Chapter 76
“Mana concentration?”
Eluana asked in a small voice. Kazar lightly nodded and approached a small, shabby bed in the corner.
Mana was concentrated around the yellow-stained pillow. When he moved his fingers closer, the sparkling particles scattered.
Kazar glanced at Emma.
“Was this your sister’s bed?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
Emma answered politely, her hands trembling from nervousness while speaking to a noble. Kazar then leaned toward Eluana and whispered into her ear.
“The mana concentration is unusually high just around the bed. I think your sister had the potential to be a mage.”
“Do you think that’s why she was kidnapped?”
“Well…”
It was just a possibility that came to mind while trying to think of a reason someone would kidnap a child with a leg disability.
“I hope it’s not true.”
As soon as Kazar spoke with a hint of hope, Line arrived. Eluana turned her head toward the sound, a pleased expression on her face.
“Did you find out?” she asked.
“No one has seen a girl with a leg problem since early this morning. But a few people reported seeing a strange man and woman carrying a large load. Strangers don’t often appear in the slums, so it’s suspicious.”
“So?”
“I’ve sent a few children; we should have news soon.”
Eluana, listening carefully, realized that Line was speaking formally to her because of self-consciousness.
“Line, just speak comfortably. If you’re Kazar’s friend, you’re my friend too.”
The word “friend” made Kazar react.
“…We’re friends?”
“Not really? If you say no, then I don’t have any human friends.”
Line only had steel spheres and statues as companions, which made Eluana feel suddenly glum. Seeing this, Kazar quickly said,
“Yes. We’re friends.”
Their relationship wasn’t purely business or political. They weren’t even engaged yet. Thinking it over, the word that best described their connection was simply “friend.”
Unlike the slightly reluctant Kazar, Eluana, hearing the answer she wanted, smiled brightly and looked at Line.
“You heard that, right? So speak comfortably too, Line.”
“O-okay.”
Line answered quickly but felt confused. By doing so, Line became the first commoner to speak openly with both the prince and the duke’s daughter.
Seeing Line flustered, Kazar said,
“Be careful with the kids. There might be a mage involved.”
“A mage? Got it! So if we find a girl named Sally, we just bring her here, right?”
Kazar nodded shortly, and Eluana added,
“Please, Line.”
“Leave it to me. Finding one person is nothing for me.”
Line patted his chest confidently and went outside. Eluana turned her gaze toward Emma.
“Your sister will be fine.”
She hoped her words would ease Emma’s anxiety and sadness, and thankfully, they seemed to reach her.
Emma, her face twisted as if on the verge of tears, said,
“Thank you. I’d like to know your noble name so I can remember it and be grateful forever.”
Eluana glanced at Kazar, whose family name was “Fortuna.”
‘If she knew he was a prince, she’d probably faint.’
Even now, Emma’s body trembled. She had entered the world of nobles, carrying only the determination to find her sister.
Before Kazar could speak, Eluana said first,
“Eluana Vita Spes.”
“Sp-Spes?”
Fearing Emma might faint from shock, she quickly added,
“We’ll be off now. Don’t worry too much.”
Smiling, Eluana left the shack. Kazar, following her, took another look at the house. Although the surrounding houses were also modest, Emma and Sally’s home was particularly run-down, likely because no adult was there to maintain it.
Eluana murmured softly,
“I hope we find the child.”
Losing a sibling was a terrible thing. It reminded her of the time she waited for Louis in a guest room at Aden Castle. She had to keep repeating to herself that she trusted Duke Spes, though it felt hopeless.
Seeing a shadow cross Eluana’s face, Kazar cautiously asked,
“Thinking of Louis?”
“Seems like it. But first, let’s move on to our next course.”
She said it bravely, but Kazar pointed to the sky.
“I canceled the reservation because it’s getting late. Let’s return to the duke’s residence.”
Only then did Eluana look up at the sky, which had begun to warm with color. Time had flown by while she wasn’t paying attention.
“Guess the first date failed.”
Still, she didn’t regret following Emma, so her expression wasn’t gloomy. Kazar reached out and replied,
“Not a failure. At the theater, everyone was watching only us. It’ll have enough impact. Peggy Mull’s expression was especially worth seeing.”
“Then that’s a relief.”
Holding his hand, Eluana walked on, suddenly turning to look back. The shabby shack lingered in her eyes.
Entering the fourth outer city, Kazar looked up at the third-floor window of his room. A shadow barely visible by the window caught his attention. It had been long past sunset on the way back after seeing Eluana off at the duke’s residence. The servants had likely gone home.
‘Looks like an uninvited guest has arrived.’
Having sent Line to Edelweiss, Kazar had to face this intruder alone. Even a tiny aura was better than none, so it was a minor relief.
After it became known that Kazar had eliminated nearly a hundred assassins in Aden, any intruder’s skill would have increased considerably.
Sending his aura throughout his body, Kazar stepped onto the stairs, moving silently, and opened the door in one swift motion.
“You’re here?”
Seeing a familiar face inside, Kazar exhaled the breath he had been holding. The subtle aura surrounding him dissipated instantly.
“Kairon.”
“I came because of the magic circle you left for me. Where on earth did you find this?”
Half-lying on the couch, Kairon waved a parchment from his arms. Kazar closed the door and smiled at him.
Although it was an unexpected visit, he felt more pleasure than surprise.
“From the northern forest of Aden.”
“The place with no mana in the air?”
“That’s right.”
Kazar naturally took out a teapot and cups and began brewing tea. Kairon, glaring at the parchment, let out a frustrated groan.
“This is an ancient sealing magic circle. Structurally, it sends the mana of the entity sealed in the statue somewhere. Since it’s ancient, the details need research, but that’s the basic idea.”
Kazar poured tea into a cup and set it on the table.
“This must be related to why mana is scarce in Aden.”
“Exactly. Mana is constantly being transferred. To replenish its mana, the statue must absorb from the surroundings.”
Kairon sipped her tea, then licked her lips, pulling out a potion from the pocket dimension. She drank one and placed another on the table.
“This tea should be thrown out. It’s poisoned.”
“Ah, sorry.”
Kazar awkwardly smiled and pushed the cup away.
“You’ve endured this for more than a day or two. If you hadn’t built up immunity to poisons, you’d be dead. That green-haired girl traveling with you did one thing right.”
“By now, the empress knows which poisons I’m immune to.”
“How?”
“My guard betrayed me.”
“No wonder I didn’t see her. Well, who can really know people’s hearts.”
Kairon said cynically, scrutinizing Kazar.
“Considering you were betrayed, you’re in good shape. Your limbs are all intact.”
“I took Redfire and healed it.”
“Yes. That green-haired girl is amazing at making antidotes.”
Kazar smiled bitterly and changed the subject.
“Can we figure out where the statue is sending the mana?”
Kairon’s expression shifted.
“More importantly, we should wonder what entity has survived hundreds of years of mana being drained. This circle has been active for 721 years.”
Kazar’s expression turned serious. It was too coincidental. 721 years ago coincided with the beginning of the Fortuna imperial family—meaning the end of the Cantio royal line.
“Do your ancient records include anything about Cantio?”
“Not much, but yes.”
“While researching Cantio, I noticed something strange. Some things don’t quite add up.”
“Of course.”
Suspicion arose in Kazar’s eyes. Kairon smiled faintly and straightened her posture. Her normally drowsy violet eyes gleamed brightly.
“Kazar, do you believe all the history you’ve learned is true?”
“I suppose there are some distortions.”
“Exactly. History can be altered by the victors’ tastes. Take the founding of the empire as an example.”
Kazar was taken aback that even the founding history could be distorted.
“You mean even the founding story isn’t true?”
Kairon grinned.
“Everyone born in the empire knows that Silver Dragon Floss, Cantio, and Spes joined forces to defeat the monsters and build the empire. But it’s unknown that a mage led the vanguard of the opposing monsters.”
“You mean a human led the monsters?”
“Sadly, yes. It was a ‘child blessed with mana,’ named Ather.”
“So they began persecuting the child blessed with mana, using them as experimental material?”
“No. The opposite. Ather was the one who escaped after twenty years of experiments. A time that would make anyone hate humanity.”
“What happened to Ather?”
“Sealed.”
The word “sealed” reminded Kazar of the Forest of Monsters, still containing tens of thousands of sealed monsters. Even after the last battle, when the three dragons burned all their mana and perished, they couldn’t destroy the monsters—only seal them. Floss became the last dragon.
“Was Ather sealed in the Forest of Monsters too?”
“I don’t know. Every record of discovery ends with ‘sealed by the last dragon, Floss.’”
“The dragons warned that the seal wouldn’t last forever. They allowed the monsters’ seals to weaken gradually so that they could be eliminated slowly. If all the seals were lifted at once, the situation would be uncontrollable. If…”
“If?”
“If the mage Ather was sealed too, then maybe the seal could be lifted someday?”
“We can only pray it doesn’t happen. Regardless, history erased the fact that a human led the monsters against humanity. Ather’s name was erased too.”
If anyone else had said this, Kazar might have dismissed it as nonsense. But this was Kairon—the one who enjoys interpreting ancient texts. And her eyes suggested the story was far from over.
“Cantio’s history is even more distorted.”
