Clatter, clunk.

A cheap, old, and very rattly carriage rushed down the path. The one pulling the carriage was an old mule, and its speed was no joke.

“Seriously, I think I’m faster than you.”

“Purruk.”

“Don’t give it a hard time. At this age, if it’s running this much, it’s working hard.”

“I wanted to give it a hard time, but it seems like it doesn’t even listen.”

The mule flapped its ears indifferently. It was a stubborn movement that suggested it would go at its own pace, no matter what you said.

Despite walking at a leisurely pace, it often stopped to graze or relieve itself by the roadside, making it even slower.

Clatter, clunk.

“Ahhh…”

I lay back in the roofless carriage. The sky was a deep blue and the clouds were beautiful. But my heart felt heavy.

It wasn’t specifically because the mule was slow. Finding a carriage on this forest path was a stroke of luck.

If I hadn’t found this, I would have had to walk for a long time on foot to find the Red Tower. I didn’t even know the geography around here. I knew this was a lucky day.

However, I was feeling a bit anxious.

Wuuung – piiik.

Even when I tried to draw up my magic power, it felt insufficient.

Originally, it wasn’t a robust engine like other monsters, but it had been able to draw up as much as others. Now, the output of the magic engine was ridiculous. An old mule.

It had been 30 minutes, but was it too greedy to hope my magical abilities would be like before?

Well, it’s fine.

Scattered data can be gathered again to restore my abilities, and even if I suddenly experienced a reset event, I am still me. Let’s live with gratitude for the world.

There’s no urgent matter at hand. The situation with the Holy City should be resolving itself…

From the results observed while enduring forced teleportation until the end, ‘it’ remained quietly in the Holy City along with my body. In my opinion, even if security is slightly shaken, it will not be released into the world.

Having Yuna right next to me is also a reassuring point.

What suppresses ‘it’ is my insane computational power. Therefore, during the process of transforming my body into information, I intentionally excluded my head.

At the same time, I designated the ‘modules’ one by one for division, ensuring that only the information-processed parts would be subject to ‘forced expulsion’ while keeping as much of my body intact as possible.

Thus, the loss of computational power in my body is almost nonexistent. This means the seal on ‘it’ is safe.

In other words.

“…I can no longer do calculations in the hundreds of millions.”

Since I poured all my computational power into my body, it also means that I’ve become a bit of a fool.

Is this the world seen by an ordinary person? I used to have a small hobby of shooting down leaves falling like paper airplanes, but now calculating the wind direction has become somewhat difficult. It’s disappointing.

What remains for me, who has lost both computational ability and magical power…?

Eheheheh-!!

“Hahhahaha! Stop right there! This is a road ruled by our bandits, so you must pay a toll!”

“Oh dear, where would a farmer dragging a mule have any money!”

“If you can’t pay the toll, then strip off your clothes and hand them over! Leave the cart behind!”

What remains…

I boldly stepped forward in front of the suddenly appeared bandit group. After licking my lips once to moisten them, I revved up the concept engine.

“Now, mountain heroes. If you listen to me for just 10 minutes, your thoughts will change a bit.”

“…?”

At least my tongue remains intact.

——–

Blocking such a small path and ambushing a little cart that doesn’t seem worth any money… means they are a very small bandit group. In fact, their armament isn’t good, and there are only three of them.

It seems like the farmer has turned to banditry. Life must be tough, so they came down the mountain path with just a sword.

So I went with an empathy strategy.

Through a sad tale that melted the farmer’s hardships, I was able to extract a few coins from the bandits who were trying to extort me.

“Ugh…! I hope your sister gets better!”

“Yes, take care, brother!”

I bid farewell to the departing bandits with a 90-degree bow. I was able to gather just enough travel expenses. I can pay for the cart.

The coachman looked at me with concern, as if gazing at a poor young man who couldn’t bear to hear a sad epic without tears.

“Is it true that your younger sister is seriously ill?”

“Of course, that’s a lie.”

“……… Huh, so there was a reason for wandering the world unarmed.”

Yes, even if my magical abilities have diminished, my experience and wisdom remain intact. Moreover, the techniques for TRPG are still wholly intact without any loss.

Clatter, clatter. The carriage resumed its journey.

The old mule, perhaps feeling the threat from the recent bandit attack, increased its speed by about 1.5 times compared to before. That’s a good thing.

After that, nothing special happened. The kind coachman dropped me off in a nearby town, and I reached the enemy tower on foot. Its impressive size was about three times larger than my own tower.

Now, what should I do?

If I were at 100% of my capacity, I could have walked home nonchalantly like the Demon Lord. Objectively, didn’t I have quite a few skills?

Suddenly, as long as the passing transcendental man didn’t stab me, I might not win, but I wouldn’t lose either. I was confident that I could escape at any time.

But right now, I’m a bit scared. I could handle bandits like that even without communication, but what if I encountered a monster like an ogre or a cleaning golem?

That would be a farewell to the world.

I need the strength to navigate this treacherous world.

So, while waiting for Yuna and Yura to find me, and to contact them, I decided to supplement my combat power in case of emergencies.

I resolved to become a magician of the enemy tower and learn fire magic.

As I approached the gatekeeper-magician of the enemy tower, there was a reaction.

“Who are you?”

“I came to learn magic. Is it possible to get into the enemy tower?”

“……… Well, you can’t just come here without any preparation, can you? Go back. You can’t become a magician like this. You need either a recommendation or some gold.”

“Oh, really?”

But hey, you can communicate.

“Did you know that one magic circle contains the magical power equivalent to four magic circles?”

“Uh………?”

………

I successfully became an apprentice magician of the enemy tower.

——–

Studying magic from another school resets your proficiency bonus.

That’s akin to a single soul being unable to manifest two fables. When trying to use fire magic with a magical apparatus accustomed to illusion magic, the previously optimized structure is altered.

So I endured. I walked the path of illusion magic even after suffering the humiliation of being defeated by a golem. I couldn’t just give up my proficiency in illusion magic because I felt a bit miserable for a moment.

But now, I am a special information life form. I can discard any part I wish to discard.

I learn fire magic at the Red Tower. And using that power, after returning home, I will ‘delete’ the fire magic that has become unnecessary before merging with the physical body I left behind.

This makes it possible to devour and spit out.

It’s not betrayal. I am not betraying illusion magic in any way.

While I toil away researching to infuse physical force into holograms, I have never once envied others who can just shoot fireballs with a simple click.

If I had honed my skills in controlling golems at the Golden Tower, I wouldn’t have even had a wicked suspicion that a realistic TRPG wouldn’t have emerged without illusion magic.

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

So just a little.

Just a tiny bit. I will just taste the fire magic for a moment. I am forced to learn it to return home; I will absolutely not fall into fire corruption.

There is a target in front of me. The Red Tower provided targets and conveniences for practice. Yes, since it’s a barbaric magic that needs to be shot and destroyed, it’s only natural to have such facilities.

Thump-thump. My heart races like crazy.

I feel a strange sense of betrayal. I’m really going to use magic from another school⋯⋯.

I strip away all the cumbersome parts from the fireball spell I learned. I correct the unoptimized aspects and customize it for my convenience. And now⋯⋯.

“『Mini Fire Spear』.”

Whoosh.

The fire spear, leaving a red afterglow, accelerated with a secondary thrust from the rear and struck the target precisely.

And then, a deafening sound erupted, which does not occur with illusion magic.

Boom──!!

Ah.

It’s exhilarating.

I broke it. With just a click. So easily.

I’ve done it.

The first feeling I experienced was confusion. Is this really allowed?

Without constant feedback, mana stabilization, or tuning, magic has substance and can even destroy a target? Isn’t that not supposed to happen?

And this impact⋯⋯.

It’s a bug. The balance patch has gone seriously wrong. I must report this to someone immediately to get it fixed. But, still, right now⋯⋯.

Right now, this magic is mine.

“Heh, heh⋯⋯.”

I’m a man too.

Of course, I’m interested in large battleships and big cannons, and the thrilling firepower heats my heart. “There’s no such thing as too big an explosion.” I love this quote.

And now, I have obtained it!

“Ha, ahahahahaha──!!”

I laughed heartily. After pouring out such joy, a strange desire began to creep up in the empty space left behind.

A little more.

A little more explosion.

This world is too dangerous. I need to level up a bit more. At least enough firepower to wipe out an ogre in one go. Only then can I return to the tower, right?

I need a laboratory. A small, cozy laboratory.

“Hey, newbie! You can’t just use the shooting range as you please! The shooting range is for those in their third year and there’s a clear hierarchy here…”

“Laboratory.”

“…?”

“Give me your laboratory──!!”

I politely asked the senior mage, “I urgently need a place to conduct my research; may I borrow your laboratory?”

Fortunately, the senior from the Red Tower generously granted permission.

——–

Academy student Selbier had returned to the Red Tower after a long time. There was a reason for this; the entire Empire was in chaos due to a major incident that occurred in the holy city of Trumpethall.

Feeling the strain of manpower shortages, the imperial court even pulled in the faculty from the academy to quell the unrest.

Naturally, most of the classes were suspended, and the students found themselves with an unintended mini-vacation.

Selbier had learned a great deal at the academy. Not just how to hit people with a staff, but if she had to name the most memorable, it would definitely be “Dealing with Illusion Magic.”

The purpose of the subject was “Let’s learn how to cope with illusion magic!” but it had been twisted by some crazy mage into “Let’s learn how to fight in terrible tentacled mazes, against approaching walls, and in dangerous dungeons!”

In a way, she had learned a lot, and in another way, it had been incredibly tough.

“…Ugh.”

From noble mtl dot come

As Selbier let out a shallow sigh and set her backpack down, stretching her stiff shoulders to loosen her muscles, a mage from the Red Tower she recognized approached her.

“Hey, Selbier… A crazy b*stard just entered the Magic Tower.”

“That’s not particularly surprising, is it? What’s so special about this one? Is it something like Jess, who confessed to the tower lord on the very first day?”

“Don’t even mention it; it’s not even close. From the first day in the Magic Tower, he took over the senior’s laboratory and cleaned out the level 3 supplies storage as if it were nothing… Now, well. Just see for yourself.”

The mage from the Red Tower placed a hand on his forehead, as if struggling to explain, and led Selbier to the eastern facilities of the Red Tower.

And there, they found.

“We were unaware that explosions could also be art. Brother. We were very close to explosions, yet we did not recognize their beauty. If we could create a galaxy with fireworks…”

“It seems we did not consider the hearts of those who would perish by our magic. If possible, we should send them off in a splendid manner; that would be the least we could do. We pursue destructive magic, but at the same time, the time has come to explore the value of funerals!”

“Explosion, can you hear me? If it’s okay, may I have a conversation with you?”

A bunch of crazy people were holding a suspicious cult gathering.

“Look, that crazy b*stard has been recruiting people one by one and has created this mess! But you know, when you listen, it doesn’t seem entirely wrong…”

“………”

It’s somewhat familiar.

A wizard who twists people’s hearts in an instant, someone whose mind is a bit off… one face comes to mind. I hear he went on a business trip to the Holy City.

Selvier passed through the wizards who were engrossed in explosive faith and delved into their center. And there was.

The mad wizard I had dreaded.

“……… Professor, what are you doing here?”

“Ah.”

“What are you really doing? Why are you in the Red Tower?!”

I couldn’t understand at all why this man, a master of illusion magic who even served as a professor at the academy, had become a rookie wizard in the Red Tower and was engaging in strange activities.