LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 94 — In which they meet (8)
Chapter 94 — In which they meet (8)
“They seem to be heading to the servants’ quarters…?”
“Do they want to mess with Lord Archmage’s servants?”
“Come to think of it, I didn’t see any staff besides some essential personnel. Will there be anyone there?”
“Perhaps most things are automated? I heard that in Rubrun all meals are prepared by sentient puppets.”
“Isn’t it a bit of an extravagation? Magic is terribly costly. Unless it’s something that can only be made with magic they will just use hands and iron to do menial tasks.”
“I can dream, can’t I?”
Listening to Apric and Tangeri’s conversation with one ear, Saffra kept thinking.
‘The heat isn’t decreasing…’
Saffra stole a glance at the magic circles adoring the walls, as she recalled the conversation she had with her older brother a long time ago.
— Why waste so much money and power on magic defenses?
— Yes?
Saffra, who was at the time brainstorming how to defend their barely won battle front, grumbled.
— Aren’t they too easy to break? As a basis, the two spells of the same type will cancel each other out, right? So the moment you figure out the defense spell, the entire defense system is gone. During a fight, the mage can cast another spell or adjust it to match the opponent, but if the mage is not present and is just passively maintaining the defense spell, breaking it without notice is extremely easy. Hell, even if you’re not a mage you can deceive the spell with some random everyday objects.
— Indeed. Most magic defenses actually have no sense.
— Then why!? Why my money, Ver!?
— Because if your mage is really good at their job, the magic defenses become almost impenetrable. If what you described is like a house of cards, then the defense system of an excellent mage resembles domino pieces. A failure of one spell will lead to the chain activation of other spells, if those fail, another will activate. What more, a mage doesn’t have to be passive, they can actively put and take out domino pieces to change the reactions and respond to situations accordingly.The drawback of this method though is that it takes enormous mental power. If things escalate, the mage may find themself unable to respond to the situation around them. This is a very dangerous situation on the battlefield so…
— … Ver, Ver. Do you want to become a domino master? I’ll wrap you in a blanket and carry you around, protecting you while you…
Saffra observed the mana flow as she bitterly thought:
‘Domino effect also means that if something starts falling, everything else starts falling.’
The ruler of Red Throne, the Archmage was often regarded as the best mage in Rubrun.
And observing his magic circles, Saffra could see the expertise worthy of that.
‘But he is using a lot of energy to stabilize the defenses.’
It was very clear that many circles that should remain inactive were flaring up for no reason.
‘That’s because the magical devices are overheating.’
A magical device was in simple terms any object that operated on mana and spells.
A communication stone was a type of magical device.
Similarly, the bug that Saffra created to listen on Monachra’s conversations, when she started to suspect there was something wrong with the foundation, was a magical device.
But there were many other devices.
For example Saffra saw numerous temperature, moisture and air pressure meters around this building.
As the spells were prone to be easily deceived, the changes registered by those devices could indicate a problem or attack and allow the owner to adjust his defense system.
The problem was that those instruments were overheating right now.
‘It can’t be mana… Lord Archmage would already deal with it if it was mana-based…’
“My Lady?”
Saffra suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She mumbled under her breath:
“Right. They should also send out an envoy.”
There was a power, which wasn’t mana, but could easily affect the devices in surrealistic manner that would be hard for a mage to detect and stop…
“You go stop the clones. I have something to check.”
“Yes? My Lady, wait!”
Ignoring the shouts of her ladies-in-waiting, she ran towards the place she suspected the culprit behind the heat could be found at.
‘Just wait a moment! I’ll put you in the ice water, damn it!’
She really didn’t like heat.
And priests of Purplus were just about to learn about it very thoroughly.
*-*-*
Citrie quietly crossed another corridor.
He was alone, splitting from Mimosa’s two subordinates when the two clones they were following took different turns.
Citrie decided to follow one of them alone, but when he peeked out around a corner, he faced a problem.
‘Where did that guy go?’
The corridor in front of him was straight, without any turns.
There were some doors though.
‘Did he enter one of the rooms?’
That was quite problematic.
How will he tell which door?
Perhaps it would be best if he hid in one of the rooms and waited for the guy to come out?
But then he risked missing what the clone may potentially do in the room.
Moreover…
Click.
Suddenly, the door in front of Citrie, who was deliberating over whether he should open them or not, opened on their own.
As Citrie stepped back in surprise, the light from a window cast over the figure in the doorway, seemingly as surprised at this sudden meeting as Citrie.
The bright red eyes, that burned like two red suns, blinked slowly.
The young man’s black hair was a bit messy, but strangely, Citrie, who was always very picky about hair, felt that it suit that man.
Perhaps he just liked how those loose strands of hair caught and reflected light, coloring them in red hues, just like butterflies’ wings do.
Or perhaps Citrie was just too stunned to think straight.
‘Ah… So there are good-looking people in Rubrun, huh?’
When Citrie did a quick reconnaissance under the excuse of checking for Mimosa if Saffra was okay, before the clones appeared, Citrie saw the high-ranking members of Rubrun’s society and was…
He wasn’t actually sure if he saw them, because it was hard to tell where decorations ended and the person begun.
But be it people or decorations, they were very much not his taste.
Secretly, he felt somehow disappointed.
But now that disappointment was completely washed away by his rushing blood and racing heart.
He didn’t know if he spent mere seconds or entire minutes just staring blankly as he appreciated the person in front of him.
Only when the young man lightly tilted his head, Citrie snapped back to his senses.
“I’m just passing by.”
He blurted out without thinking.
The mouth’s corner of the man, who was just looking at him expressionlessly, raised very slightly.
“I didn’t ask.”
And Citrie suffered another blow.
‘Why is your voice also so pretty?!’
It was a soft, melodious tone.
Like a bird, but Citrie never heard such a bird before… No, wait…
But he didn’t have time to figure it out, as the person before him spoke again.
“Hm, that’s quite a conundrum. I’m not sure if my eyes are deceiving me or the air is just so thick…”
“Yes?”
“Sir, you said you were ‘passing by’, and I truly wish to believe you, but you didn’t move a step for… some time now.”
“Ah, actually...Mi…”
Citrie was about to call the man in front of him ‘Mister’, but hesitated.
The robe the man wore looked simple at a glance, but it certainly wasn’t a cheap fabric and the jewels sparsely decorating it seemed to be sincere diamonds.
So he certainly wasn’t a servant, and rather, he probably was someone of a very high status.
‘Mister’ would be offensive, but if Citrie addressed him as Grandmaster it could also come off as offensive if the man was of lower status.
The only thing Citrie could be sure of was that the young man wasn’t the current Archmage, because he saw the picture of that one before.
He swallowed as he felt cold sweat drip down his back.
Finally, he spat out:
“Lord Mage.”
The man raised an eyebrow, but didn’t show any other reaction.
Was it acceptable?
Citrie wasn’t sure, he only knew that the title ‘Lord Mage’ to a superior mage of unspecified rank… No, let’s not think about it anymore.
“Lord Mage, have you seen someone suspicious passing through this corridor?”
“Why? Are you looking for your twin, Sir?”
Citrie closed his mouth for a moment, because this answer had similar energy to someone he knew.
No, no, that someone was a snake, who liked to torture people under the excuse of taking care of them.
The beautiful person in front of him with a singing voice and warm eyes was completely different. No relation.
“No, I’m looking for someone else’s twin.”
“Is that so? I’m glad, it would be complicated if there were two of you, Sir.”
Citrie wasn’t quite sure what was that supposed to mean.
But the young man didn’t seem too keen on clearing his doubts, as he continued:
“The man you’re looking for took the third door on the left and went up to the second floor, to the fourth balcony of the main hall.”
“… Ah, yes, thank you.”
“My pleasure. Now, please continue on your passing by, Sir.”
Saying that, the man passed Citrie first and quickly disappeared around the corner.
He vanished as suddenly as he appeared, leaving behind only a faint scent of citrus and sugar.
*~*~*