TYND 22

It wasn’t often that Chungnip, usually soft-spoken and warm smiles, raised his voice. His sudden outburst startled Zey and Xeon, who rushed to calm him, while the weasel bristled and hissed in protest.  

Rothy was terrified—he bit his lower lip so hard it began to bleed. 

Theon stepped in, placing an arm between them, pushing Chungnip away before pulling Rothy into his arms. The child clung to him like a lifeline, burying his face into the solid curve of Theon’s shoulder. 

Rothy’s body shook pitifully, soft hiccups escaping him as if he was trying to stifle his sobs. 

“Chungnip.” 

The cold weight in Theon’s voice made Chungnip flinch and look up. By then, he’d regained some composure, though his face remained clouded with confusion. 

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. But it was just so absurd—” 

“Even if that’s the case, I don’t see what part of this is absurd. Do your job first, then explain the issue to me.”

Theon’s command struck like iron, leaving no room for argument. Chungnip dipped his head and replied.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Even though confusion lingered in his expression. 

The group left the village after rebuilding the broken bridge. Inside the carriage, with the Knight-Captain of the Black Lion Knights holding the reins, Chungnip explained the situation to Theon in terms he’d understand.  

“There’re two ways to share magic power: contact method and non-contact method. The contact method involves a mage transferring magic power directly to another through physical touch. Non-contact method, as you’ve seen, involves releasing magic power into the air and allows another to absorb it.”

“You said earlier that the non-contact method was new to you.”

“Yes. Because it’s nearly impossible to condense release magic power into a dense form once it leaves the body. The moment magic power’s separated from its caster, it ceases to belong to them. This method requires extreme concentration and sensory precision to work. But if mastered, it allows for incredibly efficient use of magic power.”

“How so?”

“If you can deliver magic power without physical contact, it means you could stockpile magic crystals during downtime and use them whenever needed. It’s like having meals packed and ready whenever hunger strikes. Moreover, with this ‘packed meal’, it’d allow a mage to cast spells that far exceed their natural magic reserve!” 

Chungnip exhaled in wonder as if he himself couldn’t believe what he was saying. 

“That’s remarkable. If all mages were capable of this, the war would’ve ended much sooner.”

“If it were possible for everyone, the war wouldn’t have just ended early—it wouldn’t have happened at all. The world would’ve been ruled by mages from the outset.”

Theon frowned, his gaze shifting to Rothy, who was curled up on the carriage seat, fast asleep. The child had fallen asleep clutching the edge of the cloak draped over him with his tiny hand. It wasn’t a deep sleep—at the faintest mention of his name, he’d rub his eyes and sit up. To ensure he wouldn’t stir, Chungnip had cast a soundproof barrier around him.  

Screee…

Though the sound was blocked, the view wasn’t. The weasel sleeping in Rothy’s arms sensed Theon’s gaze and opened its red, beady eyes to glare at him. Sensing that the creature might strain itself, Theon finally looked away.  

“Did Yolone Sirin also use the non-contact method?” 

“In the history of Araxys, there’ve only been three mages capable of using non-contact magic to cast spells… Well, now four. And yes, he was one of them. Nearly all of his magic was non-contact type.”

“Then Rothy would also be considered an archmage, wouldn’t you say?”

“That’s correct. But there’s something even more astonishing.”

Chungnip’s voice dropped, and unease crept into his expression.  

“My magic power capacity’s 1,200 wyons. Not to brag, but I’m probably among the top five in the empire. Harrié Geelin has a capacity of 1,500 wyons, which I believe currently makes him the highest in the empire. But…”

Chungnip swallowed hard.

“The magic crystal Rothy gave me earlier contained a capacity of 1,800 wyons.”

“That’s a given, considering he’s carrying an infinite magic stone inside him.” 

“That’s true, the capacity itself was expected—he’s a walking magic stone, after all. But what’s crucial is the fact that he released 1,800 wyons at once. No matter how much magic power a mage possesses—even if they’d 18,000 wyons—removing more than 381 wyons at once causes excruciating pain.”

At the word ‘pain’, one of Theon’s eyebrows arched sharply. He glanced at Rothy again, still soundly asleep. He didn’t look as though he was in any pain. 

“That’s why, even with contact type magic transfer, mages limit the amount to a maximum of 300 wyons at a time. For large scale spells, it usually takes a dozen mages pooling their magic power together. But Rothy… he released 1,800 wyons in a single instance. A normal person would’ve fainted from the pain.”

“Could it be that Yolone Sirin’s experiments made him incapable of feeling pain?”

“He did feel pain last time with the reaction stone.”

If he could feel pain, that was fortunate. Pain acted as a safeguard, a warning signal when something went wrong. Without it, injuries could worsen unnoticed until they became irreparable. 

“So, it’s pain he can endure, then.”

“Well, according to the grim descriptions in magical tomes, it’s supposed to feel like your insides are being ripped apart by hand or stirring a nail inside your head… I’m not sure that’s something anyone could simply ‘endure’.” 

Theon’s frown deepened. Even if Rothy had been trained to suppress pain, that level of agony should’ve caused some visible reaction. Yet he showed no signs of distress—not even the elevated heart rate that should accompany such torment. He’d felt pain when exposed to the reaction stone, but not when releasing magic power.  

That could only mean…

“That bastard Yolone Sirin modified him to suit his purposes.”

“……”

How many experiments did he endure to achieve the desired result? The countless young corpses that emerged from the secret laboratory came to mind. Some faces were contorted in agony, while others looked peacefully serene in death. Looking at Rothy’s flushed cheeks, Theon felt a murderous rage towards Yolone Sirin. If he were to see that hanged corpse again, he’d shred it to pieces and throw it to the forest beasts. 

“Your Grace.”

Chungnip sensed Theon’s fury and shared his anger towards Yolone Sirin. However, there were more pressing matters to discuss.

“Since Rothy harbours an infinite magic stone within him, can perform non-contact magic, and can release over 1,800 wyons of magic power at once, if this becomes known, PLEIN will be the least of our concerns. Every nation in the world will target him—not just the Western Continent, but the magic-hungry Eastern Continent as well. And it won’t matter whether Rothy becomes the Archduchess or not.”

With the war over, the entire world was already conspiring to keep the empire in check. If spies from another nation were to discover Rothy’s secret and leak that information… 

No nation would resist the allure of such greed.  

The North might very well find itself drawn into another war. 

“Let them come…… I’ll be waiting.”

Theon clenched his fists tightly, a cold smile playing on his lips. It didn’t matter who the opponent was. When it came to war, he was confident. 

Meanwhile, at the Zibiah Imperial Palace……

“Your Imperial Majesty!”

“Oh, for the love of—why do you keep bringing up things meant for the future?”

“Future? Six months will pass in the blink of an eye!”

“Then let it blink, and we’ll discuss it after. Why do you keep pestering me?”

“Pestering?! How can you say that, Your Imperial Majesty? I’m merely offering loyal counsel about the importance of the living magic stone. If we research it, we could bring remarkable advancement to the empire.”

“Research or no, let it go. Have you forgotten that child’s now to be an archduchess?”

“Six months’ plenty of time to break off an engagement.”

“Harrié Geelin!” Emperor Dierm boomed. 

Harrié hurriedly bowed his head.

“You must think I’m an idiot.”

The emperor glared at Harrié while massaging his temples. 

“I’m well aware of the significance of the living magic stone. Of the brilliant achievements we could gain from studying a living, infinite source of magic. But, I—”

“……”

“I can’t find meaning in progress that comes at the cost of children’s lives.”

“It’s not certain that such sacrifices will be necessary…”

“Spare me your optimism,” the emperor snapped.

“You and I both know that experimentation’s inevitable in research. Even if, by some stroke of luck, you discovered a way to implant magic stone without inflicting unbearable pain, the fact remains you’d still be inserting them into the bodies of ten-year-old children. How could we, as the creations of Seará, stoop to the level of Maton’s offsprings?”

Harrié opened his mouth briefly but stopped himself. Though he’d more to say, he wisely kept his mouth shut.