Throughout the following day, Ansu and Celia attempted the process several more times.
《Hoffman's Alchemy Notes》 lay quietly in the center of the alchemy bench, but the same mana resonance never occurred again.
Celia adjusted the frequency of the mana output and made various other attempts, but the magic runes hidden within the pages remained dormant.
The two couldn't help but feel a sense of regret; Ansu really wanted to go back and watch it again, as the immersive experience within true history was indeed rare.
Celia closed the 《Hoffman's Alchemy Notes》 and shook her head with a smile. "Forget it. We've already memorized the core message that Master Hoffman wanted to convey anyway."
"True," Ansu nodded.
Today's gains far exceeded their expectations. Not only had the progress of their experiments moved forward, but they had also achieved a major breakthrough in the "truth of the gods" they had been pursuing for so long. Some of their previous assumptions were overturned, but many scattered clues were pieced together as a result.
"Gods were originally part of the world's rules, a kind of natural phenomenon," Celia murmured, repeating Hoffman's conclusion.
She turned to Ansu. "We mages... don't need any faith to gain power. Whether you believe in it or not, mana is there; it is one of the most fundamental parameters of this world."
Ansu felt this was very close to his previous guess. He had always harbored doubts about the God of Magic mentioned in the cult's teachings, and he strongly agreed with Hoffman's view—magic should not have a god.
"Because of the worship, awe, and even fear of mortals..." Celia continued to summarize, "these collective subconscious thoughts shaped it into a deity with a personality."
She paused, her voice lowering.
"But it is a very dangerous deity."
"So there was never a 'mad God of Magic' because he was insane and abnormal from the very beginning." Ansu's gaze was calm. "The God-Making Project pushed for the sake of war created something that absorbed too much negative consciousness..."
"A monster filled with chaos and clamor," Celia added slowly.
The God of Clamor and Filth.
The two looked at each other, both seeing concern in the other's eyes.
"This is just great. Not only do we have to watch out for the Goddess of Holy Light, but Hoffman also wants us to inherit the mission of killing the God of Magic..." Celia felt quite helpless. "Ansu, were the two of us born to be at odds with gods?"
Ansu couldn't help but laugh, offering playful comfort. "Actually, it doesn't matter anymore. To put it another way, we have so many debts now that we don't need to worry about them."
If this God of Clamor and Filth really would destroy the world, then it obviously had to be dealt with.
Add in the Goddess of Holy Light, the God of Slaughter, and the possibility of dealing with a corrupted God of Nature in the future... Thinking about it that way, the pressure actually didn't feel so great.
Ansu's optimism cleared the slight haze in Celia's eyes. She nodded, a smile slowly spreading across her face.
"So we have to work even harder. Only by becoming strong enough ourselves will we be qualified to survive this conspiracy and chess game of the gods, to live until the very end."
"In that case..." Ansu was suddenly full of energy. He turned toward the shimmering, semi-finished spell model on the alchemy bench. "Come on, Miss Witch, it's time to get back to work!"
"Mhm."
...
Just like that, Ansu and Celia remained in "seclusion" within the secret treasure vault for an entire week.
Time flew by amidst stacks of manuscripts, flickering runes, and endless deductions. Their research progress stumbled along, finally reaching the final stage.
However, their bodies were truly starting to give out.
For Ansu, the constant repetition of simulated deductions was practically mental torture. As for Celia... focusing her mental strength with high precision for long periods to construct complex structures was an immense drain in itself.
When both of their gazes began to grow vacant and their reactions slowed, Ansu finally forced the research to a halt.
Without taking no for an answer, he grabbed Celia's wrist and forced her down onto the large, soft velvet sofa. Celia eventually gave in, collapsing onto it with a helpless, weary groan.
"Fine, fine, I'll listen to you. I'll just rest..."
The two huddled together in exhaustion to rest.
After resting for a long time.
Celia squinted her eyes like a lazy cat, slowly glancing at the faint light emitted by the magitech communicator in Ansu's hand. She asked vaguely, "Who is it... Ansu, who are you contacting?"
"It's Vera." Ansu quickly finished replying to the last message and put the communicator away. "I told her we're still busy with important research and not to worry."
Vera had already asked him several times indirectly over the past few days. He figured she and Freya were getting a bit anxious after seeing him go "silent" for so many days.
"Oh..." Celia responded dismissively.
Her entire body was slumped against Ansu. Perhaps due to the fatigue from the high-intensity work, she suddenly felt famished.
Celia rubbed her stomach, her voice sounding a bit soft and sweet like a child's. "Ansu, I'm hungry..."
Ansu turned his head toward her. "I'll make you something to eat."
Celia suddenly seemed injected with a strange vitality. She lifted her head. "Wait, Ansu! Are you hungry? I'll make something for you to eat this time!"
"Sure, I am hungry..." Ansu instinctively agreed at first, but then he seemed to realize what was happening and his whole body jolted.
"Wait! What?"
He stared into the Miss Witch's eager eyes. "You... you're going to cook personally?"
"Yeah!" Celia was puzzled by Ansu's large reaction. "Ansu, why are you reacting like that... Is my cooking really that scary?"
Yes.
Her cheek moved closer, an expectant little expression on her face. "Ansu~ don't you want to taste the 'Heartfelt Dinner' I personally made for you?"
Not really...
But looking at her like this, Ansu couldn't bear to say it out loud, so he thought of a compromise.
"Well... I suppose it's fine, but this time, you must let me supervise from the side while you cook!"
After all, the trauma from the last time she cooked for him was still fresh in his mind. How could Ansu dare to let her mess around blindly...
"Okay!" Celia nodded, thinking that with Ansu's guidance, whatever she made would definitely not taste bad!
A while later, the two returned to the kitchen in the outer cave.
A soft magic glow fell upon various cooking utensils. Ansu stood to the side with his arms crossed, his gaze closely following Celia's movements.
Then he watched with his own eyes as she picked up the salt jar and began round after round of "saturated seasoning" on the pot of thick soup, acting as if the salt were free.
"Stop!" Ansu stopped her, speechless.
"Hmm?" Celia looked up, her long eyelashes blinking. "What's wrong?"
"Miss Witch..." Ansu looked at her suspiciously, finally asking the question that had troubled him for a long time. "Do you really have no sense of taste? Or is it just that your taste isn't very sensitive?"
Celia froze, then pursed her lips, silently staring at the bubbling foam in the pot.
"If it were before, I couldn't have said for sure... It was only after I met you that I slowly realized that it seems... I really am different from others."
She gave a soft, helpless sigh.
After all, before meeting Ansu, she had never shared food with anyone or seriously discussed gourmet food with anyone since she was a child.
After being brought back to the cult by Samantha, she lived alone most of the time. Thus, she truly lacked a normal taste reference frame.
Looking at Celia's silent form, Ansu felt a stir in his heart and suddenly started laughing.
"Well then, I already have a direction for our next major research project!"
"What research project?"
"Naturally, it's—Celia's Taste Recovery Plan!" Ansu said solemnly, as if announcing a major research proposal.
"According to authoritative scientific research, people who cannot taste the true flavor of food for long periods tend to become indifferent in character, and may even develop perverted tendencies in their hearts!"
Ansu cleared his throat. "To prevent the Miss Witch from becoming a world-destroying villain in the future, and to protect the world! I have a responsibility and an obligation to help you recover!"
Celia was amused by his deadpan nonsense, her eyes curving into crescents as a warmth rose in her heart. "Okay~ then I'll leave myself in Dr. Ansu's hands for treatment~"
"Good, good~" Ansu leaned in mischievously, making a gesture with his hands. "Come, let the doctor examine your body first!"
"No!" Celia used her hand to push against his chest in mock disgust, though a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "I'm still cooking! Doctor, please maintain a safe distance!"
Ansu put on a disappointed expression. "Is the patient not cooperating with the examination..."
"Hmph, cut it out!" Celia rolled her eyes hard, but the curve of her lips wouldn't go down.
In the kitchen, under the warm light, the soup pot bubbled away, and the aroma slowly began to spread.
For the first time in a week, the nerves that had been tightened by high-intensity research quietly relaxed amidst the rising steam of domestic life.
Rate on N.U.
