Chapter 74.1

‘That’s it.’

A strange stream of nasty energy that always tugged at his nerves.

It flowed from this stone. Raynard gave strength to his hand with the desire to break that bead.

A woman’s earring appeared from a broken stone. And on that earring was dark red blood.

Raynard knew instinctively that the earring was leading him to Yurina.

“Master, have you seen these earrings before?”

It was a question asked to Dave. The answer came from Curtis, who was surrounded by an escort of knights.

“What did you find?”

He was surprised, left his knights, and approached Reynard.

Raynard dropped his sword to the floor in courtesy.

“The earring is covered in blood. I think it was the reason.”

Curtis looked warily at the earring Reynard was holding.

“What’s this about? Is it possible that the wolf swallowed it?”

“Sure, it may seem that way, but…”

Raynard was now slowly building his thoughts into a logical chain. He had seen it before in the academy, but now he saw it in action for the first time. So he couldn’t be completely sure.

However, there was only one explanation.

“It’s black magic.”

Curtis frowned.

“Black magic?”

“Yeah. Unlike normal magic, which uses both internal and external mana, black magic uses internal mana, and instead of external, blood. If this earring belongs to the young lady Carthia, it is quite logical that the wolves aimed only at her alone, as if blinded.”

Raynard walked up to the wolf’s head and put his foot in the wolf’s mouth. The wolf’s fangs were slightly blackened, as if from poison.

‘It’s strange that physical protection didn’t work then.’

But if it turns out that the teeth of the wolf are bewitched, everything becomes clearer than ever. It would be like an enchanted sword wrapped in mana. And you can’t protect yourself with physical protection magic.

It made them think. It isn’t known who it was, but the organizer wished Yurina dead and beat him for sure.

Just like Dave said, it would never occur to any mage to use magic protection on a wolf that rushed towards Yurina.

One more thing…

‘It’s strange that I lost consciousness in an instant after just one bite.’

Raynard glanced down at his still aching shoulder.

He wasn’t a knight, but he practiced swordsmanship and trained. Although he wasn’t up to the level of the knights, he thought his vitality wasn’t weak.

Now it seemed strange that he had been unconscious and feverish even after the bite had healed.

However, let’s say the teeth of a wolf were covered in a curse and poison. Then everything would be different.

‘If Yurina had been bitten, she would have died immediately.’

If Yurina had been lucky enough not to die instantly from the bite, she would have suffered from the poison or the curse, and would have died in even greater agony even with her wounds closed.

And although everything worked out, Raynard now stood there with glassy eyes, and in his mind the saddest outcomes were hovering.

“It’s black magic… it doesn’t make any sense. Black magic is long gone. Are you saying that black magic is still alive?”

Curtis’s suspicions were reasonable.

More than a hundred years ago, when a force crept out into the world that decided to stage a coup, enlisting black magic, the Empire caught black mages on a countrywide scale.

It was debatable whether the warlocks were completely uprooted or just lay low. But since then, black magic hasn’t made itself felt.

Raynard himself wasn’t entirely sure. Although he studied the basics of black magic at the academy, he never saw its actual use. He had never witnessed such a thing before, so he wasn’t sure that this vile feeling was caused by black magic.

But under the circumstances, that was the only explanation that made sense.

“If you take a look at what the imperial mages didn’t see, everything will become clear.”

Curtis laughed.

“How did you so famously capture something that my court mages didn’t? Perhaps you’re also a warlock?”

“No.”

Reynard himself wondered how he had discovered the hitherto unseen.

But, one might assume, the reason was simply that he was Blessed.

“Your Highness, I can’t take his word for it. From dark magic remained only history. Everything is nonsense. Don’t you think he’s the real culprit?”

The mage, who was watching the conversation, suddenly screamed.

“He posted everything right away. After all, the attack is his idea.”

“If I were a conspirator, why would I come here and pretend?”

“That must have been your plan to glorify your house and gain recognition for your services. Let me think. Did you say you’re from the House of Carthia? I heard there was a mage here shortly before the attack. Is it possible that it’s you?”

The mage came close to Raynard and tried to pull off his hat. Raynard grabbed his hat with one hand and slapped the mage on the arm with the other. The sorcerer looked embrassed at Curtis.

“Just look at this. To be honest, at first I wondered how you could show up at that critical moment. Now it has become clear. It’s all a plan, it’s all prearranged. You tried to make Carthia a hero!” He snorted. “Not black magic, but plain forgery! This would be much more believable. Isn’t that right, idiot?”

“You yourself are an idiot if you haven’t figured out the matter after messing around here for several days.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

The grumpy mage’s face turned red with anger.

“Your Highness, look at his arrogance. This is a forgery, a deception of the imperial family…”

“Stop.”

Curtis raised his hand to stop the mage. Then he spoke to Reynard.

“I will ask you one last time. Why are you so sure it’s black magic? I need good reasons.”

Without thinking twice, Raynard threw off the hat that hid his face. His eyes, which instantly turned red, now blazed with rage towards the annoying mage. As soon as the latter’s eyes met Reynard’s, he took a deep breath and stepped back.

This time Reynard turned to Curtis.

“Well?”

Raynard raised his voice and asked again:

“Now let’s talk?”