Book Eater

After leaving the central magic tower, Theodore and his family immediately went to a restaurant using the privilege of a great magician, space transfer.

The downtown area of Mana-vil, which had already been a bustling area, had become much more glamorous after decades of prosperity. However, there was one restaurant that boasted unrivaled popularity since decades ago.

The restaurant was called ‘The Beginning of the Legend.’

It was towered at 12 stories and was the most magnificent building except for the magic towers and the Imperial Palace.

Everytime he stopped by the restaurant, Theodore felt a sense of agitation. The reason was simple: they had promoted that this was the restaurant where he and Vince came to commemorate their victory in the Pupil Tournament to gain success.

He never thought he would come back here to celebrate his children’s Pupil Tournament.

“Bat’s aight, Bap!”

Verus, who was munching on a large steak, called out to him with unclear pronunciation.

But it wasn’t Theodore who answered the call.

Ttaak!

“Ack!”

Verus was struck by Veronica’s flick on his forehead which made him clutch his head. It would have just been an itch if he was hit by a real arrow, but her forehead flicks made him feel like he had been hit by some type of catapult.

As he was in pain, she raised an eyebrow and started scolding him.

“Son, I told you not to talk while chewing.”

“Can’t you tell me before you hit me?”

“Then it won’t be fixed, right? How many times have you done this?”

“Che.”

Verus was dumbfounded and started grumbling. Veronica grinned and raised her fist once more.

Fortunately, it never hit him.

"Becky."

“Huh?”

Veronica stopped her fist and turned to Theodore.

“Try—this.”

“Uwah, w-wait! The children are watching...”

“Ah—”

“...Ah, really!”

The result was set in stone since the beginning.

Veronica blushed, closed her eyes tightly, and opened her lips. Theodore put a slice of a sweet dessert in her mouth and soothed her with a gentle smile.

“Don’t be angry in such a good place. Ver, you also shouldn’t repeat the mistakes you were scolded for. Understood?”

“...Yes.”

“Yes!”

Veronica nodded shyly while Verus took the opportunity to quickly save himself.

Adellia and her mother giggled at the exchange that was the same as always.

Veronica would scold Verus for doing something but then calm down after hearing Theodore’s words.

It was a sight they had seen dozens, if not hundreds of times.

Time passed as they talked, and one by one, the plates that filled the table were taken away, leaving only a small cup for the purpose of cleansing their mouths.

Theodore took a sip of the hot tea and looked to his side.

Verus was patting his bulging belly, Adellia was smiling quietly, and his wives were whispering about something. It was a scene that made him feel good just by looking at it.

“Ah.”

Theodore suddenly thought of something and opened his mouth.

“The prize given to the winner of the Pupil Tournament is my responsibility, right? Ver, Adell. Should I make artifacts for you two?”

The two children widened their eyes at the sudden windfall and raised their voices to reply, unknowing who spoke first.

““Yes!””

The value of artifacts produced by Theodore himself couldn’t even be converted into gold coins. Depending on the function, they might be able to live in a small country with a few castles.

But it wasn’t just due to this that the two children were happy.

The very fact that their father, whom they admired immensely, personally was giving them a gift was the most joyful thing for the two siblings.

After talking about the artifacts for some time, the topic in the room soon changed to something else. It was a topic that no parent with children could avoid.

“Now that that is done with, do the two of you have thoughts on your career path? If so, I would like to hear them.”

“Career path? Do you mean something like a future job?”

“It doesn’t have to be clear. It is fine if there is something you want to do, and it is also fine if you haven’t thought of anything yet.”

At these words, Adellia and Verus’ expressions changed.

Adellia looked like she had made up her mind about doing something, while Verus looked like he wasn’t sure yet.

Soon afterwards, Adellia opened her mouth and answered first.

“Father.”

“Yes.”

“I want to major in magic engineering and eventually join the Central Research Institute.”

The eyes of three people widened at the unexpected answer, while Sylvia alone had a calm expression.

Many people’s lives had been enriched by the power of magic engineering, but common awareness hadn’t reached that level. No, it wasn’t just common perception. The perception of magicians hadn’t either.

Unlike magicians who trained themselves, engineers were devoted to the advancement of civilization itself. They devoted their lives to studying new technologies and theories rather than just their own circles.

For this reason, magic engineering always lacked researchers.

Theodore might not have been able to see development if it wasn’t for the alchemy grimoire, Yellow Tower Master Paragranum, who was taking charge.

“That’s surprising. I thought you would become an orthodox magician, Adell.”

“...I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t have to be sorry. On the contrary, I’m proud of you for choosing a path that isn’t easy. Can you tell me what made you decide on magic engineering?”

“Yes.”

Adellia nodded and opened her mouth.

“It was last year. I had just reached the 5th circle and applied for a monster subjugation expedition at a frontier estate. I made some achievements.”

It wasn’t bad for a first subjugation. She had tied up an ogre’s feet and worked with the others on the expedition to subjugate the entire large forest.

She did her best not to damage the honor of her great parents.

When she returned to the estate and the cheers of the villagers, Adellia could see the existence of the barrier and alarm device surrounding the village, as well as magic tools that greatly weakened the monsters.

Seeing them, Adellia soon realized what she wanted.

“There are only a few strong people like mother and father. Any era is bound to be lacking in powerhouses. No matter how strong a person is, they can’t thoroughly protect a country without any gaps. People shouldn’t be relied on too much.”

However, magic engineering showed its potential.

“It is a field that isn’t about being great alone, but making all of humanity great. I think magic engineering can do that.”

It was a power that didn’t need to depend on a few strong people! It offered the possibility that civilization could overcome the crisis on its own.

Of course, in the present era, it wasn’t possible to defeat beings such as demon kings and foreign gods through magic engineering, but it was impossible for transcendents to invade a world whose borders had been closed after ‘Sloth’ was expelled anyways.

However, what if magic engineering continued to advance for over a hundred or even a thousand years?

Humanity would be able to fend for itself without a transcendent.

‘...It is amazing. She has deep thoughts for her age.’

Theodore was deeply impressed.

He hadn’t asked expecting an answer like that, but she saw through exactly why he was pushing for magic engineering.

A world where the mana concentration was becoming less and less meant that from now on, aura and magic would become weaker and weaker. Sword masters and great magicians would disappear. Such a future was the driving force for humanity to defend and develop itself.

This was the origin and ultimate purpose of magic engineering.

“Great job, my daughter.”

“Uhuh.”

Theodore stroked her hair. Adellia lowered her head to hide the corners of her mouth that had unknowingly curved up.

Even so, her parents laughed happily because they still saw everything.

Verus watched from the side and was a bit sullen.

“...Sister is amazing. I don’t know.”

“Really?”

“Yes. There are a few things I want to do, but they aren’t my future dream. I don’t know yet. Is it because I didn’t study hard?”

Perhaps it was because Verus’ downcast appearance was cute that made Theodore also patted his hair roughly to comfort him.

Adellia just matured young. It wasn’t that Verus was late.

“Haha, a guy who is only 15 years old is in a hurry. It is okay if you don’t study well. You just have to work hard. It is better to do it and fail than to not do it and feel regret.”

This would become the foundation of their life unless it was a catastrophic failure.

Wasn’t it true that the hardships of youth couldn’t be bought even with silver?

They shouldn’t make people suffer if it wasn’t necessary, but a person still needed their own trials in order to mature.

Verus was about to stand on this threshold.

Theodore was satisfied with the answers of the two children and pulled himself up.

“Okay, shall we go now? I’m going to stop by the institute for a while. You should head back with your mothers first.”

Theodore had been wandering around for months to defend against a dimensional chasm.

The institute was run by Paragranum, but Theodore’s role was to specify its direction.

For example, he decided which areas to develop first and how to draw a blueprint for civilization. The karma of the guardian, which must be counted for the next thousand years, would always weigh on his shoulders.

‘...Still, it is for these children.’

He would carry the weight of the world as much as possible.

* * *

There was a dazzling light and Theodore’s figure appeared.

He had used space movement to instantly move from the downtown area to inside the laboratory. He slowly looked around the facility for the first time in ages. As he looked, the sound of footsteps was heard approaching in the distance.

Theodore recognized the identity of this person without looking and said, “It has been a while. Has it been three months?”

Paragranum wore a white robe instead of a yellow magic tower robe and was dressed like a researcher. Paragranum’s tone was sour as she replied to him, “To be exact, it has been 3 months, 5 days, 21 hours, and 38 minutes. You seem to have had some trouble this time. What is the situation?”

“I think it is finally stabilizing. I will stay in the capital for a while and watch the situation. There must be a lot of reports from the institute. Can you tell me about the latest developments?”

“Hmm.”

Paragranum sat down in the chair opposite Theodore and closed her eyes like she was concentrating.

She might look like a human being, but her essence was a grimoire.

Rather than ‘thinking’, she was searching and classifying the stored data.

Theodore felt a strange feeling as he waited quietly.

“...Wait. Have you grown a bit? I heard that the body was a failure, so neither your body nor the circle would grow?”

“It was unexpected for me as well.”

Paragranum opened her eyes and nodded.

“I thought I wasn’t growing, but apparently, the traits of longevity were just abnormal. I am aging at an absurdly slow pace.”

“How long?”

“It is 100 times the rate of human standards. If I live for around 100 years, I will grow one year older. A normal creature would die of gene collapse before then, but I am a grimoire.”

It was a ridiculous anomaly.

Based on simple calculations, didn’t this mean she could live for 10,000 years?

It was a lifespan that no existence could dream of except for a dragon.

Nevertheless, Paragranum dismissed it by saying it just meant that it was a bit less of a struggle to change her body. Theodore, who became an immortal, was also a bit surprised, but he didn’t find it a big deal.

After completing the search, Paragranum opened her mouth.

“All the 1st priority reports have been delivered through Goetia. I’m assuming that you are asking for things separate from that, right?”

“Yes.”

Theodore paused after answering. Then he asked in a heavy tone, “The conclusion about Elvenheim... has anything changed?”

“No.”

Paragranum answered without hesitation.

“You said that probably more than 30% of mana was lost when Sloth was banished. It isn’t just that the absolute value has decreased. The real problem is that the circulation of power has weakened. You might not feel much of a difference for a while, but in 500 years, the master-level will be gone. Large-scale magic circles will lose their functions, and you won’t be able to find a few rare minerals that depend on mana. It is an inevitable future.”

“...”

“Thankfully, there is still a last bastion left in the world. With the World Tree that you have revived and the divine tree from which the divine elemental Dmitra descended, there is no shortage of mana hubs. Even if there isn’t an abundance of mana like before, we can still keep the mana concentration at a certain level.”

No matter how efficient the magic engineering system was, a certain level of mana was essential. Magic engineering couldn’t function in a world where mana had completely dried up.

For that reason, the existence of Elvenheim and the World Tree was indispensable.

The World Tree activated nearby veins with its roots and produced a tremendous amount of mana in the process of the life circulation.

It lacked the strength to feed this world alone, but it was able to sustain itself enough not to starve.

However, this was on the premise of thoroughly managing and controlling the World Tree.

“Elvenheim has no choice but to isolate itself from civilization.”

Paragranum spoke these words without hesitation.

“It isn’t difficult if there is the cooperation of the elemental Mitra, your management authority, and the high elves. Among them, the role of you, your elemental, and Ellenoa are the most important.”

“I know, I know.”

“Then hurry up. If possible, you should keep it up from generation to generation. Therefore, you should give birth to a child sooner rather than later.”

The heavy atmosphere was shattered with just a few words.

Theodore couldn’t help but frown when Paragranum, a seemingly teenage girl, said such words.

“Hey, if you have to say something, then cover it up a bit.”

Paragranum smiled wickedly after seeing his reaction.

“Why are you so late with your third one when you already have two children? According to what I have heard, you don’t sleep with your two wives?”

“Who the hell said that?”

Paragranum giggled and drove in the wedge.

“Veronica.”

“...Becky!”

Theodore had nowhere to run and covered his face. He didn’t expect the day would come when he would be sexually harassed by a grimoire. Time was so transient.