Isekai Online Game Developer

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After the second release, time passed, and we had acquired new Illusion Mages.

Seizing the lull in the commotion, we were once again ramping up production for ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

“Ugh, ugh… I want to stop… I want to play the game…”

“No way, Tower Master! This time, we need to produce at least ten thousand!”

“Hoee…”

My goal was to make the game enjoyable for everyone.

Not just the nobility who could appreciate the culture but also commoners who hadn’t been dealt a good hand by fate.

To show a world where anyone could have fun, regardless of the destiny determined at birth.

“Rai, please save me…”

“I came here because you said I could play the game, but… this is…”

“Now, now. Once the work is done, you can play as much as you want. Let’s make ten thousand by next week.”

To achieve this, sacrifices were necessary.

Along with Hina, the new Illusion Mages were being sent off for artifact production.

Currently, there were 1,500 users. There was still a long way to go.

Leaving the production to other mages, I ascended to the top floor for updates.

In the center of the top floor floated a massive maple leaf-shaped artifact, glowing with light.

It was the main server of ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

Through the Illusions Sharing Magic, each user accesses this fantasy world.

Adding Illusion Magic to this artifact would trigger the update.

“Rain, what are you doing here?”

It was a place few entered besides myself, yet there was a guest.

“Oh, Rai! Are you updating something?”

“Yes, since the third release date is coming up. What brings you here…?”

“Just that. Looking at the light of this gigantic artifact somehow makes me feel good.”

It certainly was a mystical sight.

It looked like the massive crystal sphere in the center of the mage’s job change room in ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

“Did you know that each tower has a giant floating stone symbolizing the tower at the top?”

“Of course. That’s why Trinity doesn’t even need lights at night.”

High up in the sky were the tops of the towers.

There, giant floating stones filled with attributes unique to each tower glowed brightly.

The Fire Tower had a red stone blazing like flames, while the Ice Tower had a huge blue stone made of ice. Other towers were similar.

But at the top of our Illusion Tower, there was nothing.

Instead, not long ago, Illusion had raised the tower so high that its peak wasn’t visible.

“But we have nothing. Because our magic is all ‘Illusion.’ It’s been like that in the past and still is.”

As Rain said, our magic was an illusion.

Since it didn’t exist in reality, there couldn’t be floating stones embodying attributes.

Everything was just a non-existent illusion.

“Sometimes I imagine… this artifact shining from the top of our tower. Just like the other towers, we’ll raise our tower high into the sky and illuminate Trinity with ‘Maple Leaf Story.’ I often imagine that.”

“…That sounds nice. We’ll definitely do that soon. It might take time though.”

The height of each tower corresponds to the history it has built up.

But our Illusion Tower had accomplished nothing during that time.

Of course, we had no money or achievements, so we hadn’t been able to raise the tower.

Now that I thought about it, it was about time to expand the tower.

At that moment, I needed to move the artifact’s location to the top.

“Rai! This is bad!”

A clone of Medeia hurriedly ascended the stairs.

“There are… people from the imperial palace!”

“Eh? Is it the Third Prince again?”

“No! This time, it’s an imperial decree sent by the Emperor!”

“Y-Yes?”

Rain and I rushed down.

There was a splendid carriage and a royal minister in a golden robe holding a scroll.

“Illusion Mage Riot is to follow the imperial decree.”

“…What?”

Do we have to kneel like in historical dramas? The atmosphere seems like that.

As I was thinking this, Rain was already doing just that.

I didn’t want to do it specifically, so I displayed an illusion of myself kneeling.

“Illusion Mage ‘Riot’ has fooled the royal family with his serpent-like tongue…”

The content seemed to be along the lines of asking if I wanted to get scolded for deceiving the Third Prince.

Nonetheless, there were cautious areas regarding contracts with mages from Trinity even in the royal family, so this talk ended with a suggestion of coming to the palace for a direct conversation.

I had anticipated that something like this would happen. Also, it wasn’t like we were desperately in need of the royal family’s money.

“Understood.”

I had no intention of avoiding it either.

The royal family couldn’t easily mess with a mage from Trinity.

A few days later, I headed to the imperial palace with Rain.

*

“Your Majesty, Illusion Mage Riot has arrived.”

“I see.”

The Emperor walked in with a commanding presence.

In the audience hall, the First Prince and the instigator of the incident, the Third Prince, were already present.

“I pay my respects to the Empire’s Sun.”

The female Illusion Mage bowed her head first towards the Emperor.

Then the male Illusion Mage beside her did the same.

The conversation was naturally led by the Magic Minister to put them in a threatening position.

How dare you deceive the royal family to gain illicit benefits? You won’t get off easy. Something along those lines.

However, a contract with a mage from Trinity is something the royal family couldn’t simply ignore.

Thus, it was necessary to agree on the terms of the contract to a certain extent.

At that moment, the Emperor spoke.

“I shall graciously consider matters regarding the investment. However, to do so, you must understand the value of ‘Maple Leaf Story’; you shall directly use it and decide the amount of investment. You should be grateful for using the artifact of the Illusion Tower.”

Receiving ‘Maple Leaf Story’ was the Emperor’s strategy.

Then the foolish Illusion Mages will bow their heads, saying, “We are ever-grateful, Your Majesty!”

This way, the Emperor could maintain his dignity while also trying out ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

The Emperor struggled to calm his twitching lips at the thought of finally trying out ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

“…Thus, the Illusion Tower presented an artifact merely an illusion to extract an unfair contract from the Third Prince and sought to disrupt the royal family with that vile product. Therefore, the royal family cannot accept this contract.”

Just as the Magic Minister finished speaking.

The Illusion Mages were still bowing their heads.

“Cough, cough. However, the Third Prince may have made some mistakes in this case. Isn’t that right, Magic Minister?”

“Well, yes, Your Majesty.”

Now it was time to deliver the prepared line.

The Emperor, about to speak in a grave tone, was suddenly interrupted.

“Understood.”

A youthful voice interrupted.

It was the male Illusion Mage.

“Understood?”

“Yes. I am Illusion Mage Rai. I created ‘Maple Leaf Story.’”

“Is that so?”

“I also made the contract with the Third Prince. If the royal family believes that, I shall terminate the contract.”

“W-What?!”

The Emperor jumped up from his seat.

The Illusion Mage’s reaction was completely different from what he expected.

“It’s true that there were unfair aspects. So I’ll do that. Also, if my artifact is causing disorder in the royal family, I shall ensure it cannot connect in the royal palace. If it brings harm to the royal family, then it’s only right to do so.”

“…Hey! What do you mean by that!”

The Third Prince Rikal shouted.

To be honest, to him, the game was more important than the royal family’s money.

“I apologize to you as well, Your Highness. I will apologize and make everything a non-issue, so please forgive me just this once.”

“W-Wait…!”

The Emperor stammered, flustered.

He had already declared the Illusion Mage and the artifact to be in disrespect to the royal family, so he couldn’t change his words now.

“W-Wait a moment…! This isn’t what I wanted!”

The Emperor felt the glaring gazes of the ministers upon him.

He knew that ‘Maple Leaf Story’ was trending even within the royal family.

If it continued like this, it was clear that rumors would spread about him.

And he would never get to play ‘Maple Leaf Story’ for the rest of his life.

Neither the Emperor nor anyone in the royal family would.

However, to suddenly say, “C-Could I play ‘Maple Leaf Story’?” would bring the royal family’s dignity crashing down.

“Then I shall take my leave. I apologize again for causing such uproar in the royal palace.”

Finally, Rai gave his greeting and began to leave the audience hall.

“N-No…! Ugh…!”

In an unexpected turn of events, the Emperor felt a nervousness rising within him.

He wanted to grab him there and then, but as the Emperor, he couldn’t do that.

It was an immense dilemma. Amidst it all, Rai grasped the doorknob of the audience hall.

Finally, the Emperor’s anxiousness prevailed, and he fell from his seat.

“W-Wait a moment—!!”

Just then, a desperate voice called out and stopped Rai.

“?”

It wasn’t the Emperor whose voice it was.

It was the Magic Minister.

“W-Wait! Illusion Mage Riot!”

He too was a player of ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

*

“Thank you, Rai.”

“It’s no problem. It’s all for the tower anyway.”

As a result, the royal family agreed to our demands.

From the initial unfair contract, it was now a new arrangement.

Like the other towers, we would receive research funding (until now, only the Illusion Tower hadn’t received funding from the royal family), and we would also receive some of the costs needed for developing ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

In return, as an investment, we would give a portion of the profits to the royal family.

In the end, it turned into a standard investment contract.

The Magic Minister had managed it all with various excuses, and seeing the Emperor accept it without major objections, it seemed he too wanted to try ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

Instead, plans were made to sell in more varied regions next time.

I wondered if the Emperor would end up waiting alongside others.

“By the way, when did you become so dignified? You were definitely smaller than the Tower Master when you first came here.”

“Ugh, ugh… I can’t breathe, Rain.”

Rain clung to me and flung herself onto the bed.

Since it was late, we decided to stay overnight in the guest room provided by the royal palace.

“Actually… that person is my father.”

“…Huh?”

As she spoke while still clinging to me, I couldn’t see her face because it was buried in her chest.

“Could it be that he’s royalty?”

“No~ He’s not royalty. He was the Magic Minister I was speaking with next to the Emperor. He’s my father.”

“Eh? Really? A Magic Minister is quite famous…”

“Yes. Our family has a long-standing history as a family of mages.”

The Magic Minister was among the most notable mages in the world.

And that family had led the royal family’s mages for generations.

Of course, their fame seemed to have diminished a bit now.

Nevertheless, that meant none of them had the Illusion Attribute magic.

They allegedly never established a child with someone who had the Illusion Attribute.

Since it would reduce the prestige of their family if they inadvertently produced a child with the Illusion Attribute.

But Rain was an Illusion Mage.

“My father was an S-rank Wind Mage, and my mother was an A-rank Metal Mage. But I ended up as a B-rank Illusion Mage. It’s a really low probability for a different school of magic to appear. To top it off, it’s an Illusion Attribute.”

“Oh…”

I should’ve been like that. I should’ve gotten another attribute instead of Illusion with a low probability.

For her, it must have felt like a calamity.

“I was cast out from the family. And I had nowhere to go except the Illusion Tower. Ever since I was a child, I’d never thought of anything other than becoming a mage.”

Currently, all the Illusion Mages were commoners.

No wonder Rain seemed more dignified than them.

Still holding onto me, Rain continued to speak.

I quietly listened to her story.

“…So I can’t thank you enough, Rai. Thanks to you, we were able to be recognized for our magic.”

“It’s nothing much. I was just trying to earn some money. And Illusion Magic is still magic.”

After a momentary pause, Rain said,

“Rai, would you like to sleep here together tonight?”

“…Huh?”

“I just don’t feel like sleeping alone tonight…”

W-Wait a second, what kind of development is this? So suddenly going there?

If that happens, the genre is going to change—

Knock knock—

That’s when someone knocked on the door.

“Hah, haha! A guest has come! I’ll go check it out!”

I hurriedly jumped out of bed.

Not looking back, I had no idea what kind of expression she was making at that moment.

“…Huh?”

When I opened the door, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

It was Rain’s father, the Magic Minister, who I had just been speaking about!

“Magic Minister?”

“Illusion Mage Riot, may I have a moment to speak with you?”

I checked Rain’s reaction, but she seemed fine with it.

“Yes, please come in.”

“Excuse me.”

As he entered the room, he took a moment to gauge the atmosphere before getting to the point.

It was a very lengthy story.

He was beating around the bush and taking his time, but in the end, the conclusion was this.

“…The Magic Minister is xPower Archerx?”