Chapter 15 - The Assassination Incident

A tea that was nearly omnipotent in terms of fatigue recovery, made by mixing equal parts of sun-swallowing flower petals and glass flower petals and burning them to ashes.

Among readers, it was called an item that was minor but cheating, with effects so good and uses so diverse that some said the author had introduced it to forcibly reduce the gap caused by the final boss' excessive power inflation.

It was natural in a way that Siren, who was mentally unstable, liked this drink.

She seems to have calmed down a bit.

If I detached her from my body, she looked around constantly like a cat with separation anxiety, looking up at me with a desperate expression.

If it had been someone with a fierce appearance, it might have been different, but with Siren, who could accurately be described as pretty and cute, looking at me like that, I kept feeling the urge to hug her without realizing it.

If I keep indulging this…

Thinking her dependency symptoms might worsen, I was trying my best to suppress it.

And fortunately, that separation anxiety seemed to be somewhat resolved by the tea.

Of course, it was only a temporary resolution.

But it was undeniable that she was getting better, so I nodded with satisfaction and looked at Loraine beside me.

I don't understand why she likes the tea that much.

Suddenly curious about the reason, I asked her about it, "Hmm, when I drink this, it feels like my mind becomes clear and I'm just a step away from reaching Sword Master. That's the biggest reason, and besides that, I like it because it recovers fatigue and clears my mind."

At the mention of Sword Master, I looked at Loraine.

A Sword Master was an extraordinary being who could cut through all common sense in the world.

In the original work, it was said that they could cut not only things that exist in this world,

But also things considered “abstract concepts”, becoming classified as either human or non-human beings.

Loraine reached this realm, which was far beyond common sense, in the latter part of the novel.

In other words, this meant she could reach Sword Master even without this tea...

But for some reason, I had a feeling that she might reach the realm of Sword Master faster than the predetermined time because of this tea.

Of course, this is just a prediction based on intuition without any basis, so it has no reliability.

But Loraine's sharp intuition, which she occasionally showed, had never been wrong, so I judged that it might really happen.

Thinking it would be quite good if that happened, I nodded.

***

"Myeong myeong!"

"You're too small, I can't hear what you're saying."

"Myeong!"

Looking at Siren bickering with the Sun Spirit in front of me, I recalled what I needed to do before proceeding with the engagement cancellation ceremony.

Finding those who assassinated Sister Lilia.

I had succeeded in finding some information that was “suspected” to be related to the assassination.

But this alone wasn't enough to find the culprit, so I needed to investigate more information.

So while I was contemplating whether I should search for new black mages by touring the city with the spirit, Siren tugged at my clothes and called me.

 "Is something wrong?"

Perhaps because she had absorbed so much negativity, I asked bluntly without any change in expression.

But seeing her fidgeting hands and trembling pupils, I could feel she was genuinely worried.

Thinking it was somewhat strange that she was showing so much affection to me when we had only met a day ago, I told her the reason.

"...There are a few things I heard while being experimented on."

Thinking this might be an important clue, I asked her to tell me quickly.

Siren calmly nodded and told me about “negativity and curses”.

"I don't know if it will help, but I'll tell you everything I heard. The experiment I underwent was to contain people's negative emotions in a human body."

Although she didn't want to remember, she seemed to want to tell me these things for my sake and continued speaking with a slightly trembling voice, "The black mages said that if they succeeded in this experiment and used it, they could contain massive mana in a human body, but I don't really understand what that means."

This was something I could roughly guess by recalling the nickname given to Siren in the original work.

“The worst curse that bloomed by swallowing the despair of thousands”, in other words, it was interpreted to mean that the black mages were experimenting with containing negative emotions in humans and turning them into curses.

Curse... curse.

What kind of curse were they trying to create by doing such things?

While thinking I didn't really know, an interesting thought suddenly occurred to me.

Come to think of it, Siren became an archmage.

Of course, she became an archmage who drove many to death because that direction was wrong.

But the important thing was that she had outstanding magical talent.

Thinking that I might be able to trace the assassins using this, I asked her, "How do you... use magic?"

I realized that not only could she not use magic, she didn't even know how to use it.

At those words, I blinked and pondered for a moment.

Then, judging that it wouldn't be of much help in this investigation, but it would be good to educate her in advance for the future, I decided to ask for help from the mages residing in the Carsaril family.

***

"...It's truly a miraculous talent. I've never seen a being with such outstanding talent in my life."

As the Carsaril family was a ducal family, even the guests staying at the family were not easily described as ordinary.

One of them was Priltanin Lirelsu, the former royal mage standing in front of me.

To be honest, as he was a character not mentioned in the original work, I didn't know much about him, but judging by how formal Loraine was being, I could tell he was quite an important figure.

Anyway, seeing such a great figure praise to this extent.

It confirmed that she had the qualities of an archmage as in the original work.

"It's cautious to say this, but I can assert that this level of talent has not appeared before and will not appear again."

It was highly convincing when a royal mage who had seen many people, not just an ordinary mage, said so.

I asked him if he could possibly teach Siren magic.

Contrary to my expectation that he would refuse, he gladly accepted and told me, "It's the first time I've witnessed such shining talent. Rather, I'd like to ask you."

"Are you abandoning me...?"

"So please leave her to me. I will certainly teach Siren excellent magical knowledge."

"Don't abandon me..."

Priltanin and Siren's words crossed, causing confusion.

But anyway, thinking it would be better to have her learn magic, I decided to leave her with Priltanin for a while.

"..."

Of course, Siren really disliked this.

But when I said I was asking her, she nodded, looking very sulky, and said she would do it.

"...But if I learn magic well, praise me later."

Thinking that wouldn't be difficult, I declared I would praise her as much as she wanted when a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Come to think of it, if she starts learning magic from now, won't she be learning magic faster than in the original work?

Just as I was thinking she might be able to achieve magical accomplishments faster, an unfamiliar but warm voice was heard, "Damian, are you very busy?"

It was Sister Lilia.

***

"If I had known you were having a hard time in the North, I would have come to find you right away, but I didn't know because I couldn't hear any news. I heard everything you went through there and I was so angry I couldn't just sit still. So I came right away! If you're ever sick or having a hard time, just tell your sister anytime. I'll solve it for you."

As we walked down the beautifully decorated corridor, she poured out everything she wanted to say to me.

I just smiled and nodded, as her words felt unfamiliar yet good warmth.

Sister Lilia turned her gaze to me and continued speaking, "And from now on, train normally and never get hurt."

I didn't answer because I didn't think I could keep that promise.

But she took it as acceptance on her own and belatedly got to the main point, "Even if you break off the engagement soon, there's no need to feel down. You're my proud little brother and the youngest of the Carsaril family!"

Not knowing how to respond, I was just smiling like before when suddenly a thought occurred to me.

Why on earth were the assassins trying to kill my sister?

She's not suppressing black magic, nor is she exerting influence externally.

As I couldn't understand why she was being assassinated, my mind was becoming complicated when suddenly a conversation I had heard before came to mind.

— Could it also be related to the problem that occurred in the Carsaril family?

When the Northern side held a meeting to pin the rift on me.

What Loraine had said to me as we were heading to the conference room.

The moment I recalled this, I immediately opened my mouth, "Is there any problem with the family?"

"Hmm? Ah, that. It's nothing, you don't need to worry about it."

Her reaction was too strong for it to be nothing.

Feeling there was something, I asked again.

"...We're having some issues with the Church."

"The Church?"

"Yes. I can't tell you in detail because it's confidential, but just know that it's a situation where we have to fight because each side's interests are at stake."

"Ah."

"So you don't need to worry too much."

She said there was no need to worry, but something kept nagging at my mind.

When I dug deeper into what it might be, what came up was the fact that it was the protagonist who discovered black magic in the Carsaril family's territory and that the place where the protagonist reported this was the Church.

In fact, this was a natural flow, so there shouldn't be a problem.

It was a natural flow to report black magic to the Church, which rejected black magic.

But considering that the protagonist reached the Carsaril territory, which seems somewhat out of place rather than a place related to the final boss, I thought there might be some connection.

The Church and black mages...

It was a combination that seemed to have nothing to do with each other, but it felt strangely nagging.

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

"Anyway, welcome back to the family again. Just rest well and have fun, okay?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'll go first."

With those final words, Sister Lilia left.

Watching this, I was vowing to definitely catch the assassins when... a thought suddenly occurred to me.

The Church and Carsaril were competing with each other due to conflicts of interest.

If black magic appeared in Carsaril territory, wouldn't the Church be able to “gain the most benefit”?

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