Chapter 13
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 13: Raiding the Duke Estal Family (7)
Cassian stares at me as if to devour me.
"How...... Rihan, what on earth did you do?"
Cassian grabbed my shoulder.
My shoulder blade screams at the crushing grip strength.
It seems a 6th Hierarchy mage has superhuman strength too.
But this is not the time to be having such carefree sentiments.
'I have to get past this. I have to get past this situation somehow!'
This bastard's eyes have completely turned!
He looks like he's going to kill me!
The problem is that I don't know what I did either.
The fear of ignorance assaults my whole body.
While my head flashes white.
I squeezed out a trembling breath and spat out desperate forced logic.
"......First of all, I don't think I can do the rest today. The backlash of mana is worse than I thought."
"Why! Didn't the first seal unlock so easily just now!"
Seeing him shout, this man is excited.
Cassian's suspicious gaze scans my nape.
Fuck, as expected, was it too forced?
What am I supposed to do when I really don't know anything.
I swallowed dry saliva and cast a decisive diversion.
"I also...... need preparation. Unlocking a seal of this level is risking one's life."
"........."
Was it because of the desperation in my voice?
Cassian's cool glint subsided a bit.
He stared piercingly at me for a moment, then surprisingly let go of his hand obediently.
".........I see. I was too excited."
Cassian exhaled deeply and put on the mask of a Duke again.
"Seeing the door that I couldn't reach even after devoting my whole life about to open, I must have lost my reason for a moment. I apologize. Teacher Rihan."
The intimidation subsides and silence arrives.
But it's too early to be relieved.
He was a persistent scholar.
Because he would want the answer to the 'phenomenon' that just happened.
"Then, may I ask once again what method you used to release the seal just now?"
I said I don't know either.
It just unlocked with a click when I touched it!
The atmosphere suggests I won't be able to leave this basement forever if I tell the truth.
Should I just babble some illogical nonsense?
Should I just wing it?
Just as I was about to make a big decision.
A voice that had been dead quiet came from a corner of my brain.
"Rihan, recite as I say."
'Senior! Where have you been! I really thought I was going to die!'
The gladness was brief.
Eleanor's instructions poured into my mind.
I stuttered but spat out the words she called out with a confident voice.
"I read the unique pulse of mana flowing at the base of the seal formula. Matching the moment that pulse surged, I flowed my mana in the exact opposite grain. I induced a vacuum where mana temporarily annihilates as the forces canceled each other out."
Cassian's eyes opened wide again.
"Pulse of mana...... You twisted the grain. You saw magic not as a built-up fortress wall but as a living, moving flow and erased that echo. Indeed, if one can capture that fleeting moment, the gap in hierarchy becomes meaningless."
Cassian started muttering to himself.
Fortunately, it seems I wasn't caught.
Listening to Eleanor's explanation, it seems this is also related to wave mechanics.......
No, more than that.
'Why was there no answer earlier? You said it won't work without me! The world almost ended!'
"......I went to meet my disciple after a long time."
Her voice, instead of the usual arrogance.
Had sunk damply like rain-soaked paper.
'You said that person was from a thousand years ago? Wasn't she dead?'
"Dead. Clearly ceased to breathe. Not even a handful of dust would remain."
Eleanor paused for a moment.
Her sigh echoed deeply within my consciousness.
"But as expected of my disciple. Selene von Estal. That child had torn off a part of her soul and planted it inside this seal formula. She was keeping a terrible promise not to leave this place until I, her teacher, came back, or until someone to protect the family appeared."
Indescribable pride dwelt in Eleanor's voice.
A Grand Mage's praise for the disciple's tenacity that endured a thousand years.
But at the end of it, terrible loneliness was buried.
"Truly...... a disciple worth teaching. But I don't know why that smart child did such a foolish thing. She could have just slept peacefully."
"........."
It's solemn.
A disciple who whittled her own soul to wait for her teacher.
What would be the feelings of the teacher facing her.
Sorry rather than gladness.
Pity rather than pride would have been greater.
'That......'
Just as I was about to ask more.
Cassian tapped my shoulder lightly.
"Teacher Rihan. Go and prepare for tomorrow. You may use the laboratory as much as you like. I also have some things to organize, so follow the dedicated butler."
A strange weight of respect different from before was carried in Cassian's voice.
"Ah, right. Teacher Rihan. I will place one of my knights at the door. If you need anything, tell him."
Eleanor's doll is sitting on the bed with legs crossed.
I placed one of the two cups of coffee brought by the maid in front of her.
Of course, a doll made of cotton cannot drink.
But there is something called atmosphere.
"Mmm......."
The sight of the doll burying its nose in the teacup and smelling is quite cute.
Dark roasting with steam rising.
As expected of a Duke family, it's high-quality beans.
"The aroma is truly good, Rihan. It is an aroma counted in the hand among those I have smelled in a thousand years."
"I guess because it's high-quality beans. Probably a few days of my salary was burned in one cup."
"........."
Now is the main topic.
I buried my body deep into the sofa and asked.
"So, please explain a bit. What kind of person was the disciple named Selene?"
Eleanor stared intently at me from beyond the teacup.
"Selene remained there just as she was a thousand years ago. Those stubborn eyes I knew, the cool magic power, all remained the same. That child did not trust her descendants. It seems she kept the seal firmly closed, saying even if she handed over the family heirloom, they would only worsen the situation rather than utilize it."
"Still, isn't that too cold-hearted? There is no guarantee it would worsen. Even though they are her own descendants."
How was she sure?
Who knows if that treasure vault had just opened.
Maybe the Estal family wouldn't have been exterminated so miserably in the original work.
"Do you want to ask how she was so sure of that?"
Eleanor gave a strange smile.
"Do you know what that child's unique magic is? Causality Calculation. A power commonly called future foresight."
I stopped the coffee I was about to drink.
The physics circuits in my brain start spinning like crazy.
Future foresight?
Not simple astrology or prophecy?
"How is that possible?"
"It is the ability to read the near future and numerous branching points that can occur. Deriving results using the movement of all particles in this world and the flow of mana as variables. She was the most brilliant among my disciples, but at the same time the most unhappy child."
Eleanor's explanation is unconventional.
In a way, isn't it the actual 'Laplace's Demon' itself?
The hypothetical existence that can calculate the future perfectly if it knows the position and momentum of all atoms in the universe.
Does it mean Selene has been calculating the future like that demon?
Then a very natural question arises.
"Then why couldn't she prevent Senior's Ascension? She should have calculated her own fate of being trapped for a thousand years in advance, right?"
"Selene could only peek at the near future. Piercing the distant future is the realm of God, 'Causality' itself. Selene's power merely stopped at being a precise imitation of that huge providence."
That means.
A mage from a thousand years ago performed calculations superior to modern supercomputers.
Just how is her brain structure formed?
"Can I meet her too? I have a mountain of things I want to ask."
"You can meet her. Since I have already given a hint to Selene. However, the most important thing is the fact that we must reach that place again tonight."
Good.
Night operation confirmed.
"Whew, I'm full."
"To think you fill your stomach so foolishly when we have to go steal from now on?"
"But the Duke family's chef is too skilled."
How delicious the meal was.
It's at a level that puts our lab to shame.
I finished a luxurious meal at the Duke's family and returned to the room immediately.
Now, time to depart.
I took out the item prepared in advance from the bag.
A round Monocle that can cover the face.
I prepared it in advance knowing this would happen.
"......What is that bizarre glasses?"
"Ah, this? Since I'm stealing anyway, I wanted to create some vibe. Do you know something like phantom thief codes? A prop like this brings the immersion to life."
"Truly...... you do all sorts of things. Even I who lived a thousand years cannot understand your bizarre mental world at all."
Leaving Eleanor's pathetic gaze behind, I adjusted the glasses.
Putting a black cape on top of this makes for a quite plausible appearance.
Although the standard for phantom thieves is originally a white cape.
Because wearing white at night is advertising to catch me.
"Let's go, Senior. Your disciple is waiting."