episode_0052

As I entered the white stuccoed tower, I saw an ant cave.

Other than the ant cave, I couldn’t think of any other language to describe the scene. It was too unrealistic to simply call it a maze, with passages embedded like pillars running back and forth between the ceiling and walls.

A huge tower with countless passages intertwined here and there, like a maze, an anthill, or a spider’s web.

That was the White Magic Tower.

The white magic tower lord who invited me to the magic tower smiled emptyly and led me deeper.

“Have you ever used a teleport gate?”

“No.”

“Then I should start with a brief explanation. It is not a well-known fact, but all magic towers on the continent are built based on this ‘teleport gate’. It is a principle that must be observed wherever the Magic Tower exists, whether it is the Empire or the Eastern Kingdom.”

“Ah, wasn’t the teleport gate installed at the Magic Tower?”

This was new information again. Not much was known to the outside world about the internal information of ‘Magic Tower’.

As far as I know, the Blue Magic Tower promotes active exchange with the outside world.

“Yes. The teleport gate… Simply put, it is a trace of the old ‘transcendence’”

“Transcendence?”

“It is the goal and ideal of all wizards. Ah, the wizards of the Gray Magic Tower value truth and principles themselves more than transcendence.”

transcendence. I had a memory of hearing it from the head wizard.

They say that if a person kills every living person, that person has the magical right to decide whether everyone lives or dies. However, I heard that transcendence is a contradiction in itself because at the point when everyone has already been killed, there are no more people to kill.

“Transcendent beings escape from the constraints of the ‘principles’ that make up this world and ascend to a higher level of existence. In the process, it leaves a magical trace that ignores all principles at the transcendent point─, and these traces are called ‘Singularity’, meaning a point that goes beyond the limits of ‘principles’.”

“Singularity?”

A familiar word popped out.

Although it may not be a singularity in the physical sense I think of.

“Yes. One of the many properties of a singularity is that all places where a singularity exists are identical—that is, magically defined as the ‘same’ place. That is why it is possible to move through space from one magic tower to another.”

“Aha… .”

“In addition, the ability to overcome architectural limitations and build a tall structure called ‘Magic Tower’ is all due to the influence of the singularity. The magical influence of ascension to a higher level is a twist on the principle so that one can ascend to a ‘higher’ place in physical space. It may feel like a play on words.”

“It’s fascinating.”

“Haha, yes. It’s amazing. The introduction was long. You will soon arrive at a place where there is a teleport gate. Author Herodotus probably doesn’t know how to manipulate mana, so please hold my hand. Because all gates are connected to each other, ‘probability adjustment’ is necessary to proceed to the desired gate.”

As the White Magic Tower owner said, we arrived at the teleport gate really quickly.

The teleportation gate was a black, dark hole that absorbed surrounding light. The sight of the surrounding light being distorted and absorbed was mysterious in itself.

It’s like watching a scene from a science fiction movie.

I held the magic tower’s hand according to the magic tower’s explanation. And then, led by the hand of the magic tower master, he was dragged beyond the black hole.

like that. Let’s pass through the empty space, which is like a long, dark tunnel, where all light and all darkness seem to merge into one.

Before I knew it, I was standing in a strange tower whose ceiling was open and I could see the night sky. It was a tower that looked as if only the middle of the pillar had been cut and the pieces were removed.

As I was admiring the strange building, the magic tower owner looked back at me and smiled.

“Welcome to Sky Garden Observatory, the pride of our White Magic Tower.”

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The place introduced by the White Magic Tower owner as ‘Sky Garden Observatory’ had many strange items.

For example, there was a ‘camera’ here.

“This is a photo… ?”

“Oh, you recognize me? This is an item that no one knows about except for our White Magic Tower and a few wizards from other magic towers. I guess you heard from the gray head wizard.”

“Ah, yes.”

” As far as observation technology is concerned, our White Magic Tower is the most advanced on the continent, so you can take a look at various things. Would you like to take a look at the telescope yourself? The sky is clear right now. We will teach you how to use it.”

When I saw the White Magic Tower Master proudly introducing various pieces, I felt a little madness.

It was the madness of someone who devoted his life to one goal.

Just as I devoted my life to literature, this man named White Magic Tower also devoted his life to observation. It was possible to create a modern camera and a Newtonian telescope with a modern structure without any physical knowledge of optics. I couldn’t even imagine how much trial and error there must have been.

As I was looking at the white magic tower holder with such a strange feeling, the magic tower lord changed the topic as if he missed it.

“Oh, I was supposed to talk about life on Mars. Let’s see, there must have been relevant data here… . Ah, I found it. I took a picture of the observed appearance of Mars. I couldn’t tell the color from the photo, so I colored it separately.”

On Mars shown by the Mage Tower… .

There was water. It looked like a huge canal crossing the surface of Mars rather than an ocean. That fact was a little surprising.

When I read the information recorded next to the photo, Mars here seemed to orbit in a similar orbit to Mars in my previous life. It wasn’t that strange because this world was similar in many ways to the Earth of my previous life.

There was something more strange than the existence of water or the distance of the orbit.

“This… Is it a tree?”

A long, graffiti-like line extending from the center of Mars toward space, with the end rounded off like a weight.

It looked like a tree. If it were really a tree, its diameter would be over several kilometers.

“Yes. We estimate that this is the same type of tree as the World Tree that appears in ‘The Adventures of the Duke of Bluff’. That’s why most of the wizards of the White Magic Tower move south to investigate the World Tree.”

“… … .”

“In addition, we estimate that this world tree is a structure created by a being with some intelligence and purpose, perhaps a being in contact with ‘transcendence’. In fact, the areas where probability magic has the most extreme impact are livestock and seed breeding. Perhaps, in place of artificial structures such as the Magic Tower, these ‘trees’ that function as the Magic Tower were created by blooming the potential of plants to their limit.”

“I see… .”

“However, it is difficult for us to imagine the need for such an extreme structure. So I wanted to hear advice from author Herodotus. Maybe, thanks to your magical imagination, you may be able to point out things we didn’t think of.”

“Yes… .”

“So, what do you think is the role of that ‘world tree’?”

“… … .”

Certainly, I knew the role of that tree.

Anyone who loves science fiction could not have known this. Isn’t there only one role for a building that rises over 30,000 kilometers into the planet’s ‘geostationary orbit’?

Of course, when I first heard that length, I thought it was just a coincidence.

If that is not a coincidence but has some ‘purpose’─.

“Orbital elevator… .”

“Hmm?”

“It is the gateway to escape the planet’s gravity and enter space. In order to fly to outer space without an atmosphere using a normal propellant, an enormous amount of energy is needed… .”

“Ah, it looks like there was something related to the Principia. So, is the ‘World Tree’ like a staircase created by some transcendent person to go out into space? I think this might be worth researching.”

“… … .”

The White Magic Tower lord nodded in understanding, but I couldn’t understand it at all.

The orbital elevator is not simply a means of going into space. To go into space, a rocket is enough.

The orbital elevator is the stepping stone of space ‘civilization’.

This means that it is a structure for energy efficiency from a longer-term perspective that can only be built when economic benefits beyond installing an elevator are guaranteed. In that case, the civilization that created this orbital elevator must be a civilization that is ‘competent’ enough to explore the outer reaches of the planet, but at the same time, it must be ‘incompetent’ enough to pursue economic feasibility in orbital escape.

Just like the Earth in a previous life… .

“… I will organize the knowledge related to the orbital elevator and send it to the White Magic Tower.”

“Oh, thank you for your concern.”

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Aside from the uncomfortable feeling that was stuck in my chest like tar, I had several conversations with the White Magic Tower lord after that.

There were many interesting points in the story of the White Magic Tower observing all over the world.

I was also able to hear the story about ‘transcendence’ in more detail.

“For example, literature can also be a means of transcendence. What if one person had more literary influence than Herodotus and Homer combined? Of course, that would be impossible, so it is a meaningless assumption. Haha!”

“… Ah, yes.”