The Archmages.
They were the envy of all mages and the dream of every child. Though differences existed among them, each one was generally regarded as having the military power of an army of the empire.
But what truly distinguished an ordinary mage from an Archmage?
It wasn’t as if a god of magic descended from the heavens to declare, “From this day forth, you are an Archmage.” Throughout history, the criteria for Archmages had constantly shifted; it was dictated by the will of the great powers of the continent.
There had been frauds who falsely claimed the title of Archmage. At times, the standards had been so low that just about anyone could call themselves one, while at other times, the bar was set so impossibly high that not a single Archmage existed.
Naturally, in the present era, only the Empire who reigned as the dominant power for over two hundred years held the authority to define what it meant to be an Archmage.
And so, the Empire had established three criteria:
First, one had to be capable of casting Grand Magic alone. These were spells that normally required at least thirty high-ranking mages working together just to attempt.
Second, one had to contribute to the peace of the continent.
Third, one had to demonstrate their abilities and earn recognition before the reigning Emperor.
While the first criteria had been historically accepted, the second and third were blatantly designed to serve the Empire’s rule.
After all, “the peace of the continent” in this age when the Empire controlled most of it was effectively synonymous with the Empire’s peace.
And the requirement to be acknowledged by the Emperor? That was nothing short of a declaration that anyone harboring rebellious intentions would never be recognized as an Archmage.
It was an absurdly demanding standard, requiring not only magical power but also tangible achievements and even political skill.
Many mages had wept and despaired before this threshold, yet despite the near-impossible requirements, eight individuals had earned the title of Archmage.
Six from the Empire’s prestigious Magic Towers.
One who had once been a beggar on the streets.
And one from a cadet branch of the imperial family.
No matter where they went across the continent, they were revered. Under imperial law, they were regarded as equals to marquises, and in terms of actual influence, they were so powerful that even dukes and members of the imperial family dared not treat them lightly.
And those very same Archmages were now—
“Haha! Just because I look like an old man, do you really think I’m actually old? Stop with the nonsense.”
“You heard him, didn’t you? So how about clearing away this ice, Ice Cream Girl?”
“Reflect.”
“What…?”
“Mhmm. Rainbow Reflect.”
“You bit*h.”
They had been intensely immersed in the game, with only a few cards and a bell between them.
The office had long since been destroyed. The once-pristine decorations and magical tomes had been blown away, tumbling down the tower. Since the entire top floor of the tower served as the tower master’s office, it was now practically as if the ceiling of the Arkhe Magic Tower had been completely obliterated.
Sisha’s ice raged through the air, while Stella’s stars shone down from the sky, forming a massive celestial force that pressed down on the space below.
Yet despite the grand-scale magic that covered the top floor with ease, hardly anyone on the ground had noticed.
Even those who caught a glimpse would soon dismiss it as a trick of the eye.
After all, it was an illusion crafted by an Archmage.
“Your skill is as sharp as ever, Olphin. Covering not just the top floor but even the starry sky itself with an illusion… truly impressive.”
“Compared to before, I’m rusty.”
“This seems far more useful than ice magic.”
“…Please, don’t ever say that at the Glacia Magic Tower. I can already picture the elders sobbing their eyes out.”
For a moment, Stella felt lightheaded at the sight of an Archmage from the Glacia Tower belittling their own ice magic. She scowled but quickly turned her gaze downward to the table that was miraculously still intact and spoke again with irritation creeping into her voice.
“Anyway, hurry up and deal with this.”
“Deal with what?”
“This ice! For heaven’s sake, who the hell freezes an entire bell just because they couldn’t press it!?”
“Me.”
“That’s not what I meant, you crazy bit*h!”
Stella was right. The game of Kael Galli had proceeded normally for the first few rounds. Until Sisha froze the bell solid, making it impossible for anyone to press it.
Though she had mocked ice magic, the very same magic had elevated Sisha to the rank of Archmage. Even for another Archmage, breaking her ice was no simple task.
A massive volcanic eruption from Mount Regulus had once been predicted to erase an entire island and cause disastrous damage to the continent.
Yet Sisha’s legendary Permafrost had frozen the surging lava and volcanic ash entirely, turning the disaster zone into a tourist attraction.
How am I supposed to break this?
Olphin, who had almost no means of physically interfering, was out of the question. That meant it was up to Stella.
But for her, the only way to shatter this ice was to drop a star.
Of course, she knew all too well that if she tried such a thing here, Olphin would kill her on the spot.
At this rate, unless Sisha melted the ice herself, no one would be able to press the bell.
“If I can’t press it, no one can.”
“Kids these days…”
“Says the old hag who predicted her card first.”
“……………”
“You should be ashamed. Rearranging celestial bodies just to predict the next card? Just use clairvoyance magic.”
“…These cards are imbued with Olphin’s magic, aren’t they? You know just as well that without magic of this caliber, I wouldn’t be able to see through them.”
“So you’re saying that makes it okay? You were the first one to cheat.”
“…This little brat, talking back to me…”
Normally, Stella would have exploded by now, but the fact that she only grumbled was proof that she knew she was in the wrong.
Stella Burnishion wasn’t blind, despite always keeping her eyes closed. She had simply done so since childhood, and it had become second nature to her.
Besides, thanks to the magic of the Astron Mage Tower, she could see the world as clearly as if her eyes were open.
However, since her vision relied on magic, her reaction time was slower. Because of that, she was constantly being toyed with by Olphin and Sisha.
So she resorted to high magic.
She forcibly realigned the stars to put herself in a state where she could receive prophecies.
…And she saw the next card.
Because of that, Stella swept the board, and when Sisha caught on to her trick, she froze the bell.
Which led to this situation.
“To be honest, when I said ‘cheap tricks’ I was referring to you Stella. Though Sisha was… a bit petty, you were still the one who cheated first.”
“Ugh…”
“She’s losing it. Her mind’s aging into dementia, but she still has to act young, so it’s putting a strain on her brain. Olphin, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Normally, I’d take Stella’s side, but… I’m glad I chose to age gracefully.”
“But! You two kept snickering at me for never getting to ring the bell! That’s why I did it! So what?!”
“So what? It was still cheating.”
“And freezing the bell wasn’t?!”
Crack.
“You little….grabbing me first, huh?”
“Fine! Let’s settle this today!”
As if it were second nature, Sisha and Stella grabbed each other’s hair and started screaming at the top of their lungs.
Was this truly the kind of battle that made even the Empire tremble and earned the Emperor’s recognition?
Feeling a sense of awe, Olphin quietly reached for his tea snacks.
Fried corn crackers always tasted best in moments like this. Honestly, he had prepared them specifically in anticipation of a scene like this.
After watching Stella and Sisha’s brawl for some time, Olphin finally opened his mouth to mediate.
Not because he had run out of fried corn crackers. Absolutely not.
“Alright, alright. So, neither of you is willing to back down?”
“…No.”
“Not a chance.”
“Then there’s no other option. We’ll have to decide the winner based on the current results. Do you both agree?”
“Well… I guess there’s no other choice.”
“…Tch.”
Neither Stella nor Sisha had been fighting with genuine intent, after all. It wasn’t that they were putting on a show, but if these two Archmages truly went all out, the entire area would have been left in ruins.
Pulling each other’s hair was a fighting method they had agreed upon in their own way.
As a result, after tossing away clumps of each other’s hair, their gazes locked, and sparks flew between them.
It seemed they had tacitly agreed that the outcome of their scrap would determine the winner of the Kyle Galli match.
It was a natural choice; on the surface, their cards were evenly matched.
“May I count for the sake of fairness?”
“Fine by me.”
“Agreed.”
Aside from the frozen cards stuck under the bell, Stella and Sisha’s cards were split almost evenly.
In contrast, Olphin’s cards were nearly depleted. Since he was clearly in last place, he would be the neutral judge.
That was what Stella and Sisha thought as they handed over their cards.
“Well, I suppose there’s no need to count after all.”
“…Huh?”
“What?”
“Obviously, it’s my victory.”
Snap.
With that declaration of victory, Olphin snapped his fingers.
Only then did Stella and Sisha realize it.
The number of cards had been completely reversed.
No, from the beginning──
“An illusion…? Wait, since when?”
“…Unbelievable.”
“It seems you’re a bit mistaken.”
Even by their own eyes, the outcome was clear. Stella and Sisha didn’t have a few cards, but Olphin had far more than either of them.
At what point had they been caught in Olphin’s illusion?
Had Olphin even rung the bell? Did he even play any cards in the first place…?
“When did you start thinking I hadn’t been creating illusions?”
“…Hah.”
Inside the Arkhe Magic Tower which was his home ground, he was at a level where not even other archmages could sense anything amiss.
For a moment, a shiver ran down Stella’s spine.
This is… the last Dragon Slayer of the continent, the one who killed the final dragon.
Olphin Glassburn, the Archmage of Illusions.
Given the nature of his abilities, which were light and darkness, he couldn’t physically interfere, but if he could, it was said he could have toppled the Empire long ago.
With newfound realization, Stella looked at Olphin, while Sisha was clearly upset at having been deceived and also turned to face him.
He met their eyes with a light smile and spoke.
“Now that it’s over, let me ask. What did you think of Kyle Galli? Wasn’t it more than you expected?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure if you can even call this Kyle Galli… but I can’t deny it.”
Indeed.
It didn’t matter when they started playing into Olphin’s illusions.
So far, the rounds of Kyle Galli they had played… had proven to be quite the board game.
A game that, in many ways, completely overshadowed Kill the King.
At first glance, it seems like a simple game that tests physical abilities, but in reality, it requires a high level of psychological warfare.
What particularly caught Stella’s attention was the psychological warfare aspect.
If ordinary people, meaning those without any special abilities, were to play, physical traits like reaction speed would naturally take precedence over mind games.
Even Aura users wouldn’t be much different. Those muscleheads would probably find it too easy, and besides, whether the paper or cards could even withstand them was another question entirely.
But for mages, it was a whole different story.
If handled well…
Perhaps it could even be used to gauge the skill level of mages.
The rules Olphin had explained were ultimately designed by Kyle Byron. Meaning, they were based on the assumption that the players were ordinary, non-gifted individuals. However, with a few modifications, it would be possible to create a special house rule set just for mages.
For example, we could play without flipping the cards, or we could restrict the bell-ringing to magic use only.
It could be a way to test abilities like clairvoyance magic or precise magical control. At least to the extent that the bell wouldn’t break.
And that was just a quick thought. If they were to truly explore its possibilities…?
No, before that—
What if they simply invited Kyle Byron to the Astron Magic Tower?
I had felt it during Abracadabra as well, but when it came to board games, he might just be a once-in-a-lifetime genius.
Well, it had only been a hundred years since board games like Kill the King had come into existence.
Naturally, given how young the history of board games was, no one had yet made a name for themselves in that field.
Perhaps he would be the very first on the continent.
With a near-prophetic intuition, Stella Burnicion quietly clicked her tongue.
“Where’s Kyle Byron.”
“If you can defeat me, you’re free to take him.”
“…Haah, fine. Once this trend dies down, we’ll send him a formal invitation. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Haha, in the end, that’s up to the game creator to decide.”
“That aside… Sisha, what about you? You may be rotting away now, but you’re still an Archmage. Surely you can recognize the true value of this game.”
“………….”
“Sisha? The Academy’s coldest, most ruthless Ice Princess in history?”
“I am listening, so stop calling me by that old nickname.”
Sisha frowned for a moment and was lost in thought.
And then, as if she had made up her mind, she murmured,
“As expected, that maid is dangerous.”
“Sisha?”
“Considering the value of Kyle Galli… and Kyle Byron… dealing with it properly would be the right choice.”
“…Sisha.”
The madness she had first spoken of and now the words she muttered. It was all the same.
Sensing that something was off, Olphin quietly murmured,
“Kyle Byron is an esteemed guest of the Arkhe Magic Tower. Not even you are allowed to lay a hand on him as you please.”
“Don’t worry. Kyle Byron is not—”
“And of course, that includes his maid.”
“………….”
“I hope you don’t take my warning lightly.”
“…Naturally. Coming from the Dragon Slayer himself.”
The atmosphere grew tense for a moment, but in the end, both Stella and Sisha acknowledged the value of Kyle Galli.
With that alone, Olphin had fulfilled his promise to Kyle.
But then, Olphin took it a step further. Purely on a whim.
“Anyway, if Kyle Galli turned out to be quite enjoyable… why not spread it a little more?”
“Spread… it?”
“I’m not talking about making a grand public announcement or anything. Just introducing it to a few nobles you know.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m sure the game creator would be pleased.”
“Then let’s do it. Sisha?”
“…You don’t have to look at me like that. I’ll do it. If we throw Kyle Byron into the Magic Tower in my place, the elders might nag a little less.”
“Good. Thanks, everyone.”
And so, a casual recommendation from the Archmages born purely from Olphin’s whim happened.
What consequences it would bring…
Even Olphin himself had no way of knowing.
***
A week later—
“How’s the reservation for Abracadabra?”
“Ugh, fully booked again today. We’ll probably have to wait at least two more days.”
“Then let’s go to Kyle Galli again today. This time, I will win!”
“Sounds good! Let’s hurry!”
The world… no…. the Arkhe Magic Tower and the Geass Territor—
Had entered the great Kyle Galli era.
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