Ch.371366 – Head Seat

Eight beams of light burst from the magic circle, forming pillars that support the summer sky.

Corona Borealis, Hercules, Norma, Triangulum Australe, Scorpius, Draco, Ophiuchus, and Apus.

With just two quadruple castings, all the constellations were illuminated.

Cecilia, watching this, was completely mesmerized.

‘How beautiful…’

As the release conditions were met, cracks formed in Stella’s barrier and the boundary layer slowly faded.

The radiance disappeared along with the barrier.

Only flat white dots emitting dull light remained on the vast black canvas.

“When I look at the night sky, you know what I think? That there’s no need to yearn for something so far away. There are so many bright stars in the universe, but ultimately, half of each day belongs to the sun. Don’t you agree?”

A smile formed on NoName’s lips.

She picked up the wand that had fallen to the ground and shook off the sand.

“How… how did you do that?”

“Hmm?”

“The quadruple casting. How did you…”

“Well, how do you do triple casting?”

Cecilia couldn’t answer.

She just could do it naturally.

A strange feeling came over her.

Now she was experiencing the same feeling that people had when they looked up to her as someone with unparalleled talent.

“Cecilia. When you’re young, these things seem impressive, right? But actually, they’re nothing special. Even the brightest star is just one of countless stars in the night sky if it’s far away from Earth.”

“Like Behemoth in Draco?”

“I don’t know what that is, but I’m guessing it’s an extremely bright star?”

“Yeah! It’s a hypergiant that’s 5 million times brighter than the sun.”

“Yes, like that. Not many people have the luxury to observe stars in the night sky. Most people only live by the sun. So Cecilia, as you go through life, I hope you become a warm sun for someone. Your talent is already shining brightly enough, right?”

“Yeah…”

Cecilia responded in a small voice.

NoName stood on her tiptoes and patted Cecilia’s head.

Cecilia thought she seemed incredibly mature for her age.

“I’ll spar with you anytime once you join our clan.”

“Um, NoName, sorry about making that promise earlier, but I’m already affiliated with the foundation, so clan activities might be…”

“It’s okay. I kind of expected that.”

“Sorry.”

“Then how about just adding your name?”

“Huh? Is that allowed?”

“Clans and foundations operate under different national laws anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. And as I said earlier, the clan I want to create is one that gives hope to many people. When you’re studying hard in America and come up with a good project idea someday, just let us know. We’ll always seriously consider clan members’ opinions.”

Cecilia smiled brightly.

Sparring with NoName, being part of what seemed like a fun group.

There was no reason to refuse.

“Yes! Add my name! I’ll think hard about it when I get home!”

“Did you just promise? No taking it back.”

“You can record it if you don’t believe me, hehe. And just wait, someday I’ll successfully perform a quadruple casting too!”

Cecilia accepted NoName’s recruitment offer with bold ambition.

* * *

Businesses grow on capital.

Similarly, clans can only grow with talented people supporting them.

The main clients investing in clans are governments and corporations.

To impress them, raising the clan’s reputation was most important.

Korean clans recruiting students who participated in academy competitions, and the Katsuhata school dominating various Japanese tournaments with their disciples—all of this was to enhance their prestige.

Therefore, recruiting Cecilia was an unexpected major achievement for me.

My original target was different.

Katsuhata Emika, whom I had carefully nurtured for a long time.

After the finals ended, I would take her name along with the championship.

Would the Katsuhata school not allow dual membership?

That could be handled by threatening them with the copyrights for “Adela” and “Devil’s Horn.”

Through this competition, I was able to assess the effectiveness of both innate magics and confirmed that Japan had not yet found substitutes for them.

Once they taste the sweetness of victory, they would be even more reluctant to lose that position.

“Include me too.”

“Huh? What?”

While I was planning the clan’s future activities, Ban So-wol suddenly approached and spoke.

“I’m currently filling out the clan registration form.”

“I know.”

“But why, unni? With your skills, even Onnuri or Raon Clan would accept you.”

I asked with a tone of incomprehension.

Ban So-wol had the immediately attractive option of the Aspen Foundation with guaranteed success, or if she stayed in Korea, she could choose from the top four clans.

“Devil’s Horn. Can it be developed further than it is now?”

“Devil’s Horn?”

“I once used the original 5-circle version. For a moment, I saw blue lines in my otherwise dark vision.”

“Ah, could it be…”

“I’ve made up my mind to live without being discouraged by my blindness. That hasn’t changed. But… if I could see again, I’d really like to see just once more.”

Our eyes are sensitive enough to detect a single photon, but they don’t have the ability to directly see the flow of mana.

However, the advanced form of Devil’s Horn visualizes mana information in real-time.

The fact that she saw blue lines despite her completely damaged optic nerve wasn’t entirely far-fetched.

After all, it’s our brain that ultimately perceives visual information.

Ban So-wol gently grabbed my arm.

Even with virtual reality capsules, not all real-world hardships disappear.

I felt a heaviness in my heart.

“With a few modifications, seeing itself shouldn’t be impossible.”

Her face lit up at hearing this.

“But I don’t know how long it will take to bring it down to a dimension lower than 5-circle.”

The huge problem of commercialization remained.

At ten million won per day, maintenance costs would amount to billions of won per year.

“I don’t care how long it takes. And you always find answers, NoName.”

She showed trust in me that bordered on certainty.

Though her tone was calm and serene, each word she uttered carried heavy emotion.

Caught up in an atmosphere that couldn’t be dismissed as playful, I drew a circle on her palm.

“…!”

“Just wondering, would it be too difficult to bring Shin Yeon-ho oppa along as a set?”

I hadn’t heard any news about Shin Yeon-ho lately.

I hadn’t heard they broke up either.

Is it too difficult because he’s already a priority pick for the Raon Clan?

“Yeon-ho is in the military now.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

So he’s fulfilling his sacred national defense duty.

I should write him a handwritten letter later to apologize.

* * *

“Yahoo! Nameeeee!”

A girl wearing a straw hat, black sunglasses, and a light blue Hawaiian shirt ran over in one stride.

She slipped her arm under my armpit and easily lifted me into the air.

The world spun around her blonde hair.

“Aww, did you miss your unni?”

“Cheon Saet-byeol, put me down while I’m still asking nicely.”

“Hey, is that any way to talk to your unni! You should say ‘Saet-byeol unni~’!”

“Sigh.”

Adela stuck out her tongue and made an annoying expression.

Seems like she wants to be treated as an older sister in front of others.

“So Name really does have an older sister.”

Ban So-wol, who had come out to the entrance in slippers, rounded her mouth in surprise.

“Hello! I’m Name’s unni! My name is Cheon Saet-byeol!”

“Oh, I’m Ban So-wol.”

“Where’s Dad?”

“He’s parking right now. Oh, there he comes!”

Professor Cheon was walking from a distance on the road shimmering with heat haze.

In this hot weather, he was wearing a striped shirt, navy slacks, and brown shoes—he must not feel the heat at all.

I was worried he might be angry when we met, but fortunately, Ban So-wol’s parents came out at a good time, so the crisis was averted.

Who would spit in a smiling face?

I temporarily returned my voice to its original tone and waved my hand energetically.

“It’s been a while, Dad!”

Professor Cheon’s frown disappeared, and he smiled broadly, waving back.

“Have you been well without causing trouble for your hosts?”

“They were so sad when I said I was leaving. Why don’t you talk to them?”

Consul General Ban Il-kwon came out almost barefoot.

He seemed older than Professor Cheon but treated him with great respect.

“Name, hurry up and get your things.”

“Yes. Cheon Saet-byeol, come on. Follow me and carry the luggage.”

“Oh, Professor! Please come in and have some cool coffee before you go…!”

“It’s fine. I’m already grateful enough for taking care of my child all this time.”

“No, no! Name is so capable! My wife even likes Name more than So-wol!”

While the adults were distracted, I quietly approached Adela and asked.

“Saet-byeol, Dad’s not really angry, is he?”

“Hmm, not particularly? He didn’t seem that way.”

The daily video calls were worth it.

“What about the hotel?”

“I booked one in Tokyo. You said you’re staying until the finals anyway. Wow, unni, your execution is amazing! I was so surprised when you suddenly said you were going to Japan!”

“Thanks to that, you get to travel to Japan too, right?”

“Yass!”

Adela and I really do understand each other.

We exchanged a quick fist bump and I picked up my luggage again.

I said reluctant goodbyes to Ban So-wol’s family.

Woof woof-!

The golden retriever from next door, with whom I had formed a frisbee partnership, somehow knew I was leaving and ran up to the fence.

The ten days in Fukuoka passed in the blink of an eye.

After loading all the luggage into the trunk, I was about to get into the passenger seat as usual when Adela suddenly blocked my way.

“No, no. Our hardworking unni should sit in the most honorable seat.”

“You want the passenger seat? Fine, whatever.”

“Hehe.”

Leaving Adela with her meaningful smile behind, I opened the back door of the rental car.

And there, in the seat behind the passenger seat, was a familiar and frown-inducing object.

“What is this…”

“Ta-da! Child safety seats are mandatory in Japan! Kyahahahaha!”

“Name, we’re about to leave, so hurry up and get in. We both came without eating lunch, so we’re hungry.”

“I’m starving to death…! What’s wrong with a baby sitting in a baby seat? Kehehehe!”