Chapter 279 |
TL: TangSanFan
ED/PR: Tanthus
『Side Story』 Pursuing the Butterfly (6)
The following morning, as I opened my eyes, I found Wilhelm, who had risen early, busily preparing breakfast. Zellan seemed to be indulging in a lie-in or just lazily stretching in bed. It seemed if diligent Wilhelm were not around to take care of things, that Lady would be utterly helpless.
Lucy and I groggily got up and after greeting Wilhelm, we went to the nearby stream to wash our faces.
Although Lucy wasn’t exactly the type to rise at the break of dawn, perhaps because she had fallen asleep in my arms, she was awakened when I rose. Together, Lucy and I took in the scenery of the coniferous forests of the Rameln Mountain range, the chill of dawn embracing us.
Lucy, hopping vivaciously and stepping on the crunching leaves, seemed to have an excellent grasp of the surrounding geography despite not having visited for a while.
“I used to roam around here a lot as a child. When I practiced making my body lighter with gravity and lightening magic, sometimes I’d find myself lost in unknown places.”
“Weren’t you scared?”
She was talking about being able to sense Gluckt’s magic from a distance, even in her younger days. I’ve talked my mouth dry about Lucy’s unbelievable magical talent, so there’s no point in emphasizing it now.
With magic-imbued light steps, Lucy moved towards the brook following the path.
“You seem to have gained quite the mastery over magic. Have you recovered a lot?”
“Yeah, I can use basic magic now. I think I’ll be able to use intermediate spells soon.”
Initially, I thought her recovery would take five or six years. But it hasn’t even been half that time, and she’s already attempting to use intermediate magic.
As always, Lucy exceeds expectations when it comes to matters of magical power.
I washed my face with Lucy in the refreshing morning air. After shaking off the water, we savored the cool dawn even more… and soon Lucy was munching on a piece of jerky, seated on a rock.
I stretched and shared my thoughts.
“That magician, Zellan. What do you think of her?”
“Weird.”
Lucy, who clearly had her own thoughts, responded without hesitation. And… her feelings echoed mine.
Throughout our journey to the Rameln Mountain range, we had enough conversations to form an opinion. Zellan, the Severer, may always have a witty smile and seem cheerful in conversation… but his interior seems endlessly carved out. In some ways, it appeared hollow.
I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to say this, but… if he were to die tomorrow, it wouldn’t seem odd at all.
* * *
After a simple breakfast, we began to examine the relics in Gluckt’s underground study in earnest.
While Zellan has a profound understanding of traditional magic, his specialty is magestone engineering and relic studies. It wouldn’t be easy for an ordinary mage to analyze artifacts made by the legendary genius Gluckt, but Zellan would be able to discern their intended design.
Thus Zellan, with her long hair untied, examined each relic piled up in Gluckt’s study. Alongside her, Lucy, Wilhelm, and I looked over the artifacts and magestone apparatuses.
The more we examined them, the more innovative items we found. They might be incomprehensible to those without knowledge in magestone engineering, but Gluckt’s artifacts weren’t tethered to the internal structures or flows of magical energy previously researched.
Apparatuses designed by a genius had a completely different foundational structure. Each switch, each line of magical energy, had to be examined as if tearing it apart from the beginning.
It felt as if the entire magestone engineering system I had learned was being denied.
“Surely… this is not easy…”
Even Zellan threw in the towel after an hour.
The underground study was filled with magestone tools and relics extracted from here and there, but not a single item’s structure could be fully understood.
“We need time to adjust our strategy.”
Once again gathered around the dining table in the kitchen, we wore grave expressions. Inspecting Gluckt’s relics turned out to be more challenging than expected.
Zellan, seated in the middle, sipped tea that Wilhelm had served and broke the silence.
“Gluckt in his lifetime, though not as precise as the Great Sage Sylvania in observing all possible futures… could still glimpse certain flows of the future.”
I already knew this much.
As a magician who inherited Sylvania’s throne magic, Gluckt was indeed capable of manifesting some of her abilities. However, he couldn’t execute all of her accomplishments.
If Sylvania could observe all ‘possible worlds’ to identify ‘critical junctures,’ then Gluckt could only glimpse a few among the countless possibilities.
While Sylvania could see as much of the future as she wished at her chosen destination, Gluckt could only faintly sense the impending future or catch brief glimpses of sceneries.
Still, that was an incredible milestone for a throne magician. Twisting the fabric of the world and freely extending or shortening the thread of time is, after all, an act only the gods are capable of.
“So… if we keep searching the relics, we’ll surely find artifacts that can observe alternate worlds. However… it’ll take years to examine all these numerous artifacts.”
The items that Gluckt created moved only according to the laws he had invented.
Existing theories in magestone engineering have their limits.
“And we can’t spend years here in the middle of the mountains after a great adventure that takes over ten days just getting here…”
“Why not take all the relics and bring them to the lawless land of Keheln for examination in the research facility?”
“At least a few…
“Regardless, it will take years. I don’t have the patience to wait that long.”
As Zellan makes this assertion with finality, Wilhelm’s expression darkens unfavorably.
It seems that Zellan is about to propose a radical solution.
And that expectation was not off the mark.
Zellan, looking at me, spoke.
“I promised to process the artifact you possess, young man, if you helped me. I said I would add a premium to it.”
“……”
“I’ll Give you my magical engineering lab in the Coheleton lawless zone.”
Wilhelm was the first to react to this.
His eyes were wide with disbelief, looking at Zellan in shock.
“Anyway, I was planning to leave the Coheleton lawless zone after this matter is over… It saves me the trouble of moving.”
“… What is in the lab?”
“Everything I have been researching.”
Even Professor Krayd, who seldom acknowledges others, spoke with implicit respect about Zellan.
This was the lab where Zellan had conducted a lifetime of research.
“If I say it’s for the young man and not me, Princess Sella, who governs that land, might not express any complaints. She might even like him frequenting Coheleton because of the lab. Kuhuhu.”
Zellan added a joke with a playful face.
“The artifacts there could potentially alter the course of magical engineering history. Wilhelm knows this too well that their monetary value is incalculable.”
“I refuse.”
I answered calmly, leaning on the table.
Caught off guard by my response, Zellan was momentarily at a loss for words. Seizing the moment, I continued.
“There must be a reason you’re offering something so significant. If I accept hastily, I risk indigestion.”
“I thought you’d answer carefully. Well…”
Zellan replied with a faint smile.
“I want to inject divine Mana into the items in the basement on a whim.”
Wilhelm’s uneasy look now made sense, given such a radical plan.
“Without confirming their proper uses first?”
“Yes. Among them may be an object that allows observation of other potential worlds. Glast was serious about Sovereign Magic research.”
“What if there’s a dangerous magic device…”
“That’s why I’m staking my life’s research.”
The conversation paused momentarily.
I held my breath for a moment, studying Zellan’s expression.
Magical engineering items must not be handled carelessly without knowing their purposes.
There are many that could be dangerous if used for combat or traps.
Further, if the items utilize Sovereign Mana… the outcomes could be unpredictable.
“… Why go to such lengths?”
I know it’s a pointless question. Yet I cannot help but ask.
“You yourself said it was like chasing illusory butterflies. To observe ‘a possibility that might have been’ at this late hour… what exactly do you hope to accomplish…”
I stopped there, words trailing off.
Zellan’s actions, seemingly unattached to her current life, were troubling. She even offered her lifelong research…
It was like…
“… Please tell me what you’re thinking.”
“……”
“If you keep silent, I will share my own speculation.”
Zellan, a challenger of taboos.
I can’t say for sure how much her past failures had grasped her heart…
But her reason for wanting to observe so many branching futures…
“―Do you intend to use the Sovereign Mana to research and cross over to the future you desire?”
The many splintering futures of the numerous possibilities.
To leap between these branching paths.
Zellan’s ambition… was even more immense than I had anticipated.
“……”
“……”
To set a destination, one must first observe the place.
If Zellan’s grand plan begins with that observation, then all the research and results she left in this world, which she plans to abandon, are meaningless.
Thus, she was willing to hand over all her precious research records to me.
“…… In fact, I’ve already identified a magical engineering item I expect to be an ‘Observer.’”
With the conversation progressing this far, Zellan spoke frankly.
“It’s not one hundred percent certain. It’s just a speculation. And how it might interact with other branching worlds is unknown.”
“… Is it possible to cross over to another branch of the world?”
“In theory, it’s impossible. Magic is all about interaction. If you express magic in this world for a hundred days, but there is no medium in the other world to receive that magic, it’s just one-way communication.”
“……”
“… Still, I want to try everything possible.”
Zellan spoke faintly, her voice low with a strange sense of deflation.
It felt like she could crumble into dust at any moment.
“Can’t you join this old one’s last plea? Whatever I can give, I will… It’s meaningless to me anyway.”
Zellan’s final plea after wandering the world for 140 years.
“Help me get to a world where I didn’t slaughter the Ain race…”
Her voice was squeezed out, fragile as if on the verge of breaking, and then there was a moment of silence.
I’m aware that it’s a dangerous request, and there’s no guarantee I can properly tune Glast’s relics.
The risk isn’t nonexistent for me. However, seeing Zellan humbling herself to such an extent makes me feel strange.
It wouldn’t be difficult to simply assist her with her research. And the reward that comes with it is unimaginably generous.
From my point of view, there is nothing bad about it… As I contemplate this,
“Okay.”
As if reading my thoughts, Lucy answered.
In this room, the only ones capable of dealing with Sovereign Mana are Lucy and myself.
“… I will help.”
Buried in my embrace, Lucy gave her answer with an uncharacteristically firm voice.