Chapter 36.
I jumped off the roof and onto the terrace. Upon landing, I stared at the third imperial princess who held the access cord. She flinched and turned around like she was surprised at the sudden sound I made while landing.
Huh? This is a face I’ve seen before somewhere. Where did I see it?
"Hello, Miss. Nice to see you again."
Although I couldn’t remember, I smiled and greeted her. It wasn’t really important where I saw her face for my goal was to take the access cord after making her fall asleep then head to the emperor’s office. So, I cast a sleeping spell on her, then snapped my finger to see if the spell worked.
Tak!
The third imperial princess’s attention seemed to focus on me at the loud sound. She then bowed slightly as if she were a fox character that you could meet at some mid-lane. [1]
"Oh, yes, hello, Mr. Lupin."
What? How did she resolve my magic? She should have collapsed and fallen down unless she had some magic resistance. Did she have artifacts that could resist magic? No, I would have recognized it at a glance if there was such a thing on her.
The magic items the princess carried with her were the access cord bracelet on her right hand, a magic necklace that protects her from fatigue, a ring that energizes her, a headdress that protects against UV rays, and a bracelet with defense magic on her left hand.
So how did she resist my magic?
I once again cast a sleeping spell, but it still didn’t work for the third princess.
I see.
She was an anti-magician, the so-called magician’s nemesis. She possessed a legendary body that had strong magic resistance and such an occurrence would only appear in one out of 10 million people. I’d never thought I’d see it with my own eyes. I’d read in a book that if an anti-magician became a warrior, then he would become a magician’s nightmare.
I decided to put aside my interest in the magical resistance of the princess for now. To check the access cord with my own two eyes, I gently grabbed the princess’s right hand which was covered with a stole, and kissed the back of her hand.
It was definitely the access cord!
I watched the third princess calmly. I had thought that I had seen her face somewhere. This was definitely the girl I met when I first set foot into the imperial palace.
"It’s nice to see you again. Ah... Miss Aria?"
I almost called her Arelia but checked myself at the last moment. The third princess had definitely introduced herself as Aria back then.
Did she change her name to Aria because her name was Arelia?
It was definitely dangerous to tell an unknown person her true name when she was an imperial princess. She was quite a wise girl.
"It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?
I decided to change the subject for now. Then, I slightly tugged at her right hand and guided her to the railing. My intention was to block any path of retreat and also let her know that she was now in the grip of my hands. By doing this, the third princess would recognize her current predicament and not make any rash decisions such as screaming.
"Yes, it is."
The third imperial princess said so and smiled.
Was this confidence that she could not be harmed inside the imperial palace?
However, her slightly flushed face suggested that she was nervous within. An ordinary person could definitely not survive after harming the princess. Even touching an imperial princess could be considered treason that could result in the extermination of the entire family. Thus, her confidence that no one could harm her allowed her to smile and stand confidently in front of this unknown man.
But her expression suddenly darkened for a moment. It was understandable since I was skilled enough to enter the palace unnoticed and there was no one nearby.
Her scream would alert the guards, but then how would I react?
Well, I would just run away but it was unknown if the princess thought the same way. Perhaps she was also worried about the soldiers and servants being in harm’s way in the process.
"Are you worried?" I inquired.
She looked at me with surprised eyes. I reckon my assumption was right.
"Don’t worry. No one’s going to be harmed."
The third imperial princess asked back as if she was distrustful at what I said.
"Absolutely... nobody?"
Her expression gradually became darker and darker. She didn’t seem to believe me.
"You must have a lot of worries."
I was very confident of being able to run away quietly. But the princess shook her head and looked down at the imperial palace.
"This palace is a very large cage. It’s too big to run away~”
Was she implying that I couldn’t escape?
The third imperial princess seemed very confident about the security of the palace. She seemed to think that I’d be caught eventually.
"Is that so?"
I made a little mischievous smile.
"Shall we see if we can run away?"
I gently grabbed the third princess’ waist with one hand and held her hand with the other. Then, I cast a floating spell. As an anti-magician, it took an exponential amount of magic power to lift her up. But it was still easier than using magic inside Olympus. Rather, it was still more difficult to use magic power in my hometown even though magic power had been stabilized there.
"Slowly, you just have to walk step by step."
I instructed her while supporting her body so that she would not panic. I raised her body higher when she took a step. I did not forget to cloak us with invisibility at the same time.
The night sky parted as we rose higher into the sky.
I asked while being unable to hold back my smile, "What do you think? Still think you can’t get away?"
The third imperial princess trembled as if she were scared.
"No?"
I could feel the temperature dropping as we rose up higher into the sky. I warmed the surroundings with magic.
By the way, you’re trembling like crazy right now. It’s not like you’re a salmon or something.
I poured in magic power and barely managed to put the princess to sleep. She slowly drifted into slumber as expected of an anti-magician. Normally, they would act as if they were given an anesthetic and make a sound before falling asleep, but the princess fell asleep naturally without making such noise.
I returned to the terrace and pulled out the access cord from the third imperial princess’s right hand. The bracelet contained a fairly complicated magic. It was too complicated to duplicate it right away, so I laid her on the terrace against the railing, set the surrounding temperature at 25 degrees celsius, and cast perception disruption magic. Then, I took out a blanket from the pocket space, covered her, and finally put up a barrier. She probably wouldn’t catch a cold or anything with all this.
"I’ll just borrow it for a moment," I said to the sleeping princess and jumped back onto the roof.
I looked at the access cord as I headed deeper into the palace. This was more valuable than I thought. It had the ability to remove most of the restrictions placed by the palace’s vast magic circle. If I had made one without looking at this first, I could have only created something on a scale that enveloped the whole body but with barely the same ability as this bracelet.
But that didn’t mean that the person who created it was a better magician than me. The bracelet’s magic was from before the magic circle corresponding to the sword line turned very ferocious, and it preserved the original form of the magic circle which was a great archaeological feat. Furthermore, if a magician of my level had the information contained in this bracelet, he could erase this grotesque magic circle that encompassed the entire palace without any sound or notice.
However, the magic circle was too much of a hodgepodge for even myself to control it as I wished. Of course, it could be possible for the Butterfly Tribe which was full of magicians better than me. If the bracelet fell into the hands of the anti-imperial forces, they would be able to do away with the protective magic circle in an instant and use that gap to attack the palace. It was a dangerous item. However, I doubt there exist any forces strong enough to attack the palace, but if there were a crazy enough force to do such a thing, they would likely have at least one magician at my level.
Looking at the map I obtained from hacking the magic circle, I crossed the sword line and headed straight to the emperor’s office. It was nice to have a map. After sneaking past the guards, I entered the emperor’s office and searched his desk. Fortunately, probably because it was used frequently, the sealing stamp was in a desk drawer that was easy to take from. Just in case, I took out the fairy powder and put it on the sealing wax that was with the sealing stamp.
Then, a subtle glow emerged from the sealing wax.
Looking at the emperor’s stamp, there was a trigger pattern underneath the imperial pattern. I put the sealing wax containing the fairy powder on a spoon, the one I took from the treasury office, and made a candle-sized fire to melt the sealing wax. Then, I took out the envelope containing the civil service examination papers from my pocket space and sealed it again.
"Hoooo-!"
I’m finally relieved. Now, after I go back past the sword line, return the bracelet to the third imperial princess, and bring the civil service examination papers to the treasury office building, it would be over.
I quietly slipped out of the emperor’s office.
-o-
♪ Ding, ding, ding!
Good morning!
Bba-bba-bba-bba-!
Bba-bba bba-bba-bba-!
Good morning!
Bba-bba-bba-bba-bba-!
Bba-bba-bba-bba-!
Good morning!
Oh, beautiful day! ♪
Arelia woke up due to a strange noise.
What is this irritating song?
She kicked the blanket in annoyance.
"So noisy!"
Bajik!
Something hard went flying along with the blanket and the sound of it breaking could be heard at the same time as the loud alarm disappeared.
By the way, where is this?
Arelia looked around in a half-asleep daze.
Terrace? Why was I sleeping here?
Arelia wondered before she suddenly remembered the half-white masked man from last night.
That’s right, I met him again when I went to the terrace in frustration.
Arelia somehow felt happy. She laughed at the fact that he and she flew in the night sky.
But anyway, what is this blanket and why am I sleeping here and not in my room?
Arelia realized that her memory was cut off starting from when they were dancing in the sky.
Did this mean that I fell asleep while dancing in the sky?!
Arelia was so embarrassed that she wrapped herself in the blanket and screamed.
"Kyaakk! What am I going to do!"
Didn’t this mean that she showed her slumbering self?
"I can’t get married now!"
Her cheeks flushed as she yelled.
The blanket left by Lupin was a little rough and felt wild. She held the cheap blanket purchased at Granwell dearly in her arms. Then, a hard object fell from in between the blanket. It looked like a cracked case that was half broken.
Come to think of it, it was something that got kicked along with the blanket.
When Arelia opened the case she had kicked, there was a single card and a necklace made with purple jewels.
I am returning the necklace made of a thousand-year amethyst to the owner. Flying out of the huge cage...
-Lupin
The necklace was definitely the one that Marquis Margaret had offered to give as a present to Arelia. As the thousand-year amethyst was not a common gem, she was convinced.
Then had the half-white masked man knew her identity the whole time? Despite that, he cheered for her to get out of the cage?
She was moved by the necklace, her eyes became red. It was a little early, but she got such a big present. It was not the necklace. She was given the courage to move forward. Arelia went to her room wearing the necklace. She thought to herself amongst the maids who were bustling around after discovering her...
I will tell Father at breakfast in the morning. That I’m going to enter the magic school that General William recommended.
The princess’s depression had vanished before she knew it. Arelia’s heart was full of confidence to move forward.
1. Ahri from League of Legends.
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