Chapter 243: The Landlord is Back (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 243: The Landlord is Back (3)
Violet - Ah, so that’s how it is.
While the others listened to the story as it was told, Violet synthesized the information, feeling the cushiony sensation against the back of her head.
‘Magic created by stealing the names of gods, huh?’
She recalled the original work of this world. She slotted the information into the gaps that the damn author had left blank. Of course, that alone didn't make everything connect perfectly… but Violet wasn't some newbie who had only read the original novel once.
Starting with webtoons, she was someone who had moved on to web novels simply because she’d run out of things to consume. She could bridge the gaps in the lore using the knowledge of other works stored in her head.
‘So this was the Silence foreshadowing? I guess it makes sense. The title of his final appearance episode was "Spokesman of the Forgotten God."’
Come to think of it, the setting mentioned that Silence’s accessories were similar to the Church’s emblem. Perhaps a member of the royalty, who was a devout believer, had acted to liberate the forgotten gods after learning the ancient secrets.
‘Then the parts that seemed weird actually fit.’
In several incidents, Silence had often prioritized other things even when he could have defeated the RoFan party. Previously, she had just dismissed it as the typical "WWE" style of RoFan—scripted drama. But thinking about it differently…
‘Dale’s secret magic is a fragment of a god’s name… which means it wouldn't be strange if other fragments were rolling around elsewhere.’
It might be speculation, but there were more than just one or two such plot hooks. Even in the content she had read, Silence had things he prioritized over the Demon Tribe’s orders.
That was why Violet could be certain.
‘That bastard, he really was going around scattering seeds for a sequel…’
It was a topic of much debate among readers—whether some of the foreshadowing was blatantly for a sequel. Honestly, the scent was strong, but Lee Yeeun in her past life hadn't cared at all. As a reader, having the world-building of a favorite work continue was a wonderful thing.
Even if the current work ended, finding traces of it in a future story that continued the legacy, or in a prequel that served as its foundation, was a true delicacy for a reader.
However, seeing the malicious comments during the "Demon King Kidnapping and Rape Arc" accusing the author of abandoning the series to work on a sequel had made her frown.
‘I wondered if he’d really go that far…!’
But now that she was inside the world of the novel and seeing things that weren't in the original work, she couldn't help but feel those suspicions were actually quite rational.
Violet had always believed that even if the author made some bizarre "drifts" in the plot, he still had affection for the work. Realizing otherwise made her blood boil!
‘Now… that’s not what’s important.’
Gritting her teeth, Violet did her best to recall her past memories.
‘There were so many theory posts in the comments. Lee Yeeun, remember!’
Scolding her past self, Violet recalled, deconstructed, and reassembled the various hypotheses of other readers.
‘Most of the plot hooks for this side would be with Silence. Thinking about what came out there…’
She recalled the theory post with the highest credibility. That person had predicted that the sequel would be a work centered on mages uncovering the secrets of Dale. Violet remembered the prediction that the protagonist would likely be someone who had mastered a secret magic like Toha, which had disappeared from Dale.
‘If Toha disappears here, does the sequel get ruined?’
She didn't care if the shitty original author’s career went down the drain, but Violet couldn't predict the fallout that would follow.
‘I don’t know how far into the future the sequel is set, or what that protagonist even does.’
Even if the original development was already ruined, Violet wanted to utilize her knowledge to the fullest. To put it bluntly, if the sequel was set ten years from now… it meant a major disaster could occur just as she finished resolving the original events and was looking forward to retirement.
Violet wanted to avoid that at all costs, but…
“I-I’ll do it, okay?!”
“Ah.”
While Violet was racking her brain to reassemble her past memories and information, her damn boss had successfully provoked Princess Ruelle. As a result, before Violet could reach a conclusion, Princess Ruelle had committed to inheriting Toha.
*
“…I understand. But do I really have to be the one? I haven't even been officially permitted to inherit the secret magic…”
“I permit it.”
“You heard her. Are you running away? If you’re scared, I, a true mage, will—”
“Shut up! I’ll do it!”
In the end, unable to withstand the taunting, Princess Ruelle declared her inheritance of Toha with a flushed face. Adella nodded and pulled a dirt dumpling out of her hand.
“Fine. Eat it.”
“…That?”
“Yes.”
Seeing Adella nod, Princess Ruelle blinked and stared at the dirt dumpling. It was literally a round ball made of dirt… a crude shape that looked like something children would make from a pile of mud after it rained. Princess Ruelle looked utterly confused.
If the person standing there hadn't been Adella but me, she might have thrown it in my face for playing a prank.
“T-This is Toha?”
“Indeed. It is the pure essence of earth, a fragment of the ancient God of Earth. It is the power of a foolish being who was deceived by your ancestor.”
“……”
Adella was likely just stating the facts as they were, but every time a grand descriptor was added, Princess Ruelle’s complexion turned paler.
“Since you mentioned the God of Earth, it sounds a bit like a spirit?”
Princess Nea, who had been listening quietly, chimed in. It was a comment born out of pure curiosity, but…
“Correct. Spirits are popular concepts that failed to gain divinity. In particular, Spirit Kings are fragments of gods whose names have been forgotten. In the grand scheme of things, Toha and the Spirit King of Earth are like siblings.”
“……”
Princess Ruelle’s stinging gaze fixed on Princess Nea. In a rare moment, Nea looked genuinely aggrieved. She had just made a casual remark; she probably hadn't expected it to be relevant.
Was Dale’s motif England? It felt like whenever something happened, the culprit was either a dark mage or someone from Dale.
“I-I’ll do it, okay?!”
Ruelle, who had been silent, suddenly snapped. she snatched the lump of dirt from Adella’s hand and shoved it into her mouth. She must have decided that stalling any longer wouldn't do her any good.
“…Is it good?”
“Does it look like it would be?!”
“What does it taste like?”
“Like dirt!”
“It is the essence of the earth; it cannot be helped.”
“Ugh…”
Swallowing the lump of dirt with a tearful face, Princess Ruelle suddenly froze.
“Ah.”
She let out a short exclamation… and then immediately went berserk. Centered on Princess Ruelle, the earth began to vibrate along with a massive surge of mana.
“No, my house?!”
This seemed to be something even Adella hadn't anticipated. With a panicked face, Adella began using her mana to prevent her barely-recovered home from collapsing. The easiest way would have been to remove the source of the problem directly, but as if to prove her dragon nature wasn't a lie, Adella squeezed out her mana to hold back the crumbling ground.
However, looking at the ceiling, which was shaking more and more, she made a crying face.
“If this continues, I’ll have to move again! Do something!”
“Should I knock her out?”
“No! That child is currently struggling to stop the rampage. If you knock her out and the uncontrolled Toha runs wild, it could become even more dangerous!”
Perhaps for emotional stability, Adella shouted while tightly hugging Boradori in her arms.
“Hmm…”
In that case, there was only one way.
“It might hurt a bit, but bear with it, okay?”
“……?”
It was the magic sword.
*
“…Did you really have to do it like this?”
Pinned under the magic sword, Princess Ruelle looked up at me with an expression filled with a multitude of emotions.
“I couldn't exactly slash or stab you.”
No matter the circumstances, the moment a Knight of Leon slashed a Princess of Dale, it would have turned into a UFC match.
“If you want to get up, control it as quickly as possible.”
“Ugh…”
As if she had nothing to say in her defense, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate.
“I thought control would be possible since she is a descendant of Derman. I miscalculated.”
Watching Ruelle, Adella wiped her cold sweat with a handkerchief that Boradori had pulled out. Why was that thing even carrying that around? If Boradori had been reincarnated as a RoFan male lead, she probably would have conquered the Academy by now.
“Whenever I’m around you, Senior, my head starts to ache.”
While I was having those thoughts, Princess Nea, standing beside me, seemed to be thinking something else.
“What did I do?”
“Last time and this time too. Why do stories on the level of legends or myths keep popping up?”
It was unfair to be treated like Daisy.
“Isn't that a problem with the Academy’s basement rather than me?”
“But you were there every time an incident broke out, Senior. Even if the location is the problem, if you’re always at the scene, aren't you the culprit?”
It was a fairly rational point. In a certain neighborhood, incidents happened every day, and even though a four-eyed brat of death was always at the scene, no one suspected him. As expected of the Imperial Princess; she had quite the sharp intuition.
Unfortunately, she made the mistake of choosing me instead of the real culprits—the RoFan heroine and her friends. On top of that, there was a fatal flaw in her logic.
“By that logic, you’re also a culprit since you were with me every time.”
If I was the culprit just for being here, then Princess Nea herself, who was also present, was a culprit as well.
“Hmm… shall we act like that never happened?”
“Can the words of the Imperial Princess be so light?”
“My rank in the line of succession is at the bottom anyway, so it doesn't matter if I’m a bit light.”
“You seem to work hard for someone who says that.”
“I need to build up some achievements so I don’t get sold off to some strange place later. I don’t know about romance, but I want to marry someone I actually like.”
The high and mighty certainly seem to live tedious lives.
“Well, still, what I gained this time isn't small. This is at a level where I can negotiate directly with my father instead of my eldest brother…”
She said she regretted not being able to snatch Toha in the middle, but she didn't have the guts to defy a dragon.
“Still, I’ve discovered a massive secret related to Dale. If I use this for diplomacy…”
“…The person involved is right here; is it okay to say that so openly?”
“What can you do even if you hear it? If you don’t want to stay pinned under a sword, just focus.”
“……”
Princess Nea looked down at Princess Ruelle with a victor’s smile, but just as she said, there was nothing Ruelle could do.
“Just wait until a dark mage comes to the Academy. I’m sending a letter of protest immediately.”
“They come all the time anyway, so we’re used to it by now.”
At Princess Nea’s refusal to lose even a single word, Princess Ruelle bit her lip and closed her eyes. She must have realized that if they talked any further, she wouldn't be able to control Toha, let alone her original mana.
Watching that scene, Adella marveled.
“The power struggles of humans are the same as ever.”
In the long history of "damn humans" that even a dragon marveled at, only Boradori watched us with the eyes of a predator stalking its prey.