OHNIR – Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Falling into the Trap
Without Kelusta’s disruptions, Wend was highly efficient. He estimated he could complete the potion by Friday, even finishing a few days ahead of the two-week schedule.
He sent Kelusta a letter every two days at most, granting her permission to come to the potion classroom and check on his progress. Faced with such a diligent and honest transaction partner, even the most demanding client couldn’t find fault. Kelusta could only tear up emotionally in front of the System, praising Wend as the worthy brother Gloria had raised by hand, the perfect tool man she had chosen from the start.
Although the System didn’t think it was a compliment, there was no need to anger its temporary host—who was practically ready to waltz around her dorm room—over such a small matter. So, with a heavy sense of guilt, it remained silent and did not speak up for the pitiful Wend.
Life as a hands-off manager passed quickly. Kelusta’s daily schedule consisted of attending classes, sleeping, forcing herself into Gloria’s line of sight, and occasionally finding time to raise her affection level with Musen.
Perhaps their previous confrontation about his “demon identity” had opened Musen’s eyes. In any case, his affection for Kelusta was now growing at a remarkable pace, reaching 75 points in just a few days. It finally gave Kelusta a taste of the treatment a protagonist in an otome game should receive.
“Musen really gets it,” Kelusta said, her eyes welling with tears. “So this is what it feels like to be the protagonist. I love it, I love it. When will Gloria give me a turn like this?”
The System replied gently, “Once your pity ploy succeeds… forget seventy affection points. Even if you asked for the stars in the sky, the all-powerful villainess BOSS would pluck them down for you.”
“…” The term “villainess BOSS” instantly extinguished Kelusta’s enthusiasm. Her expression turned blank as she threatened, “Sooner or later, I’m going to file a complaint against you.”
As the saying goes, unlucky in love, lucky in work. While Wend was toiling away making potions, Kelusta wasn’t entirely idle. At the very least, she had obtained a great deal of useful information from Musen about the Remnants of Divine Power—that is, magic.
It was the content from the royal library’s collection, which the black-haired boy had managed to get his hands on from the count’s second daughter.
“…What I just described are the attributes of natural magic,” Musen said, his throat a bit dry after talking for so long. He took a sip of juice from the table and summarized, “Wood, Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Ice. These are the seven great natural magics. Just as substances in nature have properties of generation and restraint, a water mage of equal strength holds a natural advantage over a fire mage. Conversely, earth magic can easily overcome water magic.”
“‘Of equal strength’—that’s the prerequisite,” Kelusta said, tapping the rim of her coffee cup. She yawned, feeling drowsy. “Like the incident at the tea party. When Miss Charles, who is much stronger than me, attacked, I could only stand there, powerless. But when I saved you in the garden, I could easily use my own magic to completely suppress that subpar earth mage…”
“Speaking of that noble tea party, I’ve heard a little about it,” Musen said, closing the book. He asked hesitantly, “How exactly did you… manage to escape Charles’s attack completely unscathed?”
His question instantly dispelled Kelusta’s sleepiness. While mentally scolding herself for her lack of caution, she calmly took a sip of coffee and said mysteriously, “Of course, it was a protective magic item Senior gave me. Otherwise, where would I get the courage to face that giant fireball? Do I look like the type to die for my principles?”
Passing the buck to Senior was the way to go. It served her right for pretending not to see her every day!
The earnest Musen looked at her for a couple of seconds and said sincerely, “No, you really don’t.”
Kelusta rolled her eyes at him, but inwardly, she sighed with a mix of satisfaction and melancholy.
This kid is so pure, so easy to fool. It’s actually making me feel a little guilty.
After that brief interlude, Musen reopened the book and continued, “Aside from these natural magics, there are two special types: Light and Dark, a pair of natural opposites.”
Here comes the important part.
Kelusta quietly sat up a little straighter, her ears perked for his next words.
“Let’s talk about Dark Magic first—what people today call the ‘First Magic.’”
The black-haired boy swirled the contents of his cup, his brow furrowing slightly. “Although Dark Magic isn’t completely extinct on the Nobili continent like Light Magic is… there are very few who possess it. For centuries, every recorded Dark mage has come from the Silentdis Ducal Family.”
Of course, she thought. They’re laborers for the Goddess of Deceit.
An image of Gloria in peasant clothes, diligently tilling a field, flashed through Kelusta’s mind. She shivered, turning green at her own fantasy, and quickly took a sip of coffee to calm her nerves.
Hmm, but if you think about it, the Goddess of Deceit really was a qualified exploiter. For hundreds of years, she used the power of a ducal family to search for the Holy Force Source. Even their reward was magical power stolen from the Goddess of Darkness. All she had to do was lie back, absorb their faith to sustain her soul, and wait to reap the benefits… That was enough.
How ironic. If Talebris had known back then that the Dark Mark, which she had intended to make Persedoro’s soul suffer for eternity, would be so cunningly exploited… she probably would have turned around and cried in her sister’s arms.
“Dark Magic possesses the properties of ‘Erosion’ and ‘Pollution.’ Among the nine types of magic, it is the only one with the ability to transform magical elements into solid matter, just like the chains that lady used to bind her enemy when we first met…”
“‘Dark mages are the most unpredictable, for you never know when the beast lurking in that unfathomable darkness will reveal its sharp claws and fangs.’”
Musen finished reading the last sentence from the book and concluded, “A rather terrifying assessment.”
Dark Magic was indeed that fearsome. If it weren’t, the first Silentdis would never have been able to transform from a vagrant into a noble duke.
“What about Light Magic?” Kelusta urged with interest, seeing that Musen had no intention of elaborating further on Dark Magic.
After all, it was her own magical potential, which would awaken one day. It was best to find out more about it beforehand.
Seeing her eagerness, Musen sighed but didn’t keep her in suspense. He got straight to the point. “Since Light Magic has long been extinct, the author couldn’t reach a definitive conclusion… I should tell you in advance, everything I’m about to say is based on inferences from legends of the divine era.”
“Go on,” Kelusta said demurely. “I’m just listening for fun anyway.”
“Light Magic should have two types of attributes,” Musen said. “First, according to legend, it was the Goddess of Light, Clara, who created the human race. Therefore, the author speculates that Light Magic should possess the attribute of ‘creating life.’ This also means that only Light mages can use healing magic to grant vitality to the injured.”
“Second, since Light Magic has been mentioned as the opposite of Dark Magic since ancient times, the author also reasonably guesses that Light Magic possesses the attribute of ‘Purification,’ which would be sufficient to dispel the black smoke used by Dark mages as a means of attack. In contrast, if Light mages, their natural enemy, hadn’t gone extinct… I think it’s unlikely Dark Magic would have been elevated to the unprecedented status of ‘First Magic.’”
Musen spoke calmly, spreading his hands in a concluding gesture. “These are all the speculations about Light Magic. They sound plausible, but they aren’t necessarily correct. Just take them with a grain of salt.”
“Right, just take them with a grain of salt.”
Kelusta echoed with a smile, but in her heart, she was silently applauding the book’s author in admiration.
Light Magic did indeed possess the abilities of “Healing” and “Purification,” and it was because of the latter that its users were called the natural enemies of Dark mages.
For this author to follow the clues and arrive at a guess that was eighty to ninety percent accurate was truly a mark of exceptional intelligence.
However… he was limited by the circumstances. As brilliant as he was, he still hadn’t deduced the most crucial ability of Light Magic.
In the original game’s “Magic Origin” true ending, Kelusta, upon her death, had sacrificed all her life force to leave behind a vast defensive magic for Seaside Town, one capable of withstanding any harm—
This type of magic was unanimously called “the Goddess’s Blessing” by the Light mages of a century ago.
After bidding farewell to Musen, Kelusta went to the potion classroom as usual. She lightened her steps, moved past the busy Wend, and tiptoed to the side of the boiling cauldron. She was pleased to see a pool of bubbling, indigo-blue potion.
In contrast to its homologous potion—the bright red Antipyretic Potion—a perfect Fake Illness Potion should be a flawless, translucent crystal blue. Judging by the current color and progress, the potion in the cauldron would likely be completed by this evening.
Kelusta turned around just as Wend was finishing a part of his work. She seized the opportunity to offer her sympathies. “You’ve worked so hard! The potion will be ready in a few more hours. I don’t know how to thank you, Mr. Silentdis.”
“…The formula is your thanks,” Wend said coolly. “Besides, my goal was always for you and Gloria to reconcile. As long as you succeed, my two weeks of hard work won’t have been in vain.”
“I will, I will,” Kelusta said with an appeasing smile. “By tomorrow at the latest, I’ll take the Fake Illness Potion. When the time comes, I hope you’ll remember to coordinate with me and ask Senior to come to my room personally.”
Wend gave a noncommittal grunt and went back to preparing for the final steps.
Although two weeks had passed, Kelusta felt that the time from afternoon to evening was the most unbearable. She paced around the classroom restlessly, one moment squatting in a corner looking worried, the next leaning against a storage cabinet sighing dramatically, managing to waste several more hours.
As she paced, time ticked by. The potion was half an hour from completion and was about to reach its most critical step—pouring a specific dose of Moonlight Vine juice into the cauldron.
The formula specifically noted that the amount of juice could not be a drop more or a drop less.
And the more delicate the operation, the less one could be disturbed. Wend, already agitated by Kelusta’s fidgeting, decisively looked up just before juicing the Moonlight Vine. He gave the brown-haired girl, who was letting out her one-hundred-and-second sigh at the cauldron, a cold command. “Stop sighing—get over here!”
He irritably reached for a small sugarcane press, but his raised arm accidentally knocked off a piece of slimy Moonlight Vine, which landed silently at the silver-haired boy’s feet.
Kelusta, having been called out, shut her mouth and guiltily walked toward him. Like Wend, she didn’t notice the vine lying on the floor.
“Is there something I can—ah!”
Her low-heeled leather shoe landed precisely on the poor Moonlight Vine. She instantly lost her footing and slid forward. Kelusta cried out as a sharp pain shot through her ankle. Before she could even look down, her body sank, and it looked like she was about to perform a split right in front of Wend—
I’m going to die, I’m going to die, my leg is going to break!
Just as Kelusta squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for an even more intense pain and already preparing herself for the humiliation of being carried to the medical room again, a pair of warm hands caught her by the waist. With the strength of a ballet dancer lifting his partner, they saved her two unlucky legs in the nick of time.
…Although her ankle still hurt a lot. It was probably sprained.
Kelusta cautiously opened one eye, her gaze immediately meeting Wend’s cool, disdainful one. Still shaken, she forgot to break free from his embrace and instead, with proper manners, thanked the helpful duke’s son.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Silentdis. That was so close. If it weren’t for…”
Before she could finish, a loud “bang” echoed beside them. The expressions on both Wend’s and Kelusta’s faces changed abruptly. They whipped their heads in unison toward the source of the sound.
The classroom door, which had been tightly shut, was now wide open. Reflected in the brown-haired girl’s wide golden eyes were two slender figures, standing side by side, silhouetted against the light from outside.
“…Oh my.”
One of the figures moved first. The princess with long golden hair raised a hand to her lips in feigned surprise, her violet eyes filled with astonishment. She subtly tugged on the sleeve of the silver-haired girl beside her, took two steps forward, and said hesitantly, “Master Wend… Miss Breviou? What are you two doing here?”
She frowned, her gaze sweeping over the two figures locked in a tight embrace not far away. Her tone was complex and suggestive. “…Recently, the Student Union received reports from some students about the unauthorized use of the potion classroom. Lady Gloria and I came to investigate before school let out—but seeing this, hmm, have we come at an inopportune time?”
Hearing that familiar name, Kelusta seemed to snap out of a daze. She shoved Wend away forcefully. He stumbled back two steps, frowned, and looked up at his sister’s icy expression, sighing inwardly.
…This is bad.
Gloria stared at them calmly, but her usually gentle and elegant face was now covered in a thick layer of frost. Her deep-sea eyes seemed to be gradually filling with black mist as they swept over the girl she liked most and the brother she loved most. After a two-second pause, she turned and walked away without a second thought.
“Senior—!”
Kelusta cried out anxiously. Gritting her teeth, she ignored her already swelling right foot and, enduring wave after wave of pain, wiped the fine sweat from her brow and ran after Gloria’s retreating figure.
Wend, following close behind her, brushed past Starangui. His eyes, so similar to his sister’s, fixed on her with a heavy gaze. He let out a cold sneer and then quickly chased after the two girls.
Starangui was left standing alone. She quietly watched the three of them disappear into the distance, a strange, twisted smile suddenly appearing on her lips. Then she turned and gracefully walked into the now-empty potion classroom.
She gazed at the still-boiling cauldron, picked up a long-handled ladle, and scooped some of the liquid out. She sniffed it for a moment before a look of understanding crossed her face. She turned and walked over to the Moonlight Vine that Wend hadn’t had time to press, and with practiced ease, she tossed the green stems into the sugarcane press.
In no time, the measuring cup, which Wend had already calibrated, was filled with pale green liquid. But Starangui, as if oblivious, continued with another container, juicing all the Moonlight Vine that had been set aside—far more than was needed.
After she was done, she walked cautiously to the supply cabinet, took out fresh Moonlight Vine to replace the excess amount she had used, and carefully restored the workstation to its original state.
Next, the golden-haired princess picked up the two full cups of Moonlight Vine liquid, walked to the cauldron with light steps, and, with a smile, tilted her wrist, pouring them in, bit by bit, cup by cup.
The liquid in the cauldron made a burdened gurgling sound. The serene-looking girl blinked her pale violet eyes. Gazing at the potion she had ruined, she lowered her voice in satisfaction and, like a snake flicking its venomous tongue, said softly and menacingly:
“Enjoy it… my dear Miss Breviou.”
—Almost no one knew that the second princess of the royal family, Her Highness Starangui, had already become an extraordinary potion master at such a young age.
Those potions that could rapidly enhance one’s magic were created by her own hands, after studying the royal family’s vast and extensive collection of books.
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