Ch.145145 – Follower

<145 – Follower>

Dark mana is inherently treated as poison.

If even a small amount of dark mana infiltrates the body, one must immediately circulate mana through cultivation techniques to filter out only the dark mana and expel it.

Whether expelled as sweat, coughed up with blood, or discharged as bodily fluids, the means and methods don’t matter.

“Do you understand, Princess? If you consume dark mana, you must expel it rather than trying to use it.”

“Pathetic♡”

The young Massgakki Second Princess in her childhood days scoffed at the tutor employed by the imperial palace.

“Just mixing a small amount of dark mana with regular mana increases destructive power♡ If handled properly, there’s nothing more useful♡ You’re just afraid because you lack confidence in controlling it, aren’t you~?”

“Well, that’s true. However, when you become familiar with dark mana, you eventually succumb to temptation. Thoughts like ‘If I handle a bit more dark mana, I could become stronger’ or ‘If I change my attribute to darkness completely, I could dramatically improve my skills’ begin to surface.”

The tutor issued a stern warning.

“That’s how everyone becomes addicted to dark mana. Once addicted, when you encounter a monster stronger than yourself, a human traitor who’s become a Mein, or a demon targeting high-ranking imperial officials and royal family members, you won’t be able to utilize your full power and will be defeated.”

Dark mana is deadly poison to those without talent.

For the talented or wealthy, there exist secret arts to escape the side effects of dark mana.

Using special incantations.

Increasing safety through medicinal refinement methods.

Artificially building resistance by deceiving the mana into thinking this body isn’t pure enough to be tamed while attacking the flesh.

Suppressing it with opposing forces.

Such secrets exist even within the imperial family.

This makes it easier to become immersed in dark mana, and to prevent such dangers in advance, the tutor strictly pointed out:

“Look. This guard became obsessed with dark mana and walked the wrong path. He failed to prevent an incubus’s intrusion and defiled the chastity of His Majesty’s concubine, for which he is scheduled for execution.”

Thanks to the tutor who was serious about early education—showing even a 10-year-old the sight of someone having their head chopped off on the guillotine—the Massgakki Second Princess clearly recognized the dangers of dark mana.

However, the princess secretly thought:

“Weakling♡ Coward♡ If his dark mana absolute value had been higher than the incubus’s, the incubus would have submitted to him instead♡”

If one were to fall anyway, wouldn’t it be better to gather enough dark mana to make even an incubus say “Oh my, you seem to outrank me” and then use that incubus as a subordinate to deal with political enemies?

Having grown up with such an admiration for corruption, the Massgakki Princess became jealous upon hearing that Oknodie had deep knowledge of the dark attribute and could handle black magic.

“What magic did she learn this time~?”

“During the lesson on the theory of sight expansion magic, she learned dark vision magic, and instead of automatic tooth-brushing magic, she learned a spell that turns teeth black.”

“Huh~? Useless! There must be more impressive magic. Are you sure you got the information right~?”

“I-I’m sorry. That’s all for this week.”

“There must be more black-magic-like spells♡ Like magic that makes people blind, or guided tracking attack magic that automatically breaks others’ teeth♡”

“I apologize for not meeting your expectations, but it’s quite remarkable that she either learned variations of theoretical magic on her own or applied practical magic in new ways.”

“Incompetent♡ Too many excuses♡ Fine, go study for your assignments♡ By the way, the answer to problem 3 in that workbook is wrong♡”

“Ah, thank you, Princess!”

The follower closed the door and left, and the princess could hear him chatting with a friend waiting outside.

-What did she say?

-She asked what black magic Oknodie learned. And she helped me with my studies too. The Princess is truly kind-hearted. She must be deeply concerned about fellow students’ grades.

-Come on, that must be your misunderstanding. Think logically. Why would the Princess care about what black magic Oknodie has learned?

-Then why do you think she’s interested?

-Obviously to use it as a weakness! She’s probably preparing a petition to His Majesty the Emperor asking if it’s safe to leave a child who has learned such terrible black magic alone. Ultimately, she plans to have her killed with an imperial execution order!

-Shut up! Don’t slander the Princess. She doesn’t know such devious methods! She’s a good person who even helped me with my assignments both last time and this time!

-Sigh. Your head’s gone completely to the flower fields. That’s why people say you’re completely infatuated with the Princess.

The sound of followers arguing—one thinking the princess was a good person and the other thinking she was bad.

‘How boring♡’

She simply didn’t want her followers’ academic performance to suffer because of tasks she assigned them, as that would reflect poorly on her.

It’s true she had thoughts about what to do with Oknodie, but not because she wanted to kill her—rather, she coveted Oknodie’s expertise in black magic.

The admiration for black magic she harbored since childhood.

The psychological rebellion against her tutor’s early education.

All these combined to make her see only opportunity.

A chance to lure Oknodie into becoming her underling and use her knowledge of black magic and mana-gathering techniques to become a master of dark mana!

The Massgakki Second Princess’s true intentions were completely different from her subordinates’ speculations!

“Idiots♡ Just so you know, I won’t be cheering for you♡ If you bring me the dishonor of having a follower who fails, I absolutely won’t let it slide♡”

“Woooah! The Princess is encouraging us. Everyone, let’s make sure we pass!”

“Isn’t this a reward rather than encouragement? Being scolded in the morning makes me so happy!”

“…You fools. She’s subtly warning us that if we fail the exam, our family businesses will suddenly face difficulties, trading partners of 20 years will unilaterally cut ties, and merchant guilds will stop dealing with us. She’s saying to behave properly if we don’t want our families ruined.”

“Why have you been so negative about the Princess lately? Are you perhaps a spy planted by Princess Yayoi?!”

“Ha. Why would I join the side of the Third Princess who doesn’t even have a faction?”

Regardless of her true feelings, the Massgakki Princess diligently managed her followers this morning as well.

Of course, it wasn’t encouragement or reward, but a threat of punishment if they failed.

If they didn’t want to be punished with a cane to their palms by the Princess, they’d better work hard!

“Princess!! Breaking news!!!”

As soon as the mana verification test ended, a student came running breathlessly.

‘Ah, that one…’

He was a follower peculiar enough for the Princess to remember.

For Question 3 (short answer): When James No.1175, who hasn’t learned mana, is pushed from the 50m high Academy dormitory roof and falls at 200km/h, what percentage of mana conductivity must the safety net have to save his life?

He had confidently answered that since higher conductivity is better, a 100% conductive safety net should be used.

‘Idiot♡ If mana transfers that well, the elasticity would be too great and he’d hit the ground anyway♡’

Still, he had correctly solved problems like: Choose the correct number of times James No.1233, running at 20km/h, must use a body enhancement spell that doubles his speed for 1 minute (but reduces his lifespan each time) to survive without being eaten by a predator chasing at 30km/h on a 10km mountain path.

Poor at application but good at simple calculations—a typical smart but ordinary student!

Not confident with short answers but relatively confident with multiple choice questions.

“Fufu♡ Did you come running to brag about getting a perfect score on the exam~? That’s a bit cute♡”

“Ah…! Th-th-thank you! But I didn’t come to brag, I came to deliver urgent news!”

He was the one other followers teased for being infatuated with her.

While she was somewhat annoyed at being expected to always act like a good person just because she was human, his heart was in the right place, so occasionally rewarding him wouldn’t hurt.

“Here’s a reward♡ You can take one♡”

“These are… rocks the size of fists? Why would Your Highness have such things…”

“I’ve been researching Oknodie’s training methods♡ If you carry heavy rocks regularly, training marches with supplies will be less difficult later♡”

“Oh! Such great wisdom…! Then I’ll take the heaviest rock!”

“Don’t overdo it and choose one you can actually carry♡ If your back gives out and you miss lectures, you’ll be the only one who suffers♡”

“Sniff. Such kindness, considering even your subordinates’ lecture progress. As expected, Princess, you’re a much better good person than the infamous Oknodie!”

“Hehe. Your flattery is excessive♡ So what’s this urgent news that had you running out of breath~?”

“Ah.”

The follower put down the rock and said:

“Oknodie extracted the soul from the mouth of a student causing a disturbance during the exam and made them faint.”

“Whaaaat?! Why are you only telling me such urgent news now?!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Never mind, just tell me more details!”

Urged by the Massgakki Princess, who had dropped her characteristic heart-adorned cutesy tone, the follower stuttered before collecting himself and answering:

“She sent the weapon of a student who was breaking rocks with dark mana flying with a single strike, tied up his feet, and then with one hand made him lose consciousness before extracting his soul!”

“Explain that incomprehensible part about ‘extracting his soul’ in detail!”

“She put her hand deep into his mouth, and when she pulled it out, the corrupted soul that had been rising pitch-black was condensed in her hand, transformed into a small bead!”

My goodness!

The Massgakki Princess covered her mouth with both hands.

How could such an evil magic exist?

“And then? What happened to that bead?”

“It was stored in Oknodie’s candy pouch! The soul bead looked just like candy, so perhaps what we thought was a candy pouch was actually a soul pouch all along!”

“…Fine. Take the heaviest rock♡”

“Huff. To bestow upon me the most precious weighted rock out of consideration for your follower’s dramatic physical improvement!”

Leaving behind the follower who was exclaiming his immense gratitude, the Massgakki Princess immediately flung open her door and hurried to where Oknodie would be.

She could tolerate everything else, but she couldn’t resist something as amazing as soul compression extraction magic.

She absolutely had to learn such an incredible spell by any means necessary!