The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 223

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story – Trip Cross Trip

What if, just what if….

What if, just what if, Celestia had been given a little more time?

*

Celestia was given time.

If demons go around devouring the possibilities of worlds, then surely other worlds must definitely exist, right?

Since she happened to have plenty of time, it would be good to focus on research to find other worlds. She might discover clues to defeat the demons in those other worlds.

And so, for several weeks.

There was no progress in her research.

Was the very idea of discovering other worlds too absurd?

“Hmm.”

Celestia felt overwhelmed by her research. Then she casually remembered a fact the Ascetic had mentioned.

“Ascetic.”

“Yes?”

My savior who always gives me answers and opens paths for me.

“You said you’re not from this world, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then, if we could know which world you came from, if that world exists, would you be willing to help?”

“…There’s no particular reason I have to do it, and no reason I shouldn’t. But now it’s just a world that doesn’t mean much to me anymore.”

“Still. It’s absolutely necessary to defeat the demons.”

You mean finding the world I used to live in?”

“If you came to this place, then that world must be an existing world, and it would be adjacent to our world. Even if souls are records, for those records to come here would require crossing dimensions, and that would take a lot of time. So finding your world would be the perfect test to prove and demonstrate that other worlds exist!”

The Ascetic’s expression became slightly ambiguous. Only someone like her, who could perceive his expressions down to the millimeter, would notice this—ordinary people would just think it was a peaceful expression.

“Very well.”

“Then we need to create a connection point with dimensions, so we need to design an interface…. For that, I think we’ll need your blood….”

*

Several months later.

Anyway, somehow, by some means, because she was given time, Celestia found a way to travel to other dimensions!

She laughed “hehehe” with a face worn down by fatigue.

“Now, let’s go to the Ascetic’s world…!”

Thud.

She activated the device while swinging her staff.

A huge magic circle spread across the Empire’s sky and soon—

Crash!

“Ow ow ow….”

Celestia. 22 years old by Korean age.

“Huh.”

“Are you okay?”

“Where is this place?”

“This girl just appeared out of nowhere!”

“Did I actually succeed in dimensional travel…!?”

Falling into a strange foreign land.

*

She erased all memories of those who saw her falling from the air. She was worried that magic might not work, but it functioned normally.

However….

‘Mana recovery speed is slow.’

The mana in the air is sparse.

I need to fill at least 3 of the gems in my staff that store my mana to be able to return, but at this rate, I’ll need to stay at least 3 days to a week without using magic.

And from what I’ve found out, this place is… not just simple dimensional travel, but probably a timeline where the Ascetic’s past exists…!

Since the timeline would have changed from the moment I arrived here anyway, it would be a separate timeline from the Ascetic’s real past.

“Whoa!”

“Keep your eyes open when you walk!”

A fast-moving wheeled metal contraption. What appeared to be a means of transportation nearly hit her.

“Is it okay for such dangerous things to be moving around like this…?”

It doesn’t look much different from a monster. Even what appeared to be houses were stretched out very long, and just roughly scanning with ether, there were hundreds of people living in them. If these pillars collapsed, all those hundreds of people would die.

“Ooh….”

Even without mana, something was changing by itself. Living pictures were changing rapidly.

“First, I should check if the Ascetic exists in this world.”

Before the Ascetic became Sernuan Lumiere.

I need to find him when he was ‘Hanbul Park’!

Celestia lowered her staff from her hand. Before it touched the ground, the staff dissolved into the air and disappeared. She clenched her empty fist tightly.

‘While I’m at it, if I explain the situation, won’t he help me…!? I’m dimensionally lost…? But since he’s the Ascetic, maybe his kind heart hasn’t changed…probably!’

Should I change clothes first? It seems like I’m getting too much attention….

*

One day.

That’s how long it took to find ‘Hanbul Park’.

She placed his bloodstain that she had brought in advance on a transparent plate and combined sorcery requested from Kalebrin with magic, arranging it to point toward the being most deeply connected to the bloodstain.

And the house that came up was at the end of a high, barren, and narrow alley.

She wouldn’t even know if there was a front gate, so if this was her first time here, she definitely would have had a hard time.

Knock knock knock.

“Excuse me.”

Silence.

Knock knock knock.

“Excuse me…? Are you Hanbul Park?”

Creak.

As she was about to knock on the door again, the black iron gate was pushed open weakly.

“The door…. It’s open. It should be okay to go in, right?”

Celestia hesitantly entered the house. The floor made of dirt and unknown stones had many fallen leaves on it.

She knocked on the metal door. She could hear signs of life from inside.

“Is anyone there?”

“I’m declining newspapers, milk, and telecom services.”

A man’s voice came from inside. She understood newspapers and milk, but what was telecom?

“It’s, it’s not that. I came because I have business with you.”

“….”

There was a lot of noise from inside for a moment. She heard something banging on the floor, then the door opened with a cheerful sound.

Unkempt black hair. Exotic appearance. His black eyes were drowsy and his upturned eye corners looked sharp. His lips were chapped and his cheeks were sunken as if he hadn’t been eating well.

He swept back his bangs, looked her up and down, and frowned.

“…What the hell.”

“…!?”

Celestia heard something breaking in her head.

A height reaching 2 meters. Smooth serpentine appearance, long white hair and white eyes, always smiling and gentle but firm character. Using respectful language even to those who didn’t need to be accommodated, never hesitating to help those in need….

Such a wonderful Ascetic’s past was….

“…Are you from some cult? Do you actually have business with me? Do you even speak Korean?”

This kind of….

Swearing at first meeting….

“Uh….”

“You can’t speak Korean? Then why did you come looking for me? …You were sent by them, right?”

The other person tried to close the door with a deeply furrowed brow. Celestia hastily grabbed the door.

“What are you doing?”

“I, I…. Well, that’s.”

One eye squinted. Celestia was uncharacteristically stuttering. This despite being a master of magic who could recite long incantations without her tongue getting twisted.

“…I got lost.”

“So why did you come all the way to my house? This place is really high up and hard to reach, so why did you specifically come all the way here?”

“Ah, well, Hanbul Park… sir. Since I know you, I thought I could get help if I came to find you.”

“Are you from Salt and Light?”

“Wh-what?”

“I cut ties with that cult a while ago. While I’m being nice, let go of the door and get lost.”

Huh…

He had quite a bad personality in the past…!

But Celestia, regardless of the past, this person is the future Ascetic.

From what I’m hearing, it seems like he’s been hurt by people quite a bit, but he still becomes an Ascetic later, which is truly amazing.

The Ascetic’s swearing…

This is an experience only I know about…? Of course, hearing it directly isn’t pleasant, but to eavesdrop on his past appearance and swearing that no one else knows about – what a glorious thing this is?

“What kind of strength is this…”

Celestia shouted to him.

“Actually, I came from another world…!”

“…Ah, that kind of concept. Then it seems you found the wrong address.”

Creak-

The door was about to close. Celestia struggled over the door.

“Th-this crazy game cosplay woman is blocking people, I’m going to call the police!”

“I’ll show you proof! If you just look at that, I’ll quietly go back!”

I deliberately walked here to save mana by not using magic, but now I’m about to waste it all for show.

But it’s okay! If it’s for showing the past Savior, anything is fine.

She pulled out her staff. At the staff that suddenly appeared in mid-air, his grip on the door handle loosened.

“Damn, do they even do scams like this these days…”

“It’s not a scam.”

She aimed her staff at the fallen leaves on the ground. The leaves fluttered over to her hand and transformed into human shapes. Those people danced in her palm.

“I can’t believe it.”

What kind of life has this person lived? No, what kind of world is this that he can’t accept even after seeing this?

“Fine. This does use quite a bit of mana though…”

Celestia grabbed his hand firmly. Then she teleported outside the main gate.

“Huh…?”

He collapsed with a thud as if the strength had left his legs.

“Do you still not believe me?”

“…Uh, so just now I…”

“Teleported. This much shouldn’t be a scam, right?”

He asked while still sitting collapsed in front of the gate.

“So which world did you come from?”

“If you ask which world, I’m not sure how to answer… But at least magic and spirits exist there, and it doesn’t look like this.”

“…By any chance, is it a world that believes in a god called Lumensia and has a Central Church?”

“…! Yes!”

“My goodness.”

He covered his mouth and looked at me with sparkling eyes, different from before.

“That world really exists? Then are you a mage? What’s your name? What family are you from? What’s the hottest topic in that world right now? Has the Demon King been defeated? They say Lumensia actually has huge plot hooks hidden – is that true? And what kind of food do you usually eat? The Empire was trying to invade Centa this time – did they succeed? They say there’s an organization secretly operating in the Empire – do you know what that is?”

She just blinked her eyes. Despite awakening mana to Archmage level and possessing superior memory and comprehension abilities, it was all incomprehensible talk… And she didn’t know what “plot hooks” meant either.

“W-wait a moment… Could you speak a little more slowly?”

“Sorry, but could you get some assistive devices from inside my room? Or at least a wheelchair. I can’t walk.”

“…! I’m sorry! I’m sorry. Uh, well, a wheelchair and assistive devices…? I don’t know what those are though.”

Celestia hurriedly waved her staff. Then his body floated up into the air. He wiggled his arms and legs as if finding it fascinating.

“Wow! This is really amazing!”

“Should we talk more inside the house…?”

“Sorry, it smells and will be dirty inside.”

“It’s okay.”

Celestia floated Hanbul Park beside her and moved inside the house.

As he had said, the house was dirty. However, there were also many fascinating things.

“What’s that glowing thing?”

“A monitor. It’s a machine that displays images.”

“Wow, then how does this work?”

“With electricity.”

“What’s electricity?”

“…Energy?”

“It’s like mana then. Ah, this world developed this instead of having little mana. What’s that big thing?”

“A refrigerator. Try opening it once.”

“Opening it?”

“Grab that handle and pull.”

“C-cold air is coming out…!”

“Amazing, right?”

Hanbul Park and Celestia exchanged knowledge with each other.

For about…

3 days?

“It moves just by connecting a cord! Is it like a windmill…?”

“It’s called a fan. There are ones that produce wind even without these blades, and ones that move even without cords.”

“H-how do you do that?”

Celestia encountered new civilization. And she thought that if she could handle this intangible energy, it would help in defeating Lumensia and demons.

However, the more she listened to Hanbul Park’s explanations, the darker her expression became. Since Hanbul Park wasn’t someone who handled electricity himself (it seemed to be divided like magic attributes she was good at), he did internet searching (he said it was like a virtual library. Amazing!) to teach her about ‘electricity’, ‘battery’, ‘wires’, ‘plasma’, ‘electric charge’, ‘current’, and ‘voltage’…

“Are cell phones also electricity?”

“Uh… semiconductors-“

“Microscope…?”

There were too many additional inventions that needed to be developed to handle electricity.

Even things like semiconductors were parts that couldn’t be developed at the current level.

Even if she stayed here longer and memorized all those technologies and invention blueprints to develop them, it wouldn’t produce some amazing electric energy cannon that could dramatically defeat demons.

She drew a simple magic circle on white, clean upper-class paper for Hanbul Park, who was fascinated by magic circles.

“Do you memorize and carry all of this around?”

“Yes. Wordless mages have to imagine this floating in their heads in less than a second. Incantations serve the purpose of allowing you to cast even when you can’t quite remember this magic circle?”

“Being a mage isn’t easy either. How do knights emit sword energy like this?”

“I don’t know well either, but according to research, it’s because it matches with internal body energy. I don’t really understand it though.”

“…Right. I don’t really get it. Then why can we communicate in language like this?”

“That’s because dimensional correction is applied. When I moved dimensions, I included a language construction formula. If you look carefully, what I’m saying and my lip movements are slightly different, right?”

“You’re right.”

“I cast illusion magic on my mouth and directly convey my intentions… It’s applying a kind of telepathy concept, so rather than actually communicating in language, I’m connecting minds. So if I don’t connect, that person can’t communicate either.”

“I want to hear the language there – could you disconnect it?”

“It takes mana to reconnect, so no.”

“…That’s disappointing.”

The past Ascetic who clings to me asking about magic and general knowledge of the world is so cute. He’s even small and frail…

However, Celestia had a purpose and reason for crossing dimensions to reach this world.

Namely, new civilization, new technology, new energy to defeat demons!

Though electricity probably couldn’t be it…

This was even such a fragile world that it would be destroyed if a meteor hit the ground directly. So that’s probably why such detailed and precise technology developed.

“I need a powerful weapon…”

He blinked for a moment.

“…There is something called a nuclear bomb.”

“A nuclear bomb? I know what a bomb is. But nuclear… A bomb that serves as a core point, I can’t quite grasp it.”

He turned only his upper body slightly toward the computer again and typed. His fingers moving fluidly across the keyboard looked so amazing, like an engineer. Celestia herself could probably type quickly in a day too.

“To explain it simply, it uses the energy released when nuclear material undergoes nuclear fission…”

“Nuclear material… Nuclear fission?”

“To explain it simply, you have mana over there, right? If you take mana molecules…”

“Molecules?”

“…Ma, if you split mana particles into extremely tiny pieces…”

“Mana particles can’t be split though…?”

“…Oh. That’s right…”

The Young Ascetic was flustered. It would be hard to find such a flustered expression now, but seeing his emotions so openly displayed made me feel good.

“It’s incredibly powerful… human magic.”

“I want to learn it!”

“Th-that would be difficult…”

Damn~! I’m going to return without achieving any of my goals for coming here!

“I’m smarter than you think! If you teach me, I might be able to do it!”

“Then…”

Click click.

He clicked the mouse (called that because it looks like a mouse) and began reciting something fluently.

“Nuclear bombs utilize the destructive power of chain reactions that occur when fissile materials like highly enriched uranium or plutonium reach critical mass. And after refining the materials to high purity through centrifuges and such, you normally keep them separated, then at the moment of detonation use high-performance explosives to combine them into one or compress them under ultra-high pressure-“

“Wait a minute…”

“At this point, when neutrons strike atomic nuclei, exponential nuclear fission occurs, and in this process mass defect happens and according to the $E=mc^2$ principle, unimaginable heat and shock energy is released, though I don’t really understand it well. How about it, Celestia?”

“…Isn’t there some other weapon besides that!”

“Sorry… I don’t really know.”

“Our world is going to be ruined at this rate. We’re going to be devoured by demons~!”

“To kill demons, don’t you first need things like crosses and salt? Reciting Bible verses in Latin.”

“I don’t think they’d die from things like that…”

“Oh, really? The demons in your world must be quite different from ours…?”

The baby ascetic was flustered and tried his best to accommodate me.

Imagining how this happened after getting cursed at from the beginning is so cute~! I want to hug him tight and then earnestly pat his head.

But if I did that, I’d be looked down upon…?

I can endure it. Fighting, Celestia.

But it would be nice to do that before leaving…

“What do the demons over here eat?”

“Souls…?”

“Ours eat the world’s possibilities. I think of them as a kind of parasite, and they seem to gain power from that.”

“Isn’t possibilities too abstract a concept?”

“Souls are incredibly abstract too, if you think about it.”

“I, I guess so.”

“And this world also has energy called possibilities. Though it will disappear soon.”

“What…? Wouldn’t the world end if that disappeared?”

Celestia spoke matter-of-factly.

“Yes. It’s a possibility that will disappear after at most 2 centuries, so it’s unfortunate.”

“Ah. 2 centuries.”

Anyway, the ascetic will become our ascetic, my savior, so it doesn’t matter. He’s unexpectedly incredibly calm. 2 centuries is soon.

“Why are you so calm about it?”

“Well… it’s not my problem.”

The baby ascetic had many parts that were definitely different from the current ascetic. It was really fascinating and nice. To think this baby ascetic would become like that.

“Haha, that’s true.”

The more differences there were, the more enjoyable it was.

Celestia would have fussed like Yelena saying ‘You should care even if it’s not your business! If you’ve learned this fact, then until 2 centuries later-‘, but honestly Celestia wasn’t that kind of person.

Frankly speaking, if it’s not my business, then it’s not my business.

Going through such hardships to catch demons now, trying to kill Lumensia too. If it weren’t for the ascetic, I wouldn’t have bothered doing any of it.

This archmage and descendant of sages called the intellect of this century came to participate in demon hunting and the Prometheus Project (whatever that is, it’s the name of a project the ascetic claimed) thanks to the ascetic, so current humanity should indeed praise the ascetic.

Since we’re going to praise the ascetic anyway, I hope the whole world will sing his praises for a long time to come!

Anyway, to do that, we’d have to do something about the demons first.

“Sigh… There’s nothing I can really learn and take back with me.”

“Then Celestia. Your magic works by creating standardized formulas, setting them as shortcuts in magic circle form, then imbuing them with mana to activate and release them, right?”

“You have excellent comprehension~ May I pat your head as a compliment?”

“That’s a bit… I’m a robust adult male…”

He was neither robust nor had a face that could be considered an adult male – he had a youthful appearance. That talk about being an adult must be a joke, right? Kids want to become adults…

“Anyway, then the formulas in those magic circles are a kind of pictorial equations, but they’re personal equations unique to mages…”

Celestia half-listened. It was cute how he was thinking like that with the little knowledge I’d shared. And thinking of Sernuan Lumiere’s ascetic who had such a self but thoroughly hid it while helping others made him even cuter!

“Then couldn’t we create magic that could substitute for nuclear bombs in this way?”

Still, I was listening with one ear.

“That’s a good idea! If I go back and adjust the formulas a bit more, I think I could really use it!”

“…! Really?”

He opened his eyes wide through his disheveled bangs.

“…Of course!”

Uuuuu~ so cute…!

Celestia quickly patted his hair. Hanbul Park panicked and grabbed his head, falling face-down on the bed.

“What are you doing to me when I’m almost thirty…!”

“Thirty…? Weren’t you in your teens?”

“I’ll be thirty the day after tomorrow…”

“You’ll be thirty the day after tomorrow?”

No, no way. I thought he was a baby ascetic, but he’s older than me.

“…I was extremely rude.”

“Still, it’s not like there’s a 10-year age gap, so you don’t need to go that far…”

He stopped me from kneeling and gave me yogurt.

It was food from the other world. Anyway, if I ate it, I could form a unique bond between just the ascetic and me, so I eagerly ate whatever he gave me. The kimchi was spicy though.

I spent 3 days here. Unexpectedly, staying next to the ascetic made my mana recovery fast.

When I brought out my staff into the air, the gem attached to it gleamed. Seeing the light gently rippling, it seemed my mana had fully recovered.

“I think I should head back now.”

“With my body like this, I couldn’t show you around the other world properly or be much help, so I’m sorry…”

“Not at all. You helped me enough that I’m at least getting a clue to take back.”

“Then that’s a relief. …Can you get back safely?”

“Yes. As long as I have mana, it’s all fine.”

“That’s amazing.”

He put on his walking assistance device. Celestia didn’t unnecessarily help with that and just opened the house door in advance.

“I wish our world was like that too.”

“But it’s good that you don’t have monsters.”

“Though there’s a monster called capitalism lurking…”

Understanding what capitalism was would be a bit of a stretch for Celestia.

I’d like to stay here a bit longer, but if I did, the original world might become dangerous. If I stay too long, I might not be able to return.

Seeing that the past ascetic exists, this is the past, so changing the past any further would be dangerous too.

“Goodbye. It was fun.”

“…Take care.”

Swoosh.

Without a bridge of light descending from the sky, without explosions or anything else, like a midsummer night’s dream, Celestia disappeared as if melting into the void.

*

“You just took a long bathroom break, didn’t you? Hahahaha.”

“It wasn’t the bathroom, I went to another world.”

“…! What did you say!”

“I need to go to the Ascetic.”

“Wait, Celestia. If that’s true, then it means multiple dimensions exist, but how does the space-time there work-“

“Ascetic! Ascetiiiic~”

Side Story Trip Cross Trip (Complete)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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