Chapter 36 – Flowers of the North Sea (8)

“Keuahhhhh——. My crotch, my crotch hurts…”

On the way back, it was mostly peaceful, except for Lehel crying every time the chariot shook.
Surprisingly, the two people seemed relieved that the incident was resolved quickly, but Darling’s expression was complex.
While enduring her motion sickness and looking at the view outside, she suddenly pulled on the sleeve of Lewis, who was sitting next to her, and said,

“Hey, canteen owner.”
“Yes?”
“I’m thirsty. “Go and buy me some plum wine.”
“Why are you asking me to go directly? “Do you also sell alcohol here?”
“Since you run a store, wouldn’t you be better at choosing items? “Go quickly.”
“No, if you look at it that way, the Viscount is the owner who runs the merchant…”
“Now that I see it, the way I sing is similar to that of a canteen owner! “Hurry, hurry, get out!”

She pushed Lewis away almost halfway and looked at Lehel with cool eyes.
Inside the carriage, where only the two were left, the atmosphere was subtly different from before.

“Chairman.”
“Yes, my lord.”

Lehel, who is smiling brightly on the other side of her, is a magic master whose true intentions are difficult to understand. She, on the other hand, is herself a merchant.
Darling questioned her about what she needed to explain about this situation based on thoroughly rational reasoning.

“This is the first time I have paid such a small amount in advance while taking care of your affairs. “At most, it’s about 80,000 gold. Even if you don’t have cash, isn’t that enough money to promise to pay verbally?”
“Well, that’s right. But for some reason, this time the gambling house did not accept it. “They say you have to pay in kind right away.”
“Right. But the timing is a bit unnaturally early. “You often travel across the continent to play games, but did she get so little money that she had to come back two weeks after leaving?”
“Is there a bottom to gambling? “I was particularly unlucky this time.”

Then Lehel hummed, thinking about something, and placed one of her hands, which had been cupping her crotch, on her chin.

“If you think about it, there’s something not right about gambling in Alsace. It feels like the other actors are only focused on stopping me…”
“I guess that’s because I was blinded by your underwear. “It’s not good to be slutty.”
“I have no intention of covering my fingertips like you did, my lord. Anyway, I was definitely unlucky enough to lose most of my money in Alsace. “It’s suspicious.”

Lehel also noticed something strange about Darling’s comments. Could it be that someone had the intention of tying him to Alsace?
If the safety of Parencia’s board chair is in danger, Darling Tokarev will inevitably have to make a move.
It was certainly a reasonable inference, simply because this was not the first time.

“Are you saying they were trying to catch us two?”
“Are there any suspicious signs on the chariot?”
“I don’t feel like it. “In the first place, Merak Magic Tower has the right to operate this train.”
“Then…”

Silence. I had a bad feeling.

“I think it was a mistake for the lord to bring the boss.”

I wonder if something is happening to Parenzia. Naturally, the conclusion came down to that.
Once you knew the purpose, next was the reason for the action.

However, in order to do so, it was necessary to find out who was behind this incident——

“No way, it can’t be like that.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”

Lehel and Darling laughed.
Who owns the gambling hall and underground auction house? He is the owner of the Martinica Chamber of Commerce. Where is the company putting its enemies?
It is Roshar, the ruler of the North Sea.

Rosh Ar of the world turns his spear point against Hel Zeb? It was ridiculous.
Nevertheless, Darling still had some uneasiness as the lord of Farencia.

It was a time of peace.
It had been about ten years since the end of the Great War, and there was plenty of room for disputes and territory wars between nobles.

“I’m asking just in case, Lord Yunhoe.”
“Yes, Viscount Ruhilen.”
“Are you confident that you will win in a fight with Ice and Snowball?”

Who is the strongest among the five princes? Or is there an archduke who can fight and win against Terra Ernesten?
The topic that was always the center of attention among wizards was discussing the strength of unique magic.

“Ah, that’s ridiculous.”

In response to Darling’s question, Lehel waved her hand. She declared.

“How can I defeat Ice Snowball?”
“Is that so? “You have much more experience and magical power.”
“My inherent magic power is limited regardless of the total amount of mana and karma.”

A bitter smile appeared on Lehel’s lips.

“Too much power was already used during the Great War.”
“Right… “In the royal capital?”
“Yes. “You know very well.”
“You’re blind if you don’t know that much. “Isn’t this a time when humanity was pushed to the edge of a cliff?”

Contrary to popular opinion, Terra Ernesten, also known as the Great Mage, entered the war quite late.
Immediately after the front line of the Ravier Mountains fell, humanity suffered unspeakable damage due to the overwhelming power of the demons.

Two of the princes died, and Lehel, the duke of reincarnation, sacrificed half of her life to drive out the demons who had invaded the royal capital of Thessalon.
Terra then decided to enter the war. The time when she appeared in Thessalon was almost the same time that Wivlet returned from Bahran with Nova and dispatched Eris Prashuhra from the Holy Kingdom.

“Anyway! I heard that the new Ice and Snow Technician who succeeded the deceased Ice Snow Technician was handling demons well like his predecessor. So you don’t have to worry.”
“I was just asking just in case. Oh, this is just in case——.”

I heard Lewis’s footsteps approaching from afar. Darling thought he should end the conversation at this point.

“If you were in your prime, would you be able to beat Terra Ernisten?”
“Hehe, that’s right. Because this life is going backwards…”

At that question, Lehel giggled and showed her teeth with a smile that was incomparable to anything before.

“If I were 30 years older, would it have been worth it?”

***

As the car was shaking, I was barely able to get to the tail compartment and buy a drink from the flight attendant.
Fortunately, the menu wasn’t limited to protein blocks, but when I asked for a bottle of plum wine on this rocking carriage, she looked at me like I was crazy.

When I managed to get the alcohol and returned to my seat carefully so as not to break it, Lehel and Darling were just looking outside as if they had not said a word to each other.

“Viscount? “I brought alcohol.”
“Hmm? I don’t drink alcohol. Leave it there.”
“…”

Then why did you do it?
The moment I sat down to drink some nara, I remembered something I had forgotten.
By the way, I had something to ask Lehel.

“Chairman.”
“Four?”
“Do you want to come out for a moment?”
“Ah… “It’s hard to move now.”

I called Lehel out of her guest room. When she stumbled to her feet, he helped her up and placed her against the wall of the passage.

“Thank you so much. Oh, are you saying this is a push and pull?”
“I don’t think it has that physical meaning.”
“No, no. Why did you call me? Do you need more rules?”
“That’s enough. I don’t think it will be more effective unless I do a recitation on stage during a festival. More than that… “Do you know anything about Rochear?”

It was a question asked casually, but surprisingly, Lehel opened her mouth slightly as if she was surprised.

“I thought not…”
“Yes?”
“I’ll listen first. What do you mean from Rochear?”
“Oh, it’s nothing else, I’m just curious about whether you have a genetic heart problem or something like that.”
“No, as far as I know, not really.”

What. Then it was Adela’s fuss. Just as I was sighing in relief, Lehel said something meaningful.

“It doesn’t really matter even if there are problems. “I’m going to pick it anyway.”
“Yes? I beg your pardon?”
“Didn’t you hear? They say they’re picking it. Like this.”

She placed her five hooked fingers on her own chest and made the appearance of pulling out her heart.
I couldn’t escape the sudden shock.

“Why?”
“Hmm, this is a bit sensitive… “Would you please give me your hand?”
“Here you go.”

Lehel placed my palm on the lower part of her solar plexus. Then she closed her eyes, folded her own hands, and pressed gently.

“Can you feel it? This is the mana and karma in my body. Inverted in the form of an electrical signal.”
“I feel it a little bit.”
“If you look closely, the two energies will be twisted like a whirlpool. Not only the shape but also the mass is the same. “My unique magic needs to have exactly half the amount of mana and karma.”

Eventually she took her hand away and shrugged her shoulders.

“Each wizard has a form of preserving mana and karma, but unique magic has a slightly more extreme characteristic. Do you know what Rochear’s ice magic essentially means?”
“No.”
“It’s the ultimate version of Baekmado. Ice that is as pure as a divine spell, without a single karma.”

Only then did I understand what Lehel said.

“I wonder if the reason for pulling out the heart is…” …”
“If there is no guilt, there is no karma. What if there are no emotions? “The inside of a human being becomes infinitely cleaner.”

That’s why Rochear kills the heart.

For the magic that is more powerful than anything else in the world.

“Adela didn’t look like that at all.”
“That’s because her evaluation so far has been so bad that her qualifications as a magician, let alone her unique magic, have been questioned. Even before the recent magic war… Ah.”

Lehel stopped speaking as if she had finally realized something about her and suddenly looked out her window.

“Now that you think about it, she sent a personal letter from the royal family some time ago congratulating the first-year family on their victory in the anti-magic war.”
“…”
“Roshiard must have received it too… ?”

***

“Are you going to the prom?”

Late in the evening, the old governess who met Adela in front of her dormitory confronted her beautifully dressed in her dress.
Adela responded to his question with a flawless smile and said,

“Grandfather. Do you know what? They say acacias are already blooming in Bahran! “They say acacia honey is several times sweeter and more delicious than other flowers. Can you get it for me?”
“Miss…”

Tears welled up in the butler’s wrinkled eyes. He was a man who had seen Adela since she was very young.
She knew very well how she had been feeling all this time.
Not only did she not know magic in order to avoid being discovered by her family, but she had been acting like a fool her whole life, and I had watched her miserable for half her life.

“Now, you can stop now…” …”

I finally succeeded in entering the Academy, avoiding Rocheire’s eyes, and made connections with the Count.

However, despite that earnest request, Adela fiddled with the earring on her left ear as if she knew nothing.

“I really want to eat it sometime! Please… “Why not?”

The butler realized. The young lady is now trying to send herself somewhere else.
Because the moment her family found out that she had been living like an idiot all this time and that it was all just an act, she knew that the lives of those closest to her would not be left behind.

“I, I… !”

Her hands clenched into fists and trembled. Tears flowed.
She wanted to say that she would remain by his side until the end.

However, the moment she raised her head and saw the sadness filled with Adela’s clear eyes ——
Beyond this she knew that the only thing he could do was not to make the young lady sad.

“The best in Bahran… “I will bring you a beautiful bouquet.”

Therefore, the butler bowed deeply and showed respect.

“No matter how long it takes, definitely.”

No matter how his master may change when they meet again. I quietly swear that my loyalty will not change.