"I Became a Witch, but Now Everyone's in Love with Me!"

Chapter 82: Communication Across Time and Space Between the Witch and the Ancient Spellcaster
 

The reason for Jiang Cha’s strange expression wasn’t that the question was difficult. On the contrary—it was actually a very famous one among the witches of the School of Creation. Famous for the question itself, the reasoning behind it, and the answer.
And precisely because it was so famous, it felt weird.
“…I think I’ve heard of this before?”

After all, Daisy was a great witch on the verge of minoring in the Creation School. When she saw this particular essay question, a strong sense of déjà vu struck her.
“In fact, it’s quite well-known, Senpai. It’s considered a high-end application of arcane magic—using knowledge itself to prove whether an Arcane God exists.”
An essay question.

But in the eyes of later generations of arcane spellcasters, the question itself was deeply flawed.
Arcane was a very peculiar type of magic. It wasn’t like elemental witchcraft or divine invocations. Rather, it was closer to theoretical mathematics: a field of exact calculations, strict logic, and step-by-step deduction.
That was why—even across countless multiverses—it could evolve independently yet still converge on the same conclusions. Its entire existence was to calculate the ultimate answer to the pluralistic world.
So when someone posed it as an essay question, the premise was already derailed.

Trying to use one system to prove or disprove the foundations of that very system would only ever collapse into fallacy.
“It’s like using binary mathematics to claim that one plus one doesn’t equal two, and then trying to use that to overturn decimal mathematics. Ridiculous. In basic math, ‘1+1=2’ is a rule we humans invented. Binary, decimal, hexadecimal—they’re all math, but they’re entirely different systems.”
“Even the Goldbach Conjecture about one plus one being greater than two—it’s the same issue. The meaning of ‘1’ is different from the very start. The fact we sometimes end up with the same result is just a coincidence.”

“…Wait, my head’s spinning. Can you explain this in normal words?” Daisy groaned.
She could follow the math side of the discussion, but the arcane theory nearly fried her brain circuits. She had never actually studied this field. It was normal not to understand.
“Fine, a simple analogy,” Jiang Cha said, leaning lazily on her quill. “Normally, an arcane problem starts like this: one apple plus one apple equals two apples. Simple.”

“But the starting point of this question is: one witch plus one witch—so how many witches are there, if time stretches into infinity?”
“Two… no, three? No, wait… all of them could be possible, right?”
“Exactly. It could be any number greater than or equal to zero. Maybe both witches died childless. Maybe only one survived. It’s completely uncertain.”

Jiang Cha shrugged. The answer looked boring on paper, but it was profoundly sharp.
“The question is broken from the start. It runs counter to «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» the very essence of the arcane. In a discipline that pursues logical calculation and objective materialism—treating magic as energy and ignoring all idealistic attributes—how are you supposed to prove the existence of some god of the arcane? Ridiculous.”
“Materialism versus idealism. They’re not completely opposed, but trying to leap from materialism at the start to idealism at the end is both flawed and unprovable.”

Jiang Cha didn’t even bother to scribble down the proof. She simply wrote two sentences on the parchment provided by the tower’s ancient master.
That was enough.
“…Maybe you’re right,” a calm, mature voice replied.

“But I still insist an Arcane God is possible.”
It was the voice of the Mage Tower’s long-dead mistress.
She was an arcane explorer, a master whose expertise dwarfed that of a little witch like Jiang Cha—who had only dabbled in arcane studies while focusing on the Creation School.

But Jiang Cha stood on the shoulders of giants.
The answer she gave wasn’t her own invention, but one established long ago by sages and even great sages. To the ancient spellcaster, her words struck like a high school student time-traveling back to explain genetics to Mendel.
It wasn’t a fair fight—it was a dimensionality reduction strike.
The pursuit of a lifetime for the Tower’s mistress was nothing more than basic knowledge in later ages. Who could possibly argue with that?

“…Then why do you insist? You don’t strike me as a stubborn spellcaster.”
Jiang Cha didn’t rush to claim rewards. She wanted something more valuable: to converse. To glimpse the thoughts and ideas of an ancient spellcaster, someone walking the path long before her.
Her own Wisdom Magic had stalled ever since her first spell, [Mind Overlap]. That spell wasn’t even truly intelligent—it borrowed most of its framework from Creation magic.

Communicating with this ancient master was infinitely more valuable than a few grimoires.
The reply she received, however, stunned her.
“Because I never intended to find an Arcane God,” the mature voice said softly.

“…I intended to make one.”
“?!!”
Jiang Cha’s heart almost stopped.

This elf… was insane!
Did she understand what she was saying? Create a god?!
Even if it were only a god of arcane power, not some omniscient and omnipotent deity, that would still be tantamount to creating a Great Sage of the Arcane School!

And the mistress of this tower was at best a sage-level spellcaster!
What arrogance!
“Yes,” the voice continued serenely. “My goal was never to kneel before an illusory god, but to forge one myself. And I nearly succeeded. But my artificial god… it stalled, forever trapped at the last step—the infinite self-growth of true intelligent life.”

“That is why I turned to proving the possibility of an Arcane God. I no longer demanded it be born naturally, from the one amidst ten-thousand zeros. I only needed there to be… a chance.”
“…What a shame,” Jiang Cha whispered, awe tinged with pity.
“Yes. A shame.”

The mistress sighed as well, but her tone softened, as though gazing gently upon the black-haired, red-eyed girl before her.
“So… tell me, has my path helped you?”
Jiang Cha’s eyes blazed with fervor.

“Helped me? It’s the greatest enlightenment I’ve ever received since the day I was born! It won’t be arcane in the strict sense, but it will prove my own path—and yours too!”
Her voice trembled, half with reverence, half with madness.