Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: The Owl's Gift
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Loan didn't know how to react.
The Commander must have decided this the moment Sienna sent her report by carrier pigeon.
When Loan remained silent, Adrian asked again.
"So, we're feeding it?"
"May I ask why?"
"As I said, curiosity."
"Are you interested in Aul eating this, or in Aul's abilities?"
"Both."
"…"
Adrian lightly scratched his chin, studying Loan's expression.
He said,
"You know these are possessed bodies, right?"
There were four heads in total.
Naturally, they were dark from death and had all swollen to the size of a bear's head, each with slightly different features.
One had eyes slit wider than necessary, another had no nose, a third had long, protruding teeth, and the last had ears spread out like butterfly wings.
The surfaces were mostly dry, so the stench wasn't too severe.
"Yes. I saw them directly channel otherworldly beings into their bodies."
"Right. A demon enters the head. There's a saying, you know? Divinity settles in the heart, and a demon takes up residence in the head."
"I hadn't heard that one."
"Whether you knew that or not, I suspect it was thanks to you cleverly giving the head to Aul that it was able to display such power."
"Are you saying it ate the demon's power and gained an ability?"
"Perhaps. We don't know if it was simply consuming the magic, or if it was possible because its meal was a demon."
Loan nodded as if in agreement, then asked,
"Commander, do you think Aul is a demon?"
"I think it's likely. I looked up records on the Stone of Goetia just in case, but there was nothing special."
"If Aul is a demon, what will you do?"
Adrian shook his head and said,
"Nothing. There's no need to hate a demon before it's done anything wrong, is there?"
"But people kill bugs even before they do anything bad. Isn't that because they anticipate them becoming a nuisance?"
"Hmm. You're right. The truth is, demons should be killed on sight. I was just trying to say something nice to you; I didn't expect you to take it so literally."
"Ah… I'm sorry."
As Loan bowed his head slightly, Adrian burst into cheerful laughter.
"It was a joke, a joke. Anyway, curiosity aside, I brought these as a reward since Aul seems to like these heads, so don't overthink it. Thanks to you, things went smoothly, right?"
"Thank you for your consideration. I'll have to ask Aul, but I think it will be happy. Hmm… I'll call it now."
It seemed this meeting wouldn't move on to the next stage until the owl ate a priest's head anyway.
Loan quietly spoke Aul's name.
"Aul."
Immediately, the footprints stamped on his sleeve continued for a step or two in mid-air, and then Aul slowly materialized on the table.
"Ooh."
Adrian leaned forward in admiration.
His and Aul's gazes met, and neither looked away.
"It's much cuter than I heard. Its legs are so long and slender. And that head plume is magnificent."
"Aul!"
"It says, 'This human has a good eye.'"
As Aul replied with what seemed like delight, Loan immediately translated.
Adrian laughed heartily, looking very pleased.
There was no need to explain the situation to Aul.
The creature began to drool as it stared at the severed heads on the table, then shot Loan a pitiful look.
"Aul?"
"Are you asking if you can eat?"
"Yes. Aul. Wait a moment. This is a reward for you, but we haven't finished our discussion yet."
"Aul…"
Aul shifted its weight from one foot to the other, showing its impatience.
Loan asked.
"By the way, does anyone have a secret they want to uncover?"
He looked around at the others sitting at the table.
The people who had been looking at Aul with fond amusement subtly stiffened as their eyes met Loan's.
Adrian said in a playful voice,
"That's a good question. Whose secret should we look into?"
"I'll pass."
"Me too."
Oscar and Sienna spoke up quickly, almost at the same time.
"I don't think I can do it, Commander. I'd rather die than have Aul cover my face. Not that I have any secrets to speak of, of course."
Lucas belatedly waved his hands in refusal, glancing at Sienna for some reason.
"Is that so?"
As everyone declined, Adrian put on a very serious expression.
Still, he didn't seem to be genuinely pondering it.
"It would be strange for Loan, the caster, to use it on himself, and it would be just as strange to use it on me, who knows all sorts of sensitive secrets. Besides, I can't see, so what's the point of revealing my secrets?"
"Should we have brought a prisoner?"
Lucas scratched his head and asked, but Adrian shook his head.
"No. The Le Tell bastards don't share information with each other, so it's useless. Information about the main branch's location, high-ranking priests, the chief priest, and the pontiff are all passed down through ideations. Anything else we might find out would be mostly useless."
Loan asked.
"Ideations?"
"Yes. They don't act out of knowledge but blindly receive commands. I hear it's like some kind of vision."
"…"
Loan had seen something similar. While he felt a moment of confusion, Adrian spoke.
"And what's the point of interrogating people we're going to kill anyway?"
"Yes."
"Last time, the situation arose unexpectedly, so for now, let's hear what Aul has to say. At this rate, we're going to have a flood of Aul's drool."
Loan turned Aul's head back toward him and met its eyes.
"Aul. There's no one here whose secrets we can uncover. Is that the only way your ability can be used?"
"Aul."
"Oh, really?"
Loan's face lit up, and he blinked rapidly.
"It says if I give it a head, it will please me with another ability… What other ability do you have?"
"Aul!"
"Really?"
For a moment, Loan's eyes shone with an unprecedented light.
He seemed greatly moved, a rare sight for him.
Lucas couldn't hold back and pressed him.
"What's it saying?"
"It's telling me to draw magic from it."
Lucas tilted his head. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around what that meant or how it was possible.
His father, Oscar, let out a small sigh and said,
"So it's offering to act as a magic reservoir."
"I think so."
Adrian quickly folded his arms and added,
"That's great. Everyone runs low on magic. It could come in handy in a critical moment. As long as it's not too cumbersome, it could be quite useful."
From Adrian's perspective, that might be its use, but for Loan, it meant something different.
Just in the past few days, he had been frustrated by the limits of his mana capacity, which prevented him from unleashing a single powerful blow.
Of course, thanks to that limitation, he had managed to invent various attack methods using Sheville on the spot today, but those also required a considerable amount of magic.
In any case, having another option was certainly a welcome development.
Loan combed his fingers through Aul's head plume and said,
"Alright. Go ahead and eat."
As if it had been waiting, Aul opened its mouth wide and clamped down on half of the dark priest's large head.
Then, it tilted its head back and swallowed it in one gulp.
Thump—
Its body bulged into the familiar shape of the undigested priest's head, and Aul spoke.
"Aul…"
"You're welcome. So, do I have to wear you on my head like I did with the mayor of Ollen?"
"Aul!"
It then opened its mouth again…
Loan wore a rather troubled expression.
Lucas asked.
"Why?"
"It wants me to put it in."
"Put what in?"
"…"
Not even Loan's eyes could see inside Aul's body.
To have to put his hand into its stomach without knowing what was inside.
Considering Loan's usual fastidious nature, it wouldn't be easy, but he had no choice.
Loan grimaced and slowly inserted his hand into Aul's mouth.
The onlookers grimaced with complicated expressions, as if disgusted yet incredibly intrigued by the situation.
With his hand still inside, Loan's expression changed several more times. It wasn't easy to identify what was inside by touch alone.
"Ugh…"
Lucas let out a strange sound.
After frowning for a moment, Loan finally pulled out his hand, and at the same time, Aul let out a long burp.
"Buuuurp!"
Its body having returned to its original state, Aul took a few quick steps in the air as if its job was done, and then vanished.
Everyone focused on Loan's hand.
"Is that… poop?"
"It looks a bit like a sea creature."
It was very squishy, yet not too difficult to hold, and it looked like a sea cucumber from a biology book.
At least, that was its appearance.
But judging by the nature of what it held within, it was an incredible mass of magic.
The concentrated aura of light was blindingly brilliant.
Despite this, Loan stared intently at the object in his hand.
He focused on the mana itself that composed the magical mass.
His unique ocular art, enhanced after drinking the elixir, allowed him to perceive mana with greater depth.
To the point where he could understand that the grains of light were actually formed by the bonding of even smaller particles.
The only downside was that this ability lasted for only a few minutes.
'It's like water condensed to an incredible density. The mana's bonding structure looks similar, too.'
The overflowing mana pulsed in his hand. How could he use this?
It was a little disappointing that there were no mages here who could offer advice.
A powerful spell that could be cast with such immense magic…
Loan suddenly looked out the window.
A clear spring day. The sky was exceptionally bright.
'Not a single cloud…'
He then recalled the cloud of fire that had raged like lava.
Magda's Inferno Storm.
For a moment, Loan reverse-engineered the flow of mana he had witnessed back then, gathering his inspiration.
"Shall we go outside?"
Loan headed for the training grounds, holding the mass of magic, and the others followed with curious expressions.
At the same time.
Two Runners from the Honor Division were walking toward the Faith Division.
Sara and Miguel had been classmates at Schwerin's Magic Tower, joining the Honor Division together after completing the advanced course.
Though they were called promising young mages, they were now thirty years old.
Therefore, the Commander's order to bring in Oz, a mere fifteen-year-old, as a magical advisor was difficult for them to accept.
As they entered the Faith Division's area, Sara said,
"He showed considerable skill, but it seems he uses almost all his magic on psychokinesis."
Miguel nodded in agreement.
"And his psychokinesis is really just throwing a bunch of small blades. His senses are good, but his destructive power is nothing to speak of."
"Maybe his mana control is still immature?"
"Or maybe he can't use any magic other than psychokinesis."
"But didn't he create a Fireball before…"
Miguel took a deep breath and lowered his voice, as if suspicious.
"I saw it… but if you can call that tiny flicker of flame a Fireball, then I guess it was. I'm not so sure."
"It's really strange. He seems skilled, yet at the same time, he doesn't."
"I'll acknowledge his talent for analysis, interpretation, and deconstruction. And the perfection of his psychokinesis. But I don't think there's anything more to him."
"A mage needs a signature power move."
"Exactly. He's still just a kid, after all."
"Yeah. I guess so."
At the end of their conversation, they both looked somewhat relieved.
Their bruised egos had found solace in each other's words.
Just as they stepped onto the Faith Division's training grounds with slightly lighter hearts.
"Huh?"
"What?"
Before they even had time to be surprised.
A massive, dense sphere of water fell from the sky and crashed to the ground.
CRASH—!
The hard stone floor caved in, and broken fragments scattered in all directions.
Blown back by the impact, Sara and Miguel—
—met the eyes of Loan, who stood a short distance away with his hand stretched toward the sky.
Loan looked just as surprised as they were.