"Welcome, your Holiness Rory, as well as her followers. I am the owner of the Reader's Rest, Hamal. It is my honor to personally serve your Holiness during your stay here. This is no idle boast, but even in the ancient city of Rondel, the Reader's Rest can be considered one of the most aged of our many historic institutions. And now, thanks to the patronage of your Holiness, this humble establishment can tally another mark of honor upon its long and distinguished history."

The innkeeper Hamal was clearly not human at first glance - not only was he huge of body, but his skin seemed to be red in color. Once he asked around, Itami learned that he was a Pooka, a species which was adept at commerce.

Separated from them by a counter, the innkeeper handed a guest register to Rory. At the same time, a palm-size Fairy descended beside the book, quickly producing a pen for them.

Rory accepted the pen with a "Thank you", and then signed her name with grand, sweeping strokes.

The innkeeper beamed with satisfaction as he read out Rory's name.

"Rory Mercury... as expected your Holiness' calligraphy is impeccable. your Holiness' name will also become a point of pride for our household, and it will be passed down through the generations."

After Rory signed her name, Lelei took up the pen and signed for the other three. However, during this time, the innkeeper continued speaking only to Rory.

"Your Holiness, may I ask why you have come to this place?"

Everyone knew that Rondel was a city of learning and knowledge, so all the shrines here were dedicated to gods of wisdom, knowledge and so one, like the God of Wisdom Elranyala. In turn, it was practically unheard of to have an Apostle of Emroy visit this place.

"Actually, I came to accompany this girl."

As Rory spoke, she gestured with her eyes to the innkeeper. Only then did he seem to realize that Lelei existed, and he muttered "The Rurudo girl?" He eyed her from her silver hair to the tips of her toes, as though he were licking her body with his gaze. Apparently, the Rurudo were a very rare breed of humans, living a nomadic lifestyle with no fixed home.

"A sage's robe... I see, is she a freshly-admitted student?"

Rory simply smiled without saying anything.

"Welcome to Rondel. I will arrange for your rooms, which will be the best in the house, of course. I pray your Holiness and her followers will wait here for a few moments."

The innkeeper blew his whistle, summoning the boys who did odd jobs around the inn. Soon enough, Brownies, Pookas, Hobbits, and youths of various species filled the room.

"Add another bed to Room 2 on the fourth floor. Tidy up Room 3 on the other side as well. Hurry!"

"Yes, Hamal-san!"

Several of the servants dashed out after receiving instructions to add another mattress to the three-person room.

Others, who did not have anything in hand, encircled the group while saying, "Let us help you take your luggage."

"Uwah, this girl's really cute!"

"She's beautiful. Look, her golden hair's so pretty!"

"You lot! That's a guest! Don't be rude to them!"

"Your Holiness. Please allow me to take your halberd."

One of the servants took the halberd from Rory, and then he began to yelp "Uwaaaaah!" as he felt its weight. At the same time, he lost balance in shock and fell to one side.

The halberd fell toward the crotch of another servant, who shrieked "Aieeee!" and leapt away before falling flat on his ass. Then, the sharp halberd embedded itself into the wooden floor with hardly a sound.

"Oi, you lot! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Sorry, Hamal-san. But... it's really heavy... Please, please follow us, your room's on the fourth floor."

"One, two, three!"

The halberd was finally moved by the combined strength of three people, who then proceeded to carry it up the stairs.

Rory shrugged and said, "Good grief," as she saw them struggling, before walking up the stairs.

Lelei and Tuka handed their luggage to the inn's servants, and they proceeded up the stairs empty-handed. In the end, only Itami was left where he was, still holding his luggage.

"Ah... what about me?"

Itami was a little depressed and at a loss for words, given that nobody had spoken to him or offered to take his things. "I haven't been forgotten, right?" "I'm still a guest, right...?"

Those grumbled words made it to the innkeeper's ears.

Hamal turned his gaze on Itami and said:

"Ah, that's right. A minion like you can stay in Room 3, the one opposite the others. I've been thinking about it, and although it's just a storage room, it's probably still best for a minion to be nearby when he's called on. Don't you think so? You should be thanking me. Fei! Show him the way there!"

Itami blinked, and he saw a Fairy girl, so small that she could stand on his palm, hovering in mid-air.

She made a "come with me" gesture to Itami.

"Thank, thanks."

Someone like her could not possibly help him carry his luggage...

As Itami muttered "Room 3" to himself, he slowly trudged up the stairs.

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Ragnarok is in his office. His office room is 15 meters long and 12 meters wide. The furniture is much smaller than the size of his office room. In his office, there is only a cupboard, a locker stock, and some shelves, which contain books and files. The north-south and west side walls of the room and the floor of the room were made of transparent white marble stone. The east wall was made of huge blue window panes. There was a table in front of the east wall. To the east of the table beside was a chair(for Ragnarok's seating)and besides to the west were two chairs. There is a computer on the table. But it is even better because magic is used in it.

A woman is standing in front of him.

"Vice Admiral Elina, I appoint you Commander of the 34th Fleet. You have to send our army to another continent. Also helping them there and dominating the sea lanes."

"I understand. I will give my best in the name of the Emperor."

"Okay. You can go now."

"Yes sir!"

"William. How is our takeover of Falmart going?"

"Sir, after conquering all the territories of The Empire, we sent messages to other countries. Kingdom of Alguna,

The Kingdom of Mudwan and the League Principality agreed to join us. However, the Kingdom of Elbe and Toumaren countries did not accept our proposal. So our army attacked Toumaren and the Elbe. In this, they surrendered to us after we destroyed three cities of the Toumaren and the city of Tubet of the Elbe."

"Hmm. Did our army encounter any difficulties?"

"No sir. None of their forts could stand before our cannons."

"Hmm. . very good"

"Sir. What are you thinking of doing about the JSDF? They are sending their men to search for resources in the Special Region."

"Hmm. We should limit them."

"You're right."

"Send the message to the JSDF. We are giving them a ten-kilometer zone around their base. If they want to do anything beyond these ten kilometers, they will need our approval. They must also withdraw all their troops from Italica."

"But sir, will they agree to that?"

"If we make them an offer they can't refuse, they'll accept it."

"..."

"William, we will offer them 40,000 tons of gold if they accept our terms. We will give them a 40% discount on purchasing products from us. Also, I heard that their world environment is very polluted. So we will give our technology them to prevent pollution."

"Ah... They must accept this offer. But is it okay to give them our technology?"

"Don't worry. Dad told me to help them reduce pollution."

"Oh"

"Also, sir we have found a new substance in Knappnai."

"Hmmm."

"Sir. We are researching it. You can see it if you want."

"Hmm okay."

Ragnarok stood up from his seat.

William opened a gate.

Ragnarok enters the gate

...

Mines of the Sorcerous Empire located within Knappnai. many people working here

William walked into a chamber.

Ragnarok followed him into the room.

They saw many scientists working there.

Then a scientist came to them.

"Lord Ragnarok and Sir William, have you come to see the newly discovered crystal?"

"Yes. I want to see that."

Then the scientist brought a green crystal.

"Sir, it's a kind of energy crystal. We found a lot of energy in it. It's the biggest discovery for us in this world."

Ragnarok took the crystals from her hand.

...

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Scene change

After passing through the wall around the research district, they walked a little further before reaching the restaurant called "Marina".

There were three plainly-made tables within and a counter.

There were two or three female patrons who looked to be acolytes. They were keenly focused on studying the books in their hands, and one of them was recording nonstop.

The air in here was like a cafe near a ladies' college. Since places like this were a family business, they were decorated cosily, which made them popular with women.

"Lady Mimoza, welcome. My, you have many people with you today."

A red-faced man who looked like the owner welcomed the old lady with a bright smile.

"They're all my guests. Come, look, they're all pretty girls. How about it, do you like them?"

"Indeed, they're all very pretty. Looks like I'd better give it my best shot today."

With that, he energetically headed back into the kitchen.

Mimoza smiled in satisfaction as she watched him, then picked a table and called the others over.

"Come, come, please take a seat, everyone. The food here is pretty good, and since the customers are all cute girls, it should get even better. The most important thing is - it's cheap."

After thinking a little, Itami pushed two four-man tables together and arrayed chairs around them before sitting down. Then he began searching for the menu.

"I wonder what sort of food this restaurant serves?"

"Just leave it to the owner, I guess."

And so, after they had sat down and caught their breath, Mimoza suggested that Lelei introduce both sides, in order to make good use of the time until the food arrived.

"This is Mimoza La Mel. She is a magician and a Great Sage, as well as one of the elders of Rondel City."

"Then you are Mimoza La Mel. We almost died at the hands of the guards because of you."

Itami said

"Why what happened?"

"Actually we told them we came to meet Grand Master Mimoza La Mela of Rondel Academy."

"My my...

Mimoza said with a smile

"So that's it. But don't make this mistake again. I am no longer a Grand Master or Great Sage. The Sorcerous Empire has built a new Magic academy here. Arpeggio is now studying newly established magic academy. They threw out all the old masters. Among whom I am also include. But they pay me monthly allowance. So don't refer to me as grand master anymore."

"This Grand master seems to be a very high rank within the Sorcerous empire."

"Yes. From what I know their magic is called Tier magic. There are a total of twelve-tier magic. The twelfth spell can only be used by the Sorcerous Emperor.

A Grandmaster can use up to 10th-tier magic. So Grand Master is considered very powerful. A Grand Master can easily destroy a city."

"Ah. Destroying a city. That's pretty scary."

"Yes. Now you understand why the guards treated you like that."

Mimoza said with a smile

"Hmmm"

"But forget it happened in the past. But don't make that mistake again. Also Lili I feel sorry for you. Your purpose of coming here will not be achieved. So don't be sad. You can't become a master."

"Hmm. I know"

After that, just as Lelei was about to introduce Rory-

"It's been a while, Rory. Could it be that you came to find the answer to that question?"

Mimoza interrupted Lelei, indicating that there was no need to introduce Rory.

"It was 50 years ago when Rory and I were traveling around."

"Mimoza, you've grown old."

"I have indeed. Are you jealous? I'm the very picture of a granny now."

As she said that, the old lady raised her wrinkled hands. She seemed to be showing off a pair of prized treasures. Rory seemed envious herself, even pouting as she saw it.

"Then, Lili... no, no, it's Lelei. How about introducing the next one?"

Lelei glanced at Itami sitting beside her.

"This gentleman is Itamy Youjy."

Lelei did not say anything other than his name.

"Oh? Itamy Youjy... it's pronounced like that, right?"

Lelei did not say anything other than his name.

"Oh? Itamy Youjy... it's pronounced like that, right?"

"Pleased to meet you."

Itami rose and bowed politely, then filled in for Lelei - that his surname was "Itami", his given name was "Youji", and then continued:

"I've heard that you are well-versed in archeology, Mimoza-sensei. Therefore, I would like to ask; are there any useful resources or ores in the area? Do you know of anything like that?"

"Mmm, I can say I know a few. But the Sorcerous empire is already mining there. So I'm sorry."

"Ah it's ok."

"These clothes are quite rare. Which country do you gail from?"

"I come from Japan, from the other side of the Gate at Arnus Hill."

"Ah! Well ,that's interesting. I've heard that a Gate opened at Arnus, but there's been no news about what's on the other side of the Gate. Now, tell me, what's that place like? Lelei, have you been there?"

"We've already been there," Rory said with a smug look on her face. Mimoza leaned forward eagerly.

"Ah, I'm envious. Come, tell me about your trip!"

Lelei, Rory and Tuka looked at each other in response to Mimoza's request. After exchanging looks for a while, they each began relating their own account of events - Rory talked about the sights on the streets, Tuka described the luxurious clothing that she had seen, while Lelei mentioned several Japanese bookstores she had been to.

"Those stores have an astounding amount of books. Also, according to Pina, there are libraries there, which contain all sorts of books and which are available to the common folk. If I get a chance to go there again, I'll definitely go take a look. I feel we should build one in Londel as well."

As Itami listened to them speak, a question popped up in his mind, and so he asked:

"Could it be that you don't have libraries? Here, in this Academy City?"

"Actually there was no library here in the past. But the Sorcerous empire established a library here."

Lelei looked to the sky and nodded, as though she had predicted the future. But just then...

"That's bad!"

There was a great noise, as though someone had hit the door with all their strength. Everyone slowly turned to look at the source of the sound.

Just then, Lelei's elder sister Arpeggio El Lelena appeared at the door.