Levitation Magic: The North Needs Money
The North needed money.
To develop the territory and pay back the massive debt to the count, we absolutely had to make some cash.
It wasn't like there were no business opportunities.
High-quality furs and ores produced in the North had plenty of demand.
The problem was that the maintenance costs for trade routes made the expenses outweigh the profits.
That's why I'd attended the meeting to brainstorm solutions.
The path from the North to the central capital was long and treacherous.
Our territory, surrounded by rugged mountains, was a strategic stronghold—but a nightmare for transportation.
"Then why not just go over the mountains?"
Today's star employee: me.
"Dig an underground tunnel? No way…."
"It'd cost too much money and time. Even our predecessors tried and failed repeatedly—it's all in the records."
The grand duke and the administrator raised their voices in objection to my idea.
They had no clue. Seriously, no idea.
It could totally work if done right.
The meeting fizzled out inconclusively, and I stormed back to my room in a huff.
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
The call bell I'd placed right next to my bed rang out, and immediately, I heard heavy footsteps thundering from outside the door.
"Master! Did you call for me?"
It was the bell for summoning my new assistant.
"Not 'master'—'professor'."
"You're not a professor, though…."
"Tsk—!"
What mattered was how it made the person being called feel.
Trivial details like that didn't matter anyway.
"Y-Yes… Um, Professor. What did you need?"
"See that mountain over there?"
I pointed out the window with my finger.
"It's far and huge."
"Go measure its width and height."
It was essential for planning.
"Pardon?"
"Get to it!!"
I watched with satisfaction as my assistant trudged out, properly dressed for the weather.
This is the good stuff.
Kian didn't return until a full four days later.
*
"…Here's the survey map."
Kian, bundled in a fur coat piled high with snow, handed me the completed survey with a haggard face.
"Hmm, good job."
Right after Kian left, I'd asked the grand duke if there was an existing mountain range survey. Turns out there was.
So now my room had two maps detailing the mountains.
Of course, sometimes ignorance really is bliss.
I'd quickly shoved the original under my bed before my assistant arrived.
Taking the new survey from Kian, I examined the figures again, slowly.
There were slight differences here and there, but the numbers matched almost perfectly.
"Oh. Identical? You're precise."
"…Identical to what?"
"Huh? Uh?"
I dodged Kian's sharp glare.
"That's not important."
"It is to me…."
"Quiet!"
It wasn't just tall—the width was impressive too.
As the grand duke said, tunneling through would be a hassle even for my magic.
Possible, sure, but efficiency would be iffy….
"Hmm…."
"I really thought I was gonna die out there. Ran into magic beasts twice, and at night I swore ghosts were—"
"Ghosts?"
An idea sparked from my assistant's lament.
Ghosts are affected by gravity yet float in the air.
Fixed to the horizontal coordinate system, in other words.
So what force counters gravity to keep ghosts afloat?
Magic, obviously!
Nothing else explained it. All ghosts were former mages.
"Assistant."
"Y-Yes?"
Kian stammered, sensing something ominous in my call.
"You're a second-year now!"
"Uh… Th-thank you?"
I jumped up to implement the idea right away.
Rode the auto-moving corridor, then the escalator I'd jury-rigged from the stairs, heading down.
We arrived at the courtyard.
Kian stood there blankly behind me.
"Stay right there."
I pictured it.
Imagination was no longer vague.
How do ghosts float? Now I could explain it magically.
A ghost swimming through the air flashed in my mind.
Different from telekinesis, my third hand.
Infuse an object with magic so it lifts itself through its own power.
"Wha—uh…."
As the magic circle neared completion, Kian's body slowly rose into the air.
He groped for something to grab, resisting the magic—but it was futile.
I'd cleared everything beforehand.
"You have to control it yourself."
"H-How?!"
Kian flailed his limbs in panic as his body shot higher.
"Kinda like this?"
I went up on tiptoes, then down.
"Ah, y-yes??"
Flawless, perfect explanation. Zero flaws.
Kian let out a strangled cry of confusion and absurdity at my guidance.
"No… just try harder. Like you're moving your own body."
Kian, floating serenely, closed his trembling eyelids.
A moment of focus.
He got the knack—his body slowly descended.
"Hah… haa."
"Hmm…."
Thought it'd be easy.
Grasping it at first seems tricky.
Improvements flickered through my mind, one by one.
"Hold on, let's try again."
I tweaked the formula slightly and redrew the magic circle.
For more free control over buoyancy.
"Ah."
Kian's body floated up once more.
*
With my assistant's willing help and participation, I finally perfected the spell.
Levitation Magic ver. 21.
With this, the North would finally break free from snow-choked roads and treacherous mountains.
"Hah… But if we're just floating freight over the mountains, why bother surveying them…."
A profoundly foolish question from my assistant, sprawled starfish-style on the ground, gasping for breath.
"They'll come in handy somewhere. Someday. Probably."
I copied the completed magic circle onto parchment and headed back to the main building.
To the praise virtuoso: the grand duke.
And, as expected, Kian trailed after me.
"I think I get it now."
"…Get what?"
Not dropping out, I hope?
I shook off the unease and asked.
"The sense of handling mana. After hundreds of falls and lifts with magic, I can finally see the flow properly."
Phew.
I secretly patted my chest in relief.
His willing assistance had unexpected benefits even I hadn't anticipated.
"Oh, really?"
"So that's why you used me for th—huh?"
"Yeah?"
We'd arrived at the grand duke's office.
I was North-born with a work contract, but Kian wasn't.
So the potential count's spy couldn't enter.
His shouting for an explanation was muffled by the thick door.
"It's been a while. What wonder has the mage brought this time?"
Arwen set down her quill and focused on me.
"Ahem. Nothing that impressive."
It was monumental.
I craned my neck, scanning for a suitable test subject.
After some thought, I chose the grand duke's sturdy oak desk.
The kind so massive three grown men could barely lift it.
Hand on the desk, I activated the prepared magic circle.
The core of this levitation magic: nullifying gravity.
No gravity, no weight.
The desk floated up with me, moving freely at my gesture.
Mass still existed, so inertia too—but experiments with my assistant had solved that.
First try, it slammed into the wall at terrifying speed when nudged… scared me a bit.
By the third revision, Kian could stop himself before hitting.
All potential crash energy absorbed by abundant natural mana.
Ninth version, he spun like a top, so I corrected angular momentum.
Eighteenth added auto-centering for mass.
Friction and reaction forces compensated to negligible levels.
The result: ver. 21, controllable even by magic-less commoners.
"Oh… wow…."
Arwen gaped, oblivious, murmuring admirations nonstop.
Her reactions were why I worked so hard.
"Works on carriages too."
"So… use this to ship cargo to the capital?"
I nodded with a mid-air somersault.
"Should… work?"
Obviously.
That's what I made it for.
Arwen pondered briefly, then called her guard to fetch the administrator.
Through the open door crack, I glimpsed Kian, looking bedraggled.
Co-developer number two.
Number one was me, naturally.
A path out of the North's financial woes was finally in sight.