Archmage's Mansion and the Magic of Silence
"If you're done here, I'm off. Luna, don't forget to settle the material costs on time."
Garvan waved his rough hand and stood up from his seat.
Watching him go, Luna curled up on the sofa like a cat, merely wiggling her fingers.
"Yeeah~ Don't worryyy. The Estovan family's warehouse is way more stocked than your workshop. Safe travels, Garvan."
With the heavy iron door thudding shut, Garvan left the mansion.
Now, in the vast reception room, it was just me and the grand mage I'd barely signed a patronage contract with.
In the odd silence, Luna fixed her platinum eyes on me, sparkling as she stared right through.
"Hey, Cecilia. Mind if I just call you Ria?"
"Pardon? Oh... sure, call me whatever's comfortable."
"Riaaa~ Nice. Rolls right off the tongue. We've got tons of research ahead, so it'll take a while—why don't you just stay here in my mansion?"
She drawled on, sounding both languid and oddly excited.
"Plenty of empty rooms, so I'll hook you up with one. Oh, any stuff you need to grab? I'll send a golem to haul the whole lot over~."
Luna's offer was wildly generous, but my response fell flat.
"No, I'm good. Honestly, all I've got is this staff and guitar I'm holding right now."
No need to trek back, so I headed straight to the guest room Luna showed me.
The moment I stepped in, my jaw dropped.
The room was spotless—not a speck of dust—elegantly antique and ornate, just like you'd expect from a grand mage's place.
Remembering that mana broom sweeping the hall earlier, it all made sense. This near-obsessive cleanliness checked out.
I carefully leaned my staff in the corner and pulled a book from the shelf.
"Ugh... don't tell me these are all magic theory tomes?"
But before I could even read a word, exhaustion crashed over me.
...Not that I'm making excuses because I hate studying. Must be the tension finally letting up.
I flopped into the plush bed and sank straight into deep sleep.
The next morning.
I nearly screamed the second I opened my eyes.
"Yawwwn... mm... huh...? Eek! Luna?!"
Her face was right there, inches from mine.
She was perched on the edge of my bed, studying my half-awake face intently.
I jolted upright, yanking the blanket up, but Luna hopped off with a casual air.
"Good morning, Riaaa~."
"G-good m-morning to you too... no wait, what are you doing here???"
"Having golems or magic guide me to my own room every time is such a hassle, right? So I just came myself. Way faster~."
Luna plopped back on the bed's edge, grinning like my shock was nothing.
"Alright, shall we get to the main event~?"
This woman must have zero concept of privacy—it's gotta be dissolved into her mana or something.
I roughly fixed my messy hair and voiced the question that had bugged me since last night.
"Before that, mind if I ask something? About this room you showed me. It was so clean, not a speck of dust—I was shocked."
Luna shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Oh, thaaat? My mansion has a constant cleaning barrier running. It breaks down airborne dust with mana and vents it out. Golems or broom spells handle the occasional spots, but it's basically 24/7 auto~."
"Breaks down dust with mana?"
"Yup. Sweeping by hand is so inefficient, right? If you're a mage, live like one. Too clean for you~?"
"No, it's amazing. A grand mage's home really is on another level."
Whoa... does she have mana to burn? I thought back to my own attempt at a barrier around my tiny two-story house—nosebleed and blackout city—and stared in awe.
Luna seemed pleased, humming as she circled my bed.
"Curiosity satisfied? Now, real lessons time? Ria, got any directions you're pondering or wanna learn~?"
Her question wiped the absurdity from my mind. I recalled my old solo-study headache that ended in failure.
"Luna, is it possible to cancel sound using opposing waves?"
"Opposing waves?"
"Yeah. Sound has its own waveform, right? If you generate a wave that's the exact inverse at the same time, they collide and cancel each other out. The Sound Barrier I'm using now just physically traps or bounces sound—it's got limits."
It was the principle of active noise canceling from my past life.
Luna's eyes narrowed at my explanation.
She propped her chin, tracing bizarre waveforms in the air with her finger.
"Hmmm... Never thought of analyzing sound that way. So, like this?"
After some visual calculations, she conjured mana vibrating faintly at her fingertip.
Moments later, she cast a spell, draping a transparent barrier around me.
Her lips moved, but no sound reached my ears.
A near-perfect world of silence.
She dispelled it, and her voice broke the quiet.
"Hear me now?"
"Yes! Wow... you nailed it on the first try. True grand mage."
"Yeeah~ But tricky to sustain~. Gotta analyze the sound in real-time and generate counter-waves every time. Honestly, just slapping up a thick physical wall is easier and cheaper on mana~."
Luna shook her head—then froze mid-motion.
In that split second, her eyes lit up like an explorer spotting treasure.
"Wait... Ria. What if we apply this to magic instead of sound?"
She instantly summoned a physical shield spell in the air.
With her other hand, she fired a small fireball.
Bang!
The fireball splashed against the shield, scattering harmlessly.
Standard magic clash.
But this time, she layered the cancellation principle onto the shield.
The fireball evaporated like smoke just before impact.
No physical shock or heat lingered on the shield.
"No way...!"
Luna let out a low gasp of awe.
"Analyze the enemy's spell in real-time, collide it with an inverse mana wave... Minimal burden on the shield itself! Drawbacks like matching mana output and tough on complex spells, but this is revolutionary, Ria!"
She shook my shoulders like a kid, thrilled.
"How'd you even think of this? Straight from sound principles?"
"Well... I never meant to apply it to magic... ."
"Never seen a sound spell concept like this! Ria, you're a riot. Who knew sound had this much research potential!"
Luna's languid vibe was gone—her eyes blazed with a grand mage's pure curiosity.
"...Um, Luna? Weren't you gonna teach me magic just now?"
Suppressing my earlier fluster, I asked. Luna smacked her palm like she'd forgotten.
"Oh, righttt~. Got carried away talking with you~."
She stuck out her tongue sheepishly, then propped her chin in deep thought.
"Thing is, Ria... on sound? Theory-wise, you seem to know way more than me. That cancellation bit, and I dunno what else to teach~."
I shook my head calmly.
"Knowing theory doesn't mean I can turn it into magic. I get sound principles; you make them spells. Teach me how to manifest my ideas as magic."
Her eyes sparkled again.
"Right! Implementation's my specialty~. Cool, magic lesson ends here for today... Now the real deal? Our deal—your performance for me."
At her urging, I grabbed the guitar from beside the bed.
The familiar wood under my fingers calmed me.
I settled into the chair, tuning the strings into position.
Luna watched intently, murmuring in wonder.
"Never gets old. A plain instrument—no magic engravings, no amplifiers—boosts mana efficiency like crazy. Straight-up denies established magic theory~?"
Her face brimmed with anticipation as she leaned in.
I plucked the first string, launching into precise arpeggios. The air around Luna rippled.
"...Here goes."
Ting-a-ling──.
The clear guitar melody filled the quiet room.
As the performance deepened, geometric symbols and intricate magic circles flickered endlessly around Luna.
She observed every instant of the sound aligning her mana, relentlessly.
The melody resonated with her power; the mansion's air glowed softly, dancing.
The visible harmony of music and magic was breathtaking.