"The market is cold."
Fidelina suddenly muttered after returning from her business trip.
Maxim looked at her as though something had broken and asked.
"What's that supposed to mean out of nowhere?"
"......The potions. I couldn't sell a single bottle."
She collapsed into a chair, looking far more dejected than usual.
The Vice Tower Master cautiously spoke after seeing her.
"You couldn't sell a single bottle? Was there some problem?"
"I'd like to say there wasn't...... but yes, we definitely have a major problem."
She sighed deeply and continued.
"Everyone is watching the Blue Tower, so no one is willing to stock our potions."
"Hmm."
It was not an incomprehensible problem.
The undisputed champion of the potion market in this era was the Blue Tower.
As merchants, they could not afford to ignore its displeasure.
"It certainly is a difficult problem. In that case, what about lowering the price further?"
She shook her head at Maxim's question.
"We already have a sufficient price advantage. Ours are about 15% cheaper than the Blue Tower's potions. Our potions even use Sirin's herbs as their main ingredients, so they're healthier and have fewer side effects. If you only compare product appeal and quality, we win by a landslide."
"Then were there no places willing to make a deal, even on a small scale?"
"......Actually, several black markets requested a large supply, but I refused. Trading with places like that would damage the tower's reputation."
Black markets were places where all manner of stolen goods circulated.
As most of their suppliers were criminals, they were hardly respectable establishments.
"No one wishes to buy them despite there being nothing wrong with the product...... This certainly is serious."
At present, almost all of the White Tower's income came from medicine related to Cadenna influenza.
But the treatment had already sold as much as it could, and vaccine sales were also falling rapidly due to their nature.
If the tower failed to discover a new source of income, it would clearly return to the poverty of the past.
Fidelina looked at Maxim and asked.
"What's Oscar doing these days? That guy is quick-witted, so I want to ask if he has any ideas."
"Would even that child have an answer? Besides, he seems busy preparing lectures these days."
"......Lectures? Is he teaching something related to alchemy?"
"No, they're about basic magic. Surprisingly, judging by the rumors, they're very well received."
"I can't imagine him teaching anyone with that personality."
Maxim nodded without thinking, then belatedly cleared his throat.
"Ahem. I happen to be observing tomorrow's class, so I'll ask his opinion about the potion problem as well."
He said that, but did not truly believe Oscar could solve this problem.
This was not something that could be resolved by simply making better potions.
Was this not a matter closer to politics, the sort of adult circumstance that children like Oscar could not yet understand?
'......That innocent child will be hurt again because of adult affairs.'
Maxim began considering deeply how to deliver the news while minimizing the shock.
***
Wednesday morning.
After spending all night preparing for tomorrow's class, Oscar visited the training rooms on the 40th floor.
It was his first visit since teaching Fran last time.
'The students said there's something interesting here.'
Oscar passed dozens of training rooms and stopped before one with a different-colored door.
His gaze rose to the nameplate above it.
[Future Innovation Training Room]
"......."
Future and innovation.
Two words could not have been less suited to the current White Tower.
Of the 300 personal training rooms that filled the floor, only three were rooms of this kind.
'I'll find out how it differs from the existing rooms once I go inside.'
He entered and looked around.
At a glance, it did not seem markedly different from the existing training rooms.
"......Does it feel a little different?"
After he muttered something he himself found foolish.
A clear voice emerged from the training room's speaker.
-Hello. I am Argo, the next-generation training support system.
-Entry by an unregistered user has been detected.
'Ah, I see.'
A strange light entered Oscar's eyes.
Magitech.
It was a training room fitted with technology that sounded more magical than magic itself to someone from 20 years ago.
'Then that means.......'
Oscar's expression soured when he realized it.
'Those bastards at the Yellow Tower must be raking in money.'
He was dying of envy.
Just then, the voice calling itself Argo continued.
-Registering user information will provide a customized training course. Would you like to register now?
"No."
-Information registration declined. Training will proceed with an unregistered user.
-Please select the desired stage of the training program.
"......Stage?"
-This training program has a total of 100 stages, allowing users to train at a stage suited to their level.
"Hmm."
Oscar rubbed his chin with interest.
"Then give me Stage 1."
-Understood.
A moment later, 3 balls the size of a person's head appeared before Oscar.
They began moving as slowly as crawling turtles.
-Destroy all 3 balls using physical or magical attacks.
-The training will be canceled if an area-of-effect spell is used to destroy the balls.
Oscar lightly shot mana at the balls and burst them, and cheerful music filled the room.
-Congratulations! You have cleared Stage 1.
"Ah, so that's how it works?"
The method was rather entertaining for a training exercise.
It was no exaggeration to call it perfect for training reaction speed, casting speed, and mana control.
'I also like that it prevents the trick of clearing it easily with area-of-effect magic.'
Honestly, most mages would considerably improve their skills just by playing with this.
'If Stage 1 is like this, how difficult is Stage 100?'
Oscar suddenly grew curious.
"I want to raise the stage."
-Which stage would you like to select?
"Stage 100."
The instant he spoke, the training room's lights turned red and slowly began to flash.
-Warning. From Stage 80 onward, the balls become extremely small and fast and will also attack the user. Elderly users, pregnant users, and children are advised to stop the challenge to avoid potential danger.
"It's fine. Proceed."
As the lights returned to normal, Oscar lightly rolled his neck and loosened his body.
'How impressive can it be? There's no need for such a fuss.'
The moment he had that thought, a swarm of balls far smaller than before appeared.
Each was at most the length of two finger joints.
-Destroy 1,000 balls using physical or magical attacks.
-The training will be canceled if an area-of-effect spell is used to destroy the balls.
-The training will be canceled if the user is struck by the moving balls 10 or more times.
"......!"
Oscar instinctively twisted his head aside.
WHOOSH—!
The ball he narrowly dodged was as fast as a flying arrow.
There were a full thousand balls moving through the training room at that speed.
'......They don't even slow down when they hit the walls.'
Sensing danger, Oscar hastily scattered four Wind Cutters into the air.
BANG—! BANG, BANG, BANG—!
The Wind Cutters moved like living creatures, chasing and bursting the incoming balls, but their numbers showed no sign of falling.
'......At this rate, I'll run out of mana first?'
Now fully alert, Oscar immediately dispersed every Wind Cutter.
'What I need now is something that consumes less mana than Wind Cutter but can still burst the balls.......'
A form that allowed him to control a greater number.
Oscar made his decision as he considered the problem and shaped his mana.
He created twelve mana needles.
'Compared to Wind Cutter, I've reduced mana consumption by 96% while increasing the number by 200%.'
This method was only possible because his magical calculation, mana distribution, and control had reached their limits.
'Although twelve is about the limit I can control in my body's current condition.......'
This would be enough.
As if roaring, the twelve needles began mercilessly bursting every ball that approached him.
'The training ends if I'm hit ten times.'
How could a former Tower Master fail after getting pummeled by mere balls?
Oscar moved his body tirelessly to dodge the incoming balls.
'All that physical training every morning paid off.'
He still became breathless after moving only a little, but he had definitely improved.
'But this...... hasn't it gone far beyond a training exercise for children?'
He quietly marveled.
'It demands not only mana control, calculation, and realization, but physical ability as well.'
In other words, clearing this Stage 100 training required not effort, but talent.
It demanded an unfair and innate quality one was born with.
'Still.'
To Oscar, who had crossed countless battlefields, it seemed almost cute.
BANG—! BANG—! BANG, BANG—!
The sound of popping corn filled the training room for a time.
The instant he burst the 1,000th ball, a notification rang out.
-Congratulations! You have cleared Stage 100.
"Huff, huff. That was...... about right for a warm-up."
Oscar sprawled on the floor, sweating like rain as he caught his breath.
'Do the mages of this era train like this from childhood?'
If so, modern mages might have advanced far beyond those of the past.
That would mean the White Tower had an equally vast distance to catch up.
'......Don't rush. One step at a time.'
Oscar smiled and sprang to his feet.
Although his stamina had run dry in little more than ten minutes, he felt refreshed.
"It might be nice to come here occasionally to relieve stress."
He dragged his exhausted body out of the training room, then flinched when his eyes met someone else's.
"......."
It was a woman with long brown hair tied behind her head.
Her distinctively sharp, upturned eyes drew attention.
It was Oscar's first time seeing her in person, but he knew who she was.
'Veronica Fricks.'
She was another of the problem children recorded in Little Oscar's journal.
***
As always, Veronica Fricks visited the training rooms that day.
Beginning each day by working up a sweat in the morning had been her routine for years.
She believed that healthy mana dwelled in a healthy body.
"......?"
Her footsteps stopped when she encountered an unexpected person.
'Oscar Crucian?'
The man once called a genius by the world emerged from a training room, panting.
Their eyes met in the air, and he stared fixedly at her.
"......."
His eyes were so deep and still that she could not guess his thoughts.
She hated those eyes. They felt as though they looked down on everyone in the world.
When she stood before them, her already insignificant self seemed even more pathetic.
In the end, she spoke first again today.
"What are you looking at?"
"......Did you come to train this early?"
"Why else would I come to a training room? To eat?"
Despite her biting tone, Oscar maintained his customary blank expression and slowly spoke.
"Excellent."
"......?"
"I believe healthy mana dwells in a healthy body. Train hard."
Veronica stared blankly at Oscar as he walked away after saying that.
"......What's with him? What the hell did he eat today?"
He had always treated her like air and ignored her. Why was he suddenly pretending they were close?
Even the advice he had offered was absurd.
-Healthy mana dwells in a healthy body.
Those were the famous words of the seventeenth Tower Master, Oscar Sage, whom she respected.
It was ridiculous that he went around repeating them as though he had invented them.
She narrowed her eyes and stared for some time in the direction Oscar had disappeared.
'......So even he trains.'
It was the first time.
She had seen that guy, the apparent personification of arrogance, train until he was exhausted.
'Does he come often?'
Perhaps they had simply never met because they trained at different times.
'......Whatever. It has nothing to do with me.'
Why should she care about an obnoxious bastard who looked down on her just because he was noble-born, even though he was an orphan just like her?
She scowled irritably, wrenched the door open, and entered the Future Innovation Training Room.
"Argo, prepare Stage 50 as a warm-up."
-Understood.
She tossed her coat into a corner of the room, stretched, and asked in passing.
"There hasn't been a change in the rankings, has there?"
-There has.
"Right, right. Of course there hasn't...... What?"
Her eyes widened.
"Show me the rankings."
At her request, Argo displayed a holographic leaderboard.
[Leaderboard]
1st, Stage 100, 9 minutes 57 seconds, AAA
2nd, Stage 100, 14 minutes 02 seconds, Killian Lockwood.
3rd, Stage 100, 14 minutes 55 seconds, Veronica Fricks.
......
Veronica's mouth fell open as she stared at the leaderboard.
'AAA?'
Those initials were automatically saved when an unregistered user set a new record.
Her thoughts grew complicated.
'Did one of the elders set the record? No, only mages of Level 5 or below are counted here?'
That meant a White Tower mage who was not an elder had set a new record.
They had even broken the daunting 10-minute barrier.
To her knowledge, this was the first time a Level 5 or lower mage had recorded such a time anywhere on the continent.
"......Who is that person?"
-I cannot disclose that due to personal-information security.
Her brow furrowed at the expected answer.
'Killian is currently out of the tower on an assignment, so who could it be?'
This training was not designed so that abundant mana or a high level alone could produce a good record.
Mana control, situational judgment, danger perception, and the physical ability to execute all of them.
Only someone who possessed all those qualities in balance could challenge the highest records.
'Among the people currently in our tower who could set that sort of record.......'
Faces of those who often visited the training rooms passed through her mind.
As she searched for a possibility among them, she suddenly flinched.
For a moment, someone she would ordinarily never have considered bothered her.
'......Oscar Crucian?'
That was probably because she had just seen him leave a training room.
But she immediately shook her head vigorously.
"No way. It couldn't be that bastard."
A Level 2 mage who could only use basic magic set that record?
It would be more convincing to claim that guy was Oscar Sage reincarnated.
'......It isn't really him, is it?'
But like a tiny thorn caught in her throat, the thought of that guy continued to bother her.
After all, hadn't he once been a genius who drew the world's attention?
'Ah, asking him directly would hurt my pride. This is driving me insane.'
She agonized for a long time before an idea suddenly lit up in her mind.
'Right, there's A Reinterpretation of Basic Magic.'
The lecture where Oscar Crucian personally taught magic.
Rumors of its incredible quality had been the talk of the tower long enough to reach even her ears.
'......If I attend that guy's class myself, won't I be able to roughly gauge his skill?'
Thoughts of AAA and Oscar continued circling in her mind for a long time afterward.