Horizon (2)

Wiz swept her gaze over the wand from end to end, flagging each problematic section one by one.

And she didn't stop there — she went on to present the exact cause of each flaw, along with a proposed fix.

The wand's 'errors' just kept coming, without pause.

It had this many problems?

It was such a disaster that just looking at it drained my confidence.

It would have been hard to find a single part that wasn't a problem.

At a glance, I couldn't spot anything obviously wrong with it….

That's why I'd assumed it would take ages to raise this wand to a usable level.

But with Wiz around, it might actually get finished faster than I expected.

"How on earth did you…!"

I turned to Ji Yeon-ha, who was still racking her brain beside me.

"Yeon-ha."

"…What is it?"

"I found some areas of this wand that need work."

Technically, it was 'Wiz' who found them, not me.

The moment I claimed them as mine, she might just lose it like everyone else in the Magic Tower.

After all, Wiz is practically the philosopher's stone to modern mages.

No matter how binding the contract, there was no telling whether she could hold herself together once she learned of Wiz's existence — and the truth behind it.

For now, I'd keep it hidden for as long as hiding it was possible.

"Areas that need work?"

"Yes. Fix just those, and I think it'll function properly."

"Well… it's certainly not functioning normally right now."

Ji Yeon-ha's eyebrows twitched, her pride visibly denting.

"So how many of these so-called areas are we talking? One? Two, perhaps?"

"No."

"…Then surely no more than three?"

Her voice had cooled a touch.

But I paid it no mind and recited Wiz's findings exactly as they'd been laid out.

"One hundred and thirty-two."

132.

A number that soared far past anything she'd imagined.

Ji Yeon-ha's face hardened in an instant.

"Tae-hyun? I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."

"I know. That's why I'm not joking."

"You call this not joking? You're telling me it has 132 flaws? Not one or two, but a hundred and thirty-two?"

A smile that resembled a scoff escaped her lips.

"Tae-hyun. This is Ji Yeon-ha you're talking to."

"I'm aware."

"It seems you've forgotten, what with spending so much time with me lately, but my talent is world-class, you know?"

"I'm well aware of that too."

Setting aside World Ranker–class mages, it was genuinely difficult to find a mage who surpassed Ji Yeon-ha.

Why was she suddenly reciting facts we both knew?

"Magical artifacts that I designed! Personally! No matter what you say, there's no way it could have that many flaws!"

Ji Yeon-ha drew herself up and declared it with full confidence.

Wow….

Her self-esteem truly pierced the heavens.

At this point it went beyond self-love and crossed into obsession.

The conviction that she could never possibly make a mistake was rooted deep in her bones.

"You're working with a technique you've never handled before, Yeon-ha. Mistakes are only natural."

"Which is exactly why I already conceded that it might have a flaw or two."

"……."

So that was her idea of an admission. One or two.

Truly an exhausting degree of self-regard.

"Then let's do this instead."

I picked up the wand and walked over to Gong Gi-hyun.

"I point out an error, and Gi-hyun fixes it. And if the number of fixes reaches 132, you grant me one wish. If it doesn't, I'll grant you one instead."

"Puhuhut! Did you think that would frighten me?"

Ji Yeon-ha accepted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the bet with perfect composure.

"Very well. But you'll really grant anything?"

"Is there something you want?"

"Hmm, well, there is one thing of yours I've had my eye on."

A faint, sly smile crept across her face.

And then she spoke as if whispering a secret.

"Ah Seo-ah. I want to take that girl as my disciple."

Ji Yeon-ha hadn't given up on Ah Seo-ah yet.

I'd half expected this, so it didn't come as much of a surprise.

I'd heard from Ah Seo-ah herself that Ji Yeon-ha had offered to take her on.

Ji Yeon-ha is every bit as greedy for talent as I am, after all.

All the more so while she still hadn't found a successor to lead the Korean Magic Tower in her stead.

"I'm afraid that one's a tall order. She's firmly resolved to stay with her guild."

"I'm not asking you to drag her out by force. But you could at least put ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in a good word, couldn't you? That girl seems to look up to you even more than you'd think."

…Ah Seo-ah does?

No matter how I turned it over, that didn't seem right.

"Heh heh. Now I'm looking forward to it."

"Goodness, anyone watching would think you'd already won."

"Isn't it as good as won? 132 flaws. What an absurd number."

Ji Yeon-ha closed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her eyes as if there were nothing left to discuss and let out a tuneless hum.

I grinned to myself.

Following Wiz's instructions, I began walking Gong Gi-hyun through the process.

"Let's start with this section first. Follow along carefully."

"Understood!"

Gong Gi-hyun carried out my instructions without a word of complaint.

Perhaps thanks to his years in the manufacturing field, he executed nearly everything I told him to near perfection, despite it being his first time.

"This part needs the entire circuit stripped out and redesigned from scratch."

"Ooh…! That's a fascinating approach. You'd certainly need a more lightweight structure to regulate the mana supplied to the engraving."

Gong Gi-hyun let out admiration after admiration as the work progressed.

"Where on earth did you study all of this? You know more than most research team members!"

"Ah… d-do I?"

That earnest praise pricked at my conscience, again and again.

And so the work went on. Thirty minutes, then an hour…

"Hmm…?"

Errors corrected.

1… 13… 39… 61…

"That circuit's interfering with the engraving. Clean it up, or reroute it."

"Like… like this? Yes, that should do it."

"Nice, Gi-hyun. You're a quick study."

"Um, e-excuse me…"

74… 82…

"No, wait, this can't be real… there's no way it's actually 132…"

95… 103…

"A hundred?!"

111… 124…

"Stop, please…."

With every error we corrected, I could see the wand's value climbing before my eyes.

The mana flow that had felt strangely clogged now ran as smooth and refreshing as stream water in summer — the air around it had turned crisp and cool.

And at last—

"That's the final touch!"

With the correction of the 132nd error.

All the work was complete.

"Hahh."

I sucked in a sharp breath as I read the rising messages.

The grade had leapt clear from E to B.

In blunt terms, it had been upgraded from a steel pipe I wouldn't even accept as a gift, to the kind of equipment mages would fight tooth and nail to get their hands on.

Even so, the gap is absurd.

Was every piece of equipment designed and built with Magic Crafting at this level?

The moment the question formed, Wiz answered it.

So the design was B-grade.

But the crafting was such a disaster that it had been dragged all the way down to E?

…Staggering.

That she had designed a B-grade wand in mere days — and then fumbled the crafting so badly it became scrap metal.

"N-no, no, that can't be…!"

Ji Yeon-ha groaned as she stared at the finished wand.

As a test, I channeled mana into it.

Fwoosh!

A pleasantly moderate wind gusted to life.

Unlike before, not only could I control the output, but the mana carried on the wind was far cleaner as well.

Apparently the grade hadn't gone up for show.

"Here you are."

I handed the fully inspected wand over to Ji Yeon-ha.

"The number of repairs — exactly 132. Correct?"

"Y-yes! That's correct!"

Gong Gi-hyun, who had performed the repairs himself, nodded.

Ji Yeon-ha stared at the wand and me in turn, her face gone blank with disbelief.

"H-how did you…?"

"Ah-ah. Contract."

"Even so, this makes no sense! I'll accept that I made 132 mistakes — fine!"

Which is not, in fact, something to just accept and move past.

"But how could you spot every single one on the spot?! Even I couldn't do that!"

"Well, I have my ways."

Namely, a very capable friend named Wiz.

Thanks to Wiz, a task that should have taken days was wrapped up in a matter of hours.

And on top of that—

"Hmm… so this section connects like this…."

Gong Gi-hyun had racked up a considerable amount of experience as well.

This whole exercise had essentially been his 'answer key of mistakes.'

Studying the problems you got wrong is more efficient than reading through a perfect answer sheet.

Repairing each error and flaw with his own hands must have widened his horizons considerably.

Within the manufacturing industry, he could fairly be called World Ranker–class already.

Anyway, that's settled.

I turned my head and looked down at Ji Yeon-ha.

"Ahahaha. I win. How tragic for you — whatever shall you do."

And so I claimed my wish ticket, granted by the highest-caliber mage alive, master of the Korean Magic Tower, and a stunning beauty besides.

"Ngh…!"

"Wow. Doesn't this count as something incredibly valuable? Some people raise all manner of hell just to exchange a few seconds of words with you, Yeon-ha."

What would this be worth in cold cash?

Probably a figure that would make me blurt out the word 'hundreds of millions.'

Not that I had any intention of selling it.

"As a matter of fact, I've already decided what I'm asking for."

"N-not this time too, some creepy pervert's request…!"

Ji Yeon-ha shuffled backward, trembling.

She muttered under her breath, 'I haven't even bathed in days…' — which, frankly, made it worse.

"What are you even saying."

Why does she keep trying to paint me as a lecher?

I coughed pointlessly to clear the air.

"What I want is tutoring."

"Tutoring? For whom?"

"Who do you think?"

Right now, there was exactly one person in the world worthy of receiving her instruction.

"You're going to become Ah Seo-ah's teacher."

To fully master the SS-rank skill I'd newly acquired.

Ji Yeon-ha's tutelage would be an enormous help.

With the matter wrapped up for now.

Ji Yeon-ha and Gong Gi-hyun moved on to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the next stage — correcting and crafting other magical artifacts, using the Wand of the Gentle Breeze as their textbook.

Their progress was faster than I'd expected.

To think I'd get to watch 'Magic Flame' and the 'Magic King' collaborating.

Ever since my regression, I seemed to keep witnessing sights that felt strange in all sorts of ways.

As I watched the scene unfold for a long while, a single thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Wiz."

[Yes! Did you call?]

"Would it be possible to design a magical artifact with Magic Creation?"

It was something I'd been mulling over while watching the circuits during the wand's repairs.

Magic Creation was a technique that computed and conjured brand-new spells on the spot.

So then — couldn't it be used, by a similar principle, to generate 'blueprints for magical artifacts' as well?

[Answering…]

Wiz paused for a moment as if thinking it over.

Then she gave me exactly the answer I'd been hoping for.

[It's possible!]

"…Is that so?"

[There would naturally be a number of limitations, but in theory, 'magic formulas' and 'artifact blueprints' share a great deal in common.]

[Apply the principles of Magic Creation, and it should be more than feasible.]

[Take my word for it — I, Wiz, guarantee it!]

The instant I heard Wiz's answer, one thing surfaced in my memory.

The transcendent war machine I'd encountered on the Field of Magic only days ago.

The thing that had destroyed Moss — and even threatened my own life.

Deus Ex Machina.

In a way… wasn't that thing a magical artifact too?