Chapter 152. Nine Goblins
Books, or rather, the types of “objects containing letters”, were, in truth, incredibly diverse. From stone monuments engraved with words to identification plaques, even to store signs we often see around.
Objects without any writing were harder to find, and yet, the reason I suspected it might be a grimoire was for one reason alone.
‘Something that has remained undiscovered for countless years, despite absolute tracing.’
There are countless objects that contain written letters, but among them, the only one capable of evading absolute tracing, was that one.
Well, at least from what I know.
And perhaps he caught onto what I was thinking—?
Parun shook his head knowingly and spoke.
“I know what you’re thinking, but the likelihood of it being a grimoire is slim.”
“…Slim?”
“Yes. I already asked about it once. However, the Magic Academy’s Headmaster said they’d conducted several experiments.”
“Experiments?”
At my question, Parun nodded.
“I didn’t hear the detailed contents… but after several tests, Lorutel’s conclusion was, ‘It’s probably not a grimoire.’”
His tone was definitive, and I tilted my head.
“What kind of experiment did they even conduct?”
“You seem to question the experiment itself.”
I nodded.
The methods that came to mind weren’t that complicated.
Acquire a grimoire, and use the Infinite Chain to trace it.
But grimoires aren’t exactly something you can find like the neighbor’s dog, are they?
‘From what I heard earlier… The target designation alone requires a tremendous amount of information.’
And no magic noble house would willingly hand over detailed data about their grimoires. The fact that Lorutel even conducted such an experiment was already suspicious in itself.
However…
“I didn’t hear that part. I don’t know why, but they were strictly keeping the experiment contents secret.”
“Secret?”
“Yes. The easiest test would be to set a grimoire as the tracking target, but…”
“Hmm.”
“Think about it. If the Infinite Chain were tracking a grimoire, it would either belong to someone, or be an undiscovered, unowned one. The former would be meaningless, and if it were the latter, would Lorutel just give up?”
“…They wouldn’t.”
Given the circumstances, the weight of probability leaned heavily toward the Infinite Chain’s target not being a grimoire. Of course, it could still be a case where the Infinite Chain was tracing a grimoire with an owner, and Lorutel was merely studying it, but…
‘If they’re saying it’s not a grimoire, then it probably isn’t.’
If it were, Lorutel wouldn’t need to make such a definitive denial.
Still, even if it wasn’t a grimoire, it was certainly intriguing.
Not for academic reasons like Parun’s, his fascination with “absolute trace negation methods”, but rather…
Yes, it was greed.
Something like, ‘Our library possesses such a priceless book.’ A sort of pride or vanity, perhaps.
Of course, that was only if we actually found the item, but still, the mere possibility was exciting enough.
‘I’ll have to ask Senior Teheman about this later.’
Surely, someone with that much knowledge would know something. He’d even learned ancient magic, after all.
Ah, and as I thought that, curiosity flickered to life.
“Then, by any chance, is it possible to trace a grimoire using the Infinite Chain?”
“…?”
Was the question too abrupt?
Parun tilted his head.
Then his eyes narrowed, fixing on me.
“Why? Do you happen to know of some unowned grimoire that no one’s heard of?”
“No, that’s not it.”
It was because of grimoires that already have owners.
“So, is it possible? Or impossible?”
After a moment of consideration, Parun finally replied.
“We haven’t fully grasped its usage yet… but theoretically, it’s not impossible. No, in fact, I’d say it is possible.”
That was very good news. Because that meant it might become a little easier to locate the Fragments of Reverse Heaven.
Ah, though one issue remained…To find the Fragments, I’d need to explain their existence to Parun, who was the spellcaster.
‘Well, that’s something to think about later.’
Not a matter to dwell on right now.
Just as I was about to end the topic on the Infinite Chain, Parun’s suspicious gaze remained.
“Are you sure you’re not hiding something?”
“…If I were, don’t you think I would’ve said so?”
“You? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all week.”
His words struck so accurately that I was momentarily speechless. Because yes, if I did know about some unowned grimoire, I definitely wouldn’t have told him.
But not because of greed.
Let’s say… yes.
‘Because of camaraderie among companions.’
You know the saying, “Seeing breeds desire.”
The moment someone sees a valuable thing, desire awakens where there was none.
And that desire ruins friendship. People start arguing, who gets to keep it, who found it first, and if they’re lucky, it ends without bloodshed.
Of course, I was the exception.
I’ve always been someone transparently overflowing with greed, my heart stirred by things whether they existed before me or not.
Finding one more treasure wouldn’t change anything. A man so full of desire that he appears empty. One utterly drenched in greed, so much that he’s transcended it. That’s me.
Anyway.
“That’s about all I know regarding the Infinite Chain. As for its mechanism and magical theory… you wouldn’t listen even if I explained, would you?”
“Of course not.”
“Then kindly get lost. I’ve got a lot of material to go through to master its use.”
He seemed quite pressed for time, and understandably so.
Parun’s desk was stacked with papers and research notes of unknown content.
If he had to digest all that before being able to use the Infinite Chain, even I would be in a hurry.
Still, despite his dismissal, I remained seated. Because my real reason for coming hadn’t yet been addressed.
“Are you deaf? I said get—”
“Ah, actually, there’s something I wanted to ask. About, you know, magic engineering? Or… something like that?”
“…Magic engineering?”
My question must’ve caught him off guard.
He frowned as if he’d just heard nonsense, but, intrigued, sat back down on the sofa.
I seized the chance to speak quickly, if I hesitated, I’d really be thrown out.
“Do you know anything about core division?”
“Core division…? Which kind do you mean? Dividing rooms within a single core? Or literally splitting the core itself?”
Dividing rooms within a core meant sectioning off its interior, mainly used by mages handling multiple elements to keep conflicting energies separated.
Of course, there were exceptions, like the Heavenly Origin Art, which allowed multi-element use without division, but generally, that was the norm.
However, what I wanted to know was clearly the latter.
“Splitting one core into two. Two into three.”
“…Why?”
Parun tilted his head, unable to understand, naturally so.
‘Well, yeah, there’s usually no reason to split a core.’
Dividing one into two, two into three… Normally, “the more, the better,” but not in this case.
First, splitting it at all wasn’t easy, and even if you did…
‘Efficiency drops drastically.’
Ah, though Senior Rihaim’s split core was a special case. That one wasn’t intentionally divided, it was torn apart in an accident.
Anyway, the reason I wanted to divide my core was… The Circle.
After Lord Muhad’s advice, I’d been thinking deeply.
What made my current Circle different from the Great Forest’s?
It wasn’t something I could figure out overnight. But as I analyzed, I caught a faint clue, its size.
‘…Compared to the Great Forest’s, my Circle is far too small.’
Yes, that was the problem. No matter how perfect a cogwheel is, it still needs sufficient size and durability to handle power. My Circle was far too fragile. In other words, by trying to preserve stability through small size, I’d actually harmed its stability instead.
‘Then I should just make it bigger, right?’
That should be Impossible.
A Circle is a secondary core formed by gathering natural mana, qualitatively different from a mana-forged core.
Even if I tried to inject more natural mana, its form and size were already fixed.
Then what? Destroy it and rebuild?
‘Ridiculous.’
Among the slum kids of the Grey Area, there’s a saying:
— “A single goblin is easy to slay, and two goblins are still easy. But three are tricky, and nine, cannot be slain at all.”
Meaning: if you can’t do something alone, gang up on it together.
But someone might ask, “They’re just goblins, so what?”
That’s what makes it profound.
‘No matter how many of you gather, never forget, you’re still goblins.’
That line of thought sparked an idea.
‘If one won’t do… why not make two?’
If two don’t suffice, make three. Then four. And if even nine aren’t enough? Then add more.
But here lay the problem…
‘Forming one Circle, I managed, thanks to my Great Forest experience…’
But creating a second one was impossible. No matter how I tried, mimicking the first Circle’s formation, the new one was always absorbed into the old, or dispersed before taking shape.
So I thought, maybe I should split my existing core. However, that was uncharted territory even for me.
Hence, I intended to use a little helpful cheat. No need to suffer in silence like during the Troubleshooter days.
Though of course, I couldn’t exactly tell Parun all that.
“I’ll just say it’s related to a vision I’ve learned.”
“…Hmm, planning some kind of new experiment, then?”
“You could say that.”
Parun’s eyes glimmered briefly with curiosity, but then he quickly restrained himself. Since I mentioned it was linked to a vision, he knew better than to pry.
In any case, I waited for his reply…
“But if it’s that kind of core division… you’ve come to the wrong person. My specialty is elemental magic. I’m not entirely ignorant of core division, but my understanding pertains only to elemental structures.”
His answer fell short of my expectations, and I felt mild disappointment.
‘…Figures. It was never going to be easy.’
I had hoped Parun might know something useful.
Just as I was thinking that…
Parun spoke again.
“You’d better go find Henji.”
“…Henji?”
A name I hadn’t heard in a long time. Henji, the natural-born madman I’d met in this life for the first time.
But why him?
Puzzled, I tilted my head, and Parun, looking surprised, asked,
“Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
“…?”
“I assumed you would. Weren’t you two rather close?”
The question made me flinch internally, but I stayed silent.
Regardless, Parun continued his explanation.
“I can assure you, when it comes to cores, there’s no one more knowledgeable than Henji. At least not that I know of. Ah, and that reminds me.”
As if something had just occurred to him, Parun added,
“There’s been some progress in the Heavenly Origin Art research. You seemed interested in the results… so, how about you deliver the paper to Henji?”
If I did that…
“Then you should be able to grasp a fair bit of the outcome yourself.”
