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Chapter 33
"I just stole the aura."
"What…? Is that even possible?"
"The security was weak. Necromantic magic is easy to steal if you find an opening."
I often define necromantic magic as a network of interconnected computers.
In fact, during a battle against a high-ranking necromancer in the Hall of Necromancy, the fight turned into a contest of who could breach the other’s security first.
No matter how many hundreds or thousands of undead one commands, they are useless if they can be stolen.
This kind of hacking and hijacking is only possible between necromantic magic users.
But aren’t necromancers, by nature, those who dominate the undead?
It’s a battle of control—how well one infiltrates and takes over.
In other words, it's a hacking duel.
And it doesn’t apply only to the undead.
The sa principle applies to curses.
There are various thods of hacking, but no one seed to have truly understood the intricate details that had been cented as conventional knowledge over ti.
“Wow, you're insane.”
A short exclamation escaped.
* * *
Several figures clad in dark robes gathered in an underground hideout.
“What happened?”
“The curse has been successfully applied. As expected, the artifact bestowed by our lord worked flawlessly.”
“The royal mages of Bata will likely attempt a purification spell, but they would never suspect that their magic is actually shortening King Oliad’s lifespan.”
Even dicine can beco poison, depending on how it’s used.
But a mishandled redy becos a deadly toxin.
This curse was a brilliant and well-crafted sche, even by necromancer standards.
“When King Oliad dies, the Bata royal family will be thrown into chaos. It’s only natural that many influential figures will vie for power and start a civil war.”
"You assassinated the king!"—that accusation would fly.
The nobles, already deeply divided, would seize the opportunity to strike down their rivals.
Moreover, the current king had no clear successor.
His son was too young, aning the princess would likely inherit the throne.
However, it was well known that she was too frail to rule effectively.
“If the princess takes the throne, everything will fall into our hands.”
“Kekeke…”
“Hehehe…”
They let out eerie chuckles, celebrating their impending victory.
Clang!!!
At that mont—
A man in a black robe burst into the room, visibly flustered.
“Sothing terrible has happened!”
“Stop causing a commotion. This is a day for celebration.”
“T-The curse…”
“What about it?”
“It has been undone.”
The room fell silent.
“…What?”
“This shouldn’t be possible.”
“Wait, hold on. What do you an?! That curse was flawless! If it were removed, the target should have died instantly!”
“I-I don’t know how… but suddenly, the curse was lifted… King Oliad is currently recovering.”
“No way! How could soone possibly break our lord’s curse?!”
The n slamd their fists against the table in frustration.
“Damn it!! Who dares to interfere!!!”
One of them raised his hand.
“There’s only one possible way to break the curse.”
The others nodded grimly.
“Necromantic magic.”
“But is there anyone that skilled?”
“There is a so-called genius—A 4th-circle necromancer, Goldsun Vider, son of the Vider Marquis.”
Their eyes burned with hatred.
“It’s him! He ruined our plan!”
“Damn it, if this gets out, we’re all as good as dead.”
In reality, it wasn’t Goldsun Vider but Leon who had interfered. However, they never even considered Leon as a possibility.
“Capture Goldsun Vider! He must pay for this!”
“Yes, sir!!”
And so, Goldsun Vider unwittingly gained new enemies.
* * *
Having unintentionally saved King Oliad’s life, lissa seed to be in an exceptionally good mood.
It was obvious to anyone that it wasn’t out of loyalty.
The real reason for her joy was that this incident put the royal family in their debt.
But there was another reason she was pleased.
“Oh, the look on Marquis Vider’s face was priceless.”
Marquis Vider.
The Royal Mage and a powerful noble supporting Tyvel from the shadows.
For soone of his status, this incident was a devastating blow.
A curse had infiltrated the royal palace and struck the king.
The re fact that the Royal Mage had been completely unaware would place a heavy burden of responsibility on him.
The fact that his own son, Goldsun, had almost killed King Oliad only made things worse.
Of course, in reality, Marquis Vider was more of a victim in this situation, but his position as the Royal Mage would not grant him the luxury of ignorance.
“He’ll definitely have to take responsibility for this. He’ll lose a lot.”
“In return, he’ll co after us even harder.”
“So what? You’re here.”
She smirked and raised her glass.
I clinked mine against hers.
Clink!
“And Marquis Vider won’t have ti to worry about us anymore.”
When soone powerful is shaken, the hyenas around them rush in to tear them apart.
“Either he’ll make a reckless move, or others will drag him down. Either way, things will shift. But if Marquis Vider isn’t behind the curse, then this situation is even more serious…”
It would an that an external force had attempted to assassinate the King of Bata.
It was, in truth, no light matter.
"Leon, do you have any suspects in mind?"
"No idea. How would I know that?"
She half-opened her eyes, staring at quietly before nodding.
"Honestly, I can't quite grasp the level of necromancers across the continent."
Given the effort put into it, the perpetrator wasn’t entirely ignorant, but their security was abysmal.
As the librarian had ntioned, this kind of phenonon required a broad and intricate understanding of magic.
If I were to evaluate it coldly by my own standards, the one who cast the curse was nothing more than a novice dabbling at the surface.
But in so ways, they might actually be a grandmaster-level necromancer.
Unless I narrow down the target, there's no clear answer either way.
"Forget it. This is a matter for the royal family to handle, not us."
At that, lissa waved her hand dismissively and chuckled.
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"Our job is just to guard the Demon Realm. The nobles' power struggles within the royal court have nothing to do with us, right?"
"That's right."
"Alright, then. Cheers! I'll even raise your allowance when we get back."
And then, the next day.
A royal decree was issued, summoning both lissa and to attend the state council eting.
lissa made sense, but why ?
I had been preparing excuses to refuse, but in the end, it was lissa who dragged there against my will.
Since King Oliad was currently in a coma, the one presiding over the eting in his place was none other than the princess of the Bata Kingdom.
The heir to the throne was originally the prince, but as he was still just a young child, he could not attend the state council.
Thus, the delicate and timid princess had to step in for him.
The eting itself contained nothing particularly eventful.
Discussions revolved around the current state of the kingdom and the affairs of neighboring nations—dull topics, to say the least.
Even the princess, who was presiding over the council in place of King Oliad, seed to think the sa.
Of course, there had been the major incident of an assassination attempt via a curse the day before, but since it was being handled in secrecy, very few in the room were aware of it.
Then, after a lengthy discussion, a noble brought up a new topic.
"As a brief intermission, I’d like to introduce a simple matter, Your Highness."
"I will allow it."
At the princess’s response, the noble stroked his mustache and stood up.
"As you all know, our kingdom recently lost a Swordmaster—Count Cascadia."
At his words, a faint flicker of anger crossed lissa’s eyes.
"It was truly a regrettable loss. However, at this juncture, we must reconsider the imnse authority that he once wielded."
"What exactly do you an?"
lissa shot back in an icy tone, and the noble raised his voice as if making a grand proclamation.
"Current Count lissa Cascadia is still young. She lacks worldly experience. Hence, I believe that granting such enormous power to her poses the risk of corruption."
The aning behind their words was simple.
They wanted to strip lissa of her authority.
"Are you saying you intend to seize the authority of the border count? On what grounds?"
"Seize? Ahem, that is not what I an. I rely suggest that the authority be returned to her when she turns twenty."
"And who, then, would manage this authority in the anti?"
lissa maintained an expression that practically invited them to keep running their mouths.
Most of the nobles, however, seed to have already reached a consensus.
"For the ti being, it would be best for the central governnt to manage it, and then return it when she reaches the age of twenty. Perhaps soone with experience, like Marquis Vider, could oversee it."
At his proposal, a significant number of nobles raised their hands.
"I agree."
"I agree."
It was laughable, the way they had already decided everything among themselves and now expected lissa to simply accept it.
Perhaps this had been their intention from the very start.
I scanned the faces of those who had just monts ago been so eager to tear apart Cascadia.
"Hah, the majority is in agreent. Marquis, would you care to share your thoughts?"
The nobles, as if on cue, passed the baton to Marquis Vider.
But strangely, his face had gone pale, and he appeared unable to focus on the eting at all.
Because at this mont, what mattered wasn’t Cascadia—his own standing was at risk of crumbling.
Just as lissa was about to lose her temper, I stopped her and instead turned to the silent Duke Berli.
"Do you share their opinion as well, Duke?"
He was no fool who wouldn’t grasp the aning behind my question.
Consider this repaying the favor for saving your life, Farell Berli.
As the duke slowly closed his eyes, so nobles smirked in amusent.
"Ahem, watch your tongue. Do you realize where you are? Who allowed this man to speak here?"
"And yet, it's sohow acceptable for you to decide another's affairs on your own and then demand their compliance? How ironic."
"You insolent—!!"
My sarcasm made a few nobles turn red with fury, their veins bulging with rage.
But I brazenly pressed forward.
So what exactly do you plan to do about it?
I've been officially summoned to this eting.
Most of the gazes in the room seed to be asking the sa thing—whether I was truly so desperate as to seek aid from the duke’s house.
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