Alpoi participated daily in the large-scale construction projects on the estate.
His mana was always depleted, with no time to replenish it, and fatigue built up, leaving dark circles under his eyes.
But no matter how hard it was, he couldn't stop.
If he were caught slacking off, there was no telling what punishment he'd face.
"Seriously, what is this? Isn't there a limit to how much work you can assign? Isn't this too much?"
"Assigning this kind of work to mages from the proud Scarlet Flame Magic Tower! We didn't come here to do menial labor!"
The newly arrived mages complained to Alpoi every day.
But no matter how much they protested, Alpoi, looking half-dead, only shook his head.
"The master… I mean, the Lord told us to do it…."
"That's a pathetic excuse!"
The new mages couldn't understand.
How had Alpoi, once so full of confidence as the heir to the Tower Lord, changed like this?
And Alpoi wasn't the only strange one. The other mages just kept their heads down and worked in silence.
What exactly had happened here?
"Just tell us! Why are you willingly doing this grunt work?"
"Because… it's fun…."
"If it's fun, then why are you crying?"
"It's so much fun… it brings me to tears…."
"Don't spout nonsense!"
The new mages finally couldn't take it and decided to rebel.
The Tower had told them to follow the Lord's orders, and since the branch head was setting an example, they had held back and done as they were told for several days…
But they couldn't continue to be used like this.
It wasn't just about pride.
The more they watched the mages who'd been there longer, the more ominous they felt.
Each one had dark circles under their eyes, and from spending all their time on construction sites, they looked shabby.
They didn't resemble the typically pristine and elegant mages at all.
"Let's go together!"
"Go where?"
"We're going to tell the Lord we won't do this work! If he refuses, we'll return to the Tower! You're coming too, right, Branch Head? Let's speak up firmly!"
"I don't know… what's that… it's scary…."
"Gah!"
The mages gritted their teeth, frustrated by Alpoi's timid response.
It was embarrassing to even think of him as the Tower Lord's heir.
"How pathetic. We no longer recognize you as the Tower Lord's successor!"
"I will definitely report this to the Tower Lord!"
"Let's go confront the Lord ourselves!"
With a determined air, the mages marched off.
It looked like they intended to intimidate the Lord into either stopping the work or letting them leave.
Alpoi merely watched them go with vacant eyes, even as they insulted him.
But as soon as the mages were out of sight, the expressions of Alpoi and the other remaining mages changed.
"Hahaha, idiots."
They suppressed their laughter, fearing that the departing mages might hear and come back.
All their pretending would go to waste if they weren't careful.
"No way am I going down alone."
"Let them experience it."
Driven by the thought that they shouldn't be the only ones treated like slaves, they had endured all the humiliation with patience.
"Haha, they have no idea how terrifying this Lord is. They're in for it now."
"Arrogant fools, they have no idea where they are or what they're up against."
"I was nervous, honestly. Let's dump all our work on them when they come back after signing that contract."
"Yeah, they need to learn why we're suffering like this."
"Some people only learn the hard way."
Their last hope, the Elder, was gone.
Since there was no chance of escape, at least having more hands around would mean they could get a bit more rest.
The mages, having honed their cunning, watched expectantly.
Just as they anticipated, Ghislain was looking down at the protesting mages with a dull expression.
"We can't do this kind of work anymore!"
"Treat us with proper respect! If not, we're returning to the Tower!"
Ghislain stroked his chin, narrowing his eyes.
"I specifically told Alpoi to manage things well… Didn't he stop you?"
"Stop us? He wouldn't even join us! The guy's completely gone. He just sits there drooling with a vacant look on his face! Working on construction every day has made him pitiful!"
Ghislain held his forehead and chuckled.
"Ha, typical mage, always scheming. Hilarious."
"Hey! Lord! Are you listening to us?"
The mages, unaware of why he was laughing, grew angrier, feeling he was mocking them.
"Oh, calm down. So, you're saying that if I keep assigning you construction work, you'll just go back to the Tower, right?"
"Exactly!"
"Didn't the Tower Lord tell you to cooperate fully with our estate's projects? I'm sure he mentioned construction."
"Come on, who actually puts mages on construction sites? No noble would dare do that!"
"But the Tower Lord and I agreed on this contract after thorough discussions, didn't we? Violating the contract now would be a breach. And I've been providing you all with a steady supply of rune stones, which has been benefiting you, too."
"We understand that! But isn't this going too far? Even if you're the Lord, you can't just force us to work! We'll focus solely on defending the estate and our research from now on."
With twenty mages standing before him, chins held high, Ghislain pondered briefly.
It seemed they didn't understand the gravity of their contract.
If he sent them back, they'd face severe punishment from the Tower Lord. Breaking the contract had serious repercussions.
"Haa, maybe the Tower Lord didn't explain this well enough. Mages and their pride—so complicated."
Sending them back for re-education would clear things up, but it would be a waste of time.
There was already so much to do, and the loss of mages would only delay the projects.
"Hmm, what should I do?"
He understood Alpoi's intent in sending the mages his way, but the thought of enslaving them outright wasn't appealing.
As a pacifist, that wasn't really his style.
And he didn't have time for another bet.
"Sigh. It pains me, but I have no other choice right now."
"What are you talking about?"
"Ah, just wait a moment."
Ghislain signaled the mages to calm down and called out toward the door.
"Hey, someone bring me a club."
Soon, a soldier entered carrying a beautifully crafted club, each grain of wood showing a craftsman's care.
Watching Ghislain examine the club, the mages' faces contorted in outrage.
"What are you doing? Isn't this too disrespectful?"
"Disrespect? I don't know who's being disrespectful here. But that's not the point. How about a little bet?"
"A bet?"
"Come at me, all of you at once. If any of you can leave a single scratch on me, I'll give you what you want. But if you lose, you'll have to sign a new contract."
"A new contract?"
"I don't want to drag this out, so let's get started. If you can land even the tiniest mark on me, I'll let you live as you please. I'll even give you all the rune stones you want and send anyone back to the Tower."
The mages' eyes lit up at his words.
Individually, they were only about third-circle mages, but there were twenty of them.
Even with their low circles, their combined numbers could overwhelm a typical knight in moments.
"You'll regret those words."
All the mages began gathering mana simultaneously.
They'd been building up grievances against Ghislain for a while, so they wouldn't miss this opportunity.
As the twenty mages gathered mana, nearby objects began to tremble.
But Ghislain merely smiled as he watched them.
"I didn't want any more slaves, honestly. I'd like to live peacefully, but the world just won't let me."
With a graceful sweep, Ghislain swung the club through the flow of mana the mages were unleashing.
That day, twenty new slaves were added to the estate.
***
It had been several days since the now twenty-six mages, sobbing, devoted themselves to construction work.
Claude approached Ghislain to make his report.
"All the herbs you requested have arrived. The tools are also ready."
"Good. Let's get started right away."
"What are you planning to make, exactly? Is this specialty item going to be something… with herbs that hold mana, like that wheat?"
Claude asked sincerely, genuinely curious.
He had examined the blueprints Ghislain had given him, but it was all about boiling, breaking down, mixing, and dissolving—elements one might find in an alchemist's workshop for making bizarre concoctions.
"It's something nobles will love. It wouldn't be as fun if you knew in advance, so just wait and see."
'Ugh… should I even trust this?'
Claude felt an urge to say something sarcastic but held it back.
He'd been severely reprimanded by Ghislain not long ago. Now was the time to lay low and study the pattern.
'People can't win all the time, statistically speaking. I'll observe for a while and then plan my next bet.'
It was the usual fallacy of a gambling addict.
Because he'd won last time, he believed he was more likely to lose this time.
Even as a top graduate of the academy, he wasn't immune to that mistake.
Claude smiled to himself, lost in thoughts of using a bet to escape his slave contract.
Ghislain clicked his tongue, casting a pitying glance at Claude before moving on.
The 'Herbal Medicine Development Room,' as he called it, sounded grand but was fairly simple.
One side was stacked with herbs, and on the other, Ghislain's designed tools were neatly arranged.
"This really does look like an alchemist's workshop."
Ghislain looked around, marveling at the setup.
He was indeed trying to create a product that, in his past life, had been developed jointly by mages and alchemists, so it wasn't wrong to call it an alchemist's workshop.
"Bring in the mages."
The mages, suddenly called in, began inscribing magic arrays on the tools at Ghislain's command.
Alpoi, his complexion sallow, bit his lip as he drew out the magic circles.
He could understand that some of the arrays enhanced the herbs' effects or purified impurities, but beyond that, he had no idea.
'I know he'd just spout nonsense if I asked, anyway.'
Curious about what these tools would be used for, Alpoi stifled his curiosity.
'I'm not asking. Just you wait, I won't ask. Asking would only be to my disadvantage.'
The magic circles were relatively simple, so the work was finished within a day.
Curiosity is in a mage's nature.
Just as they were about to head back, exhausted from the mana they'd used, Alpoi couldn't hold back any longer.
"What is this? What are we making here?"
"Something that'll make a fortune. Want to guess? Guess right, and you're free; guess wrong, and you get ten more years…."
"No thanks! I'm not doing that!"
Alpoi, fuming, muttered curses under his breath as he left.
"Seems the sting of losing that first bet was strong. To think he'd refuse so firmly."
Half amused and half disappointed, Ghislain clicked his tongue and summoned the workers.
Some were assigned to sort the herbs, others to heat water, and some to manage the fires.
Not knowing what they were making, the workers simply went through the motions.
"What do you think the Lord's making this time?"
"Looks like he's making some kind of medicine."
"What do we know? We just do as we're told. It's probably something good for us, right?"
After several days, a thick black liquid flowed out of the final tool.
Ghislain dipped his finger in it, sniffed, and grimaced.
"This isn't the color I wanted. Something's off, and it smells bad."
He didn't get the desired result on the first try.
It was inevitable that there would be errors since he was trying to recreate a complex process from knowledge he'd picked up in his past life.
But Ghislain wasn't too worried.
After all, it was easier to improve something with a foundation than to create something entirely new from scratch.
Since he was certain of the big picture, adjusting the finer details wasn't a big issue.
Over several days, Ghislain adjusted the herb proportions, reaction times, and magic arrays as he recalled them from memory.
After a few more experiments, he finally achieved the result he wanted.
"Oh, perfect. This is it."
Ghislain smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the pure white extract, contrasting sharply with the previous attempts.
Not only was he thrilled to see the product completed, but there was another source of satisfaction.
In his past life, this product had been the biggest source of income for the Delphine Duchy.
Thinking of those currently working hard to develop it somewhere else, Ghislain smirked.
"Go ahead, do your best, fools. But it's already too late."
[T/L: Please support me and read extra chapters here: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]