Gunmage-Chapter 295: No point to prove

"What my family is trying to do, however, is to let the Jade Tower know that once the war kicks into full gear, we won’t necessarily be at an advantage. In fact, there’s a great likelihood that we’d get beaten back."

"Are you sure?"

Both sisters asked skeptically.

"Yes. Yes I am."

He responded, almost gnashing his teeth, this was most likely not his first time having this kind of conversation.

Noticing the sudden tension in the air, Sela tried to shift the tone toward something more constructive. She spoke carefully.

"Although I seripusly don’t believe we’ll be beaten back, there’s some truth in what you say. It might not be as easy as we expect."

Cassius nodded, willing to accept the compromise.

She continued.

"Well, if your goal is to increase awareness, then there are ways to do it. For instance, you could organize a live demonstration."

Cassius sighed.

"We’ve done countless of those, but they never seem to have the intended effect. Some outright dismiss it, and some become deeply concerned... but soon forget after witnessing some high-level spell or the other."

"Take the Cross family duel for instance—who would believe firearms have the ability to threaten mages after witnessing magic of that scale?"

Mirelle tapped her forehead thoughtfully trying her best to be objective.

"So the problem now is... the Jade Tower knows that guns are strong, but they believe it’s not nearly enough to threaten them."

"Exactly."

He responded.

"Well..."

She began.

"Have you tried shooting them?"

"..."

Cassius blinked. He asked

"What?"

"What don’t you understand? I asked if you’ve tried to shoot the spectators during the live demonstrations."

"Why the hell would I—we—do that?"

"Why not? If they personally experience the ability of a bullet to break their shields, then wouldn’t they be more worried? Why didn’t you guys think of this?"

For a moment, he didn’t have anything to say.

After a while, he finally spoke.

"Your plan definitely has some sense to it... but we’re not even sure if the magic shields will break in the first place."

Lugh’s eyes flickered briefly as Cassius continued.

"And second, if the shields do break, then the people shot could get seriously injured. What would we do then?

Frankly speaking, you can’t fault us for not thinking in this direction. Only a maniac would go around randomly shooting people to prove a point."

Both girls immediately turned their heads to Lugh, who quickly averted his gaze.

Then, as if remembering something important, they both turned back to Cassius.

"Only a maniac would go around randomly shooting people to prove a point, right?"

"Yeah."

He replied as Sela sighed.

She spoke.

"Cassius, remind me why you’re here in the first place?"

He was about to speak but paused—his words choking down his throat as realization dawned on him.

He coughed awkwardly before stating,

"First, I’m not shooting people to prove a point. I have no point to prove."

"Second, I’m not randomly shooting—my victims are all robbers."

"And last but not least, I never said I wasn’t not a maniac. Your point is thereby invalidated."

"Wasn’t not?"

All three repeated it together, giving him a deadpan look.

He chuckled softly.

"Slip of tongue. I’m serious!"

Lugh turned his attention back to Cassius and spoke.

"I know the principal root of all your troubles."

Cassius stopped.

"You do?"

"Yes."

Lugh responded smoothly.

"But I won’t tell you yet—not until you guys explain more to me about the Jade Tower and the Selection that’s only a few days away."

"Okay?"

Cassius glanced at Lugh oddly before clearing his throat.

Mirelle beat him to the punch though.

"Don’t you already know about the Jade Tower?"

"I was given a brief—though undervalued—answer from Selaphiel. I want you to properly explain the concept to me."

At this, she shrank back slightly, letting her sister take the reins. Detailed explanations weren’t really her forte.

Sela began.

"The Jade Tower is not really an organization. Actually, it is—just not in the conventional sense."

For a while, she seemed to look for the right way to describe it. Finally settling on one, she spoke.

"Uhmm... think of it as a neighborhood association. Except their jurisdiction covers all of Ophris’ magic society. Which, I might add, is a lot."

"The HQ is here in the capital city, Pyrellis—although we really don’t know where it is."

Lugh pondered for a moment before speaking.

"And the leader of the Jade Tower?"

"Think of him as the association chairman. He’s there to give directions and make everything run smoothly."

"So for instance, if the neighborhood road needs paving, everyone from different houses would contribute under the directives of the chairman.

But like all neighborhoods, he’s simply there to give directives and make sure the system runs smoothly."

Understanding the undertone, Lugh carefully spoke.

"So... he doesn’t have any actual, direct power over the houses in the neighborhood."

He had unwittingly fallen into Sela’s pace—using her metaphor as well.

It was odd that a highborn lady like Selaphiel would use an analogy that mostly belonged to the middle and lower classes... but he’d long since learned to just accept Sela’s strangeness.

"Exactly."

The answer to his question came fast and sharp from her.

"The chairman doesn’t have any real power over the neighborhood houses—which in this case, represents the organizations and ancient families who use magic."

Lugh noticed something.

"Can you give me an example of these ’organizations’?"

Mirelle spoke.

"The Daily Oracle."

Lugh was somewhat surprised.

"You mean that newspaper service?"

"Yes."

Sela responded before adding,

"An organization you might be more familiar with, though, is the Church."

Then she gave more context.

"In Ophris, the word ’Church’ naturally refers to the Embercreed."

"...I see."

Lugh nodded.

Then Sela clapped her hands.

"So where were we?"

Cassius responded.

"The chairman."

"Ah, yes."

She began again.

"The chairman has no direct control over the other households."

A dramatic pause.

"Under normal circumstances, that is."

Lugh frowned.

"Normal circumstances?"

"Yes."

She responded.

"For some reason—"

Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om