kscans

Chapter 76 - Poison, Phantoms, and Darius

Ariel had always felt indebted to Darius.

If only Darius had never met someone like me. He could have lived a freer, happier life, without ever being looked down upon.

"If only Darius hadn’t gotten caught up with a woman like you."

The king’s words pierced through Ariel, as if gouging out the depths of her heart. They were the very embodiment of the guilt she carried.

But at the same time, the king’s voice was tinged with a strange power. An interference, like a black shadow, that shook her very spirit.

The king’s eyes, while seeming to be hounded by something... also blazed with an arrogant light, one that held no doubt that he himself was the pinnacle of the world.

(...Something is wrong. My defense magic keeps reacting, giving me a strange feeling like being snapped by a rubber band. Where is he being controlled from? It’s not from within this room...)

He wasn’t being controlled. The king’s own will was just being amplified to an impossible degree. Who possessed such power? The Mage Order? Or perhaps...

Ariel held her breath and desperately strengthened her defense magic. She could state her opinion to the king, but she was not permitted to attack him. The only response she could have to mental interference was defense.

Even so, the king’s words slowly ate away at her.

(To Darius, I am a nuisance. He became a sacrifice just because he loved me. I have given him nothing in return. Then, I have no choice but to step aside...)

"...Hk!"

She bit down on her back teeth, cutting her lip and drawing blood. Vicious thoughts flowed through her mind against her will.

She tried desperately to hold onto her consciousness through the pain. But the king only smiled, as if enjoying her anguish.

Then, as always, he brought up the construction of the Magic Furnaces. And the person he always made sure was present was Rainer, the captain of the Mage Order.

Rainer would always reach out to Ariel without a shred of decency. A lewd form of mana detection, tracing her veins as if to check if she was weakened.

"...!"

The moment she put up a stronger defense, an invisible shockwave ran through the air with a pan. Rainer’s face twitched, and he desperately held down his trembling hand.

But that did not end her torment.

"Ariel. Your lip is cut. The king has prepared a rare tea for you. I’ve brought it."

Rainer grinned. The "tea time" that was always arranged. The cup offered to her was always laced with poison.

Her defense magic could protect her life. But the agony of the poison coursing through her body was unavoidable. Ariel bit down on the antidote hidden between her molars and swallowed the poison along with the blood from her lip.

"...Gah."

Even on the verge of vomiting blood, she had no choice but to drink it all in front of the king.

"Oh? There’s still some left. Did Darius not even teach you how to drink tea? I suppose a commoner wouldn’t need such knowledge."

She was forced to drink the remaining poison as well.

Ariel was the only alchemist in this country who could create the circuits for a Magic Furnace. That was because the people who had once treated her as a living weapon had built the furnace on Sacred Peak Mountain and taught me. But that knowledge was not passed down, and they vanished from history. I do not know why.

The king knew that only Ariel could build the furnaces, which is why he threatened and cornered her.

The blueprints for the furnace on Sacred Peak Mountain were hidden in the tower, but... if they were stolen, it would be truly dangerous.

And so, Ariel fought back. In preparation for each "poisoned tea party," she continued to create antidotes with increased poison resistance.

But the king’s harassment did not stop. Recently, he had started showing her videos of Darius.

Images of him dancing with women at social events, of him smiling and chatting cheerfully...

In a world I have never seen, he is smiling at another woman.

Her chest ached as if on fire from the images, which she could not even tell were real.

(...At this rate, even my defense magic won’t be enough to protect me...)

Poison, mental interference, and images that tore at her heart. Ariel’s body was being steadily eroded. It was probably only a matter of time.

That was why she secretly prepared an escape route. On the floor of the Moonshadow Teahouse, she drew a magic circle that could be activated in an emergency.

"Mireille. If you ever have to escape, drop your blood here. It will become a shelter."

"...What do you mean, ‘if ever’?"

"Oh, you know, it’s all about being prepared for disasters."

A magic circle set so that only Mireille could use it. She looked puzzled, but Ariel felt a small sense of relief.

To at least be able to protect the things that are precious to me.