The empire's state religion worshiped Terra, the Earth Mother Goddess (Mother Goddess of the Earth), mother to every land in the world.
The El Terra Church.
"Phew......."
Baldwin, one of its seven archbishops, had recently been troubled by a single problem.
'Of all things, it had to be Cadenna influenza.'
As rotten luck would have it, the influenza had broken out in Vins, one of the destinations on his pilgrimage route.
At this rate, he would have no choice but to halt the pilgrimage.
"......No. Absolutely not."
Baldwin shook his head.
How had he climbed all the way to his current position?
For decades, he had survived the brutal political arena without yielding even the slightest opening, all so he could become a cardinal.
And now all that effort might come to nothing because of some flu?
'What utter nonsense.'
Ambition blazed in his eyes at that moment.
Knock, knock.
-Archbishop. The guests you mentioned have arrived.
"Show them in."
The door opened, and two men entered.
They bent deeply at the waist in a courteous greeting.
"El Sia. Thanks to Your care, we have arrived here safely."
"El Sia. May the Goddess bless our meeting."
Archbishop Baldwin nodded at the Church's greeting.
"El Sia. Both of you, take a seat."
Sitting in the place of honor on a plush sofa, he began to speak.
"I heard you arrived in Sirin two days ago, but I've been so busy that I could only summon you now."
"Not at all. You have countless important affairs. I'm Moira Main, a Level 5 mage of the Blue Tower."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Neil Brion, the executive director of the pharmaceutical company Newtech."
The Blue Tower, one of the Four Great Magic Towers, and Newtech, a company that had raked in money from across the continent in recent years.
The reason the two had joined hands and come to Baldwin was simple.
"What became of your plan to develop a treatment for Cadenna influenza through a technological partnership?"
Moira gave a gentle smile at the archbishop's question.
"Why, it's proceeding smoothly, of course. As you know, the Blue Tower has a long history of producing potions. And Newtech here is the greatest pharmaceutical company in existence, producing all kinds of medicines."
"From cold medicine, painkillers, digestive medicine, and vitamins to treatments for narcotics addiction. There's no medicine in this world that we can't make, Archbishop."
The archbishop's expression brightened at their confident boasts.
"Heh heh heh. Hearing that puts my worries entirely to rest. Then when do you expect it to be complete?"
"All that remains is the clinical trial phase."
"Once it passes that safely, the Imperial Food and Drug Administration can grant formal approval for sale."
"Oh!"
As things proceeded better than expected, the archbishop clasped his hands and prayed.
"El Sia. The Earth Mother Goddess is watching over this little lamb."
"However......."
Moira watched him carefully and began to speak.
"As you know, clinical trials don't end in a day or two."
"It would also be disastrous if we focused only on speed and the treatment's effects proved unimpressive."
"Give me the simple conclusion. When will the product be released?"
"......No matter what it takes, we'll complete it within half a year."
"Half a year!?"
Archbishop Baldwin frowned and roared.
"Out of the question! Under Church regulations, I must travel to Vins in four months! No matter what it takes, complete it within that time and bring it before me!"
"But the schedule......."
"Silence!"
BANG!
When his fist struck the expensive sofa's armrest, a heavy silence filled the room.
Knock, knock, knock. The doorkeeper priest's knocking broke the stillness.
-Archbishop. Another mage has arrived.
"Tsk. Show him in."
After calming his anger, the archbishop asked the two men a question.
"Why didn't you say one more person was coming?"
"Pardon? No."
"The two of us are the entire party."
Then who on earth......?
The three of them naturally turned toward the door.
"Let me see, the Church's greeting was...... El Sia, wasn't it?"
The man who entered was an elegant young nobleman who seemed to have stepped out of a storybook.
Wearing a pure white robe that suited the El Terra Church perfectly, he bowed his head slightly.
It was exceedingly courteous, but only to the proper degree.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Oscar Crucian, a Level 2 mage of the White Tower and head of the Potion Production Department."
The man slowly raised his head, his eyes curving beautifully like crescent moons.
"I've come to share good news."
"......Good news?"
Baldwin frowned.
That was a greeting commonly used by Church missionaries when visiting private homes.
But unless he was a crazy bastard, he could not possibly have come to proselytize to an archbishop.
"The thing I hate most is wasting time. What exactly do you want?"
His intimidating voice warned Oscar to brace himself if he had nothing worthwhile to say.
Oscar replied without batting an eye.
"I came to sell you a treatment for Cadenna influenza."
"Hm?"
With a surprised expression, the archbishop looked at the two guests before him.
"What a coincidence. We were just discussing the same matter."
"Ah, I suppose that's why you opened the door without suspicion."
Oscar naturally approached the sofa and looked the other two guests over.
"Then am I perhaps one step too late? Perhaps you've already signed a contract with these two......."
"We haven't."
The archbishop shook his head firmly.
"They aren't ready to conduct business yet, so I was wondering what to do."
"That's fortunate for me."
"And the White Tower?"
There was a peculiar anticipation in the eyes directed at Oscar.
Oscar realized what answer the other man wanted and scratched him exactly where he itched.
"The White Tower is naturally ready to conduct business at once."
"That's a lie!"
Moira Main, mage of the Blue Tower, shot to his feet and shouted.
"Everyone knows the circumstances of those White Tower bastards. What money or technology could they possibly have to make a treatment?"
"......Hmm."
Archbishop Baldwin nodded, apparently finding the argument reasonable.
"That's certainly a reasonable suspicion. Oscar...... what was it again?"
"Sa...... No, Crucian."
"Yes, Oscar Crucian. Do you truly have the treatment in your possession?"
"Who would dare speak a lie to an archbishop of the El Terra Church?"
Oscar took a small wooden box from inside his clothes and placed it before the archbishop.
"A sample of the treatment for Cadenna influenza."
"Oh!"
The archbishop immediately opened the box, examined the medicine bottle, and nodded.
"Hmm. The problem is that I have no way to know whether this is genuine......."
He thought over something for a moment, then spoke.
"If I do business with you, how many doses can you prepare, and by when?"
"Archbishop Baldwin!"
Moira raised his voice, feeling betrayed, only for Archbishop Baldwin to shout at him instead.
"How dare you! What gives you the right to raise your voice now?!"
"Th-that isn't what I......."
"Weren't you the ones who came unprepared to conduct business in the first place?"
"But that's because the Imperial Food and Drug Administration's approval...... Ah!"
Moira's gaze turned toward Oscar as something occurred to him.
"Hey, that treatment. Did you receive approval from the Imperial Food and Drug Administration?"
"No."
"Ha! I knew it. Archbishop, as you can see, the White Tower is no different from us."
"......Ahem."
Archbishop Baldwin subtly returned the reagent bottle to its place.
No matter how urgent the situation, he could not recklessly purchase a treatment that had not even undergone clinical trials.
After confirming that, Moira resumed his persuasion.
"Archbishop. Once the Food and Drug Administration grants approval, we can supply any quantity you desire through factories all across the continent. No one on this continent has a faster production process than we do."
"......."
"More importantly, wasn't that treatment made by the White Tower? I can state with certainty that the treatment jointly created by the historic Blue Tower and Newtech, the greatest pharmaceutical company in existence, will be more effective."
After nodding once, the archbishop looked toward Oscar.
"What do you think? If you have nothing particular to say, I'd like to discuss matters with these two in greater depth."
"......I acknowledge that we lack approval from the Food and Drug Administration and that we're behind in production speed. However."
A derisive smile spread across his lips.
"It's a little amusing to hear the Blue Tower boast about its long history. Especially in front of the White Tower."
"What?"
Moira Main's expression stiffened.
At the same moment, bloodlust sharp enough to make an ordinary Level 2 mage struggle to breathe stabbed Oscar's skin.
"I'll give you a chance to take that back as a slip of the tongue from a worthless Level 2 mage."
"Well, I'd have had to say something wrong for it to be a slip of the tongue......."
Oscar let the bloodlust wash past him without concern and asked with an expression of genuine confusion.
"Answer me yourself. Which magic tower was the first to be established in the continent's history?"
"......Are you gloating over the fact that it was founded a mere five years earlier?"
"Mere?"
Oscar emphasized the word and shrugged.
"How interesting. Those five years you call 'mere'."
Five years that every Blue Tower Master in history had wished to erase at any cost.
And.
"They'll remain a five-year gap that can never be closed, even after a thousand or ten thousand years."
"......."
That was history.
Once recorded, it became a truth and a root that could never be changed.
"And you dismiss our treatment, but you seem to have forgotten that the White Tower monopolized the potion market only twenty years ago."
"Hmph, a tale of the past no one remembers now."
"A past no one remembers......."
"......!"
Moira's body trembled instinctively.
Even he did not know why.
The moment the young mage's gaze turned cold, his body had reacted on its own.
"Then it can't be helped. I'll have to remind you."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that we're taking back the potion market we left in the Blue Tower's care for a while."
"......Heh, ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!"
Moira leaned back at the waist and shook with laughter.
After laughing for some time, he wiped tears from the corners of his eyes and spoke.
"How pathetic of me. To think I was listening so seriously to the words of a monkey that cannot tell heaven from earth."
Moira shook his head wearily and spoke to the archbishop, who had silently observed the situation.
"Very well. Archbishop, we'll have it ready within four months, so sign the contract with us."
"Can you take responsibility for those words?"
"Yes. Even if we have to devote the Blue Tower's full strength, we'll secure approval from the Imperial Food and Drug Administration. If we fail, I'll offer my head."
The archbishop slowly nodded at the confident declaration.
"If you're willing to say so much, then I have no further reason to hesitate."
In effect, that meant negotiations with Oscar had collapsed.
He returned to his desk and was searching for a pen to write the contract when it happened.
Clack!
A priest opened the door and shouted.
"A-Archbishop!"
"How undignified. How can you make such a fuss in front of our guests?!"
"I apologize. But a message came through the communicator."
"A message?"
The archbishop stared at the communicator the priest had brought and asked a question.
"Who sent it to cause such commotion? His Holiness the Pope, perhaps......?"
"No. It's a call from the lord of Vins."
"The lord of Vins?"
Archbishop Baldwin showed a rare expression of surprise.
That was because he had never met the lord of Vins.
"I'll find out once I answer. Hand it to me."
He raised the communicator to his ear and spoke.
"El Sia. This is Baldwin, faithful servant of the Earth Mother Goddess."
[Ah! El Sia! First, allow me to thank you for your boundless grace, Archbishop.]
"......You thank me?"
The archbishop looked puzzled.
What could the man be thanking him for when he had done nothing deserving of gratitude?