Chapter 72
Chapter 72
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Thorough Meritocracy: Lua Polaris (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Although many members of the Celestia Secret Society were unaware of it, there was one thing you absolutely should not do in the library.
An absolute taboo that was never tolerated.
Yet, in the Fantasy Repository Celestia, it happened every single day as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
That was eating food while reading books.
"Hmm, hm..."
*Crunch, crunch.*
The sound of someone tearing into a skewer with gusto echoed through the library.
I quietly looked down at Priella, a member of the Secret Society on the floor below.
She must have finally grown accustomed to coexisting with spirits by now.
Priella alternated bites of skewer with the spirit, her eyes gleaming with profound interest as she pored over a magic tome.
*Caw, caw...!*
"You wouldn't understand even if you read it, Blackie."
*Caw?*
"I don't get it either."
A spirit that couldn't read the letters.
And a crow of a human who could read the letters but not comprehend the content.
This absurd duo of intellectuals was persisting with their incomprehensible reading session.
*Rustle, rustle.*
The pages of the magic tome—whose contents they couldn't grasp even if they read it—flipped rapidly under their hands.
Priella's eyes burned with an inexplicable fervor as she stared at the tome.
"Convolution... matrix... what the hell is this?"
Priella took a bite of the skewer in her left hand while reading.
*Nom nom.*
Even as she read, she busily devoured her skewer.
Seeing her eat, the crow spirit watching her opened its beak.
*Caw?*
"Alright, here."
*Swish.*
Priella naturally extended the skewer to the crow.
The crow spirit tilted its head and plucked the meat off the skewer.
*Nom nom.*
*Chomp chomp chomp.*
Were they reading a book or having a meal?
Their bizarre reading session—of indeterminate nature—continued unabated.
From the second floor of the library, where I had been reading, I let out a hollow chuckle and quietly closed the book in my hands.
"..."
*Thud.*
The cover of the magic tome bore a familiar title.
—Tyrant Dragon.
The autonomous combat support spell I had created for Feria Alperatz.
Among the library's collection, it was the one that had undergone "degeneration" at the fastest rate.
'It's already fully degenerated. Better to store it in the Third Repository for a while.'
I decided to change the storage location of that "Tyrant Dragon" to the Third Repository starting today.
The degeneration of the tome Feria had checked out had already filled an entire book.
The contents of "Tyrant Dragon" had completely transformed.
Not a single line of the incantation I had designed remained in that tome.
So, I planned to move it to the Third Repository, where special magic tomes were kept even within Celestia.
'It's already beyond anything I can touch.'
*Whoosh.*
I tossed the tome—which retained none of its original form except the title—and a white sparrow spirit swiftly flew in to catch it.
"Put it in the Third Repository."
*Chirp chirp chirp chirp.*
I issued the command to the spirit clutching the tome.
The sparrow spirit had adapted well to life in Celestia over a considerable period.
It could handle a command like this with ease.
*Whoosh.*
As if proving my expectation correct, the sparrow spirit immediately flew off toward the upper levels, tome in tow.
'I should go check on Lua's condition soon.'
Right after confirming the spirit heading to the Third Repository.
I set off to check on Lua, whose magic tool presentation was drawing near.
*Step, step.*
My footsteps echoed on the library stairs.
Down below, Priella and the crow spirit's reading session continued unabated.
"Blackie, who eats two at once?"
*Caw, hack, hack, hack—!*
"You ate them because you're a crow? That's nonsense."
From what I could overhear, the crow spirit had apparently snatched two skewers at once.
How it understood that story was a mystery.
I passed by the two intellectuals exchanging their baffling conversation and headed deeper into the first floor of the library.
The lowest level of the Fantasy Repository Celestia.
In one corner of the repository lined with countless bookshelves, the sound of someone's pen scratching busily continued, ignoring the commotion.
"..."
*Scratch, scratch.*
The pen sound ceaselessly crossed over the pristine white paper.
Naturally, the one filling the densely packed papers on the desk was Lua Polaris, the Secret Society's first member.
"This isn't it. And this isn't either."
"...She still hasn't finished it, I see."
"If I write it like this, they'll definitely ask me questions..."
Wearing her witch hat low, Lua scribbled frantically on the papers, dark circles under her eyes.
The new product Lua Polaris was set to unveil in a few days.
Separate from the paper for fellow mages, she was densely filling content to distribute to outsiders.
Watching her, I picked up one of the papers on the desk.
"Even if questions come, you can just answer them properly, right?"
Having read the paper in my hand, I spoke to Lua, who seemed terrified of potential questions.
A simple and straightforward solution.
Lua replied with a face full of fear.
"N-No... I can't answer every question like you, Sir Johan...!"
A truly fitting statement from the tin-can Archmage.
*Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.*
Even now, she didn't stop her pen as she directed her lack of confidence toward me.
"If I mess up even once, everyone will surely criticize me. Then my colleagues at the Mage Tower will laugh at me too..."
"Hmm."
"They'll think, 'How did a kid like that make something like this? Did she steal it from somewhere?'!"
"All of that's true. Nothing wrong there."
"It's more painful when it's the truth..."
Lua's form, vigorously wielding her pen and asserting herself, began to wilt.
Had the overwhelming pressure finally worn her down?
*Huuuuh.*
Lua let out a deep sigh and weakly lifted her pen.
"The image of a genius isn't built overnight."
"..."
I quietly watched her for a moment.
*Swish, stroke.*
I reached out over her witch hat and patted Lua's head atop it.
My own way of comforting her after all the hardship she'd endured for me.
Lua looked up at me as her slightly askew witch hat shifted.
"S-Sir Johan...?"
Lua today seemed to need a little help.
Her somewhat dazed eyes gazed at me.
With her before me, I quietly raised my right hand.
"You've been working hard lately, so today, I'll lend a hand."
"Huh? You'll help me?"
"Sometimes, there are moments when magic is what's needed."
Magic is a miracle.
And miracles always exist for those who need them.
Thus, I—
Decided to unveil a special spell tonight for someone.
"So, behold magic."
*Snap.*
I snapped my fingers while looking down at Lua.
A heavy sound reverberated through the library.
Immediately after, radiant light burst forth, and butterflies poured out in all directions.
"Ah—."
*Shiiiine!*
A short gasp escaped Lua's lips.
A feast of countless butterflies aglow with vibrant colors.
A fragment of the dazzling stage from some magic show I'd once seen was now recreating itself at my fingertips.
A captivating flow that seized the eyes.
Elegant wingbeats infused with a dreamlike atmosphere.
A beautiful dreamscape manifested as illusion, filling the white-haired girl's vision.
"Woooow...!"
A massive exclamation followed the short gasp.
The voice of one entranced by the mesmerizing light rang out.
However, just as in that past magic show, the truly important work had to happen out of sight.
*Scratch, scratch.*
Beyond the butterflies capturing her gaze, pens had secretly appeared and were moving, as if by magic.
"You even have magic like this...!"
"..."
Beyond her exclamation brimming with pure wonder.
For the innocent assistant I'd tormented daily, I continued my special consideration.
The brilliant spectacle filling her view—
Once the momentary mirage faded entirely, she would finally notice the miracle that had come to her.
* * * * * *
Mobile Fortress Laplacia.
The aerial bastion regarded by ground-dwellers as a castle from legend.
The king of dolls who commanded such a fortress sat upon his throne today as well, lost in solitude.
One of the continent-shaking Seven Corners—
Lord of the Castle, Corios Baklayer.
The weighty doll was reading the bundle of papers in his hand.
"..."
No one stood around the monarch who controlled Laplacia's core.
As if such solitude were only natural for the lord of dolls.
The sacred ritual spanning over a century continued.
The Mobile Fortress's cycle to crown a true king persisted to this day.
Yet as these times slowly accumulated, a faint doubt arose in Castle Lord Corios's mind.
When the fortress's cycle finally ended someday—
Would he still be immersed in solitude then?
The doubt born of isolation was gradually becoming a poison gnawing at Corios's mind.
"Quite intriguing."
*Flutter.*
A deep voice flowed from the doll's lips as he gazed at the densely lettered paper.
Even for a being granted eons of time, mental wear was nearly inevitable.
Thus, Corios periodically received ground intelligence in document form.
Events unfolding in the Empire.
Rumors spreading among the people.
Papers published by Mage Tower wizards.
He soothed his solitude through such materials.
The bundle of papers Corios received this time was part of that routine.
"Near-perfect obsession woven in. To think she'd devise a method more efficient than the incantations I used."
The paper Corios was reading now had been presented at the academy relatively recently.
The genius mage of the Blue Tower shaking the Empire.
—Rookie, Lua Polaris.
It was her paper on long-distance communication magic.
*Hmmm.*
Corios, lost in thought, closely scanned the paper's contents.
His eyes gleamed with pure admiration.
"A human mage created this? Is this truly an achievement possible at that age?"
The contents of Lua Polaris's paper.
Even to Corios, it brimmed with highly ideal elements.
Meticulously and beautifully refined incantations, as if nothing could surpass perfection in this field—
In a way, it felt like beholding a work of art.
"It's like some Archmage with centuries under their belt, obsessively scribbling out of habit. Hard to believe this is talent permitted to a human."
*Flutter, flutter.*
Corios's hand, turning page after page, now held the paper's final sheet.
His gaze upon it held a touch of regret.
The castle lord's modest diversion had ended.
*Tsk.*
The doll lightly clicked his tongue and began organizing the paper in his hand.
"Lua Polaris, eh... I'll have to keep an eye on her from now on."
A genius mage of the human race.
Corios smiled, recalling the intriguing name.
It seemed he had a new diversion to alleviate his boredom for a while.
-----------------------------------------------------------------