Kingdom of Hupper, the king's office.
The wise king, Morgan Hupper, continued his work leaning against candlelight.
He was always a workaholic.
Whoosh!
The wind, which forcibly opened the window, blew out all the candles hanging on the chandelier.
The only remaining candle was on the desk.
However, Morgan didn't panic and stared at the darkness left by the wind.
The sound of footfalls hitting the marble floor could be heard.
"Morgan Hupper, our wise king."
A young voice cutting through the darkness.
A frail hand appeared through the curtain of darkness.
It was small and delicate like that of a child.
"Show respect."
Morgan stood up from his seat and stepped into that darkness.
Then, he respectfully knelt down, brought his lips to the small hand extended towards him, and politely greeted.
"Morgan Hupper, I greet Lady Freesia Vulcan Darkrider, the Masterof the Black Sky Tower."
Freesia Vulcan Darkrider.
At a glance, the relationship between Morgan and Freesia looked like that of a grandfather and granddaughter.
However, considering their actual ages, the difference was reversed enough that it wouldn't be strange for them to be mistaken for grandson and grandmother.
Freesia slowly walked into the light and revealed herself.
With black hair as dark as pitch, and bright red eyes.
She had an aristocratic lady's presence, dressed in a black gothic dress, with a parasol.
Freesia sat on Morgan's office desk and stretched out her legs.
The documents he had been reviewing got dirty with her shoes.
Morgan, who would usually have been hopping mad, quietly watched this.
"Have you been at peace during this time?"
"I've been feeling great. I'm alive because I haven't died."
"Please let me know if there's anything you desire in Hupper territory. We will do our utmost to accommodate the Masterof the Black Sky Tower."
"Well, I don't ask much of you. What I have now is enough."
Freesia chuckled.
"It's funny to think that a wise king allows such commotion."
The contract between the king of the Hupper Kingdom, Morgan, and the Masterof the Black Sky Tower, Freesia.
Morgan asked Freesia for decryption and research of the forbidden scriptures, and in return, Freesia gained the right to create disturbances within the Hupper Kingdom to a certain degree.
Apart from the occasional attack on the merchant guild, all the evil occurring in the Hupper Kingdom was instigated by Freesia.
Even if it came to light that Freesia was involved, Morgan would cover up everything.
"How is the research progressing?"
"I have completed the deciphering. Now it's time to start looking for test subjects. Did you prepare as instructed?"
"Yes. The food supply of the village will soon run out."
"Hmm... Issue promissory notes. Then let the village die by not repaying them. It's quite amusing."
"We couldn't cause a famine in the Starfall Village, due to the intervention of Tower Master of the Silence Tower."
"I can tolerate a few holes. And we shouldn't interfere with our little cutie's game of catching mice, right?"
Freesia laughed mischievously and tapped her forehead with her index finger.
"Then soon, all the food in the small villages under the Hupper Kingdom will run out, and they will have to find something to eat, even if they have to peel tree bark."
But not everyone can survive like this.
As it was an intended famine to break down the small villages, more than half will undoubtedly lose their lives.
Humans will do anything when driven to the brink of death.
Freesia would offer them an extreme choice.
"Then, the poor fathers and sons of the small villages will volunteer to become our lab rats."
"Excellent plan, Lady Freesia. I am truly grateful."
Morgan bowed respectfully to express his gratitude.
Freesia waved her hand with a childlike smile.
"No, I should be the one thanking you. I never imagined you'd give me the forbidden scriptures that came down to the Hupper Kingdom. It's truly the best."
"This matter must be kept a secret. If it reaches the public workshop, it will undoubtedly shake my position."
"Is it because of the adjective 'wise'? It would be easier if you just gave up."
Freesia clicked her tongue.
It was foolish not to relinquish the position for comfort.
"The Hupper Kingdom is everything to me. If my position is shaken, the kingdom cannot exist."
A man obsessed with power.
He might seem like that, but Freesia knew he had made a cool-headed assessment.
The Hupper Kingdom was a kingdom established by Morgan.
It was all thanks to Morgan Hupper's charisma and reputation that the kingdom could be founded.
He could gain overwhelming support from the capital Cohen due to his image of not tolerating injustice and not hesitating to walk through thorny paths for justice.
Therefore, Morgan was concerned about the future.
If he were to be manipulated by those with inferior abilities and lead astray, wouldn't he ruin everything he had worked for?
Such anxiety kept Morgan from even sleeping.
Freesia suggested something to him.
"Why not try experimenting with the mother and daughter too? Considering the power of your daughter, I think it could be a good idea. You never know if your fragile son could suddenly die, so you need some insurance, don't you?"
Morgan hesitated at her response.
He did not show it, but his discomfort subtly revealed itself in his silence.
"I'm sorry, Tower Lord, but I don't think I can tolerate it going into a woman's body."
"You're a cruel father. Rather than worrying about power concentrating on your daughter, it would be better if it goes into her body."
"Please do not discuss Adonis further."
"You're no fun, fine."
Morgan drew the line with a tone indicating discomfort, and Freesia giggled.
"Then it's time to eliminate your good-for-nothing daughter, isn't it? Have you thought of a way?"
"Yes, I have. In fact, I would like to ask a favor regarding that."
"What is it?"
Morgan laid out his entire plan to Freesia.
The banquet hall, Adonis, a man with indiscriminate lust, and the mistakes made by it.
"A man in heat... Is that okay? But with Adonis' ability, wouldn't she be able to fully suppress that man?"
"You don't need to worry. That man won't die by Adonis' hands, but he will choose to end his own life. Is that acceptable?"
Morgan asked cautiously, and Freesia nodded with a displeased face.
"It's well within my ability to manipulate young ones. What do you take me, the Tower Master of Black Sky, for?"
"I apologize, Tower Master of Black Sky."
The top authority on Necromancer-type magic.
It wasn't too much to ask of her, as she was also a magician capable of curses and psychological manipulation.
"Suicide... Do you have a noble family in mind?"
"He is the eldest son of the Bren family. An illegitimate child, to be precise."
"Targeting a family with an illegitimate child, are we? A combination of coercion and humiliation, perhaps? It sounds amusing. Very well, make sure to draw him into Cohen City. I will take care of the rest."
"Yes."
"How are you planning to conduct the main event, the banquet? If you host it grandly, you can attract everyone's attention."
Hosting a banquet is easy, but getting someone to participate is extremely difficult.
Morgan's plan required many observers, and a diverse crowd was needed to fully shine.
However, Morgan had thought about that too.
"Recently, there's something that has been attracting the nobles' attention."
"What is it?"
"It's the recording device made by the Tower Master of Silence."
The Tower Master of Silence.
Reed Adeleheights Roton.
Freesia raised one eyebrow and a faint smile settled on her face.
It was a face full of interest that she hadn't shown even once while they were talking.
"Is that our Reed's project? It seems to have caught the attention of many."
"Elders like you might not care, but there are many people who want to listen to the songs of the elves and druids recorded by the Tower Master of Silence."
Freesia glared at Morgan with a face showing she was annoyed by the word 'elder'.
It sounded like he was calling her old.
"Anyway, I am thinking of hosting a banquet in the palace, combining it with a music concert."
"A lot of nobles will gather for the music that everyone is paying attention to, and you plan to tarnish your daughter's reputation in front of these nobles...."
Freesia admired this.
Though she was free-spirited, she was a woman with common sense.
And Morgan had transcended that common sense.
"I may think of myself as a beastly human, but you are an even greater beast, wise king."
"All this is for the kingdom of Hupper."
He lifted his white eyelids and looked at Freesia.
He was a king full of firm conviction, not a hopeless human being.
"I have no hesitation in my actions."
***
The reception room of the Hupper Kingdom.
A valued guest had just arrived there.
Ashen hair with golden eyes.
A tall height with broad shoulders.
A man whose good physique made his uniform shine.
"Tower Lord of Silence, Reed Adeleheights Roton, is here to meet the wise King Morgan of Hupper Kingdom."
Reed, who respectfully greeted with a salute.
Morgan, who was sitting on the other side, stood up from his seat and approached Reed.
"Hehe, I feel like the Tower Master, an authority on magic, is being too formal."
"I once committed a breach of etiquette. However, considering that you generously forgave that and invited me here, how could I not be formal?"
"It was our kingdom's knight who committed a breach of etiquette, we have no hard feelings between us, do we?"
"That's true."
Reed was smiling, but his inner thoughts were different.
'The mastermind who cast his own daughter into ruin and took over his son's body.'
There was also the fact that he was the mastermind who trapped Adonis, but what disgusted him the most was the fact that he viewed his own flesh and blood as tools.
'What could he be thinking?'
When he sent a letter to Reed, he must have already planned everything.
The plan to push his daughter into the ruin.
Reed was curious about what he had thought while devising that plan.
Did he feel a bit of guilt?
Or did he simply see his daughter as a useless pawn and feel relieved, as if a troublesome burden had been lifted?
'I must endure.'
He swallowed his doubts and anger.
Getting angry now would only be beneficial to Morgan.
'I came here to disrupt Morgan's plans.'
For that, he started 'Project: Sound of Music', and spread rumors to draw in the Hupper Kingdom.
They were just at the beginning of the first phase.
Showing animosity rashly would ruin all the plans he had made.
Reed tried to suppress the urge to lash out with a smile.
Morgan, who had been quietly sizing up Reed, spoke to him.
"Seeing the Tower Master of Silence in person, you look like a knight. You're so robust that nobody would think you're a mage."
Reed had recently started physical training.
The reason was to adapt to the heavy magnesium gauntlets.
He planned to continue the lightweight development, but the current prototype was too heavy for ordinary mages to handle.
To get used to that weight, Reed built up his muscles, and thanks to that, his physique had improved.
"If I appear as a knight who values honor, it would be the greatest honor for me."
Reed smiled and expressed his gratitude, and Morgan invited him to take a seat.
The attendants brought refreshments, and in the quiet atmosphere, Morgan was the first to speak.
"What do you think about the content I sent in the letter? You came here in person to give the answer, so is it good news that this old man can be happy about?"
Reed nodded.
"Yes, indeed. This project has finally borne fruit, and I wanted to present it to the many people who have shown interest."
Even before sending the letter to the Hupper Kingdom, he had received many requests for demonstrations from various places, but Reed spoke as if this was the first time, with a smile.
Whether it was true or not, it was a pleasant thing for Morgan to hear.
"Then, would you host a concert in our castle?"
"Of course."
Reed nodded again.
"I would like to present the first magical engineering item created at the Tower of Silence in the Hupper Kingdom."