Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Modern Magic Lecture (5)
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Thanks to Yuseong's advice taking effect, starting the next day, Luxy stopped her foolish habit of brute-forcing everything with her body.
Instead, she spent her days shuttling back and forth to the study, scribbling formulas and magic circles as she dove headfirst into her own research.
"Hmm~."
"What?"
"Nothing. I just figured you'd leave me to rot or whatever."
"...Isn't your repertoire getting stale?"
That line alone had come up six times today.
Including from that damn pushover goddess. When he shot her a look that said enough already with the nagging, Mirni grinned like a mischievous kid.
"I was just really surprised, that's all. Even the goddess didn't think you'd care about Luxy."
"...If you're gonna keep harping on that, get out."
"Don't get mad. I have other questions too."
"...?"
"Nothing major. Just like five things I'm curious about."
"Make it two."
"...Can't it be three?"
"......"
"Tch...."
Her fake pout was seriously annoying, but Mirni was sharp. Before Yuseong could snap again, she quickly fired off her question.
"First question. Unless I'm imagining it, there seem to be a few magic circles down in the basement, right? And not just those—recently, I've noticed some drawn in this building too. Did Luke do that?"
"That doesn't even count as one question?"
"C'mon, that should count as one...."
"...To answer your first one: scout girl, you only just noticed?"
"I-It's not like I wasn't busy or anything...."
Mirni flinched and made excuses.
Luxy could be forgiven for not noticing without any mana herself, but the fact that a scout like her hadn't picked up on magic circles inside the building? That stung.
Yuseong smirked at her rolling eyes, then took pity and answered.
"Simple ether concentration magic circles. Just something I doodled from what I learned back in the day. Low-grade stuff."
"Ah! So that's why so much ether was concentrated there!"
One mystery solved.
No matter how much ether was soaked into the underground, it shouldn't have been brimming so vividly.
If underground spaces alone could fill up like that, Earth would be crawling with mages.
Satisfied, Mirni linked it to her second question.
"Then... are there any other mana users in this world besides Luke?"
"......"
This was what Mirni was most curious about.
If ether existed, it wouldn't be strange for people to sense it.
Which meant there might be mages or knights here too....
"None."
"...Huh?"
"None. I won't say 100% for sure, but as far as I know, no."
"......"
A guess...?
No, it was delivered with total conviction.
Mirni was mildly shocked at that.
They'd spent less than five years together, but he was the most cautious guy she knew when it came to answers.
Yuseong added more under her heavy gaze.
"There are a few reasons, but... I've checked this world's people mana circuits before."
Mana circuits.
To define it simply: the pathways mana flows through in the body. Basic circuits present in humans, plants, animals—everything.
But those mana circuits...
"Were closed off from birth."
"What...?"
"I used to babysit part-time back in the day. Checked 'em then... The circuits themselves were sealed shut—no, sealed doesn't even cover it. They were fossilized, degenerated."
"......"
"Some professor on TV said organisms naturally atrophy organs they don't use. This world probably forgot mana even existed ages ago. They don't even realize their own circuits are degenerating."
"R-Right...."
"Even if someone had intact circuits, folks who don't know ether exists have slim odds of sensing it."
"Says here."
"......Heh."
No clue where that precise probability came from, but if Aram calculated it, it was reliable.
Supercomputer or whatever—her computational power outstripped even Luxy's by a mile.
"R-Right...."
"Why the interest?"
"If people like that exist, maybe we could learn mana usage easier than now...."
"...Yeah?"
"...Yeah."
Truth be told, Mirni was confident she could pick up mana basics with some tricks.
Pain was the issue, but...
I can tough that out.
But what if an Earth mana user attacked them? Could they fend it off?
...Fifty-fifty.
Live or die.
You always had to assume the worst in any scenario—that was the future for you.
Mirni never wanted to lose her "home" again to some stupid mistake like before.
"Huh? Then how the hell does Luke accumulate ether?"
Common sense said you couldn't even store it without mana circuits.
So how had Yuseong overcome the impossible?
"Me? Special circumstances. I got a transplant from someone else."
"Ah...."
"Didn't know?"
"N-No, it's just...."
Mirni fidgeted, realizing her slip.
A mana circuit transplant?
That meant...
The donor died....
Mana circuits vanished upon death.
They could only be transplanted with the living donor's consent—and the donor died the instant it happened. Common knowledge.
For the first time, Mirni glimpsed the darkness of the man called "Thunder Slaughterer."
I... had no idea....
About two years since meeting him in the Hero Party.
She knew he'd lived harsh years those two years.
Especially that "half-year" of [forced departure] from the party, full of ordeals.
But they'd only heard bits and pieces about what happened then—and never even bothered committing it to memory.
Guilt welled up in Mirni.
We really... don't even deserve the word comrades....
Maybe all his cursing and hitting every time they met were just light grumbling, she thought.
Something awkward hung in the air midway, but Yuseong didn't sense anything off.
Just figured she was lost in dumb thoughts again.
"Luke, got something I want you to look at."
"Again...?"
"Again."
"......"
Every time she found a clue, Luxy shoved some magic theory paper or mana accumulation thesis at him, messing with his eyes.
She'd just learned typing and computers, and now she was cranking out PPTs like a corporate drone...!
She's scary good at learning.
Bet she'd ace an IQ test and freak everyone out. Yuseong flipped through the report she'd handed him and asked.
"Why ask me? This is your field."
"Maybe in Midgard. But on Earth, you're the top authority. Plus, asking for input on this doesn't cross the line."
"......"
Luxy gazed at him with sparkling eyes like a freshman quizzing a prof. Yuseong, feeling the pressure, finally looked over the thesis-like thing.
Whoa... what the fuck is this even saying?
When did this girl study physics and medicine?
Looked like she'd referenced online papers on physics and medicine...
No joke—he could barely understand half of it.
It was in Korean, but it felt like gibberish!
If the gist didn't click piece by piece, he'd have chucked it already—complex, brutal stuff.
Yuseong pushed through his pounding headache.
Then, at one part, he furrowed his brow.
"This section—you're saying create a core inside the mana circuit?"
"Not impossible."
"......"
Seeing her insane idea of implanting a core—normally in the heart or dantian—into the mana circuit, Yuseong said.
"...You're not seriously planning to try this, right?"
"If needed, I will."
"......"
...This girl was nuts.
That evening, the Hero Party gathered again in the basement cave.
They tilted their heads at Luxy kneeling in one corner, hands raised, but Luke's explanation soon cleared it up.
"Crazy bitch."
"If you wanna off yourself, do it alone."
"Some habits never change...."
Leon usually took the flak, but right now, Luxy was the one getting the shitstorm.
Her idea was that bizarre and dangerous.
Leon spoke up.
"...I get the theory. But one fuck-up and you die."
Screw up implanting the core in the mana circuit, and it explodes—dead.
To make it simple for normals: like shoving nanomachines with a self-destruct in a patient's veins. Who'd sign off on that?
Anyone who did was crazy.
Common sense. Even if Luxy boosted odds with physics and modern medicine, no one here wanted to bet their life on 0.0001%.
"Your life, your call. But if you're doing that shit, dig your own cave and try it there, bitch. Don't suicide in my house, you mutt!"
"......Injustice."
No one bought that she wasn't serious.
"Haa...."
Yuseong looked at this lunatic and the hopeless five, steeling himself for a big decision.
"...No point me saying this—she'll do it anyway. So I'll run a special: share my secrets, just a taste. But... with a Geas. Only if you agree."
Everyone's jaws dropped.
That meant...
Become his slave?
Simply put: sign a lifetime slave contract. The party freaked out for entirely different reasons.
"Don't like it? Tough."
Yuseong just kept a straight face like it was nothing.