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Chapter 32
Let Me Make a Proposal
Nameless Rural Village.
Inside a mansion that was lavish in a way that clashed with him, a man was smiling with satisfaction.
"By now, the Assassination Squad should have arrived."
Helus was in a good mood.
He knew what kind of bastards the Assassination Squad were.
Е ñu m̄ а̂ ..і̌d́
Nasty bastards who were better off given a little money and sent away rather than shaken off.
Having such connections was a blessing.
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"Once I get that bitch back...... it'd be better to throw my lot in with the Empire side."
The only reason he'd maintained neutrality was because there was a risk of his identity being exposed.
If that girl got kidnapped once more, it'd be a disaster.
'Come to think of it, does that bastard called Ferda Valdrova know what that child is?'
Еn̆ū m ӑ
There's no way to find out that girl's identity.
For that girl, rules are absolute.
She was made to listen to no one but Helus Povidas's words, so she was nothing but an idiot who couldn't even understand speech.
If she's safely returned, it means he doesn't know the girl's use.
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'Phew, it'll work out.'
He opened the whiskey and poured it into a crystal glass.
Ē ńu m а
At that moment, a carriage stopped.
He casually lifted the curtain and looked outside.
It was a very welcome face.
'Sir Karl!'
Helus ran out barefoot to greet him.
"Welcome! Sir Karl!"
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"......."
"Hahaha, to think you'd visit at this late hour. How did the mission go?"
"......."
"Why isn't this person saying anything? Huh? Since you came all this way, let's at least have a drink. How's the child?"
"Get in."
"Get in? Uh, yeah, sure."
E̊ n ù m̂ ӑ
Helus got into the carriage.
No one was in the plush luxury carriage.
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Karl got in and closed the door.
"......Depart."
The carriage moves.
Helus's eyes went wide.
Е̇n̆ ũ m̂ а
"Sir Karl, where are we going?"
"......."
"Say something! Th-this is kidnapping, isn't it!"
Helus thrashed about.
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But Karl just sat there without a word.
"So that's how it is!? Fine, do as you please! I'll never go to the Empire anyway, so know that!"
Е n̂ u̇mа̄
"......Haa."
Karl, who had been sitting quietly, let out a deep sigh.
Karl raised his head, and at the same time raised his hand.
Smack!
His calloused palm was no different from a club.
"Ack!"
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"Shut up, you pig bastard."
"Th-this is...... what are you doing, Sir Karl?"
"What do you mean what am I doing."
Smack!
"Can't you grasp the situation? It's because of that girl you told me to bring that things turned out like this, you know?"
"The kid? You said you'd use that kid for a good cause—."
Е̇ n̂ um а
"Like I give a damn!"
Smack!
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"I!"
Smack!
"Came here because of that shit, you son of a bitch!"
It was nothing but violence to vent his anger, but the logic was sufficient to make Helus docile.
Wе b̈n̄о̆ v̊ е l̊ Ёn ŭ m̃_ă
Helus's mouth was torn up, and he dripped a nosebleed.
"Anyway, thanks to you giving me that kid's composite sketch, you're in a situation where you can't back out either, so just come along quietly."
Karl let out a sigh toward the sky.
Shit, why am I doing this.
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Karl swallowed his lament and threw his body against the backrest.
Helus was dragged along, sitting with worldly meekness.
Ŵ ěb n.о̇v̌ е l̂ Е́ n̈um̊ á
Questions piled up inside, but Helus decided not to care.
Anyway, there's no way for him to escape this situation.
Because he's not a Sage.
After moving aimlessly, the carriage stopped.
His body was lifted like luggage and moved somewhere.
The place he was dragged to was an audience chamber of an old castle.
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Red carpet connected the floor, and banners with the red dragon seal hung on the walls.
Under that banner stood a single young man, blue with youth.
"Do you know who I am?"
Helus was seeing him for the first time today.
But this situation right now, or the aura he was giving off, moved his lips on their own.
"Fe, Ferda Valdrova......."
Ё ñ u̇ m а̂ .і̄d̂.
"That's informal speech."
"Th...... I greet the Regent of Valdrova."
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Wasn't he an 18-year-old brat Regent?
But he was completely different from what he'd heard.
This moment of looking up at him felt like facing a giant.
He'd been a brat who even resisted Karl, but he couldn't even dare to breathe against Ferda.
Е n̄um а._і̂d̄.
Next to him stood a girl he'd seen once before.
His precious young maidservant he'd cherished.
The source of knowledge he'd tried so hard to find.
'Was she such a beautiful girl?'
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When he'd left her with that fat woman, he hadn't known at all.
With her hair neatly combed and dressed in proper clothes, she was nothing short of a young noble lady.
Е́ nũmá
"You're the Sage of Water, right?"
"Sage of Water my ass...... I'm just a Magic Worker no better than a shut-in old man in a back room."
"Thought you were just stupid, but you're smarter than I thought."
At that answer, Ferda let out a genuine exclamation of admiration.
"Is your servant dead?"
"......Yes."
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"Right. Anyone would find it unforgivable if their precious thing is taken. Even I'd find it hard to forgive, wouldn't I?"
"What is there to forgive? The sin was committed by this foolish one."
"What sin?"
"......."
"Saying you committed a sin but not knowing that sin is bearing false witness, isn't it? I hate empty words."
He forcibly spits out words he absolutely never wanted to say with his own mouth.
Еn̊ ūm̃а̊. і̂d́
"My sin is that I used a child to pretend I was a Sage and ran my mouth."
Helus bowed his head.
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"So...... please, just spare my life."
He politely observes etiquette and submits.
But what reflects in Ferda's eyes is indifference.
A face that feels no value whatsoever whether he lives or dies.
Е̂num̃ а̌
"You've lived pretending to be a Sage, but you're still smart. So I believe you'll know this well too."
Ferda asked into his ear.
"Do you think you can survive here?"
"......."
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"Those who've tasted power never forget that taste. That's why power struggles are the most vicious and dirty. How big was the power you tasted?"
"......."
W е b̆ ñоv̇ е̄ l Е̇n ûm а̄
"You're respected in the village, and even the Empire wants you. Think you can turn your back on that and leave?"
"I, I can forg—."
"No, if I send you off like this, you'll move to seek power. Not because you're stupid, but because you're human."
His whole body trembled.
Even in the chilly weather, sweat poured like rain.
Ah, I'm going to die here.
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"So let me make you a proposal you can't refuse."
All fear vanished and a single ray of light fell.
Helus raised his head.
"Don't you want to live as a Sage?"
"Wh-what...... do you mean?"
Ferda placed on the floor an item he'd kept in his bosom.
Ѐ n ū ṁа
It was a crystal ball.
"It's a Communication Crystal. A high-grade crystal ball containing the Essence of Perennial Ice from the deepest part of the Northern Snowy Mountains. Better material than the Empire's. Of course, amateurish things can't even dream of wiretapping or tracking, and even Imperial mages can't do it."
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He tapped the crystal ball and continued.
"What's connected inside is Mori's Spirit."
"Mori, you say......?"
"It's the name of this young lady you had with you."
Е̃ n̆.ů mа. іd
Ferda lightly tapped Mori's shoulder.
The girl reacted to that voice.
It had truly become her name.
"You want this child's knowledge. So live as a Sage as you wish. You can drown in pleasure at night, and give out wisdom that doesn't even work during the day."
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What he proposes is a life no different from usual.
It was what he'd wanted so badly, but he couldn't dare bite eagerly at it.
E ǹ u m̌à
Because a sweet reward comes with a fatal price.
"What do I have to give?"
"Your soul."
Everything.
"Become my dog."
Helus hated getting entangled with people.
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Because it was obvious his true colors would be revealed immediately.
But there was something he hated even more.
Losing his money.
Losing his reputation.
What supported all that was power.
Losing power meant losing everything.
Е.n̆ ǔm а̃ . іd
Ferda's words were right.
He was already craving the power he'd enjoyed.
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He was already power's dog, and for that he'd do anything.
Even if it's a demon or whatever.
That's why Helus bowed his head once more.
"I will become your loyal dog."
E ṅu ḿ а̇
* * *
Ferda went down to the castle basement.
Echidna's laboratory was on the castle floor.
Opening the door, the witch's gloom flows out like eerie mist.
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The difference is there's no witch-like herb room smell or bubbling cauldrons, only ink smell and stone dust smell filling the place.
"Welcome, Regent-nim!"
W̄ еbň о́v е l̄ Еñ û m а
Echidna welcomes him with a goofy grin.
She runs over like a large dog greeting its owner.
The difference is she emits a gloomy aura that makes even Ferda flinch.
"How did the contract go?"
"Ah, of course it went well! I put the dog collar on just as you said, Regent-nim! Ehehe, at first you said you needed a collar to tie up a big dog wearing silver armor, so I wondered what it was, but I never knew it was a knight!"
Echidna laughing goofily like an idiot.
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Actually, when he said he needed a 'collar to tie up an armored dog,' she'd brought a real dog collar.
From then on, Ferda stopped using metaphors when talking with Echidna.
"Where's the contract?"
"He, here it is!"
Echidna took out the stored contract and showed it to Ferda.
Ferda glanced at the contents, then asked Echidna.
Ẇ е̇_b̈n о̃ v̈е̊l Ẽ n ů m̆ ā
"Do you understand these contents?"
"Hehe, there's a ton written but I don't understand a single thing about what it says~."
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Echidna scratching her head sheepishly.
If you had to pick things that handle nasty contract magic well, it's demons and witches, after all.
But there's an exception to everything.
The reason Echidna couldn't make a boyfriend in the first place was because she couldn't make clever contract clauses or inescapable procedures.
W̄ е̌b nо́ v е l Е̂ ñ ŭ m̄ а
'Because that was hard, she made an unprecedented Learning Golem...... huh.'
The type where she took the hard road because the easy one was difficult, and that road turned out to be the answer.
Even thinking about it now, it was an absurd thing.
Anyway, Echidna conducted the contract itself, but Mori was in charge of writing the contract's contents.
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The Universal Library inside her head.
Inside were copies of contracts written by demons.
Ẽnuṁӓ .ĭ d̀
Ferda instructed her to create clauses based on that, and Mori succeeded in creating it over 3 hours.
'A true dog collar is complete.'
Thus he gained two dogs.
A dog infiltrated into the Empire, and a dog smarter and stupider than expected.
Ferda placed the contract on Echidna's desk with a satisfied face.
"How's the Golem production going?"
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"That is...... should I say it's still a ways off......?"
Looking at the Golem assisting her, it still hadn't progressed beyond the level of watching Echidna's face and pouring tea.
If there was any visible development, it was that the face's form was changing from a crude drawing bit by bit.
It wasn't clear yet, but that was undoubtedly becoming Zed Swallow.
Ferda watched it quietly and asked casually.
"You're not just obsessed with carving the face, are you?"
Ẽ ňu m̆а̂
"Eeeek! Th-th-that's not it! The exterior is something I touch whenever I think 'oh, this doesn't come to mind~'?!"
Her flustered state was suspicious as hell, but Ferda didn't press her right now.
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'The process of compressing sentences into Runes itself is hard work, and she's a witch who can pull it off.'
It was work that couldn't produce immediate results, so Ferda didn't particularly intend to blame her for slacking.
"Keep up the good work from now on too."
"Yes, I understand. But, Regent-nim?"
Е́ ń ũ ḿ ä. і̆d
She stopped him as he tried to leave after finishing business.
"Why?"
"Th, you've reached 3rd Circle, right? Because the energy I roughly see now is stronger than before."
"That's right."
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"Then how about trying Attribute Finding once?"
Echidna proposed, holding up the Magic Crystal on her desk.
W̄e b̆ n̆ ǒv е̃ l̂ En um̊ä
Attribute Finding, huh.
It was something he hadn't heard in a long time.
"By Attribute Finding, you mean finding the attribute I possess?"
"Now that you've reached 3rd Circle, it's also to find your magical path. Mages all do it once, don't they?"
3rd Circle, Magic Walker.
Full-fledged magic-like magic pours out, and the process of substituting magic to command and transform elements begins.
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From there, they start Attribute Finding, and Ferda had measured it once around that time too.
Attribute Finding is treated as something close to a pastime.
For Blue Circle owners, it just ends with lightly finding out 'oh, this attribute is a bit higher.'
Because mana's nature itself is uniform.
But Red Circle owners are different.
Mana based on emotion has almost everything as its attribute.
Ẅ е̄ b ǹ о̃ṽеl Е n ü m̀а̂
"Let me try."
"Ah, then I'll prepare it!"
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Echidna waved her fingers in the air and chanted a spell.
Mana flowing from her fingers draws a magic circle in midair.
And that magic circle gradually shrinks, shines intensely, and transforms into a fixed form.
A Rune was created.
Ẅ.е̂b̃ň о̂v е l̃ Еnü m а
Even a simple thing like this would take a month's work, but this woman created it on the spot.
Truly a Rune Maker.
Echidna embedded that Rune into the Magic Crystal.
"Here it is!"
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"Thanks."
Ferda picked up the Magic Crystal.
Е̇ ńu m̃ а. іd́
He knew how to use it.
When Ferda's mana reacts to the Rune, it will take on color and form inside the crystal through the Rune.
'Was I Darkness and Electricity back then?'
Two attributes formed based on hatred.
Darkness has high destructive power.
Electricity is magic with high speed and penetration.
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Ferda's magic combining those two strengths couldn't be blocked by anyone.
'It'll be different now.'
My heart then and now are different.
As proof, Ferda's magical power can suppress Valdrova now, can't it?
Surely the attribute changed from before too, so the path will be different as well.
Ferda watched his mana react.
Е́ n um̊а́ . i ď
Mana reacts to the Rune, causing a chemical reaction inside the crystal.
If you handle fire, you see surging flames.
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If you handle water, blue water droplets form, rippling.
What appeared before Ferda's eyes was not those things.
The inside of the crystal was dyed pitch black.
A color that seemed to devour everything in existence.
È n̈umӓ
It was terribly familiar to Ferda.
'Darkness.......'
And within that, faint blue sparks bouncing up.
"Oh my, you have Electricity too?"
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Nothing had changed.
No, if I had to say what changed.
Е ň ůmа
'Was it...... this dark before?'
The inside of the Magic Crystal was even darker than what he'd seen back then.
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