“So, what do you plan to do with that book?”
In response to my question, Encia gave a sly smile and headed over to the nearby desk.
A desk steeped in considerable time. Ink had seeped into it, creating stains all over, and it bore numerous scratches from sharp pen tips.
Encia sat on the desk where she had completed her book.
“Back in the day, they say people would fabricate rumors to create gods that didn’t even exist, right?”
“That was ages ago. Nowadays, it’s impossible.”
With news spreading so rapidly these days, while not entirely impossible, such a feat would certainly be difficult.
But why bring this up now?
“If we can’t use rumors, then we could use other media, right?”
“Other media?”
“Yeah. Other media.”
Encia reached out to the inkwell on the desk and picked up an old quill pen.
An inkwell steeped in considerable time as well.
“Humans, once they trust something, become quite blind to it.”
Then Encia grabbed a stack of paper nearby and spread a few sheets on the desk. The content written on the paper was from the Basic Theory of Magic by Cientia that she had authored.
“Once someone believes, unless there’s some major event to shake that belief, they tend to continue believing. You could call it a kind of sustainability.”
Encia dipped the quill pen into the nearby inkwell and began writing something on the spread-out paper.
The content added a minor process to the method of detecting and gathering magical power.
“If we create a god related to magic and add prayers to that god, wouldn’t those who read this book and follow its instructions naturally end up praying to that god?”
That… is true…
“Isn’t that fraud?”
“It’s not fraud if no one finds out. Besides, the target of those prayers actually exists proudly, doesn’t it?”
Then she pointed at herself.
“The God of Magic, Cientia. The deity who systematized and organized magic, which was used instinctively without any knowledge of theory, and shared its power with many people. We could say it’s the deification of Tia and my joint work.”
“Joint work… hmm, technically, that’s correct…”
“If this god, created by combining the names of Tia and me, were to receive prayers and faith, who would ultimately receive them?”
Hmm… If the prayers have no destination, a non-existent god might be created. But in this case, wouldn’t the closest entity to that god receive the prayers and faith? If there are two such entities – me and Encia…
“In such a case, wouldn’t the faith be split fifty-fifty?”
“Fifty-fifty means there would still be faith directed towards me, right?”
“Perhaps.”
Encia flashed a confident smile.
“Good. That means there will be faith directed towards me. Through that faith, I can ascend to godhood.”
“If the amount of faith is enough to make you a god…”
“A little bit is fine. I’m not aiming for overwhelming faith. Just enough to ascend should suffice.”
With that, Encia continued writing.
“There are already a fair number of copies of the previously published Basic Theory of Magic by Cientia in circulation, but if we publish a revised edition with modified and improved content, others will accept it anew!”
“Revised edition… how many people would buy a revised edition with almost identical content?”
“Mages are quite wealthy folks. They can easily afford a single book.”
At Encia’s words, I nodded slightly. Definitely.
Mages were ones who earned a lot of money, so buying one book wouldn’t be much trouble.
“And if the additional content in the revised edition offers even a slight benefit… or even just the possibility of benefit, these people won’t hesitate to buy the revised edition.”
Encia dipped the tip of her quill back into the inkwell and smiled faintly.
—
The girl with glasses giggled as she watched a small flame rise in her palm.
“Hehehe… it’s magic! Magic! Memorizing spells is tedious, but succeeding in learning magic… it’s still hard to believe.”
“Stop grinning. By the way, since you don’t need this book anymore, I’ll return it.”
The sleepy-eyed girl closed the Basic Theory of Magic by Cientia.
It was an old book, with pages that seemed ready to fall apart at any moment, yet her handling of it was as delicate as if she were touching smoke.
“But why does such a worn-out book exist in the Magic Academy? The other books aren’t this old.”
“Hmm… well, it’s natural for the Basic Theory of Magic by Cientia to be in the academy, but the reason there’s such an old first edition… Hmm. I don’t know.”
“First edition too?”
“Yeah. First edition. The editions of the Basic Theory of Magic by Cientia are divided into two main types: this first edition and the revised edition with some content modifications.”
“If the content has been modified, isn’t the revised edition better?”
The sleepy-eyed girl shook her head slightly.
“The content itself is the same. The process of learning magic is identical. The difference is… the revised edition includes prayers to the God of Magic.”
“God of Magic?”
The girl with glasses’ eyes sparkled instantly. A god of magic?! Such an existence existed?!
“Was there really such a god? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Not exactly a widely known god. Even mages who could be considered believers only perform simple prayers during meditation.”
“But, it’s the God of Magic, right? So, isn’t that an incredible god?”
The sleepy-eyed girl looked at the girl with glasses for a moment before shaking her head slightly.
“It is an incredible god, but if you believe in it, it would cause me trouble. So, don’t worship it separately. Anyway, believing in it won’t change much.”
“Trouble?”
“Yes. It’s because of this problem that I deliberately found and made you study this old first edition.”
“Why go through all this trouble to study an old book?”
The sleepy-eyed girl sighed lightly and said,
“Because it might lead to me leaving the academy.”
—
And thus, the revised edition of the Basic Theory of Magic by Cientia was published.
“I want the revised edition of the Basic Theory of Magic by Cientia!!!”
“The book by the weather mage Encia! This cannot be ignored!!!”
“Three copies please! For collection, appreciation, and proselytizing!!!”
“Thanks to this book, I became a mage! Thank you!!!”
“This works.”
It sold like wildfire.
Though, I didn’t expect it to sell this well.
“With the original Basic Theory of Magic being in short supply, leading to people either unable to purchase it or buying illegal copies, releasing a new edition with updated content naturally results in good sales, right?”
“That makes sense.”
When there’s a shortage, releasing additional quantities naturally leads to good sales.
“I’d like to recall the first edition, but that seems difficult. From now on, I’ll release the revised edition.”
“How are you making these books anyway? Printing technology hasn’t developed properly yet, right?”
“Printing technology? I don’t know much about it… I hire scribes to write them manually.”
Manually writing them… this is quite astonishing! Of course, proper printing technology probably doesn’t exist yet!
Hmm… I should probably introduce printing technology at an appropriate time. Ah, first, I need to improve paper-making techniques, right? We can’t keep using papyrus forever.
Though it’s a bit sorry for the lizardmen, relying solely on papyrus is problematic!
I’ll teach them paper-making or woodblock printing at an opportune time…
The best option is for them to invent it themselves, but I don’t know when that might happen.
Or… maybe I should use magic? Like creating pens that automatically write inputted content through telekinesis-like magic?
Or bundling multiple pens together to move identically and write dozens of pages simultaneously?
Rather than developing printing technology immediately, this sounds more fun. Hmm…
Though it wouldn’t be widespread since it’s magic-based technology, it still sounds interesting!
While I was lost in these whimsical thoughts, Encia smiled contentedly and said,
“Anyway, if it continues selling smoothly like this, eventually I’ll gather faith directed towards me, allowing me to obtain divinity… Then becoming a god shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Yeah. Since it’s not using wish tickets or anything, but rather properly accumulating faith to become a god.”
“Great! Let’s keep going this way! Yes! Saved the wish ticket! Looks like I can properly become a god!”
“What kind of wish were you planning to make with the wish ticket?”
“Wish? That’s… a secret.”
Encia playfully smiled, raising her index finger to block her lips. What kind of wish is she thinking of that she calls it a secret?
I don’t know exactly, but I hope it’s not a problematic wish.
