C6: Miracle Maker

A short, plump man in an expensive suit, followed by a tall, matronly woman in her fifties walked out of the cabin that had become the center of concern for both the law enforcers and the Church.

Both looked back one last time before the entrance was fully shut, waving their hands at the young man sitting on the bed inside, who sent them an affirming nod in reply.

The rest of the associates of the young man's parents surrounded both of them, firing away question after question. Seeming pressed for time, both of them dealt with the questions with vague, brief answers, doing just enough to calm them down so that everyone could go back to their homes with peace of mind for now.

Under the sharp gazes of the enforcers and clergymen of the Church, they quickly made their way out of the hospital with the rest of their companions.

On his way back to his house, Steffen's data terminal lit up with an incoming video call. Seeing Helen's ID, he accepted it, and found himself facing her projection on the terminal screen.

"Steffen, did you... feel anything off while we were in that cabin?" she said in a measured tone.

Steffen met Helen's unreadable eyes, his befuddlement apparent on his face.

"No, I didn't even feel any trace of mana movement in the surroundings. What are you trying to say?"

Helen shook her head. "Not anything related to magic. I'm talking about Merrywick. Did you not feel anything off about his eyes? His face? His speech?"

Deep creases appeared on the middle-aged man's forehead.

"I didn't. But what are you trying to imply with that?"

Helen chose to remain silent, and Steffen began to contemplate what the answer might be.

"He obviously hid some matters from us. The reason for his request for the liquidation of his family assets also seems arbitrary. What's he really going to do with that much cash? And there's also the matter that got the Church of Lord Sunbreaker so worked up. It's probably not just about that priest's death. Something else might have been involved in the accident. But even the law enforcers are trying to keep it under wraps..."

Helen finally stepped in to put a conclusion to his chaotic reasonings.

"Considering all of those factors, I'm quite certain that the Progression System Merrywick got from Sunbreaker's tower isn't ordinary. Or at least, something about his path of magic has garnered their concern. What else could it be?"

Steffen began to nod slowly as he connected the dots in his mind.

"Possible, possible. Maybe the accident was an important factor as well. He was medically declared dead in front of us too, right? We've assumed that the examiners made a mistake. But what if that's not the case? What if Merrywick died in some sense and was somehow brought back to life? Perhaps the system had a role to play!"

Both of them began to grow nervous at this point. Steffen had sweat running past his temples. Helen's face had grown stiff in the last few seconds.

"...If the matter goes that deep, we should probably not pry too far into it." Helen finally broke the silence expressing a sentiment that Steffen could get behind. Wiping the sweat off his face, Steffen nodded emphatically.

"What do you suggest we do? Help him with the liquidation?"

"I'm certain officers from both the law enforcement and Church clergy were listening to us when Merrywick asked us to do it. If they deemed nothing wrong with it, what do we have to fear?" Helen replied.

"Fine, then. I'll head over to deal with the paperwork for their apartment. You can tackle their business store. I've already told Sartre to handle their bank accounts. Since there's only one heir, getting things done within a couple of days shouldn't be impossible."

With a tap of his fingers, the call came to an end, the stream of encoded frequency traveling over from their data terminals to the data towers being cut off in consequence.

Kilometers away, back inside Sir Hector Hospital, a Chromatic Magic Circle lost its luster, the flux of mana around it withering away.

Bishop Alcius stood a few feet away, his gaze focused on the man who had created the magic circle.

"Any progress, your grace?" he said inquisitively upon seeing the magic circle disappear.

The man cocked his head thoughtfully and replied, "Progress? Strictly, no. But you could say I've gained some insight that no other source could have provided, Bishop."

"Any orders you'd like me to attend to, then?" Alcius said eagerly, not at all disappointed.

"Not now. Instead, why don't you accompany me to witness how the boy fares in...situations beyond him? Who knows, perhaps you might just get lucky enough to witness a miracle."

The man stood up at a lightning-quick speed, his Black-gold Cope stirred up above the ashen robe that covered him from neck to sole.

At the end of the corridor, a boy was being escorted out on a wheelchair by several nurses and a security guard to pay a visit to his parents' corpses, a sudden venture initiated by his own request.

"How will you be testing him, your grace?" Bishop Alcius asked as he jogged behind the man.

The man waved a hand silently, his fingers spreading an indistinct yellow smoke in the air. The trails of smoke encircled both of their figures, seemingly shrouding their existence from the perceptions of the common men and low-level mages around them.

"First test," the man declared, pointing ahead at a couple of construction workers who were carrying a large bucket filled with metal cylinders, heading for the lift at the back of the hospital.

Just as the workers were about to walk past the boy in wheelchair, the plastic bucket suddenly cracked at the sides, dropping three cylinders head-first onto the concrete floor.

Bishop Alcius used a mental manipulation spell to speed up his brain activity, reflexes, and a a spell of the Natural class to improve his vision temporarily.

Time seemed to slow down for him as he analyzed each detail in the scene unfolding.

It was just like solving a 3-dimensional puzzle where one had to detect problematic details and find a solution to counter the problem.

The first issue was the fact that the cylinders were falling head-first, posing a risk for the valves which could be opened with blunt force.

"Those three cylinders carry volatile chemicals. Once a valve gets loose, an explosive fire might spread fast."

It wasn't a voice that communicated the knowledge, but a sudden insertion of thoughts created by a foreign mind. Bishop Alcius' gaze flickered towards his superior for a moment before returning to the dangerous scene ahead.

"If his deity has dominion over Cause and Effect type magic, he might be able to discover the threat a moment prior to the disaster. If the deity has an affinity to Visionary class magic, he might have had the chance to predict this situation already. He would be on his toes looking out for remote sources of danger around him.

If he has been blessed with an affinity for spatial magic, he may possibly escape the splash zone of the explosion. And of course, if he has an affinity for elements, he can perhaps stop the chemical from reacting to the air at all.

It all depends on how much the deity values His first devotee, how special this unknown deity is, and whether there are any special features to his Progression system that we don't know of yet. I refuse to believe that the deity wouldn't provide his first devotee with adequate protection against such threats."