Chapter 17: The Blessing of the Five-pointed Star (2/2)
by fnovelpia
“What about the materials?”
Elizabeth looked at her notebook and asked.
The materials Clemental requested were a wand, a magic ring, and parchment.
A wand started at 20 million won, and a magic ring was at least 10 million.
Parchment was relatively cheap.
The wand was a tool that helped manifest magic, and the magic ring assisted with calculations.
Clemental had told them to bring such expensive items as if they were nothing, but for middle-class families like ours, the cost was outrageous.
“We actually have them at home.”
“We do?”
“It’s from a long time ago. I helped a mage once, and instead of money, he gave me a wand and a ring.”
That was a lie.
They were mine.
I got them from Chevalier, but I hadn’t used them since reaching the 6th Circle.
Once we got home, I pulled out a box that had been gathering dust in a corner for years.
It wasn’t the one with my royal guard uniform, letters, and the ring—it was a different one.
Heh.
I brushed off the dust and opened the box, taking out the wand and the magic ring.
The wand was about 25 centimeters long, and the ring was silver.
Both tools showed signs of frequent use.
Leo tried them on again for the first time in ages.
Despite their worn appearance, they worked perfectly.
“Try them out.”
Elizabeth put the ring on her index finger and held up the wand.
“Wow, I really feel like a mage! That mage must’ve been amazing. He gave you something so valuable. He must’ve really liked you.”
“I just received them. You’ll be able to use them for several years.”
There’s no problem with their origin.
The wand and the magic ring were from a well-known imperial brand.
Not common, but not impossible to find either.
In other words, there was no risk of my identity being traced from them.
“Alright, shall we check something?”
“Check what?”
“Your body. Take off your shirt and sit with your back facing me for a bit.”
“Huh?”
“Just for a moment.”
Embarrassed, Elizabeth still did as she was told and turned around.
“Excuse me.”
Leo placed his palm gently on Elizabeth’s bare back.
“…!?”
“Sorry. Did that surprise you?”
“N-No… but why do I have to take off my shirt…?”
Her face turned red.
“To properly examine your mana, I need direct contact with bare skin. Alright, here I go.”
He channeled mana into her body.
Every person has mana.
And mana flows through mana roads, much like veins.
The flexibility and precision of those mana roads determine the body’s compatibility with magic.
These are categorized into five levels—Grade 1 through Grade 5.
I was a Grade 1.
‘…What is this.’
As I examined Elizabeth’s interior, I blinked in surprise.
Elizabeth was something beyond Grade 1.
Her mana roads were spread throughout her body like capillaries.
With every beat of her heart, vivid mana surged in all directions.
I’ve never seen a mana road this dense and straight before.
It was almost ten—no, a hundred times more impressive than first-class talent.
‘Is this even possible?’
But that wasn’t what surprised Leo the most.
The mana road in Elizabeth’s heart was forming a pentagram.
The five points represented a star.
Leo recalled a story Chevalier once rambled about.
‘Have you ever heard of the Blessing of the Pentagram?’
‘I’ve heard of it. Didn’t the Founder have it?’
Long ago, humanity was enslaved by demons.
It was an era where dreams and hope were luxuries.
Humans were either devoured or used like livestock.
Then one day, in Luden…
A mage blessed with the pentagram drove out the demons and ushered in the age of humanity.
It was the founding myth of the Empire.
‘Elizabeth has the Founder’s talent? After a thousand years?’
Leo couldn’t believe it, so he checked again.
But no matter how many times he checked, the pentagram was clearly embedded in Elizabeth’s heart.
‘What am I supposed to do with this?’
This was serious.
In the next class, Clemental would likely assess each student’s talents just like this.
And he would discover Elizabeth’s Blessing of the Pentagram.
‘This is bad.’
No, this wasn’t just bad—it was catastrophic.
The Blessing of the Pentagram wasn’t something that could be dismissed as simply ‘great talent.’
It was divine talent—what ended the Age of Darkness and opened the age of man.
The Founder was devoured by his own children after his death.
Though his children were talented in magic, none of them could match the Blessing of the Pentagram.
Burdened by inferiority, they devoured the Founder’s corpse when he died.
His eyes, heart, and brain.
The eyes became astral vision.
The heart held infinite mana.
The brain granted overwhelming insight.
Each of the three children inherited one of those powers, and the Empire was divided.
Later, the eldest son who had eaten the Founder’s heart killed his siblings, devoured their eyes and brain, and completed the full Blessing of the Pentagram.
In other words, the Blessing of the Pentagram could be stolen by consuming the person who possessed it.
Clemental was a royal mage.
If he reported this to the royal family, Elizabeth’s life would be in danger.
‘Would the royal family really go that far?’
Consuming someone’s organs—like eating their liver.
It was unethical, but to selfish people, the value was too high to ignore.
The Founder reached the 10th Circle in just five years.
He was nearly a god. He moved mountains and redirected rivers to create the Empire’s borders.
Since the death of the Founder and his eldest son, the Blessing of the Pentagram hadn’t appeared in a thousand years.
Nor had a 10th Circle mage.
Even after a thousand years, the Blessing of the Pentagram still held immeasurable value.
As horrifying as it was, the royal family might try to consume Elizabeth.
The current king was said to be kind.
But Leo didn’t trust that.
Even a kind king could lose his mind over the Blessing of the Pentagram.
So it had to be hidden.
No one could find out.
***
“Dad…?”
Elizabeth looked worried when Leo fell silent.
“Sweetheart, don’t learn magic.”
“What are you talking about? Why not learn magic?”
“…Could you just do as I say?”
It wasn’t the kind of request someone could easily agree to.
But since Leo had never spoken so seriously before, Elizabeth calmly replied.
“Please explain what you mean.”
Leo parted his lips and said, “You don’t have any talent. It’d be a waste of money.”
“…Really?”
Elizabeth flicked her fingers.
A tiny breeze suddenly stirred.
It was as faint as a breath, but Leo could sense mana within it. It was magic.
“…!!”
“Do I really have no talent?”
“H-How…?”
“I don’t know. I just followed the textbook, and it worked.”
“But you don’t even have a circle yet.”
“I used the mana in the air.”
‘She used the mana in the air?’
That was like saying she moved a train with pebbles instead of coal.
Ambient mana was so full of impurities it was impossible to use it for magic in its raw state.
It had to be filtered through a circle inside the body.
“Do I really have no talent?”
Elizabeth’s eyes, as she asked again, were filled with conviction.
“Well, I mean…”
Leo stammered.
Telling her not to do magic now would just sound like an excuse.
“….”
Leo fell silent, lowering his gaze, while Elizabeth looked directly at him.
Her gaze demanded an explanation.
Leo let out a deep, heavy sigh and spoke.
“Elizabeth.”
“Yes?”
“There’s something I haven’t told you.”
“Please tell me.”
Leo bringing it up meant he had decided to speak.
Elizabeth nodded and waited.
“I used to be a mage.”
“I graduated from the Imperial Academy. Then… some things happened. I ended up in Lenz, and, well… that’s how things turned out.”
Leo told the best lie he could manage.
This was the limit.
He couldn’t say that…
She was the daughter of a dead emperor, and he was just a stranger raising her at the emperor’s request.
Elizabeth gazed at Leo with a thoughtful expression.
For some reason, Leo felt small under her gaze and tried to read her reaction.
“So that’s how it is?”
Elizabeth smiled softly.
The tense atmosphere instantly melted.
“Geez…”
“Haha.”
“You looked so serious for something like that.”
“I thought you were going to say I’m not really your daughter or something… I was nervous.”
Leo flinched and pulled Elizabeth into a hug.
Elizabeth hugged him back.
“There’s no way that’s true. You’re my precious daughter. Why, were you hoping otherwise?”
“Yes.”
“Huh?”
Leo blinked.
“Just kidding. I’m really happy to be your precious daughter.”
Elizabeth smiled brightly as she looked up at him.
0 Comments