Chapter 188 – Shaking Hearts
#188.
When I opened the door on the top floor of Lucipheon Headquarters and entered, I saw Rugiena.
She said, pointing familiarly across from her.
“Come on. Long time no see. I heard there was a welcome ceremony for the Knights of Light a while ago.”
“Yes, I’m on my way back from looking around a while ago.”
“… Okay. Hirencia Chevrans was the vice-captain there.”
It wasn’t hard to know something like that when it came to Louisiana’s intelligence. Still, what does the way of speaking that insists on an answer reveal?
Gaon answered without hesitation and sat down.
“Yes. It was quite worth seeing.”
“There is a saying that I reached the 9th star after gaining enlightenment from the fight against the frost trolls this time. Do you know?”
“… Yes, it was noisy.”
“It would be worthwhile to teach.”
“…”
Gaon was uncomfortable with Rougeena constantly making her references to Hirencia.
As they remained silent without saying anything, the atmosphere between the two started to get a little heavy. Rougie I flinched at her, then let out a long puff of smoke from her cigarette and changed the subject.
“And congratulations to Priscilla Barrymore for safely giving birth. She said it over the phone, but it’s different from doing it in person.”
“Thank you. Rather, let’s get to the point. Why did you call me?”
“Ah, there are people who have been trying to contact you steadily since about a month ago.”
“… You mean me?”
It’s unlikely that Rougiena just passed on information about herself to them, which means that her opponents would be able to notice his presence even if they didn’t bother borrowing her hand.
There are not many such people in the Empire.
As expected, the characters that came out of Rougiena’s mouth were unusual people.
“The 1st and 2nd princes. It seems that he found out through an intelligence agency affiliated with it. I want to meet you, what do you think?”
1st Prince and 2nd Prince. The moment you meet either side, regardless of his will, your future path will be decided.
It was unpleasant indeed, but it was still not enough Gaon to reject the bloodlines of the Pentra Empire’s imperial family, which ruled one-seventh of this gigantic Union.
Of course, you don’t have to choose right now.
“I put it on hold for now. Wouldn’t it be better to choose slowly? Which side is Lucipheon betting on?”
“… Neither. I can’t tell you in detail, but I’m in a state where I can’t choose.”
“Okay.”
Most likely, the circumstances were about a deal with the current emperor.
Perhaps there was talk of maintaining security, so it’s not good to dig out by force.
It is difficult to recklessly bring up stories about the imperial family. If you do it wrong, you can be accused of treason, so you have to be careful.
Gaon opened his mouth thinking that he should take care of it as soon as he came to see the cigarette smoke continuously blowing out.
“Lugiana, I have something to tell you.”
“What to say? What?”
“We plan to do another Giyeon sale in April. Of course, this time is a little different than before.”
“What if it was different?”
The atmosphere, which had been heavy just a few seconds ago, was nowhere to be found, and the two talked calmly.
“In the future, there is a person who will become famous with the nickname of a Fallen Knight. He is possessed by a succubus and causes great damage to the Union. We have to stop this.”
“How? Are you going to kill the succubus?”
“No. I don’t know where the succubus is. So, of course, you have to use your hand on the other side.”
“I’m sure you’re not trying to kill me, and you’re saying it because there’s some reason?”
“Yes, excuse me for a moment.”
Gaon got up from the sofa, headed to the map of the empire on one side, pointed to the mountain range in the southeast direction, and continued talking.
“There is a temple that served the god of love here, slightly east of the southern city. I intend to bring something called a love potion from here.”
“A love potion? Could it be that the moment you drink, you fall in love with the first person you see?”
While I laughed at Lugie as if she was dumbfounded, she let out a strange look that she really wanted.
She wondered if the queen of the underworld was coveting something like this, but she didn’t know just in case.
Will there be a man who has a crush on him?
‘Isn’t that so?’
Lugiena Calliope is a woman who is shy and unable to confess to the man she likes.
Gaon shook his head and said.
“No. That’s not it. A love potion, when a woman drinks it, becomes very beautiful and never ages for the rest of her life.”
“That’s it… ?”
“Of course not. Even if a man drank, it is similar, but the difference is that the gender is completely changed to a woman. In addition, it has magical power enhancement and other effects.”
So, it means something that turns into a ts pretty girl when a man drinks it.
No matter how much she was, this effect was unimaginable. She had been as hard as a stone statue that would not fade for a thousand years, and then carefully opened her mouth.
“… For a moment. So you’re going to feed it to a fallen knight and turn it into a woman? So that I don’t fall for the succubus’ temptation in the first place?”
“Yes, that’s right. In this way, future threats can be successfully prevented without major damage or variables. Even the love potion, as its name suggests, completely changes your sexual orientation. Even if you are a man, if you turn into a woman, you will fall in love with men.”
“… I’ve been thinking about you since the first time I met you, and you’re pretty crazy.”
Even if I thought about it myself, this was a way that I couldn’t come up with with a normal way of thinking.
However, it was not the time to choose the means to prevent the destruction of the world. Even this is a method where no victims come out except for the fallen knights.
From his point of view, he decided that it would be better to live like this rather than being chased by the whole world and finally being subjugated.
“Anyway, since the temple will be created in April, I would like you to figure out the location of the fallen knights by then.”
“Yeah, that’s fine, no problem. Do you need any help in attacking the temple?”
“Yes, it is not that difficult.”
The problem with this plan was to feed the fallen knight the love potion, but there was no particular problem with the temple.
The only thing that bothered me was the right person, so I didn’t have to worry too much.
Rujie hesitated for a moment after hearing Gaon’s confident answer, but she noticed through the clock that lunchtime was approaching and glanced up.
“If it’s okay, that’s fine. So now that we’re done talking, are you going back right away?”
“No, I have a place to stop by.”
Although she looked at it, I thought she would go back like this and enjoy a sweet lunch with her lovers, but when I heard a surprisingly negative answer, I was surprised and questioned.
“Location? Where?”
“Yes? Why is that…”
“… I’m just curious. It must be a place where it is difficult to say where it is, right?”
Realizing that she had shown an uncharacteristically slightly frivolous appearance, Roujiena felt a little ashamed of her, and she replied bluntly.
Gaon tilted her head, wondering why this woman was like this, then pointed at the tall tower seen through the window.
“There is something to see in the Gray Mage Tower.”
“A gray mage tower? Come to think of it, I met the apprentice of Reinkel Heinrich, the sub-tall owner, right? Could it be that she is going to ask that woman to help her attack the temple?”
“Yes, there is a divine magic spread out there. Since it is a welcome class, I would like to ask for help.”
“Hoo… ? There are so many women I know. Is she that woman, or is she going to be of great help in the future?”
“You’re right. After 10 years of coming to Union, I will reach the same level as you. It’s faster now, so maybe in five years.”
Another woman’s mention. Even the words of reaching the same level as you in five years strangely touched Louisiana’s pride.
However, if she got angry again, she thought it would only hurt Gaon’s feelings for no reason, so she couldn’t say anything and sank inside.
As she closed her mouth, Gaon stood up from her seat.
“Then I will go. See you next time.”
Gaon greeted Louisiana and left her office.
“Chit!”
Roujiena waited until Gaon had completely left the headquarters before throwing her cigarette roughly into the ashtray.
She never thought that this she was the queen of the underworld and that she would notice a mere man.
Angry. I’m angry, but it’s a bigger problem that it doesn’t go to Gaon.
‘Should I have learned magic too?’
If he did, he would have been able to see Gaon clinging to him. It seemed that it wasn’t Gaon who was crazy about even having such silly thoughts, but she, Rougiena Calliope herself.
“It’s annoying.”
While muttering so much, Louisiana’s hands were busy moving.
Annoyance is annoyance, and first of all, I had to find the corrupt knight Gaon said.
***
“Good. No problem.”
Jae-hee looked at her in the mirror to see if there were any ugly parts in her from head to toe, then grabbed her pounding chest and approached her waiting room.
The automatic door created by her magic opened by itself when it sensed her magical power.
When I went inside and looked at the sofa, I saw Gaon.
“Jaehee, you’re here. Long time no see.”
“Yes, Gaon. I was a little surprised. I didn’t expect her to come alone.”
“Isn’t there something you said last time? I am here to help.”
Gaon talks about whether he cares about eavesdropping magic or something. Jaehee smiled at her and looked around her.
“Don’t worry too much, the eavesdropping magic isn’t installed. Even if I look like this, I’m the immediate disciple of the sub-top lord? I know what will happen if I get caught eavesdropping on my conversation, but why would that be?”
“Still, don’t you know? There may be people who are jealous of Jaehee.”
“That’s right. Wait a minute.”
People tend to feel two emotions when they see someone who easily reaches what they cannot reach.
One is longing. The other one is jealous.
Even within the Magic Tower, there were people who were jealous of Jaehee even though they couldn’t express it openly, and the possibility that such people installed eavesdropping magic cannot be ruled out.
Jae-hee infused her magical energy into her bracelet, which her master had made for her, and opened a barrier to block her.
Translucent, silver-gray magic spread in the form of a dome and formed a certain space.
“It’s done. You can speak comfortably.”
“All right. Then, I will explain why we must prevent destruction first.”
Since then, Gaon has compressed the life of the first and second episodes as much as possible, but released them in detail without missing any parts.
Jaehee’s genius brain piles up all the information and stores it in one corner.
The explanation lasted for 30 minutes, ending with a fight with the Dimension Eater.
“That’s how it happened. It takes a lot of people to kill him safely. So I am doing a job of attacking ancient ruins in various parts of the empire and distributing artifacts from them to people.”
“… I see. A lot has happened. Thanks for your efforts.”
“It was nothing. Anyway, so there will be a temple around April, and I hope you help me to attack that place. There is a divine magic spread, but it is an illusion type.”
Divine power can also be seen as a type of mana with the will of God added to it.
As such, even if there are some differences, if you are a welcome wizard, you should be able to grasp the weakness of that divine magic. With that in mind, Jaehee is the right person for this job.
After thinking about it for a while, Jaehee asked for a detailed schedule.
“But when exactly is it in April?”
“I will go right in early April. No matter how long the attack is, it won’t exceed 3 days, so don’t worry too much.”
“Then let me help you. Should you take good care of me instead?”
Jaehee used a playful tone of voice to force her trembling feelings away just by looking at her and winked.
“Of course. I will risk my life to protect it.”
“Phi—I heard that if Cho-rin and Ha-yeon were in danger anyway, I wouldn’t even look at them.”
“… Sorry about that But I will take precedence over my life.”
It means putting the other two before yourself. Depending on the person, he might get angry, but Jaehee thought it was natural.
So, I was a little envious.
‘They really value them both.’
How much love must she have to put Jae-hee above her own life, and to put her two lovers above Jae-hee.
It was such a deep, passionate feeling that she wondered if she could ever feel it in her entire life.
“Well, I can’t help it. Because the two of you will be more important than me. If you are dissatisfied, you should date Mr. Gaon, right? Ahaha…”
“Thank you for your understanding. Don’t worry, nothing dangerous will happen.”
“Of course it should. Then I’ll go first. I have important research.”
“Okay, see you next time.”
This is a lie. It is true that there is research itself, but it was just a personal exploration of magic, and it was not restricted by time.
This means that it is a study that can be resumed at any time, even if it is not now.
However, Jaehee felt burdened by constantly facing Gaon. The agitation felt every time our eyes met was fatal for a wizard who had to value rationality.
She briefly greeted her, then left her reception room and returned to her private study.
This place, lined with her various magic tools, is her only space.
It’s a place that usually felt cozy and safe, but now it looked particularly empty.
Gaon’s face is still in my head.
No matter how hard she tried to erase it, she intuited the image that could not be erased.
“Chorin-san, I… What should I do?”
That in the not-too-distant future, you might have to commit an unforgivable sin against your friend.
