Ash is falling.
Silent. Steady. Smothering the world.
It isn't snow.
It's proof that the World Tree is dying—Death Ash.
Once, the World Tree circulated mana through the land, painted the sky blue, and made the forests glow green.
Now, withering and incomplete, it burns imperfectly, spewing its cinders into the heavens.
The ash kills the soil.
The ash rots the lungs.
The ash buries hope.
People call this era by one name:
—The Ash Winter.
The royal capital, Eldia.
Once called the City of Light, it now lies shrouded in gray fog.
Servants sweep the ash from the cobblestones with enchanted brooms. Only the streets in front of noble estates gleam unnaturally white.
I watch the scene from my carriage window.
Numbers flicker at the edge of my vision.
Mana Ledger: Active
Street Cleaning Magic
Consumption: 120 MP/hour Noble District Total: 8,400 MP/day Annual Cost: 3,066,000 MP Civilian Equivalent: Heating for 306 households for one year
My skill quantifies the world's waste.
Just to sweep away ash, 306 families' worth of heating vanishes.
Meanwhile, in the common districts—
Commoner District Heating Restrictions
Allowance: 0.3 MP/day per household Deaths from Cold Last Winter: Estimated 1,200 Cause Breakdown: Hypothermia from insufficient heating 78%, Ash Lung 22%
Twelve hundred people.
If the nobles had diverted their street-cleaning magic to heating—every single one could have been saved.
The carriage stops.
A white marble palace looms before me.
The Mana Administration Bureau Headquarters.
My workplace.
No—as of today, my former workplace.
The moment I step into the grand conference hall, warm air brushes my cheeks.
Outside, ash falls and commoners freeze. In here, it's spring.
Mana Ledger: Active
Climate Control Magic
Consumption: 200 MP/hour Set 15°C above outside temperature for "participant comfort" Annual Cost: 1,752,000 MP Optimization: Lower temperature by 5°C, provide coats → Save 584,000 MP/year
But these nobles will never do that.
To them, feeling cold is an insult.
White marble floors. Gold-threaded carpets. Seven massive chandeliers hang from the ceiling. The stained glass windows all glow with enchantment.
My Mana Ledger calculates automatically.
Conference Room Maintenance
Cost: 300 MP/hour Annual Consumption: 2,628,000 MP Ash Output: 52.6 tons/year equivalent
Maintaining this single room dumps 52 tons of ash on the world every year.
Beautiful.
And obscenely wasteful.
"—And that concludes this quarter's Mana Conservation Campaign results."
At the podium, Vice Director Marquis Grenfelt delivers his report.
His pig-like body floats on a cushion of magic.
Mana Ledger: Active
Marquis Grenfelt
Levitation Magic: 50 MP/minute Estimated Weight: 142 kg Optimization A: Lose 40 kg → Reduce to 12 MP/minute Optimization B: Walk. Ash Output: 0.8 kg/minute equivalent
Just by floating through this meeting, he dumps roughly 50 kg of ash on the world.
If he walked, it would be zero.
"Through the Mana Waste Prohibition Act imposed on citizens, we've reduced civilian magic usage by 3% compared to last year!"
The Marquis's voice echoes through the chamber.
"As a result, the projected timeline for world mana depletion has been extended from 'approximately 30 years' to 'approximately 32 years'!"
Applause erupts.
Self-congratulatory. Hollow.
Thirty-two years?
Don't make me laugh.
My Mana Ledger shows the truth—
Time Until World Collapse: 352 Days 06:47:32
352 Days 06:47:31
352 Days 06:47:30
Three hundred fifty-two days.
Less than a year.
And this "Mana Waste Prohibition Act"? Its true purpose—stripping commoners of heating and lighting so nobles can monopolize magic for themselves.
I silently scan everyone in the room.
Conference Attendees: 47
Total Annual Mana Consumption: Estimated 18,500,000 MP Civilian Equivalent: 1,850 households Annual Ash Output: 370 tons equivalent Breakdown: Decorative Magic (jewelry, clothing luminescence): 35% Transportation Magic (enchanted carriages, levitation): 28% Climate Control (excessive heating/cooling in estates): 22% Entertainment (magic gardens, magic pets): 15% Average Efficiency: 1.8%
1.8%.
98.2% of the magic they use dissipates uselessly as ash falling on the world.
I clench my fist.
A girl's face surfaces in my mind.
—Lina.
My sister, who died twelve years ago.
The mana needed to save her was just 500 MP.
Two hours without these chandeliers would have covered it.
But Father said:
"We don't waste mana on defective goods."
That year, Father spent 45,000 MP on decorative magic alone.
Lina could have been saved ninety times over.
"—Auditor Kai."
Someone calls my name.
Marquis Grenfelt stares at me, his face slick with grease.
"Do you have any comments? Regarding our achievements?"
It's a trap.
Whatever I say, they'll twist it against me.
But—I don't care anymore.
I stand.
"I have an objection."
The room falls silent.
"Vice Director. What calculation basis supports this '32-year extension'?"
"...Auditor Kai. You—"
"The Bureau's published formula assumes world tree depletion accelerates at 0.8% annually. Actual measured rate: 1.2%. Deviation: 50%."
The air in the conference room freezes.
"Furthermore, the published data excludes noble consumption entirely."
I step forward.
"The aristocracy—a mere 2% of the population—accounts for 42% of all mana consumption and generates 67% of all ash emissions. Why is this being concealed?"
"A-Auditor Kai! That's classified—"
"It isn't classified."
I force-project my Mana Ledger data onto the conference room's magic screen.
Auditor's privilege—access to all mana consumption records.
Massive numbers appear on the display.
True Mana Reserves: 352 Days (±7 days)
Current Ash Accumulation Rate: 12 cm/year
3 years: 80% of farmland dies
5 years: Human habitable zones shrink by 30%
The room turns to ice.
"...What kind of joke is this?"
"Lies! That's impossible!"
"He fabricated the data!"
I answer quietly.
"Retrieved from the Director's classified server. Under auditor authority, full data access is legal."
Marquis Grenfelt's face darkens to a mottled purple.
"Kai Verner...! This is treason...!"
"Treason?"
I look around the conference room.
Nobles lounging in luxurious chairs, gripping jewel-encrusted staffs, sipping magically chilled premium wine.
Outside the window, ash keeps falling.
In the common districts, someone is freezing to death right now.
My Mana Ledger quantifies their "value."
Marquis Grenfelt: Annual consumption 120,000 MP / Ash output 2.4 tons
Duke Lambert: Annual consumption 230,000 MP / Ash output 4.6 tons
Marchioness Elicia: Annual consumption 95,000 MP / Ash output 1.9 tons
And then—quietly, I deliver my final line.
"Your 'justice' isn't worth 0.1 MP."
The conference room explodes.
"Exile him!"
"Throw him out!"
"Never let him enter the capital again!"
The marble doors swing open. Armed guards march in.
Marquis Grenfelt wears a triumphant smile.
"Kai Verner. You are hereby exiled on charges of 'obstruction of national economy,' 'illegal acquisition of classified information,' and 'undermining state authority.' Effective immediately."
I say nothing.
I simply input a new task into my Mana Ledger.
Objective: Balance the world's mana budget
Deadline: 352 days
Required Reduction: Estimated 500,000,000 MP
Required Ash Reduction: Estimated 10,000 tons
Success Probability: 0.003%
—0.003%.
Practically zero.
But not zero.
As guards seize both my arms, I take one last look out the window.
Ash is falling.
Silent. Steady. Smothering the world.
Lina.
I speak to my sister in my heart.
I couldn't save you.
But this gray world—I will change it.