Chapter 179

Prophet Marqion (1)

Kleio remembered that Guilard Eclipsi had been a student expelled for attempting a summoning. It had been when Kleio and Arthur stood guard at the door of Mnemosyne when the dungeon opened.

“That’s right. He’s gotten a little taller and lost some weight. That strange hair color is undeniably from the Eclipsi house. There has been no news after his expulsion, so he must’ve been working on this in secret.”

“Eclipsi wasn’t a great wizard. How did he become able to use magic that even Kleio couldn’t recognize in two years?”

“Surely. He was always a stupid sorcerer who was buried in the library, but now I confused him with an arch-mage because of his ether color.”

“Did his ether have a color?”

“Yes, a bluish purple. But I couldn’t determine the level. [Ether detection] didn’t work at all.”

After hearing Cel’s response, Isiel looked at Kleio with a slightly harder expression, but he also shook his head.

.

.

.

By the time Kleio washed up and finally lay down, the outside of the window had already grown bright. He couldn’t sleep thanks to the sounds of birdsong. Under his eyelids, the scene of that miraculous play reproduced itself.

‘That’s probably the power of mantras.’

Guilard must’ve gone beyond the world and peeked into the sentences of the world before Kleio was born. Other than that, there was no hypothesis to explain magic beyond that standard. But, he was guessing. On the day Kleio woke up from this world, Guilard tried summoning, and his summons was successful. However, the moment the world opened, more than Kleio’s soul had flowed in from the other world. The result was that magic.

‘Was this an error that occurred while making my place? The aftermath of excessive adjustment.’

Now Guilard called himself a prophet that would save those people from destruction.

‘But that prophecy can’t be God’s intent.’

***

Five days later.

Dione was looking at the grass Kleio had spread over his handkerchief. She sniffed at it, then laughed.

“This is Oniro. It’s a psychedelic medicine that grows in the southern Pintos mountain. It’s so out of fashion that no one uses it.”

Dione’s analysis grew bitter as Kleio explained the route of his acquisition.

“Usually, it’s dried and smoked like a cigarette, but it’s not addictive. It works when inhaled, but its efficacy is weak. It was also used as a pain reliever during the old war. How can they still be in business with this obsolete technique?!”

“They wear masks, they used invitations to control the number of visitors, and then after the second time, let them watch an infield show that cost a pretty dinar. It’s a huge hit.”

“Wow, how many dozen people attended it? The resourcefulness is enormous.”

Dione, who treated necromancy as a fraud, looked ferocious. Merchants like her, who obeyed the laws and regulations, hated fraudsters.

“Do ghosts pay rent? Is the prophet looking for a realtor?”

“You’re right.”

“Look at this.”

Dione had investigated the identity of the current tenant of the mansion. Looking at the papers, Kleio smiled. Who was Carolinger nobility?

‘The black hair was dyed too; originally, it was a brighter color.’

Madame Lamor’s real name was Mary, an extremely common Albion name. Her identity was a backstreet psychic, cheating people out of their money. The mansion wasn’t widely known to the people because its real owner was in another principality. The actual tenant of the estate who signed the contract was with him was a businessman in Novantes.

‘Then, does that mean the real culprit is him? There aren’t enough clues.’

***

Despite it being sunny midday in early summer, Captain Daria Isai, a member of the mobile research division of the Defense Force’s magic team, was feeling low pressure. It was because she was in charge of Ezra’s surveillance by herself for the past few weeks.

As the number of demonic haunts increased, the budget and roles set for the mobile team had increased, which also meant that the paperwork had exploded. Ezra’s lieutenant, Aremis, was busy dealing with paperwork that his boss had completely neglected. So, inevitably, Daria and Hesta had been chasing down Ezra.

“Only the research wizards have had a lot of fun so far, but I think the day will finally shine even for you.”

Certainly, there were a few who felt different from the mobile research division. There was Daria herself, who was adept only at making fire, Ezra, obsessed as he was with fantasy creatures, and Hester, who used healing magic but was born to Novantes’ commoners. In addition, Aremis possessed some skills in swordsmanship. Members of the mobile research division weren’t very noble, regardless of their origin, so they didn’t mix well with the other wizards.

‘Damn it. Now, seeing the light doesn’t make it any better.’

Meanwhile, Hester Ward, her magical partner, best friend, and classmate, had taken a leave of absence to help her sister through childbirth. That had only increased Daria’s anger and decreased her motivation. She had run to take care of something that could be left to a maid or nanny. Hester was really nice.

‘But there’s one less person to take care of Ezra’s accidents, so I’m the one dying.’

Hester was a thoughtful and kind friend who loved everyone. Unlike Daria, who was hot-tempered, and Ezra, who lacked common sense, she understood the hearts of others and resolved conflicts wisely. Among the wizards, it was worth saying she was a truly rare species, which made her vacancy feel bigger every day.

‘That motherfucker Ezra. These new magic tools being tested are useless.’

Daria was ready to question anyone or anything that Ezra introduced.

‘Anyone who hangs out with that child can’t be a real human. How dare you frame Hester?!’

“Isn’t Sir Kleio mistaken? Hester isn’t like that. Since we’ve been in school, she was the best model student and a talented person with intelligence and an honest character.”

At Daria’s honest response, Kleio swallowed a bitter smile. Given that he had come in with Ezra’s introduction and was asking about a trusted member of their group, it was an appropriate response.

Daria’s expression was colder than the frigid north. The beauty of the wizard was incredible, with her glossy copper hair and mismatched green and blue eyes.

“She’s still the best healer on the team who will return in the fall. She just returned to her hometown to help her sister, and it’s very unpleasant to file such charges against the talents of our department!”

As Daria spoke angrily, a circle almost automatically opened around her with a spark.

“Whoa, whoa. Daria, be patient~. It’s hot~. Stop the fire.”

“This child! You’ve been increasing the work!”

Daria, a 5th-level wizard, was a master of fire magic. She was excellent at providing light during night battles or searching, as well as controlling the burning forests to make paths. Even if her attack power was low, fire was still fire.

Kleio stepped back as he prepared to cast his own defensive magic. He needed to choose his words carefully.

“It’s not that Hester is a member of the scammers, but perhaps she is on a secret mission to infiltrate them.”

That was immediately refuted by Ezra.

“Hey~, that doesn’t make sense, junior. Think about it. Even though the deputy king isn’t an idiot, there’s no way such a mission would be given to our department.”

Behind Ezra, Daria was holding the back of her neck with one hand. It was certainly not what the head of the department should say.

‘Well, what…’

It was true that Ezra’s office and the lab didn’t seem like spaces that could handle confidential information at a glance. As a result of years of hard work and chaos, it was at the level of creating a messy maze. No wonder the demon’s blood had been able to be stolen without anyone knowing, given the disorder this place was in. Then, the story went back to the point. Even after acquiring the personnel file, Hester’s career was exactly as her old friend Daria said. As Zebedee wrote on her report card, she was an exemplary student.

‘Is that really wrong? Hmm.’

Ezra began to shout as Kleio readied to stand out.

“Junior, junior, junior, junior, wait a minute, don’t go~.”

“Yes? Isn’t this over?”

“No~, that’s…one moment!”

Ezra, speaking gibberish, went through a desk that looked more like a garbage dump for a while before pulling out a magic tool with a rounded crystal. As he groped the center of it and applied strength, the sphere split into two, revealing a complex seam.

[Hub Hemisphere

-Rating: Best

-The two spheres can be traced to each other through an etheric reaction.

-Note: Single use]

It was a magical tool with excellent quality, but Kleio tried not to show any response.

“Why are you showing this to me…?”

“If you don’t know, go to the mansion with this. An alarm is triggered when more than a certain amount of ether is detected. Then Daria and I will run to you~.”

“The mansion is on the outskirts of the Nodus district, will there be a signal?”

“Well then. It’s a beta version made by this genius~. I tried it before~. It’s good, right? Isn’t it amazing?”

Daria, who had checked her pocket watch several times, couldn’t stand the captain wasting any more time and began to yell.

“Now, stop bothering Aremis and me and get to work! Sir Kleio, go now.”

“Oh, this one’s fiery~!”

Worried that Daria would start an actual fire, Kleio stood up with his jacket. Now was time to bail.

“Yes. Thank you for your cooperation.”

***

The third meeting was different from the second and the first. As they reached the middle of the mansion, one after another, people began building up a frenzy far beyond the previous ones.