Chapter 4: Spring Palace (part four)
You know what? Because I’m so excited I’ll post this now~ We’re nearing the exciting part of this arc~ Enjoy the chapter! And next up, the preparation for battle!
TL: clover
ED: clover
After that, I escaped from the pursuit of Klaus somehow and headed for the dinner party.
As soon as Klaus talked about the matter of the ruins during dinner, my father and Duke of Harvan stopped him very solemnly.
It couldn’t be helped. It was not a place where a 10-years-old child could go.
When the topic about the ruins came out, I found it secretly amusing that my older brother looked unruffled on the outside but feeling anxious inside.
It was a good thing that I forbid Klaus to speak about the matter of Edward-onii-sama went into the Ruins of Visitor~~.
When the dinner party was over, Edward-onii-sama was about to head to Leandez Magic Academy that was located in the central part of the continent by using the Spring Palace’s transferring gate.
Transferring gates were located in the bas.e.m.e.nt of important buildings and provided warp function by magically connecting the gates at each sites.
My older brother received one key from father after the dinner party, and he would use the one-time-key to go to the academy.
I suddenly felt uneasy because of my conversation with Klaus.
I wanted to hear about the magic that was spelled in this star crystal, so I caught up with my older brother who was holding a baggage in his room.
“Onii-sama, I’m sorry to hold you up when you are in a hurry, but could I ask you something about this necklace?”
“Hm, what about the necklace, Erica?”
“Klaus was concerned about the magic inside this necklace. Very special magic.”
“Hee, a special magic, huh……Please lend it to me, Erica.”
With his eyebrows slightly furrowed, my older brother was staring at the star crystal.
Edward-onii-sama spread out his leather handbag on the floor while crouching on the spot.
“Is that Wunderkammer……?”
We sorted our reservoir of gathered alchemists’ prepared items into a miracle room, Wunderkammer.
The leather bag seemed to have an expanded interior s.p.a.ce.
My older brother built a Wunderkammer inside it.
“Well, the magic for expanding s.p.a.ce was very expensive…”
“That’s right…”
My older brother said that with distant eyes.
Incidentally, even the materials to create the kind of wands that were stored inside cost an enormous amount of money.
I guessed this was quite a splurge, Edward-onii-sama.
I didn’t know the specific price, but even if I just looked at it roughly, I believed that I could sell off one or two silver veins that my older brother would inherit in the future.
“Well, I will investigate it now.”
Edward-onii-sama picked out a piece of sugar maple wand from among the large number of short wands inside the Wunderkammer.
At the end of the wand was a piece of emerald.
On the part of the handle, there was a workmanship imitating a feather of a peac.o.c.k with a spiralling part like a sh.e.l.lfish1.
Perhaps the core material was a feather of a peac.o.c.k.
The length of the short wand was just the length of a conductor’s baton.
On such a small tool, more than 50 charges, or over 100 charges if it was the finest wand, of magic was put into it.
How convenient~ I thought, but each one could only contain one type of magic.
To deal with every situation, countless short wands were needed.
So preparation was important for the western alchemists.
Edward-onii-sama swung the wand like a conductor.
Green light spread around my older brother and converged on his eyes.
With this, Edward-onii-sama’s eyes temporarily turned into Glam Sight.
The magic of an alchemist in this world was all done manually.
“I see. This is amazing.”
“How is it?”
“Because I found it at the Ruins of Visitor, I thought that the magic was of that era. But in actuality, it is older. At least before Ignatia conquered the southern part of this continent.”
It was around 650 years ago that the founder of the western Aurelia arrived at this place.
When the invading Ignatia destroyed Cascadia and placed the southern part of this continent under their control, that was the story of about 150 years ago before that.
Together it would be 800 years ago.
Cascadia was a country of vampires.
It was a dark nation where the vampire royalty and aristocracy dominated human beings like a livestock—at least, that was how it was reported.
In other words, the magic put on this stone was likely to belong to the vampires of Cascadia.
It was not necessarily the truth, though.
“It means that it was the magic used by the vampires.”
“Aah, I see.”
On this continent, vampire was a phantom beast that had been extinct hundreds of years ago.
But, it seemed that vampires would come out in the scenario which I had not yet completed.
“Fortunately it is safe for us. Because us western human beings are all dense to the magic of this kind. But—I’m afraid that both East and North humans are sensitive and will be affected by it.”
“What kind of magic was put inside the stone?”
“I will say that it’s close to a fascination, but it’s more than that…Yes, it seems to be spelled to evoke desire…It seems better for me to hold on to this stone a bit longer.”
Magic that evoked desire, huh.
Suddenly I remembered the tragedy of Klaus and Ann in 『Liber Monstrum』. In the first place, why would the very polite Ann want the necklace that Erica had?
—It might be because of the desire evoked by this necklace.
“Erica, I don’t know if it will replace me, but here.”
This was the key for Onii-sama’s wonderful Wunderkammer.
The stored items were also equivalent to a lifeline for our family.
“Onii-sama, why are you giving this important thing to me?”
“Because you seem very uneasy. I have to go to Leandez Magic Academy for my friend. Actually I’d like to be by your side……But I’m also needed there for something.”
“Onii-sama……”
“It’s alright, if there is nothing extraordinary, I should be able to come back tomorrow morning.”
After he said that, my older brother went to Leandez Magic Academy through the underground transfer gate.
I headed towards the guest room at Spring Palace.
It was to confirm the safety of Klaus and Ann.
I didn’t care that my long dress entangled with my legs, I was running in the palace corridor at night.
Events that had occurred today were floating in my mind one after the other.
Ann’s smile, with dyed cheeks among the blossoming flowers.
Klaus’ sparkling eyes when looking at the magic of my star necklace.
The necklace with ancient magic—faint but bewitching blue light.
I wanted to see Ann’s smile and Klaus’ scowl as soon as possible to give me a peace of mind.
☆
The guest rooms that were used as accommodation for the children of Duke Harvan, were plentifully decorated with the flowers of this spring garden.
There was a fragrant scent of flowers in the room.
However, I couldn’t find the figures of Klaus and Ann.
All the maids serving Duke of Harvan were falling asleep by magic.
I made sure that Ann was not confused among the sleeping maids, but she wasn’t there either.
–Perhaps this was the work of Klaus.
Although he was only a 10-years-old boy, Klaus’ magical abilities were exceptional.
These women weren’t just maids, but maids that had served the duke.
In other words, they had some knowledge of magic.
If so, they should have a mild magic resistance.
I believed that the maids were took out by using powerful sleeping magic so that he could sneak away.
I wondered what time was this magic used.
It was also worrying that the one who disappeared was not only Klaus, but Ann too.
A person like Klaus would have headed for Ruins of Visitor.
Ten to one, no doubt.
For Ann, if good luck was on my side, she might be with the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Harvan.
(For confirmation, I should hurry up and see the Duke of Harvan or my father, shouldn’t I?)
It wasn’t good if this situation became widespread and panic occurred.
I closed the door, crossed the corridor and headed to my father’s room.
I walked about fifteen minutes.
I should have reached my father’s room since a long time ago, but I reached the original room I set out from.
At this point, I understood that I was lost in a familiar place.
It was a magic that turned the palace into a labyrinth.
However, no matter how much an excellent mage Klaus was, he shouldn’t be able to use s.p.a.ce distortion magic.
This was probably a Phantasmal Maze.
It was a magic that dazzles as though it was a labyrinth by messing out the sense of direction of a pa.s.sing human being and put them under an illusion.
Because of this magic, Spring Palace seemed to have been divided into several compartments.
I couldn’t even go to the Duke of Harvan or my father, the Duke of Aurelia, and the adults would never reach their children’s room.
For a 10-years-old to be able to master this complex magic……
I couldn’t hide my surprise at Klaus’ talent.
(I mean, this kind of careful preparation is too much, Klaus–!)
Taking a deep breath, at this time I should calm down and think.
“Edward-onii-sama, it seems that I’m going to use it this soon.”
I looked at the key to the Wunderkammer that I received from my older brother earlier.
I put it into the keyhole of an appropriate room and turned it.
This key itself was a magic item that could turn any door in this palace into a door that was connected to my older brother’s Wunderkammer.
When I opened the door, the Wunderkammer of the alchemist Edward Aurelia appeared before me.
1 I really try my best to translate this. The original sentence was 取手の部分には夜光貝で孔雀の羽を模した細工が施してある Can somebody help me?
So if you don’t understand the work of a wand, the amount of magic inside a wand is depending on the maker. For example, a wand is charged 100 times with magic, that means the user can only use that wand for 100 times. And each wand could only be powered with one type of magic.
The difference with a staff of Harvan is that a staff is a medium for mages to channel their magic. So it used the magical power generated by the user, while a wand used the magical power that had been stored inside it.
That’s why, while mages are depending on the versatility and the magical power of the user, alchemists are depending on the type of wands they have prepared beforehand.