Ch.149148. The Culprit (2)

# 148. The Culprit (2)

“Huh? What do you mean…”

“Ah, that actually makes sense.”

She was certainly quick-witted, having already grasped the meaning of my words.

“So the culprit might not be among us.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“There aren’t many humans who could do something like this, right? So there’s a high probability that the culprit isn’t human.”

Of course, it was too early to say this with absolute certainty, but the possibility was indeed quite high.

After all, elves are generally more versed in magic than humans.

“So then…?”

“When we went to the Persian Kingdom, someone who saw us might have reported to Bael.”

“What if he didn’t know we were coming?”

“That’s not possible.”

Bael was someone who valued his own life so much that he rarely showed himself on the battlefield even when the Emperor and Merlin died, so the possibility of him taking such a gamble was extremely low.

Of course, the situation now was completely different, which could introduce variables, but the probability still remained low.

“So please contact the Persian Kingdom and tell them there might be someone who’s been communicating with the Babylonian Kingdom.”

“Alright, I’ll do that.”

With those words, Riel left to go somewhere, and as I watched her leave, I asked her:

“Where is that person going?”

“I sent her on an errand.”

“An errand?”

“Yes, Albert will be surprised when he sees it.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant, but judging by her tone and expression, which seemed more excited than usual, it must be something quite good.

It seemed like she had ordered a new artifact or purchased a high-performance item.

“I doubt I’ll be surprised. Do you know how many items I’ve seen?”

During my time as a special forces soldier and knight commander, I had seen countless items.

I had seen artisan-made artifacts as well as items dropped in dungeons to the point of exhaustion.

And in the process, I had seen many so-called “broken items” with ratings exceeding S-class.

Because of that, it was almost impossible for an item to surprise me.

That’s what I thought…

However, shortly after, Riel returned with some object in her hand.

And she was with Ariya.

‘Huh…?’

The enormous magical power emanating from Riel, or more precisely, from the object she was holding.

I couldn’t help but be taken aback by that energy, which surpassed not only mine but even her magical power.

‘What… is that?’

I couldn’t easily think of an object that could emit such energy.

It was too small to be a magic stone and too large to be an egg of a high-level monster.

‘Then… a heart?’

That was the only thing that came to mind right now.

Still, with that level of energy, it must be the heart of an extremely powerful monster.

For example, something like a dragon…

“Ah… a dragon’s heart?”

Hearing my small mutter, she smiled meaningfully and answered.

“A bit surprised, aren’t you?”

“A little… bit.”

“A dragon’s heart?!”

Ellin was fidgeting beside me.

It seemed she was excited about the opportunity to see this legendary item that she had only heard about.

“Is it real?!”

“Yes, of course. Ellin, you saw that video too, right?”

The video filmed by a journalist from the Orion Kingdom.

That video captured everything about the second Battle of Eden.

From the first day of the battle to the last day when Bael joined the battlefield.

The video spread throughout the empire via the internet, and we had watched it too.

And the video also showed our party members and the imperial army joining forces to hunt the dragon.

“The body separation is finally complete.”

Extracting a heart from a dragon’s corpse is not an easy task, and in reality, it’s such a difficult process that it takes about two weeks even with a significant number of experts working on it.

That object was the result of such difficult work.

Ellin stared blankly at the object and asked her:

“That’s… for the princess, right?”

From her timid tone, voice, and expression, I could tell how much Ellin wanted it.

Ellin didn’t have a large amount of basic magical power, and she consumed a lot of mana when using skills, which made her desire heart-related skills even more.

‘But unfortunately…’

Ellin had absolutely no talent in that area.

In fact, Ellin didn’t acquire such skills until she grew strong enough to hunt dragons herself.

To begin with, the conditions for obtaining ordinary skills varied from person to person, so while some people quickly acquired heart-related skills like her, others, like Ellin, couldn’t get them no matter what they tried.

“It’s yours?”

Of course, even so, the possibility of that heart going to Ellin was close to zero.

After all, she was here.

“I guess so…?”

To be honest, Ellin was certainly qualified to receive it.

Her status wasn’t that inferior, and while her skills might be lacking compared to the princess, in absolute terms, she was more than deserving.

After all, she was the second most talented magician in the academy.

‘Still, it won’t happen.’

That’s what I thought, but that thought, like before, was quickly changed.

Just by a single statement from her.

“It’s for Ellin.”

“Yes… I thought so… What?! Really?!”

Her timid tone and voice became the complete opposite, and Ellin’s bright eyes lit up with excitement.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected this at all.

‘She’s giving this away?’

It seemed that she didn’t feel the need to increase her magical power in the current situation.

And unlike her, Ellin keenly felt that necessity.

The overlap of their situations seemed to have resulted in the decision to give it to Ellin.

“Hey! Look! It’s mine! It’s mine!”

Ellin was extremely excited.

Ignoring that annoying guy, I asked her:

“You’re giving this away?”

“For now, I don’t really… need it, so I thought it would be better to give it to Ellin.”

Hearing her words, Ellin smiled brightly and shouted in a proud voice:

“See! I told you it’s mine…”

“Shut up.”

Ellin, whose words were cut off, seemed to realize that she had gotten too excited.

“Alright… I think I got too excited…”

“Huh?”

His ready admission was quite unnatural.

It was to the point where I doubted if he was the same person I knew.

‘And I told him to shut up…’

Something must have happened.

“Did something happen to you?”

“What are you talking about…”

But judging by his reaction, it didn’t seem like anything special had happened.

It seemed he was just in a good mood because he received the dragon’s heart.

“Never mind…”

After that conversation, I asked Ariya, who had been watching us with a warm expression from the side:

“So, are we starting right away?”

“What? Are we doing it here?”

The surgery to implant a dragon’s heart into a human.

Normally, it would be done in a hospital, but seeing that Ariya had come in person, there was a good possibility that it would be done in the academy’s infirmary.

“Of course. More importantly, would you like to come out?”

Ariya was speaking to empty air.

That meant someone was hiding there.

‘It must be Merlin…’

After that, a figure appeared from where Ariya was looking, accompanied by an energy even stronger than what the dragon’s heart was emitting.

An elderly magician wearing quite luxurious robes.

It was indeed Merlin.

“Hello? It’s been a while, everyone.”

“You always make such a dramatic entrance. You could have just been here from the beginning.”

“Why did you have to reveal that…”

Merlin, who seemed a bit upset that Ariya had revealed his hiding, looked at Ellin and said:

“We don’t have much time, so let’s start right away.”

***

Around the time when Ellin’s heart transplant surgery was in full swing at the Imperial Academy of the Kainis Empire.

A mysterious elf living in the Persian Kingdom.

For an elf, his skin was slightly dark.

And it seemed like he was deliberately covering his dark skin with makeup.

Of course, he still had the characteristic elongated ears of elves, so there was no doubt he was an elf.

The elf was using a magic circle set up in his room to communicate with someone.

“As the master said, the princess has headed to the Kainis Empire.”

I’m not sure what the elf’s counterpart said, but it didn’t seem to be good news.

“What…? You want me to… do that?”

After hearing the next answer, the elf, who seemed to have made some kind of decision, immediately continued the conversation.

“Then if I succeed in that… will you let me meet him now?”

This time, it seemed like he heard something good.

“I understand…”

With that answer, the elf ended the communication and gazed in the direction of his homeland with a distant look.

Then, in an infinitely quiet voice, he murmured:

“This time, I’ll really… be able to meet him…”