章 86: Grand Ambition
London, England,
Department of General Fundamentals, Clock Tower,
"I don't get what people are always bitching about."
Roman twirled a pen in his left, resting his head in the right as he stared at a painting on the wall in a staring contest he himself declared... The Magician sat in his office, one he'd renovated to suit his tastes, as in, a dark furnished wooden floor, expensive furniture, a window right behind him and shelves on either side holding a large number of books about.... a little bit of everything really.
Tamamo no Mae, was, as she'd done quite a few number of times already, sleeping on the sofa right beside the door, wearing her usual blue shrine maiden dress... Roman had spent the entire night here, dealing with the lack of manpower that came with you know, destroying a whole faction because they were stunting the collective growth of the magical world under the name of, 'being left in peace'.
The fact that some of them had crossed floors in the few days before the attack on the Neutral Faction did help, exceptional individuals that had only been in said faction because it suited their needs had changed allegiances, joining either the Trambelio or Barthomeloi camp.. Notably Touko Aozaki, the Lehrmans and a few others.
Though, the whole matter didn't simply pass over.. There was the Brishisan Family to consider, the picture perfect Neutralists headed by Lord Brishisan of the Department of Lore, a man well over 2000 in age who not even his personal forces could ever hope to beat.. And so, he'd done it himself.
The man was in the Clock Tower, overseeing his department and culling his existence was the last thing Roman had done, employing the copied Noble Phantasm of Okita Souji Alter just to make sure the immortal fuck didn't somehow end up escaping.
Killing him off however, brought another massive problem to their doors. For Lord Brishisan wasn't only the Lord of the Department of Lore, no, he was the one who'd named ORT (The Type slumbering in South America), worked out what would awaken it, a pupil of the King of Magecraft, King Solomon himself AND the Acting Di-
"Boy! What have you done?!"
Inorai Valualeta Atroholm threw open the door to Roman's office with enough force to almost blow it clean off it's hinges, an action that failed to even bother the sleeping Caster, and stomped over to his desk, smashing down her fists on the table Roman was sitting at in a shocking display of emotion wholly uncharacteristic of someone like her and glared at the smiling Magician.
Roman's smile was polite, a harmless one that would make one think he had no idea he'd thrown the whole of the Mage's Association into chaos in a matter of days, "Chill..." he put his hands up disarmingly, "You on your period or something?"
"On my..." Inorai tried to calm herself down, pinching the bridge of her nose, "You killed the Acting Director!" She practically shouted at him, forgetting her advanced age in a state of confused anger, "Do you know what that means?! You've destroyed what gave the Clock Tower it's fundamental standing!"
"Are you an idiot?" Roman looked at her in genuine awe, his jaw hanging low as he processed her words, "I thought magi didn't get senile with age... Mental note to self, magi do get senile with age." He nodded to himself with crossed arms, unwilling to take her words seriously.
"I di-"
"They'll try to slap on a sealing designation, strip away your rank and standing. Then we'll be left lacking any major forces to fight back a war that started in no small part thanks to your idiocy! I will appreciated the research made public though." It wasn't like the Church, despite having attacked first, was solely to blame, it was common knowledge that the Holy Grail was sacred to them. Large scale destruction spells were also patented and monitored by the Mage's Association, both of these actions being grounds for imprisonment or execution.
"Furthermore, you've killed the Director! Who do you think approves and manages all that goes on here?!"
"....Did you somehow get so angry you forgot that..." Roman pointed at his own face, smiling widely, "I'm the one who killed him? And the entire Neutral Faction?" The Magician tilted his head ever so slightly making the older woman take a step back, realisation crossing her face.. There was no flaring of magical energy, no spell used, his words alone were enough to throw her into shock.
A Clock Tower thrown to chaos, mass confusion, widespread shock, the elimination of a whole faction, revamping of the 13 Major Departments of the Clock Tower, replacing the head of one faction, the destruction of a Holy Grail, the destruction of an entire city, an attack on the Vatican, seizing of the Magic Crests of the Neutral Faction, obtaining half the research of 1/3 of the Clock Tower.
All of that, even if he did it through a variety of means less than 'honourable', was done by a single person.
Roman Trambelio.
The 'young' man staring at her with amused eyes right now, the same man she'd thrown a tantrum in front of her.
What modern magus, born in the 20th Century could claim to do anything remotely similar, no, even one of the things he'd done?
The plain and simple truth was, they couldn't.
Not even the generation prior to him could do something like that.
The one individual that came closer than all others yet was infinitely farther was the woman hailed as the Queen of the Clock Tower, Lord Lorelei Barthomeloi herself.
And yet.. the older woman clenched her fist, she couldn't simply accept that and bow down to him, her pride wouldn't allow such a thing..
The other magi, the general consensus wasn't fear... or rather, not wholly fear.
There was jealousy, envy, frustration regarding the truth but also deep down, respect. As individuals that respected blood and power, there was no one way they could deny the respect they felt for him.. and so, they would, save for some, do as they'd always done.
Spout idealistic bullshit while plotting in the dark, work his desires and commands into their plots but ultimately end up obeying anyway.
There was also the fact that he'd made all the research of these old families public, culling the effects of their loss considerably as most of their value lay in said research... IT also the meant that the average magus would improve now that they had access to research centuries or even millennia old.
Their standing would have no dent, no their status would be elevated now that they had an individual capable of all he'd done in a leading position…. If and only if they even released the information.
In her thought-induced daze, Inorai failed to notice the one-eyed 'magus' stand up and approach her, waving his hand in front of her eyes, "Earth to hipster, helloooo.. You still with us?" His tone conveyed clear amusement but that was to be expected, Roman did derive great pleasure from such events.
"The position of Director will be fought over between us and the Aristocrats, namely me and Lorelei BUT, it's practically mine." Roman smiled politely at her, taking a seat on his table... In truth, while he had a general outline of what he wanted, a fair part of it was truly improv.. He changed his plans to meet each changing event.. Bottom line was, the position of Director wasn't something he'd been originally seeking..
Taking on Angra Mainyu though, becoming Zoroastrianism's God of Evil had intensified his ideologies and personality immensely... His hate for stagnation and love for progress which had been mild on all accounts, had become intense enough for it to be a constant thought in his mind.
Added to that was the knowledge Zelretch had shared with him, the possibility of beings far beyond their imagination simply walking in, or the possibility of the timeline being deleted entirely for becoming 'problematic'.. He didn't like that, not one bit, but he had no choice but to accept it.
And so, while Roman individually felt he could ensure his continued survival, the same couldn't be said for humanity. They had been destroyed numerous times before, unknowingly and the one timeline where they killed a Celestial Body proved their potential...
As such, Roman couldn't see them simply stagnate and implode, he would see them progress and thrive. From the background and from up front, that was one thing he wouldn't accept.
Humanity would progress, it would reach for the stars as it had many times before. Not by relying on some higher being, but by relying solely on itself.
He would make sure of that.
A Director who allowed stagnation and kept the world of magic hidden from the common man was fundamentally unacceptable and so he was removed. His succeeding the man was the next step in this grand ambition.
If someone asked him why, then his answer wouldn't be something noble or understandable. Just that he was that way, he wanted such a thing to happen and so he would see it happen. That was all.
Stupid to some, but well, they could take it up with him if they so wanted.
Lightning arched across the dark clouds covering the heavens and heavy rain started in moments. Forcing the citizens of London to seek shelter lest they be caught up in a storm.
The door to Roman's office moved about erratically and before anyone could notice, the Magician of the Second had taken Roman's seat, staring at the two arguing Lords with an unusually serious expression..
"You know... Brishian was an old friend of mine."
Magical Energy flooded the room as Roman stood up, walking over to Tamamo no Mae and standing with his back to her, "Shocking the fuck was 2000 and would lose to Lorelei." Was Lorelei a genius or did the Director just suck?
"Meh.. Nahhh." Zelretch shrugged him off, the magical energy disappearing in an instant, "There's unlimited versions of him out there." Being able to traverse parallel worlds did things to a man.
Roman only chuckled, ignoring the hectic magi nobility in the Clock Tower.
Well, there was one upside.
The students had been given vacations until the matter was resolved.
Mainly the matter of a new director, and replacement Lords for the newly opened positions.
There would be no consequences for Roman though, the explanation he had for his actions was flawless and even if a flaw was found, no one could really act on it.
Zelretch smiled at the Magician with closed eyes. A smile the Magician returned with one of his own.
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