Isekai Online Game Developer

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Rikal was sitting in his chair, his legs trembling.

Beside him, his assistant Hanon looked at him with anxious eyes.

“P-please, let nothing go wrong…”

Hanon was once again praying ardently to the gods today.

This time, Hanon had to accompany Rikal to the Illusion Tower.

“Thank you for waiting. So what brings you here today, Your Highness?”

The Illusion Mage Riot served tea with a sly smile, reminiscent of a plump merchant.

“…Slurp. What is this sugary water?”

“It’s called mix coffee. It’s regular coffee filled with milk and sugar.”

“Only an illusion mage would come up with something weird like this. Slurp.”

Rikal gulped down the drink in no time.

‘Seems like he liked it.’

Hanon noticed Rikal was pleased with the milk coffee, but kept his mouth shut.

Instead, he thought he should serve Rikal coffee filled with milk and sugar whenever he was in a bad mood.

“So, what is it you need? I’m busy.”

“…Slurp.”

Despite drinking several cups of mix coffee, Rikal didn’t open his mouth.

Hanon didn’t know why Rikal had come to the Illusion Tower this time either.

“Send the people out. Hanon, you stay outside.”

“Understood. Rain, could you please wait outside with the others?”

Reluctantly following his command, Hanon exited.

Though worried about what Rikal might do, it was better than risking death by objecting.

“I’ll get you one more coffee.”

Rai went to fetch more coffee, leaving Rikal alone on the first floor.

A quiet tower.

-…But isn’t that user known as Empire’s Light a guy?

“…!!!!”

That voice gently floated down from the stairs.

The conversation of the illusion mages returning to their rooms reached Rikal’s ears.

He instinctively held his breath, eavesdropping on their chat.

-Oh, no way. Why would a freak do something like that?

-Still, there’s no reason not to join an expedition unless, of course, he’s a member of the imperial family behaving with caution.

-His nickname could mean he’s royalty, after all. The Emperor has openly expressed a desire to join the expedition too. Wait, could it be the Third Prince?

“!!!!!”

Rikal shot up in shock.

But he quickly sank back into his seat.

The mages climbing the stairs cast him strange looks.

-Hey, didn’t he come looking for help because of that nasty incident before? Don’t tell me he was a cleric back then?

-No way, you’re telling me the Third Prince is Empire’s Light?

-If that’s true, it’s chilling. He must have acted all cutesy in-game—right?

Hehe.

The illusion mages chuckled as they entered their rooms.

Though they tried to keep it quiet, Rikal heard everything.

Under normal circumstances, he would have lost his temper immediately.

But he couldn’t do that this time because he was indeed Empire’s Light.

‘C-could it be that I’m exposed? How could they have deduced it that far?’

Panic-stricken, Rikal broke out in a cold sweat.

“Care for another cup? So what’s the real reason you came here?”

At that moment, Rai returned.

He was still sporting that unsettling grin.

The reason Rikal had come to the Illusion Tower was none other than the expedition.

He didn’t intend to reveal his identity—he merely wanted to request an artifact from the illusion mage.

An artifact that would allow him to conceal his appearance with illusion magic.

He planned to obtain it and change his appearance to join the expedition.

“Ahem… I’d like to commission an artifact.”

“An artifact? But doesn’t Your Highness already possess ‘Maple Leaf Story’?”

“I’m not talking about that. I want an artifact that can change my appearance with an illusion. Isn’t that possible at the Illusion Tower?”

“It is possible, but—”

Such tasks could only be achieved with illusion magic.

Rikal thought about getting something like a disguise suit from an assassin guild, but he knew that wouldn’t hide the stature of an adult man.

[Empire's Light] is the embodiment of a cute girl.

To hide his physique, he needed the illusion magic.

“What would you even use that for?”

“T-that’s none of your concern. Just make it.”

“Um, what kind of form do you wish to take? I need some examples to model your illusion.”

“Uh, something like… a small, cute… girl vibe?”

“A small cute… and then?”

“I’d like a bright impression, dressed like a commoner or maybe some countryside nobility.”

“Hmm. You mustn’t let anyone discover your identity, right?”

“Exactly. But you can’t look too poor either.”

“Right. After all, you must have a lot of cash.”

“Yeah, I’ve got plenty of money but I’d rather have the background of an obscure nobleman… Wait, what did you just say?”

“Pardon?”

“You spend a lot on cash?”

“Yes! You do spend a lot on cash, don’t you?”

Riot looked at Rikal with a bright smile.

There was an unnerving glint in his wide-eyed gaze.

Rikal’s body began to tremble, and terrifying thoughts started to flood him.

“N-no way, you…”

“You’re Empire’s Light, after all?”

“Ugh, aaahhh!”

His heart felt like it was going to drop.

Rikal screamed and toppled backward.

***

In fact, he’d anticipated something like this would happen.

[Empire's Light]. As in, the Third Prince Rikal has always been ranked high among early users.

Considering he had already advanced to a Bishop class, he should have joined the expedition long ago.

Yet [Empire's Light] remained outside of the expedition.

I knew the reason; it was his identity as the Third Prince.

Since offline strategy meetings were mandatory, revealing his true identity was unavoidable.

To participate in the expedition, Rikal had to hide his appearance, and using a substitute would create someone who knew his identity.

It was only natural that Rikal would request an illusion artifact to disguise himself.

Just as expected, Rikal came to the Illusion Tower and ordered an artifact to change his outward appearance.

“You’re Empire’s Light, after all?”

“Ugh, aaahhh!”

Rikal fell over at my words.

The panic on his face was pretty amusing.

“Don’t worry. No one else will know.”

I just wanted to tease Rikal a little.

That’s why I had asked the illusion mages to talk about him within earshot on the way back.

Of course, I didn’t tell them Rikal was indeed [Empire's Light].

They might have suspected, though.

“How did you… know?”

“Well, let’s see. I guessed correctly.”

“D-don’t lie! You tricked me…”

“Calm down.”

As Rikal was about to draw his sword, I presented him with a brooch.

It was an artifact that allowed him to transform into a cute girl just like [Empire's Light] did.

I had anticipated he would come, so I created it in advance.

“I thought you’d come, so I made it beforehand. And it also has the ability to disguise your voice.”

I activated the artifact to demonstrate.

At that moment, dazzling light spread out in all directions, and my figure began to transform.

I added a transformation effect to give it a magical girl vibe.

“This is how perfectly you can transform! But be careful because if you have any physical contact, you might get caught!”

I mimicked [Empire's Light]‘s catchy manner of speaking.

For others, they’d hear an upbeat and cute voice.

But after all, this was all an illusion and wouldn’t change reality.

My body remained physically the same.

This means if I shook hands, the person would feel not [Empire's Light]‘s tiny hand but my original, massive hand.

Rikal was still lying on the floor, staring at me with a dumbfounded expression.

“…This is the general idea, though. What do you think?”

“U-uh, it’s well made. Exactly matches my idea of [Empire's Light]… No, wait!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. Instead…”

I quickly shoved a piece of paper under Rikal’s nose.

It was like a transaction document for the transformation artifact.

Of course, it had an absurdly high price on it, beyond what one might expect for just one artifact.

I planned to sell it dearly and keep the secret for as long as possible.

I can’t throw away this valuable card so easily.

“I’ll sell it at this price. But of course, that comes with the condition that I will keep your secret.”

“Hey, that’s too expensive!”

It seemed Rikal would need to purchase this artifact entirely out of his own pocket.

Using royal funds would risk revealing the artifact’s identity.

“Take it or leave it. You have enough money for this anyway, don’t you?”

“Cough…”

Though it was expensive, I thought it was at a price he could afford.

I wasn’t sure how much allowance a prince got, but considering how much Rikal spent on cash, he should have this much.

“Fine. But if anyone finds out, you’re dead.”

“Yes, yes. But if you kill me, you’ll never be able to use ‘Maple Leaf Story’ again.”

“You little…!”

Rikal raised his trembling fist, then finally lowered it again.

Instead, he stamped the transaction document and snatched the artifact.

“I’ll have the money delivered through the central bank.”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

He wouldn’t cheat me—doing so would reveal his identity.

“Care for a quick test? I’ll show you how to use it.”

“…Alright.”

I instructed Rikal on how to use the transformation artifact.

A little while later, with a stunning transformation effect, Rikal’s appearance changed.

“Excellent. If you want to revert the change, just stop supplying magic to the artifact. For prolonged transformations, I suggest bringing some mana recovery potions.”

“Okay.”

The bright, cheerful voice of [Empire's Light] answered back.

“Make sure to practice your manner of speaking too, like you usually do in ‘Maple Leaf Story’.”

“…I’ll handle that myself, so shut up.”

Maybe he was feeling a little off, but Rikal answered weakly.

Of course, thanks to the artifact’s enhancements, his voice was still bright.

“I reiterate, if your identity gets revealed…”

Knock, knock, knock—

At that moment, someone knocked on the tower’s door.

It had to be Rikal’s assistant standing out front.

Was it another guest?

“I’ll go check. Just…”

I was about to tell him to drop the transformation when—

Before I could finish, the door to the tower swung open.

Rikal still hadn’t reverted his transformation.

“Y-you bastard Hanon—”

Rikal hastily covered his mouth, for the one entering wasn’t Hanon, and he had already seen Rikal transformed into [Empire's Light].

“Excuse me. Are you the Illusion Mage Riot?”

A platinum-haired man asked politely.

His face bore a striking resemblance to Rikal but appeared much more handsome and refined.

Behind him, Hanon trembled.

“H-hyung…?”

Rikal, standing next to me, uttered softly.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Pleased to meet you. I am the Empire’s First Prince, Leo Leonious.”

“…Excuse me?”

Leo Leonious, the First Prince of the Empire and Crown Prince.

The very next Emperor known as “Empire’s Light.”

No wonder Hanon hadn’t been able to block him from entering.

But why had this man come?

“I heard that Rikal was here, but I don’t see him.”

“A… the Third Prince went to the restroom.”

I lied, deciding to keep the identity hidden for now.

Rikal breathed a small sigh of relief.

Had he reverted earlier, this whole situation could have been avoided.

No, wasn’t it a bit strange that the First Prince just barged in after knocking?

Why did it seem that none of the brothers were properly sane?

“I see. I wasn’t specifically here because of Rikal anyway. Could we have a word… huh?”

Leo furrowed his brow as he looked at Rikal, or rather, the [Empire's Light] version of Rikal.

His gaze fell hard on her as if scrutinizing her closely.

Leo approached Rikal, still transformed into [Empire's Light], inching closer.

“Y-your Highness? What are you doing…?”

“Could this person… be Empire’s Light?”

“O-oh, o…? How do you…?”

“Correct! Who would have thought we’d meet here… Coming to the Illusion Tower has proven fruitful.”

“Y-yes?”

Leo spoke in a manner that was completely bewildering to both Rikal and me.

“Could it really be you, Empire’s Light? The famous named user from ‘Maple Leaf Story’ and the strongest Bishop, Zebit?”

His eyes sparkled with anticipation, eagerly awaiting a response.

I exchanged glances with both Leo and Rikal, completely clueless about what was happening.

Eventually, the turn to answer fell to Rikal.

Both I and Leo held our breaths, waiting for his response.

After a brief silence that swept through the tower,

At last, Rikal opened his mouth, having come to a decision.

“Wah-wah-wah-wah? You know me? To think the Crown Prince knows me, how delightful indeed!”

…That became Rikal’s, no, [Empire's Light]‘s choice.