Chapter 76
Ariella wanted to ask more about Cecile’s father, but Cecile quickly changed the subject.
Her expression clearly said she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
“By the way, Lady Ariella!”
Just moments ago, her face had been cold and distant. Now she had returned to her usual bright self.
“Yes?”
“Do you want to see something? I can show you how I make artifacts!”
At those words, all of Ariella’s curiosity about Cecile’s family was swept away.
“Really? You’d let me watch?”
“Of course! I’m making all of this using materials you provided, after all.”
Cecile cleared the table, and the tablecloth magically shook itself clean, brushing away all the crumbs.
“I’ll start by showing you how I make mana stones.”
Mana stones were the core of any artifact—an important piece.
“Normal enchantments don’t last forever. Over time, the magic fades away.”
For example, even if you enchanted a sword to be lighter, after a while, the spell would wear off and the sword would be heavy again.
“Then you’d have to stop in the middle of a fight to recast the spell.”
“But if you embed a mana stone and charge it with magic, the spell lasts much longer, right?”
“Yes! But the mana stone has to be as small as possible. If it’s too big, it affects the weapon’s balance. At the same time, it needs to store a lot of magic.”
“That makes sense. You wouldn’t have time to recharge it during a battle.”
“Exactly!” Cecile said with a proud smile.
Even as she explained, her hands moved quickly, carving a small mana stone with perfect precision.
Ariella watched in amazement, but quickly realized something.
There’s no way I can learn this just by watching.
She had always been quick to pick up other magic spells and techniques, but this was on another level.
That kind of craftsmanship… I can’t copy that.
Carving mana stones was like an art form. It wasn’t just about controlling magic; it required extraordinary skill.
Whenever Cecile chipped away at the stone, the mana inside it squirmed like a living creature. Cecile carefully adjusted her carving tool’s angle and pressure with every movement, guiding the mana’s flow.
And she was doing all this while casually talking to Ariella.
Ariella couldn’t even begin to imagine the level of calculations going on in Cecile’s head.
It must take years of experience… and raw talent.
After a while, Cecile finished a tiny mana stone, small enough to embed in a sword.
“Now comes the spellwork. The tricky part is synchronizing the enchantment with the mana stone.”
“So even when the sword leaves your hand, the enchantment and the mana stone resonate together, keeping the spell active?”
“Exactly! Wow, you really understand this quickly!” Cecile said, impressed.
She began chanting a series of spells, enchanting the sword to become lighter and deadlier.
Hmm… This part I can probably do, Ariella thought.
She couldn’t carve mana stones like Cecile, but spellcasting was her specialty.
As soon as she finished enchanting one sword, Cecile picked up another and began working on it.
When Cecile was done with the carving, Ariella suddenly spoke up.
“Cecile, can I try enchanting this one?”
“You want to do the enchantment?” Cecile asked, blinking in surprise.
After a moment’s hesitation, she handed the sword to Ariella.
“Sure, here you go!”
Outwardly, Cecile smiled, but inwardly she wasn’t expecting much.
She has no idea how hard this really is, Cecile thought.
To an outsider, it looked simple, but enchanting was far from easy.
Compared to mana stone carving, it wasn’t as complex, but it still required a delicate touch.
It was like placing a water wheel under a waterfall.
The waterfall was the mana flowing out of the stone. The wheel represented the enchantment, which had to spin smoothly using that mana.
If the wheel was too fragile, it would break. If it was too big or heavy, it wouldn’t spin at all.
Finding the perfect balance is the hard part.
Still, Ariella had been so thoughtful and supportive that Cecile couldn’t say no. She decided she could sacrifice a mana stone if Ariella failed.
Ariella closed her eyes and focused.
Ssshhh…
The chanting began.
But her pace was much slower than Cecile’s.
Mana wriggled from the stone into the blade, creeping through it slowly.
“It’s harder than you thought, right? Don’t worry, this part is more complicated than it looks—” Cecile started to say, but then she froze mid-sentence.
W-What?!
The mana was moving slowly… but perfectly.
She’s copying my flow exactly…
A mage could sense mana’s movement, but replicating someone else’s exact pattern was another matter entirely.
It was like watching a master craftsman and then creating an identical masterpiece on the first try—something impossible.
Yet Ariella was doing it.
Moments later…
“Phew! Done. Cecile, can you check it?”
“…”
Cecile just stared with wide eyes, her mouth slightly open.
“Well?” Ariella asked with a smile.
“It’s… perfect,” Cecile whispered. Her voice cracked in disbelief.
Ariella had created a flawless magic sword.
A flawless weapon, on her first attempt.
It was something no ordinary person could achieve.
“Did you… receive formal training in mana control? Does the human world have schools for this?”
“Not really. I just practiced a lot on my own,” Ariella said casually.
“My goodness…” Cecile muttered, still shocked.
Ariella smiled.
“That was fun. I can’t come often since I’m busy, but until you hire more workers, I’d be happy to help out sometimes. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”
“Mind? Of course not! Please do!” Cecile said quickly. She was still inspecting the sword over and over, her disbelief not fading.
That afternoon, at the Demon King’s Castle…
“Cecile refuses to see Geru?” Ludwig asked.
Ariella and Richmond were the only ones in the meeting room. They had both arrived early before the others.
Ariella told Richmond what had happened that morning.
“I just don’t get it,” Ariella admitted.
Of course, her own parents weren’t exactly loving either.
They’d stripped her of her inheritance and even sold her to the Empire.
But unless there was some deep resentment, wouldn’t most people want to see a parent who had come back from the dead?
“Especially since Geru wasn’t even sick. He was murdered.”
Her voice softened.
“If it were me, I’d want to see him. To know if he’s really the same person inside, even if his body has changed.”
She imagined herself in Cecile’s shoes.
Even with lingering resentment, she’d at least want to see him once.
“I’d meet him, if it were me,” she said honestly.
Richmond chuckled, his deep, warm voice at odds with his skeletal frame.
“Haha!”
“Why do you say that’s just your perspective as the contractor?” Ariella asked, frowning.
“I don’t mean it’s because you’re human,” Richmond said calmly. “I mean you’re… not exactly normal. Even by human or demon standards.”
“Are you insulting me right now?”
“Maybe that came out harsh. Let’s just say you’re… not average,” Richmond said, a soft blue glow flickering in his empty eye sockets.
“When someone loses a loved one, they grieve because they know that person is gone forever. That’s why the pain is so deep.”
Ariella stayed quiet, listening carefully.
“But if the impossible happens, and the dead return… do you think the family would truly rejoice?”
“Hm?”
“Picture this. A loved one you just buried crawls out of the grave. Their body has started to rot. Would you embrace them without hesitation?”
“…Oh.”
Ariella hadn’t thought of it that way.
“You weren’t scared the first time you saw a skeleton, were you?” Richmond continued.
“Why would I be? They’re just corpses you control.”
“Most people fear them for that very reason—because they’re corpses,” Richmond said gently.
“Maybe Cecile refuses to see him… because she’s afraid.”
Ariella fell silent, his words sinking in.
I guess I really did overlook something important.
“You’re more human than most living people, Richmond,” Ariella said softly.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Richmond replied.
As a man who had turned himself into an undead and dedicated his life to necromancy, he understood the fear of the undead better than anyone.
That knowledge likely came at a heavy cost.
“Are you two already here?”
Their conversation ended as Ludwig, Geru, and the other retainers entered the meeting room.
It wasn’t something Ariella could bring up in front of Geru himself.
The meeting began with Ulken, the werewolf knight, speaking first.
“A monster has entered the domain.”
“A monster?” Ludwig’s brow furrowed.
“If it entered my territory, I’d have seen it,” he said.
Ariella also frowned.
“And Hatchling scouts the skies every day. No one has reported a monster.”
Ulken shook his head.
“Let me rephrase. The monster is beneath the domain.”
