EP.86 Crazy dog and crazy maid (1)
Nekelt, court wizard under the First Prince.
“······.”
He narrowed his eyes. He closed the magic book he was reading and stretched out his arms. He dragged the crystal ball from the corner of the desk.
The crystal ball that is supposed to reflect the image of the star palace is stained black. This is evidence that the circuit is broken.
‘···Was there an omen?’
There was no omen. It also didn’t show anyone touching the circuit. This means that the circuit was dismantled without the familiar having time to react.
“That’s strange.”
“Is this the same for you?”
The court wizards nearby added one word at a time. It’s not just Nekelt’s familiar. All connections between the familiars planted in the villa have been cut off.
“···Were there any signs?”
“There wasn’t one.”
“There was no reaction.”
Hmm, Nekelt sighed and smoothed his chin.
The time it takes for the familiar to react is about 5 seconds. The fact that no one felt anything wrong means that the circuit was destroyed within 5 seconds of touching it.
‘That’s impossible.’
Nekelt asserts:
It’s a circuit carved by royal wizards.
‘That too must be a circuit hidden between the cracks and crevices of the circuit, and you dismantle it in 5 seconds?’
It can’t be possible.
It is a monitoring circuit inserted into the gap of the protection circuit that protects the villa. If you touch it incorrectly, even the protection circuit will be destroyed at once.
Pinpointing and dismantling just the monitoring circuit is a difficult task even for magic tower master level wizards.
‘Unless even a dark magic tower master who only studies circuit engraving and disassembly comes… it’s a difficult task.’
And, as far as Nekelt remembers, there has been no contact between the Dark Tower lord and the princess. I have never seen the Dark Tower lord step into the royal family.
Then there is only one possibility left.
“…It looks like they did some mana experiments at the villa.”
“Isn’t this a palace where mad dogs live? “It looks like he’s done something strange again.”
“It looks like they did some anti-mana experiment, but it was useless.”
An anti-mana experiment that blows up circuits.
It seems that while conducting such an experiment, the protection circuit that protects the villa and even the monitoring circuit were destroyed.
Why did you do that?
The reason was not difficult to guess.
“I guess you thought something like that would remove the spell that was eating away at my body?”
“It’s as if the monitoring circuit just blew up.”
The first princess, Leruel, must have also noticed this.
That something strange had happened to his body, and that this strange thing was related to some kind of magical means.
‘So this is all you did?’
The court wizards cannot hold back their laughter. They make fun of the princess.
“You can see it as my last struggle before I die. “How many days are left until that circuit is activated?”
“I think there are about three days left. By now, it must be slowly eating away at the princess’s body. “This is a circuit delivered directly by the First Prince, so its performance is certain.”
It is a circuit whose origin is unknown.
However, its performance has been proven.
‘It leaves no magical traces and it is impossible to destroy the circuit with any spell.’
That’s the scariest thing.
Once the circuit is activated, the spell in the preliminary stage cannot be observed by any means.
Unobservable spell.
A spell that leaves no magical traces.
It slowly, very slowly suffocates the target. Slowly but surely drives the target to death. There is no escape from it.
The court wizards let out a bitter laugh.
“I’m going to die soon.”
“It would be quite a sight to see the arrogant bitch who barked like a mad dog without even knowing the subject dying helplessly.”
The court wizards know very well what kind of person their master is.
1st Prince, Isaac.
He never ignores those who reveal their teeth to him. Even if it is a brother or sister who shares blood with oneself.
‘That’s right, I should have lived like a rat.’
The first princess, Leruel, crossed a line that should not be crossed. The only penalty for interfering with Isaac’s plan is death.
“So, what will the supervisory circuit do? “If possible, I want to see that arrogant princess gasping for air and dying up close.”
To that question, Nekelt shrugged his shoulders and said.
“It’s a problem that can be solved by sneaking in at night and leaving a rough note.”
In his opinion, it wasn’t that difficult.
2.
“Ah, it’s a sashimi from the ancient kingdom.”
“What?”
“It’s tricky. I don’t think you can handle it right away? “It seems like the activation date is three days later…”
The first princess, Lruel, blinked.
Now, what is the professor in front of me saying? She’s rarely embarrassed, but she feels like she’s having a lot of surprises these days.
Lruelle looks blankly at the professor.
The professor blinks his eyes and tilts his head.
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‘···What did I just hear?’
Accidents cannot keep up with the situation.
Leruelle slowly traced the situation from before. She closed her eyes and replayed in her mind the conversation she had just had with the professor.
It certainly started with the professor’s question.
-Why three days?
Why did the escort period last three days?
Leruel, who guessed that the time had finally come to explain to the professor who asked that question, put down his quill. He then lifted his long hair and showed the nape of his neck to the professor.
-Do you see this symbol?
The nape of the neck covered by platinum hair.
There is a black pattern engraved on the nape of the neck. As soon as this pattern appeared, Lruel felt his own death.
‘It was the pattern that appeared on my sisters.’
A week before the 2nd and 3rd princesses died, patterns like this appeared on their bodies. As the patterns became darker, they became weaker.
After suffering a lot, it was the 7th day.
They faced death.
-Me too. My strength is fading away. Four days have passed since the pattern appeared, so I think the remaining time is about three to four days.
While the two princesses died, no one could figure out what this symbol was. So, Lruelle did not bother to reveal that the pattern had appeared on her.
Because he was making a fuss, it was clear that his actions would be restricted.
Lruelle decided to look outside for answers. The person who called out like that was the professor in front of me. Le Ruel smiled bitterly, showing the back of his neck.
‘There’s no way you can find the answer easily.’
After thinking that, Lruelle lowered the hair she was holding. The hair is flowing and covers the nape of the neck.
-I don’t expect to find the answer easily. You have three days. If you only find the answer within…
The moment I muttered that and looked back.
-Oh, this is it.
The professor said calmly.
-It’s a circuit from the ancient kingdom.
As if it wasn’t that difficult.
‘···What on earth is this?’
After finishing recovery, Lruelle slowly opened her eyes. In front of her is a professor who is tilting his head. Looking at her, Le Ruel opened her mouth.
“···What did you just say, professor?”
“I told you it was a circuit from the old kingdom.”
“Can I interpret that to mean that you know what this is? “Where on earth did you find out about this?”
“Experience on the battlefield… no, experience… I heard it from wizards who experienced the battlefield.”
The professor stuttered and looked away. Le Ruel frowned. His eyes were telling lies.
‘···Not everything said is a lie.’
It only smells like a lie when you mention the source. Lruel took a step closer to the professor.
“···Why are you looking away? Look at me. professor.”
“yes?”
“If the source is difficult, I won’t bother to ask. “It’s not an important issue anyway.”
“·····.”
“Do you know what this symbol is?”
The professor nodded slowly.
“It is a circuit used in the old kingdom that was now destroyed, and it is a circuit used by the magic unit on the battlefield. “It seems like more effort was put into concealing it than that…”
“Please explain in detail.”
“Well, if you look at the gist of it, it’s like this.”
She touched the back of her neck.
“The parasitic circuit in the cervical spine activates the circuit at the expense of the parasitic target’s vitality. In fact, this is closer to a summoning circuit than a spell circuit.”
“···Summoning circuit?”
“By any chance, when the two princesses passed away, didn’t a magical beast or something appear?”
“···About two days after his death, several demon beasts kept outside the royal palace were released and there was an incident where they were killed.”
“That’s probably not a demonic beast raised by the royal family.”
said the professor.
She gives the answer so easily. There is no hint of her telling a lie in those words. What is felt instead of lies is confidence.
“It’s a circuit that summons demonic beasts using life force as a medium, that is. “This is my first time seeing this used for assassination… So the type of summoning must be the Ghost type.”
“…That means, Professor.”
Lruelle frowned.
“Does this mean that my sister’s younger siblings died after having their life force sucked out by the summoning of a mere demonic beast?”
“That will happen. “It seems like the entire load on the circuit is passed on to the parasitic target.”
“Snap,” Leruel gritted his teeth.
If you think about it that way, the answer seems to be roughly correct. Le Ruelle didn’t just let go of her hand and watch. She also did a lot of research to uncover the truth behind her sisters’ deaths.
Traces of pieces like a puzzle.
Under the assumption that the professor’s guess is correct, we piece together the traces. The puzzle is complete. Information is connected so easily.
“aha.”
Lruel lets out a laugh.
Is that so, is that what happened? Muttering that, she stared straight at the professor.
“Can you handle this?”
“You can still do it now, but you said it’s been about 4 days since the pattern appeared, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then your vitality has already increased. “We can dismantle the circuit now, but then the vitality that was sucked out won’t come back, right?”
“But it doesn’t matter. “Right now…”
“Princess.”
The professor let out a bitter laugh.
“Having your life force sucked is not something to look at so lightly. The aftereffects remain for a lifetime. “Putting life on the scale is not something to be taken lightly.”
“···You speak in a way that makes you feel like you have experienced it.”
“well.”
The professor avoids answering.
I just smiled bitterly and looked at Lruel. Lruelle faced the professor’s blue eyes.
“Princess.”
The professor slowly opened his mouth.
“You can wait three days. It won’t be difficult. The circuit summons a demonic beast, and right before the demonic beast disconnects from the princess, the problem will end if the demonic beast is killed. If that happens, all the lost life will come back.”
“···In the end, it’s three days.”
Lruelle narrows her eyes and looks at the professor in front of her. He is a person who understood the identity of the circuit in an instant. He revealed what no one else had been able to do, as if it were not that difficult for the professor.
There is confidence in the professor’s eyes.
That confidence is unshakable.
‘···At least, he’s not just a professor.’
Rania van Trias.
Lruel is interested in her. There is a similar atmosphere to those who are hiding a lot of things.
However, Leruel did not delve any further.
‘There’s no need to dig into it.’
There’s no need to ask and reveal something you don’t want to reveal. Le Ruelle nodded her head.
“…You are more capable than I thought.”
I’m just grateful for her competence.
The problem he was worried about was solved so easily that Leruelle felt a little helpless.
“Can you guess who engraved the circuit?”
“There’s no need to guess.”
Lruel said while touching his temple.
“Look, it’s probably the work of the royal wizards who sided with my brother. “It’s obvious even if you don’t look at it.”
“hmm···.”
“I’m worried about what to do with those bastards. I want to just execute him… but there is no conclusive evidence. Even if there is, it is certain that my brother will interfere…”
“Did you say court wizard?”
“…But is that so?”
The professor blinked.
“Then if I leave it alone, it will crawl on its own feet?”
“···What does that mean?”
“Do you want to wait until night?”
She said.
“I think we can catch one or two people.”
3.
A villa covered in darkness.
The court wizard, Nekelt, was heading toward the hallway of the villa with a stealth spell cast.
‘I’ll just engrave it and come out soon.’
I was thinking of rebuilding the broken monitoring circuit. He hid in the villa like that and stopped in front of the hallway.
“·····.”
He blinked.
He is also a court wizard and a capable wizard. He has excellent skills in reading hidden circuits.
In his eyes, the circuit that protects the villa is visible.
I thought it might have been damaged along with the monitoring circuits, but those circuits were fine. Nekelt feels strange about that fact.
‘···Why is that thing okay?’
So, does this mean that only the monitoring circuit was destroyed? Does that make sense? Such questions fill my head. However, that is only for a moment.
‘···Anyway, it won’t be a problem.’
I don’t know how they did it, but it’s a problem that just needs to be re-engraved. Nekelt takes a step forward without hesitation.
It is said that there is a protection circuit that protects the villa, but the people who designed it are court wizards, including Nekelt. It is a circuit that makes only itself an exception.
Even as he passes through the hallway, no circuit is activated. Nekelt approached the hallway of the villa, maintaining his stealth.
Trudging.
Then, I hear footsteps.
As I turn my head, a maid comes into view. It looks like they came to change out the candles that light up the hallway.
Of course, the maid didn’t seem to notice Nekelt.
“·····.”
Nekelt points his finger into the hallway.
He draws out mana and begins to carve a circuit. Mana flows like water and settles in the gap between circuits.
square.
This is the moment to hide the surveillance circuit in the gap.
“Oh, that’s not how you do it.”
Stop.
At the sudden sound of words, Nekelt’s fingers stop. He looks back to where the voice came from.
This is the maid who was changing the candles.
She doesn’t look at Nekelt. She is muttering as she puts down the candle.
“You shouldn’t do that like that…”
Just like Nekelt told me to listen.
‘···what?’
Do you see me?
‘No, it can’t be seen.’
The maid must have gone crazy.
Thinking like that, Nekelt stretches out his finger again.
Tuk.
And this time, I feel something tapping my shoulder. The Necelt whipped his head around. And then I lost my breath.
“Oh my gosh, it’s frustrating.”
The maid, who he didn’t even know was approaching, was looking straight down at him. She sighs as if she is extremely frustrated.
“Hey, that’s not how you engrave it?”
And then he immediately gives advice.
“W-what…!”
“Hey, f*ck. Hey, get out of the way.”
“W-What are you doing? How could I…?”
“Shut up and watch carefully. See, if you do that, everything will be revealed? If you want to hide it, you have to drag a wire from an existing circuit and use it. “If you engrave it like this, it’s crazy, who won’t recognize it?”
I stretched out my hand and grabbed Nekelt’s wrist.
And then, with a jerk, he pulls it.
“Like this.”
Wudduk, wudduk!
I hear the sound of my wrist twisting. I don’t know how such slender fingers come out with such grip strength. In the first place, that’s not the point.
The pain of crushing my wrist.
Nekelt couldn’t bear it anymore and tried to scream.
“Uuuuuuup!”
“Shh.”
Even that doesn’t work out as intended.
The maid’s pure white gloves hold Nekelt’s cheek. She covers her mouth.
“hey.”
Then, he slowly turned his wrist to turn Nekelt’s head towards himself.
“Shall we talk for a moment?”
She grinned.
Candlelight flickers in the darkness. The maid’s face comes into view through the shadows of fire.
It was a smile like the devil
A word from the author (author review)
Attribute: Hunsu-chung (New!)
It’s still…12 o’clock…I’m not waiting…!
