Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Thorough Meritocracy: Lua Polaris (5)
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A barren mountain range located outside the capital.
On a ridge lined only with jagged rocks stood a mage from the Blue Tower, her face tense.
—Rising star, Lua Polaris.
The mage, who had gained fame across the Empire through the recent Magic Tool Expo, was now pondering a large box before her.
It had been just one month since she unveiled the hit magic tool that shook the capital, 'Polaris No. 1', and this was her first outing.
"It has to succeed on the first try..."
The metal box before her was roughly the same size as Lua herself, at a glance.
Her face, fixed on the magic tool, was filled with tension.
And rightly so—the device before her was made from a high-grade magic stone.
High-grade magic stones weren't just expensive; acquiring one took considerable time.
Lua was now preparing an experiment that could very well destroy such a precious item.
"N-No way... it won't fail like back then, right?"
Her hand, reaching toward the magic tool, began to tremble slightly.
The project she was undertaking under the leadership of Johan, head of the Celestia Secret Society.
This device played a crucial role in the plan to place key locations across the continent under the society's surveillance.
A magic tool equipped with semi-permanent levitation magic to gaze down at the ground from high in the sky.
It housed advanced mana storage spellwork.
Its performance far surpassed the 'Polaris No. 1' circulating in the capital.
If it needed a name, 'Polaris No. 0' would fit.
It was only natural to worry about ruining such a masterpiece with a foolish mistake.
"......"
Memories from her apprentice mage days flashed through Lua's mind.
The time she failed to control the flight path precisely and never found the frog used in the experiment again.
Her master insisted the frog had burst at launch, but Lua had denied it outright back then.
Please, let no such disaster happen this time—
With that small wish in her heart, Lua Polaris moved her hand.
Click—.
Her fingers, which had been gazing at 'Polaris No. 0', began manipulating the observation magic tool in her hand.
"Johan... even if it fails, please don't pile on more work."
- "What do you take me for?"
After the familiar voice flowed from the brooch on her chest.
Her serious eyes glared at the metal box.
A translucent screen appeared in Lua's view as she operated the magic tool, displaying detailed data on 'Polaris No. 0'.
Whiiiiiir—.
The propulsion hum burst from the base of the massive magic tool.
A fierce blast of hot wind spread around the metal box.
For a few seconds, a ferocious roar echoed as it pushed itself away from the ground.
Boom—!
Soon, a shockwave swept the earth, and the metal box before Lua shot into the sky.
'Phew, it didn't explode!'
Seeing 'Polaris No. 0' maintain its shape and begin floating, Lua clenched her fists in relief.
She didn't believe her master's claim that the frog had exploded, but what if?
The risk of a major issue before flight even began was now completely gone.
"I'm tracking the magic tool's flight path. It should reach the target point in about two minutes."
- "......"
"Is the feed displaying normally?"
- "Far better than with Polaris No. 1. With the expanded scale of sustainable magic, the transmittable data has increased as well—"
Impressions of 'Polaris No. 0' began flowing straight from Johan's mouth.
Both the quantity and quality of information had clearly improved over before.
Even the Archmage of the library was satisfied with this new 'eye'.
Beep-beep—.
Meanwhile, 'Polaris No. 0' continued ascending.
A sound confirmed that its signal was being captured normally.
"It looks like it's almost at the target location. No issues with the flight trajectory either."
- "......"
"......Johan?"
No reply came.
Lua, who had been waiting for one, called out to the Archmage in the library.
Hmm—.
For a moment, the Archmage who heard her let out a contemplative hum.
- "Gazing out at the world like this isn't a bad feeling."
"......Ah."
From the mouth of a certain mage trapped in a vast library came his impression of beholding a piece of the world.
A highly emotional voice reached Lua's ears.
An exceedingly rare, awkward sight.
From the lips of a mage observing the ground came a deeply human tone.
- "So the continent you live on... looks like this."
Hearing the wistful voice, Lua's eyes dropped to her brooch.
Johan liked it.
He was thoroughly enjoying the view she had gifted him, that gruff Archmage.
The Archmage's eyes were on her.
They were gazing down at the world she inhabited.
In the midst of that scenery, an inexplicable emotion spread in her chest.
- "It's... a strangely wondrous feeling."
Had she ever seen Johan this pleased while frequenting Celestia for so long?
Even rummaging through familiar memories, nothing came up.
The mage named Johan, confined to the library of illusions, was taking in every landscape she beheld into his heart.
All that reflected in those eyes, as if they were unreachable dreams—
He was beholding small vistas and assigning them value.
"......"
To her, they weren't anything special.
Places she could visit if she wanted, touch if she reached out, capture in her eyes by turning her head.
Things she faced every day were, to him, unattained dreams.
Everything Lua enjoyed was, to that one mage, a lingering attachment he couldn't discard.
- "Lua Polaris."
The sole unspoken wish cherished by the great Archmage.
It was an utterly trivial dream.
One even an immature mage like Lua Polaris had held as a natural right from birth—
He treasured that ordinary thing like a gem.
A small treasure he yearned for so desperately that he would trade the library's treasures and magic tomes for it.
Who truly possessed the valuable treasure?
A small question bloomed in Lua's heart.
"......Johan."
The girl in the witch's hat lifted her head.
Her lips held a hint of pathos.
With a bittersweet expression, Lua looked to the sky.
As her small lips parted to say something to Johan—
"The magic tool has been shot down."
The sudden report from Johan turned Lua's voice to shock in an instant.
"Whaaat...?!"
A bewildered shout burst from Lua's lips at the incomprehensible situation.
Polaris No. 0.
Her prized creation had been shot down, as reported by Johan.
Johan's first eye, gazing upon the ground, had burst at the very start.
"N-No, who the hell would do such a thing...!"
Too flustered, Lua began stumbling over her words.
To her, Johan delivered an even greater shock.
- "The mana pattern is similar to Sirius's test flight. Safe to assume it's the same culprit as before."
"That can't be..."
- "Mobile Fortress Laplashia—"
Lord Corios Baklaier—
The master of the mobile fortress rumored to shoot down every flying object entering his domain.
Lua's face stiffened upon hearing the familiar name.
- "Looks like the mage you called one of the Seven Corners has intervened again. We'll need to deal with that side first before deploying more tools."
It seemed their past grudge hadn't ended yet.
* * * * * *
Inside the mobile fortress floating in the heavens.
Within the massive aerial citadel stood a middle-aged magic puppet clutching a piece of paper.
One of the Seven Corners, the Castle Lord—Corios Baklaier.
The master who had ruled this legendary fortress soaring through the skies for over a century.
His gaze was fixed on the cold stone chair before him.
"......"
Screeech—.
Bound to the chair by thorny vines was a woman with pointed ears.
Black hair that had been pointed at and shunned by her kin as cursed.
Deep-set eyelids concealing eyes black as night, closed in slumber.
A red curse mark etched on the back of her slender hand.
To Corios, the elf exiled from the Great Forest after turning her back on the World Tree long ago was a familiar sight.
"Has it already been over a century since she left the ground?"
Gazing at the deeply sleeping elf, Corios voiced a familiar sentiment through the magic puppet's mouth.
Long ago, there was an elf who left the World Tree's embrace and dabbled in human magic.
A mage abandoned by her own kind.
A long-lived being who inspired fear even in humans.
The vicious curse branded on the child of the forest for defiling the World Tree turned even her eternal fate into something ephemeral.
"A long time indeed."
It was a stroke of fortune that ancient tomes had fallen into such an elf's hands.
Great laws that had existed since before the world's birth.
By chance, records of one such law had come into her possession.
—The Aerial Floating Citadel.
A fortress of legend said forbidden to mortals.
From the moment she learned of its existence, her life became a 'false' pursuit of that great law.
"......"
Everything was an imitation of the legend.
The name, the form, the place, even that body—
A long puppet show of nothing but lies.
Through that journey, the mage persisted in foolish rituals to become real.
- "Warning—."
- "Warning—."
"......"
The mobile fortress's cycle had to continue endlessly.
So that all she imitated could be reborn not as fakes, but as truth.
So the curse mark on her hand could no longer find her.
The middle-aged magic puppet, Corios Baklaier, had repeated this puppet show from atop the mobile fortress for over a century.
Swish—.
In this play of unknown end, Corios faced yet another obstacle threatening the fortress today.
- "Warning—."
- "An unidentified flying object of unknown origin has intruded into Laplashia's territory."
Mobile Fortress Laplashia.
As long as he resided atop the grand citadel, Corios had only one role.
The lord ruling the citadel in the heavens.
Yesterday, today, tomorrow—he had to remain the Castle Lord.
"—[Magic Corridor] activate."
Whiiiiiir—!
From the hands of a mage who had lived for centuries, magic at the pinnacle of mastery began to take form.
Spellcasting from a mage who had transcended limits, requiring no external medium.
All threats to his domain had to be excluded.
Flash—!
Dense mana light flickered in the magic puppet's eyes.
- "Projected hit probability: 99%......"
A savage gleam flashed.
Beneath that spectacle, the paper bearing the Dark Ghost Lafaria's request fluttered away.
Flutter—.
Beyond the drifting paper, the black-haired elf bowed her head.
"......"
The exile, Acherunar.
Even today, she dreamed of salvation.