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Chapter 57: Black Death (4)
Chapter 57: Black Death (4)
Chapter 57: Black Death (4)
Every experiment needed multiple tests to be reliable.
It was a week of insane labor. Once the mosquito repellant was created with a scroll, I spent a whole week testing its pesticidal potency.
Nothing much else happened in the meantime. Just the Prince trying to provoke me every morning meeting, Iluka chasing him off with her Glacial Spear, Freyr begging to go get vodka after school.... The kind of routine where my only source of comfort was earning silver for tutoring Lotte.
This was my daily life. The classroom without Professor Hasfeldt was relatively peaceful.
“Ugh.”
Did I push myself too hard? Now that all the stress accumulated from being at odds with Hasfeldt was gone, I was dying.
I got up out of bed holding my head. By the bedpost, my hand-made mosquito repellant was running fine. There were several winged insects dead on the floor from having been hit with an EMP.
It was finally the weekend. I was going to make the most of these next two days.
My weekend routine was simple. Studying, researching, tutoring, then back to studying.
“Ah.”
Guess I’ll get a break in the afterlife.
I set out for the library before even the morning dew disappeared. Agenda-wise my goal was to master three to four Water Magic.
It was also important to create a nuclear fusion device in preparation for when the Demon King revived. But still my duty was to leave this fucking place and return to my original world. And in order to do that I had to go through the complete list of magic in the hardcover and learn every single one.
I grabbed a few books on Water Magic from the shelves and sat down.
[General Theory of Intermediate Water Magic]It didn’t seem like a fun title. But what could I do? If I didn’t want this, I shouldn’t have reviewed that paper in the first place.
As I turned the pages one by one, I quickly skimmed sentences that could be keywords.
[The Water Realm is defined as all kinds of magic related to water elements.]
[In modern times, the scope of the Water Realm has expanded into a study of all things that flow. Some argue that this should be called the mechanics of fluids.]
[For example, let’s say there is a metal that flows like water at room temperature. Is it considered to be part of Earth or Water Magic?]
[Water Mages argue that this should be included as Water Magic due to having liquid properties. The author agrees with this.]
This was boring as hell. I skipped a bunch of pages.
[... In the same vein, Ice is also included as part of the Water Realm.]
[In this Chapter, you will learn the entirety of Ice Magic. You will be told about Intermediate-level Ice Magic as well as given the scroll containing the mechanism and discharge method.]
Ice Magic, hm.
Iluka’s specialty was Ice. She used Glacial Spear and was capable of freezing anything with mass. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen her control flowing water.
Her weapon was a Glacial Spear and she’d just freeze whatever area was on fire. I never saw her use actual flowing water.
There weren’t many Ice spells. Just ones like Icicle Arrow, Ice Spear, Ice Something Something.
This part wasn’t very appealing. But something interesting came up towards the end.
[Advanced Water Magic ? Frozen][A skill that freezes water of liquid state. Also known as rapid cooling.]
[Includes a sterilizing function, allowing it to be used for quarantine when combined with Fire Magic.]
Quarantine, eh....
This is intriguing. Should I give it a try?
[? Prerequisites for learning this magic (Spells)][Icicle Arrow(Unacquired)]
[Ice Spear(Unacquired)]
[.......]
Ah, really, what a drab.
He felt nauseous every time he came to the palace, as if his current and past self were mixed together. The disharmony was twisting him up inside.
There wasn’t much Klion could do about it, however.
[Ultimate Innate Magic ? Disobedience]
Just move forward equipped with the scroll he’d received from the elf.
“Ah, you’re here, Prince Klion.”
When he opened the door to his room and entered, Duke Blanton was sitting in a chair on the other side. For a moment, Klion failed to manage his facial expression and frowned.
It isn’t normal to be letting himself into a prince’s room as he wishes.
Duke Jack Blanton, one of the four pillars supporting the Philiut Empire.
One who controlled water and was called the pinnacle of Water Magic in the Empire. Yet Klion hadn’t seen him use magic even once.
So, this fellow is supposed to be a Magic Beast.
The international elf student from Kaurelia informed him that this man was the beast who had been brainwashing him.
He couldn’t believe it at first. A Grand Duke of the Empire was a Calamity-level beast? Then this country should have already been ruined.
And after about a month of watching Blanton ‘as himself’, Klion came to a single conclusion.
We’re doomed.
The Empire was sinking in real time. Hierarchy and discipline were falling apart. The fact that this man trespassed by coming into the Prince’s chambers was proof. This was essentially a violation of Imperial laws.
But he had to be patient and act the part.
Pathetic bastard.
He could only grind his teeth while keeping himself hidden.
“Is something the matter, Your Highness? I can see cold sweat. Perhaps you have caught a cold?”
“It’s nothing to be concerned about. I’m tired, that’s all.”
“Did that Golden-Eyed wench defy you again?”
“No.......”
Halt.
“... That’s right! That lowly bitch won’t stay submissive and challenges everything I say!”
“Then you need to deal with her accordingly. Since she had also dared to leave a scratch on Your Highness’ body the last time, take this opportunity to charge her for all the crimes and be condemned by the law.”
Since neither physical power nor Tilette’s exceptions were effective measures, he could pressure the judicial authorities and punish her ‘legally’. It wasn’t a bad idea.
That is, if the Second Prince was currently brainwashed.
“No, I can’t do that. If things go wrong and it hurts my reputation, will you take responsibility, Duke Blanton?”
“Hurhur.”
Blanton smiled bitterly and peered at Klion.
“You are above the law, Your Highness. There must be an Emperor for the vassals and citizens to exist, so why do you tie yourself down with such personal disciplines?”
“.......”
He caught it. Blanton should have noticed his subtle change in expression.
“Well, you seem a bit stressed so let us talk about this another time. How would you like to attend the banquet I will be hosting to relax?”
“A banquet? At a time like this?”
“Isn’t it the perfect time? We are free of any sort of plague and the economy is improving day by day. And what about the finances? Thanks to our diligently-working prime minister, the Empire’s treasury is never dry! The luxury of a single banquet wouldn’t even make a dent.”
This mad bastard.
You were right, Elf. There isn’t enough evidence yet but this man is definitely a beast.
It didn’t matter whether he was some kind of machine or a human made of flesh and blood. Any corrupt bureaucrat corroding the Empire were targets to purge.
His father was being held hostage, however. If he acted to save his family and Blanton realized, it would be trouble. Klion grasped his throbbing head and nodded reluctantly.
“Sounds good. What kind of party is it?”
“Today is actually my daughter’s birthday. Would you like to go and meet her?”
“Lead the way.”
Duke Blanton invited the Prince to the other palace.
The palace area was divided into five main sections. There was a large castle where the Imperials resided at the center with separate buildings situated in the north, south, east, and west. Starting from the north going clockwise, they were Fire Realm, Water Realm, Earth Realm, and Air Realm.
The Emperor permitted use of these four buildings. In principle, the Four Grand Dukes owned one place each.
How these other palaces were used was up to them. It could be a residence or used just for reception. The Hasfeldt family who was obsessed with the north expedition used theirs as a storage.
“Here is the banquet hall. There is wine and women so please enjoy yourself.”
It was a dazzling party from the early evening. A palace that didn’t sleep. Beyond the windows, fireworks were flying,
“I thank everyone for attending my daughter’s birthday party. We haven’t prepared much but please enjoy yourselves comfortably!”
Looking around, there were only those who were part of Duke Blanton’s faction. They were also supposed to be the Second Prince’s faction but for some reason, he felt politically isolated.
Sipping on chilled wine, he sat to one side of a sofa.
A stuffiness rose up from his burning insides. Setting down his glass of poison, Klion glanced over to the side at the sound of a violin coming from a distance.
A beautiful tune entered his ears. Klion turned his head and faced forward.
Purple hair tinged with blue. Wall blue eyes like aquamarine. There was grace exuding fromthe adorned dress. The girl of this appearance stood on the high stage and played the strings with horsehair.
There weren’t any lyrics, but it had the ability to entice a person like the song of a siren.
The cheery yet mournful tune moved his heart. It continued for about four to five minutes as it followed an imaginary sheet music.
“Your daughter plays quite brilliantly. May I ask what piece this is?”
“It is called ‘The Requiem of Tarkenil ’ composed by someone named Seraphanya in the west.”
“A requiem... for whom?”
“For the people of her nation. Seraphanya was the last royalty of the Tarkenil Kingdom from the Middle Ages. Right before the kingdom fell to an enemy invasion, it is said that she greeted them by playing this song on a violin.”
“Oho....”
It certainly wasn’t an appropriate song to be played at a child’s birthday party. It would have been better if they had prepared something that was fine for children to hear.
“This is the song that our Rosemary is best at as she likes Seraphanya’s works.”
Despite the tune, everyone applauded her as one. Blanton’s daughter was fueled by their encouragement and played a few more similar ones. They, too, were requiems.
Poor Duchess. Her musically-talented child has been snatched by a beast.
Or was the daughter a beast as well....
He couldn’t tell.
Looking at those innocent eyes the shade of water made him think that that wasn’t the case. How could such an innocent girl who was beaming from all the compliments by the grown-ups be a Magic Beast?
Of course he already knew from having heard about it how cunning these beasts were, but... Klion threw back his drink to soothe his restless heart.
Praying that this time would pass quickly.
The party would continue the next day. For now, it was the time to relieve some of the hangover.
In the early hours in which everyone was asleep, Duke Blanton finished with sleeping arrangements for all of his guests and headed towards one of the rooms. This place was only for those permitted by Duke Blanton.
_Creeeeak, _the door opened with a gloomy noise. There was a sofa inside.
And Rosemary was sitting on that sofa.
“Papa!”
“.......”
Rosemary, who had been playing with a turtle doll, grinned innocently and ran up to Blanton.
“I played well today, didn’t I, Papa?”
“There’s no one around, Quartus.”
“Heeeh....”
Rosemary’s smile turned strange. She pulled out a candy from her inner pocket and popped it into her mouth.
A sweet and sour apple-flavored candy.
The candy wasn’t just flavored but contained mana as well. It was a relatively decent way for a child who couldn’t smoke to replenish their mana.
“... You aren’t good at reading the atmosphere, Septimus. In this situation, you’re supposed to say ‘Of course you did, my child~’ and hug me.
“.......”
Crack, crunch. Rosemary munched on the candy and looked down at her feet.
There was a magic circle constructed on the floor.
A warp circle. A top-class magic circle for moving an object from one place to another.
Just a few seconds after Rosemary chewed her candy, the magic circle activated. The room lit up brightly and took the two people somewhere.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the entrance of a tall iron tower.
“Aghhh, too cold. Do you have any antifreeze left?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re no help.”
The blizzard whipped into the tower. There was only ice in the surrounding area.
The clock indicated it was past dawn. Since it was a circle that only shifted their latitude, the outdoors should have been dark.
However, the night sky was bright white.
“Let’s head in. The other commanders are waiting.”
“... Certainly.”
Of course it would be.
Where they had warped to was the end of the northern territory, also known as ‘the third line of defense’ by the Empire....
The heart of the Demonic Lands.