I Made a Game Featuring Constellations - Chapter 16



The Mage Engineer Who Cast Off Anger

“Play something called an ostinato.”

The conductor of the royal orchestra, hastily summoned by the crown prince, was bewildered by his abrupt command.

“Ostinato… you say?”

“Yes. An ostinato that holds the essence of eternal love.”

The conductor wondered if the crown prince had suddenly lost his mind, but he couldn’t voice such thoughts.

“Forgive me, Your Highness. An ostinato is a musical technique that involves the continuous repetition of the same melody. If Your Highness has a specific melody in mind, we can perform it using an ostinato.”

“…Are you saying there is no predetermined melody?”

“That is correct, Your Highness.”

*Sigh.*

The conductor sighed inwardly.

He had thought that being summoned by the crown prince, the core of power, would be an opportunity to increase support for the orchestra, so he had hurriedly packed up the instruments and rushed over. But now, what was this talk of an ostinato?

‘Is it the same as always?’

To the high-ranking individuals, music was nothing more than a pastime to appear cultured.

Especially in these times, as magical engineering advanced and new media emerged, the standing of traditional music continued to diminish.

It was at the moment when he was about to be disappointed, thinking that this time too, it would be the same, and that he had harbored vain expectations.

“Then teach me.”

“…Pardon?”

The conductor doubted his ears.

“I said, teach me music. So that I can play the ostinato. Don’t worry. In return, I promise full support for the orchestra.”

It was hard to believe.

It wasn’t unheard of for nobles to learn instruments, but it was usually just a hobby.

A member of the royal family, and the crown prince at that, personally seeking instruction and promising support.

But this was just the tip of the iceberg.

“Is this how you hold the violin?”

“Ostinato is difficult…”

“Shouldn’t I at least be able to play my own ostinato for the woman I love!”

From noble mtl dot com

A violin craze swept across the continent.

[…]

The wave was so immense that it reached the god of music.

* * *

“Would you dance with me, my lady?”

“Of course, Frog Prince.”

The ballroom was filled with numerous couples dancing together.

A familiar melody played repeatedly for them.

The men slicked back their hair and wore masks, while the women tied their hair like saints.

Inside the ballroom, they were Ian and Kate.

After the dance ended, the men carefully folded the candy wrappers given by the women and treasured them in their inner pockets.

This was happening all over the continent.

* * *

Divine Realm

Domain of Ren, the God of Sacrifice

The goddess Ren, having completed a round of training, sat cross-legged.

Having resumed her training to catch up on the long period of idleness, she was completely different from before.

Flash

Her closed eyes suddenly opened wide.

“Who is it!”

In her domain, where there should be no one else.

Ren grasped her sword and pointed in one direction.

“……”

Swish

Then, a man with a familiar appearance stepped out from behind a pillar.

A mercenary with a rough appearance and a bushy beard.

“As expected of the captain. I hid with all my might, but you found me. It seems you haven’t rusted yet.”

“Ha, Hans…? How, how did you…!”

Ren’s eyes trembled.

“Is it really… you…?”

Ren approached him with a trembling voice.

“Hahaha. Who else could it be but Hans, the right-hand man of the captain, the manliest of men?”

Even though Ren was pulling his cheeks and touching him here and there, the man laughed heartily.

“How, how…?”

Two streams of tears flowed from Ren’s eyes.

Squeeze

Ren spread his arms wide and hugged Hans.

“Hans!”

“Ugh! C-Captain! You can’t do this! I’ll be killed by the others!”

Hans blushed and pushed Ren away.

The captain, drenched in sweat right after training, had a pleasant scent, but this was not right.

If the others found out, he would surely be beaten to death.

Above all, the captain was the captain. A tree that could not and should not be climbed.

“What do you mean by that? Could it be…?”

“Yes. All the others have been resurrected too. With the vigorous bodies of gods, as constellations!”

* * *

Ian Carlyle’s Laboratory

Ian, the constellation [Magical Engineer], had created a new device to replace the one that had been destroyed before.

The Sacred Condensation Device, improved and enhanced from the previous materialization apparatus.

It was a device designed to gather and condense the perception and faith in his beloved, to materialize and achieve her resurrection.

Ziiik Ziiik

Ian organized the formulas until the giant blackboard was completely filled.

“Calculating the ratio of users who have cleared the story among the total number of users who have accessed the [Akashic Archive] and the ratio of those who have only accessed it through characters…”

After organizing the formulas for a long time and obtaining the result, Ian approached the device’s lever.

“Please.”

Having finished the maintenance of the device and checked it countless times, he placed his hand on the lever.

With his eyes tightly closed, Ian applied force to his hand.

Clack

Wooong

As the lever was pulled down, the device started operating.

A device that quickly gathers the divinity rampant in the divine realm.

Within it, a transcendent reaction occurred as magical engineering and divinity combined.

“!!”

Ian unconsciously clenched his hands tightly at the sight completely different from the previous devices.

The divine-magic reaction, which he had only recognized in theory and had not yet proven, appeared in reality.

At the moment when divinity and magic intersect,

They realize what was impossible with each power alone.

The existence of Saint Kate, known across the entire continent.

The moment the solidified concept gathered and condensed

Boom!

“Ugh!”

The device exploded, spewing thick smoke.

Ian raised his arm to shield himself from the impact.

As the smoke cleared, the sight he saw was…

“Why!”

A pile of shattered fragments of the device.

“Why did it fail again!”

He had verified it countless times.

At the moment when the new character was most strongly recognized by the entire continent.

If he missed this moment, it was inevitable that Kate’s presence would gradually fade from their minds, so there was no better time than today.

Therefore, he had to succeed today no matter what…

“Why did it fail again!”

Thud, thud, thud

Ian stomped on the fragments of the device.

The anger that filled his head clouded his reason.

[Destroy it]

[Crush it all]

[Destroy the world that doesn’t go your way]

If it were his usual self, he would have immediately gathered the fragments and thought of restoring and restarting the device before more time passed, but the current him couldn’t make such a judgment.

“Give me back my Kate!”

Just as he raised his foot again to crush the core of the device,

Pinch

A delicate hand appeared from somewhere and grabbed his cheek.

“Uh, uh?”

In that moment, the voice of anger that had completely filled and consumed Ian’s head disappeared.

His mind became instantly quiet.

“Our little frog. You’ve become quite angry, haven’t you?”

No, it can’t be.

The experiment must have failed.

Ian slowly turned his head.

At the end of his gaze, connected to the hand that held his cheek,

A woman in a priest’s robe was smiling and holding his cheek.

“Is this a new mischief pouch?”

She grabbed and fiddled with both of Ian’s cheeks.

The reaction of the sacred magic had clearly stopped.

Because it hadn’t surpassed the critical point, it was impossible for her to come back to life.

Therefore, she couldn’t be here.

It must be an illusion.

But why…….

“Ke, Kate…….”

Ian grabbed the woman’s wrists, who was holding his cheek.

Why do I feel pain in my cheek and warmth from her hands?

“What’s wrong, Ian?”

The woman tilted her head slightly with a mischievous smile.

“How, how are you here…?”

The woman pouted and twitched her lips.

“What? Is that the first thing you say when we meet?”

[A mage engineer filled with rage sheds tears.]

No.

It can’t be.

I wished countless times.

I imagined countless times.

A world where I could face her again… where I could see her.

Ian hugged the woman tightly.

“……Oh my.”

He ran towards that one dream.

“I missed you…… Kate.”

Finally, the dream came true.

The belief stemming from the false dream of virtual reality led the vain desire into reality.

[The magitech engineer, shedding his anger, smiles brightly.]

As he cast off the dream of reality that had been consuming him.