Interlude: The Comet's Shadow
Justia was a genius among geniuses, a woman who had earned her doctorate in celestial magic at the mere age of twenty-five.
She had even been drawn into the stellar magic major by the Liber of the stories — a field infamous for students who regretted the choice and dropped out within months.
Recognizing her outstanding skill and creativity, the Halo Celestial Magic Research Institute had scouted her as a senior researcher.
"Die… Just die already…"
But where there is light, shadow naturally follows. The labels that clung to Justia were rather less flattering.
An unidentified life-form that vanished the moment anyone tried to speak to her. A lifelong single who had never so much as held a man's hand, let alone dated. An eccentric who had conversed with telescopes more often than with people.
Earning a doctorate in one's mid-twenties already meant she was a long way from ordinary. As a scholar she was exceptional; as a human being… well.
Late at night. Justia, who had lately begun receiving the "fascinating creature" treatment from her colleagues, wore a haggard expression as she furiously scribbled equations across a sheet of paper.
"Justia, are you done over there…?"
"…"
"Ah, right. You are… Mind if I take the materials? I'll pass them along and come right back…"
Her research colleague gathered the documents Justia had prepared and staggered out of the lab on unsteady feet.
Perhaps body and mind had both worn thin after work that had continued without rest since dawn. Justia found herself oddly worried he might collapse.
But she had no room to spare concern for others. A mountain of materials still needing revision remained piled on her desk.
After glancing around several times to confirm the lab was empty, Justia slammed her fist on the desk and shouted.
"Aaaargh, seriously…! It's a comet that comes once in a thousand years! I said a month ago that it could affect sensitive magical devices!"
The reason Justia and her colleague were still at the institute long past quitting time was simple.
The powerful magic field generated by the Helia Comet had caused malfunctions in some of the magical circuits powering facilities across the city.
She had sent official notices recommending that critical equipment be stored in sealed locations or prepared in advance for the magic field.
But people had dismissed her — how strong could a magic field even be in this day and age? — and now problems were exploding left and right.
It's only the magic of the earth that's dried up. The sky is still a place human hands have never touched…
Coincidentally, the only people who could resolve the circuit problems in the short term were a handful of stellar magic scholars, including Justia.
Which meant that somehow word had spread, and requests for help fixing magical devices had flooded into the institute from every direction.
After the work marathon that had begun at dawn as the comet drew nearer, she was so drained it would not have been surprising if she collapsed on the spot.
"Haaah… I was going to open the window so I could see the comet clearly and watch Hero Survival tonight…"
What made it especially painful was that today was the broadcast day of the anime Justia always made sure to catch.
An animation about gathering heroes from every era on a single island and making them fight until only one remained.
She had sworn she would watch the live broadcast even if a meteor fell from the sky… and yet she was going to miss it for something like this.
"So what does Liber do when she's furious enough to blow her top in the last episode?! I need to know! I'm dying of curiosity!"
She was a hardcore Liber otaku. How hardcore? Enough that she didn't just consume secondary works like comics, anime, and novels — she had thoroughly dug into the original Legend of Arthur source material.
Even for someone like Justia, the girl Liber who was only just beginning to learn magic felt wonderfully fresh. The curious, affectionate pretty girl from the days before she lost Hesti was so cute!
And she loved the production company's interpretation of Liber as well. Outwardly cold and composed, but once she let someone into her heart, she couldn't refuse a request — a gentle nature. The interpretation matched perfectly.
And I can't watch it. Does that make any sense? I genuinely want to cry. Just let me cry!
But as if words always had a way of becoming reality, the magic detector hanging on the laboratory wall suddenly unleashed a deafening noise she had never heard before — as if slapping her tearful cheeks.
BEEEEEEP! Caught completely off guard, Justia leaped straight out of her chair. Then she screamed and frantically stuffed herself under the desk.
"Kyaaaah! Wh-what is it, what is it?! What's going on?!"
Is it war? Has a war broken out?! Please, I don't want to die crushed under a building! Clutching her head and curled up on the floor, she screamed and trembled.
But even after a long while, no sign of danger appeared. The beeping detector had also gone quiet. Only then did Justia peek her head out.
"What the heck… what even was that…"
Crawling out from under the desk on all fours, she sat there and checked the live news. Surprisingly, there was no emergency bulletin of any kind — just complete peace.
Which meant… a malfunction? With her hair and clothes in total disarray, Justia barely managed to stand and approach the detector.
It was a magic detector designed to identify meteors that appeared without warning. A simple device that sounded an alarm when the magic in the night sky exceeded a certain threshold.
So under normal circumstances, it shouldn't make a loud noise. Peering at the detector's display panel, Justia read the numbers and let out a hollow laugh.
"What is this. Did extinction-class magic just drop on Halo City?"
The number written there was impossible. According to the theory she knew, it was a value that would only appear if the three most dangerous spells she knew of detonated simultaneously.
If that much magic had fallen, there was no way Halo City could still be intact. Naturally, Justia's thoughts tilted toward a device malfunction.
Seriously, who even made this thing. I thought a war had broken out. I should report that the detector is faulty later.
With the tension draining away all at once, she slumped down onto the floor. Her condition was the absolute worst. Her concentration was broken, she was tired, exhausted, and she wanted to go home.
"…Guess I'll just finish the work."
Justia dry-washed her face and lamented her lot. But as a working adult, she had a duty to complete the tasks assigned to her.
Gulping down the caffeinated drink on her desk, she sat back down and began redesigning the remaining work materials.
But she had no idea. She had no idea that even after finishing this, work would come flooding in like a tidal wave for some time to come.
"Ah… I just want to go home, hug my Liber plushie, and sleep…"
Justia knew nothing at all.
Crash! A glass hurled with all a man's strength shattered into pieces against the floor.
As if that weren't enough to vent his fury, the man who had been pacing about kicked over a chair as well and roared.
"This fucking shit! What the hell were you doing?! You couldn't even bring back one thing some damn brat stole!"
The man with a vertical scar cutting across his right eye was named Dominic. He was the boss of Black Viper, a figure with a somewhat exotic air about him.
Illegal magic circuits were densely engraved across his body. The circuits drawn over his thick muscles almost looked like artwork.
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Explain. Why the hell are those two in the hands of the Security Bureau. No, including that idiot Malek, that's three of them? This fucking—"
The one receiving Dominic's rage head-on was a gaunt man who somehow called a rat to mind.
One of the organization's executives, he was also the one who had ordered Max and Fugo — the ones now in Security Bureau custody — to recover the Pendulum.
Perhaps because he knew that crossing this man would leave even an executive's body in pieces, he kept his head as low as possible as he offered his excuse.
"Well… according to our contact planted in the Security Bureau, there was a mage of unknown identity…"
"A mage? What bastard doesn't know his place!"
At the man's words, Dominic's face crumpled like a potato that had hit the floor.
They needed to get their hands on that precious relic as quickly as possible, and now an interloper had gotten involved! But in that moment, a flash of reason crossed Dominic's eyes.
Wait… something troublesome may have popped up.
Come to think of it, Fugo was a 3rd-Class Mage whose skills were reasonably recognized in the underworld. And a fire specialist at that, focused on offense.
The fact that he had gone down without putting up a proper fight meant that this unidentified mage might well be a 2nd-Class Mage or higher.
Even a 3rd-Class Mage was a catastrophe by ordinary standards — a 2nd-Class was practically a combat weapon specialized for fighting.
Panting, Dominic decided that charging in blindly was not the answer. At the very least, he needed to confirm the enemy's level.
Dominic closed his fist around a walnut that had been rolling on the desk. Crunch. The hard walnut shattered like a cookie, spilling its meat.
Just like a walnut — discard the useless outer shell and keep only the necessary kernel inside. He turned to his subordinate with a cold expression.
"I'll give you one day. By tomorrow, find the brat who ran off with the relic and that so-called mage, and bring them both before me."
"Y-yes! Understood, Boss!"
The rat-faced man broke into a cold sweat and fled as if running for his life.
His head could easily have been the next walnut. It was speed born of pure survival instinct — he did not want to die.
With his head somewhat cooled, Dominic sat on the table as if it were a chair and ground his teeth.
He needed to find the relic as soon as possible and learn the vault's password. The situation itself was horrifically unpleasant.
"I may have to bring that one out…"
Black Viper's secret weapon — a monster that could not be properly controlled.
If there were no results within a short time, he would have no choice but to release that creature even if it meant accepting the damage.
Dominic gripped a new walnut in his hand, sinking deep into an unbearable displeasure.