[Side story] Chasing butterflies (6)
The next morning, when I woke up, Wilhelm, who had woken up early, was preparing breakfast.
Gellan was lazily in bed, probably oversleeping. Apparently, if the diligent Wilhelm didn’t take care of this and that, that man seemed to be a full-grown human being.
Lucy and I got up with drowsy eyes, greeted Wilhelm, and went to the nearby creek to wash our faces.
Lucy isn’t the type to be diligent enough to wake up so early in the morning, but perhaps it’s because she fell asleep in my arms, and when I woke up, she woke up as well.
That’s how Lucy and I took in the landscape of the coniferous forests of the Rameln Mountains at a glance, bathed in the dawn air.
Lucy, who jumps out while stepping on the leaves, seems to have a good knowledge of the surrounding geography despite visiting for the first time in a while.
“I used to go around a lot when I was young. When I practiced lightly moving my body with gravity magic and lightweight magic wrapped around my body, I reached the place I had never seen before and got lost.”
“Looks like you weren’t scared.”
“huh. Anyway, I could feel Grandpa Glockt’s magic even from a distance, and if I followed his magic, I could return to the cabin in no time.”
It is a story that she sensed Glockt’s magical power from afar since her childhood.
The story of Lucy’s ridiculous magic talent has been talked about until my mouth is dry, so there is no point in emphasizing anything more now.
Lucy walked along the roadside to the stream with light steps wrapped in magic.
“I can use my magic quite freely. You seem to have recovered quite a bit?”
“huh. I can use basic magic. I think I’ll be able to use middle-level magic soon.”
At first, the recovery period took almost five to six years.
However, it’s not even halfway through, and I’m already able to try using middle-level magic.
As expected, when it comes to magical powers, Lucy is always unexpected.
I washed my face with Lucy in the cool morning air.
And let’s shake off the water and enjoy the cool morning air in the mountains a little more… Lucy had just pulled out a piece of beef jerky and was sitting on a rock mumbling.
I talked while warming up here and there.
“That wizard named Gellan. What do you think?”
“Strange.”
As if what she was thinking was clear, Lucy answered without hesitation.
and… It also coincided with my thoughts.
On the way to the Rameln Mountains, I felt it while having enough conversations.
Amputator Gellan is always talking pleasantly with a smirk… The inside of it is endlessly cut out. She seems to be empty in a way.
I don’t know if it’s okay to talk like this… .
Even if he died tomorrow, he was a person who would not be surprised.
* * *
After finishing a simple breakfast, I started looking at the artifacts in Glockt’s underground laboratory in earnest.
Gellan is well versed in orthodox magic itself, but his specialties are magic engineering and artifacts. It would not be easy for an ordinary wizard to accurately analyze the artifacts created by Glockt, a rare genius, but Gellan would be able to figure out the design intent.
Like that, Gellan untied his fairly long hair and examined the artifacts piled up in Glockt’s laboratory one by one.
Me, Lucy, and Wilhelm looked at the artifacts and magic engineering supplies next to him.
If you look at each one, there are quite a lot of novelty items. It would be difficult to recognize without proficiency in magic engineering items, but the items Glockt left behind were not bound by the internal structure or magical flow that had been previously studied.
The magical engineering products designed by geniuses are completely different from the basic structure. I had to look at each switch and each magic guide wire as if I were tearing it apart from the beginning.
It was as if the magic engineering system itself that I had learned so far was completely denied.
“surely… It’s not easy… .”
Gellan also lifted both hands and feet within an hour.
The underground lab was full of magical engineering items and artifacts taken from here and there. However, there was not a single object whose structure could be completely judged among them.
“I think we need some time to coordinate our strategy.”
Once again, we were sitting at the dining table in the kitchen with serious faces on our faces. It was because it was not easy to look at Glockt’s relics.
Gellan, who was sitting in the middle, started to rhyme while drinking the tea that Wilhelm had served him.
“Glockt in his lifetime may not be able to observe all future trends as clearly as the great sage Sylvania… . It is said that he was able to see the future flow to some extent.”
This was something I knew until now.
As a wizard who inherited the Aspect Magic of Sylvania, Glockt was able to realize some of her abilities.
Of course, it was not possible to realize all of Sylvania’s achievements.
If Sylvania had observed all the ‘worlds of possibility’ and identified the existence of the ‘cliff point’… Glockt was only able to see a few of the many possibilities.
If Sylvania was able to look into the future as much as it wanted, it is said that Glockt could only receive a vague feeling of the future to come, or see only a brief glimpse of the scenery.
Even if it was that much, it had reached an incredible level for a constellation mage. The act of twisting and breaking the providence of the world and lengthening and shortening the line of time at will is truly something only gods can do.
“therefore… If you look at the artifacts, you will surely find artifacts that allow you to observe other worlds. but… It wouldn’t take many years to go through all of those countless artifacts.”
The objects created by Glockt only move according to the laws created by Glockt himself.
There is a limit to the magic engineering theory that has already been preached in the world.
“And it is impossible to spend years in the middle of a mountain range like this, where you have to go through a great adventure that takes more than ten days to get there… .”
“Why don’t you take all the artifacts and take them to the laboratory in the Cohelton Lawless Zone?”
“But that doesn’t change the fact that it takes at least a few years. I have no intention of waiting that long.”
Wilhelm’s expression as he looked at Zelan who said so was not very good.
It looks like Gellan will come up with a radical solution.
And that expectation was not wrong.
Gellan looked at me and talked.
“I promised that if you help me, young man, I will personally process the artifact you have. I’ll put more money on it.”
“… … .”
“I’ll give you my magic engineering lab in the lawless area of Kohelton.”
The first to react to those words was Wilhelm.
It is impressive to see her eyes wide open and looking at Gellan in disbelief.
“I was going to leave the Cohelton Lawless Zone anyway after this job was over… It just adds to the trouble of moving.”
“… What’s in the lab?”
“Everything I’ve been researching.”
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Even Professor Kalreid, who was not very accepting of others, was implicitly respectful when he talked about Zellan.
It is a laboratory containing everything that Gellan has been researching throughout his life.
“If you, the young man, and not me, said that Princess Selaha, who is in charge of the land, wouldn’t be particularly dissatisfied. Rather, I might like it more if I go back and forth to the Cohelton Lawless Zone frequently because of the lab. Ku-hu-hu.”
Gellan added a joke with a mischievous face.
“It can’t be converted into monetary value. As Wilhelm knows, there are a lot of things that could change the history of magic engineering.”
“I will not accept.”
I said calmly while holding the table.
Perhaps this was an unexpected answer, Zelan was speechless for a moment. In that gap, I added and talked.
“Isn’t there a reason you handed that much? If you ask me to give it to you, you will get an upset stomach.”
“I thought you would answer carefully. okay… .”
Gellan replied with a soft smile.
“I want to inject Aspect magic into the artifacts in the basement.”
It was a radical move that made Wilhelm’s nervous expression understandable.
“Without checking the proper uses?”
“okay. Among them, there must be objects that can observe other worlds of possibilities. Because Glockt was serious about researching Aspect Magic.”
“Then, if there is a dangerous magic tool… .”
“So, I put my lifelong research achievements on the stake.”
There, the conversation pauses for a moment.
I held my breath for a moment and examined Gellan’s expression.
Magic engineering supplies should not be looked at carelessly without knowing their purpose.
This is because there are many dangerous items used for combat or traps.
Not only that, but if it’s a magical engineering item that uses Aspect Magic… I really don’t know what the outcome will be.
“… Why do you even do that?”
I know it’s a meaningless question. Still, I can’t help but ask.
“Didn’t you tell yourself that it was like chasing an empty butterfly? Observing things like ‘possibility that might have been’ belatedly… What are you going to do… .”
Having said that, I stopped talking.
For some reason, Gellan seems to have no regrets about his current life. In the end, he even said that he would hand over the results of his lifelong research… .
It’s like… .
“… Please tell me what you are thinking.”
“… … .”
“If you keep quiet, I’ll tell you my guess.”
Those who challenge the taboo, Zelan.
I don’t know how tightly the past failure grips her heart… .
The reason she wants to observe the future, which has diverged so far… .
“――If you have the future you want… Are you planning to study and use Aspect Magic to move on there?”
A future of many divergent possibilities.
jumping from branch to branch.
Gellan’s ambition is… It was much bigger than I thought.
“… … .”
“… … .”
To determine a destination, you must first observe it.
The starting point of Gellan’s grand plan… That’s the observation. If it was a world that would be abandoned anyway, the research labs and research achievements left here would be meaningless.
Therefore, it is a story that he will hand over all the research records that are as valuable as billions of dollars to me.
“… … In fact, I have already specified the magic engineering items that are expected to be ‘observation devices’.”
Since the story has progressed so far, Gellan tells the story honestly.
“I’m not 100% certain. I’m just guessing so. And I don’t know how it will interact with other worlds.”
“… Can I go over to another world?”
“Theoretically, it is impossible. Magical interaction is the basis. Even if one hundred days of mana is manifested in this world, if there is no medium to receive that mana from the other world, it will only be one-way communication.”
“… … .”
“… Still, I want to try everything I can.”
Gellan speaks feebly in a subdued voice.
I feel a strange sense of exhaustion, as if it will turn into powder and scatter at any moment.
“Can you join me in this old man’s final wish? What I can give you… give everything… . It has no meaning to me anyway.”
The last wish of Gellan, who has wandered the world for 140 years.
“To a world where I didn’t slaughter the subhumans… help me go… .”
Squeezing his voice as if he was going to be crushed, Gellan spoke with difficulty.
and silence for a while.
There is an awareness that this is a very dangerous request. There is no guarantee that Glockt’s relics can be precisely tuned.
It’s not like I’m not without risk. Nevertheless, seeing the cheerful Gellan come out in such a low position makes me feel strange.
It’s not difficult if it’s just helping with research. And the rewards that follow in return are ridiculous.
Is there anything bad about me… the moment you think
“okay.”
Lucy replied as if she had read my mind.
In this place, Lucy and I are the only two who can handle Aspect magic.
“… I will help you.”
Lucy answered with a voice that was firm for her, buried in my arms.
