I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 183

Crack.

As Shepard clenched his fist with gloves on, the sound of leather rubbing echoed softly.

In the midst of the absurd situation, he couldn’t fathom how it had come to this, his emotions oscillating between confusion and anger.

‘How on earth?’

He knew well that the current head of the Robeheim Family was a remarkably skilled mage.

And that her lover and assistant was no slouch as a swordsman either.

But still, traversing all the way from that castle to here without a hint of presence was absurd.

At least, as far as Shepard knew, the only people capable of such magic were his master and a handful of the sages rumored to reside in the Mage Tower.

What kind of trickery was at play?

As confusion enveloped him, he finally managed to look around despite the sword aimed at his throat, spotting something of interest.

It was none other than the pendant hanging around Sonia’s neck.

While he lacked certainty, the gemstone radiating a red glow at its center didn’t seem ordinary.

It might have been processed using a considerable amount of magical power or perhaps inscribed artificially with magic on a rare gem that wouldn’t break even when imbued with power.

Either way, that alone meant it could function as a catalyst to trigger magic.

‘Is that it?’

He initially thought of her as just an ordinary little girl, but it turned out she was quite a valuable character.

There was no way that someone from the Robeheim Family would carelessly let such a precious item adorn the neck of an ordinary child in the name of preparedness.

Moreover, if the head of the Robeheim Family had taken actions to protect her, she was surely no ordinary figure.

‘She doesn’t seem to belong to the Robeheim family based on the information I have, though.’

There could be a few possibilities.

For instance, she could be the sister of that red-haired man glaring at his neck with the intent to slice it right off at this very moment.

Regardless, the crucial thing wasn’t the girl’s identity.

It was how to navigate this dire situation—that was the pressing concern.

Of course, he had taken some last-resort measures, so he wasn’t overly worried, but an inexplicable sense of unease lingered within Shepard.

Thud, thud.

As Ariel parted the grass and approached slowly, Shepard flinched.

But he couldn’t even act because of Edgar, who was standing beside him with his sword drawn.

Even though physical attacks wouldn’t really hurt him, they still made their mark, and they weren’t without consequence.

‘In this situation, even regeneration won’t be easy.’

It would be one thing if his opponent was just an ordinary swordsman, but having a fellow mage in the mix made things quite troublesome.

Especially if that mage was someone whose skills he couldn’t easily gauge.

Thus, Shepard stayed still, making it clear he wouldn’t resist.

“You don’t seem to have any intention to fight back, do you?”

“…Even if I did, I wouldn’t comply willingly.”

“Well, that’s not entirely wrong. You seem to be well aware of your situation, which I find quite amusing.”

At the very least, her principle was to make intruders regret entering, whether they were outright pests or sneaky rodents stealing rice and causing chaos.

Hence, she seemed satisfied by Shepard’s realization of his predicament, grinning with pleasure…

“…But that brazen attitude and tone are really starting to annoy me.”

Feeling displeasure at the intruder lowering their tone without permission, she transformed her expression into one devoid of emotion, releasing a surge of magical energy.

“…!?”

Creeeeak-!

As the ominous red power that could be deemed a symbol of the Robeheim Family’s dominance enveloped Shepard, his knees buckled and gave way on the grassy ground.

At the same time, Edgar, who had aimed his sword at Shepard, withdrew and approached Sonia, embracing her.

The sword was merely a primary means to subdue him anyway, and it wasn’t strictly necessary now.

‘A monster, indeed.’

Meanwhile, Shepard, forced onto his knees and lowering his head, internally marvelled at the peculiar sensation enveloping him.

Even if she was of the Robeheim bloodline, he hadn’t expected that a woman who had only just undergone her coming-of-age ceremony could wield such power.

What was more astonishing was the fact that she could suppress a mage of such caliber solely through the density and magnitude of her magical power without even casting a spell.

It was absurd enough to claim that one could tether him with invisible ropes.

Particularly, whether it was her magical power or that peculiar sense of oppression radiating from her, the lack of emotion in her demeanor instilled a primal fear within him that was absolutely terrifying.

“Just a moment ago, you seemed quite confident. Where did that bravado go?”

“……”

Ariel approached with a mocking smile, openly provoking him, but Shepard remained silent.

No, to be precise, he couldn’t respond.

Even if he tried to part his lips, they sealed tight as if they were someone else’s, leaving him unable to move even a muscle.

‘Is this the effect of her magic?’

It was likely that sufficiently high-level mages could utilize such spells.

However, what was truly eerie was that she achieved this degree of restraint without even using any spell, only through the innate magical power she possessed.

Even legendary beasts rarely exhibited such phenomena.

This left him pondering whether the terrifying traits of this lineage stemmed purely from having such exceptional talent or if this woman specifically was indeed extraordinary within that bloodline.

Shepard, swallowing hard, finally managed to lift his gaze to meet Ariel’s.

“Will you obediently reveal your patron and die beautifully? Or will you choose the thorny path instead?”

“…It sounds almost too easy to kill me, doesn’t it? I suspect it’ll be rather difficult.”

Thanks to Ariel loosening her grip of magical restraint, Shepard shot back with an attitude that suggested he wouldn’t go down without a fight.

It was easy to see why he felt this way; despite the fact that his body, a creation from his master, wasn’t an immaculate masterpiece, it retained enough capability to regenerate from ordinary injuries.

He acknowledged that she was indeed a highly skilled mage, but could she really bring about his death at her whim?

At the very least, he thought it wouldn’t be that simple.

“Why? Is it because of your oh-so-fancy body?”

“Think as you will. And here’s a piece of advice: I’m designed not to feel pain or emotions, so don’t bother trying to extract information through torture.”

His master was incredibly thorough in such matters.

He had enhanced his body with magical tricks to erase any remnants of himself to the greatest extent.

As such, he had bewitched all of those he deemed true confidants in this way.

Twist.

At his words, Ariel’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

Interpreting this as a sign of her distress, Shepard smiled internally, feeling victorious, and wore a face that indicated he had seen this coming.

“What’s wrong? Are you disappointed that you can’t extract any information?”

“……”

When Ariel suddenly fell silent, Shepard, with a sense of bravado, pressed on further.

All he could do now was to bathe in the satisfaction of being trampled upon and stomped by her.

He would smirk at Ariel for crushing him, reveling in more information than he could possibly provide.

After all, with Kelrag over there and considering the information they possessed regarding a potential alliance with the Robeheim Family for some reason, they had the upper hand in information anyhow.

“Ed, take these two back.”

Meanwhile, Ariel, who had just opened her mouth late into the conversation, suddenly tossed a small red gem fragment towards him and turned around.

The ensuing dialogue might have been of little concern to Edgar, but at least she didn’t want it to reach Sonia’s ears.

She didn’t wish to leave the impression of being a fearful person while also terrifying such an innocent child.

“……Okay. What about dinner?”

“Just tell them to prepare something adequately. I’ll be back soon anyway.”

Edgar would have loved to stay, but for now, checking on the terrified Sonia and the unconscious Kelrag was priority.

With that, as Ariel dropped the gem she had given him, a red magic circle enclosed the three.

The scattering light coalesced into the magic circle, gradually fading as they vanished from sight.

Seeing this, Ariel shifted her gaze back to Shepard.

As she met his defiant eyes, glaring at her, he felt the remnants of the previous Ariel Robeheim had completely vanished.

“You seem to be under an illusion; that body your master crafted for you holds no significance to me.”

“…What do you mean?”

To Shepard, Albrecht was a being akin to an omnipotent god.

To say that the body he created meant nothing was audacious, and it made him question whether she was just blustering, no matter how skilled a high-level mage she was.

‘She doesn’t strike me as someone who would boast, though.’

Confused, Shepard waited for her explanation while keeping his eyes locked on Ariel, who suddenly pointed toward the castle.

“There’s a mage in our family named Minette. Are you acquainted with her?”

“Minette… you mean that Minette, known as the sage of the Mage Tower?”

Recalling a name that briefly flickered in his mind, Shepard asked, and Ariel grinned ominously.

Her smile felt strangely bright against the serious atmosphere hanging over them.

“Right! I hear that the sages of the Mage Tower each had their own area of expertise, yes?”

“…I vaguely recall hearing that.”

The sages of the Mage Tower were proficient in various schools of magic, each excelling in different areas.

For instance, some were adept in alchemy, while others were experts in destructive magic and the like.

“So, do you know what Minette’s specialty was?”

“Why would I know that?”

As Ariel posed her question like a game of twenty questions, Shepard turned away in a scoff.

He didn’t understand why she was asking such questions; quite frankly, he wasn’t interested either.

‘Still, I’ll take this as a moment to stall.’

It turned out to be a convenient way to buy time for using the escape magic circle he’d arranged outside.

Ariel didn’t seem to have caught on yet, so if he could just successfully activate his magical power, perhaps he could turn the tables on this oppressive woman.

“Her specialty was curses.”

“…Curses.”

Thus, when Ariel revealed the answer, Shepard responded nonchalantly, feigning apathy.

He was eager to see what reaction she would have if his new form vanished, but that pleasure could be saved for later.

“I once asked Minette out of curiosity. For instance, if someone didn’t feel pain, how would they extract information through torture?”

“…Was there even a topic of conversation?”

“She did say, however, that beings like you, with bodies similar to this one, don’t precisely not feel pain.”

That was the truth.

To be accurate, while the body could feel pain, certain specialized magic barriers prevented those sensations from reaching the brain.

“And apparently, among her curses, there’s something like this? For example…”

“What… ugh!?”

As Ariel’s hand reached out and tapped his shoulder, Shepard’s expression crushed and contorted in pain all at once.

Suddenly, an excruciating, burning pain surged through his mind, causing his body to fall over.

This was likely the first time such an event had ever happened in his life.

“How curious; you’ve never felt pain before, yet it seems you’re unexpectedly weak to it. Fascinating.”

As Ariel chuckled at Shepard, who was now screaming in pain, she lightly tapped his shoulder again, and the agony that felt like it was ripping him apart melted away like snow.

“Why? Did you think I’d get my hands dirty with some crude instruments for torture?”

Ariel firmly declared that she wouldn’t sully her hands with such means ever since that day.

The only people her hands were meant to touch were those dear to her, and she couldn’t touch them with hands stained by filth.

Instead, delivering Shepard to Minette would allow her to gather information effortlessly.

It was a remarkably clean and efficient approach.

Meanwhile, whether or not the lingering pain remained, Shepard curled up uncomfortably.

Continuing to endure the discomfort that was akin to having his bones plucked out, Ariel laughed mockingly while snapping her fingers so sharply it could be heard.

“!?”

In that moment, Shepard felt something snap away in his mind, and his eyes widened.

The connection to the escape route he had maintained until now had disappeared.

This meant he had lost his only escape route.

‘Did she already know?’

He never thought it would come to this.

He had initially assumed she was merely a slightly more formidable and domineering woman, but he never expected her to see through all his plans.

“If you hadn’t wasted words talking about killing that girl, I might have let you leave peacefully. But you can blame your loose lips for this.”

Once again, as Ariel snapped her fingers, chains created by the magic circle erupted from underneath Shepard’s feet and bound him tightly.

In that moment, determination ignited in Shepard’s eyes.

While she wasn’t aware, it was an unyielding resolve that fueled him.

“Minette will be thrilled. After all, it’s difficult to experiment with curses on normal people.”

An indestructible body.

Could there be a more suitable test subject for curses than this?

She had already been feeling sorry for causing Minette troubles lately, so this felt like a stroke of luck, making Ariel smile.

Clank.

“Take him away. We’ll fix the others here.”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness!”

After issuing her command to the soldiers who rushed to her aid, Ariel brushed off her hands lightly and proceeded towards the castle.

Or rather, she intended to.

Had it not been for the mysterious explosion that occurred right after.

Boom—!

With a resounding roar, the chains binding Shepard shattered into pieces and soared into the sky, and the new models of the soldiers standing on either side to apprehend him were swallowed and lost in the storm as well.

“Your Highness! Are you unharmed?”

“I’ll be fine; just check on the others first!”

In the midst of the tempest, a soldier hurriedly rushed to assess Ariel’s state, but she managed to endure the shock with her magical barrier and shouted that she was fine.

As she scanned the area for any traces of Shepard, no suitable signs remained.

While the explosion hadn’t been massive, it was enough to take out at least one or two people.

If they managed to emerge from such an explosion while retaining their original forms, then they were no longer human but rather monstrosities.

‘By now, I wonder if they truly thought they’d obliterate him along with the explosion.’

It was unclear whether it was the doing of whoever was behind this or Shepard’s own decision, but it was undeniably a brutal contingency plan.

If it was indeed intended to leave no evidence, then it could be deemed a resounding success.

“I apologize, Your Highness! It was our folly to let our guard down…”

“No, it’s not your fault.”

While a soldier knelt, unable to bear meeting her eyes, he blamed himself for the oversight, but Ariel remained nonchalant, gazing impassively towards the outside of the castle.

Despite having taken precautionary measures, the sting of missing this opportunity still hurt somewhat.

She had wanted to double the price for the terror Sonia experienced.

‘Still, my purpose has been achieved.’

Even if she would have to delay the gift she intended for her struggling subordinates, she might still be able to bring good news.

With this in mind, Ariel approached the injured soldiers to tend to them.

Despite her appearances, she was no woman easily duped by just one or two tricks.