Chapter 467: Preparation for Counterattack

Editor: Tseirp

Protected by , the group returned to the ‘White Annex’.

“The royal castle is pretty dangerous, isn’t it? Abel, it’s amazing you’ve survived for three years.”

“No, normally, it’s supposed to be the safest place in the country. I don’t think it is usually this bad in this country too…”

Ryo said with admiration for Abel’s toughness, but Abel shook his head to show that Ryo was mistaken.

The two of them whispered in the living room, a space that was wide enough to double as a meeting room within Princess Iliaja’s quarters.

The princess was in the next room, changing into more comfortable clothes.

Though it was always something like a dress, it seemed that she had worn formal attire today, given that she was visiting the Crown Princess.

The royal family sure has it tough.

Princess Iliaja returned from the next room.

Indeed, compared to what she had worn to visit the Crown Princess, her current outfit was simpler.

At the same time, the door from the hallway opened, and Kabui Somal entered.

“Your Highness… I’m glad you’re safe.”

He said, kneeling before Princess Iliaja.

“Lord Protector, you don’t need to worry. These two protected me.”

She answered with a warm smile.

The four of them sat down.

“Not just poison, but magic attacks too… That’s too bold. What is the Crown Prince’s palace planning to do about this…?”

Kabui Somal muttered as if to himself.

“Poison… oh, right. Ryo-san, was the cup that Lady Raina handed over poisoned?”

Princess Iliaja asked Ryo.

As she had assumed there must have been some kind of poison in it.

Since it was tasteless and odorless, she suspected it might have been Shurin’s poison or Chirilkaril’s poison.

“It might have been, but it’s fine. It was neutralized.”

“Neutralized?”

“Yes. I seem to have a unique constitution that repels evil energy. That also seems to include neutralizing poison…”

“Oh! So that’s why you approached me at that time.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I’ve confirmed through experiments that being within a five-second proximity can neutralize poison.”

“Could it be that Abel-san was the one who was sacrificed for that experiment…?”

Abel nodded silently in response to Princess Iliaja’s smiling inquiry.

“Abel seems to be making a very dissatisfied face, but I assure you, it’s not because he’s dissatisfied with you, Princess. What a disrespectful swordsman he is.”

“Of course not! It’s because of Ryo that I’m making this face. You know… was it the Jubi-Jubi poison? That ominous red… dangerous-looking poison that I was made to drink.”

“But it was neutralized, wasn’t it?”

“The smell was still there, and the color stayed the same! Why me… Ryo could have tested it yourself, right?”

“It wouldn’t have worked if I tested it myself. I had no choice but to try it on Abel’s body. Yes, I had no choice. How many times did I wipe away my tears of sorrow…”

“Liar! You laughed out loud, saying, ‘It can’t be helped, Abel. Please be the sacrifice!’ Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Well, I have no memory of that.”

Ryo feigned sudden memory loss like a politician standing at a podium.

Princess Iliaja giggled.

And Kabui Somal smiled wryly.

Peace is built on the sacrifices of many.

“Poison aside, the magic was dangerous… Yeah, it was magic, right?”

“What was that? I’ve never seen anything like it, not even in the central or western countries.”

Abel asked, and Ryo responded with a puzzled look.

It looked somewhat like a Japanese ‘talisman’, but from a glance, it didn’t seem as complex as a talisman or have many characters written on it.

It didn’t have the usual magic circle either… come to think of it, it could have been a design made of overlapping squares and triangles.

“Could it be closer to alchemy than magic? It’s intriguing.”

Ryo said thoughtfully.

Kabui Somal seemed to have an idea and opened his mouth to speak.

“It might have been a spellcaster from the continent.”

“Spellcaster?”

The princess, Abel, and Ryo all spoke in unison.

Each with different tones.

Princess Iliaja in pure curiosity.

Abel sensing trouble.

And Ryo with sparked interest…

“I’m not very knowledgeable about it myself, but apparently, there are quite a few of them on the continent. They use spell tags to activate or enhance magic from a distance. There are also spirit tags that can summon and control spirits or monsters.”

“Wow!”

Ryo reacted with the most excitement to Kabui Somal’s explanation.

“That’s fascinating! So, that means the earlier attack was done by activating magic remotely using a spell tag. Interesting, interesting. Even though the caster never showed up in the end, they must have been at a distance. Why was that? Couldn’t they get inside?”

“Yeah. I wondered about that too. If they were going to go that far, they should have finished it in one blow. Failing once will make the defenses even stronger the next time.”

Abel added his thoughts, agreeing with Ryo’s observation.

Surprisingly, it was Princess Iliaja who answered them.

“Perhaps it wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Plan?”

“Yes. The invitation to the Crown Prince’s palace today was Lady Raina’s decision. It may have been a sudden decision. Although Lady Raina administered the poison…”

Princess Iliaja paused for a moment.

Closed her eyes, then opened them wide and continued.

“Although Lady Raina administered the poison, she was only involved up to that point. I believe she wasn’t aware of the attack.”

“Why do you think that?”

Kabui Somal asked.

“I thought so from the look on Lady Raina’s face.”

“I see.”

“The Crown Prince’s palace is not a place that outsiders can enter so easily. If the attackers had known in advance that I would be invited, they might have infiltrated and attacked from within… but if that wasn’t the case.”

“They had no choice but to attack from the outside…”

Ryo and Abel nodded in agreement with Princess Iliaja and Kabui Somal’s conclusion.

“Because the plan was so sudden, we managed to get away with it this time, but…”

“After going that far, there’s no turning back now.”

“If they know for certain that Her Highness will be at a specific place at a specific time… they will prepare thoroughly for the attack.”

“The coronation ceremony, right?”

“In three days…”

Abel and Kabui Somal said.

“Excuse me, I have a question…”

“Yes, what is it, Ryo-san?”

“Regarding the spellcaster and the talismans you mentioned earlier, is there anyone in the castle who is knowledgeable about these matters? It seems like we know too little about our enemy to effectively protect ourselves…”

“You’re right. We can’t defend against something we don’t understand. As I recall… Elder Boiznan is well-versed in these subjects.”

“The healer? The one who gave the lecture on poisons, right?”

“Yes. Elder Boiznan spent many years training on the continent in his youth. That’s why he’s knowledgeable about continental poisons, and he’s also well-informed about spellcasters and talismans. He doesn’t use them himself, but one of his former disciples became proficient with talismans… Given the circumstances, I’ll make sure to ask him to teach you, Ryo-san.”

“Oh, thank you so much!”

And so, Ryo spent the next three days thoroughly learning about spellcasters and talismans.

Elder Boiznan’s lectures were very easy to understand, and Ryo found them enjoyable.

Of course, his primary goal was to protect Princess Iliaja, who was being targeted, but… even so, learning new things was always a joy.

That joy couldn’t be suppressed.

Some might call it curiosity.

Curiosity killed the cat, as they say, but it’s an inherent trait of intelligent beings.

The desire to know what you don’t know… it’s the nature of sentient beings.

On the second night of his studies, Ryo bowed his head to Abel.

“What’s up? Why so formal all of a sudden?”

“Abel, may I use one of these magic stones?”

Ryo asked as he pulled out a small blue magic stone.

About half the size of a pinky nail, but with a deep, intense blue hue.

“Is that from those fish-like sea monsters we caught?”

After defeating the Kraken, on the way back, they encountered bait balls and used the seven-armed Neil Andersen, the second ship of the Rondo class, to capture the fish-like creatures.

These creatures had magic stones inside them.

“If you give me the go-ahead, I promise to repay you.”

“No, it’s not really up to me. You were the one who collected them on the ship, so you should do whatever you want with them.”

“No, I can’t do that. We collected them together. Those who sail together share everything. Anything obtained on the ship should be divided equally.”

“O-Okay…”

Ryo had this strangely meticulous sense of duty in situations like this.

And Abel knew that about him.

“Well, go ahead and use it as you like.”

“Thank you, Abel! I’ll divide the remaining six stones between us.”

“Alright…”

“Is that not enough? If so, I’ll reduce my cake privilege from once a week to once every two weeks… if necessary.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ryo proposed reluctantly.

“No… besides, you won’t be able to use your cake privilege until we return to the kingdom.”

“Ugh…it’s a harsh world we live in.”

Abel said, exasperated, while Ryo shook his head in dismay.

The next day, Ryo handed one of the stones to Kabui Somal. Along with a piece of paper with something drawn on it.

Kabui Somal accepted it with a surprised look.

“It should be ready by tomorrow morning.”

Hearing this response, Ryo nodded happily.

Afterward, he began inscribing magic formulas on his alchemy tool.

The usual ice board that he could freely create and erase as needed.

While guarding Princess Iliaja, Ryo would write magic formulas on the ice board whenever he had a free moment.

Occasionally, he would generate ice to test and verify his work…

From the sidelines, Abel couldn’t fully understand what Ryo was doing, but he could tell it had something to do with defense.

It seemed that the magic circles and formulas he was drawing would be ‘transferred’ onto something that would arrive the next day.

That object would then become an alchemy tool.

Abel had seen both Ryo and Kenneth inscribe magic formulas onto alchemy tools using this method, so he was somewhat familiar with the process.

But there was one thing that puzzled him.

That night.

Even after returning to his room, Ryo continued working on his ice board.

However, after dinner, it seemed like he had reached a stopping point.

He began making coffee.

Which he usually had a maid bring, but this time he was brewing it himself.

He must have gained some confidence about the outcome.

At that moment, Abel decided to ask the question that had been on his mind.

“Hey, Ryo, when we were attacked in the Crown Prince’s palace, your ice wall was peeled off, right?”

“Yes, it was.”

“Why did that happen? Was it like what happened with the Kraken?”

Abel remembered how, during the battle on Neil Andersen, the Kraken had taken control of Ryo’s , peeling it off bit by bit.

Since this incident seemed similar, he asked.

However, Ryo shook his head and explained.

“It looked the same, but the cause was different. The Kraken took over the control of the magic. You could say it overwrote it. But this time, it wasn’t that the control was taken, it was that the mana lines were shifted out of place.”

“Mana lines? Shifted out of place?”

Abel couldn’t fully understand what Ryo was saying.

This was something that only a magician could grasp.

“For example, with , even after I create it, I continue to supply it with magic power. You can’t see it, but a magician can feel it. I call this the ‘mana line’. However, due to the effect of that… ‘talisman’, the mana line gets shifted. As a result, the gradually moved out of my control… I believe that talisman disrupts magic power.”

“Hmm. I don’t completely get it, but I think I understand the general idea.”

Abel responded, nodding slightly while furrowing his brows.

However, this raised another concern.

“So… can that issue be resolved by turning it into an alchemy tool?”

During their battle with the Kraken, he had managed to prevent the magic control from being taken by creating the through alchemy.

Would the alchemy tool that Ryo was crafting solve the problem with the mana lines this time as well?

“Probably not, at least not in principle.”

“Hey…”

“But logically speaking, the closer something is, the smaller the shift becomes, right?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“For example, imagine you’re shooting an arrow. If you’re aiming at a distant target, a sudden gust of wind or even a slight wobble when releasing the arrow could cause a large deviation by the time it hits.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“But if you’re aiming at something close, even if there’s a gust of wind or a slight wobble, the deviation will be much smaller, right?”

“That makes sense.”

“So, if the source of magic power and the target spell are close to each other, even if the talisman shifts the magic power line, the effect will be minimized. And what if the source and the target were directly attached?”

“I see. You plan to put a fine ice armor, created by the alchemy tool, on Princess Iliaja. And if she wears the alchemy tool itself, then there’s no room for the mana line to shift…”

Abel grasped the idea, and Ryo nodded happily.

An alchemy tool with a magic stone embedded in it is, in a sense, self-sufficient. You could call it a standalone device.

“During the coronation ceremony, we won’t be able to stay close to her. Under normal circumstances, that would be fine. Even if we’re a bit of a distance away, I could protect her with . But if there’s a talisman involved… continuously creating every five seconds gets tiresome.”

“We’ll be seated in the guest area, right?”

“Yes. Abel, did you see that amazing outfit they sent you?”

“Yeah. Apparently, it’s formal attire… and every part of it is top quality.”

Abel glanced at the outfit hanging on a mannequin-like stand in the corner of the room.

Kabui Somal had told him that he was expected to wear it and sit in the guest seats.

“Ryo, you’re fine with wearing your usual robe…?”

“This robe was a gift from my master. It’s called the Robe of the Fairy King, and it’s not something that can be made by human hands. There’s no better attire for a ceremony like this.”

“Hmm… is that so?”

Abel raised an eyebrow at Ryo’s passionate explanation.

While it was indeed an extraordinary robe, Abel couldn’t help but feel that for a formal ceremony, a bit more decoration might be appropriate… he compared it to the outfit prepared for him and thought that something more ornate would be better suited for the occasion.

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