14 – The Assassination Incident

A tea crafted from equal parts petals that swallowed the sun and petals of glass, burned to ash, nearly a panacea for fatigue.

Among the readers, whispers claimed the author, having inflated the final boss’s power too excessively, offered this as a means to artificially close the gap.

Beyond its potent effects, the tea boasted a myriad of uses, a seemingly minor, yet almost cheat-like, beverage.

Perhaps it was only natural that Siren, grappling with such mental instability, would find comfort in it.

‘Seems a bit calmer now.’

If I move too far, she looks around, searching with anxious eyes and looking up to me, like a cat with separation anxiety.

If it were a gruff-looking person, it would be one thing, but Siren, accurately described as pretty and cute, stirred a constant urge within me to embrace her.

‘If I keep indulging this…’

Her dependency would likely worsen, and I suppressed the impulse as much as possible.

‘And fortunately, that separation anxiety seemed to be somewhat alleviated by the tea.’

A temporary fix, of course.

Yet, the undeniable truth was that she felt better, and I nodded with satisfaction, turning my gaze to Lorraine beside me.

‘Why does that one like this tea so much?’

Suddenly curious, I inquired about it.

“Well… when I drink it, it feels like my mind sharpens so much, I could almost touch Sword Master. That’s the biggest reason. Besides that, it helps with fatigue and clears my head.”

The words “Sword Master” caught my attention, and I stared at Lorraine.

A Sword Master, an existence outside of all common sense, capable of slicing through the very fabric of reality.

In the original story, they could sever not only tangible things, but also…

‘…abstract concepts’ deemed intangible, ascending beyond the boundaries of human or non-human classification.

Lorraine was supposed to reach this stage far later in the story.

Which meant that she could reach it even without the tea but it felt like the tea would allow her to reach the state of Sword Master more quickly than planned.

‘Of course, this was merely conjecture, intuition without a shred of evidence. Entirely unreliable.’

But Loreine’s occasional flashes of keen intuition had never been wrong; a conviction took hold that it would indeed come to pass.

The thought was rather pleasing. I nodded.

“Myaang! Myaang!”

“Too little to hear what you’re saying.”

“Myaang!”

I watched Siren squabble with the sun sprite before me, recalling the tasks that needed tending to before the annulment ceremony.

‘Find those who assassinated Lilia-nuna.’

I had succeeded in uncovering a few leads about things ‘suspected’ to be linked to the assassination.

But that alone made finding the culprit impossible; more information was needed.

And so, as I contemplated traipsing through the city with a sprite in tow, searching for a new black magician, Siren tugged on my sleeve, calling for my attention.

“Something the matter?”

Perhaps because I had internalized so much negativity, my tone was flat, expression unchanging.

But the fidgeting hands and trembling pupils spoke of genuine concern.

I found it somewhat curious that she would show such affection for someone she had only met a day ago, and so, I explained the reason.

“… I overheard some things during the experiments.”

She nodded calmly, urging me to speak of what might be an important clue.

Siren began to speak of ‘negativity and curses.’

“I don’t know if it will be of any help, but I’ll tell you everything I heard. The experiment I underwent was about imbuing human bodies with people’s negative emotions.”

Though she clearly wished to forget, she spoke for my sake, her voice trembling slightly as she continued.

“The black magicians said that if this experiment succeeded, they could use it to fill a human body with immense mana. I don’t really know what that means.”

Remembering the epithet attached to Siren in the original story, I could roughly guess what it meant.

‘The worst curse, blooming from the despair of thousands.’ In other words.

The black magicians were experimenting with imbuing humans with negative emotions, turning them into curses.

‘A curse… a curse, you say.’

What curse were they trying to create, engaging in such acts?

I was pondering this, lost in thought, when a rather amusing idea sparked in my mind.

‘Come to think of it, Siren becomes a great mage.’

Of course, the path was twisted, leading to the death of countless people, but still, a great mage nonetheless.

It was her possessing such an extraordinary magical talent that mattered.

Thinking that perhaps, utilizing this, we could catch the assassins’ traces, I inquired.

“Magic… how use?”

It turned out she not only couldn’t use magic, but didn’t even know *how*.

At that, I blinked, paused in thought a moment, and

judged that while it wouldn’t be of much help for this search, educating her in advance for the future would be good.

I decided to request assistance from the mages residing at the Karsaril estate.

*

“…Truly, a wondrous gift. Such unparalleled talent I have not witnessed in all my days.”

The Karsaril family being a ducal house, the guests staying within were not easily called ordinary.

One of those was Priltanin Rirelshue, formerly a royal mage, now standing before me.

Frankly, he wasn’t mentioned in the original work, so I didn’t know him well, but judging by the formality with which Lorein treated him, he was definitely an important figure.

‘Regardless, for such a significant person to praise her to this extent…’

It solidified my conviction that she possessed the same potential as the Great Mages of the original story.

“It is with hesitation I say this, but I can aver that such talent has never appeared before, and will never appear again.”

Not just any mage, but a royal mage who had seen countless others, spoke with such persuasion.

With a sliver of hope, I asked him if he could teach Siren magic, and

contrary to my expectation of refusal, he readily accepted, telling me,

“Witnessing such radiant talent for the first time… rather, *I* should be the one asking the favor.”

“Abandon…?”

“Therefore, leave her to me. I will surely impart to Miss Siren a splendid magical foundation.”

“Mustn’t abandon…”

Priltanin’s and Siren’s words clashed, bringing a moment of confusion, but

in any case, it seemed best to have her learn magic, so I decided to entrust her to Priltanin for a time.

“…”

Of course, Siren disliked this greatly, but

when I told her I was asking, she displayed a very sullen demeanor, but nodded and said she would.

“…Instead, if I learn magic well, praise me later.”

Thinking that was hardly difficult, I declared I would give her as much praise as she desired, when

suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.

‘Come to think of it, if I start learning magic now, wouldn’t that mean I’d be learning it even faster than in the original story?’

The thought that I might achieve magical prowess sooner flickered through my mind when a voice, unfamiliar yet warm, reached my ears.

“Damian, are you terribly busy, perhaps?”

It was Lilia, my sister.

“If I knew you were struggling in the North, I would have sought you out immediately, but no word reached me, so I was unaware.”

“I heard everything that happened to you there, and I was so furious I couldn’t simply stand by. So, I came to find you right away!”

“If you are ever ill or struggling with something, tell your sister. I will take care of it for you.”

Strolling down the exquisitely adorned corridor, she poured out all that she wished to say to me.

The words, the warmth, felt foreign yet pleasant, and I simply smiled and nodded in response.

Lilia turned her gaze upon me and continued.

“And from now on, you will train properly, and absolutely do not get hurt.”

I felt I couldn’t possibly promise that, so I didn’t reply.

But, in her own way, she took my silence as agreement and belatedly broached the subject that was on her mind.

“Even if the engagement is dissolved soon, there’s no need to feel dejected. You are my cherished youngest brother, and the youngest of the Carsaril family!”

Unsure of how to respond, I simply smiled as I had before, when a thought suddenly bloomed in my mind.

‘Why on earth are assassins trying to kill her?’

‘She’s not suppressing black magic, nor is she meddling and influencing matters outside the family.’

Unable to grasp the reason for the assassination attempts, my mind became clouded, when a story I’d once heard drifted back to me.

[Could it be that the problems that have befallen the Carsaril family are also connected?]

What Loreine had told me as she headed towards the conference hall, when the North convened a meeting to pin the rift on me.

The moment I recalled that, I spoke without hesitation.

“Is there… perhaps a problem within the family?”

“Hmm? Ah, that. It’s nothing, there’s no need for you to worry.”

Her reaction was far too vehement for it to be “nothing”.

Sensing that something was amiss, I pressed her again.

“…There’s been a bit of trouble with the Order.”

“The Order?”

“Yes. It’s classified, so I can’t tell you the specifics, but just know that their individual interests are at stake, so they’re bound to fight.”

“Ah.”

“So, you don’t need to worry too much about it.”

He said I didn’t need to worry, but something kept nagging at the back of my mind.

Delving a little deeper into what it was, what surfaced was…

That I was the one who discovered the black magic in the Karsaril estate, and that the place I reported it to was the Order.

In truth, this was a perfectly natural course of events, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

Reporting it to the Order, which denounces black magic, was the logical thing to do.

‘But if you consider that I arrived at the Karsaril estate, somewhat out of the blue, and not at a place related to the final boss…’

Maybe there’s a connection somehow.

‘The Order and a black magician…’

A combination that seems to have nothing to do with each other, but something feels off.

While I was pondering this, my sister hugged me and patted my back.

“Anyway, welcome back to the family, once again. Just relax and have fun as much as you want. Okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, I’ll be going now.”

With those final words, Lilia sister departed, leaving me behind.

As I watched her go, I vowed to catch the assassin… when suddenly, a thought struck me.

The Order and the Karsaril are in competition with each other due to a conflict of interests.

If black magic were to be discovered in the Karsaril estate, wouldn’t the Order be in a position to reap the ‘greatest benefit’?

The moment that thought bloomed in my mind, I felt as if electricity was coursing through my entire body.