Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Miracle
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The rattling of wheels and the patter of footsteps intertwined chaotically, echoing eerily through the corridor.
Arsen, Eloise, and Lord Nut. The three proceeded silently down the underground passage beneath the estate hall.
The magical light Eloise had conjured flickered, illuminating the dark corridor.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve come down here.”
Lord Nut spoke first.
Deep beneath the estate hall lay a door no one was permitted to approach. It was a secret chamber allowed only to the estate’s bloodline—and among them, solely to the lord.
Ahem. Clearing his throat once, Arsen said,
“There’s quite a bit of dust.”
“Well, there’s no one to come clean it. And we can’t exactly let people in here. It’s not a place I visit often, and I don’t feel like cleaning it myself.”
It was probably dust accumulated over centuries, and the lord chuckled dryly.
Seeing him like that brought to mind Everic, the head of the underground world’s guide bloodline, personally sweeping and polishing the secret hall accessible only to the family head.
Just then, Eloise replied from the side.
“I’ll come down and clean it from time to time from now on. It won’t take long with magic anyway.”
“Good, please do. So your children won’t come down here and say, ‘Why were our ancestors so lazy?’”
As they chatted idly, they halted their steps.
A single black door loomed before them, blocking their path.
Gazing at the door, the lord extended his hand.
“We’re here.”
As soon as he spoke, light bloomed. Surprisingly, it wasn’t from Eloise, but from the lord’s hand.
Naturally, the lord hadn’t suddenly become a mage capable of wielding spells.
A miracle.
He had invoked the tremendous rite permitted only to the estate’s master.
Of course, the one he used now was an effect so simplistic it hardly matched its reputation.
“This door can only be opened by a miracle.”
“Then what if you can no longer use miracles? How do you open it?”
Eloise’s question was reasonable.
If so, should the lord be assassinated outside, the door couldn’t be opened, and succession would be impossible.
After all, hadn’t the lord himself proven that he was merely human and could die at any moment?
“If a lord who has completed the succession rite dies, then any of his bloodline can touch it to open it, or so I’ve heard. It’s been so long since such a thing happened that even I only know it from tales.”
Even as they spoke, the miraculous light from the lord’s hand soaked into the door like water on paper.
Arsen now knew the true nature of these “miracles.”
A relic from the distant ancient era—specifically, the First Age, when purification magic arrays were not yet complete and mages were divided, fighting among themselves.
This institution, now called the estate hall, was deeply linked to the leylines and stored the tremendous mana drawn from them, built-in with the function to wield immense spells.
Likely, the ancestors had created it to battle the countless threats that might exist in the new world. At least, they hadn’t hoped their descendants would use it to kill each other.
But First Age humanity had genetically restricted it so only certain people could use it, birthing a class society. It was the origin of modern estate lord culture.
‘And when the Third Age arrived, the estate halls’ contracts were blocked because those bloodlines died out entirely…’
Thus, the hypothesis concluded that modern estate lord bloodlines were descendants of the first mixed-blood individuals to access an estate hall’s heart after the mana storm.
Struck by the mana storm, the initialized estate hall had simply recognized these new contacts as its masters.
“Let’s go in.”
The door opened, revealing at last the heart of the estate hall.
It resembled the power core of a library quite closely. Tracing back, their technological roots were the same, so it was only natural.
Inside a transparent glass tube, a core pulsed, gathering the vast mana flowing through this land.
“Always beware the power of this miracle. You will be able to summon wildfires, earthquakes, thunderstorms with it. You may feel like a god, able to command even nature itself, but never forget that you are merely human. Mistaking yourself for a god is the deadliest poison a lord must guard against.”
“Yes…”
Eloise was undoubtedly an exceptional mage, but her limits were clear. By the nature of mages, she was no match for even a single knight alone.
But with this miracle, that would change. Though powerful miracles required prior preparation, she would gain the power to annihilate dozens of knights single-handedly.
Of course, with the restriction that it could only be used around the estate hall.
“Come.”
As the lord reached both hands toward the glass tube, something white emerged from his chest, trailing behind.
A fluffy, fluttering thing, like glowing dandelion seeds.
It wasn’t hard to guess that this was the origin of “succession.”
It was sucked through the glass tube into the core, emerging colorless and transparent.
“Receive it.”
At the lord’s words, Eloise slowly extended her hand and accepted the light.
The light gently seeped into her chest.
* * *
In front of the estate hall, a considerable number of estate folk had gathered, buzzing with excitement.
They gathered like this for investitures and such events, but today’s crowd was especially large.
It was the day of a rare ceremony most people might witness only once or twice in a lifetime.
“Is it starting?”
“No sign of it yet.”
Amid the murmuring crowd stood the estate’s key figures: knights, administrators, and mages.
Among them, the mages were a relatively recent addition to being accepted by Belluan folk.
“Is that a mage? Horrifying…”
“You still scared of mages?”
Seeing the man call mages horrifying, his friend beside him snorted and laughed.
Thanks to perception correction treatment, to him, mages were just ordinary people with mystical abilities like knights—worthy of respect and reverence as superiors, but not frightening.
“Come to think of it, you said you’d been to the estate hall.”
“Yeah. People working with mages have to get that special magic. Once you do, mages look like normal people. Makes your body feel better too. And above all.”
“Above all?”
“You get to see how beautiful the lady who’ll inherit the estate is. Lucky guy who marries her.”
Ahem. Seeing him chuckle, the man beside him wore an envious expression.
This man and the laborers who had to work with mages had all visited the estate hall for perception correction.
At first, many were afraid or refused, but when brave pioneers stepped forward confidently saying nothing happened—in fact, they felt better—everyone followed suit.
Of course, the fact that Arsen had promised extra rations for those brave souls’ households must remain an eternal secret.
In any case, repeating such work meant quite a few residents now perceived mages as normal.
Still limited to construction laborers and soldiers, but it could be expanded gradually.
“Man, they’re really going all out.”
Bazkal looked around and whistled.
He and Arsen’s knights were all awed by the ceremony’s immense scale.
Even though it was scaled down due to civil war shortages, Belluan’s “events” seemed excessively lavish and extravagant to them.
“It’s deciding the estate’s master. Gotta officially show the power handover, right?”
Rino, standing beside him, nodded along.
Not everyone, but most humans weren’t mindless slaves blindly following others.
To stand above them, to rule them, a ruler had to prove why they deserved to govern the common folk.
This was especially crucial in a world like this—unlike Earth, where superhumans existed.
“Still, kinda wasteful. Think they’ll eat all that food?”
“The crowd’ll eat what they can, take leftovers home. Think of it as treating the whole estate.”
“Like that…?”
As the two knights chatted, a soldier shouted loudly.
“The lord approaches! All kneel!”
At the command, the people knelt on one knee and bowed their heads in unison.
In the silence, the main gate opened, and Lord Nut appeared.
Wearing the crown symbolizing the lord, he proceeded with a solemn expression.
He’d regained strength from good food and could walk, but his legs still trembled, making it hard to move long.
If he didn’t end it quickly, it’d look unseemly.
Gritting his teeth, the lord stood before the kneeling Eloise.
His daughter, clad in splendid robes, bowed her head.
“You, Eloise, daughter of Nut!”
“Yes!”
“What makes you dare claim to be master of this land? What qualifies you? Speak!”
“I am the daughter of Nut and Radia, the legitimate successor of the sacred bloodline that guards and rules this estate. I have been designated by my father, the lord and master of this noble seat, and am supported by the house’s three elders and every sword in this estate.”
Eloise recited her prepared lines calmly, without trembling.
Nut nodded solemnly and continued.
“Will you become this estate’s guardian, standing firm against invaders without fear or retreat?”
“I will.”
“Will you pity the folk and protect their lives and property?”
“I will.”
“Will you judge all matters armed with justice and fairness, without wronging the innocent?”
“I will do so.”
With each phrase, Nut tapped Eloise’s head and shoulders lightly with the large book in his hand.
Watching, Arsen recalled his own knighting ceremony. He’d probably been hit hard by Lord Nut back then.
‘Thinking back, there might’ve been some personal grudge mixed in…’
Bazkal had inwardly hoped to get thrashed as the son-in-law stealing his daughter, but maybe that’d been Arsen’s story.
Shaking his head inwardly, Arsen watched the succession rite with disciplined posture.
“Your oath reaches the heavens. Almighty Rha shall protect you; the power of the gods shall touch your hand!”
Nut invoked Belluan’s native god, Rha, and placed the crown from his own head onto Eloise’s.
Then, he raised her body.
In truth, it was less him lifting her and more Eloise rising on her own at his touch, but the others didn’t know that.
A leader must never show weakness to the folk.
“Here stands a new lord! Blessed be you, my master!”
Kneeling, Nut bowed his head to the risen Eloise.
In this moment, she was not his daughter. She was the estate’s most noble being, one all must bow to.
The proxy chosen by the gods to wield their power.
The sight of the former lord kneeling before the new one struck the watching commoners powerfully.
“A new lord truly stands…”
Someone murmured with emptiness and anticipation, and an old man beside him responded.
It was hard to guess the old man’s age, his face covered in age spots, his back hunched.
“Third time I’ve seen it, but it’s always moving.”
“Good lord, three times? When was the last female lord?”
“The one who ruled when I was a boy was a lady lord. A good one. Hope this lord’s the same.”
Nodding, the old man said as if urging patience.
“Wait just a bit. You’ll see something amazing soon.”
As he finished, Eloise cried out loudly.
“People of the estate!”
At their new lord’s call, knights and soldiers raised one hand high and cheered.
Raising her hand to quiet the clamor, Eloise spoke.
With a voice-amplifying spell, her words reached every gathered folk clearly.
“I am your master and wielder of miracles. I shall prove it here and now!”
Eloise raised her hand high toward the sky.
Light began rising from her hands. It was no ordinary spell.
The immense mana begun in the estate hall’s depths had taken root in her heart, becoming the medium for tremendous power.
The light shot straight into the sky, and soon thunder rumbled.
“Ah…”
A clear sky with only a few fluffy clouds drifting—and lightning began striking across it.
One bolt, two bolts; soon they multiplied to dozens, hundreds, filling the sky like a spiderweb.
“Good heavens.”
“Like a dream.”
At last, the sky brimmed with lightning, writhing madly like dancing dragons, embroidering the heavens. Yet not a single bolt fell to the ground. It danced only in the sky, claiming it as its playground.
This was the power that elevated an ordinary human—neither knight nor mage—to rule vast Belluan.
“Gods…”
A miracle indistinguishable from a god’s, the watching folk knelt fully on both knees, heads bowed.
The sky-shattering thunder swallowed even their praises.