[Translator - Night]

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Chapter 360: The Weight of the Soul (1)

When science advances, new professions are bound to emerge.

A prime example would be how the rise of magi-engineering gave birth to engineers and researchers who handle it.

Conversely, there are also professions that disappear.

‘Like the shamans of old.’

Shamans—tribal sorcerers who claimed they could handle and even communicate with souls.

Unfortunately, it has been quite some time since that peculiar profession vanished into the annals of history.

Thus, until recently, the only ones who dealt with souls were the mages of the Black Tower…

-What? You don’t like something about your soul, so you want me to neatly cut out just that part?

“Yeah. Can’t you?”

-…Do you think a soul is like fingernails or toenails? And as you know, handling souls has been prohibited.

“What if I brought authorization from the Imperial Court?”

-Even then, it would be difficult. In the first place, the souls handled by the Black Tower are nothing more than a kind of material. There has never even been a school of study that delves deeply into the soul itself.

Kiri Gloria, whom he had contacted for the first time in a while since Null City, refused firmly.

After ending the communication, Oscar let out a faint sigh and sank limply into the sofa.

‘Well, dealing with souls was never going to be easy.’

To begin with, he wasn’t even sure whether something like a soul truly existed.

What if it was just an imaginary concept created by humans—and nothing like that actually existed?

After being lost in idle thoughts for quite some time, Oscar got up from his seat.

‘There might be something useful among the dragons’ records.’

Entering his subspace, Oscar walked around with his hands clasped behind his back.

Most of the inscribed characters scattered throughout were still black.

If he had to put it into numbers, only about 8% of all inscriptions had been completed and turned into golden letters.

“…When am I supposed to go through all of this?”

Oscar sighed as he gazed at the endless sea of text.

Then suddenly, on a whim, he opened his mouth.

It reminded him of how Edna had manipulated that vast amount of information using only her voice back on the moon.

“Search all records containing the keyword ‘soul.’”

The moment the words left his mouth, the entire space shifted as if being reorganized, and the letters began to move.

‘So this works.’

With a surprised expression, Oscar looked at the records gathering in front of him.

Quite a number of records surfaced, but unfortunately, all of them were still uninscribed.

No matter how much he touched the blackened text, he couldn’t access it.

With lingering disappointment, he tried searching using the keyword ‘demons’ this time.

“Hmm?”

Only a few records floated to the front.

Well, the dragons had left this star as soon as the war began.

These records were probably all written by Edna.

Leaving the subspace, Oscar headed straight to Edna’s room.

“Mmgh! Mmph!”

Seiro, whose limbs were bound, shouted something upon seeing him, but with a gag stuffed in his mouth, it was impossible to understand what he was saying.

“I didn’t know you had such tastes…”

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

Edna, who had been calmly reading a book, replied.

“He kept making noise, so I simply gagged him.”

“Why?”

“When I told him that ownership of all the records had been transferred to Oscar, he caused quite a scene.”

“Ah, I see.”

From a dragon’s perspective, that was only natural.

Those records were treasures of their kind.

“Anyway, what brings you here?”

“Oh, I had something to ask. Do you happen to know of any groups or beings that deal with souls?”

“Souls? Have you suddenly developed an interest in that field?”

“Well, yeah.”

Not thinking much of it, she pondered for a moment before speaking.

“In the past, there were many shamans in this land, but their lineage has since been cut off, making them difficult to find now. At the very least, I believe there is an old sect in the Yan Kingdom called the Spirit Gate.”

Spirit Gate.

Committing the name to memory, Oscar asked again.

“There’s nothing like that in the Empire? If not, I might have to go all the way to the Yan Kingdom, but since I don’t speak the language, I’d prefer to handle it nearby if possible.”

“Hmm, ever since dealing with souls was prohibited…”

After thinking for a moment, she spoke.

“Ah, one place does come to mind.”

“There is?”

“Yes, just a moment.”

She stood up and approached the bookshelf.

Instead of books, it was filled with what seemed to be thousands of newspapers arranged by date.

“I’m sure… it was around here.”

Pulling out a newspaper, she skimmed through the back pages and nodded.

“This is it. Please take a look at the article in the bottom right.”

“What is it?”

Receiving the newspaper, Oscar read the small article printed in the corner.

<Future Soul Research Institute, Recruiting New Applicants!>

-Our institute is an officially recognized organization authorized by the Imperial Court, conducting research aimed at advancing next-generation magic-power and mental integration technology. We are recruiting applicants for in-depth research on the soul.

■ Qualifications

▪ Physically and mentally healthy men and women

▪ Those possessing magical power preferred

■ Experimental Compensation

▪ High rewards based on participation frequency

▪ Guaranteed care by Imperial-certified healers

“Future Soul Research Institute?”

The name reeked strongly of a scam.

But since it was said to be authorized by the Imperial Court, it must be a legitimate institution.

Unless someone had bullets lodged neatly into both hemispheres of their brain, they wouldn’t lie about something like that.

“What kind of place is it?”

“I only know of it through the newspaper myself. However, if it’s an officially recognized institution authorized by the Imperial Court, wouldn’t it be trustworthy?”

“…That’s true enough. I’ll go check it out first. I need to find out where it is.”

“I hope you achieve good results.”

Returning to his room, Oscar searched for information about the Future Soul Research Institute.

However, there was no information about it in any books.

“Could this be a secret institution?”

It wasn’t unheard of for the Empire’s secret organizations to recruit applicants in this manner.

After a brief moment of consideration, Oscar directly contacted the Emperor.

-Oscar, is something the matter?

“Greetings, Your Majesty. Have you had your meal?”

-I have, so get to the point.

“Yes. Do you happen to know of the Future Soul Research Institute? It is said to be an officially recognized institution authorized by the Imperial Court.”

-Hmm? Ah, yes. That must be the public-facing name of the 13th Research Institute.

The 13th Research Institute.

If the Emperor remembered it, then at the very least, it wasn’t a group of fraudsters.

“What exactly does it do?”

-I believe it analyzes and researches souls using magi-engineering. Why do you ask?

“I was curious since there was no information about it. I’ve recently developed a strong interest in souls.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

-Souls, you say… Has something happened to your body?

There was no way he could say that it felt like there was a demon inside his soul.

Especially not to the Emperor.

“I’m in perfect health, to the point that it’s a problem. In any case, thank you for informing me. And…”

He hesitated briefly, wondering whether he should offer even a small word of comfort regarding the Master of the Yellow Tower.

-We’ll end it here. I must attend to state affairs.

“Ah, yes. Please take care.”

The Emperor unilaterally cut off the communication.

He had likely seen through Oscar’s hesitation during that brief silence.

And it probably also meant he didn’t want to hear any words of comfort regarding the Yellow Tower Master.

‘Lonely. The seat above all others.’

A position where even a simple word of comfort was hard to come by.

Shrugging his shoulders, Oscar submitted an application to the research institute.

The acceptance letter arrived three days later.

* * *

‘Is it this way?’

The institute was located in a small city in the northeast.

As he arrived at the appointed place, a man soon approached him.

“Are you… Mr. Oscar Crucian?”

“That’s correct. Are you from the institute?”

“Yes, a pleasure to meet you.”

Dressed in a neat suit, the man smiled.

“I was quite surprised. To think that one of the most renowned figures in the magical academic world would apply as a participant.”

“I’ve recently become very curious about souls.”

“That’s wonderful. The more you learn about souls, the more there is to learn. Ah.”

He extended his hand for a handshake.

“My introduction is late. I am Chan, head of security at the 13th—no, the Future Soul Research Institute.”

“Oscar Crucian.”

A solid strength could be felt from the hand he clasped.

‘A martial artist… level 7?’

For something like the 13th Research Institute, it would be relatively low in priority among secret organizations.

And yet, the head of its security team was level 7.

As expected of the Imperial Court.

“This way, please.”

After getting into the back seat of the car he opened, Chan sat in the passenger seat and spoke.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the driver set off smoothly, Oscar asked,

“Am I the only applicant?”

“No. You were specially invited, while the other applicants will be arriving.”

In other words, special treatment.

“If you wish, we can give you a tour of the institute before the experiment.”

“Oh, I’d appreciate that.”

Oscar responded with interest piqued.

If he toured the institute, he would be able to gauge their level in handling souls.

The car soon left the city and entered a remote mountainous area.

The institute, located halfway up the mountain, consisted of several massive connected buildings.

“It must have cost quite a bit to build structures of this scale in a place like this.”

“Haha, I’ve heard it was cleared during the war to be used as a military outpost. Of course, the buildings were constructed afterward.”

After passing easily through the gate, the car came to a stop in front of a building.

Following Chan after getting out, he opened the door with the card key hanging around his neck. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Please, come in.”

Stepping inside, a pristine white interior unfolded before them.

It was so clean it felt as though he had entered his own subspace.

“Ah, is this him?”

As Oscar stood idly in the corridor, a researcher approached.

Chan nodded.

“I’ll be giving him a tour of the institute.”

“Oh, in that case, I’ll guide you.”

Naturally, the researcher took the lead, with Chan and Oscar following behind.

Oscar looked at the glass tubes installed throughout the institute and asked,

“What goes in there?”

“Haha, it’s not something that goes in—it’s already inside.”

The researcher chuckled as if amused and moved toward one of the glass tubes.

Each tube had a magi-engineering device attached, displaying weight.

“24 grams—that’s quite a healthy state. It seems to be adapting well.”

“……”

This isn’t a den of lunatics, right?

Oscar briefly debated whether he should run, as he watched the researcher gaze lovingly at the empty glass tube.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the interior of the tube, the researcher asked,

“By any chance, do you know how much a soul weighs, Mr. Oscar?”

“…The weight of a soul? I’m not sure.”

This wasn’t a fish market—he had never once thought of measuring something like that.

To begin with, did a soul even have weight?

“Even a first-rate mage doesn’t know this, it seems. The very first study conducted in our lab was measuring the weight of the soul.”

“That’s possible?”

“Yes. We brought in individuals suffering from incurable diseases or those at the brink of death due to old age, treated them with the utmost care, and conducted our research. A total of 507 cases. The method was to determine whether there was a difference between their body weight before and after death.”

It was quite an intriguing idea and approach.

Curiosity piqued, Oscar asked,

“And the result?”

“21.3 grams. That was the average weight of the soul we measured. Even more astonishing was that the higher the individual’s level, the heavier their soul. A level 6 knight’s soul weighed as much as 32 grams.”

To be honest, it was quite an interesting study.

Of course, thinking about how his considerable taxes were being used in a place like this did sting a little.

“Then the number ‘24g’ written in front of this glass tube—”

“That is the weight of the soul currently inside. A well-developed soul can reach up to 41 grams.”

“……”

Since he was speaking so seriously, there wasn’t much Oscar could say.

He quickly changed the subject.

“Then what kind of experiment will we be conducting this time? Putting souls on a diet?”

“No, this one is a bit more daring.”

The researcher turned his head and smiled.

“It’s a soul coexistence experiment.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]