Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System

Chapter 382: Chapter 84: A Sense of Transcendent Solitude

「Two hours later.」

Faint ripples once again appeared inside the carriage.

The next moment, Eleanor’s figure reappeared silently in her original seat, as if she had never left.

She returned just as she had left.

Her dark green, cinched-waist dress was still tidy, and her black hair fell smoothly over her shoulders. Even the thick notebook on her lap remained closed, looking as if not even a single corner of a page had been turned.

Aurora was the first to speak, her voice soft. "You’re back? You didn’t run into any trouble, did you?"

Murphy also asked, "Are you all right?"

Hearing their voices, Eleanor slowly lifted her gaze.

She first looked at her mother and gently shook her head. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she only murmured, "No trouble, Mother."

Then, her gaze shifted to her father. Her usually tranquil eyes now clearly reflected a mixture of exhaustion, sorrow, and profound confusion.

"I..." Eleanor’s voice was softer than usual, with a hint of barely perceptible hoarseness.

She paused, her unfocused gaze falling to her clasped hands. "I... I used Magic to stabilize the boy’s injuries, intimidated a few scoundrels who wanted to take advantage of the chaos, and even... extinguished the great fire."

"After I was done, they knelt on the ground to thank me... but when I looked at them, their eyes were still empty. Even the children, who should be carefree, were numb and despairing, as if healing their injuries still didn’t give them a future..."

"Later, I took them to the Lord’s men. They promised to allocate some emergency grain from the Lord’s manor and reduce some of this year’s land rent to help rebuild the mill. Only after hearing this specific promise did the old woman who had been clutching a sack of scorched wheat—the injured boy’s older sister—finally show an expression that was halfway between tears and laughter."

"But Father, that Baron’s Domain is only the size of a thumbnail on the map, not even as large as a corner of the Temeris Duke Domain. In the Kingdom, on the Continent, it’s utterly insignificant. And yet, in such a tiny place, things like this are happening. If you look at the entire Kingdom, the whole Continent, how many mills are burning right now? How many children are going hungry?"

She looked up at Murphy again, her dark eyes swirling with unspeakable sorrow. "Father, what little I did... it was like dripping a few drops of water onto a parched, cracked field. They vanish in an instant, without leaving even a trace of moisture. It can’t change the fact that the field is cracked, much less the reality that there are no clouds in the sky."

Aurora reached out and gently placed her hand on the back of her daughter’s cold one.

Eleanor felt the warmth from her mother’s palm, but it brought her no comfort.

"Father... this world... can’t it... change, even a little?"

Murphy listened quietly to his daughter’s whisper, its edges choked with a sob, his gaze resting on Eleanor’s face, which was etched with confusion.

"For a seed to break through the soil, it needs the right earth, water, and light."

"Often, change requires more than just ’wanting’ and more than just ’doing.’ It requires countless ’wants’ and ’doings’ to converge at the right time and the right place, forming a force strong enough to dislodge the old inertia. It must withstand the pressure of breaking through the soil and resist the undertow when the tide recedes."

"What you did might not have immediately changed the state of that cracked field. But at the very least, the boy’s pain was eased, a few families don’t have to worry about being robbed tonight, and that small town received a promise for the future."

"These things are, in themselves, a part of that ’change.’ They are the faintest ripples before the tide surges, the strength a seed gathers in the darkness. They are not useless."

"As for whether this world can ’change’... time will provide the answer. And the ones who push that answer into being are every person who, here and now, feels that ’things can’t go on like this’ and takes action, no matter how small that action may seem."

Eleanor listened in a daze. The sorrow in her eyes hadn’t completely vanished, but she asked no more questions. She simply lowered her head and squeezed Aurora’s hand tighter, as if drawing strength from the touch.

Murphy said no more, his gaze turning to the deepening night outside the window.

The rhythmic sound of the wheels continued, carrying the three silent passengers onward, steadily heading north toward home.

...

「Monte Territory. The castle study.」

Murphy sat in his wheelchair, a deep red fleece blanket covering his lap, his gaze fixed on the empty air before him.

There, a Flying Sword about three inches long and shimmering with a Dark Gold luster, hovered silently.

The blade was not still. It drifted slowly along an exceptionally profound trajectory, at times flicking like a fish’s tail, at others coiling like a nimble serpent. With every minute turn, it emitted a low, pleasant hum, as if resonating with some invisible melody.

Murphy’s gaze followed the Flying Sword’s path, his eyes focused. His internal Mana also circulated along a mysterious path in time with the sword’s movements.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Just then, three steady knocks sounded at the door.

The low hum of the cruising Flying Sword faded quite naturally. Then, with a faint, clear chime, it transformed into a streak of light and silently vanished into Murphy’s abdomen, beneath the fleece blanket.

Murphy’s gaze fell upon the door as he said calmly, "Come in."

The door was pushed open gently, and Kaiden walked in.