Ch. 69 - Primitive Magic Ideology

As we enjoyed touring the city with Crown's guidance, we encountered a group dressed in white robes embroidered with crosses. They were clothed entirely in white, from their shoes to their gloves.

Seeing the group, Crown subtly shifted his route. "Come on, everyone. Let's head this way. Up ahead is the Maple Leaf Holy Empire's leading magic academy, where we can observe some lectures…"

Crown spoke fast while steering us away, but the man leading the group of white-robed people called out, "Hmm, isn't that Crown Windsor-dono? Who are you guiding?"

The voice made Crown turn back with a clearly displeased expression. As we wondered what was happening, Crown responded stiffly, "Gem Westmeath, vice-head magician, I am currently attending to important guests."

His tone suggested he didn't want to talk, but Gem approached with narrowed eyes. As he got closer, we noticed that he was surprisingly old, perhaps around fifty. He had dark brown hair and reddish eyes.

"Crown! What's with that attitude?! You can't even handle basic magic properly! How dare you say something like that…!" Gem shouted.

But when Crown ignored him, Gem's gaze shifted to us. " Are you from another country? Since Crown is your guide, you must be a magician, right?"

"Gem-dono! Your manner of speaking is the real issue here! These people are guests of His Majesty the Emperor!" Crown's voice rose slightly, his face reddening at Gem's rude tone.

Gem frowned in annoyance.

Not wanting to cause more trouble, I rolled up my sleeve to reveal the bracelet borrowed from the emperor. It was a gold bracelet with a design of overlapping lines.

When Gem saw it, a twisted smile appeared on his face. "How surprising. You look young, yet you're a second-class magician. Are you perhaps the daughter of a duke from a Great Nation? My name is Gem Westmeath, the vice-head magician of the Imperial Court Magicians of the Maple Leaf Holy Empire. If you have any troubles while in the Holy City, please don't hesitate to consult me."

"Thank you. However, I am a humble person with no title, so there's no need to be so formal. My name is Aoi Konominato. Like everyone else, I am from the Verted Kingdom."

A deep frown formed between Gem's brows. "No title… Then why did His Majesty bestow upon you this bracelet that represents the highest rank under royalty?"

I hesitated to answer. "… Perhaps because I can use new types of magic?"

At my inadvertent reveal, Crown hurriedly denied it. "No, no, no, that's not it. Aoi-dono is a senior teacher at Fiddiq Academy, and the others are excellent teachers and students. Aoi-dono, in particular, is the first person to be invited as a senior teacher as soon as she came…"

Gem's eyes sharpened, and he muttered under his breath, "… Fiddiq Academy… His Majesty's love for new things is quite troublesome…"

He pasted a forced smile on his face. "Well, I'm sorry for taking your time. Please enjoy your sightseeing in the Holy City."

Losing interest, Gem turned his back to us, and the group in white robes walked away. Crown let out a small sigh of relief.

"Do you not get along with him?" I asked.

Crown shrugged and shook his head. "As you can tell from our brief chat just now, that group is part of the Imperial Court Magicians and extremely into primitive magic ideology."

"Primitive magic ideology?" I tilted my head at the unfamiliar term.

Crown blinked several times in surprise. "Have you not heard of it? Ah, perhaps it is called something different in Verted. They believe that given the long history of magic, it is a waste of time to develop new magic. It's true that completely new and useful magic is rare, maybe once in a hundred years. However, merely refining existing magic, as those primitive magic ideologists advocate, won't lead to significant progress."

As if a switch had been flipped, Crown started expressing his displeasure towards primitive magic ideologists.

"I see. So you're saying it's good to further refine already well-established magic, but we shouldn't belittle researchers of new magic."

Hearing my reply, Crown grasped my hand with a bright smile and nodded repeatedly. "Exactly! As expected! In our country, no new magic has been adopted for common use for nearly a hundred years. It's truly lamentable. In contrast, the Verted Kingdom has Fiddiq Academy, where magicians from various countries gather… I'm so envious! If I could, I'd become a student at Fiddiq Academy right now and learn magic from magicians all over the world!"

This court magician, who should be at the pinnacle of magic in the Maple Leaf Holy Empire, exclaimed passionately. This astonished not only us but also the surrounding people.

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