Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 175 (Part 2)

Even if her son died, Queen Regina would still retain gratitude toward the Duke of Lientas.

“This is all merely speculation. We don’t know how things will truly unfold.”

“Then what should I do?”

“Just continue to live comfortably as you have been.”

Rodin gave Jena a glance. Jena read his meaning and nodded.

“That is all I need to do?”

“Yes, that’s all. In return, I will leave Jena at your side. I will also remain close by, so please rest assured. Ah! I also plan to return the artifact to normal. So, please go about your routine as usual. If you speak too little, it could seem suspicious.”

Rodin returned the sound-transmitting artifact, still enveloped in mana. Jena took the artifact and returned it to its original position.

“Thank you, Archmage Rodin.”

“Jena, endure it for just two more days. Ah! Capture the target only after confirming exactly who it is.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Leaving Jena behind, Rodin quietly slipped away alone. Then he climbed up to the roof and listened to The Frouval’s illusion lecture.

The Frouval’s illusion lecture was a class visible only to the wearer of the ring. Being in a transparent state didn’t interfere with attending the lesson.

‘This is better than a book. Still, I hope my prediction is wrong.’

—

A couple of hours passed while Rodin listened to The Frouval’s illusion lecture on the rooftop. Around thirty minutes after midnight had passed, he sensed a covert presence approaching.

‘Impatient, aren’t they?’

Rodin had thought there was a higher probability of action being taken tomorrow, not today. He had assumed it would take at least a day for the political bargaining with King Demian Hesward of the Luvain Kingdom’s rival faction to conclude.

But the Duke of Lientas moved faster than expected. The conditions proposed by the opposing party must have been quite generous.

Rodin didn’t reveal himself and simply observed quietly.

The intruder paused outside Queen Regina’s quarters to survey the situation, then silently slipped inside.

Tap!

After confirming the intruder had gone in, Rodin also descended to the ground. Soon, a small disturbance broke out within the building.

Creak!

“You’ve come?”

“Yeah. Is it done?”

“Yes.”

Jena threw down a person who had lost consciousness. The individual was well-built, dressed in black clothing, and wore a black mask.

“Archmage Rodin. Thank you. You saved my son’s life.”

“The moment I accepted the escort request, my role became protecting the person to be guarded.”

“Even so…”

“But this one’s the problem.”

Rodin lifted the intruder and personally removed the mask. Of course, it was an unfamiliar face to him.

“Ah!”

“Someone you know?”

“He’s one of the knights under the Duke of Lientas. I remember him as a young, promising knight with a bright future.”

The Duke of Lientas had used one of his own subordinates to kill someone. It was a bold move.

“Young Master, what shall we do? If you order it, I’ll torture him to extract a confession.”

“No need for a confession. If we dig deeper, we’ll also have to clean up afterward.”

Right now, Rodin merely suspected the Duke of Lientas. But if he obtained a confession, it would confirm that the Duke was behind it.

If the one pulling the strings was revealed without a doubt, the burden of follow-up would fall squarely on Rodin.

Rodin disliked that. He had a rough idea, but he preferred to leave it in a state of uncertainty.

“Shall I dispose of him?”

“Your Majesty, what would you prefer? If you want him tortured, I’ll leave him here. If you pay an additional fee, I can even escort him to the Luvain Kingdom.”

“No, I’m with Archmage Rodin on this. I’d rather leave it at a mere suspicion.”

“Understood. Magic Hand.”

Rodin used magic to quietly levitate the unconscious assassin and moved to the back. Jena followed alongside.

“I’ll do the killing.”

“No. This time, I… Never mind. Jena, you’d better do it. But use a Mana Blade and make it a clean cut.”

“Understood.”

Slice! Thud!

Jena cleanly severed the floating assassin’s neck using a Mana Blade while controlling him with Magic Hand. The severed head dropped to the floor, and blood gushed from the cut.

“What should we do with the corpse?”

“We should at least leave a message.”

Rodin used the blood pouring from the neck to write the word ‘Warning’ on the corpse’s body. The body was discarded outside Queen Regina’s quarters.

“Please endure just two more days.”

“Understood, Young Master.”

Rodin used teleportation on the spot. In an instant, Rodin’s figure vanished.

Left alone, Jena returned to Regina Hesward’s room. Standing by the door, she resumed her vigilance.

“Was it Sir Jena?”

“I’m not a knight, I’m a mercenary.”

“Your skills were astonishing. May I ask your rank?”

“I’m an Iron Badge Mercenary.”

While answering Queen Regina’s question, Jena kept her gaze fixed on the area beyond the door. She prioritized the mission given by Rodin.

“An Iron Badge mercenary took down a 4th-grade knight that easily…”

Jena didn’t respond. From this, Queen Regina realized that Jena the mercenary was not fond of conversation.

“I’m sorry. I made you uncomfortable for no reason.”

Queen Regina forced herself to sleep. She tightly hugged her five-year-old son beside her and shut her eyes.

—

There were no further attacks that night.

Morning came, and the Duke of Lientas’s estate fell into chaos.

One of the duke’s knights had been found with his throat cut. A knight only thirty years old, with a promising future.

What puzzled people was the clothing the young dead knight had worn.

Black clothes and a mask.

Not something one would wear in an ordinary situation. It was the kind of attire used by those sneaking around at night to kill or steal. And it was worn by a knight of the Duke of Lientas.

Moreover, the word ‘Warning’ scrawled on the back of the black clothes was unsettling.

Was the message meant for the dead knight, or for the Duke of Lientas himself? It was ambiguous.

What was clear was that something ominous had occurred.

Yet, the Duke of Lientas kept the matter quiet. The investigation into the culprit was half-hearted at best.

Duke Alfonso Lientas felt a chill down his spine when he heard that the body had been discovered in the morning. He instinctively realized that Archmage Rodin had been involved.

He quickly calculated the likely outcome of a fight against the archmage in his mind.

Chances of victory? Not zero. A 7th-circle archmage was indeed a formidable force, but the Lientas domain had many capable individuals.

He himself was a 6th-grade swordsman, and there were many 5th-grade swordsmen in the estate. Additionally, there were two 5th-circle mages and dozens of lower-ranked ones.

But after confirming the corpse himself, he abandoned any thoughts of fighting.

‘An Aura Blade.’

There was not a single mark of tearing on the severed neck. The neck bones had been sliced by a master-grade blade, leaving them polished smooth.

The Duke of Lientas knew who could leave such a mark.

‘A Master. Without a doubt.’

Come to think of it, he vaguely recalled hearing something. There were rumors of a mercenary who had defeated Hurst, a Platinum Badge mercenary.

‘There were even rumors that the mercenary traveled with a mage. It’s certain now.’

A Master and an Archmage traveling together?

That was a calamity not to be touched. If one provoked them and earned their ire, the number of subordinates one had was meaningless.

Thus, the Duke of Lientas abandoned any thought of revenge. The best course of action was to let time pass and hope that the archmage’s anger would subside.

Hyung_Otaku2

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