The mountain of luggage brought along with Magreta(?) startled the technician guarding the underground ruins.
I asked the young technician, who was alone in the ruins.
“Are you guarding this place by yourself?”
“Miss Hanna is helping, so we’ve decided to work in three shifts.”
Well, it would have been too much for three technicians to keep living here while guarding the ruins nonstop.
We set the luggage down to one side.
Now that we had arrived at Trappist, there was nothing urgent.
We could move it to the terraforming ruins whenever we had time.
Looking at the pile of luggage stacked to one side, the technician said,
“I never imagined you would bring this much. We’ll be able to live in plenty for quite a while.”
I shook my head at the technician’s words.
“The main group will be coming after us.”
At my words, the technician’s eyes widened.
“How many are coming?”
I didn’t know the exact number, but Magreta did.
Magreta, who had been checking the luggage, answered in my place.
“124 from America, and 217 from Korea.”
“Pardon? That many? This place is one thing, but I wonder if the ruins over there can handle it…”
The technician looked around the underground ruins with a troubled expression.
“You don’t have to worry about this place. The only ones following us right away are the Americans, and the Koreans will come after some time has passed. Once the Americans arrive, we’ll send them straight to the terraforming ruins.”
“Wouldn’t 124 people require too much energy?”
At the technician’s words, I shook my head.
“It’ll be fine.”
To be honest, I had been worried too.
The terraforming ruins were close to these underground ruins, but there were simply too many people to move.
On top of that, we had used up all the energy in the underground ruins when we went to Earth.
There was no way much energy had been replenished in the meantime.
But Soph had gotten rid of that worry for me.
[It is not quite at the level of a high-ranking mage, but I can handle the spatial transfer device far better than before. For a short distance, there is no need to worry about energy consumption.]
A mage’s assurance was reliable.
While Magreta and the technician checked the luggage we had brought, I took the box out of my backpack and set it on the floor.
I couldn’t take this box straight to the terraforming ruins.
If I used spatial transfer, I had no idea how much more might disappear.
I had to hide it here, take the items out whenever I had the chance, and move them myself.
Pressing my foot firmly against the ground, I recalled earth magic.
Srrrrk.
The hard floor where the box sat began to sink downward.
A moment later, the box disappeared into the ground, and only an empty patch of floor remained where it had been.
Not long after I hid the box, people appeared above the altar.
Fwoooosh.
People walked out of the portal with pale faces.
It was the main American group.
Some people descended from the altar just fine, but others sat down on the altar and retched.
“Hurry down! People are going to keep coming out!”
The technician who had been talking to me shouted as he ran toward the altar.
Fortunately, the Americans came down on their own just fine.
Those who were relatively all right supported the ones who were retching and helped them down from the altar, and before long, the area below the altar was filled with Americans.
As I stood to one side with Magreta watching the scene, two people walked over.
One man and one woman.
I had never seen the woman with short black hair before, but I knew the man well.
The man I knew well, Sterling, said to me with a frown,
“They’ve all arrived. I’d like you to connect the spatial transfer device to the terraforming ruins.”
I nodded at Sterling’s words and looked at the woman who had come with him.
She was someone I was seeing for the first time, but she wouldn’t have come along for no reason.
When I looked at her, the woman held out her hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Catherine.”
With her hand still extended, she looked at Sterling.
Sterling’s eyebrow twitched as he opened his mouth.
“She is the leader of the main group that just arrived.”
When I took her hand, she spoke again.
“And Sterling is my adjutant.”
At Catherine’s words, Sterling’s face twisted abruptly.
Judging by Sterling’s expression, it seemed he had originally been of higher standing than Catherine.
The fact that he had become Catherine’s “adjutant” was probably his “punishment” for losing all his comrades.
Once the handshake was over, Magreta waved her hand.
“It’s been a while.”
After thinking for a moment, Catherine opened her mouth.
“It has been a while, Miss Magreta.”
It was a strange way of speaking, mixing formality and informality.
When I looked at her in puzzlement, Catherine explained the reason herself.
“I, like Miss Magreta and Sterling, am a daughter of the Everlock family. That is why I was able to take charge as the leader of the main group.
However, I am not a true daughter. After I obtained dark energy and caught the family’s eye, I became an adopted daughter. That is the reason Sterling is angry, and also the reason I treat Magreta in this awkward way.”
At her blunt words, everyone was left speechless.
“Ah… yes.”
I could only manage a stupid reply, and Soph let out an exclamation of admiration for the first time in a while.
[Oho, now this is another curious type of woman.]
It sounded like something a womanizer would say, but it was only the bluff of a pure-hearted mage.
Ignoring Soph’s words, I walked toward the altar.
As I walked toward the altar, I checked the Americans.
Americans carrying small bags.
There were hardly any people carrying two bags like Catherine. Most of them, like Sterling, carried only one small bag.
‘No one came empty-handed. And no one came with a backpack either.’
Seeing that no one had come empty-handed, it seemed they had at least met a certain standard.
Seeing that almost no one had two bags made me understand why Catherine had become an adopted daughter.
And seeing Sterling, who carried only one bag, having learned “magic” made it clear just how much preferential treatment he had received.
Looking at it now, the number of bags mattered.
When we first used spatial transfer, there had been another reason they hadn’t cared about how many bags we had.
‘It must be because we weren’t Americans.’
I had known it already, but the Americans had no intention of making proper use of the Koreans.
Clicking my tongue inwardly, I placed my hand on the shelf.
Energy flowed into the staff hidden behind my back.
Soph manipulated the spatial transfer device through me.
A small hologram appeared in front of the shelf.
Various phrases, different from before.
Finally, the letters indicating the terraforming ruins appeared.
Wooooong.
The portal floating above the altar disappeared, then appeared again.
It had connected to the terraforming ruins.
When I gave the signal, the Americans climbed back onto the altar and entered the portal.
The Americans thought nothing of me operating the shelf. It seemed they considered me a technician.
Quite a few people recognized Magreta.
As they walked toward the altar, some looked at Magreta meaningfully, while others looked at her with puzzled faces.
Magreta ignored all of their gazes.
After everyone had disappeared like that, Magreta asked,
“Now it’s our turn to go, right?”
I shook my head.
“You go first. I’ll go in a little while.”
At my words, Magreta tilted her head.
I pointed toward the sky with my finger.
“I have to plant the seeds.”
“Ah… there.”
She understood what I meant.
Magreta went over to the technician and grabbed his arm.
“Let’s go together. Captain Hyeon will guard this place.”
“But… ah, there’s still time.”
The technician, his face bright red, stammered.
“When else will you get to rest if not now? Once I get to the terraforming ruins, I’ll send Hanna.”
Magreta tugged his arm again.
Even though she had only pulled lightly, he was dragged along by Magreta.
“Th-then shall I?”
“Of course.”
With an expression that said he had no choice, he climbed onto the altar, and Magreta, holding his arm, waved to me.
“Then take your time.”
Once Magreta and the technician left, the underground ruins were empty.
Thanks to Magreta dragging the technician away, I had been left alone.
“Then, shall I get going?”
From the luggage we had piled up, I gathered the things I would take to the Ice Star.
First, the saplings and seeds.
They were things to plant in the underground city.
“They said the Koreans would come a day later, so I’ve got plenty of time.”
After gathering the items, I went to the shelf and adjusted the hologram.
Once again, the portal disappeared and then reappeared.
This time, the destination was the Ice Star.
I climbed onto the altar.
After the white light vanished, the first thing I saw was a spirit floating in front of my eyes.
She greeted me with a bright expression.
-Welcome! I’ve been waiting!
Being greeted like that by the face I had seen in Soph’s memories made me feel strange after all.
Soph said nothing at all.
I set the saplings and seeds I had been carrying down in front of her.
Seeing the saplings and seeds on the floor, the spirit’s eyes widened.
-Could these be living plants?
“That’s right. I brought a few saplings and several kinds of seeds. I didn’t know which would work, so I brought as many different types as I could.”
-Wow! This is the best! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting? Thank you so much.
Letting out a sound like a scream, the spirit rapidly circled the area.
-I can make forests, fields, pastures, and parks too. A city in the forest—this is something I’ve dreamed of for thousands, tens of thousands of years!
When such an unexpected span of time came out of her mouth, it was hard to cut in.
Instead of speaking to her, I looked around.
This place, the facility’s ground-level area, had changed from before.
Only the floor with the magic circle drawn on it had remained intact, while the building itself had been half-destroyed, but now the whole place was surrounded by transparent walls.
Thanks to that, no cold wind blew in either.
“It’s not cold.”
-Yes. I repaired it in preparation for the vice administrator’s arrival. I did well, right?
The newly formed transparent walls the spirit was boasting about were not ordinary glass.
They were all walls made of ice.
It seemed she had made them with magic.
This was something worthy of praise. I praised her.
“Yes, you did well.”
-Of course. Do you know how hard I worked to make them? Things kept appearing and getting in the way, so it took a long time. If I had made one wrong move, I might not have finished before you arrived.
“Getting in the way?”
-Yes. Ah, another one appeared. Look over there.
Where the spirit pointed, a cloud of snow was rising.
A snow cloud drawing closer and closer.
Something was running this way.
I pushed mana into my eyes.
Fwoooosh.
My vision brightened sharply.
As if looking through a telescope, the snow cloud filled my sight.
It felt like my vision had become several times better than before.
“It’s a scout.”
-Yes. It seems there were more of those monsters. They kept showing up every now and then afterward too. I kept catching them, but it took a lot of energy and time, so they were terribly annoying.
[Well, there is no way the ones that flew through space only fell around here. The ones that fell far away must have arrived later.]
Soph was right.
The ones that had attacked that day were the ones that had fallen near the ruins.
It wouldn’t end with killing only them.
-Please wait a moment. I’ll clean it up.
“No. Wait a moment. I’ll deal with it.”
I stopped the spirit from going outside.
-Huh? Will you be all right? Then I’ll open the entrance.
“It’s fine.”
I waved my hand at her and walked toward the ice wall.
When I reached the ice wall, I held out my hand.
A spell surfaced in my mind, and the ice wall melted away.
Shwaaaak.
I passed through the rising steam and went outside.
Whoooooosh.
Outside the ice wall, a flesh-cutting wind was blowing.
But it was no longer cold.
“Shall we go?”
[You won’t need my help, will you?]
“No. I can fight on my own now.”
I moved the wind and made it push my body.
Chwaaaak.
Riding the wind, I slid across the ice.
I grew faster and faster. The charging scout monster rapidly grew larger.
I stretched my hand toward the monster.
A new spell formed in my mind.
And the magic was cast.
Full-fledged Mage (2)