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Of course, it wasn’t that Esiocles or her spirit, Saraswati, had any lustful intentions. They were just genuinely into muscles and physical beauty. Hildegard already knew that well enough.

But lately, Esiocles, who had made a contract with the spirit, had been so excited about their muscles that Hildegard couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

Grumbling, Hildegard downed half her beer, wiped the foam off her lips with the back of her hand, and turned her attention to the wine she had poured earlier.

Watching her, the spirit Ariel, with her hands on her hips, gave Hildegard a stern look.

[…!]

“Ah, I get it, okay? But just let me enjoy this for a bit. How many times in my life do you think I’ll get to taste the local specialty?”

[…?]

“Hmm… Oh? This has a pretty good flavor, huh? The aroma isn’t bad either. I especially like that it’s not too sweet.”

Hildegard swirled the wine in her mouth, swallowed, and then marveled at the rich aroma and flavor that filled her senses. It seemed like Ariel’s nagging had already faded into the background.

Ariel, with a face like б︵б, sighed deeply and gave up on further scolding.

Well, she figured Hildegard could take care of her own liver.

“Anyway, those guys have been so into themselves lately. It makes me feel a bit left out…”

Hildegard muttered as if talking to herself, then suddenly lost her energy and started sipping her drink listlessly.

Watching this, Ariel realized it was time for her advice to shine. She couldn’t just let a grown adult act like a moody teenager. With that in mind, Ariel spoke to Hildegard.

[…?]

“Hmm? Approach from a common topic? How?”

[…!]

“Muscles, huh… Well, I do have some muscles too. Ethereal muscles, real muscles, both. Hmm, oh? Wait, does that mean I should show off my skin and flaunt my physique like them?”

[…?]

“What? You’re saying I should cut back on drinking instead? …No way!”

Seeing Hildegard’s serious face, Ariel sighed again. Trying to talk about drinking in front of a fitness enthusiast was like saying you didn’t want to be friends. She subtly tried to strip Hildegard of her title as a “Drunken Nun Knight,” but was flatly rejected.

It was a long road ahead. With that thought, Ariel clenched her fist, determined. Meanwhile, Hildegard tasted a piece of fish from Seville and sipped her wine again. Soon after, her soft humming filled the air around the table.

+++++

With Sophia’s permission, Conra and Maria, their eyes sparkling like stars, wandered around the Spell Tower, taking in all the sights. The dazzling, strange, and noisy attractions of the Spell Tower were more than enough to captivate the young boy and girl.

Like bees drawn to flowers, the two marveled at the bizarre shapes formed by lightning bolts in the air, watched tiny artificial lifeforms smaller than fingernails build miniature castles around a powder core, and then bought a bunch of random-flavored desserts to munch on.

As they enjoyed themselves, Sophia headed to a place called Magec’s Tray. Magec’s Tray was a sacred artifact, a tray held by the statue of Magec, the sun goddess worshipped by the Berber people. The tray collected the blessings of the sun, which flowed into it like a glowing spring.

In an old book Sophia had found in Ravenna’s archives, it was written that drinking from this spring would grant temporary immunity to all poisons and diseases, as well as an advantage against undead, demons, and other cosmic entities.

Securing this sunlit spring was Sophia’s second reason for visiting the Spell Tower in Cadiz.

‘The problem is, this spring water turns into ordinary light and scatters as soon as it leaves the tray.’

Perhaps the temporary nature of the blessing was due to the light’s tendency to scatter quickly, Sophia thought.

Because of this volatility, the Spell Tower surprisingly didn’t hoard the light in the tray but instead displayed it publicly. Since preserving the blessing for long was impossible, they decided to use it as a cheap attraction to promote the tower.

Thanks to this, the fee to use the tray was set very low. Naturally, those who came to see the mysterious tray and experience its blessings also ended up using the other services the Spell Tower offered.

As a result, the Cadiz Spell Tower became famous among merchants and spellcasters as an example of effective profit-making by cleverly utilizing a seemingly useless artifact. Sophia smirked at the thought.

In short, no matter how great the blessing in the tray was, its lack of durability and high volatility meant it was undervalued. Even the Berber people, who once worshipped Magec, now primarily believed in Agurzil, the war god with a bull’s head, and his avatar, the lesser goddess Alkahina. The religious influence of Magec had significantly waned.

Well, that’s probably why an artifact that could have been enshrined as a holy relic ended up in the Spell Tower instead of the Church of Cadiz.

‘But thanks to that, I got the chance to use it easily, so I can’t complain.’

If the artifact had belonged to the Church Order, even someone of Sophia’s high status within the Church would have had a hard time using it so freely.

After paying the fee, Sophia approached the tray and took out five small glass bottles from her pouch. These bottles, shaped like typical potion vials, had a Vajra Mandala engraved inside and a cork stopper with a Sephirot diagram.

Sophia opened the empty bottles, scooped the light from the tray into them, and sealed them with the cork stoppers. Strangely, the light, which should have scattered and disappeared as soon as it left the tray, remained in a liquid state inside the bottles, sloshing around even after being moved away.

‘Just as I expected.’

Sophia nodded slightly, pleased.

Divinity cannot remain in the mortal world. This was a rule established clearly after the Iron Age began. Sophia guessed that the blessing in the tray evaporated upon leaving it for the same reason.

That’s when she thought of the Vajra Mandala.

Originally, the Vajra Mandala was a esoteric technique that expelled impure energies to create a ‘Dharma Realm’ within. By engraving the Vajra Mandala inside the potion bottles, Sophia calculated that the interior would become a purified ‘Dharma Realm.’

The Sephirot diagram on the cork stopper was meant to create a heavenly environment within the Dharma Realm.

The Sephirot diagram, with its 10 Sephirot and 22 paths, explains human spiritual development, the flow of time, the interaction of all things, and the stages of creation. In Kabbalah, where this diagram originated, its completion was seen as union with the divine, achieving eternity.

When the Sephirot diagram interacted with the Dharma Realm purified by the Vajra Mandala, the inside of the potion bottle transformed into a quasi-heavenly environment. This allowed the liquid blessing from the tray to remain in a liquid state without scattering.

Satisfied, Sophia stroked the pouch containing the five bottles filled with Magec’s blessing and headed to the desk where she had left her list. It was about time the list she had requested earlier was ready.

Just then.

Crash!

A ominous sound of something breaking caught Sophia’s attention.

“The barrier’s broken!”

“Tibicena (Spirits of Death) are loose! Evacuate the people!”

“Where are the spirit handlers!? They’re hired for this kind of situation!”

“Those aren’t just Tibicena! They’re Tibicena with Cernunnos’ horns! We need the Druids’ help!”

“What the hell!? Who summoned those things!”

Naturally, Sophia’s gaze turned toward the source of the commotion.

Her mouth fell open in surprise.

The Spirits of Death, which had been trapped in a labyrinth barrier just moments ago, were now loose, growling and looking around. The crashing sound must have been the labyrinth barrier containing the Cernunnos Tibicena breaking.

Sophia clicked her tongue softly.

“Tsk tsk tsk, who on earth thought of putting deer antlers on black dog heads?”

Sophia grumbled about the bizarre hybrid, but she didn’t intervene and calmly continued toward the desk as planned.

At the desk, an employee stood frozen, nervously shifting his feet as he watched the chaos unfold.

“Excuse me, sir. Is the list I requested ready?”

“Ah, esteemed guest of the Church Order! Yes, here it is.”

Despite the chaos, the employee, driven by professionalism, handed Sophia the requested list.

“Let me see that.”

“Ah, here you go.”

Sophia’s calm demeanor made the employee hand over the list without hesitation, though he kept glancing worriedly at the ongoing commotion.

It was understandable. After all, the Cadiz Spell Tower was his workplace. If this incident wasn’t resolved properly and escalated into a major disaster, it could severely disrupt the tower’s operations… and naturally, lead to restructuring.

The thought of whether he could survive such a restructuring storm was naturally unsettling.

As Sophia silently reviewed the list, pondering what to trade, the employee cautiously spoke up.

“Um, excuse me, but could I ask for a bit of help?”

“No need to worry. I doubt I’ll need to get involved.”

Sophia’s blunt response left the employee embarrassed, but he noticed something odd in her words and asked again.

“Um, what do you mean by ‘I doubt I’ll need to get involved’?”

“Hmm. Look over there.”

Too busy with the list to bother explaining, Sophia pointed toward the scene of the incident. The employee’s expression turned blank as he followed her finger.

There, a young boy stood, holding a spear, weaving Druid and Alchemist spells as he faced off against the Cernunnos Tibicena.

 

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