Chapter 11
Contrary to popular belief, black magic was not evil.
Just as morning and night were not divided into good and evil, black magic was merely classified as dark attribute magic, not a criterion for distinguishing between good and evil.
Despite knowing this fact, the reason people classified black magic as evil magic was because the acts committed by black mages were too extreme.
For example, necromancers.
In novels and such, people often became desensitized due to the plausible explanation of controlling the dead.
But when one thought about it carefully, its essence was nothing more than desecrating the deceased.
So it was an inevitable flow for people's perceptions to turn negative.
As a result, those who used black magic were often ostracized from groups and usually hid in the shadows.
Due to the nature of the underground, its closed nature and autonomy were excessively high.
It was said that they began to act without any hesitation, free from the gazes and rules that would have made them cautious originally.
And as this accumulated, it became modern black magic.
Well, anyway, the important thing is that black magic, which should be in the shadows, is spread throughout the city.
Even if traces of black magic were scattered in some areas, it would be a big problem.
The fact that such traces were scattered throughout the entire city meant we were facing a considerably large problem, so I was hardening my expression when Loraine said something to me.
"Young Master, I think we should be careful."
Loraine also seemed to have noticed the presence of black magic, as she was looking around with a very stern expression.
Confirming this, I took a light deep breath and moved my steps in the direction the Sun Spirit was glaring at.
***
The sewer on the outskirts of the city.
As it was classified as a somewhat dangerous area due to the large-scale purification magic devices installed, it was a place ordinary people wouldn't even come near, let alone visit...
I couldn't help but laugh hollowly seeing the unusually large number of footprints around.
This is quite intentional.
I laughed hollowly at the traces that seemed to say, “We're here” as if those hiding in the shadows had deliberately left footprints.
Of course, there was a possibility that the owners of the footprints were vagrants or homeless people rather than black mages.
But if that were the case, there should have been at least surveillance personnel stationed at the entrance or traces of continued life in the sewers...
Not only is there nothing like that, it's rather clean to the point of being suspicious.
It would be more reasonable to see these as traces of black mages rather than vagrants or homeless people.
And if these are traces of black mages...
It meant that this place was likely an intentionally set trap.
A trap. What should I do?
If I wanted to act safely, I could go back home and report that there seem to be black mages here.
If I did this, the ducal family would conduct a large-scale investigation, so I could pass through smoothly without any danger.
However, the problem was that while I was going through such a reporting process, the black mages could erase all traces and quickly escape.
...
After pondering for a moment, I grabbed the mace hanging at my waist and calmed my eyes.
I realized that there was an extremely simple solution.
It doesn't matter whether it's a trap or not.
If it was a trap, I just needed to break through it, and if there were enemies, I just needed to knock them down.
Thinking that I was sick of enduring meaninglessly for ideals, I raised my mace and said to Loraine, "Please back me up."
"Yes."
With Loraine, who was just about to reach Sword Master level, there shouldn't be any problems.
I finished a brief calculation and moved into the sewer.
***
As I entered the sewer, the pungent smell of blood stung my nose.
Thinking it was somewhat familiar as I had smelled it so much during sparring, I moved forward.
A man wearing a black robe approached me and gave me a “welcome”.
"What, Damian. When did you come back here?"
The man approached me with a bright smile, as if greeting a long-time friend.
I looked at him calmly while being wary.
He had an attractive face, but I couldn't shake off the feeling that it was artificial.
He was wearing a robe much longer than his body, as if he wanted to hide his body with the black robe.
Who is he?
Is this guy a black mage? Or is he a minion related to black mage?
Of course, there was also the assumption that he was neither.
But if that were the case, the strong smell of blood coming from him didn't make sense.
"If I had known you were back, I would have visited the mansion... I was completely unaware because I was so busy with work."
He apologized lightly with a bright smile and then gestured to me.
"Come in quickly, I have something I want to show you."
It was obviously a trap to anyone who saw it.
But thinking I might be able to hear various information if I followed him, I nodded, pretending not to know.
At my response, he glanced around and then said in a calm voice, "Ah, Sir Loraine, could you wait here for a moment? We have something to talk about between friends."
At those words, Loraine looked at me intently, asking for my choice.
The fact that she was asking for my choice rather than saying it wasn't allowed suggested that she judged there wouldn't be a big problem with my skills.
So, to extract information, I nodded and said, "Wait here for a moment."
"Yes, Young Master."
The moment Loraine said she would stay here, the man in the black robe smiled slightly and said to me, "I'll show you something interesting. You'll probably like it too."
I nodded, and he led me deep inside.
The smell of blood was overwhelmingly strong, as if he had been committing cruel acts for a long time.
Forcibly suppressing my hardening expression as I followed him, I could hear agonized groans from all around.
"S... s-save me."
"Ugh... ack."
"It hurts... no, it hurts."
Looking around, I could see traces of torture on numerous people locked in iron cages.
It was such a cruel sight that it was hard to look at, so I was frowning when
He chuckled and said to me, "I've recently discovered quite an interesting research topic. It's research on converting human negative emotions into curses, and it's quite fascinating."
"..."
"It's hard to say anything definitive yet because the research results aren't properly out, but progress is steadily accumulating."
As we moved forward, he looked at a writhing mass of flesh in front of us and seemed to remember something, clapping his hands lightly and said to me, "Want to take a look at this? This one was a friend who often shared food with me. As soon as I received the food, I stabbed his body with a knife, and he was really resentful, you know? That sight was quite interesting, so I condensed it with magic and brought it here. What do you think? Can you feel the emotions?"
He laughed loudly, saying it was still alive.
His expression showed no trace of the minimum guilt or conscience that a human should have.
Just as if he had performed a common-sense action.
He saw humans not as people but as materials.
"So anyway, I'm doing research on converting these things into curses... I have one thing to ask you."
He was still looking at the experimental subject as he spoke to me, "How did you know to come here when I never told you about this place?"
His voice suddenly dropped.
It seems he was about to change his attitude and attack me now.
I pretended to answer him, then immediately took out the small hammer from my pocket and brought it down on his head.
***
Snow fell in the North.
This meant that everything had frozen over again.
It also meant that all the farming and trade that had been achieved during the warm period had become an illusion.
"...Ah."
Although I had expected it, the damage was too severe.
Elisia frowned at seeing the reports, which had significantly decreased over the past few months, suddenly increase again, and then covered her forehead and put down the report.
[Damage Assessment Report]
An even greater damage than that caused by the second invasion had hit the North.
She wracked her brain trying to find a way to solve this, but...
To make the city warm like when Damian was here required a massive amount of magic stones.
She realized that no matter what method was used, they couldn't return to how things were before.
The moment she realized this fact, a severe headache struck her.
It was a fatigue and pain that was difficult to endure, so she naturally reached out and drank from the teacup, but…
"..."
She felt that the headache and fatigue, which had disappeared so naturally when she drank the tea Damian had made, remained and continued to linger.
It was a sensation that was difficult to endure, so she frowned and pressed her forehead strongly with the back of her hand.
Unfortunately, no matter how strongly she pressed, the pain didn't fade but became clearer, tormenting her mind.
Feeling this wouldn't do, she immediately summoned a maid and ordered her to make the same tea Damian had made, but…
"I... I'm truly sorry, Grand Duchess, but no one knows about that tea."
Since there were only people who didn't even know about the existence of the tea Damian had made, she couldn't ask them to get it.
"Moreover, I believe there's no tea that can instantly recover fatigue. There might be some that can alleviate it to some extent, but..."
"...Is that so?"
"Yes. There are no such convenient items in this world."
Convenient items…
She had been taking the tea for granted, so she hadn't realized it until now.
So she tried to endure and bear with it.
[My wife and daughter died. It's all because they had such an incompetent father.]
The hallucinations and auditory hallucinations she had forgotten while Damian was around slowly began to revive.
Realizing that this couldn't be left alone, she hurriedly ordered all teas related to fatigue recovery to be brought.
Unfortunately, no matter which one she drank, none could even come close to the tea he had made.