A shared goal, is it?
Alice studied Edward's expression across from her, her fingers lightly tapping the teacup.
He didn't seem like someone aiming for the Divine Machine.
"Your shared goal... isn't the Divine Machine, is it?"
The question left Alice's lips.
Hearing this, Edward was momentarily taken aback, then let out a soft chuckle, a smirk playing on his lips.
The laughter felt like an admission, but even more so, it felt like a refusal to deny it.
Edward neither confirmed their target was the Divine Machine, nor did he deny Alice's words.
That attitude was answer enough.
Alice leaned back leisurely.
"But... cooperation?"
She ran her finger over the saucer beneath her cup.
"First, let me hear about your research on the Divine Machine."
"Of course, cooperation requires showing one's hand," Edward replied without hesitation.
A light flickered in his eyes. After a long moment, he slowly began to speak.
"In the prophecy I just mentioned, the Divine Machine possesses one characteristic: it is like flawless jade."
"That is to say, the Divine Machine can withstand any blow, any impact—an eternal, indestructible existence."
He gestured with his finger, and mana formed a circular pattern in the air.
It was a pure white piece of jade.
"But such a thing cannot exist in this world."
"So, is it possible that the Divine Machine's body isn't created by us, but by itself?"
Hearing this hypothesis for the first time, Cedric's expression clearly went blank.
Alice, too, narrowed her eyes with interest.
Edward continued, spreading his hands slightly.
"From the moment we are born, this Earth just happens to exist. I did nothing, yet the heavens bestowed upon me the land and the light."
His words were almost sung.
"But that order should be reversed."
He made an overturning motion with his hands.
"It's because the land existed that humanity was born."
"Then, is it possible that the Divine Machine, after acquiring a soul, uses that soul to construct its own body?"
As Edward spoke, Cedric's eyes slowly widened, as if he was witnessing something impossible.
Just then, another voice chimed in.
"...Materialization?"
"Precisely! Miss Kuonji, materialization... that's an excellent word for it! The Materialization of the Soul!"
The one who had spoken was Alice, and for the first time, a look of genuine shock appeared on her face in this world.
Wasn't this... the Third Magic?
Across from her, Edward, as if expounding a universal truth, grinned excitedly and spread his hands wide.
"When we sleep, we replenish our expended mana. So where does this mana come from?"
"Through sleep, the soul connects—to each other, to a certain place—and thus replenishes its mana."
"Whether that 'certain place' is another dimension, another universe, the spirit world, or the realm of the gods, we do not yet know. But that place is connected to us 'humans,' it is the source of our mana."
"Our 'human' bodies cannot withstand mana beyond their capacity. Each person's body is different, hence each person's mana limit differs."
"But a life born from a materialized soul would possess an immense amount of mana—that is to say, vitality. So immense it might even be infinite."
"And so, this is the Divine Machine—ageless, deathless, possessing vast mana, capable of changing its form at will, and potentially even capable of evolving humanity itself."
Edward concluded his speech with a flourish, as if taking a bow.
Alice brought her hand to her lips, concealing her startled expression.
Making the soul a perpetual motion machine to obtain an endless source of mana—what Edward described was exactly the characteristic of Type-Moon's Third Magic.
Mana represents life. Endless mana means endless life, and endless life means agelessness and immortality.
A body born from a materialized soul could freely change into any form, shape, or object.
Cedric stared blankly for a long moment before suddenly snapping back to reality. "Wait a second," he blurted out, "Do souls even exist in this world?"
In all his past education, he had never learned anything about souls.
Modern scholars didn't acknowledge the existence of souls.
Hearing this, Edward suddenly grew calm.
"So, everything before this was merely a hypothesis. We have no method to capture or observe the human soul."
"However, in our research on the Divine Machine, we've shifted our focus to studying artificially synthesized souls."
"We've made significant progress in that area."
His tone returned to how it was when they first met—amiable, yet slightly bumbling.
"...By layering mana, can an artificially synthesized soul evolve into a human soul?" Alice's voice sounded again.
"...Oh?"
Edward's gaze suddenly turned sharp, scrutinizing Alice.
He had withheld much of the information, yet this Miss Kuonji could deduce the crux of his research from these few clues.
It seemed this cooperation might be a good move.
"Since the Divine Machine hasn't been born yet, it means it hasn't obtained a human soul," Alice said, lowering her hand from her lips and slightly narrowing her eyes.
"If that's the case, there are only a few reasons why an artificial soul can't become a human soul. Either the direction is wrong, and an artificial soul simply can't become a human soul at all..."
Alice slowly met Edward's sharp gaze. This headmaster was finally showing some semblance of being both a headmaster and the strongest magus.
"...Or there isn't enough mana, or there's no vessel capable of containing the amount of mana equivalent to a human soul."
The curve of her lips formed a confident arc.
The room fell instantly silent, like the calm before a storm.
After a long pause, Edward finally spoke, and the stormy pressure receded.
"...What I can tell you, Miss Kuonji, is that it's the latter."
No sooner had he spoken than, like flipping a switch, a smile returned to Edward's face.
He stared directly at Alice, as if waiting for something.
He'd presented his theory, hinted at his direction. Now he was waiting for her to show her value, wasn't he?
Alice gave a slight, almost careless wave of her finger. "You seem to put a lot of faith in prophecies."
"Rather than prophecy, it's more like observation."
Edward raised two fingers, placing them before his eyes.
"A prophecy fixes the future. Once observed, the future cannot be changed. Therefore, the more critical the situation, the more carefully one must observe. The reason prophecies often use ambiguous phrasing is to allow for the broadest possible interpretation, to avoid tragedy."
Similar to a future vision, perhaps?
A slight smile touched Alice's lips as she folded her hands together.
She rose slowly and walked towards the door.
"Then I can tell you that my magecraft is indeed related to fairy tales."
"You must be aware of that blue robin that's often by my side."
Edward waved a hand dismissively. "Of course. It often comes to play on the school grounds."
That foolish bird really hadn't escaped their notice.
Alice half-closed her eyelids, her manner leisurely and self-assured.
"His name is Robin."
With that, she stepped out with light footsteps, Trimmau following closely behind its master.
Edward and Cedric watched them depart in silence.
As the sound of footsteps faded, the room settled into quiet once more.
"Who killed Cock Robin."
A murmur arose, as soft and indistinct as a whisper from the soul itself.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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