Seed (Part 2)

Royal Capital · Seyekin

In the basement of a certain luxury residence, the magic array on the floor suddenly lit up. A mass of flames blazed fiercely at its center, taking the form of a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl.

But this girl looked like she had stolen her mother's dress—the clothes were far too big, with sleeves and hem dragging on the ground, and her expression was somewhat twisted.

She was none other than High-level Mage Sera, who had just fled from Cecilia City.

Sera had no time to mind her disheveled state. She roughly pulled at her clothes, walked to the mirror in front of the basement, and saw that the magic array around her navel was fading. The red gem that seemed embedded in her belly button had shrunk to the size of a red bean.

"My Phoenix Stone!" Sera touched the gem in anguish.

This was a special magical artifact.

By nourishing this stone with her own flesh and blood, when the Phoenix Stone grew large enough to cover her entire navel, Sera would gain a chance to be reborn from the flames.

But that also meant she had to start from childhood and learn magic all over again.

Moreover, the second time nourishing the Phoenix Stone was far less effective than the first. With each rebirth, the speed of nourishing the stone slowed. The first time took only three years for a rebirth, the next six, then twelve... until one day, it would reach a point where pouring in an entire lifetime wouldn't be enough to nourish the stone.

So for the owner of the Phoenix Stone, it was best to use it only when their life was nearly over.

Under normal circumstances, Sera would never have touched this stone. But this time, she had felt a strong sense of crisis—a terrifying premonition she hadn't even experienced as a child when she was caught stealing and nearly beaten to death.

Mages absolutely trusted their premonitions, especially female mages.

That was why Sera had chosen to use the Phoenix Stone.

"The owner of that Magic Well is definitely not just Intermediate-level. Even if he is, there's someone above him," Sera muttered. "Payson must have been fooled... No, is Payson even still normal?"

Sera recalled the White Robe and the old man smiling at her while holding their heads, and couldn't help shivering.

As a High-level Mage of the Royal and Library Mage Tower, when Sera had received the commission from Minister Payson of the Eastern Territory Department of Education, she had thought he was making a mountain out of a molehill.

—It was just a bunch of kids without any magical talent cheating on the Magic Unified Examination. Was it really necessary to send two High-level Mages? That was way too cautious!

But Payson came from an orthodox mage family. Even though he was only an Intermediate Mage, Sera, who had no background, didn't want to offend him—in the Royal Capital's mage circles, especially the Royal Mage Tower, a mage's background and seniority were very important—so Sera had ultimately accepted the commission.

She never expected to become the protagonist of a horror story.

Now that Sera had calmed down, thinking it over carefully, the scene of heads falling off was clearly the Black Robe's trick.

Nine point nine-nine out of ten Black Robes had extremely nasty personalities.

The scariest part was that the mass decapitation scene showed this curse was highly contagious!

A classic pollution-type black magic.

So when had the other party struck?

Sera confirmed that the White Robe had been normal when they went on the mission together.

Nothing unusual had happened along the way.

The only time the other party had left her sight was when she went down into the well, leaving the White Robe alone with the old man.

And that master-servant pair were mages from the Cecilia Mage Tower—it wouldn't be strange for something to go wrong with them at any point.

Sera was even starting to suspect that the entire Eastern Territory had become some Black Robe's playground, with everyone in a state of contamination, including Minister Payson.

Otherwise, why would that minister make such a fuss over something as trivial as mortals cheating on an exam?

For all she knew, it had been a trap from the start!

"No, I have to report this immediately," Sera muttered.

She waved her hand toward her wardrobe.

This was a minor spell she had learned back when she was a Beginner Mage. As long as she used the casting gesture, the wardrobe would pick the most suitable clothes for her based on her mood that day and fly them over automatically.

But today, her wardrobe didn't react at all.

Sera stared at the wardrobe for a moment, then made the casting gesture again.

Still no response.

Sera's expression slowly froze. She didn't try to summon her clothes again. Instead, she attempted a basic Light Spell.

The kind every Magic Apprentice knew.

But again, there was no reaction.

Her body felt empty, as if all her previous spells and mana had been nothing but her imagination.

Sera's body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"How is this possible?! Didn't I rebirth?" Even if there had been some negative status, it should have reset! Why couldn't she still use magic?!

But no one could answer Sera's question.

And Sera couldn't ask anyone for help.

Sera was actually from a poor background. It was only because she had the potential to become a High-level Mage, detected by the Mage Tower's Crystal, that she had gained her current identity and status.

On that day, her teacher had come to welcome her and had burned to death the gang's Boss who ran her organization, the grandparents who had taken her in, and the little friends she had stolen and begged with—all of them, as if torching an anthill.

"You are a chosen one. You were never meant to be in such a filthy place," her teacher had said.

And Sera had felt the same way.

She must have been misplaced by the gods, to be born in such a wretched 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, no noble status. Her research never received attention from above, and naturally, she couldn't produce results. For a mage of common birth like her, the best outcome was to marry another High-level Mage, produce another High-level Mage, and after three generations, establish a mage lineage.

Or simpler still, marry directly into some prestigious mage family.

Sera couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose her magic.

Though the Mage Tower people would initially help her find the culprit and restore her power, as long as she remained powerless for half a year... no, a month, she would be reduced to a lab subject.

Especially since Sera carried the Phoenix Stone, which many coveted.

If they knew she had lost her magic...

Sera bit her lip.

She would never go back to those days without magic.

"Burn them... right, why not just destroy all the witnesses?" Sera muttered.

She had just undergone a "reboot." As long as she didn't deliberately check her talent again, others shouldn't notice anything unusual. Of course, she couldn't let her guard down either. She had to deal with the White Robe, the old man, and his slave, and cleanly wrap up the Eastern Territory Department of Education's commission.

"Think about it, it's not hard. Just report truthfully," Sera said to herself. "As long as I make the Royal Mage Tower notice that the Black Robes in the Eastern Territory are using large-scale polluting dark magic, it'll escalate to a war level. Naturally, no one will bother with a nobody like me."

Then she could slowly find a way to restore her power.

For the first time in years, Sera opened her wardrobe herself, picked out clothes she had prepared long ago that fit her current figure, and took a carriage to the Royal Mage Association.

She walked inside and found it unusually lively.

A crowd seemed to have gathered in the association's hall, all shouting about something.

In the solemn Royal Mage Association, this was rare.

But 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 shrink!"

"But at least she's alive!"

Amid the commotion, a senior official of the Royal Mage Association—a gentle-looking High-level female mage—walked up to Sera and embraced her. "Dear, it looks like you've been through a lot, but I'm glad you made it back safely!"

...Why did it sound like everyone already knew what had happened?

Sera felt nothing but icy cold.

She stiffly asked, "How do you all—"

"Sera, you're back!"

Another voice cut her off.

Sera turned her head in horror and saw the White Robe standing at the center of the crowd, looking at her with excitement.

Of course, his head was perfectly attached to his neck now, with no sign of falling off.

He walked up to Sera like a friend reunited after a great ordeal, hugged her emotionally, and said excitedly, "Thank goodness! You're alive! When I saw you engulfed in flames, I thought..."

"You're the one!" Sera wanted to scream, but she couldn't even manage that. She barely squeezed the words out of her throat. "Why are you still alive—"

"Silly girl, you had a trump card, and so did Miche!" the gentle lady said, still holding Sera.

Sera stared at the White Robe in terror, saying nothing.

But the lady seemed to mistake Sera's horror for speechless joy, and smiled to herself. "I heard it all from Milu. You accepted Payson's commission to investigate the Black Robes' Mana Base Station, broke into their Mana Well, and were ambushed by some 'unknown faction's' Black Robes. Under their lethal assault, you had to escape through rebirth, while Miche held out until he reached the core of the Magic Well, snatched their core Seed, and then tore open a teleportation scroll! Since the scroll was keyed to the Mage Association, he came straight back! That's how we learned what a terrifying adventure you two had!"

...I didn't know I had such a textbook adventure.

I thought I just lived through a horror story!

And this horror story is still going!

Sera roared inwardly. Based on her experience, probably only the last part—"Miche used a teleportation scroll"—was true. Otherwise, there was no way he could have reached the Royal Mage Association faster than her.

But all Sera could hear was her own dry voice squeezing out: "The core of the Magic Well?"

"Right... more accurately, it wasn't a Magic Well, but a Sky Spring!" the lady said, looking toward one side of the hall. There, on a cushion, a crystal-like Seed was radiating a seven-colored glow.

"They must have used this to impersonate a Mana Base Station and give ordinary people magic," the White Robe said.

As if it were all true.

"Has it been tested? Is it safe?" Sera asked flatly.

"Of course. The moment Miche returned, we ran tests," the lady said, patting Sera's head. "Don't worry. Though Miche's contribution is undeniable, we won't forget your sacrifice."

...Wait, that tone! Why is she comforting me?

As if I'm jealous of Miche!

Do you think I'm jealous that Miche lost his head?!

Sera's eyes widened in disbelief, and she finally realized the unusual enthusiasm everyone had for that so-called Sky Spring Seed. She forced out the question: "This Seed... what are you planning to do with it?"

"Of course, we should try cultivating it!" a middle-aged Mage said with enthusiasm. "If even ordinary people can possess Mana, then what about using it on Mages?"

"According to historical records, the Lady of Charm also fed the Sky Spring and obtained the Sky Kingdom!"

"The Black Robe of the Magic Gear seems to be a descendant of the Cecilia Family! They must have some hidden secrets!"

"But I heard it requires an enormous amount of Mana..."

"Hmph, that's just an exaggeration from ancient Mages! The fact is, if it succeeded in the remote Eastern Territory, how could it possibly fail in the more prosperous Royal Capital?"

The crowd buzzed with heated discussion, as if they had already obtained a Magic Well with an endless supply of Mana.

Sera felt her scalp crawl as she watched them.

She asked, "Then the Eastern Territory—"

"Since we've won, let's not push them too hard," the woman said, giving Sera another comforting hug. She seemed to think Sera wanted revenge on her enemies. "I know you're not satisfied, but we won't let them off for long! Before that, let them provide us with the Sky Spring cultivation method first!"

No, I don't want revenge!

This Sky Spring is a trap!

We didn't find any damn Magic Well, only a filthy sewer!

Miche's head even fell off!

Sera screamed inwardly, but she knew she couldn't say a word.

That White Robe was different from Sera. He came from a prestigious Mage family and had taken this mission only because he thought the opponent was just a Black Robe, easy to handle, and he wanted to pad his record. In practice, Sera did all the work.

So in Sera's original plan, she wanted to stir up the anger of Miche's family and let them deal with the Black Robe of the Eastern Territory.

But Miche had returned!

And he returned looking perfectly intact! He brought back a fabricated tale of a Hero's adventure and tangible achievements. People would only praise him, never suspect him.

As for Sera, even making an accusation would be seen as jealousy.

And even if the accusation succeeded, what then?

Confronting them now meant she'd have to reveal everything she'd experienced without holding back. If she slipped up, the secret that she couldn't use Mana might come to light.

What... should she do?

Sera instinctively looked at the White Robe, only to see him staring at her with a strange smile. She glanced around in despair—everyone wore smiles, and no one noticed the White Robe's odd behavior.

Watching them, Sera felt as if some of their heads might roll off too.

Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.

The crowd seemed to gather around her with concern, but the words she heard had nothing to do with her:

"It's fine! She's physically okay!"

"She must finally be relaxing!"

"Poor little Sera, after all those terrible things, she can rest now."

*

"Balah balah balah, balah lah lah lah~"

Angell slept until the afternoon, then came downstairs humming a strange tune.

The Black Cat's fur bristled at the off-key melody.

It eyed its master suspiciously: "You're in a good mood?"

"It's a great thing to have a child you don't have to raise and can just dump on someone else, isn't it?" Angell said.

"By normal standards, handing your child over to someone else to raise is never a good thing," Mithril retorted.

It hesitated, then decided not to ask what this so-called "child" was.

The more it dealt with this Black Robe master, the less Mithril wanted to know.

After all, it was just an innocent little cat!

It had no desire to learn about the troublesome schemes these foolish humans were cooking up behind the scenes!

Angell had no intention of discussing his schemes with a Black Cat either. Cheerfully, he looked at the empty dining hall.

—By now, both the Receptionist Cats and the Rune Apprentices were working.

Slacking off while the employees worked was the joy of being the boss.

Angell used the Alchemy Pot to make himself a steak, sat down contentedly, and asked about his workshop's operations out of a sense of duty: "How's the workshop doing today?"

He already knew the answer.

Unlike Angell, whose schedule was a mess from jet lag, Mithril only lounged in the dining hall's floor-to-ceiling windows on lazy afternoons when everything was going smoothly.

But getting the Argumentative Cat to admit that was hard.

It reluctantly said, "More or less going according to your plan?"

*

Yes, even after the "Collective Cheating Incident," the workshop's operations remained unaffected.

In fact, under the orchestration of upper-level figures like Mayor Owen, most residents of Cecilia City never even learned of the incident.

When people picked up the Eastern Border Daily, the headlines read: Cecilia Plans Full-City Mana Base Station Coverage!, City of Academies' Lord Praises Education Pilot Project—Kagefen to Build Mana Base Station Too?, Untalented Individuals Surpass Talented in Meditation Power?! The Achievements of the Education Pilot Project.

Only the more observant noticed a small tag in the corner of the newspaper: Magic Unified Examination Incident—Third Charity School Students to Retake Theory Exam Next Month.

But even if they noticed, it didn't matter. Such news had nothing to do with games. Aside from "powerhouses" like Little Bolo, even if normal people thought of using magic tools to cause trouble, they lacked his hands-on ability. Besides, after the "Collective Cheating" incident, Angell had added Restriction Runes to the magic tools, preventing them from being used for anything other than games. So those tools were useless once they left the Mana Base Station.

Instead, it was Little Bolo's "Mass Production of Mobile Power Sources" that gave Angell inspiration—before this, Angell could produce mobile charging devices like the Game Table himself, but couldn't mass-produce them. Little Bolo's Recorder Mana Replication made mass production possible. After Angell bought the patent from Little Bolo's parents, he modified his own magic tools.

Speaking of which, this had caused a minor misunderstanding.

"Great Mage, are you planning to take my child as a disciple?" Little Bolo's father saw the Black Robe appear in his shop, saying he wanted to discuss something about his kid, and immediately got excited.

He grabbed Angell's hand and said, "I knew this little one of mine would amount to something! Before he was three months old, he tied the cat's tail in a knot. At six months, he knew to hide his brother's candy. At three, he found my secret stash. At five, he blew a hole in the family warehouse with a magic crystal! From that moment, I knew he had the makings of an Alchemy prodigy!"

Do you have some misunderstanding about what an Alchemy prodigy is?

Angell tried to pull his hand free: "No, I—"

"It's fine! You can take him away, no need to be polite! Even if it's not the Magic Gear in Cecilia City, you can take him to the Mage Tower to run errands—no problem! We have another son, his Little Brother, Lius, so inheritance is no concern!" Little Bolo's father clung to Angell. "A troublemaker like him... a talent like him can only grow under the supervision of a Black Robe like you."

...You just want to get rid of this little brat, don't you?

"Then, you don't want the tens of thousands in patent fees he might bring?" Angell asked.

"Patent?"

"Yes. Your child made a decent discovery that can help with my research, so I've decided to give him a patent fee—not just him, but anyone with new Alchemy discoveries that can help you modify magic tools can come to me for a patent. It's crude for now, but I'll sign a Magic Contract with you and give you a cut once it generates economic benefits," Angell said. "For example, your son's 'Mass-Produced Power Source'—I can put it into production immediately. At one percent profit per unit, that's tens of thousands of gold. Are you sure you don't want it?"

"...Patent? Tens of thousands of gold?" The Weapon Shop owner trembled.

Of course, he knew what a patent was.

In this era, the tech side had "new inventions" every minute. He often saw in the newspaper how some new invention from the Industrial City took the world by storm, and how the inventor got rich.

But that was too distant for the people of the Magic Capital. After all, magic had existed in this world for tens of thousands of years. Further research was only possible for high-rank mages and above—nothing to do with ordinary people. So the Weapon Shop owner couldn't connect it to himself, let alone his troublemaking son.

Now, with the Black Robe staring coldly at him, asking if he really wanted to give it up, he finally felt a shred of reality.

"Tens of thousands of gold!"

Old Bolo looked at his brat of a son and, for the first time, hesitated about whether to send the little rascal away.