Chapter 14

Magic was meant to be studied for knowledge, not in pursuit of money and fame!

I sensed the spell again and carefully checked its strength. Suddenly, my expression turned incredibly awkward.

Through Mind Link, Mel sensed the sudden change in my mood and asked with concern, "Xipei, what's wrong? You're not hurt, are you? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Mel..." I... I remembered something I would rather not think about and couldn't help covering my face. "I'm sorry, Mel."

"What's wrong?" Mel suddenly froze, his mouth slightly open. Then he seemed to realize something too. I saw him check the magic fluctuations of the Invisibility Spell again. A moment later, his voice sounded strangely weak. "Xipei... that's your spell..."

At that moment, I felt terribly sorry for Mel. I had actually caused this much trouble. Thinking back, I had sold scrolls before, because I simply had to buy the magical materials I needed... I had only sold common adventuring skills like invisibility and shields. I had intended to sell them to extreme sports enthusiasts, so who could have known they would eventually end up in the enemy's hands? I really hadn't expected that. If not for my scroll, they could never have made it all the way to the prison gates without a hitch!

Oh, it was because of me! Mel... would Mel be angry with me because of this? I...

"Xipei..."

Huh?

Through Mind Link, I... I didn't seem to sense any sign that Mel was angry. Uh, not the slightest bit. It was a feeling completely different from anger. It was like... like...

"How... how could you sell your scrolls?!"

I heard Mel say it, and his voice sounded... as though he was about to cry.

Chapter 14

What was this strange feeling?

"Xipei, you... you just sold such an outstanding spell? No... you, you're so brilliant, and you still had to sell your spells?" Mel seemed to be choking up as he spoke. I suspected he might... shed a couple of tears at any moment.

Mel... I...

"...Because my experiment had reached a critical stage, and my salary at the research institute wasn't enough to buy new materials." I bit my lip as I spoke, feeling very guilty. It had pained me to sell those scrolls, too. Although making them hadn't been difficult for me, and the money had indeed allowed me to complete the experiment, magic was... was my lifelong faith. Having to sell scrolls for money had made me so miserable that I couldn't eat for days, and I had always felt guilty, as though I had betrayed sacred knowledge. Fortunately, it hadn't all been for nothing in the end, which gave me some comfort.

"Oh... my Xipei..." Mel sighed. After holding it in for a long, long time, he forced out a sentence. "What kind of lousy research institute was that?!"

I answered honestly, "The institute's leadership thought none of my projects could turn a profit, so I had to use my own funds for them."

"Turn a profit..." Mel gave a low snort. "What kind of research institute is that? Those politicians have made a complete mess of everything."

"Actually, if the institute hadn't adopted me, I'd probably be an operator running equipment on some factory assembly line now, or, if I were lucky, a white-collar worker at a company," I said. "Ordinary orphanages can't afford to send every child to university. At most, they can keep them fed and clothed. Once the children finish the basic education required by the Federation, they can start working."

The Federation selected children with a talent for magic and sent them to study. Even sorcerers were singled out. Every year, the Federation put a great deal of effort into finding these children, because many children with both parents wouldn't study magic. Even if they were very talented, they would rather fight tooth and nail to get into a mecha academy. The Federation couldn't force them, so it could only keep a close eye on orphans. Very, very few magically talented children were found across the country each year. We were very well cared for and lived comfortably. We no longer had to work hard at behaving ourselves to please parents looking to adopt; we only had to focus on practicing magic. Even the weakest among us could be assigned as assistants to research institutes around the country after graduation, with no worries about food or clothing.

So I still felt grateful to the Federation.

"Xipei..." Mel sounded terribly aggrieved as he called my name. He called me several times, but said nothing else.

"I'm sorry... I've dragged you into this..."

"If someone kills with a knife, do we go after the knife manufacturer instead of blaming the killer? Xipei, this has nothing to do with you!" Mel replied loudly.

Then, deliberately adopting a cheerful tone, he said, "Since it's your spell, of course you can break it easily!"

"Oh, that's true." I said at once, "Leave it to me."

Although I had made that scroll when my magic power was full, it had been right after I entered the research institute. I had been so excited to have a laboratory of my own for the first time that I had gotten carried away with my experiments and failed to budget properly. I had been a few years younger then, so neither my experience nor my magic power could compare to what I had now. For a mage, every day was another step forward. Even with the magic-suppressing manacles on and only forty percent of my normal strength, I could still break a spell cast by my younger self.

"Wait!" Mel suddenly stopped me. "Xipei, how did you sell those scrolls back then? Was your real information exposed? Could they think your scrolls were poor quality because they were broken so easily and come after you? That's no small company. Even for you, being put on a major military corporation's assassination list would be a serious problem. Although these military corporations are legally registered companies, they always keep a few unsavory methods up their sleeves—and this one definitely isn't registered with the Federation, so even in name the Federation has no way to control it. If they're registered in some tiny country, that country wouldn't dare restrain them at all."

"Don't worry." I smiled. "I found an online shop to sell them on consignment. Um... it's the kind of shop that specializes in selling things on other people's behalf. The goods are all entrusted to it by people who don't run shops themselves, so it has all sorts of odds and ends. The important thing is that it's very casually managed and doesn't require real-name registration. My student introduced me to it. She buys self-published collections by web writers there. Apparently, they're works with fairly high age ratings that aren't really suitable for public publication."

Mel said, "...Your student really is quite useful."

"Yes. If she worked a little harder at studying magic, I'd appreciate her even more," I replied.

Even after all these years, I hadn't forgotten a single detail of my own spell scrolls. Looking back, the method I used to make them had one obvious weakness: back then, I had admired order, so I had calculated the magic power at every node to be just right—so right that I had overdone it. As a result, even a slight overload would make the scroll collapse immediately.

I sensed the source of the magic power and quickly determined where the scroll was placed. I didn't need to do anything else; I only needed to feed it a little more magic power. It was my creation, so it wouldn't reject my magic power at all. I doubted these military corporation people had ever imagined they would run into the scroll's creator while they were out causing trouble. The God of Light truly was watching over the Osland Federation. Ah, or one could say—they were incredibly unlucky.

So this taught us never to become a high-profile archvillain for no reason. Even luck would turn against you.

In an instant, the invisibility failed.

Amid cries of surprise, it reappeared above everyone's heads.

"Attack! Attack!" The captain of the Shield of the New Star reacted at once.

The Magitech Corps brought out its heavy artillery. The giant mecha was very easy to aim at, but now that its invisibility had been broken, it wasn't about to sit and wait for death. Gun barrels emerged from its shoulders as well, and it seemed ready to start a game of blasting the Federation Corps in the face with cannons. That wasn't fun at all! Magitech cannons were astonishingly powerful. Even using Absolute Protection at full strength, I could only guarantee that I would block three shots. The captain of the Shield of the New Star didn't look as sturdy as Absolute Protection, so he would have to come up with a solution.

"It looks like the enemy's going all in. They don't intend to make an orderly retreat," Mel said with a frown.

"Defensive formation, activate the energy shields! Target the gun barrels with ranged attacks!" the captain roared.