Chapter 1

"An Archmage's Daily Research Report" by Su Changtian [Complete + extras]

Synopsis

Mage Ciprins discovered that he was a

substitute

lover, and that his boyfriend's white moonlight was someone else. He promptly broke up with him and prepared to grow old with knowledge from then on, but an unexpected turn of events followed-

"Thanks, scumbag. Your white moonlight and I are together now."

The two shared the same values, similar interests, and identical academic views. They were practically each other's other self in this world. Both were eccentric mages completely out of place in modern society, whose apprentices described them as "time travelers from the legendary

era

" and "the bane of electronics." It was perfectly scientific for them to get together.

I just wanted to write a sweet, clingy slice-of-life

lighthearted

story with a leisurely plot. Smooch! The pairing is a mutual romance with the white moonlight. Who [beep]s whom depends entirely on their mood that day. The cannon-fodder scumbag has had their affection rubbed in his face so much that he's now suffering serious internal injuries.

Reading guide

1. The magic continent has entered the technological age-even a futuristic, high-tech one—so don't be surprised to see mages playing with phones, although the protagonist can't even figure out a senior-friendly phone...

2. The cannon-fodder boyfriend doesn't stand a chance, so don't worry.

3. Thanks to all the classics of Western fantasy for their intellectual support, but I made up a great deal of this story myself. In particular, please don't look at the magic system or Magitech from a scientific perspective, because it's very unscientific. Seriously.

4. If you've read the other stories in this series, this one shares their setting, but takes place nearly six thousand years after the Praise arc. Familiar characters will appear only briefly at most, in odd little Easter eggs.

5. The author loves melodrama and sweetness.

Content tags:

Otherworld

continent, Western romance, alternate future, Western fantasy

Protagonists: Ciprins; Mephistopheles ┃ Supporting cast: Crow; Reynold; Doug; Goliath ┃ Other: both Western fantasy and science fiction

Review

Ciprins, a dark mage of dangerous power, keeps such a low profile that a high-ranking federal official takes him as a substitute lover. Once the truth comes out, the dark mage turns around and sweeps the official's white moonlight away. The two powerful mages, alike in personality, embark on a honeymoon journey that leaves their enemies in agony. As their identities are revealed along the way, they repeatedly slap their former superior in the face, while the scumbag official is force-fed displays of affection every day and deeply envies the enemies killed by the mage husbands. This is a sweet romance centered on tender affection. Although it focuses on everyday life, it still has a rich and complete setting. The author blends traditional Western fantasy elements such as magic, knights, and

dragons

with a futuristic science-fiction setting to create a colorful world. The first-person perspective draws readers into a sweet journey through another world. Lighthearted and humorous throughout, with gripping but not overly tense battles, it is an excellent read for relaxing.

Chapter 1

I broke up with my boyfriend.

Uh... unilaterally, since I hadn't had time to tell him officially yet. But I didn't have time to worry about that little matter now. I had to finish this experiment first. It had reached a critical stage, and I had to oversee it from start to finish. Leaving it to an assistant for even a second would be grossly irresponsible toward the fruits of my hard work.

Besides, I didn't like using the "assistants" the institute had assigned me. If I were an ancient mage, they wouldn't even be qualified to scrub the floor tiles in my mage tower. They weren't even as useful as golems...

All right, I'd never used a golem. They were too expensive.

But that didn't stop me from combining my theoretical knowledge with reasonable deduction to reach a conclusion: these mass-produced assistants hired by the government were nowhere near as useful as golems. And, yes, they definitely weren't as useful as constructs either.

I accidentally said that out loud.

"Teacher, aren't those two words for the same thing?" my female assistant asked at once.

What? She didn't know the difference between a golem and a construct? How had she passed the exam to become an assistant mage at the institute? Had someone used a substitution spell to swap the examiner's brain for rice porridge?

"Moli, stop asking stupid questions. You're a mage's assistant!" As soon as I'd said that, I added, "And I'm not your teacher."

I hadn't been able to stop myself from wasting my breath. I knew it was pointless; she'd keep doing as she pleased. Both remarks were just unnecessary venting, just as I was completely unable to stop the girl from doing her makeup like a demon. She called it "heavy-metal smoky makeup." As far as I was concerned, there was no difference. Most of the time, she looked exactly like the lesser Abyss devils I'd seen in the Illustrated Guide to Demons.

Forget it. Focus on the experiment!

But if I were an ancient mage and heard my assistant ask about something even a novice apprentice ought to know, I'd probably turn her into experimental material by accident. No, wait, I'd never hire an assistant mage like that in the first place!

...Don't think I missed Moli pursing her lips just now. I knew she wanted to talk back, but she wouldn't actually say anything. If she got one more poor rating on her performance reviews this year, she'd be packing her bags. The National Magic Research Institute would never be short of assistants, and getting fired would look terrible on her résumé. She wouldn't be able to find another job with benefits this good.

Before my thoughts could drift all the way to the Astral Plane... I'd bet that if those time-travel novels online were real, I could even drift across the Astral Plane and back to the legendary era. For now, though, I was standing seriously in my laboratory, directing these assistants whose brains and limbs were severely out of sync as they set up the final node of the magic array.

Hmm... all right, I admitted that I could be a little too strict when it came to magic, and perhaps a little long-winded too, but...

Look at it. How beautiful it was! Balanced, steady energy flowed through every line, and the magic power formed a stable, active state. The apprentices finished checking the last magic crystal they'd placed, and the magic power rapidly filling the air delighted me in body and mind. As long as the magic power around me was comfortable, even Moli looked like a sweet, adorable, well-behaved girl.

Now all I had to do was step onto it and activate the magic array. I'd practiced the incantation day and night, and I could make sure I got every syllable right even if I recited it offhand.

I thought it was looking forward to my casting the spell too!

...Suddenly, a terrible noise pierced my eardrums. My lips shifted shape, and I was about to throw up a shield when I recognized the tune-

"Keweite!" I was angry enough to lose a little of my composure, and my voice rose. "I've told you many times: no communication devices in my laboratory! Never mind that awful noise you call a ringtone. If so much as a tiny bit of magmo-magnetic radiation affects my experiment, I'll make sure you never need to communicate again!"

I'd thought my laboratory was under attack!

The bespectacled male assistant was clearly frightened. Given my prior record of blowing up everyone's phones at a venue while giving a presentation, he cast a worried glance at the thing, quickly switched it off, opened the door, and tossed it into the corridor before I could destroy it.

"Teacher," Moli said, displeased again, "people have practically worn themselves out debunking that. Modern Magitech has long since advanced. The radiation from phones is minuscule, or wouldn't all the phone manufacturers have died out ages ago? We thought you wouldn't believe those rumors on your social feed anymore!"

"That refers to the effects on human health, not the results of precise magical experiments!" I pointed out. "Moli, you're working as a mage's assistant! If there were a Magitech product that produced no magmo-magnetic radiation at all, I'd allow you to bring it in. But until every kind of radiation has been eliminated one hundred percent, or rigorous experiments can provide sound, well-supported proof that the radiation has no effect, I'm banning all technology from this laboratory. Not just Magitech-mechanical technology is forbidden too!"

I left no room for argument. The assistants all pulled out phones of various models, portable smart computers, and so on, then lined up to toss them into the corridor. No one said another word. Whenever the subject had anything to do with magic, Moli was the only person in the room who dared talk back to me. I could see her lips still silently forming the words, "The institute doesn't even have that weird rule." After I glared at her, she obediently shut her mouth, made an unwilling typing gesture, then took out pen and paper and dutifully began writing the experiment record.

All right, everything was finally ready.

My fingers moved swiftly and deftly through the preliminary casting gestures, and I picked up a pinch of magic powder. Then I stepped inside, while the assistants waited for my instructions.