Chapter 52
As I stepped into the whitewashed, snow-white tower, I was greeted by the sight of an anthill.
Honestly, there weren’t many words that could explain this scene better than “anthill.”
To call it a maze would be an understatement—the passages crisscrossing between the ceiling and walls were all kinds of unreal, jutting out like columns.
A colossal tower with countless passages intertwined like a maze, an anthill, or a spider web.
This was the White Magic Tower.
The White Magic Tower Lord, who had invited me, chuckled heartily and led me further inside.
“Have you ever used a Teleport Gate?”
“Nope.”
“Then I should start with a quick explanation. It’s not widely known, but all the magic towers on the continent are built based on this ‘Teleport Gate.’ No matter if it’s the Empire or the Eastern Kingdom, where there’s a magic tower, this principle must be followed.”
“Oh, I thought the Teleport Gate was installed inside the magic tower?”
That was a new piece of information. Not much was known about the internal workings of magic towers on the outside.
At least I knew the Blue Magic Tower was quite chatty with the outside world.
“Yes. The Teleport Gate is… to put it simply, a remnant of the ancient ‘Transcendence.’”
“Transcendence?”
“It’s the goal and ideal for all magicians. Though, the mages of the Gray Tower care more about truth and principles than about transcendence.”
Transcendence. I had a memory of hearing about it from the Chief Mage.
It was said that if someone wiped out every living person, that person would gain the magical power to control life and death. However, since they’d already killed everyone, there’d be no one left to kill, making transcendence itself inherently contradictory.
“A transcendent being escapes the confines of the ‘principles’ that define this world and ascends to a higher level of existence. During this process, they leave behind a magical trace that disregards all principles at the point of their transcendence—this trace is known as a ‘Singularity,’ referring to a point that surpasses the limitations of principles.”
“Singularity?”
That term rang a bell.
It might not have the same meaning as the “singularity” in physics that I had in mind, though.
“Yes. One of the properties of a singularity is that every place where a singularity exists is magically considered to be the ‘same’ place. This is why spatial movement from one magic tower to another is possible.”
“I see….”
“Moreover, surpassing architectural limitations to build tall structures like ‘magic towers’ is all thanks to the influence of singularities. The magical force of ascending to a higher realm bends the principles enough for physical space to reach ‘higher’ places. It might sound like a pun, though.”
“Amazing.”
“Haha, yes, indeed! Sorry for the long preamble. We’re almost at the Teleport Gate now. Since you probably don’t know how to handle mana, please hold my hand. All gates are connected, so you’ll need ‘probability adjustment’ to hop over to the right gate.”
As the White Magic Tower Lord stated, we reached the Teleport Gate in no time.
The Teleport Gate was a dark hole that absorbed the surrounding light. Watching the light warp and be drawn in was quite mesmerizing. It felt like a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie.
I followed the Tower Lord’s instructions and took hold of their hand. Pulled along by the Lord, I was sucked into the dark hole.
Like that, I transitioned through a long, dark tunnel that felt as though it converged all light and darkness as if suspended in mid-air.
Soon, I found myself standing in a bizarre tower with an open ceiling showing the night sky. It looked as if part of a column had been neatly sliced off.
While I admired the strange architecture, the Tower Lord turned to me, beaming with a smile.
“Welcome to our White Magic Tower’s pride, the Sky Garden Observatory!”
*
The area the White Magic Tower Lord referred to as the ‘Sky Garden Observatory’ was filled with strange items.
For instance, there was a ‘camera.’
“This is a camera…?”
“Oh, you recognize it? It’s a device hardly anyone knows about outside our White Magic Tower and a few other magic towers. You must have heard about it from the Gray Chief Mage.”
“Ah, yes.”
“As for observational technology, our White Magic Tower is the most advanced on the continent, so feel free to look around. Fancy trying the telescope? The sky is clear now. I can show you how to use it!”
As the Tower Lord proudly introduced the various instruments, I felt a hint of madness radiating from them.
It was the kind of insanity one gets when they dedicate their entire life to a single goal. Just like I had thrown my life into literature, this White Magic Tower Lord had devoted theirs completely to observation.
The creation of modern cameras and Newtonian telescopes without any grasp of optical physics must’ve involved a ton of trial and error—truly mind-boggling.
Lost in thought, the Tower Lord suddenly switched topics.
“Ah, we were going to discuss life on Mars. Let me see, there should be some related material around here… Ah, found it! This is a photo of the observed Martian surface. Since color can’t be discerned from the photo, we’ve gone ahead and colored it in.”
On the image of Mars the Tower Lord showed me…
There was water. It looked more like enormous canals crisscrossing the surface rather than an ocean, which was a bit surprising.
Reading the information written next to the photo, it appeared that this world’s Mars was orbiting in a similar trajectory to the Mars from my previous life.
Given that there were quite a few similarities between Earth in my past life and this world, that wasn’t too shocking.
However, the most bizarre part wasn’t the presence of water or where it orbited—it was something else entirely.
“Is this… a tree?”
It appeared as a long line extending from the center of Mars into space, ending in a rounded shape resembling a weight. It looked tree-like. If it really was a tree, its diameter would surely be several kilometers.
“Yes. We suspect this is a type of tree similar to the World Tree from ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.’ That’s why most mages from the White Magic Tower are heading south to investigate the World Tree.”
“……”
“Moreover, we believe this World Tree is a structure made by some intelligent and purposeful entity, possibly something connected to ‘Transcendence.’ In fact, the field where magic related to probabilities has a massive impact is in breeding livestock and seeds. So, instead of artificial structures like magic towers, they might have created these ‘trees’ to maximize plant potential to perform the towers’ roles.”
“I get it….”
“However, interpreting the necessity for such extreme structures remains a challenge for us. Hence, we thought to ask Herodotus for advice, as his magical imagination might point out aspects we haven’t considered.”
“Yeah….”
“So, what do you think the function of this ‘World Tree’ is?”
“……”
No doubt, I was aware of what that tree’s function was.
Anyone who loved sci-fi couldn’t possibly miss it. A structure soaring over 30,000 kilometers high—reaching up to the planet’s ‘geostationary orbit’—surely served only one purpose. At first, I assumed its height was a mere coincidence.
But if it wasn’t just a coincidence but there was an actual ‘purpose’—
“Orbital Elevator….”
“Hmm?”
“It’s a gateway to space, designed to escape the planet’s gravity. To reach the void of space with typical propulsion systems requires an incredibly massive amount of energy…”
“Oh, there might have been something about it in Principia. So, are you saying the ‘World Tree’ is like a staircase built by some transcendent being so that we can access space? Now, that definitely seems worth investigating.”
“……”
The Lord of the White Magic Tower nodded in agreement, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.
An orbital elevator isn’t merely a means to escape to space. Rockets alone are adequate to get into space.
Not to mention, the orbital elevator is actually a stepping stone for a space ‘civilization.’
It’s a structure aimed at long-term energy efficiency, created only when the economic benefits of installing the lift are guaranteed. This means that the civilization building this orbital elevator must be both ‘capable’ enough to explore beyond the planet while being ‘inept’ enough to seek cost-effectiveness in escaping orbital gravity.
Just like Earth in my past life…
“I’ll organize the knowledge related to the orbital elevator and send it to the White Magic Tower.”
“Oh, thank you for your consideration.”
*
Despite the tar-like unease lodged in my chest, I kept chatting with the Lord of the White Magic Tower about various topics. The Tower Lord’s stories about observing different locations around the world were quite fascinating.
I got the chance to hear even more in-depth tales about ‘Transcendence.’
“For example, literature can also be a means of transcendence. If one person possesses more literary influence than you, Herodotus, and Homer combined. Granted, that’s impossible, so it’s a ridiculous assumption! Haha!”
“…Ah, yes.”
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