By Zephyria 
According to Mage Boulder’s detailed and persistent explanation, Anante’s Diamond was a famous gemstone from seven hundred years ago, the very origin of the marital dispute between Bivan and Yulan. He’d boasted about whether a generation could possibly not know that, but seven hundred years ago? That’s the kind of story only someone interested in gemstones would know.
Anante was a woman born in a small town in Yulan, renowned for her exceptional beauty. The King of Yulan wished to take her, but Anante only enjoyed the company of Spirits and did not desire marriage. King Nox of Bivan heard the rumors, came to see Anante, and fell in love.
Spirits love beautiful things, and Anante loves Spirits.
So, the King of Bivan gathered all sorts of gemstones to win the favor of the Spirits. Among them was a diamond that captured Anante’s heart: a diamond the size of a child’s fist, a gem colloquially known as Anante’s Diamond.
“Most Mana Stones are single-use. Once the mana concentration drops below 30mp, you can’t extract any more mana, and they start to break. But this Anante’s Diamond is rechargeable. It’s a gem capable of bidirectional communication, where you can push mana into it like feeding mana to a Spirit.”
“Wh-what? That thing? But even from 50 meters away, I saw absolutely no sign of it whatsoever!”
“That’s because it wasn’t charged!”
Marianne gripped the edge of the table tightly. I held on too, to prevent the table from flipping.
Marianne, who had been shaking her shoulders with a heaving motion, collapsed onto the table with a thud. Seeing her cry out with a sob, I felt a pang of regret. Perhaps I should have bought it if it was something precious. Ruben, who had stopped me then, muttered with a troubled expression.
“…It looked like a fake diamond.”
“That’s more like a Spirit Stone! Its true value is only realized when it holds mana or a Spirit within it! The last report of it was three hundred years ago! To think it still existed! But it’s not in Bivan now!”
…
“Please, calm down for a moment…”
“How can I calm down! At an auction! I could have gotten my hands on Anante’s Diamond! How!”
“Even though the auction price was three hundred gold?”
“Three hundred gold, or a thousand gold…! …What did you say?”
“It was three hundred gold. The last bid.”
Even for a Mage from the First Magic Tower, Mage Boulder couldn’t easily utter such an amount.
As a descendant of the Sierren family, one of only five ducal houses, I could covet it easily. Didn’t Prince Rubel of a kingdom also not begrudge spending that price for a single diamond? It was naturally a high price to hold as an experimental tool.
Indeed, Mage Boulder, who had been raging with excitement, rolled his eyes and sat down quietly.
Whether it was a gem not worth that much, or Mage Boulder simply lacked the funds, I couldn’t tell. In any case, since he seemed to have calmed down, I asked again.
“So, what do you mean by ‘core’?”
“No, it’s a core, but… how do I explain a core?”
Marianne provided the explanation.
“When you set up an Artifact or a Magic Circle, you insert the primary energy source, right? In this era, we mainly use Mana Stones as the energy source, so we just call them Mana Stones, Mana Stones. But up until 130 years ago, gemstones were used instead of Mana Stones. Older Magic Circles consumed much more mana.”
“Gemstones?”
“Most gemstones are minerals that can withstand mana being pushed into them. Of course, most are single-use. The reason diamonds are exceptionally expensive compared to other gemstones is also because of this. They’ve become rare because they were used so much in previous generations that they all broke.”
“…Hmm.”
“Anyway, back then, when they used rubies, sapphires, and diamonds as Mana Stones… gemstones of a size that could accept a certain amount of mana were called the core energy source, or simply ‘core’ for short. But now, you’re saying Anante’s Diamond is a semi-permanent core. And one with a considerably large capacity.”
“…Ugh.”
I understood. So?
Marianne explained, pausing between each word and emphasizing each one.
“You said Aries Dolo is a spell-amplifying Black Magic, right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a Magic Circle that amplifies an already existing spell.”
“Yes.”
“But what if the central Mana Stone, or core, of the original target Magic Circle is lost?”
“…Yes?”
Marianne flipped through her notebook, revealing a blank space. As the child’s pen rapidly drew various shapes, Ruben’s expression grew solemn.
“Imagine the King of Bivan had a certain wish he originally desired. He commissioned Black Magicians to create a Magic Circle to fulfill that wish and the Aries Dolo Magic Circle to maintain that wish, in exchange for the prosperity of Bivan’s territory. He didn’t intend to massacre his kingdom’s citizens, but rather to maintain the status quo.”
“Hmm.”
“Let’s say Bivan has a semi-permanent, usable core. Pushing mana into an empty core is something any mana user can do. So, naturally, wouldn’t they want to use that core to fulfill their one and only wish?”
“…Of course.”
“But after casting Aries Dolo on the completed Magic Circle, if the core of the first Magic Circle is lost… the Aries Dolo cast on that Magic Circle becomes lost.”
Huh?
“It’s constantly creating new life, gathering mana by killing that life to offer it, but the mana has nowhere to go. To somehow consume it, they’re drawing several Magic Circles identical to the original one…”
As Marianne explained, Mage Boulder interjected.
“A normal Mana Stone has a maximum output of 90mp. On the other hand, a core can have mana constantly pushed into it and drawn out, which is why it’s a core. If a Magic Circle requires high mana output, a Mana Stone cannot perform any function. It’s only because the mana efficiency of Magic Circles has improved that Mana Stones can now be used.”
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. Whatever the current King of Bivan’s wish is, it’s already broken. Until the real core is found, it can’t be restored to its original state. If the normal state of Aries Dolo is the appearance around the Lake of Memories, then now, only purposeless mana is wandering. No wonder the fog has become so dense.”
The Lake of Memories froze approximately five years ago. The King of Bivan married approximately three years ago. Anante’s Diamond was seen at Owen’s auction in October of last year. Around that time, the fog of Viper began to thicken gradually, becoming its current state from January of this year.
“Can’t Aries Dolo be canceled?”
“That’s also a Magic Circle, so it’s impossible, isn’t it? It’s simply because they can’t give up on the original wish. Using Aries Dolo requires the death of one Black Magician. If they wanted to cancel it and have the spell cast again, there’s no suitable price to offer, which is why they’re doing this. What else could compare to the prosperity of Bivan?”
Rubel, who had been stroking his chin in thought for a long time, let out a deep sigh. Marianne blinked several times. Then, they both spoke in unison.
“Let’s go to Cambio.”
“Let’s hurry and escape.”
Since the two heads were of the same opinion, there was nothing more to discuss.
Rubel hastily sent word to Felix’s men, dispatching them to Ranunculus. The message was to bypass the Bivan Capital and detour towards the Lake of Memories to head for Cambio.
The reason for choosing to go to Cambio instead of fleeing directly to Sierren was that the area had an outlet for using contaminated mana, through the method of maintaining the Seal of the Lake.
Also, the more people one had, the better when crossing the Kiadris Duchy. Even though I had become a Grand Sword Master, it was only recently. I didn’t know what realm Wesley Kiadris had reached, so it was right to act defensively if possible.
Even if Rubel’s physical condition wasn’t suited for carriage travel, we couldn’t rest in a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest spark. We informed Sierren’s informants within Viper to evacuate before it was too late and hastily packed our belongings from the dead of night to set off.
The first thought that crossed my mind when I boarded the same carriage as Ruben was a futile one.
So, where and how should I find the flowers? My heart ached, but I endured it and didn’t show it.
❖ ❖ ❖
As we moved further from the capital, the fog slowly thinned.
We ate dried rations and drove day and night.
Marianne’s expression remained grim throughout. She repeatedly opened the carriage window to look back. She was worried about the people living in Viper.
However, in any country, most citizens live their entire lives in the place where they were born. Even if you suddenly urge them to relocate, where would they go, how would they live, and what would they eat? Moreover, the citizens of Bivan were already under the influence of hallucinogens, content with their current state. While I too wanted to find a way to save them, it felt overwhelming and difficult to find an answer.
Unlike Sierren, many of Bivan’s roads were unpaved. From the middle of the journey, Ruben couldn’t withstand the carriage’s vibrations and fainted, so I simply held him and ran. I should have done this from the beginning. I deeply regretted making the child suffer by putting him in the carriage.
Thursday of the third week of March. We arrived in Cambio.
Several wooden buildings stood in the not-so-large town. If I didn’t know where to go, I figured I should find the largest building, so I knocked on doors in order of height.
The first place we checked was empty, and the second place we visited was the correct one. The workers Ruben had left behind to manage the villa recognized us immediately and guided us in.
Considering it was a temporary choice, the building’s structure was quite excellent. It was a three-story building with a red brick exterior. The courtyard was spacious, and the walls were high. A steel fence to keep out birds circled the walls and the roof.
Instead of being barren with no grass in the garden, it was decorated with various wooden sculptures. We walked among beast sculptures made of ebony wood, similar to those seen in the Bivan Royal Palace, placed in various poses of rolling, yawning, and standing upright.
Ruben, who had regained consciousness shortly before arriving at the mansion, buried his head on my shoulder and acted spoiled.
“…You can put me down now, it’s okay.”
“I will carry you to your room. You must be exhausted.”
“…Mm.”
How kind. I patted Ruben’s back a couple of times as a form of praise.
Just stopping massage and exercise for two days had made my back stiff, which bothered me. After Ruben slept and woke up, I would have to take care of him again. First, after feeding him something….
“Caw.”
A crow cawed from a distance. It didn’t come closer, but I felt an unpleasant sensation and stared in that direction for a long time. I permitted Mage Boulder to set up a defensive Magic Circle.