Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 151 (Part 1)

The contents inside the crate were the bronze plates that had been diligently excavated from the ground from last night until this morning. These were mediums imbued with a curse by Barclay Richmond and had to be entrusted to the Magic Tower for proper disposal.

“Ah! So this is what you were curious about.”

“I know what it is. But why did you bring it here? I told you to let the Magic Tower handle it.”

Clank!

At that moment, the door opened, and Karis and Jena entered. The two naturally positioned themselves behind Rodin, assuming their escort duties.

The presence of the two heightened Marquis Richmond’s tension.

Marquis Richmond clearly remembered the movements displayed by Karis, the escort, yesterday. She was undoubtedly a formidable warrior, at least of the 6th rank—possibly even a Master. There was no room for him to let his guard down, even for a moment.

‘What is this situation?’

Marquis Richmond forcibly calmed himself down.

Upon thinking it through, this was a place where Grand Mage Rodin was already present. Even if a fight broke out, he had no chance of winning against Rodin anyway, and a few more people being added to the equation didn’t change that fact.

“I stopped by the Mercenary Guild and contacted the Magic Tower. Landes Magic Tower said that handing it over to Mage Rodin for disposal would suffice.”

“Damn it!”

Of course, Rodin had enough power to destroy artifacts. Especially something as low-grade and poorly crafted as this cursed medium made by Butler Richmond—it wouldn’t be difficult to eliminate it in one go.

The problem was that after dealing with it, he would have to report to the Magic Tower. Moreover, he would be required to personally visit the very Magic Tower to which he belonged to file the report.

“…Haah.”

A deep sigh escaped him. This was not why he had affiliated himself with the Landes Magic Tower.

Rodin had only registered with the Landes Magic Tower back then to keep the swarms of people who had come to see the massive magical beast from pestering him. In other words, it had been a temporary measure to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Yet, rather than reducing hassle, his association with the Magic Tower had only increased it. This was far from what Rodin had intended.

‘That damned old man. Acts all dignified yet works me like a servant.’

As annoying as it was, there was no other way now. Quitting the Landes Magic Tower at this point would be akin to declaring war.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll deal with that later.”

“In that case, let’s talk about the map we saw yesterday. We searched all night, but we couldn’t make sense of it. Too many centuries have passed, and the terrain has changed significantly.”

The former members of Marquis Richmond’s household had all come together to determine where the pendant’s map pointed.

His nephew, who knew a fair amount of history.
His younger brother, who was well-versed in the continent’s geography.

Anyone with even the slightest connection to the Richmond name was asked for their input. Yet, despite everyone putting their heads together, they failed to pinpoint the exact location.

Frankly, a single day was far too short to search for an ancient landscape from thousands of years ago across an entire continent. They would need at least a month—and even then, the help of an expert—to accurately determine the location.

“Did you bring the map?”

“Yes. Harrison has the pendant.”

“No, I mean a continental map.”

“Ah! Just a moment.”

Chancellor Hamilton quickly ran out and returned with an atlas that had been entrusted to a knight.

“You brought it. I narrowed it down to three locations after looking at the map yesterday. This is based solely on terrain.”

“You already figured that much out?”

“Yes.”

Rather than “figured it out,” it was more accurate to say that the moment Rodin saw the map yesterday, he had mentally compared it to every known landform on the continent.

By incorporating records of known geological changes, large-scale construction projects, and other factors, he eliminated unlikely locations and identified three probable ones.

“Could you tell us the locations you have in mind, Grand Mage?”

“Of course. That’s why I called you here. First, one of the locations is a place known as the Reflia Plains.”

“The Reflia Plains? Where is that…?”

“I included it as a candidate because of the similar terrain, but the likelihood is low. It’s in the Western Continent.”

The Reflia Plains were situated in the northeastern region of the Aslan Kingdom, which occupied the far eastern edge of the Western Continent. It was close to the Paroma Mountain Range and just north of Fort Poslac.

“Ah! The Western Continent.”

“Let’s set that one aside for now. The second location I consider promising is the Cedra Forest.”

“You mean the Cedra Forest in our kingdom?”

“Yes. Given that the Richmond family has a long history, you must have some knowledge of the large-scale construction projects undertaken in the Lenox Kingdom, correct?”

As he spoke, Rodin flipped through the atlas Chancellor Hamilton had brought. After quickly skimming through a few pages, he stopped at the section containing a map of the Cedra Forest.

“This is what Cedra Forest looks like now. However, the Aram River here wasn’t originally shaped like this five hundred years ago.”

“Ah! That’s right. It used to flood whenever it rained, so there was a massive water management project.”

“Exactly. This area used to be nothing but a muddy marsh. Before the river’s course was altered, it used to flow like this.”

Rodin traced a line on the map, showing where the river had originally been before becoming the present-day Aram River.

“Yes! I remember learning about that in history lessons.”

“And during the water management project, a reservoir was created here. Meaning, in the past, this reservoir didn’t exist. The roads also changed accordingly. Furthermore, this flatland here used to be a hill.”

“Is that so?”

Marquis Richmond found it fascinating how Rodin recalled the details of past construction projects so clearly. He briefly wondered if all mages were like this but quickly dismissed the thought.

It wasn’t that mages were special—it was that Rodin himself was special.

With that in mind, he found it a shame that someone as talented as Rodin was wasting his time as a mere mercenary.

“To gather soil and stone for the water management project, they shaved down the hill. Over time, the area turned into a forest.”

“Ah! I see.”

“Now, adjust the map like this and compare it with the map from Harrison’s pendant.”

“Yes, sir!”

Harrison quickly took out the pendant and infused it with a bit of aura. Soon, a map materialized in the air.

Everyone, including Marquis Richmond, compared the map that Rodin had drawn with the holographic map displayed by the pendant.

The resemblance was striking. The two maps were almost identical.

“This is it.”

“No. I believe the probability of this being the place is low.”

“…It isn’t? But the terrain matches perfectly.”

“You have to consider the location of the Bolas Kingdom. Back then, the Bolas Kingdom controlled all of present-day Levain Kingdom and part of the Reign Kingdom. It’s too far from the Lenox Kingdom.”

At that time, the Bolas Kingdom was on the verge of collapse. Some of the royal family members had already been sealed inside the so-called Twelve Guardian Statues.