Chapter 57
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: The Key and the Flower (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I tore my gaze away from the dancing crowd and rose from my seat, heading toward the window.
Peering out, I saw that the barrier magic over Beldaine had vanished.
My eyes widened.
What in the world...?
Bang!
The banquet hall doors flew open, and two Beldaine soldiers rushed in frantically.
The lively music that had been filling the hall gradually faded, and Father, who had been sharing drinks on the second floor with Sir Jenard, the commander of the kingdom's knight order, hurried down the stairs.
"Where is the court mage? Lord Barkus?"
The soldiers spotted Sir Jenard and blurted out their question without preamble.
Sir Jenard frowned and replied,
"If it's Barkus you're asking about, he hasn't returned from wherever he went. What's going on?"
"The defensive barrier device has shut down. Lord Barkus repaired it just recently, but it's broken again."
Sir Jenard sighed deeply, clutching his chin.
"Is there no other mage or anyone who can inspect the barrier device?"
Father, who had been watching from the side, asked.
The soldiers shook their heads with grim expressions, and Sir Jenard clicked his tongue.
"We'll have to wait for Barkus to return, then. Assemble the garrison and increase the patrols on the walls. Every moment counts..."
"Hold on, Sir Jenard. If it's all right with you, how about having one of our mages take a look at the barrier?"
Father gestured toward me by the window as he spoke.
I walked over to them.
"Oh..."
Sir Jenard, who had brightened at Father's suggestion, darkened slightly upon seeing me.
"This is your son, right?"
"Yes. Liberic Eldrian. Lib, this is Sir Jenard, the commander."
I bowed politely.
Sir Jenard gave a heavy "Hm" and nodded.
His gaze carried the weight of doubt—what could a mere boy do?
"He may look young, but his skills are exceptional. This isn't just fatherly bias, so you can trust me on that."
Father picked up on it and flashed a sly grin. Sir Jenard's expression shifted dramatically in response.
"Oh, well then. Of course I'll trust you. Who would doubt the word of a Blue Guard Knight?"
"Thank you. It's an honor."
Father and Sir Jenard exchanged smiles.
How on earth had Father won him over like that? The last time I'd seen Sir Jenard, he'd been stoic and expressionless.
"All right, Liberic Eldrian. We'd be grateful if you could take a look. If it's too hard to fix, that's fine—just give it a check."
"Yes, sir. I'll do what I can."
I'd been dying to know what was happening anyway. Perfect timing.
Sir Jenard led the way with the two soldiers toward the location of the barrier magic device.
Father and Sir Jenard followed behind me.
Father told the others to keep enjoying the banquet.
I gave a light nod to Clemence, Wedin, and Shuren, who were watching me worriedly.
After we left the building, the music resumed in the hall—far more subdued than before.
"This is the central barrier device. Each watchtower has receivers for the signals sent from here. Even the court mage only checked this part."
The Beldaine administrator in charge of the city walls' barrier explained.
"Lib, do you know what's wrong?"
"...Yes."
I answered Father's question curtly, staring into empty space.
Something was there that ordinary people, unable to sense mana, couldn't even imagine.
A so-called central barrier device sat plainly atop the top floor of the round watchtower, screaming in agony.
The tinnitus that had started ringing again before we even arrived was splitting my head.
The sky seemed to churn and heave.
It was the result of mana raging fiercely from all directions.
The barrier device's spell formula was twisted beyond reason.
Formulas that should have stayed neatly inside the barrier had burst out, shattered and warped, now spinning wildly within the tower.
The sheer ferocity kept the tinnitus from fading.
Because it was a barrier enveloping the entire city, the surging mana felt like a storm on a metropolitan scale.
"How in the world...?"
...How could it end up like this? Even sabotaging it on purpose would be no easy feat.
"If there's no way to fix it, just leave it be. We'll go find Barkus."
Sir Jenard misunderstood my mutterings.
I shook my head and raised my right hand.
"That'll take too long. With it thrashing like this, it'll attract magical beasts—the ones sensitive to moving mana, like the Black Gatras..."
I focused my mind, trying to calm the rampaging mana, but its movements were too violent; it wasn't easy.
It was like trying to cup a handful of sand in the midst of a gale-swept desert—futile.
Crack.
A fissure spiderwebbed across the stone watchtower roof.
The others gasped in shock. The quick-witted administrator was already halfway out the door.
"Everyone should get out. It'll be fine, but just in case."
"Lib, can you handle it?"
"Yes."
Father asked worriedly, but I answered without hesitation. He trusted me without question.
"Everyone out. Sir Jenard, leave this to me and wait outside."
The soldiers and Sir Jenard exited the watchtower, but Father stayed, closing the door behind them and standing guard in front of it.
I looked at him in surprise.
"Father?"
"You think I'm leaving you here? Don't be ridiculous."
Father said firmly, smiling all the while.
Getting him to leave seemed impossible.
No helping it, then.
Feeling his gaze on my back, I raised both arms.
I took a deep breath and gathered as much mana as I could into my hands.
A circle of mana spun at my feet.
A gentle breeze wrapped around me as the mana flowed.
"Ugh."
But it was no use. The mana I'd painstakingly gathered was repelled by the rampaging barrier formulas, scattering into fragments.
I'd thought I could manage it.
Hand to my mouth, I pondered.
Should I spread my mana wide and envelop the whole thing?
Could I even cover the full range?
It'd consume a fair amount of mana.
Or use a kingdom-style formula to weave the mana into a net...?
"Looks tricky. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Turning around, I saw Father with arms spread wide, ready to assist.
I couldn't help but laugh at the sight.
"The formulas are completely tangled, making the mana go wild. I keep getting pushed back when I try to stabilize it. It's like... a knot so complicated it won't come undone easily."
"Hm. So you need to undo the barrier spell? Like that key you mentioned last time—the one with that function, right?"
"The key..."
A jolt of realization shot down my spine.
I hurriedly pulled the key from my inner pocket.
Though I'd changed into banquet attire, my underclothes were the same, so the key was still there.
"...Father, are you a genius or something?"
I muttered, staring down at the key from Lagot Althur. Father chuckled.
"Of course. Who do you think your father is?"
His smug tone drew a laugh from me too.
"Perfect. This'll make it a lot simpler."
I gripped the head of the key and channeled mana into it.
The Lagot Althur emblem glowed, and a circular magic circle spread outward from the key's tip.
The tangled barrier formulas melted away upon contact with the circle, and the clumped, surging mana dispersed rapidly.
I kept pouring mana into the key for a while.
Watching the wondrous spectacle this magical tool produced.
"...It's done."
Confirming the formulas gone and the mana cleared, I pocketed the key.
With the storm-like mana gone, the persistent tinnitus vanished too—like the weather clearing up.
"Is the barrier gone?"
"The rampaging part is. Fix the formulas inside the device and infuse mana again, and it'll work normally."
What on earth had happened?
I approached the barrier device for a closer look.
A metallic orb, sized for smooth mana flow, was fixed atop a pedestal.
The orb was about the size of my head and hollow inside.
Didn't look too heavy...
I grabbed it and lifted it right out.
"W-Wait, is that safe...?"
Father panicked at how easily it came free.
"It's fine," I replied casually, inspecting the orb's exterior and interior thoroughly.
Ancient script was engraved on the bottom.
'Crafted by Atram Magic Workshop, 1433.'
"...This thing's over ten years old. It's a miracle it's lasted this long."
The internal ecronium should have expired ages ago. How many replacements had there been?
And upon closer inspection, one part of the orb was dented—like someone had kicked it.
I sighed softly and began repairing the barrier device's formulas using visible mana.
This was a magical tool for deploying a generic city-scale barrier.
Simple compared to Prion's, with only basic functions.
Magical tool barriers had clear limits.
The formulas were common ones, easy enough for me to fix with my knowledge.
Then I noticed something odd.
Rust from age had eroded parts of the formulas, and strange new ones had been engraved over them—ones that didn't fit the structure.
No matter how I looked, they didn't align with any standard magical composition.
Why were these runes here?
Someone engraved these and kicked it, reactivating the barrier?
That... would be astonishing in itself.
Shaking off the confusion, I finished the repairs.
"All done."
As I spoke, the device hummed to life, glowing with a soft golden light.
It sent a signal to the other watchtowers, and their devices began deploying the barrier in response.
Soon, a thin veil of barrier descended over all of Beldaine.
I refixed the metal orb to the pedestal, and Father opened the door to call everyone back in.
Sir Jenard, the soldiers, and the administrator entered, rejoicing that the barrier was working again.
"What was the problem, exactly?"
"It was just old. And, uh... getting a new one would be way more stable."
Explaining the court mage's involvement to Sir Jenard was tricky, so I glossed over it.
Once everything was settled, we stepped out of the watchtower.
Father and Sir Jenard stood side by side on the wall, seemingly wanting to chat more against the backdrop of the grassy plains below and the star-filled night sky.
I turned down Sir Jenard's offer to assign a soldier escort and headed back to the lodging alone.
Descending from the watchtower and following the wall led straight to it—no need for guards or guides.
The alley between the wall and buildings wasn't too dark, thanks to the sparkling streetlamps on the main road.
Bushes and trees of all sizes grew wildly along the wall for support.
No one else was around—just occasional staff slipping out back doors to rummage in storerooms.
Was the banquet still going?
The main road was growing quieter by the minute.
The smell of alcohol still hung heavy in the air, but the music and drunken chatter had died down considerably.
With the wall on my right as I walked, I suddenly noticed a dark shadow shifting overhead.
Looking up, I saw two familiar figures vaulting lightly over the wall's edge.