CH 46

45 Monologue of A Certain Former Staff of Magic Tool Research Institute 2

Trevor stuck out his tongue and licked the wound on his right arm. Then, he proceeded to flex his arms. From the looks of it, he was checking the condition of his body that had become one size bigger just moments before. It was as if he didn’t care even if he was surrounded by all of us.

Without us being able to do a thing, we watched as his skin color became darker as he absorbed the darkish green particles at breakneck speed. Then, a flame-like pattern appeared on his right-hand that turned into a sword a second later.

“Finally showing your true color, huh, Demon Race.”

General Crimson said, smiling a ferocious smile as he pointed his board sword toward Trevor. We had been tracking their race since four years ago after all. So, it was only natural that General Crimson was really delighted when our efforts bore fruit.

“Please be careful. That creepy tattoo seems to be growing as time passes.” Bishop Cobalt warned General Crimson. A warning for the other to never let his guard down. And it was just as he said, the darkish green particles that were constantly being absorbed by Trevor’s right arm seemed to be feeding the pattern.

“Just… What kind of phenomenon is this?” I wondered out loud, a mix of curiosity and worry filling me.

Worry about what he said about the Saint’s seal being undone and curiosity about the phenomenon that appeared before me. Anyway, should I assume here that he was just a bait?

Come to think of it… the report did mention that Trevor was carrying a sealed letter with him… I recalled, immediately looking for the letter from the pile of things we took from Trevor. When I found it, I hastily tore its seal and read its content.

“… What in the world is that person thinking about?!” I screamed.

The sealed letter came from Count Greenwell and it said he was going to conduct the experiment proposed by Trevor. Really, WHAT THE HELL?! Even though he knew it was a trap, he still went ahead with it?! Ah, nevermind, I think I know what he was thinking… it’s probably something along the lines of ‘No pain no gain’. Aaaah, that person is really more stupid than me in this regard.

“In short, that tattoo is probably Count Greenwell’s life force, eh?”

“That’s right. Honestly, even if he knows it’s a trap, he cannot fight back his instinct as a researcher…” Trevor said with a smile that I wanted to rip off at this instant.

As expected, but that person’s value is much higher than me, him being the head of his family and all! Really, this shows the reason why the position of family’s patriarch should be given to his other siblings instead of him. He’s too much of a researcher!

“But thanks to that, we finally have proof that you are a part of the demon race. So, in this regard, I really have to thank Count Greenwell later.”

“Good grief, enough with this chit-chat.”

Having had enough, Bishop Cobalt spoke, prompting General Crimson to close in toward Trevor without delay. Soon, the sound of metal clashing against metal resounded repeatedly in the room, ringing against my ear. However, they were too fast and I could only see Trevor receiving General Crimson’s strikes with his right arm before they disappeared from my sight again.

And since that was the case, I had no idea of what was happening, only being able to hear the sound of their weapons clashing without stopping while seeing the blown off desk, the broken shelves, and the slashed floor.

Fortunately, the rubbles was repelled by the pale blue barrier that Bishop Cobalt was maintaining all this while, so I was unhurt during their clash. Anyway, even the guard soldiers were having a hard time entering the battle, as such they chose to focus on guarding the periphery to prevent Trevor from escaping.

Still, I was slightly disappointed that I couldn’t see the battle. Alas, the furious trades of blows in a single moment they were doing was too fast for someone like me to follow with my eyes. In short, their abilities were overwhelmingly higher than me, who was a weak chicken.

“It seems there’s no end to this… Please stop playing around already, will you?”

“I know.” General Crimson replied shortly while unleashing a rising slash toward Trevor, but the other dodged the slash as well as the rising flame General Crimson casted by a hair-breadth.

“Dammit, magic, huh.”

However, that wasn’t General Crimson’s true aim. The flame served as a distraction, and the moment it blocked Trevor’s line of sight, General Crimson immediately cast another spell and his body was enveloped by fiery flame.

Since the beginning of the fight, Trevor kept defending himself passively. It was as if he was stalling for time. But then, when General Crimson’s movement paused for a slight moment, Trevor closed in as if to not miss his chance.

Then, their position turned around along with the unpleasant sound of metal clashing with another metal. Still… Just what in the world was the reason for General Crimson’s momentary pause back there?

“Tch, he got some nasty tricks, eh.” Bishop Cobalt said, his annoyance clear to those who saw his face.

His annoyance and words confused me, so I took a closer look at what was happening and saw that the ground beneath General Crimson’s feet had been turned into mud.

“In my current condition, I can only do this much, but you should know what I could do when I’m completely revived. I can literally turn the entire street into a wetland.”

However, Bishop Cobalt only harrumphed at Trevor’s fearless laugh and words.

“You are still not in the perfect state yet, then. Still, I guess we’ll be in big trouble if General Crimson is hindered by something like this mud. Well, you’re not becoming weaker with your age, are you?!”

The moment those words fell from his lips, the temperature in the room dropped at once, and the floor was covered thoroughly with ice. Alas, though Trevor managed to brace his footing on the ice floor – albeit barely – General Crimson was not so lucky as he straight out slipped.

“ARE YOU REALLY MY ALLY HERE?!”

“Tch, you should just roll and die already.”

WHAT THE HELL?! WE ARE IN THIS KIND OF SITUATION, YET THESE TWO STILL HAS THE TIME TO QUARREL WITH EACH OTHERS?! ARE THEY SEEKING DEATH?! IF SO, DON’T DRAG ME, A POOR INNOCENT SOUL WITH YOU GUYS!!!

I did hear that they had always been quarreling with each other, but please! Please stop doing that in this kind of situation!!!

“Please finish this quickly. Your fame as the ‘Magic Swordsman of Flame’ is on the line you know!”

“You’re the only one who will gladly accept such an embarrassing title! Fine, I’ll finish him in no time!”

“Both of you sure are relaxed, eh?” Trevor said, glaring at the two who were bantering with each other, a cold expression fixed on his face.

“But Greenwell’s life is finished. Too bad for you, I got one of the seals.”

It was just as Trevor said, the tattoo on his right arm had grown until it reached the upper arm. If that tattoo was representing Count Greenwell’s life, then we really had no way to beat the current Trevor. Not without risking Count Greenwell’s life that was.

“GENERAL! YOU HAVE GOT TO DO SOMETHING! THAT PERSON’S LIFE IS IN DANGER!”

I unintentionally shouted at General Crimson. However, he didn’t say anything to respond, only slashing at Trevor silently. But from what I was seeing… was he actually getting cornered bit-by-bit?

Did Trevor become that powerful with that stolen life and power?! I wondered as I watched Bishop Cobalt joining in the fight by firing ice bullets toward Trevor. Alas, it was repelled.

I watched all these with growing despair in my heart, but at that moment, the greenish-black particles were suddenly replaced with bright, golden particles. Still, the sight didn’t leave me feeling comforted or at ease.

What now?! Did they break another seal?! I wondered, feeling hopelessness crept in, ready to drown me. However, when the shining, golden particles were coiling around Trevor, they turned into tiny chains that disturbed his movement.

“DAMMIT!! THAT GOLDBERG AGAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!”

At that instant, at that moment Trevor was shouting in fury, his right arm got sliced off by General Crimson’s sword.

“KUAAAAAAAAAA!”

Bishop Cobalt didn’t waste this chance. He conjured ice right under Trevor’s legs to hinder the latter’s movement. And this was helped by the new fresh verdure colored particles of light that were attacking Trevor, whose movement was further slowed down by the golden locks and the ice under his feet. Then, the fresh verdure particles of light coiled itself around Trevor and transformed into numerous tiny locks of the same color.

“GUAAAAAAAAAAAAA…”

With a last final scream, Trevor became really obedient, surprising me. Perhaps it was because he was at a loss for words that caused this? I speculated as I observed the way his enlarged frame returned to its original height and shape.

Did we… ended it? I wondered to myself before I nodded. Yeah, Trevor is definitely going to get caught.

The darkish green particles of light from a while ago are completely gone now. It was replaced by the golden and fresh verdue colored particles of light. Furthermore, the heavy and choking air from before had also been cleared up.

Although the inside of my workshop had become a total mess, this event ended safely, so there was that.

◇

After that, we interrogated the captured Trevor, but from the way he spoke… it was as if he became a completely different person.

And for a while, we wondered what to do. Some said that we had to unlock the golden and fresh verdue lock to be able to interrogate them, but of course, in the end, we rejected that idea since we had no idea what was going to happen if we did that. Another reason why we rejected that idea was because we came to a conclusion that the darkish green particles of light were the key to unsealing whoever that was, while the golden and fresh verdue colored particles of light were the lock that was sealing them.

As such, with no other information that could be gleaned, we ended up throwing Trevor into a cell accompanied with strengthened guard and specially made barrier locking him in.

Well, at the very least, Count Sphene’s report let us know where the golden particles of light came from.

According to the report, it was Theodore’s doing – of translating the ancient text in accordance with the story of the Saint’s Legend and going to Marquis Goldberg – that resulted in this unexpected incident that saved all of our lives.

The report from Count Greenwell also explained the origin of the darkish green particles of light and the fresh verdue particles of light. It seemed that, though Trevor’s trap had activated the darkish green particles of light, they managed to reverse it into fresh verdue particles of light when Oriana arrived with the translated ancient text.

Fortunately, the activation of the fresh verdue particles of light didn’t take Count Sphene’s life force like the darkish green one did.

Oh, additionally, the text that Oriana brought with her also happened to be the one that Theodore translated.

Therefore, with everything being the way they were, we had no choice but to ask Theodore about this matter. Alas, he insisted that it was a coincidence and he knew nothing about it.

And after seeing the situation for a while – with the kid insisting that it was just a coincidence and he knew nothing – Lord Golberg had no choice but to ask us to release his son since there was no use in our persistence of asking his son.

Honestly, I wanted to ask him to tell me if he knew something about this, but… I guess I shouldn’t overstep my boundaries.

Besides, I noticed that in some way or another, Theodore was rather similar to Duke Lilac’s daughter. Both of them said something that was already bordering on a divine revelation, yet both insisted that they knew nothing about it.

For a moment, a headache assailed me and I wished I could shake the two brats, but in the end I guess we had no choice but to watch over them.

Well, it was not all bad news at the very least because another pleasant surprise came to us during this time.

What was it you ask? Well, with Theodore’s help translating the carving on the ornaments, King Serendiaz, General Crimson, Bishop Cobalt, and Duke Blackcurrant were able to conduct experiment with their own Saint’s Ornament that resulted in―― King Serendiaz’s white, General Crimson’s red, Bishop Cobalt’s blue, and Duke Blackcurrant’s black―― colored particles of light turning into tiny locks that embedded itself into Trevor’s body in jail.

After this event, the children from the six houses – including Theodore – were put under protection as the descendants of the Six Gods. It was even more so for Theodore who had shown a glimpse of Six God’s power.

In addition to this, the decision to continue the experiment had been made, so the other five houses had to return their respective Saint’s ornaments to the royal family. Well, the news was kept a secret from the other houses, but rumours about it still found its way outside the wall.

… Heh, with this, I guess Theodore won’t have any problem with his engagement anymore. I smirked inside before I remembered one thing I was worried about back then.

It was about Trevor’s right arm that was cut off by General Crimson.

When we searched over the scene after the fight, the arm was nowhere to be found, vanishing into thin air and leaving nothing behind. Although my big brother and that person said that it might simply disappear because it lost its source of magical power, I couldn’t get it out of my mind for some reason.

I meant, I was okay with it getting annihilated or destroyed, but there should be some remnant and pieces. With it simply disappearing completely with nothing left behind… I had a bad premonition.