I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 179

Two days later.

Edgar heard astonishing news early in the morning, his eyes widening as he hurried along.

Before confirming the truth, he intended to check with his own eyes before informing Ariel.

Squeak.

The destination he arrived at was Minette’s laboratory, hidden in the most secretive part of the castle.

This place existed solely for her, and few were allowed to enter.

“Oh, you’re here.”

As soon as he arrived, Minette greeted him while fiddling with something next to Kelrag, who was lying on the bed with his eyes closed.

From Kelrag’s right chest, a sinister energy was gradually rising.

“I’ve heard the story. Dispelling the curse isn’t so easy, huh?”

“Unfortunately, that’s true. Honestly, I thought I would have enough time for this…but it seems I’ll need a bit more.”

Minette licked her lips, clearly regretful.

She considered herself a renowned mage and was confident that whatever this curse was, she could unravel it quickly.

However, the problem was that the caster of this curse was rather skilled, which made things complicated.

Dispelling was not impossible, but it appeared it would take a little longer than expected.

“How long do you think it will take?”

“At least ten more days.”

“Ten days…”

Edgar rested his chin in thought, pondering the length of time.

It was either a long or short duration.

He heard that Minette’s magical power was suppressing the spread of the curse, so Kelrag’s condition wasn’t worsening much, but whether he could hold on for another ten days was the main concern.

“Well then, what about that magical tracking you mentioned earlier?”

“Fortunately, the tracking spell should finish a bit faster than the dispelling. The problem, however…”

“I see there’s another one.”

Nodding, Minette silently pointed to the purple symbol inscribed on Kelrag’s chest.

“There are several methods to dispel a curse, but the way I originally wanted to approach it was to remove this curse from him.”

“Remove it? Isn’t that a bit like trying to take off jewelry?”

“Of course! In fact, that’s what makes the dispelling take longer.”

If she had carelessly poured magical power into him without considering Kelrag’s weakened state, she might have succeeded earlier.

But that would have put a great deal of strain on Kelrag’s already deteriorated body and, due to Ariel’s orders to save him, she couldn’t proceed that way.

Thus, Minette thought of the method of literally removing the curse from his body.

The advantage of this method was that it put less strain on the blood mage’s body, but the second advantage was crucial as well.

“If I can only remove this curse from his body, it’ll make tracking the magic easier. Right now, the curse is completely integrated with his body, making it hard to separate the magical energies and locate the caster.”

“So that’s why you wanted to separate the curse.”

“That’s right. But the path to do that is just hectic.”

In truth, if she had set aside Kelrag’s condition, she could have used any method to resolve things by now.

The easiest course of action would be to simply let him die from the curse and then proceed after he became a cold corpse.

This is because the magical energy bound in the body, assimilated to the curse, would create resistance, making it difficult to remove the curse. Once he died, separating it would become easier.

The problem was that it couldn’t be done that way.

“Looks like a significant struggle is needed to remove the curse.”

“It’s a method that’s a step above dispelling in the first place. In this case, you don’t need to think about the backlash from the blood mage at all.”

Shrugging, Minette approached the desk and eagerly grabbed a cup of water that was sitting on it.

With a gulping sound, she drank it down and continued speaking with an apologetic expression.

“I feel too embarrassed to face His Highness. I boasted that I would surely get it done, and look at the situation now…”

Seeing her reformulating her lips like she was already a failure, Edgar offered her words of encouragement.

Although he wasn’t Ariel, he figured that if she were present, she would comfort her this way.

“I think it’s fine not to have a set timetable for this. Nobody thought it would be easy anyway.”

“Still, at this rate, I’ll have to give up the title of one of the sage of the Mage Tower.”

Minette felt quite a blow to her pride.

Regardless of where they came from, those with a significant concentration of magical power were rare.

Or rather, more directly, she might be competing equally or even facing someone of higher skill.

Among the wise she had shared moments with in the Mage Tower, none faced this kind of trouble.

“By the way, I’m curious about who cast this curse.”

“Anyone come to mind?”

“Unfortunately not. If it were someone born with a unique magical power like the Robeheim family, perhaps I’d know. But for others, it’s hard to determine solely based on the energy of their magic.”

At least one thing was certain: the concentration of magic was very dense.

Also, the intensity of that magic was considerable, making it hard to penetrate with just ordinary magic.

It was probably among the top high-level mages she had encountered.

But they were all part of the Empire.

Plus, although not everyone was, the majority were known figures who held positions at the Mage Tower.

There would be no reason for those kinds of people to meddle in matters concerning other races or show any intent to betray the Empire.

While she was enrapt in thought, Edgar carefully posed a question.

“Do you think the Empire’s most powerful mage could cast such a curse?”

“The Empire’s most powerful mage… If it’s someone of that caliber, then yes, it’s possible.”

Minette pondered for a moment at the unexpected question before nodding her head.

But that was an absurd notion.

After all, the title of the Empire’s most powerful mage was currently held by the head of the Marquis family, a very high-ranking figure.

There was no reason for someone like that to scheme against other races by casting a curse.

“…Huh?”

As the thought sank in, Minette’s eyes widened in realization.

She could sense a deeper meaning in Edgar’s question.

“Dear Sir, you don’t mean…?”

“It seems like this conversation is going to take some time.”

“Let’s step outside for a bit,” Edgar suggested, carefully checking on the sleeping Kelrag.

Minette nodded slightly, and the two stealthily made their way outside, so as not to rouse him.

Originally, this was a matter known to just three people, but Edgar felt it necessary to share with Minette.

Even if the curse had not been dispelled, there were plenty of clues to gather, and brainstorming together with her might lead to plausible answers.

* * * * * * *

The man named Albrecht was sitting and reading a book when he suddenly felt an odd sensation and called his subordinate.

Before long, a man who bowed his head in front of him appeared.

He was one of the few who knew Albrecht’s true face.

Thus, Albrecht removed his usual mask and spoke in a cold voice.

“Shepard.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Has there been any sign from the Carvita Tribe?”

At the sudden question, there was a hint of confusion on the man’s face, but he nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

“Yes. According to reports, there doesn’t seem to be any unusual activity.”

Upon hearing this, Albrecht stroked his chin with a displeased expression.

Why were they being so quiet when their leader was in such a predicament?

Even in order to uncover the identity of the one who cast the curse, he expected them to be active, yet there was quite an unexpected reaction.

“…Strange.”

“If you deem something suspicious, I’ll check again.”

“Hm.”

He didn’t question what that meant but understood that if his master had doubts, he would quickly set out to investigate.

Yet, Albrecht fell silent without giving much response.

After nearly a minute of silence, he finally opened his tightly sealed lips.

“Something has gone wrong with the spell cast on him.”

“‘Him’ refers to the leader of the Carvita Tribe, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

One might wonder how he could detect problems with a spell cast on someone whose location was unknown, yet the man had no intention to question it.

This was the true capacity of someone he served.

However, it was strange that the spell had gone awry.

Although Albrecht had manipulated countless spells and magic to control or eliminate someone, he had never seen one fail.

“I don’t think there’s a capable mage who can dispel the curse His Highness cast on them.”

“You’re right. If I thought that was possible, I wouldn’t have cast the curse in the first place.”

In that case, he would have used a more secure method.

The reason he cast that curse was that he deemed it the safest approach based on his knowledge.

Stated differently, he didn’t even feel the need to entertain the possibility of it being dispelled.

‘Someone has interfered with the curse. Is this it?’

He had put considerable effort into that curse.

Thus, if the spell became disordered or something went wrong, he would immediately sense a strange feeling in his psyche, and since that sensation had not vanished, it seemed it hadn’t been dispelled yet.

However, it was clear he had gotten quite close to the source of the curse.

No matter how inferior the mage’s skill compared to his, if that mage reached a certain level, dispelling it would only be a matter of time.

‘Dispelling isn’t the issue. But knowing who it is is critical.’

Since he didn’t have complete knowledge of their identities, there could potentially be a skilled mage or shaman among the Carvita Tribe who could heal the curse.

If so, then perhaps the matter was simply an oversight in his judgment.

Yet, for some reason, Albrecht felt a sense of unease.

Though he couldn’t be definitive without concrete evidence, he had a feeling that the situation might turn troublesome.

“Shepard.”

“Yes, Master.”

“First, track down their traces as much as possible. Report anything that seems fishy to me without missing even the slightest hint.”

“As you command.”

Recognizing that his master had finished speaking, Shepard blended into the shadows and disappeared from sight.

Watching him vanish with an impassive gaze, Albrecht lifted a glass resting on the table.

It was filled with a viscous dark red substance, a color deeper than wine.

He treated it as though it were a precious gem, rolling it around lovingly in his hand before swallowing it down.