Chapter 516: The Ice Fairy
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 516: The Ice Fairy
When I found out the Tower Lord had a daughter, one question popped into my head.
‘...Wasn’t she a virgin?’
When I first met the Tower Lord in England, I'd used the Unicorn's Gaze to check if she was a virgin.
Before using the skill, I'd naturally assumed she wasn't.
She was older than Duke Winchester, and being an archmage didn't mean she was devoid of sexual desire.
In fact, I thought her libido might be even stronger due to all the stress, like Sister Lael.
But my assumption was completely wrong.
No one knew the White Tower Lord's exact age, but she, who had lived for at least hundreds of years like Iris, was a virgin who had never once been with a man.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the shock I felt upon learning that fact was comparable to a meteor strike.
And when I found out she had a daughter, my head just about exploded.
‘A virgin? But she has a daughter? Did she do in-vitro or something? With that personality?’
At first, I thought it was the second coming of the Virgin Mary.
It wasn't like it was some immaculate conception.
But the moment I saw the woman sleeping on the bed, I had no choice but to believe it.
Pale skin, pure white hair, and slender limbs, but with a voluptuous chest that was the spitting image of the Tower Lord's.
Except for her strangely gentle eyes, the woman lying there was a dead ringer for the Tower Lord from any angle.
The expression on the Tower Lord's face as she gazed at the woman on the bed was unusual.
Like a scene from a drama, she was gently stroking the sleeping woman's hair with a wistful look I had never seen before.
Beyond her gaze, I could feel an undeniable affection and sorrow.
“...Excuse me, are you marri—”
The moment the word 'married' left my lips, the Tower Lord shot me a murderous glare.
Her attitude was a complete 180 from when she was stroking the woman's hair, and I complained inwardly.
Isn't that a bit disrespectful to her future benefactor?
But I didn't have the courage to say it out loud, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut.
“...She is my daughter. As you know, she fell victim to a demon's curse 23 years ago.”
“Has she been asleep ever since?”
“No. She's awake for about 30 minutes a day.”
Grit-
The Tower Lord's brow furrowed.
“...At first, she just had frequent body aches and slept more often. Back then, I just thought she was under the weather. She was always a frail child. But as time went on, the periods she couldn't wake up grew longer and longer, until her condition deteriorated to the point where even getting out of bed was a struggle.”
“When was that?”
“She hasn't left this room in the last seven years.”
“Seven years...”
If it were me, I would have gone insane by now.
“Where is the mark?”
“Her left palm.”
Hearing her, I approached the sleeping woman.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
I had only taken a single step closer, but a pleasant scent brushed past my nose.
What's more, her large chest rose and fell dramatically with every breath she took.
‘Maha prajna paramita hridaya sutra, Avalokiteshvara bodhisattva...’
If I let my eyes wander like a dog in heat, the Tower Lord might actually kill me, so I recited the sutra in my head, cast aside all selfish thoughts, and took the woman's hand with the pure heart of a doctor caring for his patient.
Just as I expected, her hand was so gaunt that her knuckles protruded, and her pulse was unbelievably faint.
And on her palm was the drawing of a black flower petal that emanated an ominous aura.
‘...So it was a Demonic Flower after all.’
The Demonic Flower (魔花).
Commonly known as the devil's flower, it is a high-level curse that can only be cast by demons who hold a title.
It is characterized by a black flower pattern appearing on the victim's body; when all the petals disappear, the victim's entire body turns black, and they die.
It was one of the most esoteric curses, with no clear method of removal described even in 'Lelia's Little Key,' a book presumed to have been written by an archmage.
The fact that she could endure such a curse for 23 years was likely thanks to a combination of her racial traits and the Tower Lord's devotion.
I'd sensed it even before entering, but a barrier had been erected in this room.
It was a high-level barrier, so complex that even deciphering its external formula was difficult.
The number of mages in the entire world capable of casting such a barrier could be counted on one hand.
‘Did she limit the barrier's range to just this room to maximize its anti-demon effect?’
It was an exquisitely crafted barrier that naturally drew my admiration.
Furthermore, dozens of artifacts placed throughout the room were suppressing the curse's power.
At this point, it was no exaggeration to say that her survival was only possible within this room.
Her inability to leave the room for the past seven years wasn't just because of her poor physical condition, then.
‘Hmm... her condition is more serious than I thought.’
Like 'The Last Leaf,' her Demonic Flower was also down to its final petal.
At this rate, it wouldn't be strange if she died at any moment.
Only then did I understand why the Tower Lord had so readily brought me to her mansion.
She was desperate.
Desperate enough to accept help from anyone, no matter who they were.
A common curse would vanish without a trace just by staying in this room for a short while, but the Demonic Flower wasn't so simple.
That's because the demon uses its own 'status' as the medium for the curse.
It was nothing short of madness.
As if its pride had been crushed by its defeat at the hands of a human.
“Is this why you had no money?”
“...”
The Tower Lord avoided my gaze.
But I didn't need an answer to know.
Originally, the position of a Tower Lord was one where money flowed in just by breathing, like a major shareholder of a large corporation.
For someone like her to not have a mere 50 million pounds, paying for the inner core with lessons instead, and living in this vast mansion without a single servant, was proof that her expenses overwhelmingly exceeded her income.
‘Just maintaining this barrier must cost hundreds of millions a day. And each of those artifacts imbued with immense magic power would easily cost hundreds of billions.’
On top of that, I could tell from her pulse that elixirs had been used like water to maintain her daughter's health.
Then again, if they hadn't, her condition would be far more severe than a patient undergoing chemotherapy.
No, she would have certainly died without even lasting 20 years.
The Demonic Flower is that kind of curse.
“Hmm...”
For a while, I focused on checking the woman's pulse.
Her condition was much worse than it appeared on the surface.
“...Is there any chance?”
Perhaps sensing the gravity of my expression, the Tower Lord's complexion was, to put it mildly, not good.
“If I said no, you'd kill me on the spot, wouldn't you?”
“...”
The Tower Lord remained silent.
Seeing that, a laugh escaped my lips unintentionally.
It was only natural.
The Tower Lord had not only cast aside all her honor and pride as a mage, but had also offered her very soul to a demon as collateral to save her daughter.
But Belmoras's side kept dragging their feet, postponing the removal of the curse day after day. In such a situation, it wouldn't be strange at all for an impatient Tower Lord to try and use my head as a bargaining chip with Belmoras.
“Well, I understand. What's more important to a parent than their child? I was the one who made this bet knowing the risks, after all. I have no intention of blaming you.”
As a heavy atmosphere settled, I casually perched on a nearby chair.
I slowly began to speak to the Tower Lord, who was looking at me with an expression of guilt I had never seen on her before.
“To get straight to the point... I think I can remove the curse.”
“I-Is that really true?!”
“Yes. Though, of course, the process won't be easy.”
Master gamblers, the kind they call tazza, never lose.
Why?
Because they don't join a game they think they'll lose.
It was the same for me.
I made such a gamble against the Tower Lord because I had an ace up my sleeve.
‘I was lucky. I happened to have all the necessary ingredients.’
Of course, just having the ingredients didn't mean anyone could do it.
I'm probably the only person on the entire planet who can remove the Demonic Flower curse.
Even the Pope, who visited unofficially, failed to remove it, and those bastards from Belmoras are only planning to backstab the Tower Lord.
Thud-!
“...?”
Just as I was about to lay out the plan for the curse removal, the Tower Lord suddenly knelt before me.
“...If you tell me to bark, I will bark. If you want money, I will earn it no matter what it takes. If you need an artifact, I will kill its owner and bring it to you. I will gladly give you my position as the White Tower Lord. I am even prepared to devote my life to you as your master.”
There was no tremor in the Tower Lord's voice.
On the contrary, it was more serious and solemn than ever before.
“...I will do anything you ask. So please, save my daughter.”
‘Anything?’
Gulp-
For a moment, my gaze almost drifted to the Tower Lord's cleavage, but I hastily shook my head.
That wasn't what was important right now.
Well, of course, that was important too, but with the Tower Lord's daughter running out of time, it naturally had to take a backseat.
“...Ahem. First, please stand up.”
I stood up and offered the Tower Lord my hand.
“Didn't I tell you from the beginning? That I would save your daughter.”
*
The grounds of the Tower Lord's mansion were truly vast.
In terms of sheer area, it was comparable to the island of Avalon, where Duke Winchester's estate was located.
But with no one to manage it, the fences were rusted, the flowerbeds had withered, and the buildings were so dilapidated they were nearly ruins.
The only saving grace was that the greenhouse, at least, was still in decent shape.
Guided by the Tower Lord, I arrived at the greenhouse and looked around.
Various types of flowers—tulips, iberis, veronica—were in full bloom.
“This is the only place that looks like it's been tended to, huh?”
“...When my daughter was still able to leave her room, she would come to the greenhouse for walks. She loved tending to the flowerbeds herself.”
“And after that, you took care of them yourself, Tower Lord?”
The Tower Lord nodded silently.
As she gazed at the flowers blooming in the greenhouse, a complex vortex of emotions swirled in her eyes.
I placed a hand on the Tower Lord's shoulder.
“She'll regain her health soon, just like before. Then she'll be able to come out for walks in the greenhouse again.”
“...”
The Tower Lord saw my hand patting her shoulder but didn't brush it away.
Before, she would have glared fiercely and frozen my hand on the spot.
Most importantly, even though a mere 5th Circle mage was boasting that he could remove a curse she herself could not, she didn't doubt me in the slightest.
No, to be precise, she had no choice but to believe.
From her perspective, I was the last hope she could cling to.
‘This spot should be fine.’
Finding a suitable empty space, I took out a small tree and a sack of fertilizer from my inventory.
[Spirit Tree (精靈樹)
Grade: Epic+
A spirit tree (靈木) that grows only in the Spirit Realm.
It absorbs carbon dioxide and emits pure magic power.
It bears a Spirit Fruit (精靈果) once a month.
※This is still a young specimen.]
[Blessed Fertilizer
Grade: Rare
Fertilizer imbued with the blessing of Peshulkotar, the god of plants.
Provides a significant boost to the growth of all plants.
There is a rare chance that Peshulkotar's blessing will be bestowed upon the plant.]
“That's...?”
“A Spirit Tree and some special fertilizer.”
The Tower Lord's eyes widened slightly.
“How did you get something that even Elementalists have trouble acquiring...?”
“Trade secret.”
I manipulated my magic power to dig a hole in the ground, then carefully planted the Spirit Tree.
Spirit Trees grow best in soil rich with magic power, and fortunately, as befitting the grounds of an archmage's mansion, the entire land was saturated with a considerable amount of it.
Finally, I poured a moderate amount of fertilizer around the tree and covered it with soil.
“Phew, that's it.”
“...That's it?”
“Yes. You know that the power of spirits is antithetical to that of demons, right, Tower Lord? The Spirit Fruit from this tree will be a great help in removing the curse. Of course, having an Elementalist's help would be better, but one with mediocre skills would only get in the way.”
“...I know that. But that alone is not enough. I've researched elementalism myself, but to handle a demon's curse, you need the power of a high-grade spirit...”
“It's fine. The Spirit Fruit is just one of the ingredients. The truly important process is something else.”
“An important process?”
I paused while watering the Spirit Tree.
‘...Should I really tell her this?’
Even though the Tower Lord had knelt before me, considering her usual personality, I had more than a few concerns.
But hiding it was even more impossible.
From this point on, I would need the Tower Lord's active cooperation.
Swallowing dryly, I caught my breath and slowly opened my mouth.
“...I need to have sexual intercourse with your daughter.”