Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Machinations of Mages

"So, what now? Do we eliminate him?" asked Darius. "Had he been a simple reincarnate, this would be a different story, but a Demon Lord is simply too dangerous to be left alive."

"Or, we could simply leave him be for the moment while keeping an eye on him," said the Archmage, a sly mischievousness in her tone.

At those words, all of the elders present, aside from the old man with the bushy eyebrows, turned towards Archmage, each one looking for the true motives behind those words.

"You must have a plan then," Darius spoke first.

"I appreciate you not bringing up my past with the Demon Lord's incarnation at this juncture, Elder Darius. And yes, I do have a few ideas that I would like to share."

"Pray tell. As much as I wished it not to be the case, taking in a Demon Lord was hardly the more insane of your ideas," said the masked woman, already steeling herself for what's to come out of this talk.

"As you all most certainly know, the Mage Tower had been facing thinly veiled enmity from the empire for the last decade. It was only through shifting our productions towards the 'corrupted crystals' and incorporating them into technologies the empire acquired from the Cygnus Union did we manage to make them rely on us for the time being. If it weren't for that, I do not doubt that the empire would have made moves to get rid of us by now. However, that is only a temporary measure. Though some fools would believe otherwise, this stalemate will not last forever. While the current empire needs us for their industries, it is only a matter of time before we are replaced."

"And?" the scrawny old man raised the question. "What does this has to do with the Demon Lord? Aside from the fact that they planted the seeds for our current situation in the first place, that is."

"That is quite simple, Elder Gesborne. For what else does the Demon Lord bring but chaos? By keeping a Demon Lord Larva close, we may be able to raise them to be the agent of a sort of chaos we could use to elevate our position. With the threat of a Demon Lord within their borders, surely, the empire would come begging for our help once again, as they did ten-odd years ago."

"So you're proposing that we turn him into our tool, then? Archmage Stellaria, you ought to know better than this. I do not believe that the Demon Lord can be so easily manipulated." Strongly, the masked woman objected to the proposal. "Not to mention that we had been a thorn in the previous Demon Lord's side and they ours, what makes you think this one won't turn on us the very moment he can?"

"Rather than manipulate, I rather that we simply train him as we do with other apprentices. As I have said, we should simply leave him be while keeping an eye on him. In the end, we simply needed to have a Demon Lord appear within the empire so that we may take advantage of the resulting chaos, the only important thing here is that he survives till then. As for our past grudges, it would hardly matter by the time he becomes full-fledged. The world would have changed by then and he'll have other threats to worry about."

"And should we be caught harboring a Demon Lord Larva? Let's not forget that we have agents within these walls not of our own. Agents sent by those who are highly interested in our downfall." The masked woman continued to try and poke holes in the Archmage's plan, trying to find any and all considerable flaws. To her, this simply seemed too reckless.

"Then we get rid of him with our own hands while pretending to not know about the affair."

The room fell silent at those swift and resolute words, a display of the Archmage's unreserved cruelty. Those words reminded the elders present of the restructuring of the Circle of Mages ten years ago, when they bore witness to Stellaria's ruthlessness firsthand.

"You speak simply of the matter, Archmage," said Darius, being the first one to speak up once more in the silence. "Yet, rarely are matters simple. In the end, there are no guarantees that the new Demon Lord won't try to focus all their efforts on destroying us above all else and there's no guarantee that we would survive the advent of a full-fledged Demon Lord either. At the same time, even if we feigned ignorance should the Demon Lord Larva be discovered within our domain, suspicion will surely rise and worsen our standing within the empire."

"Indeed," embolden by Darius' opposition, the masked woman interjected. "With all due respect, will the gains of this plan truly outweigh the risks?"

"Perhaps we should perish the thought and quietly remove the boy while we have the chance," the scrawny old man, Gesborne, joined in. "Accidents do tend to happen around the factories and workshops within Lancea every now and then. No one will suspect a thing."

At the less than enthusiastic response of the elders, the Archmage could only let out a sigh.

"Where have all your gusto from ten years ago gone? Besides, have you all read the report that our agents sent in just today?"

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"Is it the one in regards to the discovery of an Alvan ruin within Cygnus Union's territory?" the scrawny old man replied.

"It's not just any ruins," said the masked woman. "From the rumors surrounding it, it appeared to be still active to this day."

"If it is indeed 'alive' do you all know what this means?" asked the Archmage to the other elders.

In an instant, an air of ill foreboding flooded the room.

"A hundred years," the Archmage continued. "I reckon that it would take but a hundred years before those of us at the Mage Tower becomes utterly obsolete. No doubt the empire would try to get rid of us even before then. Let us not forget about the Great Hunt, the Anti-Mage Doctrine, and the Null Magia Crusade. Let us not forget how long it took, how many trials and tribulations that the mages had to overcome for us to be here on this day. Compared to that, a Demon Lord is nothing. We mages have survived worse fates."

No one in the room could find it in themselves to speak against the Archmage anymore. Behind the words of the Archmage, there was a strange sense of overbearing power. Caught between the fear of an uncertain future and the forceful words of the only one amongst them that seemed to have a clear vision of the path ahead, the other elders found themselves to be without words despite the turmoil in their hearts. No one could even find the leeway to question whether or not the time limit of a hundred years was accurate or not.

"Not to mention," the Archmage then suddenly shifted back to her playful tone. "The Demon Lord is but a backup plan, just in case we find ourselves out of options. I never said that it was going to be our main course of action. A hundred years isn't long for us mages, but it's not short either. There are plenty of moves we can make till then. Still, it never hurts to have a fallback when things go drastically wrong. There is also, of course, a chance that the boy spoke truthfully and his memories are indeed from the future. So perhaps he'll turn out to be a key to the tower after all. All of that being said, it's not as if we need everything to be set in stone right at this moment. We can still decide on what to do with the boy at a later date. Why don't we just wait and see for the moment?"

The elders, being forced into this rollercoaster ride of emotions and thoughts, made to consider the grim future and all the possibilities in between, found themselves to be mentally exhausted by the end. Beaten and battered mentally, they easily conceded to the idea of passively observing the situation at the moment, essentially leaving the boy be for the time being as the Archmage had suggested since the beginning.

"As the one who the boy shall have his apprenticeship under... How about Elder Kalman?"

By this point, the Archmage was in complete control of the meeting. Though the Archmage usually has the highest authority within the Circle of Mages, on important matters, she still needed the support of the elders. Even so, Stellaria had a talent for making others submit to her, not only with her sheer power as a mage but also with her words.

"Elder Kalman?" the Archmage called for the elder with the bushy eyebrow once more.

With no response, she sighed before slamming down on the table with her fist. Though seemingly small and delicate, the sound released by that fist was considerably loud.

"Huh!?" Elder Kalman yelped as his shoulder jumped. "I-if it is the will of the Circle, then so be it."

It was as if he was speaking a rehearsed line.

It would appear that Kalman had been sleeping through the meetings. He was the only person capable of doing so in the presence of the Archmage. He would be in charge of Theodore from this moment on.

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End of Chapter 29

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