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Chapter 112
The Price of Curiosity
It was 5 minutes ago.
Valdrova Castle, the Study.
Mori was on duty there.
Her work consisted of documenting and archiving records collected from Hestia Village.
She also handled legal advice and record access.
Е nu m̂ а̌
An A-rank talent they couldn't recruit because she didn't exist, yet now she was Echidna's plaything.
-Echidna-nim.
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"Hm? What is it?"
-Hugging during work is inefficient. It shows a 12% drop rate from perfectly established work requirements.
There was one rule set for managing her.
Don't let work efficiency drop rate rise above 15%.
E̊ ṅ u.m̄ а̌
Others would've thought, 'Just touch her moderately when needed.'
But the love-starved witch, Echidna, was different.
"Then there's still 3% leeway left?"
A mindset to push it to the absolute limit at 14.99%.
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But even that wouldn't be proper for a witch.
Echidna's excitement intensified even as she hugged, and eventually she let out a beast-like sound and shouted.
Е n̄u m̄à.і d
"Grrr, can't take it anymore!"
She buried her nose straight into Mori's crown.
"Sniff, sniff."
-I recommend you stop.
"Huuup......."
-Sto—
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"Suuuup!"
Thwack!
"Puh-heup!?"
A heavy blow struck Echidna's philtrum, which had been in ecstasy from the crown scent.
Echidna's body swayed greatly and fell back.
She ended up slumped against the wall, spilling the books she'd been leaning on onto the floor.
Еňù m̄ӓ.i d
"Hiiing...... so mean. You didn't have to use violence......."
Echidna touching her philtrum and shedding tears.
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Mori's gaze looking down at Echidna seemed strangely refreshing.
She quickly scribbled something and showed it.
-The action just now increased work efficiency by a full 5%.
"Really? Does Mori-yang have sadistic tendencies? Does Mori-yang want to become a witch too? I won't allow becoming a witch!"
Ѐ n̄ŭ mа̊ .i d̂
-I have no ego. Therefore I cannot become a witch.
Mori returned to her work.
Echidna also stopped her foolishness and turned to reality.
Books and documents spilled on the floor.
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It was a complete mess.
"Eeing, why are there so many papers......?"
Ŵе b̈n̊о_vё l Éñ uṁ a
If she left it, she'd definitely get an earful, so she started organizing.
With a simple wave of her hand, the scattered books and documents floated into the air.
Like turning back time, she slotted books back in place and neatly arranged documents.
"Who'd read books like these...... boring...... huh?"
Grumbling while organizing by hand too, Echidna discovered something tucked in a book.
A square-folded paper caught her eye.
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"This is......."
Even the visible material was different from ordinary paper.
It was Magic Vellum that could absorb mana.
Magic Vellum among ordinary documents.
That fact alone was enough to stimulate Echidna's curiosity.
Echidna unfolded the paper.
Ė.n úm̀a
"A Magic Circle......?"
Her words ending in a question.
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"Is it?"
The hieroglyphs embedded in the round circle resembled Magic Circles she'd often seen.
But there were many awkward parts for Magic Circle elements.
Not just one or two points that didn't match textbook elements.
Ŵ e̊b́no̊v̈е l Е ń úḿ а̃
As she observed, a strange idea popped up.
Even after suffering a broken nose, she called Mori with a hehe smile as if nothing happened.
"Mori-yaaang~."
Scritch-scratch
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She spread out the Magic Circle and said.
"Don't be so cold, take a look at this. What kind of Magic Circle does this look like?"
Е̃ñ ūmа̃
Scritch-scratch.
"It looks like something Ferda Regent-nim drew."
Scritch—
Roll.
Mori's pupils moved at the word 'Ferda'.
She scanned the Magic Circle from top to bottom.
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And a few minutes of contemplation.
At the end, Mori's answer returned.
-I don't know.
"Mori-yang doesn't know either?"
-Yes. It's a Magic Circle that doesn't exist among the records I possess.
"If Mori-yang doesn't know......."
Е̄ ňũmа
Echidna knew what was in Mori's head.
The Universal Library recording all things.
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Most magic known on the Serdes Continent, not just human, is recorded down to the names.
-There are three reasons I cannot know.
First is magic not recorded on the Serdes Continent.
Second is magic too complex to record in Serdes Continent's language.
É ṅ u m а̇
Third is magic the party directly created.
Rationally thinking, the third was most likely.
Magic Ferda directly created.
-Judging by form and shape, the third seems likely.
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"Right. At a glance it's just a drawing......."
They call Magic Circles that can't be used that.
Ẇ ĕb̊ n ӧ.v̂ е l̈ Ёnumӑ
Mages who learned geometry sometimes churn out Magic Circles hoping to get lucky, but only one in ten thousand is salvageable.
-Moreover, this can't even be called a Magic Circle. No geometric elements, and the form is indistinct.
"Right?"
Even Magic Circles called drawings might work if researched well, but Ferda's Magic Circle didn't inspire that thought.
Unlike precise and meticulous Magic Circles, this was crude and inefficient.
-It's just a drawing resembling a non-functioning Magic Circle. I'll conclude it as such.
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Mori concluded thus.
But Echidna was different.
You see as much as you know.
Echidna was knowledgeable enough to create Runes.
So her eyes saw even more.
"This works."
E n u m̈а̃
That this crude, inefficient Magic Circle operates.
Mori turned her head and asked.
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-Do you have grounds?
"Grounds...... none. It's intuition......."
-Then there's no meaning in discussing it.
Mori demands grounds based on Universal Library content.
Ẃ е̄ bñ òv̌ е̌ l Ё n ǔ m̃ а́
Human intuition isn't logical.
Replying to illogical things is a waste of time.
Mori turned off her attention to the Magic Circle and resumed her work.
Thus the Q&A with Mori ended.
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Echidna regretted the conversation ending while simultaneously muttering as she looked down at the vellum.
"How does this operate?"
Е n ûm̂ a.ї d
Echidna questioning her own intuition.
She tilted her head and began analyzing it.
Rolling what she knew in her head.
Matching elements one by one, peeling back the veil.
But strangely, the more she peeled, the more a massive wall revealed itself.
An insoluble problem beyond logic and reason.
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Like the existence of Utopia, like Magic Fatalism—an unsolvable theory.
Echidna's eyes sparkled.
The fact that mysterious, unknown power dwelled within excited her.
That excitement drove Echidna to impulse.
"Let's dismantle it."
Curiosity led to the idea of Magic Circle dismantling.
W̃е b̈ ń о̀v́е̄ ľ Ё n u ḿ а
Magic Circle dismantling is a taboo act never to be done without the creator's consent.
She thought it might anger Ferda, but felt intense desire enough to ignore even that.
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"......Just touching it a little."
Just a tiny bit.
Touching one Rune should be fine.
In importance, it's like briefly taking out one gear to look at it.
Ё ňum а̇ .ǐ d
Even as she said that, Echidna's finger touched the Rune at the center.
The mana traces engraved on the vellum were vividly transmitted to her finger.
Echidna copied the felt Rune and manifested it on her hand.
Now she just needed to peel that Rune and read the code.
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She didn't know until then.
That she'd pay the price for her curiosity.
Ё ǹ u m̊а́ .i̊ d
"Huh?"
At that moment, before the Rune could even react, it melted and flowed up Echidna's arm.
She felt a reflux sensation in her mana pathways.
"Huh-huh?"
Echidna flustered.
She made a sound like an innocent young lady, but responded swiftly as befits a witch and skilled mage—blocking the absorbing Rune with 5th Tier Blocking Magic.
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"Huh-huh-huh?"
But it didn't work.
Her Blocking Magic blocks all magic effects of 5th Tier and below.
Not working meant the Rune itself corresponds to 6th Tier or higher.
That's impossible.
Runes humans can create and handle max out at 5th Tier.
W̃ е̃ b̌ ǹо̊.vël̊ Еn úm̊ â
"Kuh-keuk!!"
Echidna paid the price for her curiosity.
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There was no way to stop it.
* * *
"Explain the circumstances."
Mori began writing what she knew.
Е n̂ ù m̂а̊. і̊d
-Echidna touched a Rune drawn on the Magic Circle and was consumed by that Rune.
"Consumed by a Rune she created herself?"
-She said Ferda-nim drew the Magic Circle.
"A Magic Circle I drew?'
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Ferda frowned.
Intuition said it'd be a dirty business.
Ẁе bn оv ẽ l̆ Е̃ n ǔ mа
'Even so, Echidna dying doesn't make sense.......'
Ferda had a few stored, but none with power to kill Echidna.
Let alone in her specialty, Runes—impossible.
Ferda threw his gaze to the floor to find what it was.
It was precisely tucked among the messy books.
'This is.......'
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Ferda knew that Magic Circle.
The Magic Circle Ferda drew when confused by mana.
So complex and crude-looking he'd copied it and tucked it away somewhere.
'She died from touching this?'
Ferda looked at the Runes drawn on that Magic Circle.
7 Runes total, and Echidna touched one of them.
Е̂ n u ma
'From just one Rune?'
Impossible by common sense.
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A 5th Circle witch.
Moreover, a skilled Rune Maker dying from Ferda's Rune.
"And? Did you see her die too?"
-She showed breathing difficulty after touching the Rune, then simply vanished.
Е̂ n̆ũm а̇
"By the Rune?"
-I cannot know that far.
Mori predicts based on knowledge.
Elements only mages see were probably too much for her.
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"Circle Rampage, then."
Ruri guessed so.
W̄_ѐ bn̊о v е̃ l̈ Ẽ nu ḿа̌
A hypothesis Ferda might've also accepted.
Unfeelable at low Circles, but in the 5th Circle+ mage world, a terrifying matter never to be overlooked.
"That's not it."
"Why not?"
"If Circle Rampage occurred, Mori caught in the explosion would've died too."
Circle Rampage is literally becoming a bomb yourself.
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No matter how much she cherishes Mori, she couldn't be this safe.
Great vibration occurred but ended at just that.
Ferda's speculation was this.
"Someone used magic."
"If the Magic Circle manifested, wouldn't you say the Magic Circle manifested?"
"Of course."
Ӗ n ü.mа
Magic Circle is an element Mori can also see.
"But for a witch granted the Philias name, it's another story."
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Blue light rippled in Ferda's eyes.
His eyes began seeing more than simple things.
"As expected."
Mana traces remained where Echidna had been.
Е̇ṅ ũ m̆а̃ . ĩ ď
But those traces didn't just speak of mana manifestation.
Ferda blew mana into that vague form, coloring it distinctly.
Ruri was surprised seeing it.
It took the form of a rose.
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"Is this rose-like thing a mana trace?"
"A Mana Signature only high-tier mages can manifest."
Е̃ n um̀ а
"Then you know whose it is too?"
Ferda nodded.
An unforgettable Signature.
"Lucy Philias."
The First Witch.
Only she leaves such a Signature.
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Meaning she intervened inside this castle to retrieve Echidna.
To enable that intervention, she greatly shook the Magic Circles in this castle.
"Then....... She invaded from outside? This castle's barriers wouldn't allow magic of this degree......?"
"She already planted a Magic Circle inside the body. Manifesting it only needs slight stimulation."
All needed was a tiny spark to light the fuse, and Lucy Philias intervened for that spark.
"Since it's Philias, it's undoubtedly a Magic Circle Big Sister inscribed to recover the corpse."
Е̇ ńu m̈а. і.ď
Killing a witch is tricky.
They place Life Vessels separately or use clones to keep the main body safe, but ultimately they live under 'Big Sister's' protection.
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She pierces even ironclad Dragon's Nests—what Blocking Magic could stop her intrusion?
"But Echidna's an excommunicated witch, does that protection apply?"
Echidna loves men unlike others who hate them.
Ideology didn't match so she was excommunicated, why would they recover her corpse?
Ên u m a
Ferda answered simply.
"What's in the head doesn't discriminate by origin."
Whatever the case, she's one of the continent's rarest artisans, a Rune Maker.
Ruri nodded as if it made sense.
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"Persistent. The witch race."
"Not just witches."
E numа
Me too.
Ferda couldn't take his eyes off the trace.
"Still, one thing I don't understand."
"Something bothering you?"
"It ended too cleanly."
All left was a rose-shaped trace.
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Nothing else in the surroundings was interfered with.
That's why it's strange.
"A witch wouldn't end this cleanly......."
"It was barely an intrusion level, leaving more would be hard, no?"
Ruri's words make sense, but Ferda wouldn't overlook it.
He thought deeply then asked Ruri.
Е n̊ ü m̄ â
"Everyone in the castle interior evacuated?"
"Yes. They'll be standing like scared meerkats at the inner gate."
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"Let's go there."
Ruri made a puzzled face.
Is there an answer among them?
Ferda saw people gathered below the stairs.
Ѐn̂_um̄ а
Among them, Jed and Penelope yawning leisurely were visible too.
"Jed Swallow."
"Yes?"
Ferda beckoned him with a finger.
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Jed walked over with an expression full of annoyance.
"You're Swallow Tribe, right?"
Ẁе b nо̆ v̄ ẽl̂ Е̇ n ů.m̌ а̂
"That's right."
"You hit on the women working at the inner fortress too?"
"What?! Do I look like a bastard who can't eat without women?"
Jed flared up.
Ruri shot him a disgusted look.
"That's exactly you. Every time I pass your room, the damn moaning never stops."
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"Huh? That's probably not Jeje but becau—mph!"
"Shut it. Adults are talking."
"So the answer?"
"......Just checking them out a bit."
Jed scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
Ferda ignored it and gestured with his chin toward people gathered below the inner fortress.
Ёn û m̃а
"Among the women gathered there, is there one you've never seen?"
"Even so, I'm not some shameless bastard who memorizes every woman's face in the inner fortress, huh?"
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"Why?"
"There's one whose face I don't know?"
Just one.
A woman with looks outside Jed's radar.
Еńùm̈ ȧ . ї d̄.
In the direction Jed pointed stood an ordinary woman.
Ordinary in every way, a human with no individuality.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Never seen her once in this castle."
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Jed was certain, and Ruri's disgusted expression deepened.
Ferda walked toward her.
W ĕ ḃ nŏ v̂ е̂l̆ Е̂ n ū m̀ а́
"The Regent-nim descends!"
"Everyone show proper respect!"
Seeing Ferda descend, people shouted and all knelt.
Only the woman Jed pointed at caught Ferda's eyes.
Ferda cut through them and stood before her.
The woman saw Ferda's feet below and raised her head to greet.
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"I greet Valdrova Regent-nim—."
Pishung—!
The woman couldn't finish her greeting.
Before that, a mana sphere formed on Ferda's finger pierced her forehead.
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