A Miracle Carved by Mana Needles
How much time had passed?
Footsteps sounded through the silence of the underground prison.
Not one pair.
Several.
So it had finally come.
Torchlight flickered, stretching people’s shadows long and thin across the stone floor.
Nen appeared first. Unlike usual, she didn’t stop at the bars; instead, she stepped aside.
Behind her, Ellen’s pale face came into view.
And then—
Count Valderk stood there, wrapped in a blade-sharp chill.
“......”
The count looked down at me without a word.
His piercing gaze swept over the tools piled inside the cell and the mound of finished handkerchiefs.
Disdain and disbelief mingled in his eyes.
“You’re a slippery one.”
The count finally spoke.
“A man on the verge of losing his head, and yet he’s doing business inside a prison. Is money all that’s in your head?”
The sneer was colder than ice.
I met his eyes without flinching and answered, “It’s not for money, Count.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s because I keep my word.”
“Your word?”
Count Valderk’s brow twitched.
“I promised the Magic Tower that I’d deliver by today. Even if I’m destined to die locked up in this place, I still want to honor the promises I made while I was alive. As a merchant, and as a human being, that’s the last shred of pride I have left.”
My voice never wavered.
Because it wasn’t a lie.
A glint entered the count’s eyes.
“I expected you to beg pathetically for your life, yet here you are—a commoner mouthing off about honor and pride in the face of death.”
“Why should rank matter before honor?”
“Hah! You’ve got a silver tongue.”
The count gave a derisive snort.
“Fine. Say you keep your word and send the goods out. What then? You asked for dress materials too. What’s that about?”
“For Lady Ellen.”
I glanced at Ellen.
She was looking at me with pleading eyes.
“I want to make her the star of the upcoming ball at the prince’s reception banquet.”
“You? A mere tailor?”
“I heard Lady Sophia Bergen hired a tailor named Duel, one who uses illusion magic. I’m sure you wouldn’t want the young lady to be outshone by them and turned into the laughingstock of the night.”
The count’s face hardened at once.
He’d felt the blade go in.
Inside, I laughed to myself.
Count Valderk hates losing to the Bergen family even more than death itself.
And yet, in practical terms, he was probably already tearing his hair out because he couldn’t find a tailor capable of beating Duel.
That meant he needed me.
“How arrogant. You really think you can beat Duel?”
“I can.”
I answered without hesitation.
“Duel’s magic is flashy, but it’s nothing more than a trick. I can show you something real. I’ll make sure every eye in the ballroom is fixed on the Valderk family’s young lady, not Bergen’s.”
Silence stretched tight as a bowstring.
Count Valderk folded his arms and glared at me.
“You have conditions, don’t you?” he asked in a low voice. “You want me to release you if you succeed?”
Ellen and Nen both brightened at once.
The count had left room for negotiation.
But then he drove the knife in again.
“Don’t misunderstand. I have no intention of letting you go.”
“Dad!”
Ellen cried out desperately, but the count ignored her.
“You learned the existence of our family’s secret passage. There will be no way for you to leave alive.”
His voice was icy.
“I intended to kill you from the start. But if you truly do defeat Duel, then I may choose not to kill you and let you live here instead.”
It was a grim declaration.
But inside, I cheered.
That’s even better.
I hadn’t planned on leaving in the first place.
There was an endless source of mana inside this prison.
Rather than go outside and scrape by on pathetic amounts of mana, it was a hundred times better to stay locked up here and grow my mana core.
This place fed me, gave me infinite mana, and protected me from outside threats.
To me, it wasn’t a prison.
It was a tailor-made training ground.
Still, I forced a solemn expression that fit the mood.
“I understand. If the price of learning your family’s secret is that I remain here, then I’ll accept it gladly.”
“And you still intend to do it?”
“Even if I were to spend my whole life in this place... I want to prove what I can do. More than anything, I want to repay the kindness Lady Ellen showed me.”
Tears welled in Ellen’s eyes.
Nen bit her lip, clearly moved as well.
The count clicked his tongue.
“Are you crafty, or just stubbornly stupid?”
He muttered something I couldn’t quite decipher, then his gaze hardened.
“I’ll give you a chance. As you said, make Ellen the star of the ball. If you do, I won’t kill you and I’ll let you live in this place.”
Killing intent flashed in his eyes.
“But if you fail even once, you won’t die cleanly.”
“I will succeed, absolutely. But—”
I let the end of the sentence trail off.
“There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“Speak.”
“No one in Rowen doesn’t know the reputation of the Valderk family. They know you’re different from the Bergen family, too.”
The count’s eyebrow moved ever so slightly.
“The Bergens would toss aside a promise to a commoner the instant it became inconvenient. But I believe the head of the Valderk family would never take back a word he’d already spoken so lightly.”
For a moment, the count’s face stiffened.
“......Are you comparing Valderk to Bergen?”
His voice dropped, and anger simmered beneath it.
“That would be unthinkable. Which is why I trust you.”
The count stared at me for a long while.
“If you thought the dignity of Valderk was the same as some family like Bergen, you’d be badly mistaken. I swear to you in the name of Valderk—prove your skill.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll prove it.”
I bowed my head, and inside I nearly laughed aloud.
A promise made in the family’s name. The count can never take that back.
Just like that, I’d saved my life for the time being.
And gained the chance to train here as much as I wanted, too.
“Nen.”
The count turned around.
“Give him what he needs. Take care of the handkerchief delivery, and procure every material he asks for. But keep a strict watch on him. If he does anything suspicious, report it immediately.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Relief colored Nen’s voice.
Ellen stepped up to the iron bars.
“I’m sorry, Hans... because of me, you had to go through this...”
“Don’t cry, Lady Ellen. You should be smiling your most beautiful smile on the day of the ball.”
“Mm. I will. And I promise—I’ll convince Father no matter what and get you out of here. Just wait a little longer.”
After Ellen and the count left, Nen remained behind.
She looked at me with a complicated expression.
“You really are amazing, Hans. I didn’t think you could actually persuade the count.”
“I suppose my sincerity got through to him. Now hurry and deliver the handkerchiefs to the Magic Tower and get the materials. We don’t have much time.”
“All right. I’ll be back soon.”
Nen hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice.
“Thank you... for surviving.”
She took the thousand handkerchiefs and left.
Once again, I was alone in the prison.
I walked toward the crack in the stone where mana poured out from deeper inside the cave.
The prison was quiet, but my heart pounded as if it might burst.
Not from fear.
No matter how I look at it, this place is insane. It’s a completely insane environment.
Before I knew it, a laugh kept slipping out of me.
“You could drag me out and I still wouldn’t leave.”
I thought back to the days outside, when I used to scrape together mana residue to save on Magic Stone costs, and I nearly cried.
Here, simply breathing sent mana flooding into my lungs.
Of course, I still have to stay alive if I want to keep enjoying this honey pot.
Survival came first.
I had to prove my worth by succeeding in modifying the dress.
And for that, I needed a device that could control this absurd torrent of mana efficiently.
I took out the medium-grade Magic Stones Nen had brought me.
Half their mana still remained, glowing softly within them.
“Time to change what these are for.”
The usual method was to extract the mana stored inside a Magic Stone and use it directly.
But there was no need for that here.
Empty cores would be replenished by the circulation magic circle again.
What I needed from the Magic Stones wasn’t storage.
It was a different function altogether.
I’ll use them to build another magic circle.
[Ancient Mana Circuit Blueprint]
[3rd Tier Mana Amplification]
[3rd Tier Acceleration Formula]
.
.
.
The calculations were incredibly complex, but that was child’s play to me.
The key to the new magic circle was acceleration.
I’ll use the Magic Stones as accelerators, not fuel.
The mana replenished by the circulation circle would be funneled through the Magic Stones faster and with greater precision.
Before long, a new magic circle with a beautiful geometric pattern covered the floor.
[Acceleration Magic Circle]
The moment the core ran dry, the circulation circle would refill it with mana.
The acceleration circle would drastically reduce the delay in spellcasting.
Shall I begin?
The instant I fed in a small burst of mana as a catalyst—
Wuuung—!
The acceleration magic circle lit up in blue.
At the same time, part of the mana stored in the circulation circle was drawn into the Magic Stones.
Tsutsutsutsut!
The surging mana resonated with the mana inside the Magic Stones.
The light became even brighter.
Success.
Fwoooosh!
Purified, high-density mana wrapped around me.
Unlike the rough natural mana, the mana filtered through the magic circle seeped much more smoothly into my narrow core.
“With this... I can do anything.”
When mana was drained, the circulation circle refilled it, and with each cycle of emptying and refilling, my mana core grew a little more.
I can cast without limit.
With this much mana, I could launch a fairly large fireball.
But I can’t do that.
If I started hurling those around, this cave wouldn’t survive.
Noise was another problem.
If explosions leaked through the walls, the count would realize someone was using magic underground.
I can’t let the training ground I worked so hard to secure get exposed by my own hand.
The answer was obvious.
I needed magic that left no trace and made no sound, no matter how much power I poured into it.
And above all, magic that let me expend every last drop of mana without waste.
Mana Needle
I flicked my finger into the air.
Pop! Pop! Papapapap!
Dozens of mana needles burst forth from my fingertips in rapid succession.
Three or four used to be enough to make me dizzy, but now I could sustain dozens at once without the core even faltering.
Because the moment mana left my body, the circulation circle filled the core back up again.
It may be called 1st Tier, but this casting speed and stability are practically 3rd Tier level.
[Multi-Processing]
[Rapid Chanting]
[Mana Form Preservation]
All those high-level techniques had been condensed into a single household spell called Mana Needle.
“Faster... even faster.”
I spent the whole day shooting mana needles into the air.
My fingers moved so fast they were impossible to see.
One day, even without this tool, I’d reach 2nd Tier, maybe even higher, with my own power alone.
For now, I could only be grateful for this environment and train in silence.
“...Hans?”
How long had it been?
Nen’s voice drifted in from the cave entrance.
I stopped training, breathing hard, and turned my head.
Nen was standing outside the bars.
Her face was a little more flushed than usual.
“I took care of the thing you asked for.”
She handed a small pouch through the bars.
“Here’s the payment for the thousand handkerchiefs. Fifty gold coins.”
I took the pouch.
Fifty gold.
The solid weight of the coins.
The reward for my labor, and the capital for what came next.
“Thank you. But what about the dress materials? I asked you to buy them with this money.”
At my question, Nen pushed another bundle through the bars.
Inside were all the materials I’d written down.
Better quality, more expensive goods than I’d requested.
“What’s this?”
“It’s the count’s order. He said the materials needed for dressmaking should be supplied entirely by the family.”
Count Valderk.
Cold-blooded, but sharp when it came to calculation.
So he means to spare no expense for his daughter.
At the same time, it was pressure—if I failed, I’d die.
“And I told the Magic Tower branch that you wouldn’t be able to handle any more deliveries for a while because of personal circumstances.”
“Good.”
I answered calmly.
It would have looked suspicious to keep producing and selling goods while locked up in prison.
For now, I’d preserved my trust with the Magic Tower through that delivery of a thousand pieces.
The next deal would come after I got out alive.
“Hans.”
Nen called my name again.
Her eyes were more serious than I’d ever seen them.
“You know this is really your last chance, right?”
“......”
“The count is giving you extraordinary privileges right now. Supplying top-grade materials to a prisoner and letting him collect payment for deliveries... it’s unheard of. That just shows how much he’s expecting from this ball.”
Nen swallowed.
“If the result doesn’t live up to your bold claims... then neither I nor Lady Ellen will be able to protect you.”
Her words were full of worry.
“Don’t worry, Nen.”
I smiled.
It wasn’t bravado.
Everything was ready.
“They’re going to see a dress no one could have imagined.”
Seeing the unwavering certainty in my eyes, Nen finally let out a breath of relief.
“This is from Lady Ellen.”
She handed me one last garment bag.
When I opened it, a dress the color of the deep night sky lay inside.
“I’ve got it. Now go. We’re running out of time.”
“Don’t skip meals, okay? I’ll make sure they bring you plenty of food.”
Nen left, still looking worried.
Better hurry.
I spread the dress out over the worktable at once and examined it with Ultraprecise Vision.
It was made of excellent fabric, beautifully tailored.
And yet it’s ordinary.
As it stood, it would be buried by Duel’s flashy illusion magic and never see the light.
I’ll show them what real magic is.
The work began with threading silver that had been coated in mana solution through the mana needle, embedding microscopic strands of light into the surface of the fabric.
Each time the needle passed through the cloth, mana seeped in.
“...No. This still isn’t enough.”
It was certainly shining with a strange beauty.
But the fabric and the mana hadn’t fused completely; they were still sitting apart from each other.
The reason was obvious.
The limit of 1st Tier mana.
Even if I could cast at a speed and with a lack of delay that would make a 3rd Tier mage gape in disbelief, that didn’t change the fact that my essence was still only 1st Tier.
No matter how much you compress it, 1st Tier mana can’t completely fill the microscopic gaps in the fibers.
If I finished it like this, it would be only slightly better than an illusion spell, nowhere near enough to create an overwhelming difference.
If I had 2nd Tier mana, it would be different.
Thicker, denser mana could soak into the fabric and turn the cloth itself into a source of light.
But my mana core was still stuck at the cramped, puny level of 1st Tier.
“Haa...”
I had a perfect design in my head, but my body refused to keep up, and it was driving me mad.
Should I just compromise and settle for something decent?
No.
I shook my head.
This was a matter of life and death.
If I couldn’t crush that tailor Duel, Count Valderk would have no reason to keep me alive.
“Let’s do it. If I make it denser, maybe 1st Tier will be enough.”
Embedding it ten times in one place... no, a hundred times?
It was sheer lunacy.
That is, unless mana was practically overflowing.
And here, it was.
There’s mana everywhere. Then there’s no reason I can’t do this.
I pushed the magic circle to maximum output.
Wuuuuung—!
Mana surged into me like a waterfall.
[Mana Needle]
[Mana Needle]
[Mana Needle]
.
.
.
Compress. Tighten. Make it denser still.
Don’t stop. Keep going.
My mana core trembled.
My veins bulged as if they might burst.
Guh—!
The pain was monstrous, but I kept working.
Fill, compress.
Exhaust it, then fill it again.
Even now, I pursued the most extreme efficiency.
I wouldn’t allow even a single drop of mana to scatter into the air.
Every last ounce of this overflowing mana became Mana Needle.
[Mana Needle]
[Mana Needle]
[Mana Needle]
.
.
.
I lost track of time.
I lost track of myself.
All I could focus on was repeating the work in a kind of mechanical trance.
How long had passed like that?
Bang!
Something inside me exploded with a deafening roar.
Before I could even react—
Tssssss!
The flow of mana through my body became stronger than anything I had ever felt before.
My whole body felt refreshed.
A soaring wave of energy rushed through me.
Don’t tell me...
My vision sharpened all at once.
Mana Needles formed far too easily at my fingertips.
“......My mana core has been reconstructed.”
How had this happened?
Before even my confusion could settle, a shiver ran down my spine.
My obsession with making the dress perfect.
My desperate refusal to let even a single drop of mana escape!
That had smashed right through the wall of this worthless body.
[2nd Tier Unlocked]
Unbelievably, I had crossed the wall by a completely absurd route.