Episode 145. Mana Explosion and Aftershock (3)
At first glance, the Grade 1 Magic Stone looked like an ordinary red gem.
However, this small stone could be designed with countless magic spells, and there was no limit to its capacity.
‘You are free to embed magic in the magic stone. There are no restrictions. However, only the royal family can manifest the designed magic.
Rubin had never even thought of using a magic stone in his previous life. To begin with, his knowledge of mana and magic was shallow.
But this life was different. He was determined to use everything for revenge, even if it was the blood of the royal family he hated.
It was just as Rubin was about to grab the magic stone.
Phew! Phew!
“… … !”
The red glow of the magic stone seemed to deepen, and then suddenly a bursting sound began to pour out.
‘explosion?’
It was clear. The signs of an explosion felt in the darkness.
Even the extent of the explosion’s damage did not seem to be limited to the immediate area. It felt like an explosion that could physically damage beyond the Tower District, perhaps even the entire city.
‘Was it planned for a specific situation?’
If so, it would be related to the treatment of the guardian demon. For example, when the guardian demon’s core was forcibly removed, a separate explosion magic that had been stored in the magic stone in advance might have been activated.
Before the test began, the magical tool was activated and a drop of the royal blood was dropped, so the corresponding manifestation conditions were still valid.
‘How can I stop the explosion?’
Although there was no answer, Rubin acted first. He brought the Blood Frost blade to his other palm.
Thud!
I cut my hand in one breath. Blood started to drip down.
Could it be the blood of the royal family that can nullify explosive magic? I wasn’t sure. But I had no choice but to try.
Knock knock knock knock… … .
Rubin’s blooddrops fell on the magic stone. As more blooddrops were added, the red color of the magic stone seemed to deepen, but the cracking sound remained.
-Shouldn’t we avoid it now?
But Rubin did not move.
How long had it been since those blood drops fell? Finally, the tension in Rubin’s eyes was swept away.
‘I don’t think I’ll have to avoid it. Fortunately, my guess was right.’
-Hmm… … ?
‘The signs of an explosion have subsided. The magic has been nullified.
The drops of blood Rubin shed were soon absorbed into the inside of the magic stone. It could be interpreted that Rubin’s blood was accepted as evidence of the royal family and that the explosion had stopped.
‘I feel like this magic stone has imprinted itself on me. Maybe next time I won’t have to shed any blood.’
At that moment, Rubin heard footsteps near his ears.
‘They’re professors.’
If things were as they were, it would have taken hours to destroy the barrier. However, the barrier he had created had disappeared after the guardian was dealt with.
“Cadet Luden!”
Benitez was the first to approach Rubin. Rubin had already placed two Grade 1 Magic Stones and Blood Frost in his subspace pocket.
He slowly turned towards Benitez. From then on, he started acting tired and scared.
“Luden, what happened?”
Professor Benitez looked at the remains of the guardian beast with astonishment, and later discovered Pondrian’s body.
“T, how is this… … ?”
“I fought the Guardian Demon with Captain Pondrian. While he was concentrating on Captain Pondrian, I found the core and eliminated it.”
“You really removed the nuke?”
“Yes, Captain Pondrian pointed it out to me.”
He didn’t forget to gasp for breath as if he was barely holding on to his life.
It must have been an unbelievable story for Benitez. But if you think about it a little, it’s actually the most believable story.
It was much more realistic than Rubin leisurely removing the monster’s core on his own.
“…Is Cadet Luden okay?”
Rubin nodded his head reluctantly. At that moment, Principal Keegan and other professors and examiners gathered. People seemed greatly shocked by the unexpected tragedy.
“What on earth is going on… … .”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Report to the brigade commander immediately… …!”
Meanwhile, Rubin continued acting.
“Excuse me, Professor. What about my other friends? Dahlia and Eric.”
Rubin pretended not to know and asked, even though he knew through the smoke that they had all woken up and moved safely.
“Both the examiners and the candidates were temporarily unconscious. They all woke up and went outside.”
“Why… why did it become like this?”
“It was a mana explosion accident. I don’t know how it happened. The Jang Education Committee will find out the cause. What on earth happened… … .”
It was Benitez’s sighed reply.
Rubin glanced at the immediate aide of the Education Committee. The expression on the older aide’s face was indescribably despairing.
Well, right now they are at a crossroads where the existence of the organization is at stake.
The test tool was destroyed, and the stomach was dead. From now on, the test will never be taken again.
Even if the Magic Brigade were to create an organization similar to the previous one, there was no guarantee that it would function properly.
The death of the stomach was secondary, but the most fatal thing was the destruction of the magic tool. Even if the Witherspoon family actively cooperated again, it was virtually impossible to create the same level of magic tool as before.
‘The guardian spirit was unexpected, but the income itself isn’t bad.’
Rubin calculated the results in his mind. He had obtained two first-class magic stones, and the test magic tool had been destroyed. The death of Pondrian, who had been a thorn in his side, was a bonus.
In addition, I also obtained the core of the guardian monster. I don’t know where the core will be useful right now, but since it is not a simple monster, it will definitely be useful someday.
‘Of course, it’s inevitable that it’ll be annoying for a while.’
As expected, Principal Keegan, who had approached Rubin, also spoke about that topic.
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“Luden Poinen. Are you okay?”
“Yes, principal.”
“You’ll probably… be out of class for about two weeks. The Wizarding Brigade will be calling you in to investigate the incident.”
As expected, Rubin was indifferent. However, Keegan seemed to think that his reaction was frightening. The large wizard thumped his chest.
“Of course, don’t worry. I will help you as much as I can so that you won’t be treated unfairly. Just be honest and tell me what you saw.”
“Thank you, principal.”
There was nothing to worry about. Even if it wasn’t Principal Keegan, there were plenty of people who would take care of things for Rubin.
The easiest of them all is, of course.
‘The imperial edict will take care of it.’
* * *
Two weeks passed quickly.
During that time, Rubin had to live completely separate from the magic school and Capotini.
The Magic Brigade’s investigation team set up a temporary interrogation center in a village near Capotini and conducted a multi-faceted investigation from morning to evening every day.
While Eric and Dahlia were released after two days as there was no evidence to support their suspicions, Rubin, the sole witness to Pondrian’s death, was unable to escape for over a week.
“Are you having any difficulties?”
“I feel suffocated because I feel trapped. I also wonder how my friends in Capotini are doing.”
“Yes, that makes sense. But there’s still more to investigate.”
The investigator dispatched from the Magic Brigade was a gray-haired magic officer. He was someone who exuded a gentle dignity and dignity in every word he spoke.
As an investigator, his specialty was deep magic. He periodically cast spells on Rubin to make him vomit out the truth, such as bewitchment and confusion, but he was unable to reach Rubin’s depths, which were surrounded by darkness.
“You take especially longer. The Madouin are highly resistant to both magic and magic potions.”
The investigator will never know until his death that it was actually because of the smoke.
Still, he was quite human. He was quite talkative for a member of the Magic Brigade. Of course, it was probably because he had the loose idea that Rubin was just an ordinary kid, but he answered Rubin’s questions kindly.
“I was able to survive thanks to Captain Pondrian. What kind of person was he when he was alive?”
“He was an officer who had high expectations in the Magic Brigade. He was especially trusted by the current brigade commander. However, from what I’ve seen, he was the type whose pride was evident in his attitude. Well, he died while saving a promising magic student, so he’s a worthy role model.”
It was said that Pondrian’s body would be taken to the system and that he would be buried with the proper honors for a soldier. Since the atmosphere was such that he was positioned as a hero, the investigation surrounding Rubin was bound to be less enthusiastic.
Before the return, there had been a massive explosion of mana that resulted in a huge number of deaths, but this time, there were no direct deaths, so the palace inspection team did not even come forward.
If things continued like this, the incident would have been resolved within the Magic Brigade.
“Student Luden Poinen will probably be able to return to school tomorrow.”
“I see, that’s good.”
“Do you know how much Keegan has been nagging you? In fact, it’s me, not you, who thinks, ‘It’s finally over.’”
The old investigator had known Keegan since his days in the Wizard Brigade, and he knew how much Keegan cared for his students as a headmaster.
“Anyway, it seems to be popular.”
“yes?”
The investigator’s attitude was becoming sharper.
“I don’t know how many people are fighting over you, Loudon Poinen. Some of them are burdensome. How should I put it? The pressure from Witherspoon and Youngae is almost like a joke.”
“Chloe came to see me.”
“The sight of the maid trying to stop Young-ae looked quite tiring.”
The scene of Chloe and Celestia’s fight came to mind, and Rubin barely managed to suppress a snicker.
“Who else was there? If Chloe was the one who thought it was a joke, then it must have been some really great people.”
It was clearly an imperial order, but Rubin pretended not to know and asked. The investigator’s eyes became very serious.
“When you act so calmly, it makes me even scarier.”
“… … .”
“…For your information, this conversation right now won’t leave any evidence, so don’t worry. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll be more honest.”
The old investigator leaned forward and brought his face close to Rubin’s. The eyes beneath his white eyebrows were so powerful that they belied his old age.
“To be honest, I secretly checked your background. For your information, with my search authority, I can look into any noble’s background. But I got an unexpected result.”
“What is the result?”
“No access.”
Then the investigator turned his gaze elsewhere. He only touched the corners of the papers on the desk.
“It was the first time in my long career as an investigator that this had happened. To be honest, I was curious. It was a sense of challenge that came with my later years. As expected, the next day, I was pressured in a completely unexpected way. They sensed that I was trying to look into your identity.”
The decree was correct.
The power of the Imperial Order was immense. They were not simply an organization that managed the Assassination Sword. They were like a jointed puppet, with strings running all over the continent.
What was even scarier was that all of this was being done in secret. There was no such organization as the ‘Imperial Command’ within the palace. The head of the Imperial Command, Rulfo, was also hiding his true identity as the ‘Ministry of Unification of the Kingdom’, a seemingly powerless figure.
“The most influential organizations within the palace are the Grand Master’s Office and the Ministry of Magic. Which one is it? The person of the Grand Master’s Office? Or the royal family of another country? A powerful family?”
“Inspector, I am just the son of a third-class noble who became successful in the publishing business and made a fortune to become a noble.”
The investigator nodded. He took a sip of the drink on the table. If you look closely, you can see that his hands are shaking slightly.
“Hmm.”
His previously robust demeanor quickly became tense.
Solidity. From the beginning, it was just the result of him pushing himself hard while sitting across from Luden.
But that was the limit so far.
“Luden Poinen.”
“Yes, investigator.”
“Do you know why I’m telling you all this?”
“I don’t know.”
“I plan to retire from the brigade next year and teach Deep Magic and Potions at the Quatronic School of Magic.”
“If it’s the Quatronic Magic School, then it’s the Mohwi Magic School.”
“It’s my alma mater. My grandchildren will be attending there in my later years… Do you still not understand why I’m telling you this?”
“I don’t know, really.”
Rubin shook his head, but he didn’t know what it meant. The look in the eyes of the frail old wizard sitting before him said it all.
“Having been an investigator for the Wizarding Brigade for decades, my senses have become as sharp as those of a human being. It’s an instinct that allows me to recognize when there is something terrifying and unacceptable.”
Before continuing, he swallowed hard.
“I don’t care how much you were involved in Pondrian’s death. I promise you that the question I briefly entertained will rot in my mouth for the rest of my life.”
“I appreciate your assertion of my innocence, but I don’t understand why you would say that to me.”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m just telling you that my life is really coming to an end now, and that I’ll retire next year and live quietly with my grandchildren. I just want you to think about that.”
The investigator was saying the words, “Please save me,” even though they were not uttered.
But Rubin couldn’t guarantee anything to the old investigator. There were many other people who could have intervened in his life and death.
“You’ve worked hard for 14 days. As soon as the sun rises, you’ll be able to return to Capotini.”
“It’s finally over. Thank you, Investigator.”
Rubin rose from his chair and saluted. He noticed that the old wizard was shaking slightly, but Rubin went out without saying a word.
His fate is known only to the Emperor.
