Chapter 79 – #18_Self-Contradiction(4)
#77
1.
My mind grew more and more complicated.
Amelia knew everything.
Even the last resort for escaping the life of a slave had been exposed.
In this situation, what was Amelia’s true intention in asking me to solve a magic problem?
“…I understand.”
However, Amelia hated repeating herself two or three times.
Before figuring out what was going on, it was also important not to upset her.
Therefore, Siwoo’s eyes reflexively scanned the problem.
A single magic circle, without even being told exactly what to solve.
Numerous straight lines and curves, and 12 runic characters, chaotically embroidered on white paper.
He transferred the magic circle, each line drawn with meticulous calculation and design, into his head.
If Siwoo had one outstanding ability, it was the ability to concentrate regardless of the situation.
Siwoo’s heart, which had been pounding, was also buried in a deep-sea-like silence at the same time as he concentrated.
As he had seen in Ain, the principles and manifestation of magic circles take place in a three-dimensional stage.
A magic circle is merely a two-dimensional representation of three-dimensional magic, made for the caster to record or mark easily.
It was like abstracting the natural phenomenon of ‘sound,’ which is difficult for humans to record, to create ‘sheet music’ on a staff.
Therefore, Siwoo’s thoughts transformed the magic circle drawn on the paper into a three-dimensional pop-up book.
What he saw was no longer a magic circle drawn on a flat piece of paper.
It was a three-dimensional structure, like a precise mechanical device, slowly rotating in the air, a regular dodecahedron, with a circumscribed sphere touching all the vertices on the outside of the dodecahedron.
If he had predicted the shape of the magic circle, the next step was its purpose.
Based on the flow of mana and the runic characters, he reverse-deduced how this magic circle would affect reality.
“It’s a mana transmission magic formula. The maximum transmission capacity is the volume of the inscribed sphere.”
Siwoo asked, watching Amelia’s reaction, in a calm and low voice.
He was trying his best not to lose his reason.
He still didn’t know what Amelia wanted.
“Is that all?”
No.
The formula Amelia had given him was not perfect.
There were intentionally omitted parts.
“As it is, the mana leakage during transmission is too severe. It won’t work properly even if it goes 50 meters, no, 30 meters.”
He picked up a pen and wrote characters in three places.
“If you do this, you can transmit it completely without transmission loss for at least 100 meters.”
Amelia stared at the formula Siwoo had solved for a while.
Without any particular reaction, she handed him another problem.
“Try solving this one too.”
2.
A magic test that suddenly started.
Amelia endlessly threw problems she had made herself at Siwoo.
Amelia, who had been pretending to be calm while observing the situation, was also secretly surprised.
In fact, in terms of difficulty, the problems were not that difficult yet.
They were at a level that the twins could solve in a day.
However, the speed at which Siwoo was solving the problems was clearly unusual.
He would just glance at them a few times, pick up a pen, and write down his own answers.
There are no fixed answers in magic.
Even when creating the same magic, thousands of different answers can come out.
It was a subjective test where the important thing was how efficient and appropriate the answer was.
However, Siwoo’s answers were quite accurate and reasonable, even considering Amelia’s high grading standards.
It was to the point that Amelia would have written a similar answer if she had been given the same amount of time.
Therefore, she could be sure.
Siwoo had not received help from anyone, nor had he completed self-magnetism magic by a mere coincidence of coincidences.
Everything was his skill.
Finally, all the problems that Amelia had piled up were exhausted.
Only about three hours had passed.
“……..”
Amelia checked the last answer.
It was a problem where she showed only a part of a large-scale barrier formula and asked him to guess the overall structure.
The level of the problems had gradually increased, so this last problem was at a level that the twins would have to struggle to solve.
However, he had come up with a suitable answer in just 15 minutes.
The moment Siwoo handed the last test paper to Amelia, he felt a burning thirst.
It felt like he had swallowed a ball of fire.
Even the soft sofa felt like a bed of thorns right now.
Why was Amelia doing this?
If she had discovered the draft of the escape magic circle, she could just stop it.
She could confiscate the research documents and send him to the labor camp.
No matter how much he thought about it, there was too little information.
He couldn’t figure out what she wanted at all.
And when he came to his senses, her beautiful eyes were looking at Siwoo.
It was a gaze full of intimidation, so much so that he couldn’t believe she was the same dazed person from this morning.
“Amelia-nim.”
“Speak.”
“Actually, there’s something I haven’t told you yet. It’s a story related to Count Jemernai…”
Amelia said, avoiding his gaze as if she didn’t need to hear it, or as if she was pretending not to listen.
“I refused.”
“Yes?”
And then, as if she had made up her mind again, she glared at Siwoo and said.
It was more like she was glaring at him, a strong gaze that she was forcing herself to muster.
“This morning, Count Jemernai came to see me. I heard an offer to transfer the ownership of Siwoo, the assistant.”
“Are you saying you refused that offer…?”
“That’s right.”
Count Jemernai said that he would prepare a gift that Amelia would find satisfactory.
Considering the courtesy they had shown Siwoo in the carriage, she was not a witch who would just break her promise.
She had been offered a sufficient price, but she refused? Why on earth?
“…May I ask why?”
This time, it was Amelia’s turn to have a complicated state of mind.
She thought she had organized what she wanted to say while he was asleep, but when she was actually asked the question in person, she hesitated a little.
“Because I thought you could be a useful assistant.”
Like a child who gives a reasonable excuse to protect an object they don’t want to lose, Amelia said as if it was nothing.
That was the limit of the conclusion that Amelia could come to.
A useful assistant?
If she had refused for that reason, then perhaps discovering this draft was more important than meeting Jemernai.
Siwoo’s expression hardened.
Seeing that expression, Amelia added hastily.
It wasn’t that Amelia didn’t know that he wanted to leave Gehenna.
She could tell by the fact that he was conducting research independently and that even in this golden opportunity where he could receive anything, he had asked to return to the present world.
That’s why she added hastily, as if making an excuse.
It was to persuade him.
“Of course, I know what Siwoo, the assistant, wants.”
“……..”
“But that’s a request I can’t grant. Your magical talent is excellent. It’s unprecedented for a mere slave to have self-taught magic to this level.
I thought it was a waste to let such talent rot as a mere slave.”
Amelia took a deep breath.
She slowly recited the words she had prepared and memorized in advance.
“So, from now on, I will personally guide you in magic. You will now become a vassal of the Marigold family, not a slave.”
Siwoo felt a surge of anger.
Was she saying that since she was teaching a lowly slave magic and giving him status, he should give up everything and forget about it?
Amelia, as if she hadn’t noticed anything, continued to say what she had to say.
“Shin Siwoo. You are my property.”
Siwoo bowed his head deeply.
“I cannot tolerate you leaving my control and going outside on your own. Therefore, appropriate measures will be taken regarding unauthorized escape plans.”
With it impossible to go to the present world by borrowing Jemernai’s favor, the identity of the magic circle he had been researching had been identified.
Moreover, he had even heard her assert that she would make it impossible for him to go outside on his own.
It felt like everything that had been built up had collapsed.
Now, he couldn’t think of anything else.
“………”
Amelia glanced at Siwoo, who was not responding.
She felt anxious.
But his condition seemed very bad.
He didn’t say or do anything.
His eyes were empty, as if he was in a daze.
He was completely unresponsive.
“From now on, you will be provided with a good environment. You can get any experimental materials from the academy by using my name, and the same goes for experimental tools.
Meals, desserts, cigarettes, clothes, ask me for anything you want. If I judge that there is no problem, I will provide it.”
In Amelia’s opinion, these conditions were enough to persuade him.
There were fancy meals.
There were sweet desserts.
He could also escape the status of a slave.
She had prepared the cigarettes and clothes that he liked.
Moreover, even if he was a man, now that he had embarked on the path of magic, there was no way he would miss the golden opportunity to receive magic directly from a ‘Baron’.
The only thing that was restricted was a little freedom.
After hearing his answer, she was planning to talk about other things.
She was planning to properly apologize for the pain he had suffered due to her spite and provide compensation for it.
The gap in their perception of class.
The difference in their living environments.
And Amelia’s immature interpersonal skills.
These three things were already causing a fatal misalignment.
Amelia just hadn’t noticed it.
She was running on a lake covered with thin ice, believing it to be solid ground.
“Ha….”
Siwoo was laughing in vain.
It was an impious act that did not hide the displeasure and absurdity that came out like a breath.
Amelia raised one eyebrow as if she was puzzled.
“Shin Siwoo?”
Siwoo laughed.
He couldn’t bear it without laughing.
He felt like a fool for being so happy after being tormented like that, just because she had been nice to him for a few days.
“I really tried to endure it all, to let it go, but I can’t take it anymore.”
His five-year wish had gone down the drain.
Siwoo felt a flame burning in his chest at the sight of her blocking what he wanted and then giving him what he didn’t want as if she was doing him a favor.
A resentment and resentment that he could not bear.
“You’re a real bitch.”
A bitch?
Amelia, realizing that the target of that insolent word was herself, stopped dead in her tracks.
“Did I ask for something so great? Did I ask for my back pay at minimum wage? Did I ask you to grant my wish?”
“What… what are you saying right now…?”
“I was dragged here against my will and worked like a dog under you for five years. I have things I want to do outside. I have things I need to do, and I need to see my parents…! Even the damn Ministry of National Defense let me have leave, visits, and outings… You damn bitch!”
Amelia, who had jumped up from her seat, turned pale.
It was because she had never imagined that such words would come out of his mouth.
“Wh…what are you saying… Are you out of your mind…?”
Amelia, who was so flustered that her mind went blank, stammered, completely bewildered.
The realization that she had heard an unbearable insult slowly dawned on her, and just as she was about to feel anger,
She saw it.
Siwoo’s appearance, with tears streaming down his face.
His eyes, burning with a fierce hatred that was visible to the eye.
“Are you happy now that you’ve crushed even my last hope? I guess that’s why you tormented me so much, like you were going to eat me alive.”
He wasn’t yelling.
He wasn’t shouting.
However, the voice of deep-seated resentment that was concentrated within it made Amelia shrink.
“What do you want from me? An assistant? You can get that kind of thing from other witches. If you’re a witch of your caliber, there are plenty of witches who would ask you to take them on as researchers… Why are you doing this only to me?”
“Shin Siwoo, I know you’re agitated right now… so…”
“I told you to speak! What do you want from me that you’re tormenting me like this?”
Siwoo got up from his seat and walked towards Amelia as if he was cornering her.
A being that could be easily blown away with a single spell.
However, his fierce anger and rage, which she was seeing for the first time.
The unfamiliar gaze filled with contempt and scorn turned Amelia into a child who couldn’t do anything.
Without thinking of a plausible spell or word, she just slowly backed away from Siwoo.
“I’m sorry for hurting your petty pride five years ago, but if you’re going to keep me on the hook and torment me like this, can’t you just kill me instead?”
Amelia, who had been pushed to the door, could not back away any further.
A terrified, confused expression, as if she didn’t understand what was happening at all.
Amelia’s body was submerged under Siwoo’s shadow.
“Answer me!”
“Hic…!”
Finally, when Siwoo’s voice, which had shouted, hit her ears, Amelia hurriedly opened the door and ran out.
