The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 116

Chapter 116 – Kerguelen Islands

Of course, the journey from Paris to the Kerguelen Islands was not a short or easy one. From Paris, we started with a flight to Cairo, Egypt, where I had a brief discussion with some local officials about the Seal of Death, mostly to ensure that they were properly locking down the area of the seal, to ensure there were no idiots trying to cause trouble, like in the Azores. They assured me that the situation was well in hand, and that they understood the potential consequences if the seal was ruptured accidentally.

From Cairo, we flew south, across Africa, to the city of Mahanjanga, in Madagascar. There, we took a day for our pilots to rest up. I might be undead, but that was no reason to go ignoring the needs of my mortal followers. But, even had they been undead, I would have insisted on a rest. While it is true that undead do not physically tire as easily as mortals do, the mental fatigue of completing tasks still builds up, in all but mindless undead. So, it only made sense to rest before we began flying across half of the Pacific Ocean to reach our destination.

Naturally, while we were all aboard a plane with nothing better to do, I devoted time to the education of my disciples, and allowed everyone else aboard to listen in, if they liked. Of course, most of this was still in the realm of academic discussion, or theory. There was no way I was going to allow them to go doing practical drills while we were in the air, after all. I prefer my planes to not explode out from underneath me.

Not that I believed for a second that one of my students would be stupid enough to intentionally try and blow up the plane, but accidents happen, and the mess in the Azores proved that people can lose control when they are trying something far beyond their level. Any accidents didn’t need to be even a fraction of the size of what happened in the Azores, though, to prove extremely unfortunate for the plane, and everyone on it. So, practical exercises were forbidden, except for practicing with the internal flow of mana, and cultivating their mana pools. That, at least, was something that I could contain easily if they had a moment of weakness, and lost control.

Eventually, we landed in one of the waterways separating several of the islands. Presqui’ile Jeanne d’Arc was a peninsula on Grande Terre, the largest of the islands in this grouping. Of course, ‘largest’ was relative, given that the island was only about sixty kilometers from one end to the other. However, the mountains that made the island such an important bird sanctuary also made navigating on foot far more difficult than the scant distance implied.

We were met at the rocky beach of Port Jeanne d’Arc by a woman bundled up in winter wear. She waved eagerly as we approached. “Hello! I am Dr. Lise Brunelle, one of the researchers, here. Technically, I’m in charge of one of these sites, but all the way out here, there’s no point in being stuffy with hierarchy and so on. Just call me Lise, or Dr. Brunelle if you must.”

The way she was chattering told me that she didn’t get to talk to new people all that often. But, considering there were only fifty-something people on the island, and some portion of them were likely spread out over the islands doing observations and checking equipment? Well, that was enough to make even the most shut-in introvert crave a bit of human contact, after a while.

“Thank you, Lise,” I said, amicably. “I am Akagawa Kaori. I assume you’ve heard about why we are here?”

“Oh, yes!” The woman bubbled. “And it is an honor to meet you, your Majesty! Such an exciting time to be a scientist, with everything we thought we knew for the last forty years changing on its head! Oh, some of the more stodgy sorts might grumble, but this is a chance for some real science to be done!”

I chuckled, and nodded. “Yes, I’ve met researchers like you before. Well, since you’re aware of why we’re here, I don’t suppose you’ve made any headway on finding the seal? Even knowing the best place to start would be helpful.”

“Oh, yes! One of the research projects we’ve been doing involves researching how different avian species use magicules in the environment to adapt to their surroundings. It is a truly fascinating field of study, you know. Forty years is several generations for the local wildlife, and that is enough time for us to see some distinct adaptations already starting to form!”

“General adaptations, or more elemental-focused?”

“By elemental, you mean things like earth, wind, and fire? A little. Some of the sooty albatrosses have been shown using some form of water magic in their feeding patterns. As they dive towards the water, it looks as though an upsurge from below brings fish and other creatures that were further underwater than they normally dive, allowing them to take more prey. We’ve also been documenting a colony of Kerguelen shags which have been cultivating crustaceans in an artificial tidal basin to feed their young with!”

“Fascinating. So, the wildlife are already starting to bridge the gap between beasts and monsters. I suspect that, even without releasing the seals, we would soon be seeing naturally arising monsters beginning to take their place in the world. Doctor, if you could send me a copy of your findings at some point, I would be most interested in reviewing them. However, right now, we must focus on the seal.”

“Ah, yes. Sorry, we don’t get many visitors here, and the ones who do come are almost all either researchers, or tourists who are looking to experience actual wildlife. But the seal. We’ve noticed several flares that correlate with the unleashing of the previous seals, especially the most recent event in the Azores. But, even without that, we would have a fairly good guess at where the seal is.”

“It is giving off some definitive sign of its location, then?”

“Yes, you could say that. Every night, after the sun goes down, there is a beam of light shining upwards from the peak of Mont Ross. The light does not seem to be negatively affecting a majority of the wildlife, which is unusual, considering that it should be disrupting their sleep cycles, at a bare minimum.”

“Not all the local animals are unaffected?”

“No, not all. Actually, the ones who have been most affected by the light are those populations which have started showing more magical ability. We thought there might be a connection, but haven’t been able to come up with a way to test it to be sure.”

I took a long, slow breath. “That would be because this is most likely a case of Magelight. Magelight is a kind of ‘false’ light created by magic. Specifically, it is created by a certain style of Light magic, and only those who have some degree of magical training or awareness can see it.”

Lieutenant Soyer cleared her throat once. “Pardon, your Majesty, but what would the use of such a light be? Especially in a world like the one you came from, where everyone had some degree of magical awareness?”

Looking over at her, I chuckled. “To a normal person? Not much, honestly. They are mostly used much like certain UV lights are in the modern day. Some things show up differently under magelight, allowing you to hide invisible messages, for instance. Certain monsters also react differently to Magelight than to a torch or Light spell. Interestingly enough, Magelight does not reflect the same upon nonmagical material, meaning that you cannot read by it, unless the book has been enchanted, or you are using special ink. It also means that, in areas of high magic, that Magelight as an effect not unlike turning on a bright lamp in the middle of a dense fog or mist. A fog that disappears when the lamp no longer shines, and does not appear on nonmagical cameras.”

Soyer nodded, obviously starting to get an idea of the potential that Magelight offered. “So, it can be used to effectively create a smokescreen? One that can be seen through with technological sensors? That’s a situational use, but a powerful one.”

“Your Majesty,” Sous-lieutenant Moreau said, hesitantly. “Does this Magelight have the same reflective properties as regular light? Or can it pass through physical objects? Possibly allow people to see what is on the other side of a wall?”

I chuckled. “Thinking about spying on someone in the bath, Sous-lieutenant? Naughty, naughty.” Moreau tried to protest, but I just waved my hand. “Don’t worry, it is one of the first questions anyone asks when they hear about Magelight. And the answer is simply that, unless the wall has some kind of magical properties, or it is made out of a material that absorbs and grounds mana, like lead, then it does pass through.”

Seeing I had everyone’s attention, I continued. “This means that, if you had a spell which allowed you to see by Magelight, you could shine a Magelight through a brick wall, and see what was on the other side. Your normal vision would still be blocked by the wall, of course, so the second spell is necessary. However, any living being who could normally see a Magelight spell would see the light shining through the walls, which means it is less useful for stealthy surveillance than you might think.”

Moreau nodded his understanding, and I turned back to the rest of the group. “Either way, we will assume that the Seal of Light is nestled somewhere upon Mont Ross. Since the Magelight could be coming from deep inside the mountain, rather than the peak, and still have the same intensity, we will have to make a search of things. Fortunately, my forces can handle much of that, now that we have someplace to focus our search.”

Focusing my attention on the doctor, again, I smiled. “Lise, is there someplace we can set up a couple temporary buildings, so that it won’t impact your work? Making a proper search of the mountain may take some time, so I would like to set up our lodgings first.”

“Of course, your Majesty. We have a couple buildings up on the high ground there, ourselves, overlooking the beach. We use them for living quarters and laboratory space, when needed. Plenty of room on the rise there. We’d prefer if you didn’t go cutting any trees, or digging up the earth too much. Most of the islands are still ecological preserves, after all. We don’t want to upset things too much, and potentially affect the bird populations. Some of the birds are heavily endangered, you see.”

“Excellent,” I said, and opened up my pocket dimension with a wave. Out stepped several of my dwarven combat engineers, all of them skeletons, but they weren’t mindless. Naturally, all of them wore the uniform of my army.

The leader stepped forward and saluted, “Captain Lokdral Grayarm at your service, your Majesty. What’n’d’ya need doing?”

I smiled at the dwarf, and said, “Captain, we are mounting a small expedition in this area. I need sleeping quarters and facilities suitable for mortals, with a minimum of impact to the surrounding area. There are many rare and endangered creatures living on these islands, and I told our hosts that my engineers were skilled enough to get our lodgings settled without disturbing the local environment.”

“Aye, that we are, your Majesty. We’ll get to work quick enough. No lasting changes to the environment, means no Earth magic to sort things out, right?”

“Indeed. I know it is not your favorite, but the structure should be as such that it can be taken down, and the only sign it was ever there are perhaps a few post holes, or where someone dug a latrine.”

“We’ll get it done, your Majesty, have no worry about that.”

“The thought never crossed my mind, Captain.”