Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Reina's Enlightenment
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Reina read the newly detected mysterious energy.
Just like when she first awakened to mana, she shivered with the thrilling sensation of a scholar encountering something new, gradually absorbing the energy into her body.
'Whoa...!'
The first sensation she felt was—warmth.
Unlike mana, which gave off a somewhat cold impression somewhere, the 'new something' now being absorbed into Reina's body felt like the warmth of a mother caressing her.
If she exaggerated a bit, it was like being a baby lying in a cradle.
Of course, she wasn't just surprised at feeling such emotions.
There was something perhaps far more important.
It was that this power felt several hundred... no, thousands of times more concentrated than ordinary mana.
Perhaps even more.
'Is this... the "Plain Fact" that the Saintess spoke of?'
A tremendous power similar to mana yet clearly different in some essential aspect, something never reported in academic circles!
And, the moment she recognized it— she began to feel that power being absorbed into her bit by bit.
No.
It wasn't absorption.
This was—
'...Huh?'
—Suuuuck!
"!?!?!!!?!"
Reina, with her face flushed red, could intensely feel 'that thing' entering her body.
The 'mana pathways' flowing through every corner of her body.
Any mage who had awakened to mana possessed mana pathways in their body.
Absorbing mana into the body and then expelling it using that power and their own knowledge was the foundation of magic.
The more familiar one became with mana pathways, the more familiar one became with magic—it wasn't an exaggeration to say that.
Reina had opened her mana pathways at the astonishing age of six.
Wasn't she the genius mage who, up to this age, had freely wielded mana countless times?
And into such places—
Places that only permitted the entry and exit of mana, 'that power'... entered.
It entered. It entered. It kept being absorbed continuously.
"Ah... Aah... Aaaaaah...!!!!!!"
And as it freely stirred inside Reina's mana pathways—
Something akin to knowledge existing in the 'domain of the gods,' incomprehensible to ordinary people—infiltrated.
—Rumble! Rumble!
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
And soon after, from both her eyes and mouth—
"◀◎◆※★△◐◑◈!!!!!!!!!!"
—light began to leak out.
The light was light in the literal sense.
Pure white light. The light of the gods that drove away darkness.
An exceedingly holy light was shooting out from Reina's eyes with whooshes.
Not just her eyes— it leaked out from her mouth as well. Light. Light. The light of the gods.
Right now, Reina was— quite literally, shining. More intensely than ever before!
"△◐◀※◎◆※◎◆※◎★◑◈※◎◆◎◆!!!!!!!!!!"
Truth!
The words of the gods! The will of the gods! The knowledge of the gods!
Something clearly superior that did not exist in this world began to spread into the reception room of the fallen Magic Tower.
"∀◑∃∮◐∂ΦβΓ●△▼●※...."
Reina remembered.
The fact that everyone who met the Saintess had faced the light emanating from the Holy Scripture.
And at the same time, they rapidly awakened to the words of the gods... She had certainly heard such stories.
And she realized.
...It wasn't the Holy Scripture.
The one emitting light was...
Me.
From my eyes.
From my mouth.
The Plain Fact of the gods, clearly emitting that light...!!!
'I...'
I...
Was the
Light emitter
itself...!!!
"Ahh... Lord Igugwoden...!"
Erin, who was beside her, knelt before this unprecedented human light emitter and offered prayers.
May Reina safely overcome this trial bestowed by the gods.
May she be reborn as a being who can wield even a little of the gods' 'Plain Fact' with the body chosen by the gods...!!!!!
How much time had passed like that.
"Haa, haa, haa... Haa..."
As the light pouring from Reina's eyes and mouth gradually faded from her eyes—
She cautiously caught her breath... and looked at Saintess Erin's face.
"How do you feel...? About the gods' Plain Fact... Don't you think you understand what it is now?"
Reina, as if she had become a nun who received baptism.
With an exceedingly refreshed, clean, neat, and clear face...
Her emerald eyes, from which light had been bursting just moments ago, sparkling brightly.
"This is it!"
"Yes...?"
"Ahaha... Haha... Ahahahaha!!! Yes! This is it! This is exactly it! Ahahahaha!!!"
Reina laughed loudly enough to shake the reception room.
At the age of six. Since awakening to mana... this was the first time she had 'felt' a new power.
She still vividly remembered that moment when she awakened to mana.
The ecstasy of being able to change the world using a power that definitely existed in this world yet was invisible had been the only driving force that moved her, who was constitutionally lazy.
And—this time, it was on a different level from mana. To put it bluntly, it was an overwhelming power incomparable to something like mana.
This was the power of the gods!
The Plain Fact bestowed by Lord Igugwoden!
For the first time, Reina could understand Ian Granfellio, the Fire Magic Tower Master who had converted to the faith.
If Plain Fact was like this... of course, one couldn't help but believe in the gods.
There was no need to practice separately to utilize this new power.
Because... the Plain Fact had already swept through every corner of her body's 'mana pathways.'
She could now use this power freely, just like handling mana!
'That's why the light leaked out!'
As Reina slowly nodded with her now much clearer mind—
"It seems you've figured it out too, Reina. About the gods' Plain Fact...!"
"Does it show in the Saintess's eyes as well?"
"Of course...! Because, Reina... you're wearing a very impressive 'woman's expression' on your face right now. Hehehe..."
Only then did Reina notice that her face was hot.
She must have gotten greatly excited from discovering the new power.
"You're right... The gods' Plain Fact is so tremendous that once you learn about it... you can absolutely never go back to how you were before knowing it. I thought the moment would come when you would understand my words too, Reina...!"
"Saintess...!"
Normally, she might have felt uneasy about Erin's somewhat sticky attitude—
But the extraordinarily sharp mind of a mage excited by encountering something completely new had no time to spare for such things.
"Let me ask again. Can you create a fertilizer that dramatically boosts soil fertility using air, mana, and Plain Fact?"
"...!"
Reina's mind spun rapidly.
As the Plain Fact circulated through her mana pathways— she caught a glimpse of 'divine knowledge' on another level entirely.
Thus... she could answer without any hesitation.
"It seems possible! With Plain Fact and sufficient mana, not only creating Miracle Fertilizer, but even revolutionizing the Wood Magic Tower might not be a dream at all!"
"What a reliable answer...!"
Erin slowly placed her hand on Reina's shoulder—
"Welcome to being a woman of the gods, Reina!"
And using the best expression she could muster, she welcomed a new family member.
* * *
After parting with the Saintess.
She immediately headed to the laboratory where the mages were gathered.
As it was usually time for her to be lounging in the Tower Master's room, the mages there greeted their master with slightly surprised expressions.
"Huh? Tower Master. You're well. It's been a while since you came to the lab?"
"Long time no see, Tower Master. Do you have any messages?"
"Before messages, I want to ask what you're doing right now..."
At Reina's point, the mage who had greeted her in a listless voice while leaning on the empty giant cauldron pointed to the book in his hand.
"What? As you can see, reading the Holy Scripture..."
"And the research?"
"You know, Tower Master. If you don't understand 'Plain Fact,' research support gets cut off. So we're just studying the Holy Scripture."
'....'
Come to think of it, that was the situation.
With the Saintess's appearance shattering the Wood Magic Tower, it wasn't strange that they weren't burning with passion for research.
Forcing them wouldn't lead to proper research anyway.
"...By the way, are you two the only ones in the lab right now?"
"Yes."
"Where's the rest? Even if all gathered, there should be about twenty, right?"
"As I mentioned before, three moved—one to the Water Magic Tower, two to the Metal Magic Tower."
...Right. That happened. How did I even forget that.
"Still, there should be fifteen more?"
"The fifteen went straight to the Fire Magic Tower the moment it opened its doors, no questions asked."
"..."
Right!
That was it!
The mages who had at least some passion left in the now-useless Wood Magic Tower had all escaped!
The harsh reality of the Wood Magic Tower, where she had been escaping into sleep every day without paying attention, once again reared its head and stared blankly at Reina.
Once, this place—the Wood Magic Tower—had gathered only the finest mages among the towers, a 'cradle of mages' that could even rival the Fire Magic Tower in influence—
But with Empress Eirene's change of heart, the nationalization of the Igugwoden Church, and the peace accord with the demons, the very reason for the Magic Towers' existence had nearly vanished.
The quick-witted mages had all fled, and now, including the Tower Master and Vice Tower Master Stella, only four mages wore the vivid green cloaks symbolizing the Wood Magic Tower.
"...Thanks for sticking around, at least."
"No problem. Going elsewhere would just mean more annoyances anyway."
"Tower Master, if you're here to read the Holy Scripture together, how about a Scripture quiz? The Vice Tower Master said we need to memorize the texts word-for-word to get any support funds."
"No. Don't worry about money. I'll handle that."
"...Pardon? You're going to solve the budget issue, Tower Master?"
The mage who suggested the quiz looked at her with widened pupils in disbelief—
"Yeah. Why?"
"Well... Are you closing the Magic Tower?"
"Why does it jump to that conclusion?!"
"Because closing the tower means no more expenses... So, budget problem solved! I thought that's what you meant."
"Hahaha. That's so like you, Tower Master."
She nearly blacked out for a moment at the mages' attitudes, which seemed positive yet subtly negative—
But who was she? The continent's one and only genius mage who had awakened to Plain Fact beyond mana!
"Anyway... Putting that aside, what's your name?"
"Cowan."
The mage who had made the unprecedented remark about staying because he hated hassle stated his name in a flat tone.
He could have said something like 'How do you not know your own mages' names?' but just as the Tower Master didn't care about hierarchy, Cowan didn't seem to place much importance on it either.
"Do you know where Stella went?"
"Well... Probably to the imperial palace to secure budget before the Wood Magic Tower closes. I think."
While Reina had been hands-off, Stella had been managing the tower, handling all external activities as well.
She was practically the de facto Tower Master of the Wood Magic Tower on the brink of collapse.
"Tell her to come back right away when she returns."
"Yes!"
"And..."
"Isaac."
"Isaac. From now on, transcribe exactly what I say, then we'll post a public notice in the newspaper."
"A notice? What kind?"
"Obviously, recruiting mages to research together at the tower!"
"...?"
Isaac couldn't hide his doubt, wondering who would come to the fallen Wood Magic Tower for research now—
But what could he do? When the superior gives an order, the subordinate follows.
Isaac fetched an inkwell and quill pen from the table.
"Ready."
"Good. Transcribe exactly what I say from now on."
*Ahem.*
Reina cleared her throat briefly—
And with the sentiment of writing the final public notice of her life as the Wood Magic Tower Master on the verge of ruin, she spat out the words.
"Mage recruitment. Mages from other towers especially welcome. Uh... Hold on. Better to offer incentives here so they can switch affiliations without hesitation."
Scribble, scribble.
At Isaac's fingertips, Reina's notice was taking shape.
『Mage Recruitment』
「Mages from other attribute Magic Towers especially welcome (Join now for immediate 'Senior Mage' or higher position without exam, guaranteeing higher rank than current)」
「Freelance adventurer mages also welcome (No exam required) [Requirement: Must be skilled in collaborative use of mana with others]」
「Research timeline unknown, 24-hour shift work, no guarantee of returning home, slight possibility of physical side effects from continuous handling of large amounts of mana」
「Upon research success, you will make bread from air」
「If you awaken to the 'Plain Fact of the Gods' in this notice, come immediately to Wood Magic Tower Master Reina Firenshia (Bonus points for bringing snacks)」
Excluding Isaac, who thought with a very serious face, 'Has our Tower Master finally lost her mind?', it was a splendid notice in many ways.