Chapter 123

Burying her face in Louivid’s broad chest, she raised her head to meet his gaze and answered.

“Of course. It won’t happen anymore. For your and the kids’ sake.”

Instead of saying he would believe her, Louivid caressed her cheek and kissed her briefly but deeply.

In their long life as husband and wife, they never had a passionate and hot love, but still, it never cooled down. Even when they distanced themselves from each other due to misunderstanding, Soliaphe was always in his heart.

However, because he was so caught up in work and had a blunt personality, he did not express it clearly, so Soliaphe didn’t seem to know it well.

‘She’s a really laid-back woman. Even if I decorated her room with flowers, even if I confessed that I loved her, there was always a smile on her face.’

Even though it seemed like she was completely open to me at times like this, there were times when I felt some other places were closed off and my heart sank. I’d say she’s a pro when it comes to taming me. She might not even know she was actually doing it, it must come to her so naturally, that it passes off as instinct.

‘It seems that you succeeded in turning me into an impatient beast.’

Louivid felt an urge to spend time with Soliaphe, but he struggled to crump it like a piece of paper.

There was no time for this now.

She might have no idea what I was thinking. It was always difficult to find the same desires of mine in her.

“What are you thinking about?”

“What? No, it’s nothing.”

Soliaphe was placed on his firm chest and recalled the carrier hawk from earlier.

She didn’t respond to her colleague’s suggestion to join them in revenge for Marcus. If she disappears without a word again, this man will not let go of her by all means.

She had actually made up her mind to leave once for all, but that changed as she got better and after spending time with her family.

Most of all, what Luciel said bothered her heart the most.

‘……The later Madam Soliaphe’s illness is revealed, the greater the impact will be on father-in-law, Kizef, and Leoni, and in a very bad way.’

Her disease was still not revealed, but she was improving differently from then, so her body and mind were at ease.

There was also hope that if she received the energy of healing, even an incurable disease could be cured. Luciel, was breathing life into her through the Phoenix’s rose. Thanks to that, her mana was now almost at a normal level, to the extent that there was no problem using Aura.

‘Your mana is surprisingly in a good condition. Your condition is no longer degenerating, in fact, you are getting better.’

The attending physician who was called separately for examination said so. However, Manaris was not completely healed.

The disease was incurable in the first place. But for now, she was satisfied with just the fact that her symptoms had improved.

Soliaphe thought she was lucky just to be able to move with energy like this, but to know that she could even hold a sword, she felt like she was enjoying everything.

She felt like she had become as healthy as she used to be.

But she also couldn’t pretend she didn’t know about Munraken. Her comrade’s revenge was also a factor, but she knew the monster the best because she used to be at the forefront of the extermination squad of the beast.

Soliaphe cautiously asked Louivid.

“I’m not going to disappear. Instead, let me go with you on this subjugation. Please, honey?”

“Are you going to use the word honey like that?”

Louivid looked at her and grabbed her wrist. If he didn’t allow it, it seemed that she would disappear on her own accord.

So, he’d rather go with her.

Besides, Soliaphe was also a strong swordsman who could handle Aura. He knew that knights had thirst for a battle to some extent.

“Munraken is a strong demon.”

“I know them well. I was at the forefront of the Munraken subjugation, so I will be of help. And most of all, I’m going with you. All the Black Winged Knights and Wizards will also go, so there will be no danger.”

“……You are going to have your way no matter what, right?”

At those words, Louivid let out a light sigh for a moment. He pondered for a long time without saying a word and then opened his mouth with difficulty.

“All right. Let’s go together. Instead, I hope you don’t come forward in a direct battle with monsters.”

“Thank you, Louis.”

Soliaphe smiled softly and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Come on, let’s get ready. We will leave before dawn.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Gillard was helping Rupdell by procuring the materials needed for crafting at the Night’s Forge.

Splashes of sparks sprung in the air.

Instead of his usual glasses, he was wearing large goggles. Rupdell was using magic tools to craft on the wand.

However, there was a problem. The magic stones kept cracking, and the basic stage of work was blocked.

“I used all the magic stones.”

“……Did you use all of the highest-grade Magic Stone already?”

The number of Magic Stones that Gillard brought from Bellstein was by no means small.

However, in the process of magic crafting, the magic stones kept breaking, so they disappeared before he could do anything.

“You’ve already consumed more than twenty of them.”

“The power of the jewel made by the little fairy is so strong that it doesn’t seem to match with regular magic stones. Hmmm.”

Perhaps a little apologetic, Rupdell made such an excuse, but soon shook it all away and glanced at Luciel’s jewels with a magnifying glass.

Fortunately, Luciel made jewels in a generous amount and there was enough to experiment.

‘It has been confirmed that all jewels that have been researched have magical powers greater than or equal to the highest level of magic stones.’

‘Considering that the number of the highest-grade of magic stone in existence is 200, it is estimated that the magical power of these gems is at least twice as high, and that of the ruby, which had the highest magic power, is estimated to be at least three times more.’

Gillard suddenly remembered Erika’s report.

‘Yes. It was said that Luciel’s jewel also had a strong magical power, so if we use it instead of a magic stone…’

It’s a waste to use Luciel’s jewels as a Magic Stone, but since all of the existing Magic Stones are failing, it’s better to try it with a spirit of catching straws.

(Note: Better try and fail than to try nothing.)

“Rupdell, why don’t we try using Luciel’s jewels instead of the Magic Stone? Her jewels recorded two or three times the magical power of the highest grade of magic stone.”

“What? Why are you talking about that now!”

The dwarf got angry at him even after he told a good tip, but Gillard held back, took some of Luciel’s jewels from his pocket, and handed it to Rupdell.

It was a brilliant emerald and glistening topaz. Gillard remembered what Luciel had said with a cute, plump smile when she gave out the jewels.

‘Emerald and topaz are the most common. I make emeralds when I’m happy, and topaz when I’m moved. There were many things to be happy about and to be moved by in Bellstein.’

It made him feel good because these were jewels made with pleasant emotions Luciel had felt.

After receiving the emerald, Rupdell opened the lid of the furnace again and put in a number of ingredients, including crystal powder, plants that glowed in the dark, and a number of raw materials. He started turning the dial to set the frequency of the mana wavelength.

When the dial was accurately aligned to the decimal point to match the mana frequency of the wand it will open for 10 seconds in a state where magic crafting was possible.

Rupdell’s hand technique was so quick he could float a sapphire in the gap and set it to crafting position. This, too, had to be done by holding mana in his fingertips.

This was because while the wand was open, it was necessary to be careful of contact. If he made a mistake, it would have been a failure.

Taaaah, Pajik!

Then, a large spark incomparable to the previous one sprung up, Rupdell and Gillard were startled. At the same time, there was a burst of purple smoke, so they fell down thinking that something was seriously wrong, but it wasn’t.

Before long, the blue sapphire was embedded in the edge of Luciel’s wand.

As the Innocent shone even more, it floated in the air.

“Oh, oh!”

“Hey, how the hell did this happen?”

“Whatever do you thin? It’s a success!”

“At Last!”

Surprised, Rupdell and Gillard hugged each other and shouted in emotion. They were delighted, but in a minute they fell apart as if they were pushing each other away.

“Okay, then, since we’ve succeeded, I’ll have to go tell Luciel this good news.”

Gillard smiled broadly as he was about to leave, and Rupdell said.

“Wait. It’s not over yet.”

“What?”

“Give me another jewel from Luciel.”

“……?”

Gillard didn’t know what he was going to do, but he meekly gave the jewel away.

“Why are you doing this?”

Rupdell grinned and put his goggles back down.

“If I do well, I think I will be able to put all four jewels in it.”

* * *

The rider with the black flag of Bellstein took the lead, followed by the black-winged knights and wizards on horseback.

Duchess Soliaphe was in armor riding a white horse, the Duke on his black horse, and Commander Jarga all left in succession.

Watching the long procession leaving for the monster subjugation, Kizef and Luciel were worried and confused, but Evelyn said.

“There’s nothing to worry about, children. It’s a monster subjugation, this is not the first nor the second, right? The two of them are really strong.”

Kizef read Evelyn’s consolation and encouraged Luciel.

“Yes, I know. Luciel, don’t worry about it either. The two of them will come back without any problems.”

“Yes, they came back safely last time, so I know it will be the same this time too.”

That was her answer, but Luciel kept biting her lip because of anxiety.

‘They said it was a powerful monster. Besides, mother is still not completely healed.’

But hoping that everything would be okay, Luciel brightly said.

“Shall we all have breakfast together today?”

“That would be good too. But isn’t it still early for breakfast? Why don’t you guys get some more sleep?”

Evelyn smiled and looked up at the sky. Indeed, the sun was just rising from the east.

Luciel shook her head.

“I’m already awake.”

“Ah, it looks like you woke up because of me.”

Kizef said sorry. In fact, it happened as such because when he heard about the sudden subjugation, he was startled and dropped an object. The sound also woke up Luciel.

“it’s okay. I can’t sleep either. But why isn’t Grandpa coming back?”

It had been a full day since he had packed the magic stones needed for magic crafting and left.

“He went to see your wand, right?”

“Yes.”

“It will be fine. Because your jewels are as strong as you.”

“Well, I hope so.”

“When he comes, show it to me too.”

It was a morning when her heart was pounding from one thing to another. Luciel nodded her head lightly and prayed inside her heart.

‘I hope everything goes well.’