There's Something Under the Ground
There's Something Under the Ground
After hearing Erpa's past in full detail, Magic Tower Master Oergen determined that she possessed the necessary qualifications.
He then administered an exceptionally rigorous induction examination—exactly as was done for every mage and witch—to assess whether Erpa was fit to become a member of the Magic Tower.
The result was the birth of an unprecedented monster.
She had achieved perfect scores in every category, and the magical research titled the Three Primary Colors Research, which she had submitted as her induction review thesis, was a paper clearly deserving of a rating a full tier above the Shadow Research that Tudel had previously produced.
Only a few days later, Oergen officially announced that Erpa had become a member of the Magic Tower.
And naturally, as soon as this fact became known, Erpa was thrust into the center of public attention.
"Erpa, I have a question."
"Did you truly experience a miracle? As a mage, what are your thoughts regarding miracles?"
"Was it truly an Abomination? What was the cause of the condition on the left side of your face?"
"Would it be acceptable for our company to utilize the Three Primary Colors Research? As an automobile manufacturer, the problem of magical optimization is an extremely significant issue for us..."
Perhaps it was because the title of 'the witch healed by the Healing Saint' was so tremendously renowned.
Or perhaps it was because her thesis contained revolutionary content that was shocking in its implications.
The moment the announcement that Erpa had become a witch of the Magic Tower concluded, she found herself surrounded by all manner of entrepreneurs, mages, and witches, and was forced to endure an endless barrage of questions.
With a smiling face, she calmly answered each and every one of those questions.
"Haha! I had no idea you would be such a delightful person! So humble, and yet brimming with confidence! Truly splendid! Here, my business card! I would very much like to keep in touch!"
By the time Erpa's pockets had bulged from exchanging countless cards,
Magic Tower Master Oergen carefully inserted himself among the crowd.
"I have a small announcement to make. May I have your attention for a moment?"
After tapping a wine glass with a teaspoon to draw everyone's focus, Magic Tower Master Oergen stepped forward before the crowd with a smile.
"The witch Erpa, who stands here, is in fact the author who ghostwrote the vast majority of the witch Tudel's papers."
Magic Tower Master Oergen looked at Erpa with a slightly pitying expression.
"In principle, both the one who demands ghostwriting and the one who agrees to it should normally be stripped of their qualifications to conduct research in the Magic Tower and expelled. However, after consulting with professors from various towers, the conclusion drawn was that Erpa's special circumstances could not be overlooked. In accordance with that conclusion, the names of the authors of these papers are hereby being corrected."
When the Magic Tower Master waved his wand, the papers that had been published under Tudel's name floated up in the air.
And then, the author field on those papers quietly changed from Tudel to Erpa.
Oergen smiled broadly.
"I believe a young witch who has published such outstanding papers is more than qualified to be called the next Magic Tower Master. She is benevolent, possessing the courage to stand against injustice even at the risk of revealing her disfiguring appearance, and she also possesses a genius intellect that surpasses anyone else."
Though it was a sudden announcement, there were not many who were surprised.
For Erpa had already imprinted herself on everyone through her astonishingly exceptional achievements.
"I will be stepping down in the near future. My body has grown old, and my mind no longer operates as swiftly as it did in the past. I have become an old relic at this point."
Though he spoke with a hearty chuckle, as if it were a joke, everyone here knew the truth.
Oergen was a mage far too powerful to be dismissed as an old relic.
For he was one of the very few figures who had personally received the title of Grand Mage from the Emperor.
"Of course, this will not take effect immediately. Once she has completed a set period of training and is deemed qualified, Erpa will succeed me and lead the Magic Tower. Therefore, even if I should disappear one day and be nowhere in sight, I hope no one will be surprised. Now! A toast to the magnificent future of this great witch!"
Oergen raised his wine glass and shouted.
Everyone gathered burst into laughter and raised their glasses together.
"To the witch Erpa!"
"To her!"
Cheers.
Applause.
Envious and admiring gazes directed at her.
These were the things Erpa had dreamed of.
But now, none of it mattered to her anymore.
'Lord Amael.'
It was all thanks to the Saint.
Her life.
All of this glory.
Everything was owed to the grace of that man.
Now, her career, all of her efforts, and her glory existed for Amael.
Thinking that, Erpa raised her glass.
"To her!!"
Amidst the laughter and applause, Erpa was thus recognized as the next Magic Tower Master.
It was a radiant and glorious moment, but for someone else, it was also a scene of blood-tearing jealousy.
"Follow me."
After the Magic Tower's internal investigation concluded, Tudel was expelled from the tower on the grounds of attempting to conduct illegal human experimentation.
She was then immediately handed over to the White Order without a moment's respite.
Dragged away to the White Order, she was scheduled to face yet another investigation—this time on charges of attempting to indirectly murder a non-Abomination author by slandering him.
In the midst of being led away by the White Order's clergy and holy knights, she ended up witnessing the spectacle of Erpa being acknowledged as the next Magic Tower Master before everyone.
Tudel clenched her teeth so hard that her lips split and bled.
Jealousy.
She felt as though she were going mad from jealousy bordering on insanity.
Erpa.
The position that bitch occupied should have been hers.
Yet that grotesque bitch—
That spider-like, monstrous bitch with four arms—had stolen her place.
It was unbearable.
She could not accept it.
"Follow me! Walk, you heretic!!"
Having been taken from the Magic Tower to the White Order's interrogation chamber, she had still not stopped grinding her teeth even then.
Then, in the midst of it,
a chilling smile formed on Tudel's lips.
Not yet.
It was not over yet.
There was still a way to destroy Erpa.
"Erpa truly is an Abomination."
When Tudel suddenly said that, a priest of the White Order who had been preparing for the interrogation burst out laughing mockingly.
"Do not spout such absurd nonsense. If she were an Abomination, there is no way she would have endured receiving the Saint's healing."
"No. She is an Abomination. She could not be anything else. Because the Saint is not a true saint—he is a fake saint. Can you not understand? They are birds of a feather. Erpa, and the Saint who healed her."
Tudel remembered the contents of the newspapers in precise detail.
"The Saint has healed people without ever once using holy power. Does that make any sense? That one who is called a saint cannot use holy power? He is an Evil God worshipper. He is in league with Erpa, putting on an act together."
The White Order's priest furrowed his brow.
"Do you have proof?"
"Is there any proof more certain than his inability to use holy power? Summon the Silence Order. If you mobilize them to arrest the Healing Saint and conduct a proper heresy interrogation, you will probably see that my words are correct. The Healing Saint is a heretic. Most certainly so."
After saying that, Tudel straightened her back and smiled a nearly manic smile.
"I did not attempt to indirectly murder a non-Abomination author. Just watch. The Saint will prove to be a fake, and that bitch Erpa—she will prove to be an Abomination."
***
Large trucks and all kinds of heavy equipment lined up and entered the neatly emptied factory site.
"Keep this in mind! It is to be a massive high-rise building! The foundation must be solid! Start excavating!!"
Jonathan Karma went on with the construction of the high-rise building, directing the laborers with practiced ease.
And the majority of those who had volunteered to work under him were the poor from the slums.
"Here! Come receive your wages for today! It is the will of the Goddess of Grace! For a day's work, 1 Saled is paid out to you!"
And the Lilia Order was suffering a tremendous financial hemorrhage by hiring and putting all of them to work.
I watched the entire scene with deep satisfaction.
The money being spent daily had to be astronomical.
Thanks to my orders, wages were being paid to the Sun Order's holy knights as well.
A massive fund had also been entrusted to Jonathan Karma—a failed entrepreneur who had run a factory into the ground.
Because an absurdly high level of wages were being handed out to the poor and they were even being provided with meals, money was certainly melting away at a truly ridiculous rate.
Right now, High Priest Yodel was wearing a reverent and faithful expression, but as time passed and the money melted into astronomical figures while the factory land was ultimately revealed to be worthless garbage dirt, he would flee in disgust at the losses the Order had incurred.
My plan was being steadily completed.
I had set up a shabby little clinic near the construction site and, while continuing to treat the poor who kept flocking to me, I prayed for the Order of Grace's clergy to leave as soon as possible.
"Saint."
Was it after I had continued healing all day once again?
Jonathan Karma cautiously approached my side and spoke to me.
"While excavating the ground for the foundation work, we have encountered a massive stone mass, which is delaying the work. The stone is far too hard to be penetrated with the drilling equipment currently in use."
My ears perked up.
"Then what must be done?"
"We must rent more expensive, high-grade equipment. To do that, that... a somewhat large amount of money seems likely to be consumed."
"Proceed."
The heavens were helping!
The heavens help!!
Spend lots of money!
Spend it like water!
That way, later, when they realized they had been digging a hole in thin air, people would leave while cursing up a storm!!
"High Priest Yodel. Would you please immediately rent the high-grade equipment that Mr. Jonathan is requesting..."
"Saint!"
Ah, fuck.
Fuck!
Fuck, no!!
The four-armed witch! You again?
"Lady Witch! Your timing is most welcome!"
Naturally, this time as well, even before I could try to stop anything, the witch heard the situation from Jonathan and then smiled, taking out her wand.
"Do not worry. I will take care of it for you!"
Troll!!
There was no troll like that troll!!
Stop interfering with my plans and please just get lost!!
Did you know how much money was saved because of you?
Please, just!!
...was something I only shouted in my mind, after all.
How could I possibly have the nerve to shout at a super-special-grade nuclear bomb that could potentially blast away the entire empire?
I had no choice but to watch as the witch approached the construction site with her wand in hand.
"Hm? This is a Mana-Absorbing Stone, isn't it? How can a Mana-Absorbing Stone be this large?"
The witch's surprised voice was briefly heard, and then the next moment,
the ground shook as if from an earthquake.
When I turned my head, I could see the witch at the center of the construction site, wand in hand, endeavoring to extract a massive black stone mass firmly embedded in the dirt.
"It absorbs mana, so pulling it out with magic alone is difficult! I think I will need a little help! We must combine our strength to pull it out!"
"We shall do so!"
The laborers from the slums who had been working came rushing over in a crowd and grabbed onto the enormous stone mass, beginning to exert their strength.
"Now! Put your strength into it! One, two!"
With a grinding crunch, the huge black stone mass was yanked up high into the air.
Irritating.
Just from the size, it looked terribly hard and heavy—had I made them pull it out with equipment, it could have made them spend far more money.
Still, I should take some comfort.
The very act of constructing a high-rise building on that garbage, useless piece of land was already an absurd waste of money in itself.
If things continued as they were, the Lilia Order would most certainly go bankrupt...
"Something is surging up from under the ground! Lady Witch!!"
Along with the crisp sound of a 'pop!', the noise of something gushing and churning wildly was heard.
When I shifted my gaze back in that direction, I could see the laborers retreating backward in confusion.
A liquid with a lustrous blue color was endlessly spouting from the ground right where the enormous stone mass had just been extracted.
The witch, still holding her wand, wore a surprised expression as she slowly approached the liquid.
After cautiously touching the blue water, the four-armed witch shouted in horror.
"Elixir... It's an Elixir Spring!"
Elix... what?
Elixir, you say?
No, why would that come out of there?
Why would that really come out of there, I'm asking!