The dragon's harem

Merlin stood and gave Betty one last stare for now; she still had one last thing that she must finish before fully relaxing and going back to her research. She had to make a show for the people of the empire, and that should be her crowning ceremony for them. They didn’t see her fight the Mech Angel or Lilia, and no one of the regular citizens had even a single clue how powerful a wizard she really is, so she had to show off to keep her respect as one of the Queens.

"Arad, is the patch of land still open?" She asked, and Arad parted his lips from Aella and looked over Nina’s shoulders, who was the one riding him now. "If you’re talking about the tower base, it is there, but it isn’t that wide. The road took up more space than we expected."

Right between Orion’s adventurers’ guild and Amaterasu’s church existed a large empty plot of land that Arad and Isdis had specifically wanted to keep empty so Merlin could build a new tower for herself there. A place that she would formally work at and use as a branch to Lilia’s Mages’ tower.

The piece of land was quite large, but not that long ago, the castle had to expand the city’s road to handle four lanes of carriages instead of just two, which ended up eating up part of that piece of land. Right now, that area had turned into a large roundabout, the first one in the entire capital, and it was less than twenty meters wide.

Merlin didn’t mind the size change, as she had never intended to use that much land. All she cared about was the inside size of the tower, and she could always increase that by either turning it into a labyrinth or building more floors like a regular wizard would do.

"Arad, I’m going to build the tower now so we can have a quick ceremony later. Do you think you can show up with me?" She looked back at him as he was busy drilling Nina down, and he smiled. "I’ll be there."

Arad had multiple bodies just for moments like this, so as Merlin changed in the changing room, a second body of his was already with her. "You said you wanted to build it now. So it’s a labyrinth?"

"Yes." Merlin replied with a smile as the maid dressed her up. "I’ll make the tower itself real and just ten floors high, but I’ll create a portal inside it that leads to a hundred-floor labyrinth that I’ll use as my lab. Each tenth floor would have one room in it that is directly linked to a room in each of the real tower floors, which would allow me to look outside at the city whenever I want."

Arad tried to imagine it. While he could easily understand how space fold on itself and how to stuff something massive inside something that was much smaller, he could barely wrap his head around the complicated spells that Merlin use to make her labyrinth work. He had even once asked her to teach him magic, and yet was barely able to understand anything beyond what she considered average level spells.

After getting dressed up, the two of them immediately teleported outside, where they appeared on the roundabout, and it didn’t take the people a second to notice them. The titanic Black Emperor clad in Obsidian armor and the Wizard Queen in her comically large wizard robe and hat. The two stood out like sore thumbs, immediately forcing the people walking across the street to stop and stare at them.

Many of the people around had been present at Eris’s church when she ascended into heaven, and they saw Arad shatter the divine stairs with his hand. The faces of the horrified angels were burned into their minds, always reminding them of the sheer power their Emperor has.

This man can flip the entire capital like it’s a tiny table, and not even the gods can stop him. But he wasn’t the only terrifying existence standing there, for Merlin was just as infamous for her power, especially in the recent months with her labyrinths that spread across the entire world.

There wasn’t a single sane wizard in all of the mortal world who would dare challenge her into a magic duel, and just looking at her was enough to make wizards puke from how disgustingly large her mana pool is. To all mages, looking at her felt like staring down a huge cliff and losing their balance. She was far beyond their level, so even archmages felt like apprentices again when facing her.

Then, Merlin started charging her mana to build the tower, and all of the wizards in the entire capital bolted out in sheer terror. That wasn’t a conscious decision, but one forced upon them by instinct. The amount of mana that Merlin was handling was so huge that just sensing it made them feel like they were standing in the same city as a ticking nuke that was about to blow up.

"Are you the emperor?" As Merlin was about to start, the voice of a little kid called out, and she stopped immediately, looking back to see a brat who wasn’t older than five reaching toward Arad’s steel boots. He wasn’t even that tall compared to Arad’s ankles.

The kid’s parents weren’t that far away. They were across the street, having already fallen to their knees, as both of them could see the absolutely horrific amount of mana Merlin was charging up. Fear kept them paralyzed in place to the point that none of them could even move to bring their kids back.

"Yes, I’m the emperor." Arad grabbed the kid, lifted him up, and sat him on his shoulder. "Want to watch Queen Merlin build something amazing?"

The kid couldn’t be happier, and he burst into laughter as Arad lifted him so high up from the ground. "I’m taller! Taller than the emperor!" He cried as he started pulling on Arad’s hair.

Merlin looked up at Arad’s face. "Should I start? Can you keep that kid safe from any leaking mana?" She then threw a glance back at the kid’s parents. "You can give him back to them."

"I’ll keep him safe. He wants to play and watch, so let him be." He looked at the kid, and Merlin nodded. "Fine, I’ll start."

She lifted both of her hands, and the entire capital shook. Light descended from the sky, and mana started forming the tower’s frame at horrifying speed. When the frame was done, she engulfed it with bricks and stones, then separated all of the floors at the same time she built the internal labyrinth, moving enough magic to amaze even Arad.

As the tower was fully built, Arad looked at the kid on his shoulder. "Say, what’s your name?" As he asked, the kid smiled. "Guess! I won’t tell you!"

Arad smiled. "Is your name Steven Laurence?" As Arad spoke, the kid blinked several times. "How... NO! You’re wrong! Wrong! Wrong!"

That was the kid’s name. Arad just read his mind to figure it out. "Merlin, we’re building a magic school on the first floor, right?"

She nodded. "Yep, but it’ll take time for the castle to furnish it up and set everything in line, so it won’t be starting this year." She then blinked several times. "What do you want to do?"

"Name it Steven Laurance’s Magic Academy." Arad smiled. "Just make a large sign with the name at the door." He then looked at Steven. "Want to study magic here? To become a wizard as strong as Queen Merlin?"

The kid shook his head. "No, I want to grow to be as big as you." Hearing that made Arad chuckle. "We will see about that in a few years then." After watching Merlin make the last touches on the tower, Arad finally took the kid back to his parents.

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