence hung heavy in the air after the Marquise spoke.

Finally, she nodded in reluctant agreement. “Very well, I’ll do as you suggest.”

With that, news from Count Syron reached the capital of the Meldey Kingdom, and an airship soared into the sky.

Its destination: Syron Territory, home to the Tower of Wishes.

Despite the utter devastation of Lord Syron’s castle and the overflowing dungeons beneath the Tower of Wishes, the Syron Territory remained surprisingly peaceful.

Moreover, the Tower of Wishes itself, the epicenter of all the recent turmoil, was busier than ever.

At the tower’s highest level, the Tower Lord’s chamber—reoccupied by its master after a long absence—was in a state of disarray.

“Let’s put this over here.”

”…”

“Ah! This would look perfect there. What do you think, Louis?”

”…Do as you please.”

“Yes! Then how about this? Over here seems best, right?”

“Mmm…”

Louis answered with a somewhat listless voice.

Meanwhile, Fin, having received his permission, gleefully began pulling various items from her pocket dimension. These were all things she had packed from Louis’s room in Genelocer’s lair.

“Hehe~”

Watching Fin tirelessly decorate the room for hours without rest, Louis shook his head and finally spoke up. “Why don’t you just… do it roughly?”

“How could you say such a thing?!” Fin exclaimed, her face stricken with shock. “This space is meant to reflect Louis’s dignity and elegance! How could I possibly be careless when decorating such a place?”

”…Is that so?”

“Yes!”

“Then just decorate it however you want without asking me…”

“Really? May I?”

“Yes, please… just do it.”

Louis couldn’t decide which was worse: demolishing the Castle of Lord Syron or enduring Fin’s relentless fussing. If anyone asked him, he’d unequivocally choose the latter.

Louis waved his hand dismissively, urging Fin to leave quickly. She fluttered off to bother someone else.

“Tania, what do you think of this spot?”

“I think it would be perfect here!”

“Mm-hmm! Exactly what I was thinking!”

“Fin, put my desk over here too!”

“Yes! Oh, Lady Kani, just a moment, please. Let’s finish placing this first!”

“Okay, got it!”

Fin, Tania, and Kani began pulling various items from their pocket dimensions, diving into a furniture rearranging frenzy.

Distracted by the cacophony they were creating, Louis stared blankly out the window.

“Ah… I want to run away.”

Perhaps Khan and Kendrick, who had sensed the impending chaos and fled to train, were the wisest of them all.

After a grueling half-day of decorating, everyone except Louis was finally content.

Now, let’s rest a bit…

Despite not having moved, fatigue washed over him.

But Louis couldn’t rest. Someone had barged into his office.

“T-Tower Lord! There’s a major crisis!”

Erica burst through the door, panting heavily as if she had run all the way.

Louis frowned at the wide-open door. “What is it? Don’t you know how to knock?”

“T-that’s not important right now!”

“It is. You’ve interrupted my much-needed rest.”

“Ugh…”

Erica flinched, rolled her eyes, and ducked behind the door. Instead of simply peeking out, she poked her head out completely.

Louis, utterly bewildered, asked, ”…What are you doing?”

“I thought you might hit me…”

”…”

“I’ll come in if you promise not to.”

“Do you really think hiding there will stop me?”

Thwack!

Something flew from nowhere and smacked Erica on the back of the head. At the same time, the door slammed shut automatically.

“Agh!”

Louis merely turned over and lay back down as if nothing had happened, ignoring Erica’s scream echoing from outside.

How long had passed?

Bang! Bang!

“T-Tower Lord!”

Louis sighed at the voice outside. “What is it?”

“C-it’s a disaster!”

“What kind of disaster?”

“Duke Haidel has arrived!”

“Who’s that?”

“The Premier of the Meldey Kingdom!”

Before the words had even finished, the door burst open.

Erica stood frozen in her knocking posture, her gaze fixed on the figure beyond the doorway…

“Who’s here?” Louis greeted her with a dazzling smile.