The Wall of the Sea
In the research lab of Elena, located at the Wall of the Sea—one of the world’s three great magical anomalies—the blue glow burst forth brilliantly from one of the research tables. From an ancient ritual formula intertwined with countless geometric patterns, a radiant azure light emanated. Just how had they managed to construct a formula of this complexity? Elena rested her chin on her hand, sinking deep into thought.
Manifestation speed. Manifestation power. Spatial dominance. All three metrics used to gauge a formula’s strength were overwhelmingly superior. The ancients had employed rituals several times more intricate and powerful than anything known today.
“They built such an incredible civilization… so why did it fall to ruin?”
The only remnant left in legend was the fallen Black Empire. Despite possessing such overwhelming technological prowess, it had become nothing more than the ‘Wasteland’—a place now teeming solely with monsters. What exactly had happened in the past?
“Perhaps…”
The answer might lie within the ‘ancient formulas’ scattered across the land. Each of those formulas contained ‘characters’ with specific functions. When combined, they formed messages. If those messages could be deciphered, perhaps the truth behind their downfall would be revealed.
And the moment that truth was uncovered, she might finally be freed from the vague anxiety that had always tormented her. The eerie dread that this world might one day be destroyed.
“Looks like I’m going to be busy.”
Thus, Elena began drafting plans to discover even more ancient formulas. The first step of that plan was to explore a ‘magical anomaly.’ After all, her recent research had proven that ancient formulas were connected to these magical singularities.
“Hmm. Should I put together a team…?”
However, researching a magical anomaly was by no means easy. Only three had ever been officially discovered. Entering them was difficult, and escaping was even harder. It had become such a universal rule among trained explorers that the phrase ‘always avoid magical anomalies’ was practically law.
The only reason any survivors had managed to escape and spread word of their existence was pure coincidence stacked upon miraculous luck.
“…Still, it’s not impossible.”
Fortunately, Elena possessed immense authority. She had the Empire’s princess backing her, after all. There was also suitable justification. Hadn’t she recently proven that Emerald Mana Stones occurred naturally within magical anomalies? Thanks to that discovery, relations with the Dwarf Allied Kingdom had improved as well.
If she submitted a proposal about mining profitable resources like Emerald Mana Stones, the Empire would surely provide support. Especially if she could persuade the Emperor—who had shown fierce determination to conquer the Wasteland—that exploring these anomalies would greatly aid that cause. He would undoubtedly mobilize every available resource to back her.
“Sephilia.”
Elena called out to the princess, who was currently rolling around lazily on the sofa. At once, the princess’s previously dry eyes sparkled, and her ears perked up.
“Want to go on a thrilling adventure with your big sister?”
Adventure?
Sephilia shot upright. Any new source of entertainment thrown into her boredom-filled life was more than welcome.
“Yes! Anywhere with you, Sister! When are we going? Where are we planning to go?”
The princess scampered over and clung tightly to Elena’s side. Elena chuckled softly and stroked her hair. Then she glanced over the world map spread across the table, tapped a specific spot with her finger, and said,
“Here.”
“…….”
Sephilia followed Elena’s finger with her gaze. But unlike her earlier excited expression, the princess’s face gradually stiffened. The place Elena had pointed to was none other than…
“This is…”
“Yes. One of the world’s three great magical anomalies. The Wall of the Sea.”
The Wall of the Sea. As the name suggested, it meant a massive wall stood upon the ocean. A colossal wave, rising two hundred meters high, stood frozen in place at the center of the sea.
“You’re not seriously planning to go inside the wall, are you?”
“I am.”
Merely looking at it was enough to overwhelm one with awe and terror. Sephilia suddenly recalled the stories an old woman had told her as a child.
After passing through the treacherous Magenta Strait, where the world’s most violent waves raged, and reaching its center, the waves would suddenly calm and the water depth would rapidly grow shallow. Sailing across the tranquil surface for several days, a massive mountain would eventually appear through the hazy mist. But in truth, it was an enormous wave touching the sky. And that was the Wall of the Sea, encircling the palace where the sea god resided. A divine realm no human could enter.
She remembered that fairy-tale-like tale.
“Sounds fun!”
Yet Sephilia’s heart was pounding. Born with the ‘curse of the Evil Eye,’ the princess had always craved new and thrilling experiences. In this dull world, nothing was more interesting than one of the three great magical anomalies.
“I just need to push this forward, right?”
She understood immediately. The princess already knew what Elena wanted. She wanted Sephilia to take the lead. After all, no one but someone of the princess’s stature could realistically plan something this insane.
“Yes. Can you do that for me?”
At Elena’s question, Sephilia smiled sweetly. To Elena, that face seemed to say, ‘What will you give me if I do this?’
Elena sighed and said,
“I’ll grant you one wish. Anything you want.”
The princess had earned herself a favor token. Since she already had something in mind, the corners of her lips curled up in a slightly wicked way. She had a feeling that fun things were about to increase dramatically.
Monday, second period. ‘The Origin and History of Formulas.’ The lecture hall was noisier than usual. The cause was a mysterious woman.
A beauty with voluminous green curly hair and golden eyes. She drew every gaze naturally as she walked into the classroom with perfectly natural steps.
—Whoa. Who’s that?
—Was there someone like that in this class?
—She’s insanely pretty.
Her beauty rivaled even that of Enya or Isabella. The students began speculating about the identity of this sudden beautiful woman.
Seeing her head straight toward where Ed sat, they wondered if she was the young lady of some high-ranking marquis or count family asking him on a date. After all, scenes of girls asking Ed out had become a common sight lately.
“Charlotte, you look really stunning today.”
But the moment the name ‘Charlotte’ left Ed’s mouth, every student in the hall had to doubt their ears.
That pathetic girl who always radiated a gloomy aura near Ed had shown up looking like this?
“R-really? Um… th-that’s a relief… It felt awkward… so I… worried a little…”
But her stuttering speech was unmistakably Charlotte’s. The way she politely clasped her hands and fidgeted, the way she couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes properly—those were all classic Charlotte traits everyone knew.
—Wow, maybe I should try hitting on her?
—If she looked like that, I would’ve been nice to her from the start.
—She was an unscratched lottery ticket.
Once it was confirmed that the mysterious woman was indeed Charlotte, all sorts of comments flew around. The male students licked their lips at the still-timid girl, while some of the female students began tearing her sudden beauty down.
“Whoa—holy shit? I thought she was a total dark history, but she’s actually edible?”
And among them was Charlotte’s first love. The aristocratic bastard whose bullying had caused her social anxiety in the first place.
He was the eldest son of Count Kratz. He had been holding a grudge against Charlotte ever since she declared their friendship over as children. A daughter from a failing house—and an ugly one at that—had dumped him first, turning him into a laughingstock among his friends for a while.
—Kkhhkhkhk! You said you could eat her and toss her whenever you wanted? What happened~?
—Cardmos, that bastard is finished. Getting dumped by a girl like that.
The very next day after he had bragged that she was already his, she had dumped him. Cardmos still clearly remembered the humiliation of that day.
So the moment he saw the still-timid Charlotte, he wanted to torment her somehow. To make sure she could never act out again.
—E-Ed…! Please take care of me!
But beside Charlotte stood the supernova known as Edga Fix. On top of that, the duke’s daughters seemed to be showing interest in him as well. Cardmos had no choice but to wait for his chance. Until Charlotte fell out of Ed’s group or was abandoned.
“Looks like I won’t need to wait anymore?”
But seeing Charlotte’s transformed appearance today changed his mind. With beauty of that caliber, making her his concubine didn’t seem like a bad idea. Since she was still the daughter of a failing family, her household would probably welcome it if he took her in. After all, House Kratz was one of the wealthiest families in the southern Empire.
‘There’s just one thing bothering me…’
The only sticking point was the reason she had rejected him six years ago. He had thought she was already his, so why had she suddenly dumped him? The mood had been good, and she had clearly shown strong signs that she liked him.
‘…Whatever. Who cares.’
No answer would come from thinking about it. She was a girl he had already sweet-talked once. There was no reason he couldn’t do it again. If he praised her beauty like before and built up favor, it would be easier than eating cold porridge. She might even welcome her old almost-boyfriend with open arms.
“…Um, I have something I want to give you.”
But in that instant, Charlotte’s aura changed. The moment she handed Ed the notebook she had cherished so dearly, she looked so confident that one might mistake her for someone else entirely.
[Wishing your records to be filled with success]
Ed smiled deeply as he read the note Charlotte had slipped him. He had heard from Fix that Charlotte had secretly looked at his record journal. He still wondered why she had only looked at it and left, but seeing her like this—confident and even bringing a gift—it seemed she had realized something on her own.
“I’ll use it well. It smells nice.”
Ed accepted the journal with a bright smile. Charlotte nodded with a sunny expression, while Isabella wore a tense look. She had suddenly remembered the doll she had given him.
‘W-why…!’
And Enya was flustered. Ed looked even happier than when he had received the limited-edition Baldohjae bromide. Maybe because he had a scholarly side, he preferred gifts that helped with research? She had thought he would like the Baldohjae bromide more, since it symbolized an unyielding heart!
—Flash!
At that moment, the professor in charge of ‘The Origin and History of Formulas’—Elena—entered the room. Using her personal spell, ‘Formula of Spatial Movement.’ She always appeared in her classes this way. A blue mist would suddenly form above the lectern, the space would tear open, and Elena would step out. It was a truly grand mage-like entrance.
“Ugh. Kids, I’m not late, am I?”
However, there were aspects that ruined the grand mage image. Messy hair and hollow eyes. She had been absorbed in research until just now, taken a short nap, and rushed over.
“Hwaaaam. Study the preview material for the next thirty minutes. The teaching assistant will hand out today’s materials.”
With those words, she vanished again using the Formula of Spatial Movement. Then she reappeared with a bewildered-looking teaching assistant. Judging by his expression, she had clearly kidnapped him with the spell.
“Assistant. Explain it to the students like we discussed last time~ See you later.”
—Flash!
Elena dumped the task on the assistant and disappeared in an instant. The stunned teaching assistant let out a long sigh, then shook the handouts in his hand and said,
“You heard her, right? I’ll distribute the materials, so one person from each row in the front, come up.”
When Elena reappeared, she looked neat and tidy. She had caught up on a bit of sleep and used a cleaning spell to freshen up. As rumored, her class was of excellent quality. She explained the information she had painstakingly researched about ancient formulas in a way the students could easily understand.
“As you can see, the formulas of the Black Empire—also known as ancient formulas—far surpass modern ones. Manifestation speed, manifestation power, spatial dominance. All three core elements exceed those of existing formulas.”
As she spoke, Elena drew images in the air. She performed the incredibly difficult spell ‘Virtual Space Implementation’ as casually as a child doodling.
“Here. This is an ancient formula, and this is a modern one. The difference is obvious, right?”
She drew images of both formulas in the air like holograms for the students to see. Thanks to her intuitive teaching style, the students quickly grasped the difference between the two.
“Alright, let’s look at the next formula.”
Elena continued the lesson. She introduced the ancient formulas she had discovered and broke down their operating principles one by one, explaining them in an easy-to-understand manner.
And toward the end of class—
“Recently, I discovered one astonishing fact.”
She finally revealed the highlight of the lecture: a new discovery regarding ancient formulas. Namely, that they were connected to magical anomalies.
“…And so, I’m currently recruiting personnel for an expedition. Of course, since you’re still just students, direct participation in the exploration would be difficult, but you will be able to observe from nearby.”
In other words, she was forming an exploration team to uncover the secrets of ancient formulas, and she would specially select twenty academy students to accompany them as observers. After all, there was no better way to nurture successors than to let them witness every process with their own eyes.
“A magical anomaly…!”
The students’ reactions were explosive. Some grew excited purely by the intellectual stimulation of Elena’s words, while others were thrilled at the thought of achieving the tremendous feat of ‘exploring a magical anomaly.’
“I can tell from your faces. But think carefully. This is an expedition where a single mistake could cost you your life.”
Nevertheless, Elena emphasized just how dangerous this would be. She detailed how many people had gone missing after entering magical anomalies, and how the monsters that appeared around them were all high-risk threats, instilling a proper sense of caution.
Once the excited atmosphere had calmed, Elena looked around at the tense students and made her offer again.
“Even so, if you still wish to participate, raise your hand. Who wants to join the expedition?”
Despite Elena’s stern warning, most of the students shot their hands up. Of course, Ed was among them, along with many students who followed his lead.
“…Hmm. With this many applicants, we’ll have to hold a selection competition after all.”
Eighty percent of the lecture hall had expressed interest. To choose only twenty, they would have to compete based on skill.
Thus, Elena announced the schedule for the selection rounds.
“You’ll need your guardian’s consent, so bring the consent form. Only students who submit the form will participate in the first and second rounds. The first round will be in one week. The second round will be two weeks after that, so prepare well.”
With those words, Elena opened the floor for questions. A few students asked about the rules of the selection competition, and Elena answered with a single concise word: ‘Unlimited.’ In other words, they were to use every means at their disposal to prove their ability.
“Then I’ll see you in one week.”
—Whoosh!
Elena vanished once more in a swirl of blue mist. Ed stared at the now-empty lectern, lost in deep thought.
It was because the sudden event called ‘Magical Anomaly Exploration’ had occurred. In all his previous playthroughs, this had never happened even once. He had never managed to uncover the secret of the Emerald Mana Stone, nor had he discovered the connection between magical anomalies and ancient formulas.
‘The future is changing.’
Another world line was being created. The story was branching off into a path different from the one he had walked before. Was this truly for the best?
‘I just have to make it the best.’
There was no need to overthink it. As always, he simply had to do his best with whatever was given to him. With that, Ed lifted himself from his chair and began conceptualizing a new function.
Specifically, a ‘submersible function’ for the suit.