AN: Forgive me because I'm not very familiar with the German nobility system. I only took references from Wikipedia. Someone gave me a correction regarding the use of German noble titles, so I changed 'Fürst' to 'Prinz'.
The "unconscious" Aura suddenly jerked upright, clutching Sheila's hand. Blood spilled from her lips as she cried out in grief and indignation:
"Being weak is not a crime!" Her voice quivered, echoing across the room like a dying heroine on the stage."But just because the Magic Association chooses to concede for the sake of humanity's future—does that mean we deserve to be trampled without mercy?!"
She squeezed Sheila's hand tighter, causing the deputy minister's fingers to tremble.
"If we retreat once for the sake of humanity's future, does that mean we must retreat forever?! Is that what the Empire desires?!"
"The Magic Association is indeed in decline…" Aura whispered mournfully.She raised her eyes, shimmering with a depth of tragedy that could make a playwright weep."But even if, as you said, Prinze, there is nothing in this world that could make the Empire feel fear—why… why would you dare say you would be pleased if the Magic Association grew strong enough to harm the Empire?"
Kristin's eyes bulged."I NEVER—"
"Words like that…" Aura choked, "…only shatter the peace!"
Cough— cough— COUGH—
Aura doubled over. Sheila shrieked, "Minister Aura!!" and scrambled to support her, nearly slipping on the floor from sheer panic.
Aura covered her mouth with her trembling hand. Fresh, vivid blood seeped through her fingers and dripped onto the documents she'd worked on for weeks.
Her eyelashes trembled. Her breath trembled.
It was a masterclass performance.
"His Highness the Prinz abused his authority…" Aura whispered weakly, voice full of anguish. "I—I could not endure it any longer. I merely argued back… b-but he actually attacked and injured me… I never intended to fight back…"
Sheila's furious glare snapped toward Kristin.
"H-Hey! WAIT—WAIT! She's slandering me! She's SLANDERING ME!!"
Kristin nearly tore his own hair out.
His father had sent him here to discipline the Magic Association, but his father hadn't taught him how to handle this situation!
Why was it that the Empire had come holding the moral high ground, yet somehow he ended up being the one scolded?
"Minister Aura— please… lower your voice, I beg you…If you have demands—if the Magic Association has demands—we can discuss them…We can talk this out, can't we?"
Kristin's forehead was drenched in sweat as he crouched in front of Aura, whispering frantically.
He glanced toward the door—Sheila hadn't closed it when she entered. Aura's earlier outburst had already drawn attention. People were looking in.
He had to calm Aura down before this turned into a catastrophe.
If this incident spread—Aura, covered in blood, combined with what she had just proclaimed—Kristin would be unable to explain himself. He would truly become the sinner who abused the power of the Empire to assault the Association's Minister.
And if that happened, the Empire would lose the people's trust, and the entire continent's public opinion would shift toward the Magic Association.
Damn it. How did the Empire come here to expose the Association's wrongdoing—only to have the Association twist the situation on them?
Kristin ground his teeth.
"There is no need to escalate this! You just want the kingdoms to lift their restrictions on the Magic Association, right? The Empire can take the lead in repealing the magic-regulation decree issued recently. The other kingdoms will follow. You don't need to humiliate yourself to force our compliance! You're one of humanity's greatest mages!"
Aura blinked."Magic-regulation decree? What decree?" She tilted her head. "I'm just the Minister of Education. Whatever you're talking about sounds like a headache for the Association President. It has nothing to do with me."
Kristin froze.
"…You—you didn't know?"His voice cracked. "Then… all this trouble… was for…?"
"Give. Me. Money."
Kristin ooked at the small, blood-soaked hand that was being held out to him, then at Deputy Minister Sheila, blushing furiously in embarrassment. Finally, his eyes met Aura's hopeful gaze.
And from the depths of his throat came one strangled word:
"…Fine."
He had known—during his investigation—that the Association's Education Department ran perpetual deficits.
But he never imagined… Never could have fathomed… that it had reached a level of desperation where one of humanity's greatest mages—a legendary figure—a woman who could level a fortress—would fake grievous injury, collapse theatrically, and publicly slander the Empire…
…all to beg for more funding.
More funding. Not political leverage. Not power. Not influence.
Just. More. Money.
Damn it… Who could have predicted THIS?!
The Empire's two Chancellors had spent months crafting a flawless political strategy. Hundreds of ministers had debated every detail. Thousands of scholars across the continent had written reports, analyses, warnings, predictions—
A grand scheme to suppress the Magic Association's influence.
And now—
Their masterfully engineered plan had been utterly annihilated by the Association's Minister of Education over the humble plea of:
"We need more money."
The more elaborate a scheme is, the easier it is destroyed by an unpredictable wild card.
Today, Kristin finally understood that truth.
—————————
Rumors had spread like wildfire in the days prior to Kristin's arrival. Every corridor of the Association—the lecture halls, the training fields, the archives filled with spell manuscripts—had been buzzing with speculation.
"Will the Empire declare sanctions?"
"Will the branches be dismantled?"
"What will the Headquarters do if the Empire openly opposes the reforms?"
The higher-ups within the Continental Magic Association were wary of the Unified Empire's recent frequent interference by the association's headquarters in the mobilization of mages from various kingdoms. The headquarters' move to consolidate power over the association's branches was already a sensitive issue.
The Association's upper echelon understood the precariousness of the situation. The Unified Empire had long been displeased by Headquarters' recent actions—the transfer of authority, the rotation of personnel, the strategic reshuffling of branch administrators across the continent.
Although officially framed as an "internal reorganization," everyone knew the truth:
Every branch had been tangled for decades in the politics of their home kingdoms.
The elf Serie, founder of the Continental Magic Association, had always claimed neutrality— that the Association existed only to advance magic itself, not to interfere with kingdoms.
And elves, by nature, were detached from power and devoid of ambition. This was well documented in royal archives across the continent.
But humans did not dare to gamble on that. They remained wary of Serie's true intentions.
They depended on mages trained by the Association to resist demon invasions—yet feared letting the Association grow too powerful.
Thus, every kingdoms constantly meddled in the branches, using influence and gold to corrupt mages and turn them into political tools.
Originally, Serie did not care if mages aligned themselves with kingdoms—only magic mattered to her.
Throughout Serie's long history, human mages have turned to dust in an instant, but the magic they have dedicated their lives to mastering has endured forever.
It doesn't matter which faction a mage aligns with; their magic will be recorded in history.
But the result of her tolerance shocked even her.
Those humans who were bought off by money and power seemed to have not only had their stance changed, but their souls were also rotting, and even their hearts that pursued the path of magic were corrupted.
Factionalism, falsified reports, suppression of rivals, bribery… The mages who once held promising futures at the Kribi headquarters were reassigned to various regional branches, only to be steeped in a political dye vat that warped them beyond anything Serie could recognize.
In the moment headquarters lost control, human magic ceased advancing—betraying Serie's entire purpose for founding the Association.
Magic, indeed, must be kept separate from the royal powers of each kingdoms.
Under Serie's silent pressure, a great purge was initiated:
from releasing the great demon Aura into Hohenburg to cause trouble, to President Zanze implementing a continent-wide rotation of branch leaders.
Within a year, seventy percent of the Association's branches were reshaped. Some kingdoms protested, but no one could deny the effect:
The Association had reclaimed authority over every mage on the continent.
Serie had prepared for the inevitable backlash.She expected the kingdoms to unite under the Empire's lead.She expected war of influence, political condemnation, and funding cuts.
But she held no regret.
Better a decade of external pressure than a single day of internal corruption.
If the number of mages decreased, so be it.If the Association had to shrink, so be it.In the end, the pursuit of magic would rise stronger than before.
Zanze believed this with unwavering conviction.The Council believed it.The senior mages of Kribi believed it.
They had braced themselves for a continental struggle of politics and power.
No one expected that the human kingdoms would commit such a monumental blunder at the very beginning of their retaliation.
The Seventh Prinz of the Empire, Kristin who came to visit Kribi on behalf of the empire, injured the Minister of Education, Aura, on his very first day.
He even made outrageous remarks, insulting Comrade Aura, the great contributor to the association's reform, the good dean who wholeheartedly served the people, and the kind friend of the commoner mage!
The moment this incident happened—the Association unified internally, and public opinion across the continent shifted in their favor overnight.