Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Tower of Wisdom: Lua Polaris (3)
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The office located at the very top floor of the Magic Tower.
In the vast room heavy with tension, Lua Polaris gazed at the middle-aged mage seated before her.
Markio, the vice tower lord of the Blue Tower.
He was one of the renowned mages whose academic achievements had made his name known across the entire empire.
And now, that very Markio was staring at Lua with a sharp gaze.
It felt as though he were searching for some qualification within her, a formal mage.
“Lua Polaris.”
Swish-.
Markio’s intense scrutiny of Lua lasted only a moment.
Soon, the dignified mage who had been sitting with his legs crossed straightened his posture and addressed her.
“What do you think about magic?”
“Yes……?”
The question that slipped from Markio’s lips.
Lua faltered at the overly abstract query, and Markio pressed her further with an oddly peculiar glint in his eyes.
“If you’re a mage, surely you have some ultimate goal you’re aiming for?”
“Yes.”
“Then, what do you believe is the endpoint of magic?”
Lua’s thoughts plunged deeper into confusion with Markio’s follow-up.
That was hardly surprising, as she didn’t pursue magical research with any particular grand ambition.
For her, the sole goal was something as simple as living well and eating well.
If pressed for something more grandiose, it might have been having the world’s dessert artisans at her feet.
For such a Lua, being asked about the endpoint of magic left her with little to say.
“The endpoint of magic……?”
“Indeed, the pinnacle of magic as you envision it.”
Yet Markio continued to demand an answer from her.
Hmm-.
As Lua pondered the abstract question, a familiar scene from her dreams suddenly flashed through her mind.
The hazy image of a library.
Unable to find a proper response, Lua simply voiced the image that had surfaced.
“A library……?”
“…….”
“If there’s a place worthy of being called the endpoint of magic, wouldn’t it take the form of a library where all magics are gathered?”
The destination of magic that emerged from Lua’s lips.
It was none other than the library from her dreams.
When vaguely asked about her image of magic, only one thing dominated her mind.
—Phantasmal Archive Celestia.
With Lua recalling the familiar library scene before him, Markio smiled as if intrigued.
“A library, you say… You’re the first to give that answer to this question.”
Was he satisfied with her response?
The vice tower lord, Markio, nodded with an expression of genuine impression.
“But even so, it’s an answer befitting a Magic Tower mage.”
“By any chance… what did other mages say?”
Lua asked Markio about the responses from other mages.
“Most speak of things like flames engulfing the vast skies or lightning laying waste to the earth.”
They were all intense, destructive magics without exception.
Hearing the answers, Lua subtly shifted her gaze to the corner.
For some reason, they all seemed like magics she had heard of at least once in Celestia.
With Lua before him, Markio continued his explanation.
“That was a fine answer. Perhaps yours is closest to the truth.”
“I-is that so?”
“If the endpoint is the pinnacle of endlessly accumulated knowledge, then naturally it must be a space that encompasses all that knowledge.”
Markio smiled warmly and tilted his staff.
The hefty staff settled on his shoulder.
His voice carried equal weight as he spoke.
“The reason I asked about your goals is simple. Ascending to the upper echelons of the Magic Tower means sharing your goals and dreams with the Tower.”
“……Goals and dreams.”
“And it also means you’ll come to know the secrets hidden within the Magic Tower.”
Swish-.
As he said this, Markio’s gaze drifted past Lua’s shoulder.
The massive bookshelf had shifted, revealing a hidden chamber.
He was looking at the Blue Tower’s forbidden archive that Lua had exposed.
“Much like the forbidden archive behind you right now.”
Flinch-.
Hearing Markio’s words, Lua’s body involuntarily shrank back.
It felt as though she were about to receive some reprimand.
As if to press her further, Markio smiled gently and asked,
“In that sense, how much do you know?”
“……Yes?”
“I mean, how much have you uncovered about the secrets of the forbidden archive behind you.”
Markio’s lips curved in a kindly smile, but his eyes remained as sharp as ever.
Lua judged this to be a test laid before her.
She believed her response here would determine Markio’s evaluation of her.
‘No need to lie here.’
Thus, she resolved to tell Markio the truth.
What she had seen beyond the forbidden archive, and what she had learned.
“I didn’t see much due to lack of time. I only deciphered the text on the stone tablet.”
“The text on the stone tablet… So you have considerable expertise in ancient script as well.”
“It just happened that I studied a bit…….”
His dark, deep eyes fixed on Lua.
The vice tower lord’s gaze still pierced into her as if peering through.
Swish, stroke-.
Markio, who had been caressing the hand gripping his staff, soon bowed his head and spoke to her.
“That’s enough. I’ll trust you.”
“……Yes?”
“I’ve confirmed well enough that you’re not lying.”
With those words concluded.
Sss-.
Markio’s eyes suddenly changed.
The sharp gaze that had been scrutinizing Lua vanished, replaced by the weary face of a researcher.
‘Magic? He’s been using magic since before entering the office?’
Lua’s mind grew complicated upon realizing the nature of the test.
And with her before him, Markio spoke in a low voice.
“—Praise the holy starlight that delivered the first mystery to the foolish advisor, Ornea.”
Solemn words flowed from the vice tower lord, Markio.
It was a phrase familiar to Lua’s ears.
For it was the inscription she had just encountered on the stone tablet.
“Lua Polaris. Do you know where human magic originated?”
Having recited the tablet’s inscription, Markio posed the question to her with a relaxed expression.
Of course, it wasn’t a question requiring an answer.
He continued his tale faster than she could respond.
“It is said that human magic began from a single book.”
“……A single book?”
“The primordial knowledge. The miracle’s law. The mystery of non-humans. The interpreted truth.”
“…….”
“Scholars call it by varying names, but those of the Magic Tower believe magic’s roots stem from it.”
What poured from Markio’s lips was an ancient tale.
A story from an era far before Lua Polaris was born, from a distant past whose veracity was unknown.
The tale of when the first mage, Ornea, dealt in mysteries and discoursed on miracles.
The foolish advisor, Ornea-.
Markio had brought her up.
“It was the lamp of knowledge received by the first mage, Ornea, from an unnamed wisdom.”
“…….”
“All records from that time are lost, but humanity built the foundation of magic from that one book’s knowledge.”
The lineage of magic humanity had accumulated thus far originated from a mere single book-.
That was vice tower lord Markio’s assertion.
As Lua’s wide eyes fixed on Markio’s face.
He explained the meaning of the Magic Tower, even to her.
“The Magic Tower is the beacon and milestone that has ceaselessly advanced magic begun from that one book.”
“A milestone of magic…….”
“It is the answer to whether our history, built from fragments of knowledge, can reach somewhere in those skies.”
How much time had passed.
How long a journey had been traversed.
Surely, an unimaginable expanse of time for Lua.
And the vice tower lord of the Magic Tower, who had endured countless ages, raised a finger with eyes full of arrogance.
“In other words, the tower piled high to reach the great wisdom.”
A tower built to attain wisdom not of humans.
Thus, the Magic Tower—.
That was vice tower lord Markio’s explanation.
“The secrets we’ll share with you henceforth are also piled alongside that knowledge.”
“……Y-yes.”
As if he had no more questions for her, he leaned his neck on his staff and nodded.
“I guarantee you’ll become an excellent mage.”
“…….”
“You possess such talent. Thus, all the Magic Tower’s secrets must become yours as well.”
The vice tower lord regarded Lua with eyes brimming with clear anticipation.
“Well, it may take some time, but you’ll undoubtedly reach the position of next tower lord.”
“T-that’s too much praise…….”
“Unlike your reckless actions, you have a humble side as well. So, let me offer you one piece of advice.”
A lengthy praise.
Followed by a brief moment of counsel.
His face turned serious, smile fading, as he warned her.
“Don’t delve too deeply into matters concerning the tower lord.”
The warning from the vice tower lord’s lips.
It concerned the absent Blue Tower lord.
“Your talent matters little before him.”
“…….”
“Secrets should be given only to those qualified to bear their power.”
He wished for Lua to know all the Magic Tower’s secrets, yet hoped she remain ignorant of this one alone.
Blue Tower lord, Abior.
His true nature was the sole secret the vice tower lord denied.
“Otherwise, you’ll end up dragged by secrets your whole life, like me.”
“Vice tower lord, that story…….”
Lua tried to ask the vice tower lord something.
She had many questions she wanted to pose.
However, as if sensing her intent, Markio quietly shook his staff and addressed her.
“It’s been a pleasant time. Now, you should head back.”
The dismissal came from the vice tower lord’s lips.
A declaration that he would entertain no further responses.
Swish-.
Hearing the vice tower lord’s dismissal, Lua’s hand gently caressed the brim of her witch’s hat.
Lua Polaris’s first audience had concluded.
Now it was time to leave.
* * * * * *
The vast library—Phantasmal Archive Celestia was a space brimming with countless mysteries.
Even I, who had resided here for so long, could not fully grasp all of Celestia’s secrets.
Where it was located.
Or for what purpose it existed.
Countless unsolved mysteries breathed within Celestia.
“…….”
And as numerous as the secrets hidden in this library were the secrets concealed about myself.
The snow-white landscape.
The snow-white girl I encountered within it.
The brief moments spent conversing with her—that was one such secret.
“An endlessly repeating series of dreams-.”
My voice, lost in thought, echoed through the silent library.
Even I, who dominated Celestia, did not fully know the secrets of this grand library.
The same went for tales of myself.
But the girl in my dreams seemed to know far more than I did.
And to hide far more.
Otherwise, she couldn’t have shared so many stories.
—“No matter how many times you return here, you keep striving to recreate the same magics once more.”
At one point, she had told me.
That the countless magics I had created long ago were returning to the library where I now resided.
That the many tomes in Phantasmal Archive Celestia had vanished entirely at some point.
Whether her words were entirely true, I couldn’t say.
Nor if a self unknown to me truly existed.
Yet even so, I didn’t wish to deny her tale.
“Only a great mage can create great magic, she said.”
Was the past me a great mage?
A superior mage to the current me?
Undoubtedly so.
Otherwise, I couldn’t have reached magics beyond my grasp.
“…….”
My gaze, steeped in contemplation, lifted to the library’s skies.
The cycling sun and moon still illuminated the scenery of this closed world today.
Trapped in this grand library for hundreds of years, I had continuously created countless magics.
I confronted many secrets.
And many magics.
I sought to uncover Celestia’s hidden secrets and venture beyond the library.
“Perhaps even longer ago than I thought, someone resembling me lingered here.”
But inevitably, some doubts remained unresolved.
Magic-.
The magic I had learned.
The traditional magical system I had long employed.
Thus, the singular foundation underlying the countless magics here—that was the doubt.
“But the existence of that book… no matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.”
Until the members of the secret society, starting with Lua Polaris, began arriving here, every magic in Phantasmal Archive Celestia had been authored by me.
Yet even so, one tome remained untouched by my hand.
“Who on earth penned that?”
The single book that had existed from the day I first arrived at this grand library.
The book that served as the foundation for an ignorant boy to build his magical knowledge.
A tale of one tome that had existed even before truly facing Phantasmal Archive Celestia—back when I played [Celestia Maker].
The book given by default upon starting the game-.
Not quite a grimoire, but a book inscribed with magical theories— in other words, the ‘Tutorial Guidebook.’
“…….”
Magic has roots.
My magic has its foundational tale.
A book that breaks down magical procedures into the minimal units interpretable by humans.
A tome I did not write existed here.
“She said the magics I created are returning.”
The girl in my dreams said the magics I made were coming back.
That would mean those magics had once been lost from the library in some fashion.
Yet one tome had remained from the very beginning.
It wasn’t even a grimoire, merely a collection of trivial fragments that didn’t amount to proper magic.
“There’s no explaining it unless that book returned to Celestia first.”
Then, the first tome in Phantasmal Archive Celestia—the lone ‘Tutorial Guidebook’—who created it?
A self unknown to me?
The girl from my dreams whom I met?
Or perhaps it had existed alongside this library from the start.
“…….”
Magic has roots.
And I have roots as well.
Tracing those lost roots might be the task given to the current me.
* * * * * *
A certain antiquarian bookstore in the capital’s bustling district.
A haven for empire intellectuals famed for ink scents and nameless mages squeezing every coin to visit.
In one corner of such a bookstore, a mage in antique attire was presently reading an old tome.
Rustle, rustle-.
Amid the heavy silence, the sound of turning pages quietly echoed.
As the man examined the aged book, footsteps of young nobles in fine garb approached his side.
“Mark. Have you heard the rumor?”
Step, step-.
The noble youths’ polished shoes rang clearly through the bookstore’s aisles.
As if bearing some delightful news.
The footsteps reaching the man’s ears carried an oddly excited tone.
Whisper, whisper-.
Muffled murmurs quietly spread around.
However, the young nobles’ whispers were regrettably ineffective.
One of them loudly proclaimed the content.
“Polaris No. 2 is coming out? Is that true?”
“Shh, quiet down. Your voice is too loud.”
“Oh, was I too loud? Sorry about that.”
Polaris No. 2.
From the noble youths’ lips came talk of the magic artifact stirring buzz in the capital.
“Rumor has it the Blue Tower will unveil it soon. And that famed genius mage, Lua Polaris, will handle it personally.”
“If that’s true, we have to go!”
The mage listening to the nobles turned a quiet gaze toward them.
Their words had piqued his interest.
Swish-.
As a light glance peered over the old book at them, the noble youths continued their chatter.
“But to attend, you need an invitation.”
“An invitation? I haven’t heard of one arriving for our house.”
“Luckily, I got one. Seems one companion can enter with it.”
“Hmm…….”
“Hey, what are you slipping into my pocket? I was going to bring you anyway.”
An event hosted by a genius mage.
News of a new magic artifact.
The mage eavesdropping on the nobles closed his worn book.
The old tome he’d been reading moments ago no longer held his interest.
He had gleaned unexpected information from their conversation.
“…….”
A broad smile bloomed on the mage’s lips as he raised his head.
Though presently inhabiting a shabby mage’s body, the true identity of this bookstore visitor was no trifling matter.
A black mage belonging to the Veil of Truth, bearer of one of the Five Candles: the Soul Plunderer.
The Red Candle—Parasite, Permian.
That was the mage’s true nature.
‘A young mage ignorant of the world. This one won’t be difficult either.’
The mage’s gaze, book closed, turned to the deserted aisle.
A genius mage who had seized success young, yet sorely lacking in experience.
To a black mage, there was no more enticing prey.
Whish-.
Permian’s eyes gleamed.
It seemed he had found his next vessel to inhabit.