Episode 3: Almagest
“What a shame. It would have been nice if Zwart were here too.”
After calming his endlessly weeping mother, the mealtime drew to a close.
Around that time, Father Plian began mentioning his second son, Zwart, quite often.
Zwart Verite was Perseta’s younger brother, now 25 years old. Last year, he graduated from the Imperial Academy as runner-up—a prodigy among prodigies.
“I can only feel sorry as his father. That brilliant boy refused one good offer after another to come back and save our family…”
At this point, Plian no longer tried to hide the family’s predicament.
Although he had made a few attempts to be discreet, bits and pieces kept slipping out during conversation.
He didn’t want to burden Perseta—who had just ended his long seclusion—with worrying about the family’s problems. Still, Perseta was part of the household, and it seemed wrong to keep pretending all was well.
In the end, Plian simply unsealed the truth.
Perseta felt sad to learn that his family had fallen on such hard times while he was away.
Along with that sadness, though, came a quiet curiosity.
“But Father, our family is known for magic. Did Zwart attend a knight’s academy?”
Plian answered with a bitter smile:
“He was being practical. After all… magic is on its way out. We’re in an age where the ‘mystical’ is fading…”
Magic is disappearing?
The ‘mystical’ is leaving?
Perseta’s eyes grew round at such an outlandish notion.
But Plian misunderstood the look on his son’s face.
“Yes, I see you’re curious about Zwart, too. Don’t worry; I’ve already sent word. He should be back tomorrow. Even if he couldn’t be here to greet you today, please forgive him.”
Plian clasped Perseta’s hand.
“This is all my fault. I feel nothing but guilt for that boy. He’s at the prime of his life and yet is doing all sorts of grueling work to save our family…”
His eyes glimmered with tears.
Perseta looked back at his father and slowly blinked.
Maybe I misheard him… Yes, that must be it.
Seeing his father’s sorrow, Perseta decided the odd remark about magic disappearing didn’t matter right now.
After all, there was no way magic could vanish.
In that moment, Perseta merely wished to offer some comfort.
If only he knew how to show affection the way other people did, he might have hugged his father. But he didn’t know how, so he simply felt a silent sympathy.
When the long meal was finally over, Illianne took Perseta by the hand, trying to pull him along.
“Brother! Let me show you around the estate!”
Perseta let her tug him a step or two, then stopped short.
He could tell from Lady Roorua’s expression that his mother still wanted to spend time with him.
Gently, Perseta declined Illianne’s invitation.
“It’s all right. I still remember everything about our estate. Every bit of it.”
At those words, both Plian and Roorua beamed.
“He’s still our clever boy.”
“Exactly. Since childhood, Perseta never forgot a single thing he saw.”
If Perseta claimed to remember something, it meant he truly did.
Illianne, however, was unconvinced.
“But it’s not the same as it used to be! Even since I was little, it’s changed a lot!”
She had a point.
Perseta involuntarily rubbed his chin as he considered her words.
Seeing this, Roorua patted Perseta on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry about me. Go on, tour the land with Illianne. You should find out how things have changed—and get closer to your little sister while you’re at it.”
So Perseta relented.
Illianne gleefully led him away, while Perseta—unaccustomed to such casual family interaction—followed in nervous confusion.
“Brother! Did you know I’m a wizard too? Zwart’s always teasing me, saying there’s no point in learning magic. But I love magic. Isn’t it beautiful? Free, cool… Sure, it’s hard, but still.”
Illianne chattered nonstop as she dragged him all around.
“I’ve been soooo curious about you. I mean, you’re the disciple of Archmage Bardente! So tell me: what was Bardente like? What did you learn from him? Ah… right, you said you didn’t study much magic. But still! You must have learned something, right? Tell me!”
Perseta felt slightly overwhelmed by all these rapid-fire questions.
What was his master like?
He had never even considered that question. For Perseta, “Master” was simply “Master.” Perseta’s entire world had consisted of him, his teacher, and their books.
Still, he could answer at least one of Illianne’s questions.
“You asked what I’ve learned?”
“Yes! Oh, but, Brother!”
Suddenly, Illianne let out a sharp exclamation.
“How long are you going to keep using formal speech with me?”
She glared at him, eyes narrowed in annoyance. Perseta looked away.
“Ah… I’m just more comfortable this way…”
“Well, it makes me sound rude if you speak so formally to me!”
“I’m sorry…”
“Aaaagh!”
Watching Illianne writhe in frustration, Perseta scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“Sorry… Please give me some time. I’ve spoken formally my entire life, so I’m not used to anything else.”
Hearing that, Illianne felt a twinge of pity all over again.
No matter how she tried, she couldn’t imagine living alone in a tower with an archmage over 150 years old—spending a period longer than her entire life shut away like that.
“Ah, goodness.”
She spontaneously hugged Perseta.
He didn’t know why, but her warmth felt pleasant, so he allowed it.
“All right, Brother. But I’m going to keep using casual speech with you. You can’t scold me for bad manners.”
Perseta flashed a small smile.
“Thank you.”
“What do you mean ‘thank you’?!”
With a flustered shout, Illianne glared at him. Feeling momentarily relieved after letting off steam, she brightened again and circled back to her original question.
“So anyway, what did you study? I really want to know—please tell me!”
“I… studied all sorts of things.”
“Ugh, be more specific!”
Perseta paused, reflecting on the vastness of what “study” could mean. Since knowledge was endless, the question “What did you learn?” felt almost too big.
In the end, he decided to talk about what he had been researching most recently.
“Lately, I was working on different kinds of observation equipment—some that could be built easily and others that’d be impossible to construct alone. I was focused on that research, and… well, that’s partly why I came out.”
“Observation equipment? Like a mana detection plate?”
“Ah… not quite that. Actually, I have a question for you.”
“A question?”
“Have they built a ‘massive mana collider’ yet? That’s what I’ve been looking into.”
Illianne cocked her head, utterly confused by his strange words.
“What did you say just now…?”
“A Mas-sive Ma-na Col-lid-er.”
“And… what exactly is that?”
“Oh, I guess nobody would know; it’s my own term. It’s something that—”
Perseta tried his best to explain.
Listening for a while, Illianne finally had to ask in disbelief:
“Brother… Are you sure you’re not just telling me some dream you had last night?”
Perseta rubbed his nose, embarrassed.
He wondered if he simply hadn’t explained it well or if Illianne just lacked the background knowledge.
He decided to let it go at that.
“Brother! Look over here—this is our estate’s treasure: the Fairy Farm! It’s my absolute favorite place. Even when Zwart criticizes me for studying magic, this is why I stuck with it!”
Illianne spread her arms, indicating a sizable farm.
Seeing it again stirred a fond nostalgia in Perseta.
“Yes, I remember this place.”
Still, something felt off.
“Why does it look like this? The crops seem so weak…”
“Yeah, it’s changed a lot in 30 years.”
Illianne smiled wryly, stroking the tiny fruit.
“Hah…”
She sighed briefly, then went on, as if she had come to some decision.
“Brother, there are some things you should know.”
She launched into a quick explanation.
How the Verite Barony, once comfortably prosperous, sank into poverty in just a few short years.
It wasn’t complicated.
The barony’s primary income came from special crops grown by fairies.
But four years ago, the Fairy Realm’s link to this world receded drastically, cutting production significantly.
In response, the family spent a fortune building a “Fairy Realm Resonance Magic Circle,” but it hardly worked.
They shelled out all that money with no improvement whatsoever.
“So the estate’s finances took a huge hit. To cover the shortfall, they borrowed from a long-time business partner—but that trading company can’t lend anymore now. If this goes on, we’ll be bankrupt in a few years. That’s it.”
Illianne rattled off her explanation in a deliberately dry monotone, as if to suppress her feelings.
“Ugh, I’m so jealous. They say the Levant Viscounty to the north installed a Fairy Realm Resonance Circle and made a fortune. Why are we stuck like this?”
A glimmer of sadness crossed her once-blank face.
“Honestly… is magic just going to vanish from the world?”
Perseta whipped his head around, startled.
Magic, vanish from the world?
Earlier, he’d thought he’d simply misheard. Now Illianne was echoing the same claim.
“What do you mean, magic is disappearing?”
Illianne made a face like How could you not know?
“Brother, you didn’t know? That’s basically common knowledge now.”
“Common knowledge? Why?”
“Because the amount of mana supplied by the Mana Sun keeps dropping. Our connection to the mystical realms grows weaker. Take this fairy farm, for example. They say that in the old days, fairies used to frolic here year-round, even without magic circles. Now, we hardly see them, even with a circle in place. Truthfully, the places making huge profits only do so because the supply is so scarce—if it were like the old days, they’d be going broke by comparison.”
Illianne gazed sadly at the sky.
“I don’t want to believe it… but it might be that times really are changing. Maybe magic, and all the mystical wonders, are just leaving us behind…”
Her story was unsettlingly strange.
Perseta blinked slowly, trying to gather his thoughts.
He looked at the magic circle installed in the fairy farm.
He was so taken aback that his mind felt like it was tripping over itself.
Why aren’t the fairies showing up, even with a magic circle…?
Well…
That circle was based on five-hundred-year-old, completely outdated theory, full of clumsy and dreadful formulas.
Of course it wouldn’t attract fairies.
In that moment, Perseta realized something was very wrong.
“Illianne.”
“Yes, Brother?”
She forced a bright tone in spite of her sadness. Perseta asked:
“You said you were learning magic?”
“Yeah!”
Clearly, she really did love magic. At the mention of learning, Illianne’s eyes sparkled.
Perseta examined her eager gaze carefully and asked,
“What are you studying right now?”
Proudly, she answered:
“I’ve already finished the Almagest fundamentals and am working on level-3 applied formulas! Someday, I’ll become a high-level wizard and fix that magic circle myself!”
At those words, Perseta’s face went pale.
“Al… Almagest…?”
Illianne went wide-eyed at his reaction.
“Huh? Brother? Don’t tell me… you don’t know what Almagest is…? You do, right?”
Perseta blinked slowly.
“Illianne, explain Almagest to me in detail. From the concept to the formulas, every part of it. Right now.”
“Are you serious, Brother? You really don’t know? Al-ma-gest.”
Both of them were shocked for different reasons.
Illianne panicked to realize her brother didn’t know the foundational text of all magic, while Perseta was horrified that the Almagest—the work he had debunked at age fifteen and deemed obsolete—was still in use.
Hearing her explanation to the end, Perseta confirmed it was indeed that Almagest.
His head felt as if it might explode.
“What? Magic is vanishing? Well, of course it wouldn’t work if everyone is still using Almagest’s calculations. None of that is valid anymore…”
In fact, it seemed miraculous that magic continued to function at all.
Perseta thought to himself:
Master… what in the world happened here?
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