Chapter 99
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: The Seed Within
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Some time passed before Aint opened his eyes.
Everyone’s attention was fixed on his lips.
“…Uh, so.”
Aint was flustered by the sudden focus, but he quickly regained his composure.
“I did my best, but as you said, Sunbaenim, I couldn’t find any demonic energy.”
“Not even a trace?”
“Not a trace.”
“Does that mean you were wrong, Hyeongnim…?”
But the ones who mattered, Pernyan and Rosalia, showed no change in expression.
“Professor, now it’s time to show us the real thing.”
“The real thing?”
“This is already incredible. What more could there be?”
“Follow me.”
Rosalia led them to a small door in the corner of the lab.
It was a small side door. When she opened it, a spacious room revealed itself, filled with various magical items and another sphere.
“This is…?”
“This is the real one. That other one was just a prototype.”
The sphere in the room was different from the ice crystal outside.
It was a single sphere at a glance, but a closer look revealed hundreds of mana stones haphazardly woven together.
Its surface was similarly packed with engraved magic formulas and circles, and the mana it exuded was incomparably denser than the ice crystal’s.
“…I never thought I’d live to see something like this, Hyeongnim.”
Jace, the magic fanatic, took a sharp breath.
“It’s like…”
“Like what?”
“It’s like the sun. An artificially created sun.”
“In the grand scheme of things, that’s not entirely wrong.”
Its purpose, principles, and form were all different, and it couldn’t compare to the real sun, but in that it provided a near-infinite supply of mana, he was right.
“Professor, if it’s not too much trouble, may I examine this for a moment?”
“Your reaction is quite different from before.”
“I was quite surprised by that ice crystal. To create an artificial mana stone… but this is on a whole other level.”
Jace swallowed hard. He looked like a child with a fascinating new toy, or perhaps a scholar with an insatiable academic curiosity.
“Do as you please. I’ll be presenting it at the Continental Academic Conference soon anyway.”
“Thank you, thank you!”
They say you see as much as you know. Jace was the most skilled mage present, aside from Rosalia, and he recognized the value of this object.
“How on earth did you manage this engraving? Oh, the mutually opposing formulas are interacting to…”
Meanwhile, regardless of what Jace was doing, Pernyan turned his attention to Aint.
“Aint, your task is the same as before. Check if there’s even a hint of demonic energy mixed inside.”
“What happens if there’s none here either?”
“That would be a good thing.”
“A good thing?”
“Yes. It’s better to pay the professor double the research funds than to have a Vile Breed’s scheme cause problems at the Continental Academic Conference or prevent the entry from being submitted at all.”
“I never said I’d settle for just double.”
“Any multiple is fine.”
Whether it resulted in profit or loss, Pernyan would have to bear it all.
And having handed over the three great metals to his father, Pernyan had an enormous amount of money coming his way soon.
Aint stood before the aggregate of mana stones. The dense mana was so palpable that just being near it made his skin tingle.
‘I was wondering how they hid this. The walls…’
The engravings and magic circles on the walls were all designed to conceal and block the energy within this room.
With dozens of layers of such measures, there was no way for anyone outside to know.
- That fellow compared this to the sun. The concentration of mana is certainly worthy of it.
- If the Vile Breeds really did tamper with this, they could easily summon a demon.
‘With just mana, not by sacrificing lives?’
- What’s needed to break through the dimensional barrier and summon a being from another dimension is a vast amount of energy.
- Whether that’s life force or mana doesn’t matter.
It’s just that life force, with its higher purity and density, is purer from a purely energetic standpoint, which is why those Vile Breed bastards favor it.
They are called demonic because they prioritize efficiency over the mere lives of creatures.
- Remember how Andromalius was summoned.
‘Ah.’
Recalling Andromalius, summoned through the Branch of the World Tree, Aint understood perfectly.
‘Then if this really falls into the hands of the Vile Breeds, what will they do with it?’
- What do you think?
Gardner stated flatly.
- They’ll summon a demon.
Then he corrected himself.
- Ah, or they could summon a large number of demonic beasts and cause great chaos on the continent. In any case, that’s the gist of it.
‘In that case, I should hope even more that Pernyan Sunbaenim’s words are false.’
- That would be for the best.
Aint took a deep breath, brought his sword to the object, and closed his eyes. And then.
“…Externally, there are no problems.”
Professor Rosalia’s brow twitched.
“Which means there’s a problem internally.”
“To be honest, I’m not well-versed in magic, so I don’t know if there’s a problem with the magic circles, engravings, or formulas, or where the fault lies.”
However.
“There’s only one thing I can be sure of: I am very good at sensing and finding demonic energy.”
That has been the power of the Armians since the time of the first emperor.
“You’re long-winded.”
“There is something strange inside.”
“Something strange?”
“A seed.”
A seed. It couldn’t be precisely defined as a seed, but in a broader sense, that’s what it was.
“It was surrounded by the mana stones and hidden by the dense mana, so it wasn’t easy to find, but it was definitely a seed of demonic energy.”
A moment ago, while examining the aggregate, Rosalia had activated it at Aint’s request.
At that moment, the fragment of demonic energy had clearly fed on the mana and grown, albeit minutely.
If this wasn't a seed, what else could it be?
The ominous part was not knowing what it would become when it fully grew.
“Aint Armian.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Are you certain?”
“I’ve checked two, three times, and it’s the same. Though my abilities may be far inferior to yours, Professor, I believe I am second to none when it comes to demonic energy. I swear on the honor of my ancestor who founded the empire, there is demonic energy.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“To think that this miraculous creation is tainted with demonic energy…! I can’t believe it either! Aint, are you sure you didn’t see something wrong?”
Rosalia began to inspect the aggregate of mana stones.
But there was no way a problem would suddenly appear in the aggregate she had checked daily during her research, and had inspected again at Pernyan’s behest.
That made it even harder to believe.
He insisted it was there, but she couldn't see it. Couldn't detect it.
For Rosalia, who had lived her entire life as a genius, the current situation was utterly incomprehensible.
“There’s a way for everyone to see it, and that’s to smash this aggregate.”
“That’s absurd. The Continental Academic Conference is less than two weeks away, and you want me to destroy this?”
It was nonsense not even worth listening to. That’s what Rosalia thought.
But the one who raised the objection was Pernyan Fallenberg, so she couldn’t dismiss it so simply.
And the one speaking with such conviction was Aint Armian.
“There is another way.”
It was Pernyan.
“Speak.”
“If we can’t properly confirm that there’s a problem with the object, then we just need to catch the person who caused the problem.”
“A Vile Breed?”
“Someone who planted a seed on the inside, not the outside. Do you think that’s possible without being deeply involved in your research, Professor?”
“……”
The assistants. The answer lay with them.
It had to.
* * *
Something about the atmosphere was different.
Aaron felt it as soon as he returned to Professor Rosalia’s lab after a day off.
Nothing had visibly changed.
The arrangement of items and documents, the assistants’ appearances and actions, even the professor.
And yet, it was different.
He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he had a bad feeling.
Before he could figure out what it was, Professor Rosalia entered.
“Attention.”
*Thud.* The door she had entered through closed.
Professor Rosalia immediately gathered the assistants. Then she took something out.
A flawless, clear crystal sphere.
“Some of you may know what this is, and some may not.”
‘This is…’
The moment Aaron saw it, he had a good idea of what it was. An artifact created by the Dragon God Cult to detect demonic energy.
‘Don’t tell me they found the seed I planted…?’
No, that couldn’t be it.
If they were capable of finding it, they would have done so long ago.
‘Did the President issue another order?’
After turning the entire academy upside down searching for Vile Breeds, did they find another clue?
If so, it wouldn’t be a problem.
“You’ve all heard about the incident with the demonic beasts and Vile Breeds in Altriark recently, haven’t you?”
“Yes…”
“The academy has decided to prepare for any contingencies. This is an artifact from the Dragon God Cult. It detects demonic energy within mana.”
“So, you’re saying we’re suspected of being Vile Breeds, Professor.”
“The order was given for all academy staff, so you aren’t being singled out.”
“Is that so?”
Aaron smiled faintly and placed his hand on the crystal sphere.
“Do I just need to infuse it with mana?”
“Yes.”
He infused his mana. But the crystal sphere didn’t change at all.
“Next.”
And so, all five assistants were checked.
Aaron inwardly scoffed at Professor Rosalia’s impassive face.
Search all you want. Struggle and struggle again. There’s nothing you can do.
“You’ve all passed the verification with the artifact. Now for the next step.”
“The next step?”
“Come in.”
The door opened.
“A pleasure to meet you, assistants. My name is Aint Armian. I came at Professor Rosalia’s request.”
The person who entered had brilliant golden hair.
His blue eyes were as clear as jewels. And unsettling.
A chill ran down the back of Aaron’s neck. He sensed that something was wrong. He felt like an insect trapped in a mage’s collection jar.
“I don’t think I need to explain who this boy is. The adversary of demons will check you himself.”
He had to get out of this. He couldn’t let this happen.
“Are you saying we should let Aint inspect our bodies? Absolutely not.”
“That’s right.”
“Even if it’s your order, Professor…”
The other assistants agreed with Aaron.
Whether a mage or a knight, allowing someone to fully inspect one’s inner self was impossible unless it was family or a master.
It would allow them to see a person’s aura or mana, their engravings and circuits—in other words, almost everything that made them a mage or a knight.
“After the Continental Academic Conference, I’ll give you each a bonus of five hundred gold and a month’s vacation. And I’ll review all of your theses and help you.”
“You think we’d fall for just that…?”
“One thousand gold.”
“…That might be enough to convince me.”
“…*Gulp*.”
‘What are they saying!’
What Aaron hadn’t expected was that they were slaves to the lab.
For them, who were ground down daily, the huge sum of money that would take an ordinary imperial citizen at least three years to earn, plus a vacation, was an irresistible temptation.
“I won’t check for anything else. Only whether there is demonic energy or not. That’s all.”
“If Aint Armian uses this to harm you in any way or abuses this opportunity, I will stake my name, Vienderk, on compensating you for the damages and getting revenge.”
“…If you’re going that far.”
“I’m fine with it. I trust you, Professor.”
The assistants obediently nodded.
‘Have they been worked like slaves for so long their brains have turned to mush? They’re letting some young brat inspect them for that pittance?’
Aaron wanted to scream that this was absurd, but the tide had already turned.
“But still, that’s…!”
As he tried to speak up anyway, his eyes met Rosalia’s.
“……”
“……”
And he realized. No matter what he said, Professor Rosalia would force this through.
Arguing was pointless.
He couldn’t run, couldn’t escape. All he could do was trust that the ability that had hidden him until now would continue to hold up before an Armian.
And a moment later.
“Your name is Aaron, was it, assistant?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not very good with words, so I don’t know how to beat around the bush. I’ll just get straight to the point.”
“What are you suddenly talking about…?”
*WHACK!*
Aaron’s head snapped to the side.
“W-What is this…!”
“As the old saying goes, a good beating is the best medicine for a Vile Breed.”
And that trust was shattered in a mere ten seconds.