Chapter 395

"So you guys don't study it after all..."

The Magician nodded thoughtfully, then couldn't help but reveal a sighing expression on his face,

"Indeed, it seems the educational philosophy of this era is still a bit too backward."

It was unclear whether he was moved or sighing, as if he genuinely felt sorrow for this era's educational system.

"What does this have to do with educational philosophy?"

The black-haired pigtails girl took a deep breath and spoke with clear dissatisfaction, brows tightly knit: "Bottom line, that stuff doesn't look like something high school students should be learning no matter how you look at it!"

"Can't say for sure, Rin, don't be so definitive..."

Xia Zhi blinked, the corner of his mouth hooking into an inscrutable smile: "Maybe it's actually knowledge for middle school students?"

His words carried a hint of jest, causing Rin to blank for a moment.

"How could that be?!"

However the black-haired pigtails girl only dazed briefly, then quickly reacted, decisively refusing to believe such a thing.

Just looking at the other party's subtle demeanor, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck in her mind.

"W-wait! You don't mean... it's not about our current world, right?"

She seemed to remember...

Existences that become Heroic Spirits will be freed from the shackles of time, moving to the Throne of Heroes located on the outside of the World.

As existences separated from the time axis, they will be summoned in all eras, whether past or future.

If that's the case...

The other party might be hinting at the trends of future eras?

Following the Magician's gaze, Rin looked to the other side, at that single-eyed fair-skinned girl sitting quietly.

"Academy City's situation is indeed different; from an objective angle, it also counts as a special existence."

Othinus lifted her teacup, took a light sip, and spoke in that same flat tone—

"Although they incorporate related theoretical courses into daily teaching starting from middle school..."

"Academy City?"

"A city with educational and research institutions at its core, population exceeding two million, eighty percent of whom are students. In a certain sense, it's more like a urbanized super-academy..."

Othinus stated flatly, her voice carrying an unhurried composure.

"After all, that's a place flying the banner of science, dedicated to developing esper abilities; its related teaching and research more or less all involve theories like the Uncertainty Principle..."

"..."

"..."

Rin pulled at the corner of her mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

There actually is such a thing...

But come to think of it, has the future already gone crazy to this incomprehensible extent?

The Science Side rising strongly?

To the point of establishing a super-academy city with over two million population, and openly providing esper development education?

—Because she subconsciously felt it was talking about a sci-fi development belonging to a future era, Miss Tohsaka naturally produced this misunderstanding.

She seriously thought deeply for a bit, her brows gradually relaxing, those bright eyes suddenly flashing with a trace of realization, then as if understanding something: "I understand..."

"No wonder you previously insisted I follow the principle of not distinguishing between magecraft and science, to construct the organizational prototype of the Magic Bank..."

"It should be because of this, right? This is the trend of the future era; if magecraft wants to continue developing, integration with modern science is inevitable..."

—That's right!

—Exactly like this!

The girl felt she had understood this fellow's implied meaning, combined with what she'd been busy with during this time, instantly getting a sense of sudden realization (brain supplement).

"Right, right..."

Xia Zhi tilted his head, but quickly chimed in agreement, simultaneously continuing with a serious face: "Rin, you thought well, that's exactly what I mean."

Although there was indeed a bit of joking around.

But strictly speaking, Miss Tohsaka's brain supplement isn't exactly wrong either; he really does have this thought.

Mainly to make the Magic Bank more formal, preparing to imitate the "Human Order Preservation Organization Phineas Chaldea's" structural logic for construction.

After all, say what you will, Chaldea's organizational structure is actually truly worth referencing, with quite a few commendable points.

In this world where the full picture cannot be glimpsed by magecraft alone, nor the whole situation measured by science alone, it quite cleverly combined the two.

Both advanced, and firmly giving itself an advantage.

Otherwise, there'd be no way to survive so many difficult trials, and even in the worst circumstances always have a way to maintain operations.

And the Magic Bank, as Xia Zhi's backed and controlled holding, soon-to-be-listed institution...

It's almost foreseeable that it will, in the not-too-distant future, become the Mystery Side's greatest power and order maintainer in this world—

The Clock Tower and such...

Still clutching that pile of ancient rubble and refusing to let go, it's time to kick them off history's stage.

So, since it's his industry... cough cough, since it's the Tohsaka Family's industry, naturally it must keep up with the times.

After all, this is, in a certain sense—"Demon King Castle"—or a variant.

To guard against possible or inevitable challenges, to deal with those troublesome fellows who pull dirty tricks when they can't win fair and square, he of course has the necessity to raise the challenge level.

"As expected, it's like this..."

Miss Tohsaka nodded forcefully, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

"Actually I more or less thought of it too; if we're to use the recent Computer Magecraft as a medium to conduct business, modern science is actually unavoidable no matter what."

"Recently heard the Association side not only standardized the production and usage regulations for 'CodeCast' Mystic Codes, but even started researching Event Recording Computers..."

She spoke with no small amount of emotion.

The theory of the "Event Recording Computer Mage" had actually been proposed within the Association long ago, but it was ultimately never a mainstream Magic Theory.

Moreover, after consuming vast amounts of funding and resources, the related research still ended in failure and was shut down half a century ago.

"Perhaps there might be a chance to develop it successfully in another parallel world"...

The person involved, in their disappointment, supposedly said something like that...

"Then let's hope they succeed. Given the current momentum of development, I feel there's still a pretty good chance..."

Xia Zhi laughed it off, casually expressing his blessing.

Will it succeed?

Of course it will. Right now, nanomachines have comprehensively replaced the computers and networks on this planet, becoming the underlying basic architecture.

While concealing itself, it will fully provide humanity with the space for technological development in this regard.

Even...

Even if humanity itself cannot achieve a breakthrough, it can automatically push out update packages every so often, ensuring technological development does not stagnate.

This is so humanistic!

In accordance with the Mors Command requirements issued by Xia Zhi, it will advance computer performance to the universal standard of 2050 before the year 2008.

Benefiting the masses while also making it convenient for the Magecraft world to magically modify it...

Most importantly, the more widespread and prosperous this technology becomes, the more favorable the final market formed will be for him.

"Hope so." The black-haired Pigtails girl pursed her lips, her heart a mix of a hundred feelings, seemingly associating many things because of this topic.

Although she wasn't the type of Witch who particularly conformed to the standard model, lacking the Magician's coldness, obsession, and inhumanity.

But in the end, she was still an insider of the industry.

Therefore, regarding the bleak prospects of Magecraft, she felt more or less a bit lost... even though this seemed to have always been a fact placed before all who set foot on the path of magic.

However, when it was presented intuitively before her eyes, it was still a little hard to bear.

—Will Magecraft end?

—Will Magicians accept their own end?

The answer seems quite obvious, right? The planet changes its physical laws based on the life active on its surface, so Mystery has always been in decline.

And regardless of whether Magicians can accept it, it doesn't affect the outcome.

Lifeforms bound by the planet's Mystery, rather than possessing higher Mystery themselves, find it difficult to oppose the great trend of world change.

Therefore—

The Age of Gods ended...

The Dragon that failed to return to the Star died beneath the Clock Tower...

Past magics fell to the rank of Magecraft with the advancement of technology...

—These all seem to be unstoppable trends.

"Hah..."

Miss Tohsaka let out a long breath, suddenly feeling her emotions grow heavy.

It was probably like having enrolled in a major, studying diligently for over a decade, and just as graduation approached...

Suddenly being told the major has no future, and you're likely the final graduating class...

Naturally, the whole person doesn't feel too good.

"That, I'll go upstairs first, you guys chat slowly—" Feeling she needed to sort out her emotions, Miss Tohsaka turned around and spoke in a deep tone.

"Mhm mhm, then take it slow on the stairs, I'll call you when the meal's ready..."

Xia Zhi waved his hand very calmly.

Just like that, Miss Tohsaka walked up the stairs step by step with heavy footsteps, immersed in worry for the future.

But right at this moment.

The sound of a door opening also came from the entrance outside.

Miss Filia's voice, not the least bit polite, even sounding somewhat close and familiar due to their time together, rang out—

"Everyone, I'm back!"

"..."

"..."

Wait, that's not right!

Footsteps halted on the stairs; after a good while, Rin abruptly reacted.

"Mm, wait, I clearly wasn't looking for him to talk about this just now..."

——————

——————

The other side.

Earth at a certain time point, a desolate Steel Land.

This once vibrant planet has now met the fate of being whipped even in death. On the massive iron-gray planet, huge cracks faintly appeared, like scars of the earth's sorrow.

The longest crack nearly traversed the entire planet; the distance between its start and end points almost connected head to tail, splitting the land apart like a chasm.

A huge rift valley spread out, at its widest cracking open nearly a thousand kilometers, like a wound of the earth.

A bottomless abyss seemed to have swallowed everything; land, water bodies, atmosphere all flowed down from here, disappearing without a trace.

However, among these countless rift valleys, many iron chains appeared. They were like the earth's bonds, spanning the chasm, connecting the two sides, nailed firmly into the ground.

The iron chains themselves were stretched taut, like an emergency large-scale engineering project, struggling to mend the planet that was about to split apart.

These iron chains appeared exceptionally conspicuous; they were like the earth's final struggle, trying to salvage this world on the verge of collapse.

And amidst the elegy of this dying planet……

Somewhere, an emergency meeting was being convened——

"I know you're all dissatisfied with me, but I'm not here to discuss that right now……"

The vigorous old Magic Marshal walked to the podium, facing the various complex gazes cast from the audience by the Arihyaku-shu, and spoke in a decisive tone.

"Thanks to your support and restraint——of course, and sacrifice——we've temporarily held back that monster's offensive……"

"I've also finally gotten the opportunity to properly observe…… Now, I've found a parallel world where that Existence ORT exists, yet hasn't been ravaged."

(Chapter End)