novelraw Chapter 140 : Chapter 140
Chapter 140 : Chapter 140
Chapter 140: Ekampote (2)
The place Rosen led us to was the merchant guild building located in the northwest.
It was also the place where Harad and Ellen had gone to find Rosen, and where Wimar had died.
‘It’s quiet.’
I had wondered if there were luckily no witnesses that night, but now I saw that the northwest district itself had little foot traffic. Most of the buildings were vacant.
“It’s a warehouse building. Office work, receptions, and counting money are done in the southeast building.”
Rosen introduced the building.
“I manage the warehouse here, moving goods that came from the west and loading goods to be sent to the west.”
“It must be noisy. Is that why there are no people?”
“Pardon? Ah. It is noisy on many days, but that’s not why there are no people. Our territory is just like that. There are many young people who long for the capital.”
It was a phenomenon commonly experienced by territories close to the imperial capital. Young people dream of a glamorous life in the capital.
“But it’s also true that this district has fewer people.”
Rosen acted like a simple country youth.
“Only certain people come this way. The territorial residents call it a labor camp.”
Harad and Ellen tilted their heads.
Rosen had a good complexion. He didn't look like someone who worked hard.
Rosen smiled awkwardly and rolled up his sleeves.
There was a messy scar on his forearm. It was the mark of a branding iron.
“Were you a criminal?”
I recognized it immediately.
It was a brand engraved by the Empire, not the Church. A bent dagger. That meant a murderer.
‘A warehouse building where criminals work. So, a labor camp…’
Thinking, I shook my head.
“You’re not a criminal. This must be a place where mages pretending to be criminals work.”
“……”
“You didn't engrave it yourself. Someone arbitrarily assigned it to you. And we've come to meet that someone.”
I muttered as if to myself, then spoke as if explaining to Ellen.
“Why not engraved by himself?”
“If he had done it himself, he would have engraved something like theft, not murder.”
Rosen had been horrified at the mention of killing someone.
The mask of a murderer was too much for him. There was no way he would have chosen it himself.
“Is that right?”
Ellen asked Rosen.
“A-as expected, you are no ordinary person!”
Rosen's mouth fell open in admiration.
From his perspective, their methods had been exposed in an instant.
‘Thorough, yet not so thorough. It must mean that's enough.’
They must have some kind of countermeasure.
Or they have backing, or they aren't afraid of the risks.
Either way, it didn't seem like they would be that great.
‘It's closer to overconfidence.’
In reality, Rosen was caught by Wimar.
If it weren't for Harad and Ellen, he would have been purified.
That purification would not have been the end, but the beginning.
Wimar would have dug into Rosen's surrounding relationships.
It would have been only a matter of time before the employees of this building and their higher-ups were caught.
‘I see. So that's what happened in the past life.’
I slowly nodded my head.
The current Count of Ekampote was likely not the same count I remembered.
“This way.”
Though it was a warehouse, there was a reception-like room at the top of the building. A single chair and a table at the head, and a long sofa opposite it.
A young woman sat at the head of the table.
She looked to be in her mid-20s, and anyone could see she was a noble. A characteristic composure and elegance could be seen.
‘Blonde.’
The Count of Ekampote in my past life had brown hair.
“Nice to meet you. I'm Ocellin Ekampote.”
The woman smiled brightly.
I smiled too.
“Nice to meet you. I'm Harad.”
Ocellin Ekampote's smiling face froze. She introduced herself again.
“I'm Ocellin Ekampote.”
“I'm Harad.”
Ocellin Ekampote.
And not of noble blood, but the owner of this territory.
That was the reason Ocellin's face had hardened.
She was asserting her status. It was a meaningless act.
“Where is status, among fellow mages.”
“I am not a devil.”
Magic flowed.
I grinned.
“No. You are a mage.”
* * *
It was like that in the past life.
Rosen was caught, the mages in the same warehouse building also died, and Ekampote, who employed them, also died. They probably wiped out the whole line.
The Count of Ekampote I had experienced in my past life was probably from a different bloodline than the current Ekampote.
A distant collateral branch, or someone who just took the name.
“I am not a devil.”
“No. Not at all.”
There's no way.
Ocellin Ekampote is not a mage.
She was an ordinary imperial noble.
The reason for branding mages and employing them as staff was to use them as slaves.
“Who did you say I was?”
“You are the Count of Ekampote.”
“That's right. I am not a devil.”
“You really aren't.”
Ocellin Ekampote's voice was beautiful.
“Now that you know, please return quietly. And don't cause any more trouble.”
“I see.”
However, it was not enchanting.
There was no magical quality that drew people in like someone from the Moon.
Tchaak! I slapped my own ear.
A small ringing echoed in my ear. It cut off Ocellin's voice that had been lingering in my head.
She is Count Ocellin Ekampote, and a mage.
The reason for branding mages and employing them as staff was to provide them with a fake identity.
“Bewitchment? No, is it the voice?”
“What are you talking about?”
“2nd Rank? No. About 3rd Rank.”
“I said I am not a devil.”
The voice echoed beautifully.
It crawled through my head like a thread. It was a sensation as if my brain was being forcibly stitched together.
“It's the voice.”
There was no need to slap my ear anymore.
For a mage, Rank is mostly absolute. Once I recognized it, it was no big deal.
“It's worthy of overconfidence. If met without suspicion, it's bound to work.”
“We are not devils…”
“That's enough. It's a magic that doesn't work easily once it's discovered. Your Rank is still low.”
It meant that it would work once if not recognized.
The power of that one time was a great Origin.
“It wouldn't work on a priest whose suspicion has already begun.”
Ocellin Ekampote was worthy of overconfidence.
But she couldn't bewitch even Wimar, who had already caught the scent.
I was once again certain of what had happened to Ekampote in my past life.
The mages of this land were discovered by Wimar.
“What are you talking about, Harad.”
Just then, Ellen spoke.
I tilted my head.
“The Count of Ekampote is not a mage. Neither is Rosen. We made a wrong guess.”
“……”
I reflexively tried to slap Ellen's cheek but barely stopped myself.
Instead, I glared at Ocellin Ekampote.
“Release it.”
“Pardon?”
“The magic. Release it.”
“……”
Ocellin clapped her hands.
That gesture seemed to be her incantation for dispelling the magic.
It meant she wasn't a great mage.
The greater the mage, the less they open their mouths and show their gestures.
“Why do you keep changing your words? You say it's true, then you say it's not.”
“……”
I avoided Ellen's gaze as she came to her senses.
I didn't want to look at her with pathetic eyes.
* * *
Turning mages into ex-convicts and herding them into one place.
Making people avoid them to reduce contact.
‘They might not be able to get along with just anyone, but there are people they can get along with. They must be satisfied with that.’
It's a plausible method.
It was common to treat ex-convicts like slaves.
This is because their wages could be lowered. Ocellin Ekampote had used that fact.
Of course, they could be caught.
Ocellin's magic existed for that moment.
Her voice interferes with the listener's brain and twists their perception. It was an excellent Origin.
But there was a weakness.
If one already recognized it or was suspicious, it was difficult to twist their perception. The better the opponent, the more so.
“It also depends on mental strength.”
Ocellin was still observing Harad with surprised eyes.
“How did you undo it?”
“It's because I was already suspicious.”
“That's not as easy as it sounds…”
Ocellin muttered.
Even though the situation had turned out like this, she seemed to be overconfident in her Origin. A witch who would have been caught by Wimar and burned at the stake in the past life.
“So that's why you only intended to meet at the beginning.”
“Because suspicion is less on the first meeting before an investigation.”
When Wimar arrived in Ekampote, Ocellin had invited him.
Because the very beginning was her best chance.
But Wimar had refused and immediately patrolled the territory.
Suspicion had already taken root. That's why Ocellin no longer sought to meet Wimar.
“It was the right judgment, but you were wrong. Wimar had already come with information that there was a devil suspect in the Ekampote territory.”
“……”
“And then Rosen got caught. It was only a matter of time before Ekampote fell.”
Ocellin bit her lip.
Her overconfidence was shattering and she was realizing the reality.
“You didn't support Wimar. Was it the same with the previous priests?”
Ocellin nodded.
She must have hoped that they would fail in subduing the magical beast.
She must have wanted the Church's attention to be focused on the magical beast, not the territory.
It was a choice she made because she was overconfident in her own magic.
“It was the wrong answer. You who live on the continent would know better.”
Ocellin nodded heavily.
The Church suspects those who do not help them even more strongly. Because unless they are devils, there is no reason not to help.
Ocellin knew that fact.
She had only acquiesced because she was overconfident in her magic.
“The branding was also a pity. You probably tried to avoid cautious territorial residents by engraving the most frightening crime possible, like murder.”
There are people who are particularly timid or picky.
They also report frequently.
“And you had bewitchment as a last resort. I understand, but you should have still tailored it to the person's character.”
“……”
“Other than that, it was excellent. If it wasn't a veteran priest like Wimar, it would have worked. In fact, it probably has until now.”
I evaluated her like a teacher who had finished grading.
“……Are you perhaps a mage sent from the Rebellion faction?”
“Don't you think I came from the Otherworld?”
“I heard that the mages there treat us like country bumpkins.”
“That's true.”
It was certainly that kind of gaze.
I had to be careful if I was going to pretend to be from the Otherworld.
“I'm not from the Rebellion faction. And certainly not from the Otherworld. I'm just a mage who came looking for a mage I want to meet.”
Ocellin pointed to her own face.
Like a noble, her self-esteem was high.
“Is there anyone who has met Balbebron and Alena? A devil couple wanted in Gildein in the west. The man is a Sword Master.”
There was no need to further explain the couple's characteristics.
The characteristic of being a Sword Master is more intense than anything else. Ocellin's mouth fell open.
“Ah. The ones who chose asylum?”
“You know them. Did you tell them the asylum route?”
“It wasn't me. The one who met them is the manager here.”
“Weren't you the manager?”
“Status is trivial to a mage.”
Ocellin smiled for the first time.
It meant she had finally let her guard down.
“Why go to such lengths?”
It was then that Ellen opened her mouth.
“It's dangerous, isn't it? You actually got caught. Isn't it safer to just live quietly?”
Ocellin's eyes widened.
The wariness that had disappeared returned.
“You are not a mage.”
Ellen's question was one that could only be asked because she was not a mage.
“She's my friend.”
“But she's not a mage. You said she was.”
“She's a noble who harbors mages. A Serzila. Though a collateral branch.”
“……”
Ocellin's mouth fell open.
Magic flowed out instead of breath.
“If I had come to capture you, I would have done so already.”
“……”
“If I had intended to kill you, I would have done so already.”
Ocellin closed her mouth.
I could kill her at any time.
Ocellin must have known that too.
Since she would have heard about Wimar's death from Rosen.
“I have no intention of touching you. You're not from the Rebellion faction either.”
“How did you know that?”
“You don't know my face.”
“……?”
“There are such things.”
The Liberation Tower's Rebellion faction knows my face.
Because I had put a bounty on his head.
But Ocellin acted as if she had met me for the first time today.
‘But it's a group with a manager.’
There was only one remaining possibility.
“You're being greedy.”
Ocellin became docile.
I explained to Ellen in her stead.
“What greed?”
“The greed to live.”
Ellen just stared at me instead of answering.
It meant, aren't they alive?
“Being alive isn't all there is to living.”
“Then?”
“They want to live like people.”
The Liberation faction of the Liberation Tower had always wanted only one thing.
“Well, it's a modest greed.”
Because being a criminal is better than being a mage.