Episode 60. The Being in the Necklace (1)
Meowowowow.
Chloe and Celestia closed their eyes as they approached the transparent screen. But as the two were trying to focus their minds on the deep sea mana stone, a cat came towards them, meowing loudly.
Chloe opened her eyes and looked down.
“Wow, you want me to hug you right now?”
The cat rubbed its ears repeatedly against Chloe’s ankles.
“I guess so.”
Rubin said casually, pretending not to know. A smile appeared on Chloe’s face, and soon the cat was in Chloe’s arms.
“I thought you were fierce, but you’re actually cute!”
Meanwhile, Rubin, Kuze, and Tina, the three assassins exchanged glances. They all sensed the same thing.
‘perhaps.’
The gloomy aura that had been amplified when facing Actonia was now openly emitting a certain amount of magical energy.
“Oh, so cute!”
“Miss, there might be germs.”
Chloe laughed, burying her face in the noisy cat fur, while Celestia stopped her with a disgusted expression.
“I think he wants the necklace.”
Rubin said something. It was a signal. A signal for Tina to examine the necklace a little more closely.
Tina, who had not paid any attention to the necklace until then, finally raised her claws and touched the part where the necklace and string were connected.
“Really! Do you want to play with this?”
Meow meow.
“Hey, you can’t eat this.”
The epicenter of the gloomy atmosphere. It wasn’t something inside Chloe that sensed danger in Rubin’s dark smoke.
necklace.
Although he couldn’t be sure, Rubin’s instincts kept pointing him in that direction.
It didn’t seem to be an expensive or precious necklace. That’s probably why Chloe didn’t really care when Tina scratched it with her claws several times.
Meow meow.
Tina also observed the necklace with shining mint eyes. Then she sent a message to Rubin.
-Rubin, are you doubting this?
-I can’t guarantee it yet. But it’s the most likely option right now.
It’s still only a guess. To find out for sure, I had to take the necklace off and observe it. What kind of power is contained inside it, and what is it that makes it seem like it’s going to explode at any moment?
“Chloe, is that something valuable?”
“This necklace? This is my first time at the Tolois Auction House, so I bought it on my own. It wasn’t expensive. It was 20 million lire.”
20 million reels isn’t expensive. It was certainly possible by Witherspoon’s standards.
‘But you got it at the Tolois Auction House?’
Suddenly, I remembered what Kingven had said after we finished trading for the meteorite. Maybe this… … .
Rubin asked cautiously.
“Can I touch it for a second?”
“Of course. Here, here.”
Chloe tugged at the necklace with the hand that wasn’t holding the cat.
I was impressed by her attitude of handing it over without hesitation. She said it was a necklace she got for free, but it would have been the same even if it had been a rather expensive necklace. It was quite unusual for a young lady of imperial nobility. And she was from the arrogant Witherspoon clan.
“Tch, you really didn’t like me. You’re just like Actonia.”
The moment she handed the necklace to Rubin, the cat’s interest immediately shifted to the necklace. Seeing that, Chloe puffed out her cheeks and felt regret.
“Miss, give that to the cat and come here quickly. Concentrate on the deep sea mana stone. Let’s continue training to increase mana concentration.”
At that moment, Celesne led Chloe to focus beyond the transparent membrane. It was a precious experience to come face to face with the deep sea mana stone, so Celesne acted like a strong mother.
“Okay, I understand.”
Chloe flinched at the maid’s urging, but eventually closed her eyes and focused on using her mana.
And at that moment.
Rubin felt the energy that the necklace was emitting suddenly disappear. Was it because Chloe was using her mana?
No. The necklace seemed to have lost its strength because Chloe had taken it off. It was as if it had just been rooting itself to Chloe a moment ago.
‘Is this necklace the problem?’
Experimentation was needed to be certain.
Rubin looked around. With this much magic, there would be creatures that would react to it.
On the opposite side of the wall where Chloe and Celestia were standing, there was also a transparent curtain positioned like a window.
Now, there were various deep-sea fish swimming around there. As Rubin approached step by step, the deep-sea fish brought their strange appearances closer to the transparent film.
Phew, phew.
“… … .”
As I held it close to the transparent film, a small friction sound came from the necklace. It had no effect on the dragon’s scales, but it was different for the deep-sea fish.
The deep sea fish that had gathered at the sight of Rubin ran away in an instant.
No, they only ran away halfway. The deep-sea fish, who didn’t have enough energy to do that, raised the scales covering their bodies and then flipped over and died.
-Whoa, what the hell is this?
Tina, held in Rubin’s arms, stuck out her tongue as if she was biting on food that cats usually don’t like.
-It was a necklace, after all.
-Shouldn’t I throw this away?
-It’s dangerous to do that without finding out anything.
The aura of explosion. It was an aura that Chloe had clearly sensed when she was wearing it. It was completely hidden now, but it could have been the power of this necklace.
-We are now in the middle of the deep sea. This ship is anchored.
It wouldn’t be easy to get the necklace out of the Blue Cat, but if it exploded before then… whether it was the Witherspoons, the Assassins, the Giants, or the Dragon Scales, there was no guarantee of safety.
“Cozy, how long are you going to stay here like this?”
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At Rubin’s question, he turned his head cozyly and looked out at the sea.
“The Gray Strait is at its most violent right now, so we will remain at anchor and resume sailing just before sunrise. Submerged, that is.”
It was just before sunrise, which meant there would be no movement in this deep-sea location for about twelve hours.
“I see. Thanks to you, I got to see something amazing. Thank you.”
“Oh, are you trying to go in?”
“Yeah, I guess I should get some rest. The cat seems bored now.”
Kuze approached Rubin and carefully took the necklace.
As Rubin was going down the stairs, Chloe, who was standing in front of the transparent screen and using her mana, spoke to him. Her eyes were closed, and her voice was filled with worry.
“Where does it hurt?”
“No. I’m just a little sleepy.”
“I see. If there’s anything wrong with your body, you’ll tell me, right? I know quite a bit of healing magic.”
“Okay. I’ll come see you when I’m sick.”
“If it’s this deep, even if it’s a water dragon’s scale, it can affect ordinary people. Here’s what it says in ‘Human Body Research’… .”
“Miss, concentrate!”
When Celestia pressed her, Chloe pursed her lips and closed her mouth.
Rubin greeted Chloe again and hurried to the cabin. He went into the cabin with Kuze and locked the door, checking once more to make sure it was locked.
“No one should come in during this time.”
“Your Majesty. What are you planning to do?”
He placed the necklace in the middle of the guest room table and stroked his chin. Soon, his hand came to grip the necklace’s ornament.
“Is there any way?”
Tina was also curious. How. She felt the necklace while holding it, but the damp atmosphere had already diminished.
It wasn’t that the energy had disappeared or weakened. The dark energy felt threatened and strategically hid itself, as if waiting quietly for the storm to pass.
“… … .”
Kuze and Tina also waited silently.
On the surface, the Gray Strait was churning up rough waves, but on the Blue Cat anchored in the deep sea, there was only a slight rocking.
Thud, thud, thud.
The sound of the giants working in the basement could be heard.
“Rubin?”
“master?”
Rubin closed his eyes and concentrated his mind to catch the smoky aura that had disappeared.
Then he said a word to both of them.
“I think the three of us will have to take charge of it.”
* * *
“Now, watch.”
Kuze spreads out both palms and places them on the table. Dark smoke begins to emanate from the tips of his hands.
Woohoo.
The amount and momentum of the dark smoke was as calm as a lake. The dark smoke thinly gathered on the table while maintaining a certain density. Then, it began to form a small dome shape and wrap around the table.
As if heaven were wrapping the rock perfectly.
“Kuje… You, this is… … .”
Tina looked at Kuze with curious eyes. She was admiring him without hiding anything.
“Wow! You’re talented, aren’t you?”
Tina is a blood-blind person and a true assassin who has acquired the dark side. For her, this was a paradigm shift in how to use dark side.
“It’s still in the experimental stage.”
Kuze said with an awkward smile.
“Rubin, that’s why you chose Kuze as your Roinensor! I told you that you know how to be cheeky.”
Rubin watched the hemispherical darkness.
Ss …
The necklace placed inside was floating at a very small height. It must be a completely weightless state inside. Even Rubin, who already knew about this method of using the dark smoke, saw that it was extremely stable.
“How long can you keep this up?”
“If things continue like this, there won’t be any major problems. Maybe three or four hours?”
It was a confident answer, but Rubin knew how much power density this would require. So he had to hurry as much as possible.
“Okay, then.”
Rubin put his hand into the darkness without hesitation. He felt as if his hand was floating in water. Rubin grabbed the necklace, struggling through the weightlessness.
“What are you going to do, you?”
“I will inject my dark smoke into this necklace.”
“Then what happens?”
“If there were nothing, nothing would happen.”
What if it’s nothing?
Rubin’s words were engraved with a strong conviction. There was something in this necklace, and therefore, if you inject it with dark smoke, something will happen.
“There is one case where that is not the case. At least not in this situation.”
“What is that?”
“The devil.”
“The devil?”
Tina and Kuze had some knowledge of the world of demons. They also knew that the principles were not much different from summoning magic.
That there is a world of demons, another layer of the real world they are standing on now. And that the demons leave the layer and subjugate the magician to infiltrate the real world.
However, what they knew as knowledge and what they experienced were different. None of the three had ever experienced a demon.
“So, does that mean a demon is possessing this necklace?”
“maybe.”
“It’s similar to a sword fight?”
That’s not wrong, but it’s a bit different to be exact.
The swordsmanship was the scar left by the last sword strike with the determination to die. Some call it the ‘curse of the unmanned’, but that is just a malicious interpretation. Rather, it is closer to the ‘pure trace of the unmanned’. You can tell just by looking at Haneke.
On the other hand, the demon spirit is the very embodiment of evil. It is a being that should not exist in this world. The reason it is in this necklace is only for survival in the human world.
“Your Majesty, what would happen if it were certain that there was a demon?”
“That spirit will try to infiltrate me. Just like it did to Chloe. It’s the spirits’ nature to devour humans.”
The demon in tune with the darkness will rush towards Rubin more quickly, as if it had found the current it wanted.
“What, then? Are you saying you want to become the Demon Spirit’s puppet?”
Tina asked in surprise, not understanding Rubin’s intentions. Rubin shook his head with a slight smile.
“No, I won’t leave it like that.”
