Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 148 (Part 2)

In terms of distance, the southern part of the Luvain Kingdom was the most likely candidate. At the time, the capital of the Bolas Kingdom had spanned the central and western regions of Luvain, meaning they could have had just enough time to relocate the treasure to the south.

The border region between Lenox and Maven was also a slight possibility. Although it had not been Bolas Kingdom’s territory, it was a location reachable by carriage within two to three months.

“This map… Could it be? Is it the legacy of the Bolas Kingdom?”

“The Bolas Kingdom, if it awakens again, would try to establish the nation just as before.”

“They stored the treasure separately, didn’t they?”

“It’s probably not just the treasure. Since the dark magicians were the leadership, there must have been items useful for dark magic as well.”

Whatever it was, it had to be something valuable enough for the ancient soul to attempt to reclaim it. Even the members of the Richmond Marquisate household seemed to be growing greedy, their eyes gleaming as one.

“Will we be able to recover it? Just looking at the map, I couldn’t tell where it is.”

“Well… actually, I have narrowed it down to a few possible locations.”

“Oh! Where is it?”

“Segan the healer saw and heard all of the ancient soul’s actions, didn’t he? That means even now, the ancient soul is watching and listening to this conversation. And since it’s a dark magician, if we’re not careful, what we say here could end up in the hands of Marquis Roten.”

It was a roundabout way of saying that he would discuss the matter in a place without Segan the healer. Marquis Richmond also understood the meaning behind Rodin’s words.

“I’ll talk about it later. Segan, I understand that they were after the pendant. But I don’t understand why they made a deal with Uncle Barclay.”

“That small gemstone-like item has already ended up in the hands of Marquis Roten.”

“Ah!”

It was a dizzying revelation.

To the Richmond Marquisate, a knightly household, Stenial—the magic gemstone—was of little value. It had been shoved into storage simply because there was no use for it.

But for Marquis Roten, it was different. As a dark magician, a high-grade Elviaz was a treasure-like weapon that could elevate his power by an entire level.

Using magic with a high-grade Elviaz produced results at least one circle higher than usual. Even if he cast a 5th-circle spell, it would exert the power of a 6th-circle spell.

If Marquis Roten was a 6th-circle dark magician, that meant he would become a force rivaling a grand mage just by possessing such a weapon.

“It seems the Roten Marquisate is confident about winning the territorial war.”

“They dared to be so certain of victory just because they had Stenial? Did they truly see our Richmond Marquisate as so insignificant?”

“Well, I believe my work here is done. May I take my leave?”

Rodin interrupted the conversation and stepped forward.

He was getting tired of staying in this place.

In truth, his task had been completed some time ago. The only reason he had lingered a bit longer was to get a look at the high-grade Elviaz, the Stenial, which was said to be no bigger than a bean.

But now, it had already fallen into the hands of the Roten Marquisate. There was no chance of seeing it here anymore, so there was no reason for him to stay.

“Huh? Are you saying you’re leaving, Mage Rodin?”

“We can discuss the map tomorrow. Take care of the ancient soul as you see fit. If you simply destroy the statue, that should be enough to deal with the ancient soul. However, Segan the healer will die along with it, so it would be best to gather any necessary information beforehand. The rest is a family matter, so it’s not my place to interfere.”

“Ah! Understood.”

“The priority now is to lift the curse on the territory, isn’t it? This isn’t something that can be delayed. Just assign me a few workers.”

Even now, the Richmond Marquisate was filled with the ominous energy of the curse. The energy stolen through the Curse of Plunder continued to flow into Butler Richmond, the owner of the catalyst.

“Ah! That’s right. I’ll assign some knights to assist you.”

“Tell them to bring shovels and pickaxes and follow me. We’ll head out first.”

Rodin took the lead and walked outside. Larry and Bianca quickly followed after him.

Larry and Bianca had been struggling with boredom the entire time Rodin had been tracking the culprit and assessing the situation.

They had nothing to do. The conversation seemed important, but they could only understand about half of it.

“Phew, I can finally breathe.”

“Me too. Big Brother Rodin, I was dying of boredom.”

As they moved, Karis and Jena took positions on either side of the group, as if naturally assuming a protective formation. It was so seamless that it looked as if it had been their designated arrangement from the start.

—

In front of the lord’s castle, the two carriages they had ridden to this place remained as they were. Rodin chose one and climbed onto its roof.

“Larry, Bianca. You two can head home now.”

“It’s fine. We’ll go with you.”

“Me too. Big Brother Rodin, I’m coming too.”

The two of them entered the carriage that Rodin had claimed the roof of. Jena took the coachman’s seat of that carriage.

Karis, meanwhile, sat in the driver’s seat of the unoccupied carriage, preparing for departure.

“Aren’t you bored?”

“There were too many people watching earlier, so it was a bit uncomfortable, but this is just a carriage. I’ll rest inside.”

“Alright. Get some rest in there.”

A short while later, four knights arrived. They wore swords at their waists and carried shields on their backs, but in their hands, they held shovels and pickaxes.

“What about horses?”

“We’ll bring them.”

“No need. Just get in that carriage.”

“Understood.”

Soon, the carriages began moving. From the top of the carriage, Rodin gave directions.

“Jena, turn that way first.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

The carriages had traveled less than five minutes before coming to a halt. Rodin raised his hand to signal them to stop.

“Knights, dig here.”

“Here?”

“Yes. If you dig, something should appear. Keep it.”

“Understood.”

The knights descended in unison and began digging where Rodin had indicated. They hadn’t even gone a meter deep before a bronze disc emerged.

“What is this?”

“You could call it a curse catalyst. It’s an item used to evenly spread the curse throughout the entire territory.”

“Do we just take it with us?”

“Later, contact one of the magic towers and ask them to dispose of it. They’ll take care of it.”

“We’ll report it that way.”

The carriage set off again. About ten minutes later, it stopped once more.

“Here. Dig here.”

“Hah, there’s another one?”

“There are probably a lot more. There should be at least a hundred scattered throughout the entire territory. If it’s too much, call for more people.”

“It’s fine. We can handle it.”

Rodin continued moving until sunset. By the time the surroundings had turned completely dark, they passed near the house where Rodin had once lived.

“You guys go inside and rest.”

“Mm, alright.”

“Jena, I’ll leave them to you.”

“Don’t worry.”

Leaving Jena with Larry and Bianca, Rodin continued on with Karis. The number of moving carriages had been reduced to one.

Rodin spent the entire night traveling through the territory. Starting from the outskirts, he moved in a clockwise direction, and by the time he was done, he found himself in front of the lord’s castle once again.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Thank you, Grand Mage. I will make sure to report this to the Marquis.”

“Karis, let’s go.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Hyung_Otaku2

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