Celsius's prison was as surreal as the Ice Castle. Dozens of human ice sculptures stood frozen within the cell's icicle bars, unable to move. The bars themselves were merely for display; the ice coating their entire bodies was the true prison.
"I don't fail to understand you. Those with outstanding intellect are inevitably arrogant. Mages who delve into deeper knowledge inevitably dabble in black magic. Believing they can master it."
Temprus was saying something, but there were far more important matters at hand. I quickly counted the ice sculptures with my eyes.
The number was twenty in total. Slightly fewer than the number I had taught. The Celsius territory hadn't managed to check everything either. Among the twenty, most were from the outer zones. The school district had also taught them plenty of standardized magic—whether they failed to capture them or chose not to was another matter.
"However, such arrogance only leads to the destruction of yourself and those around you. Frankly, your own destruction is none of my concern, but I refuse to let the curse of black magic descend upon this land because of your 'experiments.'"
Five guards surrounded me. All of them had practiced ki cultivation. Fitting for mercenaries of the magical house of Celsius, they all cultivated ki. In a society where ki cultivation wasn't highly regarded, their levels weren't advanced, but they were professionals in practical application. They had committed more than their share of thuggery.
What about the mages? There were several guard mages, but they were similarly unexceptional.
However, Temprus was extraordinary.
"It would be better to kill the impurities, but there's Lady Elisha's message... And above all. The results you've achieved are worth noting—teaching and civilizing the ignorant masses. That is no easy task. The Celsius family has judged your abilities to be useful."
Temprus himself was quite a capable mage, but what should be noted even more was the Celsius territory's magical infrastructure. As the executor, he held the authority to use the Celsius family's magical facilities.
A mage's power manifests proportionally to their preparation. Right now, Temprus possessed the power of the Celsius family.
The calculations were complete. I spoke slowly.
"So in the end, you're telling me to keep doing what I've been doing? You brought me here just to say that?"
"Of course not. The family demands two things of you. One is to belong to the Celsius family and teach magic to the students. The other is to immediately cease spreading black magic and handle the aftermath."
"Aftermath?"
"Erasing the black magic you've sown across this land."
Meaning find them all and kill them. A considerably laborious and meaningless task. I asked in return.
"Right now?"
"Not immediately. We cannot cause an uproar during the important period of the Advent. We must quietly locate the black mages and eradicate them only after the Advent concludes."
"There's already been quite enough uproar, it seems."
Weren't there already over twenty missing persons in the territory? When I pointed toward the inside of the prison, Temprus scoffed.
"These? These are outer dregs. People who live like parasites in the empty lands between territories. If a bear takes them, if they fall into ice and die, no one notices. Probably no one will come looking for them either."
"Hmm. Is that really so?"
"Do you have some issue with that?"
"No, just."
Because it didn't seem like there would be absolutely no one looking for them. Shrugging my shoulders, I crossed my arms and spoke.
"It's just, there's one part I don't understand."
"I believe I explained it quite concisely. What part do you not understand?"
"The reason I teach standardized magic is because without it, those dullards couldn't even touch the great profound mysteries of magic. A single ray of mercy to show to fools who would live their entire lives as ignorant masses. That is what standardized magic is."
Temprus didn't understand standardized magic well, and understood mercy even less. His expression changed strangely, unable to comprehend my words at all.
"I really cannot understand. Black magic is mercy? Are you in your right mind?"
"It's like explaining the sea to people who've lived their whole lives inland—they can only imagine a large lake. It's the same. No matter how much you explain the greatness and rapture of magic, how could the ignorant masses understand? I taught them standardized magic to show them even a speck of sweetness, to those who would live their lives excluded from magic, inadvertently living truncated existences."
In the Celsius territory, my actions were simple.
If I could teach them white magic, I did. To those who couldn't handle it, I taught standardized magic. As a result, everyone who learned from me became able to use magic.
That was my guiding principle. What I desired. No, it was what they desired.
"Wh-what, such... Black magic?! You spread magic that offers one's own body as sacrifice, for such a reason?"
"You know well yourself how gracious magic is."
"Even so! Abusing black magic causes the body to rot from the extremities!"
"It's the same even now, isn't it?"
The Celsius territory was somewhat better off. Thanks to temperatures above freezing, even with slight application of water magic, one could obtain clean water and warmth. Thanks to this, small-scale farming was possible in the Celsius territory.
However, such grace did not reach the outer zones.
The northern continent without magic was still cold. Drinking water melted from ice and snow, huddling together in shabby tents to endure the cold. Living primitive lives clutching discarded magical tools like alms from the Celsius territory.
"In the outer zones, it's common for people to lose hands or feet to frostbite. When wounds worsen, the treatment is to cut them off before they rot. What's so special about black magic? For them, every moment is black magic. If their hands and feet will rot away anyway, isn't it less unjust to drop them by their own will?"
Temprus seemed greatly shocked by my words. After remaining silent for quite a while, he pressed his forehead and spoke.
"...Hah. I thought you dabbled out of curiosity, but this is severe. Are you saying you won't yield your stubbornness?"
"You're the one being stubborn. Black magic this, black magic that every time. Even a parrot would speak better than you."
"It seems there's no helping it. You are ideologically dangerous. I received orders to recruit you if possible, but..."
Click. Temprus aimed his staff, and simultaneously the temperature around me began to drop. Coming to my senses, I found dozens of transparent ice blades floating in the air, aimed at me.
"It would be better to dispose of you here. I am the executor of the Celsius family. I will erase black magic from this territory. Along with you."
"Is this alright? You said you didn't want to cause a commotion."
"You speak pretentiously, but aren't you also a drifter expelled from the Affluence? Even if you're disposed of here, no one will know. Just like these outer dregs."
Ice had already crept up to my ankles. At this rate, I couldn't even move my feet. A situation where I would die helplessly.
However, Temprus's prediction was wrong.
"Is that really so? It's about time they showed up."
"...You keep mentioning something. What is it?"
"The outer zones may be abandoned land, but not everyone has abandoned them. If a child who visits daily doesn't come, wouldn't they naturally look for them?"
"Who are you talking about?"
There was no need for me to answer. That person had already arrived.
Strength is sufficient. Will is abundant. What is lacking is merely the occasion.
"In the names of the Celestial God and the Saintess, I declare. The primordial dust cloud settled over seven days and nights, and earth and heaven were divided. What I need is only time. That which is false shall fade within time."
The one who had protected faith and the weak for long ages completed the holy incantation. An incantation of baptism rang out—similar yet entirely different from a mage's, reciting a verse of scripture as-is to reproduce a miracle.
"Pour time upon the head of the lamb."
Magic is the art of binding phenomena with chains called mana and drawing them into reality. Because it is unnatural, left alone, it will eventually disperse. What is needed is only time.
Gospel, the Time-spel.
The ice melted and vanished. The mana scattered. Scattering sparkling dust, the binding ice used to freeze humans melted away in the light of purification. Bright sunlight shone through where it had melted.
There was only one person in the Celsius territory capable of manifesting such divine power. Temprus called that name.
"Father Casas...!"
Amidst the scattering light, Missionary Casas appeared, carrying Richard in his arms. Holding a rosary in one hand and a glowing bible floating in the air, he shouted in a solemn voice.
"Executor Temprus! Stop this at once!"
"Why does the Holy See's puppet interfere in family matters!"
"That is my line! To drag a poor child into your dispute! Do you have neither common sense nor compassion!"
The hero's arrival. For me and for Richard both.
The Holy See was unequivocally one of the strongest forces on this continent. The reason people often forgot this fact was because, despite possessing such power, they rarely revealed themselves.
They neither held a vast nation nor wielded overwhelming authority. The Holy See simply existed. In people's hearts, in churches, in monasteries, and in holy lands.
But the Holy See also had power. Missionary Casas, holding scripture and rosary, was proof of that.
Just as I was inwardly rejoicing at the appearance of an ally, Missionary Casas pointed at me and erupted in anger.
"The one who spread this wicked knowledge is that mage! You could have simply punished him, yet you tried to capture and kill the innocent! Can you call yourself an adult after that!"
...So he's not my ally, it seems?