Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: The Unveiling
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In the passage leading to the central hall.
Richa, who had been walking in silence, suddenly came to a halt.
Up ahead, at the end of the passage, the guards of Ferrara stood watch, clad in heavy armor.
It wasn't a large space, but it was a situation where they were alone, one in front of the other.
Nevertheless, Richa remained cautious.
-This is a mental link. Don't be alarmed.
-Ah, yes. Please speak freely.
It was Richa, in fact, who was surprised.
-You can use… the mental link.
-Yes.
Richa felt her heart, which had just calmed, begin to pound again.
Before Loan had suddenly sprung up from the ground, she had actually been on high alert.
It was only natural.
Loan’s first report from Basini. And Sienna’s second report.
Each one contained shocking revelations.
Still, she had pushed forward with the council schedule, thinking it was both a crisis and an opportunity. Anyone with decision-making power in the Union would have done the same.
But it was also true that she was anxious.
The personnel here were severely lacking, and time was short.
She kept questioning her own decision, wondering if she had knowingly led her subordinates and other innocent people into a trap.
As she greeted the nobles trickling into the reception hall. As she watched the head of the Basini family, a wide smile plastered on his face.
She had just been thinking how wonderful it would have been to have *him* here, the one who always gave her strength in times like these.
So now.
The first question she asked was, in fact, a deeply personal one.
-How is the Commander? The report didn't mention him.
-He was seriously injured, but I think he'll be alright.
Loan didn't hide anything.
He felt he had no right to.
His duty was to convey the full truth.
-Did he have any other message?
-The Commander is the one who made it possible for me to get here. He said he was that desperate.
-Desperate. That’s not a word I’d expect from the Commander…
Richa kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, just as she had from the start.
Loan could tell she was struggling to compose her breathing.
-There is much to say. I'm sure you feel the same. Let's talk as we walk.
She began to move again, and Loan matched her pace.
-How did you get here so quickly? The distance from Mediol makes it seem impossible. Was it possible with magic?
-It's a bit complicated to explain, but Commander Garcia launched me.
-Launched you?
-Yes. With all his remaining strength… It would be better for you to hear the story from the Commander himself later. More importantly, that thing.
Following Richa past the guards, Loan reached the central hall of the council building. His gaze was drawn to the massive curtain in the center.
-That is the Ferrara Council Memorial Tower. It's scheduled to be unveiled shortly to commemorate the opening of the council hall.
-Have you seen what's inside the curtain?
-The tower's construction was carried out alongside the rebuilding of the official residence. The curtain was briefly lifted at the time. It didn't seem to have any major issues.
The dark magic tower that had risen from the basement was likely connected to it.
He now understood why he hadn't sensed any dark mana here when he first arrived.
The curtain enveloping the memorial tower was blocking the mana from within; it seemed to be specially made.
Although she said they had opened it to check, a brief glance at its exterior might have made it seem fine.
After all, it would have just looked like a large monument or a stone pagoda.
Loan stood beside Richa, his eyes fixed on the curtain, and recounted everything he had experienced.
Each piece of information was astonishing, but Richa listened in silence with an impassive expression.
Maintaining her composure was not easy.
-So, putting the Carnival on the agenda meant putting it on the Grave Alliance's agenda, and today is the day they execute their plan. If that memorial tower affects the activation of their so-called Carnival, is it really alright to leave it as it is?
-Yes. I've altered all the magic circles, so no one will be harmed by the magic.
-Then we can use it to our advantage and weed out those who have sided with Grave.
-It would be best to proceed as naturally as possible, pretending we know nothing, as if nothing happened in Basini.
-I was trying to stall for as long as possible until reinforcements arrived.
-It might actually be better to proceed quickly. Before they find out about what happened in Basini or what I've fabricated.
Richa gave a slight nod of agreement.
To be taking advice from a young Runner, yet to feel so reassured.
-It must have been no small feat to get here, and you've worked so hard in the basement without any rest. To do all that alone… It's almost shameful.
-No. It was only possible thanks to Commander Garcia. And I promised him I would protect you, Vice-Commander Richa.
It was true. That had been a great motivation.
Richa glanced at Loan with a gentle smile.
Loan felt a little relieved to see the worry fade from her face.
As she needlessly avoided his gaze and patted his shoulder, a deep bell tolled, announcing the hour.
“People will be coming in. Let’s get ready.”
Loan took a couple of steps back behind Richa, putting on a thoroughly dejected expression.
On the surface, he had been reprimanded by his superior for behavior unbecoming of a Union member.
The main entrance of the council hall, a massive cast-iron door, was swung open by the guards.
“Welcome, everyone.”
Following Richa’s welcome, nobles began to enter the central hall one by one.
An official from Ferrara in charge of guiding them explained the situation to the guests.
“In accordance with the schedule, we will hold the unveiling ceremony for the memorial tower, after which we will immediately proceed to the main conference hall where the council will convene.”
Loan once again committed the faces of those Richa had introduced him to to memory.
Unsurprisingly, the head of the Basini family drew the most attention.
Partly due to his incredibly ornate attire, but the man himself was also quite handsome.
He had an excellent physique, like a wooden mannequin that could captivate people even in off-the-shelf clothing, and he exuded confidence.
He was also the possessor of a dense magical power that seemed to back up that confidence.
He glanced around the assembly, then gestured to those who would join him in the unveiling.
“Let’s get started. We have a long way to go today, hahaha!”
It was a hearty laugh, one that could easily win people over.
A small commotion arose as others laughed along, the heads of major families following behind him.
Whispers trickled out from among them, so secretive that Loan could barely catch them.
Once he understood the content, it made sense.
“Still, there are three families who lost their children. How can he laugh so cheerfully when it hasn’t even been that long since the funerals…”
“What’s stranger than the Basini family are the others. The heads of Scala and Correr. They lost their own son and daughter, yet look at them, smiling and following along.”
“Perhaps they’re drunk on the prospect of future gains.”
“If they can control the council by numbers alone.”
“That must be it. Scala and Correr have been close with the Basini family for a long time, so regardless of circumstances, the three of them should be seen as one. That’s why the Basini head is so arrogant.”
“He was the most enthusiastic about proposing the council, so he must have assumed the chairman’s seat was his.”
The ball held for the birthday of the Duke of Ferrara’s daughter, Mirka.
In the midst of the tragic incident caused by the puppeteer, the heads of the Scala, Correr, and Pamphili families had lost their children.
Naturally, the three families had shown strong hostility towards Grave.
That was why Loan and Sienna had placed those families slightly lower on their list of suspects.
‘Was this what they meant when they said Grave had already made its move?’
Among them, the heads of Scala and Correr were trailing after the Basini head with bright smiles, suggesting they had likely switched to cooperating with Grave.
A glance at the dark, unsettling mana of their escorts was enough to surmise as much.
‘Did they target them precisely because they were in a mentally vulnerable state?’
If so, these were not enemies to be taken lightly.
The way they had turned their opponents’ hostility to their own advantage was proof enough.
If they had faced the enemy's plan today unprepared, what might have happened…
As Loan finished his thoughts, identifying each enemy and memorizing their faces.
“One, two, three!”
The heads of the five families and the Union’s representative, Vice-Commander Richa, pulled forcefully on the ropes they held, and the curtain covering the memorial tower slid smoothly to the ground.
“Ooh!”
“Wow, this is quite magnificent.”
Exclamations of awe erupted from all sides.
The memorial tower was the color of ink.
It was large in size, simple in form, and bore no inscriptions.
However, one large symbol was carved into the very center of the tower. It was a shape quite familiar to Loan: an inverted pentagram.
At first glance, it seemed out of place with the lavishly decorated atmosphere of the central hall.
And yet, it possessed a considerable presence.
It was likely due to the faint magic power emanating from it.
Loan immediately extended his Convection, forming a mana barrier around the tower, just as he had formed a cloud of magic externally.
The processes of emission and blockage were both formless, and their deployment was so subtle that no one noticed anything amiss.
But there was no benefit in dragging this out.
Fortunately.
“Haha, there will be plenty of time for admiration after today’s schedule, won’t there? Everyone, let’s head up.”
Eager to become chairman, the Basini head once again hurried everyone along.
Richa also concurred.
“Yes. It’s the first day of the council, so I’m sure everyone has many opinions. It may be a long meeting. Let’s proceed to the main conference hall.”
With their intentions aligned, the process was swift and orderly.
A procession formed, heading up to the second-floor conference hall.
“…”
Amidst them, Loan’s attention was fixed on one woman.
The woman who had been stuck close to the Basini head’s side.
After casting a dubious glance at the tower, she briefly moved her lips, then slightly extended her hand and waved it lightly, as if shooing away a gnat.
A faint wave of mana spread from her toward the memorial tower.
Magic.
What was she trying to confirm?
Loan extended his Convection and created a momentary gap in the mana barrier surrounding the tower.
It was a matter of razor-thin timing.
The mana flowing from the memorial tower and the wave extended by the woman met dramatically.
The woman tilted her head slightly, then followed after the group.
‘She can’t see mana, but it seems she can feel it.’
Loan knew instinctively.
This woman had either designed or drawn the magic circle.
Her consistently upright posture and demeanor, the way she kept her hands hidden and walked neatly without carrying a weapon, had already drawn his attention, and her recent action all but confirmed it.
But the strange thing was that he couldn't feel any dark mana from her.
On the contrary, her mana was remarkably pure, and its density was incredible.
Most of the ‘villains’ Loan had met so far had mana that was gray to black, varying only in turbidity or depth.
Loan had come to think of this as the degree of their ‘malice.’
Demons, who were malice incarnate, were close to a ‘pure black’ that could not get any darker.
In Loan’s experience, those at the opposite end of the spectrum were the Union’s Governor-General and Archbishop Fabian.
So, for a woman who seemed to be with Grave to possess such pure mana was undeniably unsettling.
Restoring the mana barrier, Loan kept his eyes on the woman, focusing his attention as he followed the crowd.
Soon after, the main conference began.