Chapter 84

Chapter 84

#84. Dawn of Lenslet (1)

Holy power and dark magic are the ultimate opposites.

If dark magic is fire, then holy power is water.

Yet, right now, holy water was pouring down from the factory ceiling like rain.

“It’s not… just regular holy water!”

“Our defensive spells aren’t working…!”

“Guhhhhhh!”

“No… my shield… it’s breaking through!”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

“It’s hot! It burns!”

Somehow, they’d done something to the holy water.

It melted away the dark attribute shields cast by the dark wizards in an instant, then started burning their very bodies.

The smell of melting flesh and bone began to fill the air disgustingly.

Sliiish-

Gurgh!

Puuuukh-

Kuhk!

While being drenched in the rain of holy water, Astral had to feel her subordinates being cut down or stabbed by northern knights with her eyes tightly shut.

“GRAAAAAH!”

“HAAAP!”

Chiiing! Chaaang!

In between, a few subordinates used their enhanced senses from doping to fight enemies even with their eyes closed.

But these northern knights were no pushovers even in perfect condition.

There was no way they could win.

“For honor!”

Crunch!

Sigma operatives who wanted to avoid capture at all costs bit down on their teeth and chose to end their own lives.

“Using sprinklers like this… how amusing.”

At that moment, the mastermind behind all this chaos appeared.

“You… YOU!”

Though the flashes had ended, it would take a few more seconds for vision to return to normal.

Astral couldn’t wait that long.

‘There! That way!’

Using only her hearing, Astral pinpointed Arad’s location.

“DIE!!”

With no hope of capture left, she threw her sword towards where Arad stood, putting all her strength into it.

“Ugh!”

“Huuugh!”

As northern knights were hacking Sigma operatives left and right, sounds of genuine panic burst out from their mouths.

Upon hearing this, Astral felt an even greater thrill of satisfaction.

Very soon, a soft ‘puuuk’ sound would be followed by a despairing silence taking over this place.

KAANG!!

But the sound that ultimately rang out was completely different from what she had hoped for.

“!!!”

Startled, Astral snapped her eyes open.

Even though her vision hadn’t fully recovered yet, she focused hard on the blurry front.

“…!”

She dumbly confirmed the protagonist who had stopped her final strike.

A beautiful woman with white hair and deep gray eyes stood before Arad, holding a sword.

Hooouw-

A short pipe cigarette hung from her lips.

“Aaah… it broke.”

Mary looked regretfully at the broken sword she had deflected Astral’s throw with.

‘Could it be…?’

Astral instinctively realized.

That woman! The secretary and rumored lover of Arad was actually the Northern Duchess Mary!

“Kkkheheheheh! So it was you!”

At that moment, a voice from beside Astral spoke.

Among all the dark wizards baptized by holy water, only one still clung to life.

Even as his entire body melted beyond recognition, his will to live persisted.

“DIE! Curse of Final Retribution!”

The 6th Circle dark wizard hurled his last spell towards Ariana with everything he had left.

[Black Inferno…!]

Taaang!

But the dark wizard’s desperate attack failed.

Hooouw-

This time, it was Arad.

Arad, standing beside Ariana, fired an unknown weapon from his right hand, blowing the dark wizard’s head clean off.

* * *

Hooouw-

I blew on the muzzle of the magnum-style magical rifle I had copied.

Even though there was no gunpowder smoke since I used mana bullets, I did it anyway because of Mary puffing away on her mana cigarette right next to me.

Click, Chuck

I carefully inspected the magnum I had used for the first proper time.

It cost an insane amount of money and effort to make this thing. Every single shot makes me nervous.

‘To reload once, it consumes one mid-to-high grade magic stone… sigh…’

Each mana bullet fired is equivalent in cost to launching a Patriot missile back on Earth.

“What’s that?”

Mary asked, looking at the magnum in my hand.

“Ah, this is called a magical rifle.”

One of the main weapons in the Arcanepunk era.

Magical rifles and mana bullets.

They’re extremely difficult to produce with our current infrastructure.

BUT, extremely difficult doesn’t mean impossible.

“Are you mass-producing these magical rifles? With these, we could wipe out all monsters in the north?”

Mary asked with shining eyes, already forgetting she nearly died moments ago.

“Expensive.”

“How expensive?”

“Equivalent to 20 bottles of mana potion? And that’s excluding the mana bullets.”

“EEEEK!”

“And every few shots require reloading with a mid-level or higher magic stone.”

Despite being shocked by the astronomical cost, she kept staring at my magnum with those shiny eyes.

“Besides, right now I’m the only one who can make them.”

“Can’t you just train others?”

“Well, sure. But even if you have a magical rifle, not everyone can use it. You need at least 1st Circle level mana sensitivity.”

In Era 1 of Silver Age, magical rifles were mainly used by mid-to-low tier adventurers or low-tier mages who could sense mana even slightly.

“Why can only people with mana use this magical rifle?”

“Simply put, magical weapons are like a mage’s staff.”

“Ah… I see.”

She immediately understood from my short example.

As I mentioned earlier, mana is heavily influenced by a person’s willpower and focus.

Because of this, magical weapons like rifles or staffs are different from ordinary magical tools.

You need to aim with intent and focus, activating it delicately. This ensures safety.

To put it simply, it’s like the human acting as the safety mechanism for the gun.

“Still, won’t you eventually be able to mass-produce them?”

“Of course.”

“Then that’s settled. There are quite a few people in the north who can sense mana, even if just a little.”

Even after hearing how expensive and exclusive the magical rifles are, Mary refused to give up.

“Though rifles might be tough, we can currently make crossbows that shoot magic stones.”

“Really?”

When I gave her some leeway, she immediately lit up with a bright smile.

‘Anyway, Mary… your sword skills are no joke. This isn’t just a regular magic knight level, is it?’

Looking at Mary, I started feeling an increasing sense of unease.

I thought she mainly studied magic with swordsmanship as a secondary skill, but it seems the opposite was true.

She stopped Astral’s thrown sword without even raising any ki.

‘About high knight level.’

Far from ordinary skill.

‘There were many strange points about her before too.’

Thinking about it, Mary’s words and actions were closer to a knight than a witch or adventurer.

‘Hmm… Either the Mary in front of me isn’t the Great Witch of Snowfields I know, or I’ve misunderstood the original history of the Great Witch of Snowfields.’

‘Ugh… Let’s focus on the current situation for now.’

Putting aside my questions about Mary,

I observed the intruders before me.

The dark wizards had died in shapes unrecognizable, as if hit by acid rain.

Sigma operatives from the Empire either died at our knights’ hands or committed suicide.

“Uuueeep! Uuuueeeep!”

Except for this one Sigma operative who failed to commit suicide and was subdued.

“Looks like a mid-level officer from Sigma or above…”

I walked toward the middle-aged Sigma operative.

‘Hmm?’

I stopped in my tracks.

‘That guy’s…?’

I saw him preparing something while restrained.

“Huuuuueeeep… Huuuueeeeee…”

The middle-aged Sigma operative glared at me with saliva and tears streaming down his face, as if asking why I wasn’t coming closer.

“This is getting really annoying.”

He was definitely planning to blow whatever he prepared when I got close.

“Everyone, get back! Hurry!”

I shouted while aiming my magnum at him.

Once the knights moved back,

“HUUUUUEEEEEEEE!!!”

The determined Sigma operative crawled toward me despite being restrained in both arms and legs.

Flash flash flash

I saw something glowing in the crawling man’s possession.

‘Explosive magical tool!’

It was a magical tool concept similar to grenades developed by the Mage Tower.

Taang!

My magnum fired its second mana bullet.

Pachi jijijik

While the first mana bullet condensed light energy, the second one condensed electrical attributes.

“Krrrrruuuukkk!!!”

The unnamed middle-aged Sigma operative roasted and burned to death from the electric bolt I shot.

Due to the powerful current from the electric bolt, the magical bomb he was holding ceased operation.

* * *

Everything has been wrapped up.

The black magic plague sweeping through the north has ended.

We’ve thwarted the Demon Den and Empire Sigma’s attack on High City.

And most importantly…

“Eh…? Eeeeh??”

“The curse… Haran’s curse?”

The curse that bound the witches has disappeared.

“Nice! Nice! Academy! Academy!”

I cheered amidst the bewildered witches.

Now we can freely utilize the witches without any restrictions.

We can cultivate a large number of magical engineers using the witches.

“Is it that good for you?”

At that moment, someone behind me asked softly.

“Ah! Lady Isabelle, are you alright?”

Lady Isabelle of Spring appeared with a pipe in her mouth.

Even though the curse has ended, the witches’ love for mana cigarettes remained unchanged.

“What did you do with the remains of Haran, the Bell Witch?”

“I had her cremated. To ensure she wouldn’t be exploited again. And I spread her ashes at the old greenhouse farm.”

Isabelle smiled brighter and more relaxed than ever.

“By the way… how did you survive?”

I asked her rather rudely but directly.

“My mentor told me to wait a bit longer. Saying there was still much work to be done…?”

A tear rolled down the old witch’s cheek.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe. The Great Witch of Spring and northern witches being fully freed… truly moving. Hahaha!”

Everything turned out well, so I was in an exceptionally good mood.

Most of all, the restrictions on the witches that annoyed me are gone.

Now we can properly expand… ahem, the business.

“Lord Arad, by the way, I’m not the Great Witch of Spring anymore.”

Isabelle said seriously to me.

“The northern witches aren’t witches anymore either.”

“Huh? Then…?”

“Isabelle the Magician of Spring.”

“……?!”

“And the witches are now Northern Mages. The Coven has also been reborn as the Lenslet Mage Guild.”

The wind blew.

A true wind of change swept through the north.

After the trials ended, winter came to the north, marking three years since I arrived in this world.

* * *

The continent’s sky was transitioning from winter to spring.

However, the weather in the north and High City remained cold.

Still, it was better than the harsh winter cold.

It was a chilly season, so the northerners were busy catching up on tasks they had postponed, barely noticing the cold.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

With the official opening of Lenslet Academy, a project long postponed finally set sail.

“Alright, see you tomorrow!”

Class was in session – or rather, it was until just now. The academy bell signaling the end of class had just reached the classroom moments ago.

Hooouw-

Mana cigarette smoke wafted around the classroom like wood smoke from the teacher’s desk, clearing the mind.

There were 40 children sitting closely together in the classroom, all wearing the academy uniform of blue tops and black bottoms.

“Hey! Let me give you one homework assignment~.”

Just as the teacher was about to leave the podium, she suddenly stopped as if remembering something.

“To memorize the Runes I taught today by Monday, okay?”

“Huh?! All of them?”

Her words caused the children’s expressions to stiffen.

For reference, these children don’t just study magic.

They also learn writing, math, and history from other teachers who are former bureaucrats. Meaning they already have other homework.

“Yes~ All of them.”

“There are a hundred of them?!”

“Arimin runes are relatively simple and fewer in number. Don’t tell me you’re already tired?”

The female magician puffed away on her pipe while smiling at the children.

“And by the way, this is me cutting you a lot of slack. When I was young, I had to memorize all this within half a day.”

Back in the days of master-apprentice or apprenticeship teaching, things weren’t slow and frustrating like this.

They didn’t accept apprentices unless they had exceptional intelligence.

But now it’s different.

The former witches striving to become ordinary (?) magicians must follow the curriculum of the Lenslet Mage Guild and Lenslet Academy.

“Of course~ You don’t necessarily have to memorize them. Though it’s homework, it’s not mandatory.”

“Heeey!”

“Waaaah!”

The teacher’s following words immediately brightened the children’s faces.

“Though, your grades probably won’t be good. Since all lessons this semester will be in Arimin runes, poor grades might disappoint your parents, huh?”

Naturally, the magic teacher didn’t think all the students in this class would keep up.

She considered herself lucky if four of them managed to keep up.

Cultivating four highly skilled magicians from one class and dozens of 1st-2nd Circle level technomancers…

The rest would be useful clerical workers or junior bureaucrats.

This was also the original purpose of establishing the academy by Arad and Ariana.

---