Shining Gold (12)
Two days had passed since the experiment that turned the white sand beach into a smoking crater. Heerin's family had wrung every last drop of enjoyment from the ocean. They'd taken a boat out to a nearby island, strolled the shore under the moonlight, and even set off a few modest fireworks. (They'd been careful to pack out all their trash.) Even Heerin, the elementary schooler with seemingly bottomless stamina, was finally starting to run low on energy. The end of the trip no longer felt like a tragedy. And so, on the final day of their vacation, Heerin's family was busy packing their bags while Serpina and Ayoung stood on the hidden stretch of beach.
By some twist of fate, the day they were scheduled to leave coincided with the Sun Research Society's main experiment. If everything went smoothly, they could watch until the very end and then head home at their leisure. But would everything really go smoothly? Serpina strongly doubted it. Something was definitely going to go wrong.
The beach was packed with far more mages than last time. Apparently getting completely covered in sand hadn't been a pleasant experience, because everyone had come prepared this time. The magic circles being drawn on the sand were on a completely different scale from before—in number, size, and complexity. Serpina finally understood what they'd meant by "a little side experiment" during the previous test.
And above all else... it was gold. Actual gold. Among the countless circles, the foundational array—the most important one that supported all the others—had been drawn in gleaming, sparkling gold. Since ancient times, yellow, glittering, precious gold had symbolized the sun. For the Sun Research Society's experiments with solar mana, there could be no better material. It was almost a shame they could only use it for truly critical experiments given how expensive it was.
"Hmm."
Serpina reflexively froze mid-motion. She was drawn to gold, and the shine of that particular gold was certainly tempting... but she wasn't about to steal someone else's property. It wasn't as if there weren't any dragons who simply took whatever they wanted. But among the dragons Serpina had met personally, only the truly rotten ones behaved that way. They were the ugly bastards who, even during the war against infinite mana, had clung desperately to their hoards until the very last moment, only relinquishing them when total destruction was staring them in the face.
Compared to those creatures, Serpina was practically human. She could resist the lure of gold right in front of her. Of course, if there was a way to obtain it through mutual agreement, she'd use every trick in the book to get her hands on it.
The Sun Research Society finished inspecting their magic circles. They then double- and triple-checked the concealment arrays. Watching them, Ayoung asked, "Just how big is this experiment that they're being so obsessive about the concealment circles?"
"It doesn't look like it'll explode like last time, at least."
Today's experiment was about gathering solar mana and materializing it. Materializing mana was practically Serpina's specialty. After all, a dragon's breath was the technique of compressing non-physical mana until it gained physical mass, then releasing it all at once. From her perspective, the preparations for this experiment were solid. Even if it failed, the mana would probably just dissipate harmlessly rather than cause a massive explosion.
After a short wait, the final inspection was completed. Just like before, a man from the Sun Research Society stepped forward and told the other mages to keep their distance before taking his position in the center of the array. Incantations flowed from his mouth, and mana began pouring into the circles. And then...
Night fell over the white sand beach.
"...Huh?"
Ayoung let out a dazed sound as she looked up at the sky. A real hole had been punched through the open sky above the beach. Amid the blazing sunlight, an unnatural darkness had risen and split the space around them. Serpina explained to the bewildered Ayoung, "It's light."
"Light?"
"They're gathering every bit of sunlight pouring down on this beach into a single point to concentrate the sun's mana in one place."
Looking closely, the pitch-black darkness that made it impossible to see even an inch ahead was actually an inverted cone rising from the center of the magic circle toward the sky. The darkness that had fallen over the surroundings was merely the shadow cast by that cone. At the tip where the cone converged was a black sphere about the size of a basketball. That was probably where the mana was gathering.
Ayoung finally understood why the Sun Research Society had poured so much time and effort into their concealment circles. Hiding a patch of night in the middle of broad daylight would require that level of investment.
The concentrated mana began to accumulate in one spot. The sun's immense power was too much to contain completely, and even the portion leaking out sent chills down the surrounding mages' spines.
"What a shame," Serpina muttered.
Too much mana was leaking out. At this rate, proper materialization would either fail completely or the result would scatter instantly even if it succeeded. She knew this well because it was a mistake she'd made frequently when first learning to use her breath. The mages who didn't understand this, however, seemed to think success was right around the corner.
"A physical object made from materialized solar mana! I wonder how much it'll go for?"
"It's impressive, but it's still just solar mana. No need to overpay for something we can't even use properly."
They were already discussing the auction as if the experiment had succeeded. The Sun Research Society was pouring their heart and soul into the final stages of the test while the mages whispered among themselves, preparing for the bidding war. Because of this, none of them noticed the suspicious shadow approaching.
"What's that? Are those guys from the Society too?"
Serpina, the only one among them to notice the shadow, muttered to herself.
"What? Who?"
Ayoung, who had been focused on watching the experiment, turned to ask. But before Serpina could answer—
A rope shot forward at incredible speed from the sea. Of course, it wasn't an ordinary rope. The enchanted line writhed like a living thing as it snatched the nearly-formed solar mana crystal. None of the gathered mages could react in time. They'd been mentally prepared in case one of their own tried something, but none of them had imagined an attack coming from the ocean.
"Ah!"
By the time someone screamed, the mana crystal had already left the beach and was floating above the sea. A man was there, poking just his upper body out of a submarine. With a metallic clatter, the rope delivered the crystal into his hands.
"Hahaha... Ow, hot!"
The man, who had been laughing triumphantly, shook his burning hand and quickly stuffed the crystal into a container he'd prepared. The sight was utterly undignified and pathetic... but there was no denying that the mana crystal was now in his possession.
The man cleared his throat several times and began laughing again as if trying to pretend the previous moment hadn't happened.
Having repeated the name as if to brand it into the minds of every mage present, the man disappeared back into the submarine. At the same time, the vessel sank beneath the waves and began heading toward deeper waters.
"Hey! Go faster! What are we going to do if those guys chase us?!"
"If the captain hadn't provoked them, we could've gotten farther! The water's already too shallow here to maneuver the sub properly!"
"You dare talk back to your captain?!"
Such pathetic conversation continued inside the submarine, but for the mages it was a serious crisis.
"What about our auction now?"
"Who cares about the auction? What are we going to do about that thing?"
They hadn't come here out of idle curiosity to watch another guild's experiment. Even if they couldn't win the auction, they at least needed to see whether it succeeded or failed to make the trip worthwhile.
"The experiment isn't even finished yet! Wait until it's done before you take it!!" the man leading the experiment wailed. Was he saying they could take it after the experiment was over? Given how they'd casually sold off the results of the previous experiment, maybe they really didn't care what happened once the test was complete. If it made money, great. If not, whatever.
Then one mage had a sudden realization.
"Wait a minute. Can't we just take it from those pirates?"
The mana crystal was already in the pirates' hands. So they simply needed to take it from the pirates. Shouldn't they return it to its rightful owners, the Sun Research Society? Morally, yes. But the pirates had fled into the open sea. If they dealt with the pirates quietly, retrieved the item, and hid it away, who would ever know?
The other mages who reached the same conclusion moved quickly.
"Those wicked pirate bastards! We cannot forgive them!"
"I'll definitely get it back!"
Shouting about justice while racing to be the first, they cast spells on themselves and dashed toward the sea. However, not many mages actually gave chase. Not many possessed magic that allowed them to operate at sea, and even fewer had confidence they could beat the others to the prize.
The man from the Sun Research Society stamped his feet in frustration. Whether the experiment succeeded or failed, it needed to reach its conclusion to have any meaning.
"Please help us retrieve the mana crystal!" he cried, gathering the Society members to prepare for pursuit while appealing to the other mages for assistance. Their reactions, however, were lukewarm. Those who had any intention of chasing the pirates had already rushed off.
"Lady Serpina! Lady Serpina!"
Taein came running desperately, calling her name. Having witnessed her spot the flaw in the magic circle at a glance last time, he was turning to her for help.
"If you retrieve it for us, we'll compensate you generously!"
"Compensation, huh..."
Was there any reward worth taking? She thought for a moment but nothing particularly tempting came to mind. Just as she was about to shake her head, her eyes fell on the magic circle. The one drawn in gold.
"Hey. Got any of that magic circle gold left over?"