Chapter 124 – Chapter 124 ― Please Protect This Land (1)
Episode 124 ― Please protect this land (1)
“Kaa.”
“Yes. Your majesty.”
The librarian answered mildly and bowed his head.
It was a huge change, considering the reaction when the emperor first appeared in the library.
“How many were there?”
“About three books.”
“It’s great that you exist.”
Roan bought an Owlbear and asked Cara to find a book about Fiora.
“It may be an older sword than Your Majesty thinks.”
“… Hmm?”
Kaa’s gaze moved to the sword Roan was holding. Roan also looked down at Fiora, who was staring at him.
Old?
“I’m not sure if it’s the same thing, but it’s mentioned by the same name in ancient writings.”
“… Is it Fiora?”
“Yes.”
Ancient records… ?
Roan’s face was stained with doubt.
When I received the tattered book that the librarian carefully handed over to me and it was about to fall out, my face became even more incomprehensible.
However, the librarian only requested that the book be read carefully, and he did not add anything else.
Without knowing all the details
As Roan ordered, I just found a search term — a book related to Fiora.
Roan, who borrowed books from the library early in the morning, headed to the training ground with his pack.
The inner sanctuary with the office and living space and the library are far apart, and the castle is quite large.
If you don’t save the movement, you will spend more time than you think.
Around the time I hadn’t walked out of the library.
I found the chancellor and the treasurer on their way to work.
“Your majesty. How are you?”
“Have a good night. Your majesty.”
“Hmm. The entrance to the palace has come.”
“Shouldn’t we send the soldiers back soon?”
Aranya smiled kindly and found the books in Roan’s hand.
“Are you going to the library? Your Majesty is also diligent from an early hour.”
“Okay. A little… I have something to investigate.”
“Yes… It is not easy either.”
Roan, puzzled for a moment not knowing what Aranya was saying, realized that she was misunderstanding.
Aranya seemed to think that Roan had borrowed a book on crystal research.
“It would be nice if I could participate in the Count’s research, but it’s a pity.”
“How many times have I already been kicked out by the Count? The theory.”
“Heh heh, but the count’s machines are objects that any wizard would want to touch.”
“You are the guest, Treasurer. Please don’t be offended.”
“What are you talking about? Dear Prime Minister. Wizards are originally interested breeds who like to show interest in their results. The Count doesn’t show off, but deep down he probably likes me visiting.”
Lyon shrugged her shoulders and protested.
That’s a bit like a stalker…
“Besides, she heard that the decision is risky for you. Wouldn’t it be better not to go near it?”
“Ah. Unfortunately it is.”
Lyon is Rich.
A person who preserved her own life force in a specific place with magical power and devoted herself to an eternal quest by turning herself into an undead.
His life is connected to him through magic from a life vessel hidden somewhere.
If you are next to a crystal that absorbs mana,
Being a lich, he literally has his lifeline cut.
“I think I should make a magical power absorption shielding tool like the Count…”
The theory that cannot abandon the lingering attachment to the count and research. Aranya, who was looking at him with a slight frown, was dumbfounded, so she asked.
“Shielding tools… Are you referring to that strange yellow suit the Count wore?”
“Ah. Yes. You’re right. Your Excellency.”
“That… It looked uncomfortable.”
Roan’s eyebrows twitched.
Research is a secret matter known only to the small meeting and the three great lords.
How did Aranya see the shielding suit?
“Have you ever been to see Count Jae Sang-do’s research?”
“Oh, no. Your majesty. The Count wears that outfit, and sometimes at the banquet hall in autumn… There are times when I come out of the lab and go to the library like a ghost.”
“… Mmm. It’s not a standout outfit…”
If it was enough to catch the chancellor’s eyes, the people in the castle must have seen the count’s shielding suit.
Roan sighed.
“It seems that there are cases where I fall asleep in the library. It’s a bit sad.”
I couldn’t understand the expression of Ron,
Roan and Aranya laughed bitterly with clear faces.
“It seems that there are competent officials working in Bukbaekryeong, but… How Dos’ work is going, and whether there is anything to help with the research. Even if you are curious about many things, it is not easy to ask.”
“You may feel the pressure.”
“Yes. He didn’t put his life anywhere like I did, but it seemed like he was pushing himself on the edge.”
The two officials were concerned about the count’s condition in unison. They also know that this research will not end overnight.
Even the emperor, Roan, could not easily ask the count about his progress.
Especially those who are not close to the count and have no direct contact.
“So please ask me, a non-living person, to share some of the work…”
“If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to tell us. Your majesty.”
The chancellor cut off the words of the treasurer who was secretly trying to convey a favor, and said with a smile.
‘Should I think of it as a long-term battle?’
Did it anyway
Competent wizards are researching day and night, and the raw materials themselves are legendary in this world.
The ‘Dark Forest Seeds’ and crystals were growing enough forests even when they were embedded in the ground, so I vaguely expected that they would work just by driving them into the ground.
It wasn’t easy either.
Heading to the training ground with the two of them, Roan silently swung his sword as if to shake off the worry darkening his face.
However, his dizzy mind was also revealed in his body.
“… Ugh.”
I was about to slip.
A mistake that Roan’s body rarely makes.
Roan looked at what he had stepped on.
“… Mmm.”
A small, black piece of stone.
An object that would never happen in a training ground with a dirt floor.
Roan noticed that it was slowly absorbing his mana.
Roan finally realized what it was.
It must have been one of the shattered fragments from the last physical impact test on the crystal.
“Hmm.”
Roan picked it up.
A small piece the size of a fingernail.
This item looks black even in Roan’s eyes because he airlifted the stone without the ‘starlight’ attached to it.
“I can’t just leave it alone.”
I can’t tell the attendant to throw it away in moderation.
‘… It looks like industrial waste.’
It’s a precious item, but for some reason, handling it seems like a dangerous item.
After training to handle the stone fragments himself, Roan brought it to the office with a borrowed book in one hand.
Upon arriving at his office, Roan took out a small glass box from one of his bookcases.
Now, the things in the box that can be handled using the sealing magic learned from Helen are leftovers.
It was either a fragment or powder of a crystal that had been used in experiments and discarded, or that Roan had picked up for the first time.
Can’t be seen by anyone,
It is something that cannot be discarded.
So Roan gathered them together, sealed them, and used the box as a weight for the paperwork in the office.
“Only he is different.”
Leaning back on a soft office chair,
Using the magic I’m used to, I open the box and put the pieces I brought from the training ground into it.
All transparent pieces,
And among the crystal powder that the count secretly blessed yesterday and made it transparent.
Broken away — only the fragments of the stone on which Helen had cast her blessing are black.
Roan stared at them for a moment.
‘… Uh?’
Suddenly, a sense of incongruity crosses my brain.
“… Uh huh?”
Roan jumped up with his box in his hand.
What if the outside does not look different because the outside looks different, but the inside looks different because something changes?
The first time I shined ‘star light’ and found a crystal.
Roan had already found the ruins.
If he has divine and magical powers, he can find the invisible ruins. So he thought that both he and Aina and the crystals were the same as the ruins.
Like the divine power and magic that reveal the ruins,
What reveals the crystal is the divine power.
That’s the only difference
Even with Helen’s holy magic, the crystal shone. So, Roan had only thought of divine power as ‘making invisible crystals visible’.
‘Starlight’ is also used to discover something hidden like crystals or ruins.
I thought it was a similar principle to dispelling an object that was permanently enchanted with invisibility magic for a while to cancel the enchantment.
But of course
His own power is similar to, but different from, his divine power.
The ruins and crystals that Roan discovered with ‘starlight’ remain as they were at the time they were discovered, as long as they have been witnessed once.
Like the crystal that substitutes for the weighted stone that Roan first brought and brought here in a transparent state after shining in front of the West Blood Lord.
Helen’s decision to bless will eventually turn black over time.
However, the crystal that went through Roan’s ‘starlight’ or ‘blessing’ remains as a crystal of cool and mysterious light forever from that moment on.
“Change… Are you throwing away…”
Roan, who muttered so quietly that no one could hear, gave strength to his empty hand that did not hold the box.
Haven’t checked yet.
So not sure.
But even a small clue would be valuable to the Count.
Roan, who was about to move hurriedly, took a step and stopped again.
Can I trust the Count?
“… Ugh.”
Moaning, Roan slowly sat back down on the chair in the office.
No matter how trivial it is, what will happen if I tell you that my decision through divine magic will eventually change.
Even this power is not just divine power. You can tell just by looking at the results. It is also known that the strength is different from Helen’s.
The danger of power being known is that it is destroyed.
In the legend of the castle hero, it is magical power that destroys the divine power. In particular, the power of curse that Elenir uses is the opposite of divine power.
So when attacking Elenir in the game, I didn’t include Helen in the party.
It’s good that the Count has a crush on me. I understand that he is interested in me.
That it combines in a distorted form and wants to experiment on me. Do you want to kidnap
A hundredfold concession, yes. Let’s pretend it can.
What if that distorted heart becomes the foundation and the count joins hands with the Southern Dark Lord?
Elenir is still a person of the Dark Duke.
No matter how much she is my fiancée, until I get married, she too is a subject to watch out for.
(Former) After listening to the demon king’s nagging, I’m careful not to notice my power.
But in the worst case,
What if the Count, Elenir, and the Grand Duke of Darkness join hands and attack me?
“… Shit.”
Roan gritted it.
I’m not sure I can beat that.
Of course, this is a leap.
It’s just imagining the worst of the worst.
But if that happens,
The Grand Duke of Darkness occupies the position of emperor,
Eleanor monopolizes her beloved me nightly,
The Count will experiment on my body to his heart’s content.
It is an alliance where everyone can get what they want.
And the Grand Duke, Eleanor, and the Earl
They aren’t that bad-headed.
The moment I tell the count of my strength,
The right to make that decision rests with the count.
If so, I
Can you protect me
Can you survive?
“… No, the question is wrong.”
Can I really trust the Count?
With her gaze fixed on the crystal in the box placed on the desk, Roan thought for a while in silence.
