Silent Magus

For the first time in the mortal world, he’d met a talent worth coveting.

He wanted to recruit him by any means, but Ruin didn’t show the desperate longing he’d seen in others.

Making empty promises to Ruin, who only displayed deep regret and solitude, might backfire instead.

“With that much power, why were you hiding here?”

“After she died, I tried to follow her. But heaven didn’t permit my death. I became a Magus and shook off all disease, then lived quietly. I didn’t want to mingle with anything anymore.”

“I heard you were immature, easily excited, and turned small matters into wildfires. You’re quite different from what I heard from Baudelaire.”

Hitting the mark precisely.

Ruin began accepting this unreal situation as reality.

‘Baudelaire, did you want to protect alchemy even in death?’

Seeing the moisture glinting in those aged eyes, Pernok said firmly.

“Don’t even think strange thoughts. Baudelaire wouldn’t welcome your death.”

“I see…”

Ruin smiled sadly while gazing at the sky.

The sunset was disappearing beyond the mountain.

“You said your name is Pernok. I can never fully repay the kindness of coming all this way to fulfill her wish.”

“No need for such gratitude. I’m also moving for compensation.”

“What compensation did you promise?”

“Ownership of this ‘castle.'”

“Did Baudelaire truly promise that?”

“It’s the price for granting a dead person’s wish. Without my knowledge now, this castle will be buried here forever anyway.”

As he said, there was no alternative.

Since Baudelaire, the only alchemist, had died, if Pernok who inherited that knowledge didn’t finish it, the castle would have to sink together with memories.

“I fill the last piece of alchemy she couldn’t complete, and I gain the power to kill the 1st Prince. We made a kind of deal. Of course, if you refuse, I have no recourse.”

Ruin shook his head.

“If that is Baudelaire’s will, I’ll gladly offer it. But do you understand what it means for a mage to take alchemy?”

The critical reason alchemy couldn’t reveal itself to the world was because it conflicted with mages’ special talents in many areas.

The mage association defined alchemy as heresy and eliminated everything related to it.

Because of that, Baudelaire and Ruin hid here and secretly continued alchemy’s lineage.

“If I only watch others’ eyes fearing mages, I ultimately won’t achieve what I want. I don’t want to leave regrets like Baudelaire who died without completing alchemy.”

“Baudelaire served a benefactor. We can only be grateful.”

When Ruin stood and struck the ground with his staff, the surrounding scenery transformed.

‘It was a cliff?’

Where the cabin had been, only a rocking chair remained, and at the cliff’s edge stood a tombstone bearing Baudelaire’s name.

“My magic was merely power to hide everything, but after evolving into principles, I became able to silence all manner of things in the world.”

The phenomenon where Pernok’s words were momentarily cut off.

That seemed not like speech disappearing but language being lost.

“Thanks to that, I could conceal Baudelaire’s legacy.”

The moment he struck the ground with his staff again, Pernok felt chilling goosebumps.

Because mana from across the mountain concentrated around Baudelaire and revealed the mysterious ‘sanctuary’ hidden in the mountain range’s center.

‘That mass of mana I struggled through. It wasn’t covering just one path but wrapping the entire mountain? This person’s mana is truly…’

As that thought struck, chilling goosebumps rose.

“Long ago, we couple settled in this mountain range’s center and erected all kinds of structures.”

Ruin’s mana wrapped Pernok and lifted him into the air.

The two people stepped through empty air like stairs and descended to the sanctuary below the cliff.

“All of it was livable space. Forges, harvest areas, all infrastructure needed for living was fully equipped.”

It was a single castle positioned in the mountain range’s center.

“Creating a foundation for alchemists. Baudelaire poured all her passion into that one thing alone. I added my magical knowledge to create means to resist external invasion.”

Even after Baudelaire died, Ruin remained here and positioned weaponry on the round fortress walls.

Seeing it hadn’t rusted at all despite the passage of long time showed how deep Ruin’s affection for this city was.

“But to use all these things, a key is needed.”

“Means to freely move the castle, and power.”

Theory realized only after Baudelaire died.

“Lionic.”

An unconventional idea of floating a castle in the sky.

Enormous energy to make that fantastic dream reality.

Baudelaire completed Lionic’s theory only after death.

“Baudelaire said Lionic was incomplete theory.”

“I found the solution.”

Ruin nodded.

‘If everything said until now is true, he’ll prove it to me through results.’

He still didn’t fully trust Pernok’s words.

Truth might be cunningly mixed with lies.

But if the source of this confidence was truly knowledge inherited from Baudelaire, what should he offer this youth who fulfills a dead person’s request?

[Ruin. We must know how to be grateful for small things. If we receive even one bean, it’s our life to cut down even one tree to exchange.]

Repaying kindness.

Recalling Baudelaire’s appearance, kind as her gentle heart, Ruin wore a faint smile.

“A conduit that can withstand mighty power is needed.”

“I prepared it.”

“Are other materials sufficient?”

“I gathered about half then gave up. If I’d known we’d bloom alchemy again like this, I would have kept accumulating them. Regrettable.”

“Rather, it worked out well. I’ll change the existing method to something better. Materials will be added too.”

“If there’s anything you want, just say so. I’ll obtain it as quickly as possible.”

Pernok nodded and led Ruin beyond the castle walls.

[If nobody in the world welcomes us, let’s rather create a paradise where only we can live!]

Baudelaire’s memories surged as they entered the castle.

An alchemist’s castle equipped with all living infrastructure.

This place contained her dreams and hopes for alchemy to survive independently while persecuted by magic.

“It’s here.”

Surveying rough structures, they headed to the castle’s center.

Before the uniquely refined clock tower.

Ruin pointed at the firmly closed door.

“Put your blood here.”

After Pernok bit his thumb to draw blood, he pressed it on a blue gem.

As the gem turned red and sank inward, the clock tower opened.

“Now the only people who can descend to the power storage below the clock tower are you and me.”

“If the power source is damaged, this castle sinks without you and me?”

“Only Baudelaire could handle Lionic from the start. Without you who have that knowledge, this castle must sleep forever.”

Only someone who devoted their life researching alchemy could understand even Lionic’s basics.

That was why Ruin the Magus couldn’t even attempt it.

‘Baudelaire achieved a feat worthy of praise by succeeding in theory reproducing Lionic at age 50.’

Just one step remained.

If she’d only gathered materials and created it, she could have bloomed alchemy’s essence.

With even the collaborator called Ruin beside her, how wronged and frustrated she must have felt dying without achieving her goal.

The more he recalled alchemy, the more he empathized with Baudelaire’s regret.

Pernok decided to develop the Lionic power source further.

‘Baudelaire’s improved Lionic maintains a castle this size for about a month with one charge. And it has the inconvenient function of needing repeated recharging. Lionic is merely a giant crystal absorbing mana by itself. I’ll change this to continuous operation type.’

A method where charging connects simultaneously with consuming power.

Baudelaire who only pursued alchemy wouldn’t dare attempt this.

It’s possible because Pernok received all kinds of memories from absolute beings who achieved feats in life.

‘I plant a core within a core. One releases, the other charges.’

Pernok looked at where Lionic would be inserted and said.

“We need to increase the size beyond now.”

“She said this degree was sufficient.”

“Because there was only one core.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll make one more charging core. I’ll overlay a release-type core on it, changing it to ‘Double Core’ form where charging and power supply progress simultaneously.”

Ruin widened his eyes as if he’d never considered it.

“That’s impossible. Whether making a core within a core or placing charging and release types side by side, if you continuously run the core, it’ll overload and burst.”

“Just make multiple layers to disperse it.”

“Layers?”

“It’s a bit complex to explain, but roughly like this.”

Pernok drew a Double Core on the ground with stone.

“In this state, whichever connection method, one side will suffer severe load.”

“Right.”

“Make layers here that cool and cushion.”

Five layers appeared between the Double Cores.

“And connect injection ports penetrating the layers.”

Long lines extended in all directions from the internal core.

But before protruding outside, the lines were blocked by the external core.

“The key is these injection ports. The more of these, the less burden on the charging core.”

“Isn’t this also a temporary measure? Eventually the injection ports inside won’t withstand the enormous force and will melt.”

“Just replace them.”

“Surely not the injection ports?”

Pernok nodded.

“I never said the injection ports would last forever.”

“If you touch the internal core, you might get swept away by enormous mana and die.”

“Why dangerously stick your hand inside. Just extract the internal core from outside.”

“What?”

“Core within a core. The key point is it can be replaced multiple times.”

“You’re making cores connected this intimately as separable type? Are you truly saying Baudelaire conceived this dangerous idea?”

“I added my own information to knowledge gained from her.”

Ruin couldn’t believe it.

Once connected, lines link delicately and organically so they can’t be carelessly touched.

Even Baudelaire who devoted her life to alchemy couldn’t solve this problem.

Yet Pernok who inherited that knowledge conveyed new ideas, so he couldn’t help feeling puzzled and flustered.

“I’ll make the internal core detachable, briefly extracting it when injection ports melt. Injection ports just need strength to last about a year. If I stock spare injection ports and swap them quickly, there’s no concern about the external core’s power stopping. Ah! Just in case, I should make one backup power source.”

The Lord of Despair called this multi-structure method ‘Layer System.’

“This…”

Even Ruin who initially thought it impossible found it worth attempting after continued examination.

Even Ruin with only basic alchemy knowledge thought this Layer System method had value worth challenging.

“It’s the castle I’ll take. Do I seem like I’d joke with this great achievement?”

“Unless you’re mad, you wouldn’t deliberately destroy precious things.”

“You must help from the side for all concepts to apply to reality. I’ll prove it through results, so cooperate as actively as possible.”

In that moment, Ruin erased even traces of doubt.

Because those words about proving through results were the challenge toward new discovery that Baudelaire always had on her lips.

“What should I obtain first?”

Seeing someone who lacked will to live finally reveal yearning and begin opening his heart, Pernok grinned.