Ch.94Black Magic Workshop – 3

“…….”

I widened my eyes. I prayed desperately, hoping that somehow I had seen wrong.

I wished frantically that it was just my imagination, something we could laugh off and move past.

But the magic circle drawn on the scroll and the formula scribbled beneath it clearly revealed that this was something intended for black magic.

The strength suddenly drained from my body, forcing me to stagger back and lean against the desk for support. The scroll slipped weakly through my fingers and fell to the floor.

I couldn’t gather my thoughts through the shock. It felt like someone had struck my head with a hammer. My vision swam.

“This… someone was actually… researching black magic?”

With trembling hands, I picked up the scroll with the magic circle again. The symbols glowing black and the formula written below.

And even a warning note added as if doing a favor: ‘Be sure to use black blood.’

As soon as I saw that warning, I crumpled the scroll. The paper made a strange crunching sound as it wrinkled.

‘These fearless bastards.’

I gritted my teeth. Idiots who didn’t even know what they were dealing with, blinded by curiosity and unable to think straight.

I barely managed to calm my quickening breath. It had been a while since my emotions had been this stirred.

No, to begin with, there were extremely few things that could agitate me like this.

I needed to find that mage woman. Find her and absolutely question her about what she was doing here and how deeply she’d gotten involved with black magic.

Finding where Charlotte had stashed the mage wasn’t difficult. One of the workshop walls had collapsed as if there had been an earthquake.

Clutching the scroll with the black magic formula in one hand so tightly it might crumble, I steadied myself against the wall with the other and stepped through the opening.

A magical barrier must have been blocking the sounds and blood scent from leaking out, because as soon as I entered beyond the broken wall, the pungent smell of blood wafted toward me.

I could see Charlotte’s back. Her back view with arms folded below her chest, her hair fluttering as she released mana.

In front of her was a woman screaming in pain, her arms and legs bound by glowing magic circles. That must be the mage.

The mage had deep pink hair, long enough to reach her thighs. It was completely disheveled, suggesting she had been deeply immersed in this useless research.

Her pupils were pitch black. Below them, despite being completely wrapped in a black robe, her voluptuous chest was visible.

She must have been in the middle of torture, as blood dripped from her fingertips. Her mouth was half-open in pain, and tears streamed continuously from her eyes.

Charlotte’s crimson eyes turned toward me at the sound of my footsteps. Her frosty expression melted away, and the corners of her lips turned up slightly into a smile.

“What brings you here, my lord?”

“I have business.”

“Business…”

Charlotte was about to ask what kind of business, but seeing my hardened face and the crumpled scroll in my right hand, she quietly stepped aside.

I approached the mage. Her eyes were half-glazed, and saliva dripped from her parted lips, creating a silvery thread connecting to the floor.

—SLAP!

I struck her right cheek. The woman’s head jerked sharply to the left before returning to its original position.

“Hey.”

“……”

There was no response. This time I slapped her left cheek. With another slapping sound, her head turned to the right.

Her mouth must have been cut inside as a faint red tinge was added to the dripping saliva. A groan escaped through her slightly parted lips.

“Charlotte. Wake her up.”

“As you wish.”

With Charlotte’s response, the magic circles binding the woman’s hands and feet glowed. The woman raised her head. Her pupils dilated, and her mouth opened wide.

“KYAAAAAAAH! AAAGH! AAAH! AAAAAAAH!”

Terrible screams echoed through the room. She twisted her body in all directions, repeatedly spitting blood. She seemed to be struggling to escape the binding magic, but it was a futile effort.

After about 30 seconds of screaming, the light from the binding magic circles gradually faded. The woman exhaled rough breaths, “Huk, huk.”

“Hey.”

“……”

Still no response.

“Charlotte. That thing just now, one more—”

“Yes, yes! I’ll answer, no! I will answer! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please! Please don’t do that again! I’m begging you!”

The woman sobbed profusely, bowing her head repeatedly with her trembling body. I grabbed her hair and forcibly tilted her head back.

I faced eyes consumed by terror. Tears welled up beneath them, and the whites were slightly reddened, likely from burst blood vessels.

“What were you doing here?”

“B-business related to black blood creatures—”

“That’s not what I’m talking about right now.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re trying to say—”

“Keep going until I tell you to stop.”

“I-I’m sorry! Please spare—KYAAAAH!”

The magic circles glowed again. I released her hair. After watching the woman convulsing for a moment, I turned to Charlotte.

Her face was frozen cold. The faint smile that had remained was completely gone, replaced only by cold hatred.

I had half-expected Charlotte to react this way. That’s why I deliberately made direct eye contact with that woman.

She probably wouldn’t die peacefully.

“What kind of magic is that? Did you develop some new torture magic?”

“Do you think I am that idle, my lord? I will not deny that I have created a fair number of spells designed to inflict pain on humans, but what you said is an insult I cannot overlook as the ruler of this kingdom. Are you suggesting that the monarch created magic to satisfy personal desires?”

Seeing how long-winded her response was, I could roughly guess her intentions. I inwardly smiled bitterly. Even in this situation, she was looking for an opportunity to be close to me.

“Is that so? Then what should I do?”

Charlotte spread her arms wide.

“Embrace me.”

“…I knew you’d say that.”

“Do you refuse?”

When I shook my head, I immediately felt a small impact and the warm human temperature in my arms. Two arms wrapped firmly around my waist.

Charlotte buried her face in my chest.

After wondering where to put my hands, I reluctantly placed them on Charlotte’s shoulders. The uniformed body flinched and then burrowed deeper into my embrace.

As if trying to mark me with her scent, and herself with mine, Charlotte nuzzled against me.

I heard her inhale, “Seuup,” with her face buried in my chest. The desperate screams coming from nearby were just a bonus.

“Even in this situation, you thought I was only looking for an opportunity to be close to you.”

It wasn’t surprising anymore. I smiled bitterly at Charlotte naturally reading my thoughts and stroked her head a couple of times.

“However, it is precisely because of this situation that I must act this way.”

“What do you mean?”

Charlotte, who had been nestled in my arms, lifted her head slightly and met my eyes. Her eyes were so beautiful that looking into them felt like being drawn in.

“I know well how you feel about black magic. However, you must remain calm, especially at times like this. Anger erodes reason, and emotion blinds the eyes. Judge rationally, my lord.”

To judge rationally. It was impeccably correct advice. There were too many examples of choices made while entangled in emotion leading to irreversible consequences.

But that wouldn’t do. At least now, I couldn’t and shouldn’t judge calmly and rationally.

“Charlotte.”

I sighed deeply and stopped stroking her head.

“I understand what you’re trying to say, but this is an exception. I can’t be calm about this, nor should I be. You probably know what I mean.”

“You mean black magic is that dangerous.”

“That’s right.”

“If that is truly your will, then I shall speak no more of it.”

Charlotte buried her face in my arms again.

“Just don’t make wrong choices because you can’t control your emotions.”

Nestled in the boy’s arms, feeling his warmth and scent to her heart’s content, Charlotte organized her thoughts. The situation was completely baffling to her.

When the boy entered with a tense expression and a crumpled scroll in one hand—he who never lost his composure in any situation—Charlotte immediately understood the meaning.

Only two things in this world could create such an expression on that face.

Black blood creatures and black magic.

According to the boy, black blood creatures were closely related to black magic, so essentially only black magic could evoke such serious emotions.

So it wasn’t difficult to predict what was drawn on the crumpled scroll he was carrying.

But the problem was that Charlotte hadn’t found any trace of black magic when she first entered this workshop.

That was also Charlotte’s biggest question.

Though she acted as if it were her first visit, Charlotte had long ago fully understood what research was being conducted in this workshop.

That’s why she had telekinetically shoved the other woman away to prevent the boy from seeing her. That was an action impossible without knowing the internal structure of the workshop.

If there had been a scroll with black magic, Charlotte would have noticed it first. She couldn’t have missed a magic circle emitting black light.

Moreover, when she extracted and examined all of this mage’s memories, she found no memories related to black magic.

There was only the delusion that she might be able to produce a poison stronger than Tene leaves using black blood creatures.

Furthermore, although the magic circle was clearly glowing, there was no sign of magic being activated.

That’s why Charlotte was perplexed.

She knew better than anyone that the boy wouldn’t lie about black magic, and she also knew her own abilities better than anyone.

Charlotte, who had arrived first, didn’t know about it, and neither did the researcher herself, yet only the boy knew.

It was suspicious.

Very suspicious.