Royal Capital · Seyekin
In the basement of a luxurious residence, the magic circle on the floor suddenly lit up. A mass of flames blazed in its center, then took the shape of a girl around twelve or thirteen years old.
The girl looked as though she had stolen her mother's dress. Her clothes were far too big, with the sleeves and hem dragging along the floor, and her expression was rather ferocious.
She was Sera, the High-level Mage who had just fled Cecilia City.
Sera couldn't spare a thought for her disheveled appearance. She roughly pulled down her clothes and went to the mirror near the basement entrance. She watched the magic circle around her navel disappear, while the red gemstone that looked embedded in it shrank to the size of a small red bean.
"My Phoenix Stone!" Sera touched the gemstone, heartbroken.
It was a special Magic Item.
By nourishing the stone with her own flesh and blood, Sera could earn a chance to be reborn in flames once the Phoenix Stone grew large enough to cover her entire navel.
But it also meant she would have to start learning magic all over again from childhood.
What's more, the second time she nourished the Phoenix Stone, the effect would be far weaker than the first. With each rebirth, the stone would take longer to nourish. At first, it took only three years to be reborn; next time, six years, then twelve... Eventually, she would reach a point where she couldn't nourish the stone even by sacrificing the rest of her lifespan.
That was why it was best for Phoenix Stone owners to wait until they were near the end of their lives before using it.
Under ordinary circumstances, Sera would never have used the stone. But this time, she had sensed a powerful threat. It was a terrifying premonition, worse than anything she had felt as a child when she was caught stealing and nearly beaten to death.
Mages trusted their premonitions completely, especially female mages.
That was why Sera had chosen to use the Phoenix Stone.
"The owner of that Magic Well is definitely more than an Intermediate Mage. Even if he is an Intermediate Mage, there must be someone else behind him," Sera muttered. "Payson must have been deceived... No, is Payson even still himself?"
Sera thought back to the White Robe and the old man, both of them smiling at her with their heads in their hands. She shuddered.
When Sera, a High-level Mage of the Royal and Library Mage Tower, received the commission from Payson, the Eastern Territory's Minister of Education, she had thought he was making a fuss over nothing.
--They were just a bunch of children without any magical talent cheating on the Magic Unified Examination. Was there really any need to send two High-level Mages? He was being far too cautious!
But Payson came from a family of orthodox mages. Even though he was only an Intermediate Mage, Sera, with no powerful background of her own, didn't want to offend him. In the Royal Capital's mage circles, especially at the Royal Mage Tower, a mage's background and seniority mattered a great deal. So in the end, Sera accepted the commission.
She hadn't expected to become the protagonist of a ghost story.
Now that she had calmed down, she thought it over carefully. That scene with the heads falling off had clearly been the Black Robe's trick.
Nine-point-nine-nine out of ten Black Robes had terrible personalities.
And the scariest part was that the mass head-dropping meant the curse was highly contagious!
A typical case of contaminating black magic.
So when had the other party made their move?
Sera was sure the White Robe had been normal while they were out on the mission together.
Nothing unusual had happened along the way, either.
The only time the other party had been out of her sight was when she climbed down into the well and the White Robe was alone with the old man.
And the master and servant were mages from the Cecilia Mage Tower. It wouldn't be strange if something had happened to them.
Sera even suspected the entire Eastern Territory had become some Black Robe's playground, and that everyone there was in that contaminated state, including Minister Payson.
Otherwise, why would the minister make such a fuss over something as trivial as Commoners cheating on an exam?
Maybe the whole thing had been a trap from the start!
"No, I have to report this immediately," Sera muttered.
She beckoned toward her wardrobe.
She had learned this little spell back when she was a Beginner Mage. All she had to do was make the casting gesture, and the wardrobe would choose the clothes that best suited her mood that day and fly them over to her.
But today, her wardrobe didn't react at all.
Sera stared at it for a while, then made the casting gesture again.
Still no response.
Her expression slowly hardened. She stopped trying to summon her clothes and instead attempted the most basic Light Spell.
The sort every Magic Apprentice knew.
But there was still no response.
Her body felt empty, as if every spell she had ever cast and all the Mana she had ever used were just figments of her imagination.
Sera began to tremble uncontrollably.
"How is this possible?! Wasn't I reborn?" Even if she had some kind of negative status, shouldn't it have been reset? Why couldn't she use magic?!
But there was no one who could answer her question.
Nor could Sera ask anyone for help.
Sera had actually been born among the poor. She had only gained her current status and position because the Mage Tower's Crystal detected that she had the potential to become a High-level Mage.
That day, her teacher had come to take her away. He had burned the gang leader who ran her gang, the grandparents who had taken her in, and all the friends she had stolen and begged with to death in one sweep, as if he were burning an anthill.
"You are one of the God-Chosen People. You never belonged in such a filthy place," her teacher had said.
Sera thought so, too.
She must have been placed in the wrong spot by God. That was why she had been born in such a terrible place.
But Sera also understood that everything she had now came from magic.
People respected her because she was a High-level Mage.
She had no illustrious background or noble status, and the higher-ups didn't care about her research, so she had no results to show for it. For a mage from a humble background like her, the best outcome was to marry another High-level Mage and have a child who could also become a High-level Mage. After three generations, they might become a mage family.
Or she could take the simpler route and marry into a respected mage family.
Sera couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose her magic.
The people at the Mage Tower might help her find the culprit and restore her power at first. But if she couldn't recover within six months... no, a month, she would end up as an experimental animal.
Especially since she also had the Phoenix Stone, which plenty of people coveted.
If they found out she had lost her Mana...
Sera bit her lip.
She was unwilling to return to those days when she had no Mana, no matter what.
"Burn them all... Right, why not just destroy all the witnesses?!" Sera muttered.
She had just been "restarted." As long as she didn't specifically get her talent checked again, the others shouldn't notice anything was wrong with her. Of course, she couldn't let her guard down. She had to deal with the White Robe, the old man, and his servant, then finish up the Eastern Territory Department of Education's commission.
"On second thought, it won't be hard. I'll just report the facts," Sera said to herself. "Once I make the Royal Mage Tower realize the Black Robes in the Eastern Territory are using large-scale contaminating black magic, it'll be treated as a war-level threat. Naturally, no one will bother with a little nobody like me."
Then she could take her time looking for a way to recover her power.
After many years, Sera opened her wardrobe herself. She picked out clothes that would fit her current body from the ones she had prepared long ago, put them on, and took a carriage to the Royal Mage Association.
When she entered the association, she found it unusually lively.
A crowd had gathered in the Mage Association's hall, shouting about something.
That was a rare sight in the solemn Royal Mage Association.
Before Sera could figure out what was happening, a female mage noticed her and immediately called out:
"Sera's back, too!"
"Ah, she really did get younger!"
"But it's good that she's alive!"
Amid the commotion, a senior official of the Royal Mage Association, a gentle-looking High-level Mage, came over and hugged Sera. "Dear, it seems you've been through a lot, but I'm glad you made it back safely!"
...Why did it sound as if everyone already knew what had happened?
Sera felt ice-cold all over.
She asked stiffly, "Why do you—"
"Sera, you're back!"
Another voice interrupted her.
Sera turned around in horror and saw the White Robe standing in the middle of the crowd, looking at her excitedly.
Of course, his head was now right where it belonged, firmly attached to his neck.
As if welcoming a friend home after a close brush with death, he came over and embraced Sera. Overcome with emotion, he said, "Thank goodness! You really are alive! The moment I saw you surrounded by flames, I thought..."
"You're the one!" Sera nearly screamed. But she couldn't even manage that. She could only force the words out of her throat. "Why are you still alive—"
"Silly girl, you had a trump card, and so did Miche!" the gentle woman said, holding Sera close.
Sera stared at the White Robe in terror without saying a word.
But the woman seemed to mistake Sera's terror for being too overwhelmed with joy to speak. She smiled and said, "Milu told me all about it. You accepted Payson's commission to investigate the Black Robes' Mana Base Station, broke into their Mana Well, and were attacked by Black Robes from some 'unknown faction.' Under their deadly assault, you had no choice but to escape by being reborn, while Miche held out until he reached the core of the Magic Well and seized their core seed. Only then did he tear open a teleportation scroll! Since the scroll was set to bring him to the Mage Association, he came straight back here. That's how we learned you'd been through such a terrifying adventure!"
...I didn't know I'd been through such a textbook adventure.
I thought I'd just experienced a ghost story!
And the ghost story was still going!
Sera screamed inwardly. Given what she had experienced, she suspected the only part of that story that was true was the bit about "Miche using a teleportation scroll." Otherwise, there was no way he could have reached the Royal Mage Association before her.
All she could manage was a dry rasp. "The core of the Magic Well?"
"Right... More accurately, it wasn't a Magic Well. It was a Sky Spring!" the woman said, looking toward one side of the hall. A seed with the luster of Crystal lay on a cushion there, radiating a rainbow of light.
"The other party must have used this to pass itself off as a Mana Base Station and give Mana to Commoners," the White Robe said.
He made it sound as though it were true.
"Have you tested it? Is it safe?" Sera asked in a hoarse voice.
"Of course. We tested it as soon as Miche came back," the woman said, patting Sera's head. "Don't worry. Miche's contribution is undeniable, but we won't forget your sacrifice."
...Wait, what was that tone? Why was she comforting me?
As if I were jealous of Miche!
Did they think I was jealous that Miche had lost his head?!
Sera stared in disbelief, and finally realized just how excited everyone was about this so-called seed. She asked with difficulty, "What are you going to do with the seed?"
"Of course we're going to try cultivating it!" a middle-aged mage answered enthusiastically. "If even Commoners can gain Mana, what if we use it on mages?"
"According to the historical records, Lady of Charm once fed a Sky Spring and even obtained the Sky Kingdom!"
"I heard the Black Robes from the Magic Gear are descendants of the Cecilia Family! They really do have secrets no one knows about!"
"But I heard it requires an enormous amount of Mana..."
"Heh, that's probably just an exaggeration by ancient mages! The fact is that it succeeded even in the remote Eastern Territory. How could it possibly fail in the far more prosperous Royal Capital?"
Everyone was discussing it heatedly, as if they had already obtained an inexhaustible Magic Well.
Sera felt her scalp go numb as she watched them.
"What about the Eastern Territory?" she asked.
"Since we've won, let's not push them too hard," the woman said, embracing Sera again in comfort. She seemed to think Sera wanted revenge on the enemy. "I know you're not satisfied, but we won't leave them alone for long! For now, let's have them provide us with the method for cultivating the Sky Spring!"
No, I don't want revenge!
The Sky Spring is a trap!
We didn't find any damn Magic Well. All we found was a filthy sewer!
Miche's head fell off, too!
Sera screamed wildly in her heart, but she knew all too well that she couldn't say any of it out loud now.
Unlike Sera, that White Robe came from a prestigious mage family. He had only accepted the mission because he thought his opponent was just a Black Robe and would be easy to handle, and wanted to take credit for the job. During the actual mission, Sera had done everything herself.
So Sera's original plan had been to stir up the anger of Miche's family and get them to deal with the Black Robes in the Eastern Territory.
But Miche had come back!
Not only had he returned looking completely unharmed, he had also brought back an entirely fabricated, Hero-like adventure story and tangible achievements. People would praise him and never suspect him.
Sera, on the other hand, would be accused of jealousy just for making an accusation.
And what would happen if the accusation succeeded?
If she confronted the other party now, she would have to tell them everything she had been through without holding anything back. One slip, and the secret that she couldn't use magic would be exposed.
What... should she do?
Sera looked at the White Robe without thinking. He was watching her with a strange smile. In despair, Sera looked around at the others. Everyone wore a smile, and not one of them noticed anything strange about the White Robe.
As she looked at them, she felt that some of their heads might roll off, too.
Sera's legs gave way, and she sank to the floor.
The crowd gathered around her with what looked like concern, but the voices around her had nothing to do with her:
"It's all right! There's nothing wrong with her body!"
"She must have finally relaxed after all that!"
"Poor little Sera. After everything terrible she went through, she can finally rest!"
"Ba-la-la, ba-la-la, ba-la-la-la-la..."
Angell slept until the afternoon, then came downstairs humming some strange tune.
Hearing the off-key singing, the Black Cat felt its fur stand on end.
It looked at its master suspiciously. "Are you in a good mood?"
"Isn't it great that the child you have can be raised by someone else, and you don't have to take responsibility?" Angell said.
"By normal standards, giving your child to someone else to raise is definitely not a good thing," Mithril commented.
It hesitated, but in the end didn't ask what "child" he meant.
The more time Mithril spent with its Black Robe master, the more it felt that the less it knew, the better.
After all, it was just an innocent little cat!
It didn't want to know about all the troublesome things these foolish humans were up to behind the scenes!
Angell had no intention of discussing his schemes with a Black Cat, either. In a good mood, he glanced at the empty dining room.
--At this hour, both the Receptionist Cats and the Rune Apprentices were working.
Being able to slack off while his employees worked was one of the perks of being the boss.
Angell made himself a steak in the Alchemy Pot and sat down happily. Out of a sense of duty, he asked how his Workshop was doing. "How's the Workshop today?"
He already knew the answer.
Unlike Angell, whose sleep schedule was completely upside down, Mithril could lounge in front of the dining room's floor-to-ceiling window on an afternoon like this only when everything was going smoothly.
But it wasn't easy to get the Argumentative Cat to admit that outright.
The Black Cat said grudgingly, "More or less according to your plans?"
Yes. Even the "Collective Cheating incident" hadn't affected the Workshop's operations.
In fact, due to the efforts of Mayor Owen and other high-ranking figures, most of Cecilia's residents had no idea it had happened.
When people picked up the Eastern Border Daily, they saw headlines like "Cecilia Plans Citywide Coverage with Mana Base Stations!", "City Lord of City of Academies Praises Education Pilot Project; Will Kagefen Also Build Mana Base Stations?" and "Those Without Talent Have Greater Meditation Power Than the Gifted?! The Achievements of the Education Pilot Project."
Only the more observant readers noticed a small tag in the corner of the newspaper: "Magic Unified Examination Venue Accident: Third Charity School Students Expected to Retake Theory Exam Next Month."
But even if they noticed, it didn't matter. This sort of news had nothing to do with the game. Aside from "strongmen" like Little Bolo, ordinary people couldn't pull off any schemes with Magic Items even if they wanted to. Besides, after the "Collective Cheating" incident, Angell had added Restriction Runes to the Magic Items, making them unusable for anything outside the game. So those items couldn't cause trouble after leaving the Magic Base Station, either.
Instead, Little Bolo's "Mass Production of Mobile Power Sources" had inspired Angell. Before this, Angell himself could make portable charging devices like Game Tables, but couldn't mass-produce them. Little Bolo's Recorder Mana Replication had made mass production possible. After buying the patent from Little Bolo's parents, Angell modified his Magic Items.
As it happened, this seemed to have caused a minor misunderstanding.
"Your Excellency, are you planning to take my child as your apprentice?" Little Bolo's father saw the Black Robe appear in his shop and say he wanted to discuss his child. He immediately became excited.
Gripping Angell's hand, he said, "I knew my youngest would amount to something! Before he was three months old, he tied knots in the cat's tail. At six months, he knew to hide his brother's candy. At three, he found my stash of money, and at five, he used a magic crystal to blow a hole in the family storeroom! From that day on, I knew he had the makings of an alchemist!"
Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about alchemists?
Angell tried to pull his hand free. "No, I..."
"That's all right! You can take him away, no need to be polite! The Magic Gear is right here in Cecilia City, but even if you took him to the Mage Tower to do odd jobs, that'd be fine! We've got another little one at home, his younger brother, Lius. You don't have to worry about inheritance!" Little Bolo's father held on to Angell. "A mischievous...talent like him can only grow up under the supervision of a Black Robe like you."
...You just want to get this little troublemaker out of the house, don't you?
"Then you don't want the tens of thousands of gold coins in patent fees he might earn?" Angell asked.
"Patent?"
"Yes. Your child actually made a useful discovery that can help with my research, so I've decided to pay him a patent fee. And it's not just him. Anyone with a new discovery in alchemy that can help improve Magic Items can apply for a patent here. The process may be a little rough at first, but I'll sign a Magic Contract with you and pay you royalties once the invention starts generating revenue," Angell said. "I can put your son's 'Mass-Produced Power Source' into production right away. Even at one percent of the profit per item, that'd be worth over ten thousand gold coins. Are you sure you don't want it?"
"...A patent? Ten thousand gold coins?" The Weapon Shop owner began to tremble.
Of course he knew about patents.
In this era, new inventions emerged every minute and every second in the technological world. He often saw stories in the newspapers about some new invention from an Industrial City taking the world by storm, and its inventor making a fortune.
But to the people of the Magic Capital, that was all too far removed from their lives. Magic had existed in this world for thousands upon thousands of years. Any further research was the work of high-ranking Mages, and had nothing to do with ordinary people. So the Weapon Shop owner couldn't quite connect it to himself—especially not to his troublemaking son.
Only now, with the Black Robe staring coldly at him and asking whether he really wanted to give it up, did it begin to feel real.
"Tens of thousands of gold coins!"
Old Bolo looked at his little rascal. For the first time, he hesitated over whether he should send the boy away.