Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 106 (Part 2)

“Is it serious?”

“Let me check a bit more.”

Rodin infused mana into her body to analyze the curse.

Its offensive nature was weak. While stubborn, it was something the body’s natural healing abilities could overcome.

‘The issue is with the elderly and children.’

Although Margaret wasn’t young, her natural healing capacity was still strong enough to fight off a curse of this level. If she had been in good health, she would have overcome it on her own.

Unfortunately, she had caught a real cold, which weakened her resistance and left her vulnerable to the curse. Once the curse took hold, it further weakened her body, allowing the curse to thrive.

“Sir?”

“It’s not a disease… it seems to be a curse. For now, it’s just causing a high fever, but over time, it will lead to exhaustion and weakness. Ultimately, she could waste away and die.”

“What? A curse? My mother’s been cursed?”

“The treatment is simple, so don’t worry too much. Purification.”

Rodin chanted briefly in runes and used hand signs to cast a 6th-circle Purification spell.

The cleansing energy from Rodin’s hand flowed into Margaret’s body. Within seconds, the curse was completely eradicated.

The curse afflicting Margaret could have been dispelled with a 3rd-circle Clean-Up spell. While it would take 3-4 hours for her to fully recover, the cure itself wasn’t difficult.

However, Margaret was a vital figure in the household. Her presence alone provided emotional stability for both Larry and Bianca.

Thus, Rodin chose to use a 6th-circle spell, ensuring there would be no lingering aftereffects. With this, she would be up and about within an hour.

“Nngh…”

As soon as the curse was removed, Margaret opened her eyes. Still groggy, her gaze was unfocused.

“Get some more rest, Margaret. Sleep.”

Margaret, who had just woken up, quickly closed her eyes again.

Matthew’s eyes briefly widened, but realizing the situation wasn’t dire, he sighed in relief.

“Thank you, sir.”

“It was something I had to do. By the way, you mentioned there were many cases like this?”

“Yes, sir. In this area alone, there are five or six people with similar symptoms. Across the entire territory, there are probably even more.”

“Hmm. I should look into this.”

Rodin started to leave but then paused. Investigating the curse could wait; there was something more pressing that he had to take care of first.

“Is there something else you need, sir?”

“Matthew, come with me for a moment.”

Rodin led Matthew to the newly modified warehouse. Bianca followed closely, eager to see what would happen next.

“I’ve upgraded the storage.”

“In what way?”

“Step inside and take a look. Not on the left side, but on the right.”

“Yes, sir.”

Matthew opened the right-side storage, which had previously been used for storing various items. Now, there were neatly arranged shelves filled with food supplies.

“Wow! It’s so spacious. But why did you move the food here, if I may ask?”

“I’ve enchanted this area with magic. It’s called state preservation magic. In simple terms, it prevents the food from spoiling.”

“Big Brother Rodin! Wow! So this is what you were working on?”

“Sir, is there really such a magic spell?”

Bianca’s eyes sparkled with wonder, and Matthew was left speechless, his mouth hanging open.

State preservation magic.

It was a spell everyone dreamed of. Not just homemakers, but merchants and grocers would be willing to pay a fortune for such magic.

“It’s not easy to create more of these. I’m out of materials for now. But from now on, use this as the food storage. The state preservation magic pauses when the door is open or when someone is inside. So as long as you minimize the time the door is open or the time spent inside, even perishable ingredients can be stored here for decades.”

“But we don’t buy much food at once. We restock every five days, so we never store a large amount. Sir.”

“Actually, I was going to mention that. From now on, buy as much food as possible. I’ll cover the cost. Think of filling this place to the brim.”

“All of this?”

It would take several thousand gold coins to fill a warehouse this large. At least tens of thousands, possibly even more.

“Yes, as much as possible.”

“If we fill this up, we could survive for decades, sir.”

“That much? Hmm, that might be excessive. In that case, fill it with enough food to last the five of us for about five years.”

“Five years’ worth… Understood.”

At first, Rodin had given Margaret a monthly food budget of 100 gold coins. He had thought that amount would be more than enough to feed the four of them.

But it turned out to be too much. Margaret hadn’t even spent 50 gold coins in the first month and returned the rest. The same thing happened in the second month.

Fifty gold coins per month. Using that as a basis, five years’ worth of food would cost roughly 3,000 gold coins.

“There’s no need to rush, but please try to fill it as quickly as possible.”

“Is there a particular reason for that?”

“Hmm, I think food is going to become scarce.”

“Really? But… In the Richmond Marquisate… Never mind. I’ll make sure to restock quickly.”

Matthew had probably been about to mention the vast plains to the south and west, which usually kept grain prices stable.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been right, but this was no ordinary situation.

The source of the impending disaster wasn’t the underground ruins—it was Mount Sorien. Though it had long been thought to be dormant, lava was still flowing beneath it.

The underground ruins had been holding back and cooling the lava, preventing a volcanic eruption.

If the ruins eventually collapsed, Mount Sorien would erupt in a massive firestorm, spewing black smoke.

At that point, crop yields in the surrounding region would surely plummet. Until the volcano settled and the smoke cleared, there would be no good harvests to speak of.

“Here’s the money.”

“Th-this is a huge amount of money.”

Rodin handed Matthew a generous sum of 5,000 gold coins.

Matthew froze, stunned by the sheer amount.

This was more money than he had ever touched in his life. Even though he had been saving his wages diligently, he had only managed to save 200 gold coins so far.

Why was Rodin trusting him with such a large sum? One part of him wondered if he should run away with it, but another part felt proud, knowing that Rodin trusted him.

“I trust you, Matthew.”

“I’ll work even harder, sir.”

“You’re already working hard. Any more, and you’ll overdo it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Matthew set off with the wagon waiting outside, clutching the 5,000 gold coins tightly.

Rodin didn’t get the chance to look into the curse right away. Before he could begin his investigation, a team of investigators arrived from the nearby magic tower.

It turned out that the Richmond Marquisate had noticed the strange happenings in the territory even before Rodin did.

Many outsiders had attended the funeral of the Marquis of Richmond, and some of the visiting mages had detected traces of a curse in the Marquisate.

Naturally, the news was immediately reported to the Marquis’ eldest son, who had not yet officially inherited the title. Bake Richmond had promptly requested help from the nearby magic towers.