Approaching Luke is a young man wearing a white robe and glasses.
His black hair was neatly arranged, but for a man, it was quite long, and he was tall and slim, so Luke, who was short, had to crane her neck considerably to look up at him.
Also, despite his tall stature, he had a slender physique, giving off a delicate image, but his voice was pleasantly sonorous, making him seem quite impressive.
“Nice to meet you. Are you Luke? You look younger than I expected. How old are you?”
Luke found it difficult to answer about her age.
In fact, she couldn’t remember exact details like her real age, and she couldn’t even determine how old her current body was.
So, she evaded the question.
“It’s not polite to ask a child’s age, wizard.”
“Oh, my! Haha! I’ve been rude, haven’t I?”
“I forgive you.”
Luke smoothly accepted his apology with his usual noble gestures and speech, but to the young wizard watching her, she just seemed like a little kid imitating an adult, so he couldn’t help but smile.
“She looks young but quite sharp. Her speech is also quite straightforward. Has she received good education?”
“By the way, what should I call you?”
“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Gerard Coulson, the resident wizard of Sephiroth-02 Mana Power Plant.”
As the man who introduced himself as Gerard Coulson imitated Luke’s noble gestures and slightly bowed her head, Luke thought her manners were a mess, but perhaps this was etiquette five thousand years in the future.
So, she decided not to say anything.
“Pleased to meet you, Gerard Coulson. You can call me Luke Irushi.”
Although it seemed like the guard had already informed him of her name, exchanging names held its own significance, so Luke introduced herself again.
“Alright, Luke Irushi. You came to visit our mana power plant to become a wizard, right? Which part would you like to see the most?”
“I want to see the place where mana flows most densely here.”
“Hmm, the high-pressure mana zone is dangerous for someone like you…”
“I’m not as young as you think. So why not?”
“Even if you look at me like that, it’s not okay. High-pressure mana zones are off-limits to unauthorized personnel, but I can show you other facilities.”
Luke was disappointed but understood.
Even if it wasn’t the place with the highest mana density, it was much better for accumulating mana than home.
Maybe if he toured the facilities and accumulated mana, she might be able to carve a circle today.
“Alright… then, shall I follow your suggestion and guide you?”
“Yes, let’s start with showing you the mana purification facility first.”
As Gerard started walking ahead, Luke, who hurriedly followed, soon felt her breath catching up to him.
In the end, unable to keep up, Luke stopped and leaned against the wall, catching her breath, and said to Gerard.
“Heh, heh… slow down a bit… I can’t keep up with your pace.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m busy every day, so I’ve gotten used to walking fast. It’s not easy to adjust…”
Apologizing with a scratch of his head, Gerard sat down in front of Luke.
“But, the corridor is really wide. How big is this facility?”
“It’s incredibly wide. Just wandering around could take hours. Um… yeah, the size is like an amusement park?”
“Amusement park? What’s that?”
“What? You don’t know what an amusement park is? Your parents never took you?”
Gerard was slightly puzzled by Luke’s statement that she had never been to an amusement park.
In this day and age, are there kids who don’t know what an amusement park is?
And then Gerard made a mistake in response to Luke’s calm words that followed.
“Hmm, does that mean amusement parks are places parents usually take their kids? Then it’s a shame I can’t go. I don’t have parents.”
“Did you… feel that way? Um…”
“Stop it. Don’t mess up my hair.”
“I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”
‘And you came here alone…’
Looking at the future wizard, a little girl without parents who wanted to become a wizard, Gerard’s heart swelled with intense emotions.
Compassion? Concern? Moved? What could define it?
“Anyway, it’s hard to gauge the analogy of size. There’s a place we must return to before nightfall. Will we be able to see everything inside?”
Gerald pondered deeply.
Even if he managed to plan the shortest route to visit all the facilities by the end of today, it would still take at least 10 minutes to visit each facility. The magic power generation facility alone consisted of major facilities such as magic refinement, mana processing, mana array, enchantment, magic design, etc., and even visiting every small place would be quite time-consuming.
He couldn’t afford to leave his place for too long since he had just left the lab.
“Well, perhaps it would be best to skip a few facilities. Only the major ones…”
“That’s not possible! We must absolutely visit them all!”
Luke unexpectedly blurted out, then quickly shut her mouth.
Even though the Circle was in a hurry, living only for today wasn’t the point. By absorbing enough magic while touring around here, they could significantly advance the production of the Circle, which was initially estimated to take a month.
“No, there’s no need to visit them all today. Just having this tour today is helpful enough. I’m sorry for raising my voice.”
She felt embarrassed, as if it had become a habit to forget her manners and raise her voice lately.
Normally, there should have been a long beard in the spot where her fingers now felt only smooth skin, leaving a bitter feeling.
However, Gerald saw her bitter expression and read a sense of resignation.
“To have such passion even without parents… I want to do something for her…”
Gerald had never seen a child like her before.
Perhaps that’s why she seemed even more admirable.
These days, children of the world seemed naive from the roots.
To receive such a good upbringing even without parents was as rare and admirable as it gets.
He thought of his nephews.
Restless troublemakers who couldn’t sit still for a moment.
They were completely incompatible with his wizardly nature, yet there was a strange sense of camaraderie with Luke.
Surely she would become an excellent wizard.
She might even become a wizard allowed up to the 8th class in the future.
For the sake of the future archmage, Gerald had decided to sacrifice himself.
“Alright, then I’ll carry you. We’ll be able to tour quickly, right?”
“Are you sure? I might be quite heavy…”
Even though Luke was just a little girl now, Gerald’s physique seemed like it couldn’t handle even a 10kg bag of grain.
Luke had no way to allay her worries.
“It’s okay, I’m a wizard, right? I can use strength enhancement magic.”
“Really? Can I see magic?”
Unexpectedly thrilled, Luke couldn’t hide her excitement.
Magic? Could she really witness ‘Class Magic’ up close?
Seeing Luke’s excitement, Gerald chuckled and said,
“For Class 3 auxiliary magic, wizards or doctors don’t need separate permits.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
Clapping her hands and expressing her joy, Luke’s delighted expression made Gerald proud. Pulling out a slender wand from his pocket, he closed his eyes and chanted the incantation. “Labett, Ahannum, Ziregt, Harlon.”
Luke stared intently at Gerard’s mouth and wand.
What was revealed in his magical aura was truly shocking.
Mana was imbued into each word uttered by Gerard.
Mana took shape, arranged itself, and performed magic.
“His willpower may be weaker than a circle’s, but his command is strong. Constructing magic solely through words, even with minimal accumulated mana, is certainly a new approach. By minimizing constraints on the body, barriers due to talent are also lowered. Truly, anyone can use magic as long as they have tools and can speak.”
What made it possible was that ‘wand’.
Of course, wands were used even when the circle was popular 5000 years ago.
However, it was merely a supporting role.
Ultimately, the subject of magic was human will, and even without a wand, magic was possible.
However, this method was different.
Mana management relied entirely on the wand.
Thus, even without a circle within the body, the wand itself acted as a circle.
‘I was amazed when I saw the cellphone, but that wand was truly amazing without any exaggeration.’
It’s like taking the heart out of the body.
‘I thought it was impossible, but shouting ‘impossible’ at a phenomenon happening right in front of me is pointless.’
Having observed the phenomenon, all that remains is acceptance and interpretation.
“I see, the method of imposing limits on magic was a concept that’s hard to understand… Could the existence of that wand be what enables the concept of ‘class’ in magic?”
The wand is a circle in itself.
So there’s no need to carve a circle within the body.
People just have to use magic.
The popularization of magic!
How many philosophers desired it, and how many worked for it.
The answer was here.
A world where everyone can use magic.
With no discrimination against circles, and no gap based on talent, a world where everyone can use the same magic.
What Luke is seeing now is not just simple strength enhancement magic, but an era.
“Really amazing! Incredible magic!”
“Oh, come on, it’s nothing special.”
“No, it’s not like that, it was truly magnificent magic!”
However, Gerard, who had no way of knowing the high-level thinking going on in Luke’s mind, only saw Luke’s reaction of amazement and excitement, like a young child seeing magic for the first time.
“It’s just a minor 3rd class auxiliary magic, yet making such a fuss about it. I wonder how excited Luke would be if she saw the 6th class magic unleashed with a wand permitted for use only within the research lab.”
“Oops, what was I thinking?”
6th class magic is extremely dangerous.
Even he himself is only permitted up to 5th class magic. Moreover, even the use of 5th class magic requires a three-day approval process, making it an extremely perilous magic.
‘No matter how I think about it, there’s hardly anything worth showing off to a child just for a reaction.’
“She’s having too much fun with the reaction. I must have had a silly thought.”
With that thought, Gerard felt slightly embarrassed and quickly cleared his throat, saying,
“It’s okay to pick you up.”
“Thank you so much, Gerard.”
As Gerard lifted Luke onto his back and they started walking quickly, Gerard soon screamed, “Ouch! Luke, can you keep your head still? You keep poking me with your horn!”
“Oh, I’m really sorry! I forgot I had horns…”
While scanning the facilities with magic to accumulate mana, Luke accidentally poked Gerard’s back with her horn.
After putting Luke down, he checked if he had been stabbed and was bleeding, but fortunately, there seemed to be no bleeding.
“I really feel ashamed…”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t intentional…”
Though he screamed momentarily from the pain, his anger melted away at Luke’s attitude.
After all, who could get angry at someone making such an apologetic expression while checking the spot where they had been poked?
But still, he couldn’t force a curious child not to turn her head.
“Anyway, let’s do this.”
Gerard suggested, “I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”
“That…”
Even though she had become quite childish for the moment, Luke was still an adult.
It had been so long since she last rode a piggyback, she could hardly remember when it was, but a piggyback ride…
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
To refuse would mean that Luke, whose duty was to scan the facilities with magic, found it too important to focus on anything else.
Approaching Luke is a young man wearing a white robe and glasses.
His black hair was neatly arranged, but for a man, it was quite long, and he was tall and slim, so Luke, who was short, had to crane her neck considerably to look up at him.
Also, despite his tall stature, he had a slender physique, giving off a delicate image, but his voice was pleasantly sonorous, making him seem quite impressive.
“Nice to meet you. Are you Luke? You look younger than I expected. How old are you?”
Luke found it difficult to answer about her age.
In fact, she couldn’t remember exact details like her real age, and she couldn’t even determine how old her current body was.
So, she evaded the question.
“It’s not polite to ask a child’s age, wizard.”
“Oh, my! Haha! I’ve been rude, haven’t I?”
“I forgive you.”
Luke smoothly accepted his apology with his usual noble gestures and speech, but to the young wizard watching her, she just seemed like a little kid imitating an adult, so he couldn’t help but smile.
“She looks young but quite sharp. Her speech is also quite straightforward. Has she received good education?”
“By the way, what should I call you?”
“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Gerard Coulson, the resident wizard of Sephiroth-02 Mana Power Plant.”
As the man who introduced himself as Gerard Coulson imitated Luke’s noble gestures and slightly bowed her head, Luke thought her manners were a mess, but perhaps this was etiquette five thousand years in the future.
So, she decided not to say anything.
“Pleased to meet you, Gerard Coulson. You can call me Luke Irushi.”
Although it seemed like the guard had already informed him of her name, exchanging names held its own significance, so Luke introduced herself again.
“Alright, Luke Irushi. You came to visit our mana power plant to become a wizard, right? Which part would you like to see the most?”
“I want to see the place where mana flows most densely here.”
“Hmm, the high-pressure mana zone is dangerous for someone like you…”
“I’m not as young as you think. So why not?”
“Even if you look at me like that, it’s not okay. High-pressure mana zones are off-limits to unauthorized personnel, but I can show you other facilities.”
Luke was disappointed but understood.
Even if it wasn’t the place with the highest mana density, it was much better for accumulating mana than home.
Maybe if he toured the facilities and accumulated mana, she might be able to carve a circle today.
“Alright… then, shall I follow your suggestion and guide you?”
“Yes, let’s start with showing you the mana purification facility first.”
As Gerard started walking ahead, Luke, who hurriedly followed, soon felt her breath catching up to him.
In the end, unable to keep up, Luke stopped and leaned against the wall, catching her breath, and said to Gerard.
“Heh, heh… slow down a bit… I can’t keep up with your pace.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m busy every day, so I’ve gotten used to walking fast. It’s not easy to adjust…”
Apologizing with a scratch of his head, Gerard sat down in front of Luke.
“But, the corridor is really wide. How big is this facility?”
“It’s incredibly wide. Just wandering around could take hours. Um… yeah, the size is like an amusement park?”
“Amusement park? What’s that?”
“What? You don’t know what an amusement park is? Your parents never took you?”
Gerard was slightly puzzled by Luke’s statement that she had never been to an amusement park.
In this day and age, are there kids who don’t know what an amusement park is?
And then Gerard made a mistake in response to Luke’s calm words that followed.
“Hmm, does that mean amusement parks are places parents usually take their kids? Then it’s a shame I can’t go. I don’t have parents.”
“Did you… feel that way? Um…”
“Stop it. Don’t mess up my hair.”
“I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”
‘And you came here alone…’
Looking at the future wizard, a little girl without parents who wanted to become a wizard, Gerard’s heart swelled with intense emotions.
Compassion? Concern? Moved? What could define it?
“Anyway, it’s hard to gauge the analogy of size. There’s a place we must return to before nightfall. Will we be able to see everything inside?”
Gerald pondered deeply.
Even if he managed to plan the shortest route to visit all the facilities by the end of today, it would still take at least 10 minutes to visit each facility. The magic power generation facility alone consisted of major facilities such as magic refinement, mana processing, mana array, enchantment, magic design, etc., and even visiting every small place would be quite time-consuming.
He couldn’t afford to leave his place for too long since he had just left the lab.
“Well, perhaps it would be best to skip a few facilities. Only the major ones…”
“That’s not possible! We must absolutely visit them all!”
Luke unexpectedly blurted out, then quickly shut her mouth.
Even though the Circle was in a hurry, living only for today wasn’t the point. By absorbing enough magic while touring around here, they could significantly advance the production of the Circle, which was initially estimated to take a month.
“No, there’s no need to visit them all today. Just having this tour today is helpful enough. I’m sorry for raising my voice.”
She felt embarrassed, as if it had become a habit to forget her manners and raise her voice lately.
Normally, there should have been a long beard in the spot where her fingers now felt only smooth skin, leaving a bitter feeling.
However, Gerald saw her bitter expression and read a sense of resignation.
“To have such passion even without parents… I want to do something for her…”
Gerald had never seen a child like her before.
Perhaps that’s why she seemed even more admirable.
These days, children of the world seemed naive from the roots.
To receive such a good upbringing even without parents was as rare and admirable as it gets.
He thought of his nephews.
Restless troublemakers who couldn’t sit still for a moment.
They were completely incompatible with his wizardly nature, yet there was a strange sense of camaraderie with Luke.
Surely she would become an excellent wizard.
She might even become a wizard allowed up to the 8th class in the future.
For the sake of the future archmage, Gerald had decided to sacrifice himself.
“Alright, then I’ll carry you. We’ll be able to tour quickly, right?”
“Are you sure? I might be quite heavy…”
Even though Luke was just a little girl now, Gerald’s physique seemed like it couldn’t handle even a 10kg bag of grain.
Luke had no way to allay her worries.
“It’s okay, I’m a wizard, right? I can use strength enhancement magic.”
“Really? Can I see magic?”
Unexpectedly thrilled, Luke couldn’t hide her excitement.
Magic? Could she really witness ‘Class Magic’ up close?
Seeing Luke’s excitement, Gerald chuckled and said,
“For Class 3 auxiliary magic, wizards or doctors don’t need separate permits.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
Clapping her hands and expressing her joy, Luke’s delighted expression made Gerald proud. Pulling out a slender wand from his pocket, he closed his eyes and chanted the incantation. “Labett, Ahannum, Ziregt, Harlon.”
Luke stared intently at Gerard’s mouth and wand.
What was revealed in his magical aura was truly shocking.
Mana was imbued into each word uttered by Gerard.
Mana took shape, arranged itself, and performed magic.
“His willpower may be weaker than a circle’s, but his command is strong. Constructing magic solely through words, even with minimal accumulated mana, is certainly a new approach. By minimizing constraints on the body, barriers due to talent are also lowered. Truly, anyone can use magic as long as they have tools and can speak.”
What made it possible was that ‘wand’.
Of course, wands were used even when the circle was popular 5000 years ago.
However, it was merely a supporting role.
Ultimately, the subject of magic was human will, and even without a wand, magic was possible.
However, this method was different.
Mana management relied entirely on the wand.
Thus, even without a circle within the body, the wand itself acted as a circle.
‘I was amazed when I saw the cellphone, but that wand was truly amazing without any exaggeration.’
It’s like taking the heart out of the body.
‘I thought it was impossible, but shouting ‘impossible’ at a phenomenon happening right in front of me is pointless.’
Having observed the phenomenon, all that remains is acceptance and interpretation.
“I see, the method of imposing limits on magic was a concept that’s hard to understand… Could the existence of that wand be what enables the concept of ‘class’ in magic?”
The wand is a circle in itself.
So there’s no need to carve a circle within the body.
People just have to use magic.
The popularization of magic!
How many philosophers desired it, and how many worked for it.
The answer was here.
A world where everyone can use magic.
With no discrimination against circles, and no gap based on talent, a world where everyone can use the same magic.
What Luke is seeing now is not just simple strength enhancement magic, but an era.
“Really amazing! Incredible magic!”
“Oh, come on, it’s nothing special.”
“No, it’s not like that, it was truly magnificent magic!”
However, Gerard, who had no way of knowing the high-level thinking going on in Luke’s mind, only saw Luke’s reaction of amazement and excitement, like a young child seeing magic for the first time.
“It’s just a minor 3rd class auxiliary magic, yet making such a fuss about it. I wonder how excited Luke would be if she saw the 6th class magic unleashed with a wand permitted for use only within the research lab.”
“Oops, what was I thinking?”
6th class magic is extremely dangerous.
Even he himself is only permitted up to 5th class magic. Moreover, even the use of 5th class magic requires a three-day approval process, making it an extremely perilous magic.
‘No matter how I think about it, there’s hardly anything worth showing off to a child just for a reaction.’
“She’s having too much fun with the reaction. I must have had a silly thought.”
With that thought, Gerard felt slightly embarrassed and quickly cleared his throat, saying,
“It’s okay to pick you up.”
“Thank you so much, Gerard.”
As Gerard lifted Luke onto his back and they started walking quickly, Gerard soon screamed, “Ouch! Luke, can you keep your head still? You keep poking me with your horn!”
“Oh, I’m really sorry! I forgot I had horns…”
While scanning the facilities with magic to accumulate mana, Luke accidentally poked Gerard’s back with her horn.
After putting Luke down, he checked if he had been stabbed and was bleeding, but fortunately, there seemed to be no bleeding.
“I really feel ashamed…”
“It’s okay. It wasn’t intentional…”
Though he screamed momentarily from the pain, his anger melted away at Luke’s attitude.
After all, who could get angry at someone making such an apologetic expression while checking the spot where they had been poked?
But still, he couldn’t force a curious child not to turn her head.
“Anyway, let’s do this.”
Gerard suggested, “I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”
“That…”
Even though she had become quite childish for the moment, Luke was still an adult.
It had been so long since she last rode a piggyback, she could hardly remember when it was, but a piggyback ride…
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
To refuse would mean that Luke, whose duty was to scan the facilities with magic, found it too important to focus on anything else.
