Luke stood frozen, forgetting the words as he gazed at the vibrant flowers swaying in the wind across the meadow.
No matter how many times he looked again, the result was the same.
The reality that this vast meadow was an enormous circuit diagram remained unchanged.
“That can’t be…”
Luke, unable to let go of the bouquet in his hand, walked step by step into the meadow, as if entranced.
“This doesn’t make sense…”
He wasn’t astonished by the fact that this wide meadow was entirely utilized as a circuit diagram.
It was because the grammar of that magic formula was all too familiar to him.
Touching the red petals, he thought, ‘This multi-complex arrangement method… was proposed by Baal Nier only in modern times, improved over many generations, and only then became a common grammar…?’
On the other hand, wasn’t it said that the nations of Renie and Arinseia had completely vanished from history over 2000 years ago?
When Luke first saw the flowers, he thought of Renie, but that seemed impossible.
A situation where over 1000 years of discrepancy existed.
The timeline did not align at all.
‘Or is it a coincidence that Renie… No, that can’t be.’
Believing that the flowers she happened to plant coincidentally created such a bizarre arrangement would be hard to accept, even for someone with considerable faith.
Before modern class magic became fashionable, the era of circle magic was prominent, and magic differed for each mage, with different grammars and systems.
Every mage and every school had its unique methods.
The most common and revered knowledge system was the circle-operational style of Mages, which emphasized control over elements.
The practical approach of Arcanists, who utilized enchantments to their limit.
Alchemists, who used materials to create magic.
And Sorcerers, who trained their insights to the extreme, generating magic with a powerful will.
Since each school had its unique grammar, it was impossible for two people to share the exact grammar.
Thus, unless they were derived from the same root, such a match was unattainable.
However, modern class magic is clearly a new school.
It is a peculiar contradiction that resembles nothing yet is similar to everything.
The creator of modern magic, also known as the Demon King, is the mage Baal Nier.
Because only that system and theory created by Baal Nier uses that grammar.
Luke muttered through clenched teeth as he steadied the rapidly spinning circle out of anger.
“Baal…!”
It seemed that a blue flame-like shape erupted from Luke’s body.
These were forms of mana that had been dangerously forced out and could no longer be contained as the circle spun.
‘Nier, how dare you… How dare you invade my personal space?’
Only someone who is the founder of the class school could create such a perfect circuit diagram following this grammar.
For a mage, a personal space is an incredibly private domain.
Not only do they not want to show it to unrelated others, but the very idea of someone touching their belongings is unpleasant.
If that were true, then she had even dared to invade someone else’s personal space and, not only that, trampled upon all their memories as if they were her own.
If she had only touched an artifact, Luke would not have been particularly angry.
Of course, she might have thought she was dead.
After all, the figure of Luke Ilrushi had died some 4000 years ago according to her time.
Still, this was incredibly offensive.
No matter how much Baal Nier left behind a minimum respect for the deceased through the flowers, the fact that she had stepped into someone else’s space like a grave robber remained unchanged.
Luke looked again at the wide meadow.
However, this time what he focused on was not the landscape.
“Yes, now I understand.”
The role of this massive circuit diagram is to hide something.
Baal Nier, a prodigious genius with an incomprehensible past who suddenly appeared.
She was undoubtedly an alien presence in even the shoddy history of this world.
“It’s time to reveal the truth, Baal Nier.”
Steeling his emotions, Luke stood up, trampling the red flower that was at the core of the circuit.
As he did, the laws of the circuit supported by the flower twisted, revealing a door covered in dense foliage before Luke’s eyes.
It was certainly not a simple door, for it was something concealed by this gigantic circuit.
“An inner space within the personal space.”
What on earth was it that she wanted to preserve so dearly?
Luke sensed it.
Whatever it was, there should be the truth he sought beyond this door.
—————
The moment Luke entered the personal space, a search was still underway in Luke Forest.
“Here! I found a portable computer!”
“What? Really? Bring it here!”
“Yes!”
A search party member carefully lifted the computer and brought it to their superior, Sanson.
Sanson approached the elf forest keeper, Yerna, who was standing next to him and observing the scene, and asked as he showed her the computer.
“Is this Luke’s?”
“…Yes, it is.”
Seeing the computer handed over by Sanson, Yerna couldn’t help but take the situation seriously.
Sanson cautiously asked the member, “Any leads?”
“…It seems the trail stops here.”
“Is that true? Keep looking and report back.”
“Yes, I’m sorry. I will search further.”
Yerna remained silent, unable to intervene in the conversation.
The suddenly appeared red dot on the GPS, Luke’s traces leading to the danger zone, and the computer left carelessly all weighed heavily on her mind.
Yerna couldn’t believe that Luke, who cherished his computer so much, would just abandon it.
If something indeed happened…
With a worried expression, Yerna stood beside Dayton.
“Don’t worry too much; he can’t have gone that far. If the trail stops around here, we should be able to find him quickly. There are no monsters around here right now, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous. Luke isn’t someone who would get lost to the point of not being able to find his way back, after all. And it’s still quite a while until it gets dark, right?”
“Is that so…? That makes sense, right?”
“Yeah, and he’s stronger than I am, so there’s nothing to be worried about. He’s probably just off playing nearby for a bit…”
Certainly, Luke had never gotten lost in the forest even once.
Plus, at this moment, there were no elements in the forest that would pose a threat to him, allowing her to feel particularly unconcerned.
It would still be a long time before nightfall made finding paths difficult.
In fact, Luke had such excellent skills that he could easily toy around with a forest keeper like Dayton.
In the past, even in the facility of that “Dylan,” Luke had countered his magic using his own circle.
Furthermore, as there were no dangerous monsters approaching in the forest right now, the reasons for worry were even lessened.
As Dayton said, he was probably just playing around nearby, or had a quick errand to run close by.
Yerna thought this way and somewhat steadied her heart.
Though still anxious, it was definitely better than the initial sense of unease.
“Thank you. I feel a bit calmer now.”
Dayton, who was examining the computer handed to him by Sanson, immediately turned on the screen.
“It’s still powered on.”
Worried that there might be some clues, he looked at the screen, which displayed the words, “Please enter the password.”
That was something that Luke had set up when he first received the computer and didn’t know much about what it was.
In situations like this, typically when such a screen appears and one doesn’t know the password, they would just close it and let out a sigh.
However, things were a bit different this time.
“That’s a bit annoying.”
“Do you know the password?”
“Hmm?”
“I thought what Luke was last working on might provide a clue,” Dayton explained.
“Oh… that makes sense.”
It was an idea that he hadn’t thought of since he was not particularly familiar with computers.
Yerna told Dayton the password.
“Arinseia.”
“Arinseia?”
The password was the name of a legendary nation that had vanished 2000 years ago…
Upon hearing that name, Dayton nodded.
“That does sound like Luke.”
As he entered the password, the screen that appeared was somewhat shocking.
“What is this… What’s written here?”
There were numbers and graphs…
It was clear that it was not a stock chart, yet he couldn’t figure out what it was at all.
“What’s the matter? Is there a clue there?”
“Well, um…”
Dayton, who had lived a very ordinary life as a forest keeper, could hardly read the Magic Finder screen.
The only words he could discern said, “Trial version expired.”
But it felt a bit off to outright admit that he couldn’t understand.
Because…
“Did you find something?”
“Um… Well…”
It was because Yerna had been looking at him with a pretty earnest gaze.
If he said he didn’t know, she would surely grow more anxious, and yet if he said something random, it would undoubtedly confuse their search…
It was truly a dilemma.
Desperately, Dayton decided to search the computer for anything that might serve as a clue.
“Hmm… let’s check the recent search history.”
However, everything was just “Download Magic Finder,” “Free Magic Finder,” or “Cat videos,” “Cat play videos,” just like that.
“No, why is this guy watching cat videos when he’s a cat himself?”
Dayton’s cyber investigation sank deeper into chaos.
“Um… wait a minute. I’ll look a bit more.”
