Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Neptune Shakes the Faith
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The Empire guarantees religious freedom... moderately.
This means they crack down on religions that threaten the Empire's peace and leave the rest alone.
It's a remarkably flexible religious policy.
Yet despite this flexibility, the Empire's religions were dwindling year by year.
People preferred visible miracles over invisible faith.
Magic was driving religion into decline.
Steadily, relentlessly.
This left the Orthodox Church's followers quite distraught.
Even they, the Empire's largest religion, couldn't resist this massive tide.
Orthodox Church Cathedral in the capital.
The grand conference room.
Bishops from each diocese sat with grim faces, receiving reports.
"Therefore, thanks to Sir Valerius and this rising star 'Howard,' the Lantern's Guides have been effectively dismantled."
The cardinal listened to the report, his trembling hand setting down his glasses at the bridge of his nose.
"I see... They left no room for Imperial intervention, I assume?"
"Yes. Immediately after the incident, we issued a statement in His Holiness the Pope's name condemning the Lantern's Guides' blasphemous acts."
It was a blessing amid misfortune.
While the mages swept away the heretics, the church had fulfilled its own role.
At least this incident wouldn't narrow the church's position.
"Good. Next report."
"...As 'Isaac Uphills' predicted, the eighth planet, 'Neptune,' has been discovered."
"Fuck..."
"...Pardon?"
How many years had it been since he'd sworn?
The cardinal's vision blurred.
'It's really come true.'
The cardinal squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his temples.
"How many places in the major scriptures mention the number of planets?"
"There are 478 instances specifying seven planets."
'That's a filthy lot.'
The cardinal swallowed his curse inwardly.
"What do we do now?"
"..."
Recalling and destroying all the parchment scriptures would cost too much.
The budget was already tight from supporting the northern dioceses, and damn parchment was so expensive...
But having priests manually revise them one by one was impossible due to the sheer volume.
"For now... revise and distribute the newly transcribed scriptures."
"Understood."
The cardinal wanted to play dumb and bury the issue.
But like it or not, this Empire ran on mages.
To avoid becoming like the Lantern's Guides, they had to follow the tide.
'Why'd he have to make that discovery...!'
Of all times, during his tenure.
'Just three more years, and I'd have retired...'
Deep wrinkles furrowed the cardinal's brow.
Recently, Anna had one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
The good news was that her nickname "Ice Princess" had finally vanished.
All the smiling at friends in her spare time, the occasional outings, and leading group projects had paid off.
A true victory of effort.
But the bad news was... a new nickname had taken its place.
Thud. Thud.
Anna walked silently down the Magic University corridor.
But every time, chaos erupted around her.
Anna's friends shouted.
"Hey, make way! The 'Star-Reading Mage' is passing through!"
A crowd surged.
The corridor parted like the sea at their words.
Star-Reading Mage.
That was Anna's new nickname.
It stuck after Neptune—the planet mathematically predicted first in Principia—was actually discovered.
Better than Ice Princess, but...
This had its own burdens.
'If the other students hated it, I'd at least tell them to stop...'
But the students showed no resistance to the sudden traffic control.
"Wow, the 'Star-Reading Mage'... She really goes to school here."
"That's her... co-author of Principia..!"
"Even breathing seems so noble..."
Then, a bearded adult student blocked Anna's path.
He held a transcribed copy of Principia in his hand.
He asked Anna.
"Um... if it's okay, could you sign this...?"
"No, mister! You can't do that!"
Her roommate Stephanie deftly blocked the fans.
Amid the chaos, Anna felt her mind go blank.
'Sign... autographs?'
Signing here would mean writing something like "Star-Reading Mage, Anna Uphills" herself.
She'd die before doing that.
"..."
"You look just like my niece, please..."
But brushing off someone pleading so earnestly was hard.
Anna finally took the quill.
After finishing her fan service, Anna headed to the headmaster's office.
There, the headmaster told her.
"Tomorrow's presentation, I'm counting on you. Here's the related material."
"Yes, Headmaster."
Anna nodded mechanically.
How many times had it been...?
Same presentation every time.
Same order every time.
Only the audience changed.
Where did they even come from? New listeners every time.
Not tiring, but boring.
Giuseppe had told Anna it was "trimmed down as much as possible," but it still felt like a lie.
Giuseppe probably planned to clear out all these nuisances before Isaac returned from the north.
'Still... if I handle these lectures, maybe oppa can rest when he gets back to the capital?'
That thought filled her with quiet pride.
Like repaying one of the hundreds of debts she owed him.
On her way back to the dorm from the headmaster's office, Anna wondered.
In these presentation events, "fake Isaac" and Anna split the parts equally.
Of course, "fake Isaac" changed daily.
'Who was tomorrow's stand-in for oppa?'
Anna hoped it wasn't Cullen.
When Cullen transformed into Isaac... the unnecessary fan service ramped up.
Not bad in itself, but seeing someone who's not her real brother smiling with his face...
It pissed her off.
"Ah... when's oppa coming back."
Anna gazed endlessly at the northern sky.
Come back soon.
True to my promise, I completed a custom combat manual for Sara's squad.
I handed the completed manual to the squad members.
"Whoa... you really made all this."
"Lemme see!"
"Me too!"
The squad members crowded around one book.
Moments later, Sara asked me.
"Most of the magic circles here are completely new forms... Can you demonstrate?"
"Right now."
I drew a magic circle on the dirt ground and asked.
"Different from the rock cannon spell you usually use, right?"
"Yes. The circle count is different from the start. It's up from 4th circle to 5th."
I nodded.
Increasing the magic circle's circle count meant higher complexity.
But with the difficulty came proper returns.
I asked them.
"What happens if you draw the magic circle in your head and stop midway?"
"Rebound hits."
"Not with this spell."
"...What?"
I activated the 5th-circle rock cannon on the ground only up to the "4th circle."
Then I told the squad.
"See? Nothing happens."
"..."
"..."
The squad members stared blankly, alternating between my hand and the ground's magic circle.
Sara said.
"Loading and firing... You really did it."
"Yes."
I channeled mana into the final 5th circle.
A rock lump gathered in my hand and launched forward.
Thung!
Kaboom!
The flying rock slammed into the ridge, exploding on impact.
I told the squad.
"What did you do if the enemy moved while you were composing the spell?"
They answered one by one.
"...I'd reposition until I could hit."
"Slow down chanting or circle composition in the meantime."
"But delay too much and fail the spell, rebound comes—so had to stay tense."
I said.
"No need anymore."
This applied the trick from my first special lecture with Valerius.
Magic suspension using opposing structures.
Like putting a switch before the final circuit in an electrical one.
"Think of it as moving all firing commands to the last circle, adding one circle instead."
One squad member raised a hand.
"Is that... even possible?"
"I just showed you. Try it if curious."
"Can we?"
"Why not?"
"...!"
They began demonstrating one by one.
Sara stared dumbfounded at her squad.
"Holy shit, this was actually possible?!"
Some subordinates were purely amazed.
"What the hell kind of fights have I been doing all this time?"
Others doubted their past training.
Sara leaned toward the latter.
Separating loading and firing? Anyone could think of it.
Realizing it? A whole other level.
'I expected some time-adjustment structure...'
This was creating an entirely new spell.
'How did he do it?'
Finding the time-limited firing structure in a magic circle was a challenge alone.
'Verifying that needs a validation system totally unlike circles or chants...'
Using math, maybe?
Like in Principia?
'No way that's possible.'
Many parts calculable now, but not everything.
Best chalk it up to Isaac's grandmaster-level intuition.
Then.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The warning bell outside the barracks rang three times urgently.
Magic beast alert.
Squad members engrossed in practice halted instantly.
"All hands, assemble!"
At Sara's shout, they rushed to her in seconds.
Isaac asked.
"Magic beast appeared?"
"Yes. We're today's on-duty squad. We deploy now—"
Before Sara finished, Isaac pointed to the manual in her hand.
"Then try it out."
"...Yes!"
Sara's squad deployed immediately.
Sara asked the observer.
"Enemy position and numbers?"
"In front of outpost 7, one Giant Ice Worm."
"Got it."
At the site, snow-covered ground beyond the outpost swelled massively.
Giant Ice Worm, as reported.
"That guy again?"
The beast Isaac soloed before—with him, anyway.
Encountered on recon? Whole squad needed.
But near HQ? Different protocol.
Minimum two squads to minimize deaths.
Sara's squad as anvil, hold till hammer squad arrived.
But Sara had another idea.
She asked her squad.
"Can we use what we just learned in real combat?"
Their eyes burned with confidence.
"Of course, Squad Leader!"
"Gonna strip it to the bone!"
"Worms got no bones, idiot."
"Tch, fuck. You know what I mean!"
Pfft.
Sara laughed.
Of course.
They'd honed combat over theory.
Failing to use this user-friendly manual? Disqualify as Field Mages.
Battle began moments later.
As Sara's squad advanced, regular soldiers guarding the outpost cleared a path.
A squad member using detection magic shouted.
"Worm emerging in 10 seconds!"
"All, load rock cannons!"
At Sara's command, they composed up to 4th circle and held.
Eight rock cannons ready to fire anytime.
Normally, rebound risk any second.
But their mana waves were stable now.
"3 seconds! Target, dead ahead!"
Ku-gaaang!
As predicted, the Ice Worm burst up, jaws agape.
Before, only lucky delayers would've fired.
Not now.
"Fire!"
Rocks launched at Sara's order.
Thung! Thung!
Thung!
Timing variance bigger than before.
Accuracy far higher.
Mages could finish at "perfect hit" timing individually.
Power up, rebound down.
With thunderous roars, rocks hit the Ice Worm.
Two to the head, rest body.
Kwaduk!
Hard ice shell shattered, purple blood spraying.
Bleeding Ice Worm couldn't flee underground.
Now's the chance.
Sara shouted.
"Fire as soon as loaded."
Thung! Thung! Thung!
Wounds multiplied on its body.
Kwajik!
Uujik!
No vocal cords, no screams.
But writhing in pain was clear.
Nearby soldiers murmured.
"Crazy... what the hell."
"Heard Sara's squad was good, but... this good?"
First time like this.
Sara felt exhilaration.
Kwajik!
Twitch. Twitch.
Still.
Worm stopped moving.
Sara said.
"Cease loading."
Squad halted fire instantly.
Even mid-composition halted at 4th circle.
No more misfires going forward.
Psssh!
Sizzle!
Worm blood steamed white in the air.
Heh heh heh.
Sara chuckled.
Squad members beside her muttered.
"At this rate, don't even need a full squad anymore...?"
"This spell's way more convenient than I thought."
Situation clear.
At Sara's gesture, soldiers approached to dismantle the Giant Ice Worm.
Then.
Rumble.
Late support squad arrived.
Their leader said to Sara.
"Sara! Sorry we're late! You guys okay... huh?"
They froze before the corpse.
Rest of the squad too.
They muttered.
"Already done?"
"What... Howard stepped in again?"
"...No. Just Sara's squad here."
"Then how?"
"..."
They stared blankly between Sara's squad and the worm.