Chapter 65
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 65
I met her gaze and sighed inwardly.
So, Elena has been keeping an eye on this incident as well.
I’d suspected as much the moment I saw that the topic of today’s academic club meeting was dire wolves. As the princess of the Holy Kingdom—a nation at the forefront of eradicating evil—and a candidate for sainthood, there was no way she would simply overlook such an anomaly.
Based on her tone, it seemed Elena suspected the culprit behind the incident might be Gillean, one of the Twelve Honored Ones.
To others, the Twelve Honored Ones were mere specters of the past, a forgotten legend. But to Elena and the Holy Kingdom, they were a painful wound that had yet to heal.
I thought for a moment before shaking my head.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything in particular.”
“Anything, no matter how trivial, would be helpful,” Elena pressed, her persistence showing.
Worried that continued evasion would only arouse her suspicion, I concocted a story, weaving in just enough truth to be convincing.
“...Now that I think about it, the fog was thicker than usual. The mana density was so high it was difficult to breathe, and high-level monsters like dire wolves appeared. Oh, and I also found a goblin settlement, which is quite rare for that area.”
I deliberately omitted the fact that I had found microscopic fragments of a Dark Mana Stone in that settlement.
“A goblin settlement... They shouldn’t be able to form in that region.”
“Dire wolves shouldn’t be able to appear there either.”
“...”
As she fell into thought, I offered my own "deduction."
“I suspect this incident was caused by an anomaly in the ley lines.”
“A ley line anomaly... That’s not entirely out of the question. After all, anything can happen in the unexplored territories.”
The unexplored territories were, true to their name, an unknown world untouched by human hands. They were a realm closer to chaos than order, where the ley lines—the channels of mana flowing through the earth—were unstable, causing primal magic to scatter unpredictably. As a result, it was a place where all sorts of magical disasters were prone to occur.
By framing the situation as a ley line anomaly, one could explain away most of the problems that occurred during the practical exam: the unusually thick fog, the abnormal appearance of high-level monsters, and even the barrier-like phenomenon that cut us off from the outside world.
After all, approaching the situation from the angle of a ley line anomaly was a far more logical approach than pointing to Gillean—one of the Twelve Honored Ones who had vanished centuries ago—as the culprit.
The only thing it didn’t explain was the fact that Professor Verdandi had been attacked by an unknown assailant.
But that’s confidential information anyway.
Professor Verdandi herself had no memory of the event, and the official story was that she had been injured in a battle with monsters. No one would challenge my theory based on that.
Elena, having treated Professor Verdandi directly, likely knew the details, but my persona was that of someone deducing the situation without that classified knowledge.
In any case, I had stated my opinion, so she wouldn't press for more. Elena's line of investigation, which had been leaning toward Gillean, would now be diverted. That was enough.
I brought the conversation to a close.
“Let’s stop with the heavy talk. We’ll get indigestion.”
Just then, the dishes we ordered began to arrive. I watched the waiter approach our table with trays in both hands and smiled faintly.
“Thank you for the meal, Elena.”
During the meal, we exchanged light, trivial stories instead of the heavy topics from before. We talked about the upcoming sports festival and Adler’s request to have a match with me.
Apparently, ever since I’d secured a victory against Chepesi, the president of Jerome Academy, during the territory war, quite a few people like Adler had expressed a desire to face me.
Of course, most believed I had won using dirty tricks, but it seemed not everyone shared that opinion. Naturally, this led to many questioning my true abilities, with conspiracy theories even circulating that I had been hiding my strength all this time.
I grimaced as I dismissed the thought.
Hiding my power, my ass.
I had scraped together every last bit of strength I had for that fight. I’d even shattered a mana crystal worth hundreds of millions just to pull it off.
In any case, I denied the conspiracy theories and declined Adler’s request for a duel. As Elena’s close aide, she was a formidable opponent. It wasn’t that I couldn’t win if I went all out, but there was nothing to be gained from such a victory.
After finishing dinner with Elena, I stepped outside to find the sky had turned completely dark. I returned to the Student Council office late at night and began the work I had postponed.
The task was to reprocess Bell’s Magic Orb and infuse it with my own mana. It was still a long way from being ready for consumption, but the process was going smoothly. After finishing the mana infusion, I placed the orb back in its case and took a deep breath.
“Hoo.”
So busy, so busy.
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I moved on to the next task. I had been too busy to pay attention to it lately, but there were a few things besides magic that I needed to learn. Spiritology was one of them.
Slice.
I made a shallow cut on my finger, let a drop of blood fall into the air, and chanted the incantation.
[Summon Spirit.]
Swoooosh—
Instantly, mana swirled in the air, and from a summoning circle of black smoke, an egg appeared.
[Dark Spirit Kavelthar - Egg]
• Classification: Spirit
• Grade: Unique
• An unhatched egg. What will emerge when it breaks through its shell is a mystery.
Previously, I’d only summoned it briefly due to a lack of time, but today, I carefully placed the egg on the table and observed it. At a glance, Kavelthar’s egg looked more like a solid piece of ore than an egg.
Tap, tap.
Even when I knocked on it with my knuckles, it felt like tapping on a lump of iron. I stared at the egg, lost in thought.
Generally, hatching the egg of a divine beast or a pet requires the owner’s mana.
The standard method was to slowly hatch it by diligently infusing it with mana every day, just as I was doing with Bell’s Magic Orb. However, after trying this a few times, I found that this thing didn’t even pretend to absorb the mana I offered. It was completely unresponsive.
It truly felt like I was pouring mana into a rock. I was already pouring a significant amount of mana into processing Bell’s orb; I didn’t have the capacity to spare any for this thing if it wasn't going to show results. There’s a limit to pouring water into a bottomless pit.
So, this time, I decided to try a different method.
Click.
I took out the Dark Mana Stone crystals I had carefully stored and placed them on the table.
Shaaaa—
A black haze rose from the Dark Mana Stones. I watched the demonic energy drift through the air and compared it with Kavelthar’s egg, thinking quietly.
The Dark Spirit Kavelthar is the only spirit that Roen—a half-demon with a constitution antithetical to spirits—can command.
That meant its nature had to be different from that of a normal spirit. My judgment was that it might require demonic energy instead of mana to hatch.
I took two small pieces of Dark Mana Stone, collected from the goblin settlement and the dark rat habitat, and slid them in front of Kavelthar’s egg.
Here, give it a try.
If my guess was correct, it would devour these stones with relish. And as if in response to my expectations...
Shluk—
A sticky tentacle suddenly shot out from the black egg and snatched the mana stones I had placed nearby. Kavelthar swallowed the stones whole.
Squeeeze—
The stones melted into the egg’s surface like they were sinking into a swamp before being sucked inside and disappearing. The egg seemed to have grown slightly larger than before, and a log notification appeared before my eyes.
Ting.
[Kavelthar is pleased with your tribute. Hatching progress has increased. Current: 7%]
“...”
Tribute? That was a strange way to put it. I thought of it as giving it food or a meal, but judging by the wording, this egg seemed to be quite the high-and-mighty entity.
Lower-level spirits like Salamanders and Undines are friendly to humans and can be easily commanded.
However, the closer a spirit was to a Spirit King, the more haughty and arrogant they tended to be. Its conceited behavior only made me more curious about its true identity.
I need to hatch it quickly.
Of course, it wasn’t something I could hatch quickly just because I wanted to. Dark Mana Stones weren’t exactly easy to come by.
Two fingernail-sized pieces for seven percent.
Looking at the rate of increase, it seemed that even if I collected all the Dark Mana Stones scattered throughout the Union, it would still be slightly insufficient to reach 100 percent hatching progress. If that was the case, my only options would be to defeat high-difficulty dungeon bosses or high-level demons deep within the unexplored territories.
It won’t be easy, but...
I could take that to mean the reward would be just as great. I gazed at the now-quiet egg of Kavelthar for a moment longer before unsummoning it.
The next day.
After my scheduled lectures, I visited Izelin Academy with Ciel. I needed to confirm some information I’d learned from my conversation with Elena yesterday, and as it happened, Demian had contacted me to say he had completed the rough draft of the dormitory design.
I had already obtained the Chairman’s seal, so there were no legal issues, and the land survey was finished, but I never expected him to finish the design so quickly. His talent was truly remarkable.
“Ah, you’ve arrived.”
When Ciel and I reached the reception room, Eleina, Philip, and Josephine greeted us. Eleina gestured for us to sit and offered us tea and refreshments.
“Thank you for coming all this way. Please, have a seat.”
As I sat down, Eleina asked with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.
“Lord Roen, did you receive the gift I sent?”
“Yes. I received it. I’ll put it to... good use.”
“Yes! Please let me know if you need anything more.”
I nodded with a somewhat complicated feeling. A few days ago, I had received a notification that a large sum of money had been deposited into my account.
A whopping 2.5 billion krone.
Although the sender’s name was not disclosed, I knew at once whose favor it was. Eleina had immediately transferred 2.5 billion krone to me—half of the compensation she had received from Jerome.
While my role in the territory war had been significant, I couldn’t just accept such a large sum of money.
This compensation is the price of someone’s pain and perseverance.
This money had a clear purpose: to rebuild the academy and aid the victims. I couldn’t easily accept money earned through such blood, sweat, and tears. Despite my explanation, Eleina had stubbornly insisted that it was only natural to repay a benefactor.
Her will was so strong that, after negotiating with her, I eventually agreed to accept only 1 billion krone for now. After all, I had already made her spend a considerable amount on the dormitory reconstruction.
In any case, the 1 billion krone I received from Eleina was now mine. I planned to use this capital as seed money, investing it safely and quickly rather than spending it frivolously.
They say there’s no way to grow money safely and quickly in this world, but...
For a veteran player of Myrillin Saga like me, it wasn’t that difficult. Once I’ve made a sufficient profit, I’ll return the principal to Izelin. The Cognitive Acceleration Stone was more than enough reward for saving Izelin.
After exchanging simple greetings, we got down to business.
“Demian, I heard you finished the blueprints.”
“Yeah, that’s why I called you.”
Demian, who had been looking bored during our conversation, took a set of drawings from his coat and spoke.
“Obviously, this isn’t the final blueprint. I need to incorporate your opinions during the design phase. You’d raise hell if I just did it my way, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course. I acknowledge your skill, but I refuse to permit that atrocious aesthetic sense of yours.”
“...Tsk.”
This was a clause specified in the contract when I hired Demian. No matter how self-willed he was, he couldn’t finalize the blueprints without the client’s confirmation.
“Take a look for yourselves. If you can even figure out what’s what, that is.”
Demian clicked his tongue and, as if he had no choice, unfurled the blueprints for Izelin Academy’s new dormitory for us to see.