Chapter 77: Time Acceleration Sorcery
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 77: Time Acceleration Sorcery
Dantalion gave him a chilling glare before turning away. Joshua quickly followed at his heels.
“Keep a close eye on Duke Chernoke and the Empress Dowager for the time being.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
It was unlikely that Duke Chernoke, who had been excluded from the central power circle for a long time, had orchestrated this.
However, one could never be too sure. If the soft-hearted Duke were to come into contact with his daughter, he might end up cooperating with the Empress Dowager’s faction.
Dantalion intended to move only after considering every possibility and making thorough calculations.
Back in his office, Dantalion looked at Joshua.
“What did the investigation into Belus Village turn up?”
Belus Village, located at the southern tip of the Empire, was a place where a severe plague had broken out long ago.
Before the Empress Dowager was revered as a Saintess, she had gained explosive public support by purifying that very village.
However, as time passed, the villagers migrated elsewhere, and the village soon vanished without a trace. The official reason was that the farmland had dried up.
This was a fairly common occurrence in villages hit by plagues. Often, the plague itself was caused by contaminated drinking water or soil.
Even if the people recovered, the land remained tainted, so most would abandon their homes and move elsewhere. It wasn't particularly strange.
The problem was that every single villager had gone missing. They had evaporated as if they had never existed in the first place—much like how Rosette had vanished into thin air from the Imperial Palace’s underground prison, a place no one should have been able to escape.
“The last trace of the Ankel couple we tracked ended in the Gareth region. We lost the trail after that. I apologize.”
“Gareth, you say.”
The strange part was that people from a village at the southern tip had moved further west to a more barren region, rather than heading north.
There were countless suspicious details, but they still lacked evidence. Dantalion’s brow furrowed.
“There was a temple in the Gareth region, wasn't there?”
“Yes, that’s correct, but…”
Joshua, answering Dantalion’s murmur, suddenly froze. He asked in a cautious tone, “Your Majesty, are you truly suspecting Her Majesty the Empress Dowager and the Temple?”
“Don’t the circumstances force that conclusion?”
“That could lead to a disaster, Your Majesty!”
Turning pale, Joshua instinctively scanned their surroundings. His body trembled.
Dantalion knew well why Joshua was so afraid.
It wasn't just the Imperial Family that had been trampled by the Empress Dowager and the Temple. Naturally, the families close to the royals had also suffered great damage. Joshua’s family was no exception.
Why else would they have been driven all the way to the Western Battlefield? Dantalion looked at Joshua with a complicated expression before turning his head.
“If I don’t strike the Empress Dowager first, I’ll die anyway. The same goes for the Temple, her base of power.”
“I know that, but… we are still…”
“Our influence may be weak, but it’s not non-existent. We can’t keep cowering forever.”
“Sigh…”
Dantalion seemed to have already made up his mind. Despite Joshua’s advice to take things slowly, the Emperor had never been able to fix his impatient nature.
Joshua couldn't understand why he was in such a rush. Dantalion acted as if he were being hunted by something.
“I need to speed up the wedding.”
“We are already rushing it as much as possible, Your Majesty.”
“Make it faster.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
Knowing that Dantalion wouldn't listen even if he tried to stop him, Joshua nodded half-heartedly.
An Emperor’s wedding was a national event. It couldn't be done sloppily, yet Dantalion was hounding his innocent subordinates. Joshua let out a deep sigh.
“What was Berry doing today?”
“She was supervising the decoration of the Empress’s Chambers again today.”
“I told her to take those things slowly. Honestly.”
“…”
Joshua wanted to ask if Dantalion was really one to talk, but he bit his tongue.
Anyway, they say couples grow to resemble each other. No, they weren't even married yet, but seeing the prospective Imperial couple acting so much alike was absurd.
‘I was against it at first, too.’
As a close aide, he couldn't look favorably upon the Emperor marrying a woman who already had a child. Furthermore, the Lady of Winston was the ex-wife of Cedric Lionel, a close associate of the Empress Dowager.
No matter how formidable House Winston was, Joshua hadn't been fond of Veronica.
However, after attending to Veronica’s needs on behalf of the busy Dantalion recently, his mind had changed significantly.
She was so much like Dantalion that he wondered if this was what he would look like if he had been born a woman. She possessed the insight to understand ten things after being told one, a sharp eye for detail, and swift execution.
She had already nearly finished reorganizing the Empress’s Chambers—a task another woman wouldn't have completed even by the wedding day—and was even lending a hand with the wedding preparations.
Moreover, it looked like she was about to start interfering in the internal affairs that the Empress Dowager used to manage. She truly wasn't human. He even wondered if she might be some kind of superhuman.
At this point, they had to be considered a match made in heaven. Joshua nodded to himself.
“Where are you going?”
“Just to see her sleeping face.”
“No, but at this hour…”
Dantalion stood up abruptly and left the office.
Joshua tried to stop him but then shook his head. It was obvious he wouldn't listen.
Sighing once more, Joshua decided to just call it a day and go home.
*
“Hey, you guys, tell me in detail. What was that talk earlier today?”
[E-earlier? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.]
[Ahem, indeed. What did we say?]
“You little…”
I glared at Desmond and Bibi, who were feigning ignorance. I crossed my arms as I watched the two of them look away.
“Are you really not going to tell me? Growing my body—what does that mean?”
[Uuu.]
Desmond and Bibi seemed determined not to speak until the end. I gnashed my teeth at the two of them as they turned their backs to me.
“If you guys don’t talk…”
I was about to give my final warning when—
[What kind of conversation are you having?]
“Dollens!”
Because Dantalion was so busy, it was hard to see Dollens even though we were in the same palace. I greeted him happily.
“Hey, you know, don't you? The way to make my body grow.”
[Make your body grow? Hmm.]
[Hieek!]
Dollens’s gaze shifted toward Desmond and Bibi. The two of them flinched as if they were being intimidated by his stare.
‘They look like students being scolded by a teacher.’
Desmond and Bibi, the demons of the Red Gem, and Dollens, the demon of the Black Gem, didn't get along, but there seemed to be a certain hierarchy.
Since demons naturally revered power and submitted to the strong, it seemed the two were outmatched by Dollens, who was contracted to a Sword Master like Dantalion.
[It seems my master has heard some nonsense.]
“Nonsense? Why are you all hiding it? Tell me the truth.”
[Mmm.]
Even Dollens looked troubled, which meant there was definitely something to it.
[It can’t be helped. However, it is by no means a recommended method.]
“Just tell me what it is.”
[Rather than growing your body, it is a sorcery that accelerates your time.]
“Accelerates time?”
My eyes widened at Dollens’s words.
Well, it wasn't impossible. If only the time of my body was moved forward, naturally, my body would grow. Then the demons would be influenced by that and their power would increase.
As I looked on with interest, Dollens continued in a worried tone.
[But as I said, I do not recommend it. While the time it takes to grow the body is short, the side effects are severe.]
“There are side effects?”
[Did you think there wouldn't be? Sorcery that manipulates time is not something to be taken lightly.]
Dollens shouted as if frustrated. His words made sense.
‘Still, it seems like a good trick to have as a last resort.’
It seemed useful for a situation where I might be cornered with no other way out.
A final trump card, so to speak. It wasn't bad to have such a means available.
“I get it for now. Just knowing that such a sorcery exists is enough.”
[Phew, please do not get any foolish ideas, Master.]
“I said I get it.”
I gave a dismissive nod to Dollens, who was repeatedly expressing his concern. It seemed the demons had already figured out my personality, as they didn't look like they fully believed me.
“Dia.”
“Huh?”
“Shh.”
“…!”
Just then, Nathaniel, who had approached silently, placed a finger on my nose. My eyes went wide at his sudden action.
“Someone is here.”
“…”
I swallowed hard at his low whisper. I turned my gaze in the direction Nathaniel was looking.