Retire 563

563 (Extra Story 30) Stars That Shine Together_2

Park Nogyeong’s unique magic was one of the key elements Woo Huijae had identified for the Mont-Saint-Michel raid.

There were still no plans to face that insane faerie directly at Mont-Saint-Michel. Hong Seokyoung, worried that the guild members might do something reckless, made sure to remind them from time to time.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was leaving it all to chance. Ever since Kim Chaemin had voiced her concerns about Mont-Saint-Michel, Hong Seokyoung had given clear instructions: do everything possible.

And one of those things was Park Nogyeong’s magic.

It was actually Hong Seokyoung who suggested to Park Seohyun that she take a look around her grandfather’s house. He knew she’d learned magic from her grandfather, but since the man was also a renowned researcher, there might be something left behind.

A spell that could locate a dungeon core would be invaluable. For Sandra, who was searching for ways to interfere with dungeon cores, Park Nogyeong’s magic was a fascinating research subject. Both Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo understood the importance of this magic for the project. Even if the magic didn’t turn out to be as useful as Sandra hoped, Park Nogyeong’s unique spell was worth the effort.

Sandra, as an official researcher of Guild Mimi, and the great mage Kim Chaemin managed many more tasks, but when it came to the journal, they let the two young mage assistants take the lead. They would help, but ultimately, it was something those two needed to accomplish themselves.

“Grandpa’s magic was never really affected by the environment, you know?”

“Well, it’s a spell that creates light, after all.”

“It might work better in darkness, but it’s not like the light disappears just because it’s bright.”

Sandra still had a mountain of work.

Whenever Woo Huijae dropped by to check on their progress, Sandra would complain. Research doesn’t just move forward because someone keeps asking about it.

On top of that, Woo Huijae still occasionally tossed new tasks her way. In the end, Sandra was the only one trusted enough to maintain steady contact with Henry Lehmann and handle sensitive information. Sandra knew it was something only she could do. Alex and Han Taekyung would pass on information they’d discovered while tracking Lehmann with the Association’s special forces, and Sandra would combine that with what only Guild Mimi knew.

She knew it was her responsibility. But still, she had to complain and show some irritation so people would feel guilty. It was a valuable lesson from grad school. Woo Huijae seemed to know exactly what Sandra was doing, but he always soothed her with sweet words and rewards—like raiding Hong Seokyoung’s bank account to provide new equipment…

“Guide magic is even less affected. It’s used to find direction, so it wouldn’t do if the direction changed just because the environment did. It’s basically a compass, this spell.”

“Grandpa was famous for his guide magic, so using light became the standard, but… it doesn’t have to be light, actually.”

“Here, this one was made by an Indian mage. It was created quite a while ago and didn’t get much attention, but Seohyun and I happened to find it. Looks just like a compass, right?”

“This needle is made of a metal with high mana conductivity. The principle is similar to a compass. The difference is, it needs to be exposed to dungeon mana for a long time before the direction is fixed.”

“The direction it settles on is random, but once it’s set inside a dungeon, it doesn’t change until you leave. It takes a while to fix, but in wide, hard-to-navigate dungeons like deserts, it could be really useful. And you don’t have to be a mage to use it…”

“Wait, wait, wait.”

Sandra raised a hand to halt Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo’s explanations.

“It’s an interesting device, but send me the data later, all right?”

“Yes.”

“But right now, weren’t we talking about your grandfather’s journal? Is this compass related?”

“Uh… no, I’ll send you the compass info. You know the basics of guide magic by now, Doctor.”

“Right. So you can skip the early explanations.”

Magic and mana engineering are not fields that always go hand in hand.

There are similarities, and knowing one helps with the other, but their aims are fundamentally different. Magic is a power used only by mages, and most mages want to keep it that way.

On the other hand, mana engineers are rarely mages, and even fewer are Awakened. The goal of most engineers Sandra had met was to fully uncover the laws of mana.

Since both are based on mana, the basics are similar. Their theories overlap. The advancement of mana engineering influences how mages perceive magic, and the spells of mages set new benchmarks for mana engineering.

How wonderful would it be if they could truly cooperate and build a better future together?

If that had been possible, perhaps Noah Michel wouldn’t have ended up the way she did.

Sandra had no personal grudge against Noah Michel, but she hated seeing Alex so dejected. That woman was nothing but trouble from beginning to end.

Well, Noah Michel is Noah Michel, and Sandra Gamble is Sandra Gamble.

Sandra was lucky in many ways.

First of all, she was a genius.

Intelligence can’t always be everything, but sometimes, a problem really could be solved with brains.

Sandra believed that, and indeed, it was her intelligence that had saved Alex.

Of course, her life plan had been betrayed by that very intelligence and had gotten all tangled up.

Her lack of fame as a researcher? That was intentional. Being noticed too young was never a good thing. That was another hard lesson Sandra had learned from experience.

Sandra’s original plan was to start after she turned thirty. In her twenties, she’d quietly build a reputation—including that paper Imi-seon had drooled over—then use it to gather investment and found her own small, cute company.

My own…

Small…

Cute…

None of it had come true. The outcome was good, so she could let it go, but there was still a strange feeling about it.

“So, the reason we started questioning the environment was this.”

“It took us a long time to realize Grandpa was using different terms for the same thing.”

Sandra watched the young mages, eyes shining as they excitedly explained their discovery.

All three mages at the training school were interested in mana engineering. Given her affinity for environmental influences, it was only natural Kim Chaemin was interested. Under her guidance, Park Seohyun’s shadow magic also tended to be affected by the environment.

Sandra’s lab had evolved even further since Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo joined. Not only was it filled with equipment Sandra had begged Woo Huijae to buy, but also with things Kim Chaemin thought might be useful.

The physical space wasn’t huge, but the funding was more than Sandra had ever expected. Even if she’d managed to gather investment, it would have been hard to do this much. And she wouldn’t have enjoyed this much freedom.

‘No, there are still limits on my research topics…’

But since those limits aligned perfectly with her original goals, Sandra herself wasn’t sure if this was freedom or restriction.

What had caused things to turn out this way?

There were many variables, but in the end, Sandra could point to just one reason.

Woo Huijae.

Of course. If a person from the future had come back and nothing changed, that would be stranger still. Woo Huijae complained that he hadn’t gained anything from his future knowledge, but Sandra thought that was nonsense.

The mana meter from the future, made by the future Sandra Gamble and brought by Woo Huijae—just that alone could change the world. Far more than Woo Huijae realized.

Just as Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo now bombarded Sandra and Kim Chaemin with questions, Sandra used to pester Woo Huijae about the future. He never liked it, but if Sandra said it would help her research, he’d eventually give in and answer.

‘But I don’t know much about mana engineering…’

‘That’s all right. I know plenty.’

‘If you say so.’

The other guild members worried about monsters, but Sandra didn’t. She left that to those who were good at it.

Sandra Gamble was a genius, but not in that field. With a childhood friend who ran wild in dungeons after Noah Michel’s visit, she’d learned a lot by osmosis.

Sandra pieced together Woo Huijae’s stories to get a sense of the future’s “level.” It wasn’t perfect, but by working backward from the mana meter in her hands, she could sketch out a rough picture.

The future Sandra Gamble hadn’t revealed everything she knew.

No one knew exactly what deal she’d made with the Korean Ability Management Bureau. But the fact that the detailed blueprints, down to the last screw, were in Korea meant that Dr. Gamble had joined the reckless plan to travel to the past.

Sandra knew herself.

She was sure Dr. Gamble had trusted Hong Seokyoung, not the Korean government.

Her mana meter was the pinnacle of modern mana engineering. Woo Huijae said it had gone through several upgrades, and the blueprint in the watch was the latest version.

Even Sandra herself couldn’t fully understand the plans yet. Too many of the technologies needed to build it didn’t exist.

She did her best to figure out what she could, inputting numbers for unknown theories and deducing answers. She’d managed to design a prototype mana meter, but after seeing what was inside, it was just a crude toy.

Sandra was frustrated by that. Even if her opponent was herself, twenty years ahead, it was still frustrating.

“The term ‘star reflection’ started being used around this point. We’ve been combing through all Grandpa’s research records, not just the diary…”

Park Seohyun, lost in the diary, kept explaining. Before she could go further, Choi Jinwoo found supporting material and handed it to Sandra.

It was a small notebook. Like the diary, it was old and worn. But each page had the date and location recorded precisely.

March 2, 1978. Yellowknife Dungeon.

Saving the world from destruction?

That’s important.

Saving Alex?

Even more important.

Sandra had even planned to disappear with Alex and her family if things went really wrong.

But now, with things having turned out more or less well—

The biggest motivation driving Sandra wasn’t her troublesome friend, sibling, or rival… but her resentment toward her future self.

Even if she managed to assemble the blueprints, the credit would go to Dr. Gamble of the future, not to Sandra now.

Sandra would surpass that woman. She would achieve the dreams that woman could not.

Sandra Gamble was a genius.

And Sandra Gamble had something that Dr. Gamble did not.

“The note about it being fixed after Yellowknife Dungeon appears in another journal. That one’s not here in the lab right now…”

“Before that, he called it a reflection or light scattering.”

“So we’re checking those parts too, but haven’t found them all yet… Actually, this scattering is the key issue.”

Mages.