Chapter 6 (continued)

As I wondered how to start, he spoke first. "Good afternoon. I'm Mephistopheles Madsen."

Of course, I knew that.

"Ciprins Field," I replied with a smile. "I know who you are, but I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you'd be at the summit, getting ready."

"Oh, spare me." Mephistopheles slumped his shoulders and tilted his head, looking thoroughly deflated. "You've been following that summit too? That berserker summit where the attendees started swinging chairs at each other halfway through? It's the most boring event I've attended this year. If they'd at least used spells when they fought, I wouldn't have such a headache now."

"Exactly!" I agreed wholeheartedly. "It was unforgettable. One was a senior member of the Magic Council, and the other was no ordinary person either—a high mage of the Arcane Alliance. They came to blows over a disagreement and even threw cups and shoes at each other. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were exchanging hidden weapons!"

My words clearly struck a chord with Mephistopheles. I supposed that was because he'd been there. I'd been dumbfounded watching it on a screen, let alone seeing it in person—the supposedly venerable mages had rolled up their sleeves, revealing huge, muscular biceps, grabbed chairs and started brawling, occasionally throwing assorted objects at each other, all on a live broadcast to the world. Even though the director had hurriedly cut to a commercial, those few seconds of footage were enough for people to imagine how brutal the rest of the fight must have been. Government pressure hadn't been enough to stop the endless stream of video edits made by the public.

"I remember that was three years ago, at the last summit. It was hilarious!" Mephistopheles nodded emphatically, clearly recalling the absurd scene he'd witnessed firsthand. "The problem was, they were arguing over a stupid apprentice-level question! Any mage should have known the answer as a matter of common sense! Putting one spatial alchemy item inside the storage space of another causes spatial disturbance, because both are artificially constructed subspaces..."

"...Not only will the items be rejected by the space, but the ruptured subspace could even swallow their user and drag them into the void! That's the first taboo of Space Magic: artificial subspaces must not be layered inside one another!" I continued. "They overlooked the concept of artificial spaces. It's not that all forms of Space Magic can't be used together; it's only when they create independent artificial spaces that they can't! A caster can carry a spatial alchemy item while using Space Magic like Teleportation..."

"...Because the two spaces don't overlap stably during the process. One passes briefly through the other, like water flowing through a pipe. They aren't folded twice on the material plane!" Mephistopheles clapped his hands. "Compare the permanent storage space attached to an item with a temporary spatial transfer spell: one is permanent and the other temporary. The difference is obvious. It couldn't be simpler!"

I spread my hands. "Exactly. It's as basic as it gets. Any introductory book on spatial spells would mention it. How could mages argue over it until they were bloody?"

"Right?" Mephistopheles snapped his fingers. "It's incomprehensible! That council member actually thought teleporting while wearing a spatial ring was dangerous. He even tried to propose that the government ban citizens from using magitech teleporters while carrying spatial rings!"

"Nonsense. It's ridiculous! I think kitchen knives are too dangerous too—they could cut your hand. Why don't we ban everyone from cooking and make them all eat raw cabbage instead?" I said.

Having witnessed it firsthand, Mephistopheles was clearly even more worked up. He waved his arms, as if trying to drive away those terrible memories. "If a mage casts Teleportation while wearing a spatial ring and fails, that can only mean one thing—his magic is terrible! He'd fail even if he cast it while running naked, so don't blame the spatial ring. Do you know how many cash-strapped mages dream of owning one but can't afford it?" (I nodded emphatically at that.) "And the magitech teleporter-yes, that council member also thought you couldn't wear a spatial ring on a magitech teleporter! What a joke! I suspect he was talking in his sleep! Magitech—is that the same thing as Space Magic? Magitech still belongs to modern technology! Its teleportation technology is fundamentally different from magic!"

"Yes! Magitech equipment can even be put inside spatial rings! Magitech storage bracelets have a storage function too, but precisely because they're fundamentally different, they can be stored inside each other. There's no question of layering spaces!"

"Two completely separate systems! Magic is magic, and technology is technology. Even if magitech has a touch of Magic Power to it, it's still a product of technology! Ignorant, shallow laymen, with nothing but useless politics in their heads. If they put even a little more thought into scholarship, they wouldn't make such fools of themselves!" Mephistopheles said.

As we traded remarks, Mephistopheles and I hit it off almost at once. I'd rarely had the chance to discuss academic matters so freely with anyone in a long time, because I usually had to go to great lengths to explain basic terms to my listeners. Moli, for example, had graduated from a magic academy, yet she didn't even know the difference between Divine Magic and Arcane Magic? Divine Magic came from faith and could only be used by clergy, while Arcane Magic referred to a mage's basic system of spells. Only after mastering the basic principles of arcane spells could one go on to learn advanced layered spells and elemental spells. I actually had to explain such common knowledge to a graduate! It was a good thing she was Moli. If it had been anyone else, that would have ended the conversation right there. Nobody cheerfully explained to a baby why people needed to breathe, unless they were the baby's parents.

That was especially true of spatial spells. Because magitech teleportation was so widespread, most people... before today, everyone except me, thought the research I was doing was meaningless. They didn't care at all what the difference was between magitech teleporters and ancient teleportation magic, nor did they care whether Space Magic and magitech spatial transfer operated on different principles—and the people I meant even included government council members. Although Moli had repeatedly offered to help me, I didn't think she understood the appeal of Space Magic.

"There are always many truths whose value can't be measured in money, or even used to make a profit in modern society. But that isn't because knowledge is meaningless. Knowledge isn't the same as Federation currency. Every piece of knowledge in this world belongs to the laws of the world, and those laws don't favor someone because they can make money," Mephistopheles said.

"Truth is priceless," I replied.

The sun wouldn't stop rising because no one paid for its light, and the stars wouldn't be bought off with a check and change their positions. In the same way, knowledge wouldn't lose its meaning because it couldn't be turned into cash.

I felt that, after today, there would finally be someone who understood what I was doing.

"Mel. You can call me Mel." Once again, he beat me to it.

Hmm, that sounded much cuter. Mephistopheles sounded like a demon's name.

"All right, Mel." I smiled. "Xipei. Just call me Xipei."

I saw Mel nod and curl his lips into a smile. "That's much better. Ciprins, your full name sounds like a crooked merchant who sells immoral goods."

"Ha, yours isn't much better. I think I've heard something pronounced like it in the Illustrated Guide to Demons." I smiled as I answered him.

With that, we both burst out laughing. It wasn't very dignified for mages. We were supposed to be calm and composed at all times; only by keeping our attention focused and our minds steady could we cast the right spells efficiently whenever they were needed. But... sometimes it really was hard to hold back.

Mel suddenly suggested, "There's only one copy of the book. Why don't we read it together?"

"The reading area over there is nice. It has pretty potted plants and tables that are great for reading, though whenever I come on ordinary days, there are always lots of noisy children running around clutching picture books."

"It doesn't look like there should be many people today," Mel said, satisfied. "Everyone's watching the manic summit."

We reached out together and took the book down. It had several Black Magic spells that attacked the soul directly, a form of ancient necromancy. I couldn't cast them, but they weren't hard to guard against, and the same was true for Mel. The curse's dim gray light circled the two of us twice before vanishing into the void.

"Oh, right, you should take a look at this book." I suddenly remembered something, drifted to the side and took the biting book from the shelf. It was now curled up in a ball, its mouth tightly shut, whimpering as though it were crying.