Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Seizing the Border Count's Authority
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"I just stole your aura."
"No... Is that even possible?"
"Your security was pretty lax. Necromancy magic is the perfect system to hijack if you spot a vulnerability."
I often describe necromancy magic as a network of interconnected computers.
In fact, from the memories of the Hall of Necromancy, there were battles against high-ranking necromancers that boiled down to a race to breach each other's defenses first.
No matter how many hundreds or thousands of undead you command, they're useless if they're stolen away.
It's a form of hacking and seizure unique to necromancy magic clashing against itself—but aren't necromancers the kind who dominate undead in the first place?
It's a battle of dominance: how effectively you infiltrate and take control.
In other words, a hacking war.
The same goes not just for undead, but for curses as well.
There are many ways to hack, but it seemed no one truly understood the intricate details of the Tower of Knowledge's long-established common wisdom at a fundamental level.
"Whoa, you mad bastard."
A short exclamation escaped.
A few shadowy figures clad in dark robes gathered in an underground hideout.
"How did it go?"
"The curse was successfully applied. As expected of the artifact bestowed by our lord."
"The Bata royal mages will perform their own purification rituals, but they have no idea those rituals are shortening King Oliad's lifespan."
Poison can be medicine depending on the timing.
But a misused medicine becomes poison.
They had exploited this simple principle, yet to the necromancers, it was a remarkably ingenious and elaborate curse.
"Once King Oliad dies from this, the Bata royal family will plunge into chaos. It's only natural that countless nobles will wage civil war for power."
You assassinated the king!
The nobles, already deeply at odds with one another, would seize this chance to strike each other down.
Moreover, the current king had no clear successor.
His son was too young, so the princess would relatively speaking take his place.
However, it was well-known that the princess had a rather frail disposition unfit for kingship.
"Once the princess inherits the throne, everything will fall into our hands."
"Heh heh heh..."
"Keh heh heh heh."
They let out eerie chuckles, celebrating their victory.
Clang!!!
It was then.
A man in a black robe burst in frantically.
"We're in big trouble!"
"Don't make a fuss. It's such a fine day."
"Th-the curse..."
"What about the curse?"
"It was purified."
At those words, silence fell among the robed men.
"Huh?"
"This isn't good."
"Wait, hold on. What do you mean? That curse was supposed to kill the target without fail upon purification!"
"I-I don't know either... but the curse suddenly got purified... King Oliad is currently recovering."
"No way! How the hell did they dispel our lord's curse magic?!"
The men slammed their fists on the table.
"Damn it all!! Who the hell dares?!"
At that shout, one of the men raised his hand.
"There's only one way to purify a curse like that."
Everyone nodded at his words.
"Necromancy magic."
"But is there anyone with that level of skill?"
"There's one genius necromancer called a 4th-circle prodigy. Goldson Vidar of the Marquis Vidar house."
Hatred filled their eyes.
"It's that bastard! He ruined our plans!"
"Damn it, if word of this gets out, we're all dead."
In truth, it was Leon, not Goldson Vidar—but these men didn't even consider Leon a factor.
"Goldson Vidar! Capture that scum! We'll make him pay dearly for this!"
"Yes!!"
Unintentionally, Goldson Vidar had made enemies.
Thanks to unintentionally saving King Oliad's life, Melissa seemed in high spirits.
Anyone could tell it wasn't out of loyalty.
The only reason she was pleased was that it allowed her to place the royal family in their debt.
And there was another reason for her good mood.
"Ah, Marquis Vidar's face was priceless."
Marquis Vidar.
The royal court archmage and a powerful high noble currently backing Tibel.
The fact that he had suffered a massive loss from this incident was deeply satisfying.
A curse had been cast on the king right in the royal palace.
Just the fact that the royal court archmage had been completely oblivious meant he bore enormous responsibility.
The fact that his son Goldson had nearly killed King Oliad only added fuel to the fire.
Of course, Marquis Vidar was more victim than perpetrator in this affair, but his position as royal court archmage allowed no excuses for such ignorance.
"Marquis Vidar will have to take responsibility for this mess. He'll lose a lot."
"Enough to come after you or me like rats in a trap?"
"What does it matter? You've got my back."
She smirked and held out her glass.
I clinked mine against it.
Clink!
"Besides, Marquis Vidar won't have time to bother with us anymore."
When a power player stumbles, the surrounding hyenas pounce.
"He'll either overplay his hand or get dragged down by those around him. Either way. But if Marquis Vidar—the royal family's greatest rival—isn't behind the curse, things could get serious..."
Some external force had tried to assassinate Bata Kingdom's king.
It was no small matter.
"Leon, any guesses on the culprit?"
"No idea. How would I know?"
She narrowed her eyes at me, stared silently for a moment, then nodded.
"Honestly, I have no sense of how capable the continent's necromancers are."
They'd put effort into it, so they weren't clueless, but their security was abysmal.
As the archivist said, this required a broad and precise understanding of magic.
By my standards, coldly assessing them, the curser was little more than a rank amateur skimming the surface.
Yet in another sense, he might have been a grand archmage-level necromancer.
You can't narrow it down without more data.
"Whatever. That's for the royal family to handle. Not our problem."
Melissa waved it off with a giggle.
"We just need to guard the Demon Realm properly. The royal nobles' power struggles have nothing to do with us, right?"
"Exactly."
"Alright, cheers! I'll give you a raise in pocket money when we get back."
And the next day.
A royal decree arrived for Melissa and me, lounging at the inn, commanding our attendance at the state council.
Melissa made sense, but why me?
Melissa dragged me along, ignoring my attempts to fabricate excuses and defy the order.
With King Oliad still unconscious, the one presiding in his stead was none other than the Princess of Bata Kingdom.
The prince was the official heir, but he was still too young to attend council meetings.
Thus, the princess with her delicate temperament filled the role.
The state council was mostly tedious fare.
Boring discussions on the kingdom's current state and neighboring countries' situations.
The Bata princess presiding in King Oliad's place seemed to share the sentiment.
Of course, the massive curse incident from the day before had been handled in strict secrecy, so almost no one here knew of it.
As the meeting dragged on...
One noble raised a new agenda item.
"If I may propose a brief intermission for a simple matter, Your Highness."
"Proceed."
At the princess's response, he stroked his mustache and stood.
"As you know, we recently lost one of the kingdom's Sword Masters. Count Cascadia."
A faint anger flickered in Melissa's eyes at his words.
"A tragic loss. But at this juncture, we must reconsider the immense authority he wielded."
"What are you getting at?"
Melissa shot back coldly, and he declared in an oratorical tone.
"Lady Melissa Cascadia, the current Border Count of Cascadia, is still young. She lacks worldly experience. Thus, I believe there's a risk such vast power could be misused."
What they meant was simple.
Strip Melissa of her authority.
"Are you saying we should confiscate the Border Count's authority? On what grounds?"
"Confiscate? Ahem, no, nothing like that. We're simply saying we'll return it when she turns twenty."
"Then who will manage that authority in the meantime?"
Melissa kept up her tone, daring him to continue.
But most nobles seemed to have coordinated in advance.
"How about the central government manages it for now, then reassigns it at twenty? Someone seasoned like Marquis Vidar, for instance."
A number of nobles raised their hands in approval.
"I approve."
"I approve."
It was laughable, them deciding among themselves and acting like we should just accept it.
Perhaps this was their plan all along.
I scanned the faces of those who had just tried to sink their teeth into Cascadia.
"Heh heh, that's a majority approval. What say you, Marquis?"
The nobles passed the baton to Marquis Vidar as if scripted, but for some reason, he was pale and unable to focus on the meeting.
Cascadia wasn't the issue now; his own position was at risk of crumbling.
As Melissa began to show her rising fury...
I stopped her and addressed Duke Berli, who had been silently observing.
"Do you share their view, Duke?"
He wasn't fool enough to miss my implication.
Consider the favor of saving Parel Berli's life repaid with this.
He slowly closed his eyes, and mocking snickers rippled through some nobles.
"Ahem, who do you think you are, speaking out of turn here? Who even brought this fool?!"
"Deciding other people's family matters on your whim and telling us to just go along? How shameless."
"That punk!!"
Several nobles flew into a rage, veins bulging in their necks at my taunt. But I pressed on shamelessly.
What are you gonna do about it?
I was here by official summons.
Most gazes turned to the duke's faction, as if pleading for support.