Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Sealing the Mana Vein
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"Finally, freedom."
Eric was buried under the blankets on the first night in his new home.
A kingdom all his own, with no one to interfere.
The perfect hideout, where he didn't have to watch anyone's mood.
Eric should have drifted off into a sweet slumber with a blissful smile.
He should have.
Kieeeek!
A bone-chilling roar shook the entire mansion.
Rumble.
The chandelier overhead swayed precariously, as if it might crash down at any moment.
"Aaaah!"
Alfred's scream echoed from outside the door.
"Y-Young Master! It's evil spirits! The curse of the evil spirits has begun! You must flee at once!"
"Sigh, Alfred. Don't make such a fuss."
Eric pulled something from the bedside table he'd prepared in advance.
Top-grade earplugs made of cowhide.
"I knew this was coming, so I brought these."
He jammed them into his ears and pulled the blanket over his head completely.
The noise was definitely muffled now.
But the bed's shaking was impossible to stop.
'This crosses the line.'
Eric's eyes flew open, and he bolted upright.
"Tomorrow, I'm tearing it all up and fixing it."
Princess Iris gazed at the rising moon outside the window, teacup in hand.
"Captain Werner. Have you looked into it?"
Standing behind her, the captain of the Imperial Magic Engineering Bureau, Werner, spoke cautiously.
"Yes, Your Highness. That mansion sits atop an unstable mana vein that's prone to surging wildly."
"On nights when the moon wanes like tonight, the mana reflux reaches its peak."
"Unless one has nerves of steel, they'll suffer hallucinations, go mad, and flee."
"Hm."
Iris's lips twisted into a sly smirk.
"Perfect. That's what we'll go with."
"Go with what, Your Highness?"
"Dispatch the Magic Engineering Bureau. Under the pretext of special management for public safety in a hazardous area."
Iris set down her teacup and issued the order.
"Go scare him. Tell him that if the mana reflux isn't resolved immediately, we'll designate the mansion a disaster hazard zone and confiscate it on the spot."
It was a plan to pressure Eric using the power of the Imperial Magic Engineering Bureau.
No matter how brilliant he was, a single noble couldn't resolve a natural disaster on his own.
In the end, Eric would have only one choice left.
To beg her, the princess.
'Come crawling to me. Beg for help, plead to be spared.'
Iris's eyes gleamed coldly.
The next morning.
Eric was slumped over the garden table, chugging his morning coffee like an IV drip.
He hadn't slept a wink thanks to the bed shaking all night.
"Ha... Look at these dark circles."
As Eric muttered to himself,
Bang!
The mansion's front gate flew open violently, and uninvited guests stormed in.
Mages clad in robes emblazoned with the imperial crest.
Leading them was Bureau Captain Werner, his face stern.
"Are you Eric Theodore, the young lord?"
"Who are you? Kicking down someone else's gate."
"I am Werner, captain of the Imperial Magic Engineering Bureau. I've come on special orders from Her Highness Princess Iris."
Werner immediately thrust a mana gauge at him.
The needle whipped wildly past the red danger zone.
"Look here. The mana fluctuations from this mansion have exceeded critical levels."
"This is a severe disaster threatening the safety of the entire capital."
"So? I'm trying to drink my coffee in peace."
Eric took a nonchalant sip.
"H-Hey, you!"
Werner bellowed, veins bulging.
"You must be too young to grasp the situation, but no one can live in a cursed house like this! Evacuate immediately."
"If there's no solution, the Bureau will designate this land a disaster hazard zone and seize it by force."
It was a blatant threat to take the land.
Alfred paced frantically beside him, pale as a ghost.
"Y-Young Master! What do we do? The Bureau's involved—we're done for!"
"Disaster, my ass."
Eric scoffed—right as
Kieeeeeek!
a eardrum-shattering screech erupted from deep underground.
The vibrations were far stronger than the night before.
"Urk! Danger! Everyone, deploy barriers!"
"That's the wail of an ancient evil spirit... The resentment is unbearable."
"Living in a place like this is insane!"
The mages panicked, throwing up barriers in a frenzy.
But amid the chaos,
Eric rose calmly from his seat.
He just dug in his ear and headed toward the source of the noise.
'Evil spirits? Write a novel, why don't you.'
Eric closely examined the fine crack in the floor.
'There it is.'
Mana surging up from deep below, whistling through the narrow gap.
"Hey, workers! Over here!"
Eric turned and beckoned.
Sturdy laborers heading to the mansion poured in.
They carried heavy wooden barrels and shovels.
"What do you think you're doing? We should be exorcising the spirits posthaste!"
"Exorcise? Why bother?"
Captain Werner shouted in disbelief.
"I can just shut this up quietly. And look, the stuff I ordered yesterday arrived right on time."
"Foolish child. This requires a grand purification ritual."
"Even high priests would take days. You think this nonsense will work?"
"Shut up and watch properly from over there."
Eric waved him off and immediately directed the workers.
"Let's get to work. See that crack in the floor? That's where the air—and noise—is leaking through."
He opened the lid of one of the large wooden barrels the workers had brought.
Inside was no holy water or magic solution—just thick, grayish lime putty packed full.
"Just fill 'em all up nice and tight with lime mortar. No gaps—pack it in real good."
"W-What is this?"
Werner and the mages were dumbfounded.
Sealing a mana reflux steeped in evil resentment
with mere lime?
"Y-Young Master? Will this really work?"
Even the foreman trembled, shovel in hand, eyeing it doubtfully.
But Eric nodded firmly.
"It will. Plugging holes doesn't get more straightforward than this. Don't skimp—slather it on thick."
"Yes, sir! Got it. Everyone, pour it in!"
The workers charged in with their shovels.
Splat. Splat.
The thick lime putty poured over the cracks.
"You mad young lord!"
Werner yelled, but it was too late.
The workers followed Eric's orders, plugging every crack with lime.
The mages watched with looks of disgust.
Such a crude method could never work.
It might even stimulate the vein and cause a massive explosion.
It should have.
Kiek... Kie. Grk, grk.
But for some reason, the eerie cries began to fade,
and the ground-shaking vibrations weakened like a lie.
And finally.
Perfect silence.
As the lime set and sealed the cracks completely,
the cries and tremors vanished entirely.
Eric strolled over.
Thud thud.
He stomped hard on the hardening floor to test it.
"See? All quiet now."
"......"
Werner's jaw dropped.
The mana gauge's needle settled obediently at normal levels.
'Impossible... With just lime? Suppressing mana reflux?'
It defied all common sense.
No purification ritual whatsoever.
Just dumping lime putty.
'No... That wasn't ordinary lime. The smell was off.'
Decades of magical knowledge were crumbling before his eyes.
'Eric Theodore... Who the hell is this guy?'
Werner stared up at Eric in horrified awe.
Whatever. Eric waved at the stunned mages.
"Problem solved, right? Now get lost. I need to go back to sleep."
"It failed?"
Princess Iris's hand trembled faintly as she received the report.
Captain Werner prostrated himself, forehead nearly kissing the floor, sweat beading coldly.
"I have no excuses, Your Highness..."
"How?"
Iris's eyes wavered.
What advanced spell had he used?
Some secret Theodore family technique we don't know?
Werner answered in a crawling voice.
"W-Well... He just... poured lime mortar on the ground..."
"What?"
"He plugged the holes with plain lime putty."
Iris was speechless for a moment.
The sheer absurdity drew a hollow laugh from her.
"Ha... Haha!"
Lime.
Solving a problem that stumped imperial mages with such a vulgar, simplistic fix?
"This is fun. Insanely fun."
Her blue eyes gleamed with an eerie light.
Just dumb luck?
Or is he a madman?
'No... He's a genius.'
A genius who shatters rigid conventions.
"I want him. I want him so badly it drives me mad."
Iris shot to her feet.
It was no longer mere curiosity—this was an overwhelming desire for possession.
If she could make a man like that her pawn,
the throne would be hers for the taking.
"Just you wait, Eric Theodore. No matter how you run, I'll make you kneel at my feet."
The princess's obsession was twisting into a mad love-hate.
Meanwhile, in the now-peaceful bedroom, Eric sprawled out in a deep, sweet sleep.
"Mmm, yum."
Drool trickled from the corner of his mouth as he dreamed happily.
"Lime mortar's the answer after all... Mmm..."
Utterly unaware of the fire he'd just lit in the princess's heart.
Or how much trouble it would bring.
It was just a peaceful afternoon for a man deprived of sleep.