Chapter 237
Chapter 237
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 237
Chapter Title: Uninvited Guest (5)
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“Allowing an outsider into the treasure vault...”
“And?”
“...Nothing. I overstepped. There's no issue accompanying the Next Mage Tower Lord. Of course not.”
Resti dismissed the vault guardian with a single chilling glance before pressing her insignia against the treasure vault door.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Access confirmed.] The barrier reacted to Resti's insignia.
As the bluish barrier parted, a vast pathway opened up, leading to a massive library that filled their view.
The Central Archive of the Ashen Mage Tower.
That was its other name for the treasure vault.
Only the elders, who truly ruled the tower, and the Mage Tower Lord could enter this place, where the entire history of the Ashen Mage Tower was preserved.
The First Mage Tower Lord, Armiel.
The current Next Mage Tower Lord, Resti Eleanor.
The long chasm between those two names was documented without omission in this archive. Especially the classified documents that must never leak outside filled its shelves.
“This way.”
And in one corner of the archive.
“The research records of the former Next Mage Tower Lord, Raniel van Trias, are collected separately over here.”
A newly installed bookshelf, gleaming more smoothly than the others. The name inscribed there caught Lania's eye.
『Raniel van Trias』
Lania blinked blankly at the fact that her own research records occupied an entire corner of the treasure vault.
‘...But they're all unfinished, aren't they?’
Completed research might be one thing.
But why were her unfinished, abandoned studies taking up space here?
“I'll pull it out for you. You said Augmented Magimechanics Experiment? That should be on shelf seventeen...”
Resti climbed the ladder and came down holding a cube the size of a small box.
“Here it is. Want to check it up there?”
“Just a quick look. One moment.”
A cube compressing the research data.
As Lania unlocked the seal engraved on the cube, the documents she had written herself floated into the air.
‘As expected, it was just one step short.’
Just as she had anticipated.
Most of her ‘Ancient Magimechanics Research’ from her time in the tower had been halted without solving the core issues.
‘Just one piece was missing.’
The driving force at the heart of magimechanics.
Something that existed in ancient times but was lost to the modern era.
During her time as Next Mage Tower Lord, she had never found it. Thus, all that was recorded in these research materials were the forms of the magimechanics core she had theorized in her mind.
“......”
Recalling the core of ancient magimechanics she had disassembled and understood, Lania gazed at the form her past self had hypothesized.
‘I was really so close.’
The shapes were quite similar.
Similar, yet slightly different.
Not wrong, but different.
There, Lania realized a possibility leading in another direction. A new path seemed to take shape. Inspiration always struck suddenly, and she felt the need to bring it to reality right away.
“Resti.”
Lania gripped the cube tightly.
The spread documents gathered back into a single point.
“Can I borrow your lab for a bit?”
“...Pardon?”
“Just need to tweak one last part.”
Resti blinked before nodding promptly.
2.
The top floor of the Ashen Mage Tower, the Next Mage Tower Lord's lab.
Upon arriving, Lania shed her robe and dumped everything from her pockets onto the table. Resti's eyes widened at the cascade of magitech devices.
“...Huh?”
Devices utterly different in form from modern ones.
Magitech known to have been made in ancient times. Even more astonishing was their preservation.
‘Undamaged ancient magitech.’
Items priceless beyond measure.
And not just one or two—dozens poured out. Resti's pupils trembled.
“P-Professor Lania?”
“Yeah? What?”
“Wh-where on earth did you get these...?”
“A friend gave them to me.”
A friend gave them?
Literally just that, from a friend—but Resti broke into a cold sweat trying to grasp the implications. As Resti's gaze wavered, Lania picked up one of the spilled magitech devices.
Crack!
And yanked it apart.
“Eek!”
Resti yelped in alarm, but Lania tilted her head as if wondering what the fuss was about.
“You can just pull it apart like this. From disassembling them, I felt their durability is incredible. They were made to be assembled and used from the start.”
“I-Is that really okay?”
“Yeah. I've taken all these apart once before.”
With deft hands, Lania disassembled the magitech device and placed its core part on the table.
“This is the core of ancient magitech.”
Lania pulled another magitech device from her bosom.
This one wasn't ancient—it was made from modern components.
“Now, I'll engrave the circuits used in that core onto this one. But in a slightly different direction.”
“...Not transplanting it, but engraving it yourself?”
“Transplanting would make it work, but that defeats the purpose. That's not the Ashen Mage Tower's way.”
Lania set down the magitech device and continued.
“The Ashen Mage Tower values restoring ancient kingdom technology as its core principle. Not imitation—true restoration. Then making it our own through our technology.”
Lania pointed to the ancient magitech core.
“What forms the cores of ancient magitech is an ore now only mined in the Demon Realm. Hard to obtain easily, and even if you do, it's contaminated.”
Imitating it would be pointless.
Because it couldn't be mass-produced.
“So, we use something else.”
Muttering that, Lania disassembled the magitech device she had assembled herself. At its core was a common bluish magic stone available anywhere.
“Restore ancient technology using what's readily available and practical in modern times. That's the Ashen Mage Tower's direction.”
She smiled.
“Right?”
“...Yes, it is.”
Resti nodded.
“So, you're going to make that magic stone serve the same role as the ancient magitech core now?”
“Exactly. Have you ever researched magimechanics?”
She had. Extensively.
Resti's main fields were restoring ancient summoning circuits and crafting magic stone golems, both deeply tied to magimechanics.
Resti nodded, and Lania pointed to the magitech device as if that was perfect.
“Then, assist me?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You have good eyes. I'll do the engraving, but if the flow looks off or heads wrong... point it out from the side.”
Snap. Lania flicked her fingers.
Mana spread out, powering the lab devices. They whirred to life one by one.
Clunk.
She secured the blue magic stone in the device.
And beside it, fixed the ancient magimechanics core.
“Beginning now.”
She rolled up her sleeves and gripped the engraving awl.
Magimechanics demands extreme precision. Even tiny errors can lead to massive malfunctions, requiring utmost care...
Tick, tiktiktick.
But Lania's hands moved without hesitation.
She dotted and drew lines fluidly. This was no novice work. Resti swallowed dryly, narrowing her eyes.
Platinum rings of light appeared in her eyes.
The Watcher vision read the engravings on the blue magic stone precisely. And Resti realized.
‘It's a bit different.’
Not mere copying.
There was a clear difference between the engravings on the ancient core and what Lania was now carving into the blue magic stone. Yet, it wasn't wrong.
Not a mistaken path.
She was adapting the circuits to fit the modern magimechanics framework, altered from ancient times.
That fact astonished Resti.
‘...An impossibly difficult task.’
If normal spell circuits are planar work, magimechanics circuits demand ‘three-dimensional’ precision.
Even the simplest cubic magitech device proves it.
Where faces meet, circuits form 3D junctions. Engraving on surfaces is tough enough, let alone the central core... the difficulty was indescribable.
‘And yet.’
She was engraving while applying modifications.
On the spot.
A near-divine feat.
Resti's magimechanics knowledge paled compared to Lania's, but Watcher granted her the same vision.
“...Ah.”
The view it provided was breathtaking.
Amid waves of awe, Resti didn't forget Lania's request.
“Line 7, point 5.”
Coordinates marked by the experimental device on the magitech.
Resti voiced the error point.
“The circuit you engraved there doesn't connect properly to this line.”
She pointed to a face of the disassembled magitech. A tiny error, but one that would amplify massively upon assembly and activation.
“Hm, you're right.”
Lania removed the fixed magic stone.
Secured a new blue one, and resumed work.
......Magimechanics work takes so long because errors are hard to spot pre-assembly, and engraving itself can't be rushed.
You don't know where issues arise or what to re-engrave. Re-engraving demands enormous time.
Thus, magimechanics research is finicky.
It devours long stretches of time.
“Line 8, point 6.”
“Got it.”
“Line 4, point 3.”
“Fixed. This should connect now, right?”
“Yes, and line 3, point 5 too...”
But Lania and Resti were different.
Lania drew circuits fluidly, quickly catching up to prior progress. Errors during engraving were instantly flagged by Resti.
Time shortened dramatically.
Their work flowed without hitch.
They'd arrived midday, but Lania's hands stopped deep into the night. She caught her breath briefly and set down the engraving awl.
“Looks complete?”
“Yes, no errors apparent.”
Resti blinked her fatigued eyes a few times.
Lania placed the bluish-glowing magic stone at the center and reassembled the magitech device.
Whirr.
The magitech activated.
The circuits engraved on the magic stone reacted simultaneously with all faces' circuits, circulating mana smoothly. Perfect, without flaw.
“No issues.”
Without using the ancient magitech core.
Using only readily available modern materials, she had restored ancient technology. A feat worthy of legend.
For some inexplicable pride, Resti stared wide-eyed at the magitech despite her tired eyes.
She hadn't engraved it herself, but she'd helped. That fact delighted her.
Unknown to her, this was joint research with the ashen mage she'd sometimes envied, sometimes admired. The magitech crafted by the previous and current Next Mage Tower Lords emitted a soft blue glow.
“Good work, Resti.”
Lania lifted the magitech device.
“We'll present this under joint authorship at the Mana Studies Conference.”
“Pardon? I just caught errors...”
“You caught errors and advised. Without you, not sure if I'd have finished in a month.”
She smiled, lightly tapping Resti's forehead with her knuckles.
“Thanks. You helped a lot.”
With that, Lania began tidying the scattered magitech on the table. Resti touched her forehead where Lania's hand had brushed, then smiled faintly.
“I'll help clean up too, Professor.”
3.
As routine days repeated, the Night of the Mages drew mere days away. Aphria Academy scheduled a week-long short break to align with the festival.
Partly because some professors had to attend the Mana Studies Conference, and Archchancellor Aaron deemed observing the Night of the Mages beneficial for students.
“That's all for today's class.”
Was that why?
The students seemed a bit excited.
“Professor Lania! Where are you planning to visit during the Night of the Mages?”
As class ended, a few students climbed the podium to ask. On places to visit then, I pondered briefly before answering.
“Probably nowhere else. I'll be quite busy.”
“Busy? Oh, are you participating in the Ashen Mage Tower's exhibition...”
“I'm not affiliated, so no. I'd like to see it, but I have somewhere else I must attend.”
Somewhere she must attend.
Not just the podium students, but those seated turned to me too. Under their curious gazes, I reluctantly explained.
“I'm participating in the Mana Studies Conference.”
“...Pardon? The Mana Studies Conference?”
As questions poured, I answered vaguely while calling two seated students.
“Aila, Chloe.”
I addressed them.
“After next class, please come to the Mana Trading Studies professor's office.”
Aila had become independent from the stars.
Chloe had built a foundation and reached the level for regular classes.
‘Now's the right time.’
Time to get those two properly on track. After the Night of the Mages, but best to notify early.
“Then...”
With announcements done, as I moved to leave the classroom.
Rattle, slam!
The classroom door burst open roughly.
Not by me, nor another student. Beyond stood a man I'd never seen at Aphria.
Bluish hair.
And vertically slit golden pupils.
My eyes widened.
Disguised, perhaps, but I couldn't miss those pupils. As I tried to take in the name of the man before me.
“Oh. Finally, we meet.”
The man who uttered a short exclamation bowed.
Then took my hand, lifting it to kiss the back.
My mind blanked for a moment.
Gooseflesh prickled my skin as the man, slightly raising his head, whispered in an utterly loathsome voice.
“To the beautiful lady...”
Wow.
“What the fuck is this...”
My mind flashed with a very polite ‘Have you lost your mind?’, but flustered, the unfiltered words slipped out.
“Are you insane?”
I crushed the man's instep.
Regretting my slippers instead of boots.
“Argh!”
Thwack!
The man yelped and buckled at the knee.
Knowing it was all theatrics, I turned to the fidgeting Archchancellor Aaron behind him.
“What is this guy? Archchancellor?”
I knew who.
But needed to play ignorant.
“H-Huh?!”
As the Archchancellor's face paled, I glared at the man sprawled at my feet.
The being mages revered as a god.
The primordial mage who first contracted a star, living fully through tens of thousands of years.
‘Yormun van Dragonic.’
The mage called the Elder Dragon's Sorcerer.
“Indeed, a spicy lady as rumored...”
Even fallen, he spouted nonsense. My mind reeled, and the respect I'd held for this mage evaporated instantly.
‘Senile lizard bastard.’
Indeed.
The great sage was right.
Author's Note (Afterword)
The graduate student assisting the professor's research.
The professor crediting her name on the paper.
The delighted graduate student.
Tomorrow, I'll snag new academy material. Wonder which professor and quirky villains await me this year. Actually, I don't want to know...
*Packed it generously :D