The capital of the Magic Federation, Buyuseong, is as elegant as a moon floating endlessly in the sky. The celestial fortress, quietly and gently crossing the heavens, is both the capital and symbol of the Magic Federation. The fearsome magic that elevated an entire city to the constellations of the sky reveals just how powerful and great a nation the Magic Federation is.
The ignorant masses crawling upon the earth look up at the sky and yearn for Buyuseong. Only mages are qualified to ascend to Buyuseong. Therefore, the commoners desperately bear children and teach them magic. Because that is the sole path to social advancement.
They say water and people both flow to lower places. But that is simply because the law of gravity pulls all things downward. Buyuseong, which twists the very law of gravity itself, was an El Dorado where supreme knowledge and power converged.
And I... was falling toward such a Buyuseong.
"Waaaaaaaah!"
My scream echoed across the void. Fierce winds tossed my body about recklessly. At this point, the speed should normally be decreasing, yet it only kept accelerating further.
Reverse Gravity. That spell, which belongs to the high-difficulty category even among White Magic, reverses the direction of gravity acting on the caster.
Simply put, it's a spell that makes you fall toward the opposite side of the ground.
Then wouldn't you escape this world, you ask?
Correct. There is no ground to step on in the sky, and therefore you would rise eternally without crashing into anything. It's a problem if your magic power runs out and you fall midway, and it's an even bigger problem if it doesn't. You'd be flung into the vast void of the universe, unable to even preserve your corpse.
That is why Reverse Gravity is evaluated as an extremely difficult spell with no practicality, close to being utterly useless.
However, there is no better spell for reaching Buyuseong, which wanders at the edge of the sky.
"Buyuseong wanders across the entirety of the Magic Federation. Searching for Buyuseong, whose location is unknown, with flight magic is a waste of magic power and time. Ascending by riding the Celestial Fall Trajectory in reverse is the most rational path."
Rancart explained leisurely while adjusting our direction. Just as a comet crosses the sky and falls diagonally, the three of us also rose diagonally.
Even after piercing through the clouds and ascending, the speed showed no signs of decreasing. The air gradually thinned, but the wind grew even fiercer. With my breath growing ragged, I gasped out.
"Rancart, the wind is too stro-hic!"
"What? I can't hear you well. If you have something to say, save it. We can talk carefully after arriving at Buyuseong."
"No, I mean the wind is stron-gasp!"
But my voice failed to catch up to Rancart ahead and ended up buried beneath the fierce wind. Rancart took no particular measures, perhaps believing I would be perfectly fine even in such extreme conditions.
That's the problem. Rancart is a mage. Moreover, he's a Magus who has awakened not only White Magic and Black Magic, but even his Unique Magic Path. It would be faster for him to count the impossible things than the possible ones. Even wrapped in fierce winds, he maintained his composure.
And, Rancart firmly believes without a doubt that I, whom he has acknowledged, am also at a similar level. He's convinced that no matter what hardship comes, if it's a problem he can solve, I would overcome it as well.
So that must be why he pushed me into the Bottomless Abyss. Ah, if I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have stubbornly insisted on first place. Needlessly stimulating some strange inferiority complex.
Smack. Should I just endure with my regeneration... I was pondering that when.
"Heavenly Sword Qi, Gentle Breeze."
A short slash grazed past my eyes. It was thanks to Shei's Cheon-aeng parting the oncoming wind and capturing the air.
Phew. I'm saved. To think breathing could be this grateful. Feeling much more comfortable, I spoke with my freed mouth.
"Wow. Thanks to you, I'll live. Thank you, Miss Shei."
"...Hmph. I didn't particularly do it for you. I need to avoid the wind too."
'Not like I could stand watching you trembling and shivering while flying either.'
What's that about. Your words and thoughts are completely different. You say you didn't do it for me.
I respect others' privacy, but such obvious lies make me want to expose them.
"Come on. You did it for me, didn't you."
"Hah? That's a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding indeed. Then where did you pull out that Cheon-aeng from? It's been wandering around protecting you until now. You used your ability because I was cold."
"...Huh?"
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'Is that... so? No. I simply, just, since I received help, as repayment....'
What the. It wasn't said consciously, but just blurted out without thinking because she was embarrassed? Hmm. Having faster speech than thought is also a talent. Is it because of the Heaven Reflection Canon or whatever.
"I'm not picking a fight, I'm saying thank you. It'd be a shame if my attempt to express my feelings didn't get through. Thank you, Miss Shei."
"...Ur, um. Well. If you're thankful. I have no reason to refuse either. Take it to heart."
"In the past, you wouldn't have lifted a finger whether I was cold or not, but I guess you've become socialized while traveling together. I'm deeply moved."
"I've always had social skills! It's just that, until now, you weren't reliable enough to that extent!"
That means I am reliable now. Saying something even more embarrassing while feeling shy. It would be a virtue to just let it slide gently without pointing it out here, but....
"Hmm? Then does that mean I'm reliable now?"
Deliberately? It would be better for Shei to quickly expose it before misunderstandings pile up further.
Shei also realized what she had said and flinched.
'Huh? Is Hughes reliable? He's not particularly reliable... but, Hughes has already continued to help me. He didn't betray me even in the most weakened situation. Through both before and after the regression, he was the most favorable comrade. Being reliable... is right?'
"...Um, that. I suppose so...."
Shei, unaccustomed to both hearing and saying embarrassing words. Her voice gradually shrank. I rode the momentum and spoke.
"I suppose so? Oho. I've become a reliable person to Miss Shei in my own way too. This is also deeply moving. I've only ever heard that I'm all talk and can't be trusted."
"As if! Enough! If you don't need it, I'll release the gentle breeze!"
"Huh? I didn't say I didn't need it. I said thank you. I'm saying I'll gratefully accept it, so why do you keep taking it negatively."
"You keep nitpicking!"
"I simply stated my honest feelings. Isn't it Miss Shei who's nitpicking?"
"Shut up!"
"Blblblblub! Cough, the air!"
Wait. If she suddenly withdraws the Cheon-aeng, I can't breathe! No, more than that. Isn't it harder to breathe than before? What on earth is happening?
Clutching my chest that felt like it would burst, I looked around.
What I had seen just a few minutes ago was a dreamlike scene of golden sunlight illuminating the sea of clouds. The land visible down there was as small as a toy, making it feel like looking down at a map, and beyond my gaze, mountain peaks piercing through the clouds could be seen. It was full of strange and beautiful scenery.
But in the brief moment I conversed with Shei, the scenery had completely changed.
The first thing to change was the color. Beyond blue and indigo. A void ink-color close to black filled the upper portion of my vision. No matter how far I fell, no matter how much I sank, that color seemed like it would never change. A void that wouldn't end even if I fell eternally spread across the upper part of my vision.
When seen from the ground, clouds also belonged to the sky, but that was no different from a frog in a well judging the sky. Looking down from this altitude, clouds were closer to white hems gently brushing across the earth. Rain and lightning were at best nothing more than drops of sweat and static electricity. Nature, which had been revered as the blessing of heavenly gods until now, looked so, so trivial at this altitude.
What exactly is the heavens? Can one call it the heavens just by seeing mere clouds, rain, and lightning? When it can't even dare to embrace that round curve of the Earth Mother Goddess?
Let alone... above my head, a much, much farther journey that couldn't be reached even after eons remained?
Trivial.
The exaltation of humans as the lords of all creation, too.
The praise of mere clouds crawling below one's feet as the palaces of heavenly gods, too.
This thin and empty sky that ended with just a momentary surge, too.
And, the ignorance of humans who couldn't reach that end, too.
Compared to the cold and empty truth, it was utterly trivial.
"Celestial Fall Trajectory connected. Reverse Gravity, End."
Rancart's murmur transcended space and reached me. A moment later, the magic that had been dropping my body upward ended. And our bodies began falling toward that distant Earth Mother Goddess once again.
The Earth Mother Goddess's fair body drew a round and gentle curve. Perhaps because of that, our falling trajectory was also a curve rather than a straight line. Perhaps we always lived in a world of curves. Human knowledge was simply too shallow and fragmentary, merely accepting it as straight lines.
Now breathing wasn't the problem. Shei spread her Cheon-aeng into a spherical form and enveloped the space. And pulling me inside, she shouted.
"Hughes! Hold on tight! If you let go, you'll become lost!"
Since we were following the same trajectory, there was no way to lose hold, but I also needed the air Cheon-aeng provided, so I grabbed onto Shei as well. During that time, our bodies moved along an elliptical trajectory following the round horizon. Were we going up, or going down? Even that was now difficult to distinguish, and it wasn't particularly meaningful either.
We were just moving. That was all.
Between admiring the scenery of the universe, and struggling to protect a handful of air, and falling while drawing an ellipse, and wandering the void freed from gravity.
After moving for quite some time without needing to distinguish anything.
We discovered Buyuseong protruding between those clouds.
This encounter felt like a miracle. Running into Buyuseong, which was nothing more than a single point in such a vast universe—what could this be called if not a miracle?
"Buyuseong...."
Even Shei, who feared nothing in this world, was overwhelmed by this scenery and held reverence, and I could also keenly understand those feelings.
However, having also read Rancart's thoughts, I was relatively free from such sentiments. Because even this grand trajectory that had seemed merely mysterious was within the realm of understanding.
"We've arrived."
When Buyuseong became close enough to be visible to the naked eye, Rancart muttered. I also narrowed my brow and took in the sight of Buyuseong visible below.
Buyuseong, said to have been created by the Golden Mirror himself, was indeed that beautiful. The entire city was built upon dark monochrome stone, and five towers stood tall as if protecting the fortress while drawing a pentagram. The complexly intersecting roads looked just like magic circles, and the gold and pure silver packed tightly between them dazzled the eyes.
The magical fortress displayed a mysterious and beautiful majesty, naturally melting into the backdrop of the sky.
And in the center of Buyuseong, a tower incomparably larger than the five towers caught my eye. Bluish magical power light flowed along its surface.
That must be... Babylon, where the Demon King resides.
Rancart, who had been watching the gradually approaching Buyuseong, wrinkled his expression as if annoyed.
"Is it because I modified the trajectory? How troublesome. Hughy, prepare to defend."
"Huh? Me? Prepare to defend? How?"
"Figure it out somehow."
It was when Rancart waved his hand.
The five magic towers moved simultaneously. The magic towers, aiming precisely at us as if looking at uninvited guests, began to gather lights of various colors. Powerful magical light condensed to the point of being visible even from this far distance. The magic towers, having gathered power to their fullest, shot light toward us.