Your Majesty, Wonders are Harmful to the Country!

Inside the study room.

Bruno had spent a great deal of effort gathering all the books related to mages. To him, mages were the biggest uncertainty in this world aside from himself.

However… the original owner of this body was truly an uneducated fool. Most of the books Bruno found about mages were nothing more than trashy novels like The Romantic Mage's Love Adventures and Mage's Lustful Conquests. These books, filled with typos, poor writing, and completely devoid of any core values, were things Bruno had no interest in reading.

Finally, at the very bottom of the bookshelf, he found a somewhat normal book—A Record of the Famous Grand Mages of the Norman Empire.

The old parchment scroll was covered in dust, and the writing on the pages was already fading, but it was the only decent book Bruno could find.

Mages in this world were far from as powerful as Bruno had initially imagined. Or rather, in this world, mages were more of a high-class profession rather than the kind of superhuman beings who could defy morals and laws, as often depicted in the fantasy novels he had read.

The only ones who could truly stand above morals and laws were the ruling class of the Norman Empire—the noble class, which included Bruno himself.

From a certain perspective, mages were a unique group in this world. They were born with the ability to perceive magical elements, and upon reaching adulthood, some would join different magical schools to study spells, while the majority ended up serving the great nobles.

However, despite their ability to control magic, mages had an undeniable weakness—their long casting time.

Although the time needed to chant spells varied based on a mage's rank, even the most powerful mages required several seconds—or even tens of seconds—to cast an ordinary spell. In a battlefield scenario, that was enough time for them to be slain hundreds of times. This was precisely why Bruno's guards had dared to fight a mage head-on.

"So... mages in this world aren't as terrifying as I thought." Bruno let out a sigh of relief.

As he was pondering this, a servant led Arnel into the study.

The new servant's name was Jess Lopida. He had originally been just an ordinary castle servant, but after Shabi was promoted to poop collection overseer of Idar, Jess took his place as Bruno's personal attendant.

Arnel casually took a seat in front of the desk. His eyes swept over the books on the table, and then suddenly lit up.

"The Mage's Lustful Conquests"? Oh! And it's the classic edition too! I didn't expect you to be a man of culture as well. Uh… by the way, how should I address you?"

"Bruno Stuart, hereditary Count of Idar. And for the record, that book is not mine!" Bruno's face darkened.

"Come on, no need to be shy. There's no one else here. I remember the best part of this book is when—"

"Enough." Bruno cut him off without hesitation. "Now, tell me what exactly you're capable of. After all, I am technically your employer now."

"Employer? Let's be clear first. We are equals in terms of status. You may be a count, but I am also the son of Duke Luen, and a noble mage at that. Between us, it's merely a transactional—"

Bruno quickly realized this guy was quite the chatterbox, so he simply picked up a book and began reading, completely ignoring Arnel's nonsense.

When Arnel finally ran out of breath, Bruno asked, "So, what exactly can you do? I hope I'm not paying five gold coins a month just to hire a professional freeloader."

"I… I can cast spells. Lots of magic spells." Arnel hesitated for a moment, then puffed out his chest, trying to appear confident.

"What spells? Be specific. Like the levitation spell you used to steal my bread?"

"Uh… aside from Levitation, I can also cast… Fireball." Arnel's face turned red as he muttered weakly.

"That's it?"

To be honest, Bruno hadn't expected much from Arnel in the first place.

After all, for a noble young master with such a prestigious background to end up wandering alone, starving to the point of stealing bread, there had to be a reason.

And the only reason Bruno had insisted on keeping him around… was because Arnel could cast Levitation!

To Bruno, this was the perfect ability for constructing wonders!

Imagine building a hanging garden with floating stone blocks—it would be so much easier!

Bruno needed a toolman who could cast Levitation! That was the only reason he kept Arnel around.

Arnel was far from the best candidate, but he was the only option Bruno had.

Because of the Almis Mountains, Idar, located at the easternmost border of the Norman Empire, was already isolated from the empire's capital, and mages were rarely seen in this region.

Arnel's arrival had provided Bruno with a rare opportunity a shortcut to completing his wonder through magic.

At least for now, Bruno didn't care why Arnel had fallen on such hard times, nor did he care about how he had ended up in Idar in such a miserable state. The only thing he cared about was building the Hanging Gardens!

Everything in Idar would be prioritized for the garden's construction because Bruno was betting big on the rewards it would bring!

Moreover, throughout the construction, he would be able to take full control of Idar and reorganize his territory.

"Good." Bruno nodded with a mysterious smile.

"Good?"

Arnel thought he had misheard. But seeing Bruno's expression, he realized he hadn't.

A 20-year-old mage apprentice who only knew two spells… was being praised?

For the first time, Arnel felt what it was like to be recognized.

Before this, every bit of respect and flattery he had received was because of his father, Duke Luen.

Even his own magic mentor had long since given up on teaching him.

At this moment, Arnel felt an unfamiliar sense of excitement and happiness.

For the first time, this eccentric noble didn't seem as insufferable as before. His face still hurt from the punch, but here, in Idar, he had received something he had long been deprived of—recognition.

"Th-thank you…" Arnel stammered.

"I plan to construct a large garden soon. You'll be helping out." Bruno smiled.

Arnel's face froze instantly. Build… a garden?

He was making a noble mage help with construction?!

Sure enough, this bastard was as insufferable as ever…