The Mana Power Plant (1)
Slurp.
Oscar poured hot coffee into his cup and gazed down at the night view of Shilin.
"...Not bad."
It had already been four weeks since Franc entered closed-door cultivation. November had settled over the world, and winter had arrived in earnest — it was just about time for the first snow.
While everyone around him bustled about preparing for the long winter ahead, his own life was, quite simply, perfect. He was enjoying the most peaceful days he'd had since waking up in little Oscar's body.
My stamina has improved a lot from all the exercise, and the potions and supplements are selling like hotcakes. The students are keeping up with the lessons nicely, too.
As for the airship development, there wasn't much for him to do until Elder Schwein finished work on the battery. Everything, truly everything, was running smoothly.
And if nothing unusual comes up, I'll be reaching 3rd level before long.
His existing circuits had settled in well enough that it was about time to install a new one.
"Honestly, everything is perfect."
The moment he took in the beautiful night skyline with a contented smile—
Whuumm.
Every lightbulb in his room — and then every light illuminating Shilin's night — went dark all at once.
"..."
Total blackout. But Oscar, apparently quite used to this kind of thing, calmly took a sip of his coffee.
A moment later, just as he expected, light returned to the city's buildings and streets. Even the ceiling bulb, after flickering a few times, was glowing bright again.
It's been happening a lot lately.
Oscar silently stared up at the bulb. Recently, the mana supply to the tower and the city had been cutting out with troubling frequency.
Could we be running low on mana stones?
Mana stones were a kind of energy source — simply put, stones imbued with mana. Ever since the great age of Magic Engineering had dawned, the consumption of mana stones had reportedly grown far beyond what it once was. Whole cities had to be lit, after all, and the households and facilities that required mana numbered far more than a handful.
That might have been a problem before the Potion Department existed, but money shouldn't be an issue now.
While the vaccines had genuinely stopped selling, revenue from the potions and supplements was climbing by the day. What's more, the White Tower used the Sirius Merchant Guild's distribution network, so there was no chance of the mana stone supply running late.
Above all, Shilin has its own mana power plant.
In other words, even without purchasing mana stones, the city could keep running for a set period. And yet the supply was cutting out this often, which meant there had to be a reason for it.
It wasn't as though he had no suspicions.
Compared to the past, the city's total mana consumption has increased to an absurd degree.
There were the streetlamps installed along every street, and even ordinary homes now had at least a few mana-powered lights. Refrigerators, in particular, were practically mana-eating hippos.
On top of that, Shilin's economy has come back to life recently, and tourists are flooding in...
It was possible the demand had grown beyond what the power plant alone could produce.
— An announcement from the broadcasting room.
Magician Oscar Crucian, please report to the Vice Tower Master's office immediately.
"..."
He set down his still-steaming cup of coffee and let out a sigh tinged with regret. It felt as though his short vacation of a few days had just come to an end.
"The mana supply has been cutting out far too often lately."
That was the first thing Vice Tower Master Hamel said. Oscar nodded in agreement.
"I'd say so. It's gone out at least once every two days."
"Exactly. Which brings me to this — I believe it's time we cleaned the power plant."
"...You mean the slimes."
Slimes were monsters with an instinctive habit of gathering wherever mana ran abundant. Weak enough that even a 1st-level mage could hunt them, but a monster was still a monster. Naturally, when hundreds or thousands of them swarmed in, even a perfectly good facility was bound to break down.
"Yes. With our manpower stretched thin, the cleaning has been delayed, so a considerable number of slimes must have gathered around the plant by now. Clearing them out should make the mana supply flow far more smoothly."
"Nothing too difficult, then. When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow at nine in the morning. Meet Miss Veronica at the tower entrance."
"...Veronica Frix?"
Frankly, sending a 4th-level mage on this job felt like a bit of a waste.
Well, I suppose he's sending her as insurance in case something happens.
What could possibly go wrong hunting slimes? Still, there was no harm in being careful. Oscar nodded.
"Understood."
The next morning, when Oscar arrived at the tower entrance, Veronica and a carriage were already waiting. He waved a casual greeting.
"Morning."
"..."
Dark circles hung heavy under her eyes. She gave him a brief once-over, then spoke.
"...Let me warn you before we set off. Where we're going today is not a classroom."
"Right. We're headed to the mana power plant."
"No, what I mean is — I'm the one in charge of this mission. You might be a little — a very, very little — quicker on the theory of magic, but when it comes to field experience, I've got you beat by a mile."
Sorry to disappoint, but I've got more of that, too. By a lot.
Still, he could roughly guess what she was getting at.
"In other words, don't play teacher outside the classroom?"
"Now you're getting it."
"Fine by me."
Oscar nodded with an air of indifference and climbed into the carriage. He had no intention of playing team leader on the road to some trivial errand, after all.
"..."
Veronica climbed in after him, took the seat across from his, promptly flipped an eye mask down over her face, and crossed her arms. She radiated a do-not-talk-to-me aura that anyone could read at a glance.
But I can't let an opportunity like this slip by.
Little Oscar had noted, time and again, that this girl possessed a remarkable talent. He'd been curious what kind of talent could warrant such emphasis — and here was a perfect chance to find out.
Ahem.
Time to start with a little icebreaking.
"You look exhausted. Feels like you didn't sleep a wink last night?"
"If I look that tired, shut it. I need to grab at least a little sleep."
"A person with overwhelmingly more field experience than me, getting worked up over a chore like this? Couldn't be. Did you stay up all night reading some exciting novel or something?"
"...What am I, a child?"
Veronica growled low in her throat. Oscar, who had opened the conversation with pure nonsense, snorted a laugh. After all, there was usually only one reason a mage couldn't sleep.
"So you've hit a wall somewhere in your magic studies. Want me to lend a hand?"
"...I distinctly remember saying we are not going to a classroom."
"Oh? Suit yourself, then. I just thought it was a shame to see someone walk right past an open road and take the long way around."
"..."
At that, Veronica's ear twitched. Because lately, she truly had been feeling lost somewhere in her practice.
It's all because of that insufferable bastard's class...
The reason was none other than Elder Maxim's wind. That fierce, blazing wind he'd glimpsed just once in lecture — it refused to leave his mind.
I need to be wielding wind like that too, and soon.
But no matter how impatient he was, his own wind couldn't hold even a trace of that heat. That was why she'd been losing sleep at night to train.
...Come to think of it, me not sleeping is entirely that guy's fault too.
So asking what he'd meant just now wasn't a request for teaching — it was fair and proper compensation.
Veronica slid the eye mask up a fraction and shot him a sulky glare.
"What did you mean by that?"
"By what?"
"What you just said. The walking-past-the-road thing."
"Oh, that?"
Oscar fought hard to keep his composure. It felt like a stray cat that used to bolt at his approach was now cautiously sidling closer on its own. He waved the churu for all it was worth.
"If your magic's been stuck lately, it's almost certainly because of the Property of Mana we covered in the last lecture. Am I right?"
"...Yeah."
Veronica gave a reluctant nod and went on.
"I want wind as fierce and scorching as Elder Maxim's, but no matter how much I practice, none of that quality transfers into my wind."
"Well, of course it doesn't. That's not a wind that suits you."
"...It doesn't suit me?"
Her brow furrowed.
"You're only saying that because you don't know me. I've wanted — and wielded — fierce wind like that for a long time."
"Sometimes an outsider's eye sees you more clearly than you see yourself. For example — what kind of wind do you think I'd wield?"
"...An arrogant, insufferable wind."
Oscar barked a laugh at that and shook his head.
"Wrong. Sorry to break it to you, but my wind is famously warm and cozy."
"Famously my ass. I've never once heard anyone say that."
True, these days.
But back in the old days, he'd heard it until his ears were ready to fall off.
"Veronica. Do you think you're good at reading people?"
"For my age, sure."
"I don't think so. From what I've observed, when you look at someone, you only see the parts you want to see."
"...What are you, a psychologist? Skip the useless lecture and get to the point about magic."
Before her mood could sour any further, Oscar gave her a clear, decisive answer.
"The Property of Mana isn't about finding the thing you wish you had. You have to find what's most like you."
"Most like me...?"
Veronica sank deep into thought after that, and didn't open her mouth again until the carriage reached its destination.
"We've arrived, honored magicians!"
Seven hours after departure, the carriage pulled in. Oscar glanced at Veronica's grave expression and asked, ever so casually.
"Still chewing on it? Want a hint?"
"Get lost."
At that icy response, Oscar broke into a pleased grin. If she'd actually asked him for the answer here, he'd have been disappointed.
A mage, in the end, walks alone. It was a profession where no one could ever achieve greatness on the teachings of others alone.
You have to think for yourself, experiment, fail, and succeed on your own — only then are you a true mage.
Veronica looked even more brooding than she had boarding the carriage. She jammed her hands into her pockets and muttered lazily.
"Let's just get this done. Better to do the soul-searching when we're back."
Following her toward the power plant, they found slimes swarming everywhere even from the iron fence outside.
"Ugh. No wonder the power keeps cutting out, with the plant looking like this."
Slimes loved dark, damp places — the fact that they were wandering about under the blazing sun said everything.
Veronica let out a shallow sigh and flapped her hand as though shooing flies.
"Wind Press."
WHAM! CRUNCH!
Dozens of slimes, crushed under compressed air, were flattened like dough in an instant. Watching this, Oscar let out a small gasp of admiration.
Oooh... impressive.
Now he understood why little Oscar had rated her so highly.
Ultra-fast chanting on a speed-type mage. What a terrifying combination.
Wind Press was an intermediate spell — even a 5th-level mage needed at least seven seconds of focus to complete it. Finishing it in the blink of an eye could only be thanks to her blessed gift of High-Speed Chanting.
I could probably raise this girl into a Spell Shooter like Majiro, couldn't I?
Majiro Wilson — the mage once hailed in his past life as the Brain of the White Tower. The spell bombardment Majiro unleashed through ultra-fast chanting didn't so much as permit high-ranking demons to approach. There was one thing that gave Oscar slight pause, but that could wait for closer observation.
Just then, Veronica turned toward him with a scrunched-up face.
"Hey, am I the only one working here? Did you come on vacation?"
"...I'll take the right side."
Clearing the sheer volume of slimes piling up around their feet took a full hour. Afterward, Veronica made a lap around the building's outer wall and muttered under her breath.
"Good news is they're only swarming near the entrance. That should cover the outside — let's head in."
Inside the plant, dim red lamps hung along the corridor walls at even intervals. And needless to say, slimes were squirming and crawling all through that corridor as well — on the floor, and clinging to the walls and ceiling besides. It felt like walking into the belly of a whale.
"...Ugh, gross."
Her face twisted in disgust, Veronica dispatched them swiftly as she pressed forward. Then, all at once, Oscar dropped to one knee and stared intently at a slime oozing its way toward him.
Seeing this, Veronica asked.
"What are you doing?"
"...Something's off."
"Off how? What is?"
"Slimes aren't usually this industrious. Once they've absorbed enough mana, they're so lazy they'll find a dark, damp spot and sleep for days on end."
Oscar lifted his head and looked at her.
"You said earlier the slimes were only swarming near the entrance, right?"
"...That's what I said. Why?"
"Look at the path these things are taking."
Every last one of the slimes filling the corridor — without a single exception — was oozing its way toward the entrance.
Oscar gazed down the far end of the dark corridor and murmured.
"They're all facing the entrance. As if they're trying to get as far away from that place as possible."
"What nonsense. Slimes don't have intelligence or anything like it. They just live however they please."
"All the more reason they'd follow their instincts to the letter. And the strongest instinct of all is the will to survive."
"...So what? You're saying there's some terrifying monster lurking back there?"
"That's what we're about to find out."
Oscar rose slowly to his feet.
"Let's pick up the pace."
"...Don't give orders outside the classroom."
Even as she grumbled, she quickened her step.