112. Great Library / Upgrade

Shiro and the others decided to search the Poincaré Great Library—the largest magic academy library—for records of past monster outbreaks.

Located in Cambria, the capital of Oxtonia, the Poincaré Great Library was famous across the world. Rumors said it housed every book ever written.

Given that the magic academy operated as a nation, it put great effort into managing research materials and results. It was like the famed Admound Abbey Library in Austria, except with several times the collection and scale.

"Shiro, take a look at this," Shestia said, holding up a book.

"Hm? What's this? Records of monster outbreaks?"

The book contained exactly that—records of past massive monster outbreaks. Shiro and the others picked out the ones they thought were large-scale.

— Sacred Era 920, Sacred Era 950, Sacred Era 980

— Sacred Era 1021: Global Collapse Crisis (II) due to monster overflow (medium scale)

— Sacred Era 1190, Sacred Era 1230, Sacred Era 1270, Sacred Era 1302

The text noted, as a hypothesis, that outbreaks occurred roughly every 30 to 40 years—but the cause remained unknown.

"30 to 40 year cycle—what could be causing that?" Shestia mused.

"Nothing specific about aggressive behavior or related records," Shiro thought. "Either they didn't happen, or no one noticed. Hard to say."

"We’ll need to check if any other phenomena follow a similar pattern," Mitoka said.

"Senior, I found something!" Kotone held up a book. "Doesn't this drawing look like your magic circle?"

"Um, thoughts on the Dragon Vein?" Shiro said, checking the contents.

The cover bears a figure composed of a pentagon and a circle intertwined.

According to the book, the world’s dragon veins flow in circular and radiating patterns, like rivers, centered around the Spirit Hills. The currents themselves lie beneath the surface. Major cities are built atop their intersections—where mana extraction is easier, and where mana-to-energy conversion powers the city’s protective barrier, as noted in the text.

Ah, I see. I’d been wondering how the city’s ward was maintained, but it makes sense—the place was originally a mana emission site. They installed something like that device, and only afterward did the town build up around it.

And Shiro thought.

"Shiro, there's a dragon sighting record—please take a look at the sketch," Mitoka said, her voice serious.

“Hmm, feels like I’m heading toward each town… or maybe just wandering aimlessly? Can’t tell. No, wait—this dragon vein pattern… I’ve seen it before…” Shiro muttered to himself, suddenly struck by a familiar sensation.

“Shiro, this—looks like the mushroom dispersion pattern we saw from above in the capital, and it’s similar to the Miasma pattern,” Shestia said.

Ah, that’s it! Felt like I was being pulled in by a magnet, but this must mean it’s following the dragon vein—⁉

"So if we use this map of the dragon vein, we can figure out the distribution of those mushrooms? Then we might be able to issue warnings more easily."

"Yeah, maybe we should just have the Guild collect reports of mushroom sightings and plot their locations instead."

Yeah. Next time, I’ll get the info gathered by the Guild—just the reports we’ve collected so far.

Shiro thought he’d picked up a few clues, so continuing the research at the library seemed like a good idea.

◇

“Shiro, the magic spirit upgrade is ready,” Mitoka came to his room at night. Kotone and Shestia were with her, somehow.

“…Ah, you all together? Well, okay, I guess.”

“Senpai, what are you saying? I can’t be alone with Mitoka-san,” Kotone said, glaring at Shiro.

“I’m the bodyguard,” Shestia said flatly.

“…Ah, right. Well, okay then. So, Mitoka, how’s the upgrade work?”

“Simple. Lie down on the bed. I’ll run the upgrade process. It’ll take about ten minutes. After installation, I’ll reboot you—feeling refreshed, I promise,” Mitoka said, dead serious.

“…Am I some kind of computer? Wait—how much of that’s real, and how much is a joke?”

Shiro asked, genuinely confused by Mitoka’s tone.

“Fufufu. All true. You know, normally, upgrading a magic spirit isn’t possible? This is a trick only I, as the Spirit King, can pull off—and only because your soul’s linked to it as a skill. And yes, reboot means exactly that. I’ll temporarily sever the mental connection between your body and soul, upgrade the spirit, then reconnect the entity. That way, the spirit properly recognizes you. By the way, Shestia and Kotone are really bodyguards. If anything goes wrong during installation, neither I nor Shiro can react. Just to be safe.”

Mitoka said it all with an unusual seriousness.

“…Ah, got it. I’m counting on you all.”

With that, Shiro lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

"Then, I'll begin," Mitoka said, chanting. "Magic Spirit Update Process: Initialization."

Shiro's body glowed faintly, and he slipped into a state of sleep.

"Alright, Shestia—your earlier example, now's the time to check it out, isn't it?"

"Yeah, excuse me for a sec."

Shestia moved to Shiro's bedside, placed her hand on his forehead, and closed her eyes.

"Are you sure it's safe, like this?" Kotone asked, voice edged with worry.

"Kotone, don't worry. I'm Shiro's original AI, his skill, his spirit king. No issues. Just a little deception—within acceptable bounds, given the circumstances," Mitoka said, flashing a mischievous grin.

"...Huh, well, if Mitoka says so," Kotone sighed, resigned.

After a moment, Shestia opened her eyes.

"Yep. Connection path confirmed. Mitoka's guess was right. Now we're good to go anytime," she said, beaming at the two.

"Ugh... it feels weird to be happy about this, kind of embarrassing..." Kotone murmured, cheeks flushing slightly.

"Happy is fine. We're comrades," Shestia said.

"Indeed. Fated, perhaps," Mitoka added.

The three stood in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, gazing at Shiro as he slept.

"Then, I'll start upgrading the Magic Spirit. From here on, it's serious—so both of you, please act as bodyguards," Mitoka said.

"Got it." "Of course!" they replied in unison.

Mitoka closed her eyes. "Magic Spirit Update Process: Initiate."

Both she and Shiro glowed faintly, white and bright.

For about ten minutes, the light held. Then Mitoka opened her eyes again.

"Update complete. Now waking Shiro."

Mitoka spoke, leaning over Shiro’s pillow and gently shaking his shoulder. "You, it’s morning. Time to wake up," she whispered sweetly into his ear.

"Mm? Ah, Mitoka?" Shiro blinked groggily, murmuring, "Ah, I must’ve been dreaming…" and without sitting up, suddenly wrapped his arms around her.

"Wha—? What are you doing, senior?! What kind of dream was that?!" Kotone shouted.

"Mitoka, lucky break," Shestia said, unfazed.

"Huh? Wait… where am I? What was I even doing?" Shiro startled at Kotone’s voice, releasing Mitoka. He pushed himself up, looking around.

"Shiro, we just upgraded the spirit. Do you recognize us now?"

Mitoka blushed, asking him directly.

"...Ah, Mitoka. And Shestia, and Kotone. Ah, right—remember now... Sorry about that, Mitoka. So, the spirit upgrade?"

"Yes, complete. Everything went smoothly," Mitoka replied.

"Good. Thanks," Shiro said, bowing slightly to her.

"Alright then, let’s test it out. First, teleport from here to that corner," he said, walking to the far end of the room. He checked visual positioning, calculated relative coordinates, then verified the API call. "Ah, this one. Got it. [Teleport]," he said aloud.

In an instant, Shiro vanished—reappearing at the opposite corner of the room.

"Whoa, finally did it! Dream teleportation!" Shiro pumped his fist, beaming with joy.

"Shiro’s impressive," Shestia said, smiling.

"Big brother... you're surprisingly childish," Kotone thought, smiling faintly at Shiro’s exuberant joy, carefully hiding the warmth she felt deep down.

"Shiro, you can teleport using visual confirmation or scanning to verify location and ensure safety at the destination. For long distances, marking the spot with the map skill is the safest and most reliable method. Once you've been to a place before, you can confirm location and ensure safety using the map skill as an auxiliary," Mitoka explained.

"Ah, I see. There's a lot to test out."

Shiro couldn’t stop the excitement bubbling inside him.

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