novelraw Chapter 304: The Sweet-talking Naris Gentleman
Chapter 304: The Sweet-talking Naris Gentleman
Fisher's expression underwent a bit of a distinct change, because the 'mana circuits' he saw upon the other party's arm were quite familiar-looking.
Yes, he recognized with a single glance that the thing lighting up upon Herdor's body wasn't any human's mana circuits at all, but instead an exceedingly crude counterfeit.
Remember when Fisher came into conflict with the "Lord of Souls" Pherone in the Southern Continent? He had once borrowed the souls of children to manufacture a certain type of quite clean energy. Just as discovered within soul theory: the reason why a living being could utilize 'mana' to engrave magic and trigger the World's Echo was precisely because a person's soul contained exceedingly abundant energy.
Pherone utilized the technology of extracting souls to desecrate life. Furthermore, utilizing such technology, he fought a fierce battle with Fisher. Therefore, he still remembered what his appearance was like when he utilized this technology at that time. And right at this very moment, what appeared upon the arm of the Herdor before his eyes was precisely this sort of technology.
He was utilizing soul energy to engrave magic. Within the Cardinal lay Pherone's technology!
"Sizzle... What is the matter, Mister Fisher?"
Herdor noticed the changes in the expression upon Fisher's face. He seemingly completely didn't know exactly what the principles behind his ability to utilize magic were. He even thought it was his soul being transplanted onto the machinery; thus, he didn't know why Fisher would stare blankly.
Fisher's brows slightly furrowed. The mana circuits within his hands also extinguished bit by bit, reverting back to a dim and lusterless appearance. Following closely behind, he shook his head and said to Herdor,
"Mister Herdor, might I take the liberty to inquire: after changing bodies, how many magics have you engraved?"
"Sizzle... How many magics?"From Herdor's mouth emerged a bit of steam once more. Subsequently, carefully recalling for a bit, he stated,
"Ever since changing bodies, my magic capabilities have been largely inferior to before. Many high-circle magics I could originally engrave have also become incapable of being engraved anymore. Moreover, the family told me engraving large amounts of magic would cause my current body to suffer damage, requiring a replacement of components again when that time arrives. Hence, during this period of time, I have very rarely engraved magic. Counting from the very beginning... I've probably only engraved one or two hundred magics or so... What is it, Mister Fisher? Is there some sort of problem?"
Although Fisher possessed no particular expression upon his face after listening, the thought of 'As expected, it is so' had already emerged within his heart.
His guess was not mistaken. Lord Cardinal hadn't merely placed Herdor's consciousness into the Cardinal; in order for him to still be capable of engraving magic today, Lord Cardinal had also placed a 'soul fuel' within his Cardinal. Furthermore, compared to Pherone's degree of application previously, Lord Cardinal's technology was even more mature.
When Pherone utilized this technology back then, in order to pursue ultimate output, the speed of consumption was exceedingly swift; almost directly dismantling the Inner City. Yet right now, placed within Herdor's body, he could actually engrave hundreds of magics.
He shook his head, merely turning his head to cast a glance at the clock upon the wall. Towards Herdor, he stated,
"It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered tomorrow we will be entering Nebalen, correct? Miss Valentina will presumably worry over your body and not let you continue traveling together; alongside me, who will also continue staying upon the ship. But actually, you don't wish for matters to be like this, correct?"
"If we continue engraving magic tonight, I am worried whether it would increase the risk of your old illness acting up. I also similarly worry over your body. How about we temporarily rest for a bit first?"
Fisher wasn't entirely clear whether the problems currently appearing with Herdor possessed any relation to the consumption of the Cardinal soul fuel inside his body or not. But upon thinking of how Herdor engraving magic was precisely burning a person's soul, Fisher could then no longer allow the other party to do so, even if he was entirely ignorant regarding this.
He had known of young children full of fantasies regarding the future dying under such agony; thereby resulting in him being replete with disdain toward such technology.
Lord Cardinal...
Fisher ought to have thought of it long ago; he shouldn't possess fantasies regarding the so-called Creation Society. They, along with Pherone and Erwind, were birds of a feather. The reason they were going to track down and kill Erwind right now was also merely because he leaked the traces of the Completion Handbook's creations; absolutely not because of some great compassionate kindness.
Herdor raised his head and cast a glance at Fisher. Subsequently, he nodded his head and placed down the engraving knife and ring in his hands. The steam seamlessly spewing forth from his mouth was exactly like the white whiskers at the corner of an elder's mouth, and altogether exactly like his helplessness at this very moment,
"Sizzle... What you said is correct. Right now, I shouldn't be considering these. As long as I can accompany Miss Valentina in continuing onwards and achieve the goal for the family, it will be fine. I truly ought to slow down and rest for a bit today. Tomorrow, I still have to persuade her to not let me stay on the ship. That is a hundred times more agonizing than nailing me within a coffin."
Following this, he swept a circle around his surroundings. Generously stating to Fisher,
"Sizzle... My bodily conditions are limited. But Mister Fisher is still young. Here are entirely the magic materials provided by the Turan family for this operation. Basically any material exists. Even if Mister Fisher possesses demands toward certain special materials, I can also apply for them on your behalf. Therefore, you may take and utilize the materials here as you wish... Here is the key to my workshop. You can come over to engrave magic at any time."
Herdor pushed a key upon the table for opening the room towards Fisher, his tone exceptionally calm.
Fisher swept a circle around the mountain-like materials. Without pushing the offer away or hesitating, he picked up that key. Following this, he stood his body up and picked up the medicine prepared for Ilos upon the table, preparing to leave,
"Then I shall respectfully obey rather than courteously decline. I will engrave suitable magic for this operation..."
"Sizzle... Mister Fisher. Wait a moment..."
Just as Fisher was about to leave, Herdor however suddenly opened his mouth and called out to Fisher, making him turn his head to look at his mechanical body,
"What is it?"
"Sizzle... It's nothing. It's just... Mister Fisher, you have also seen it: Valentina actually does not possess abundant experience regarding conducting matters outside. She is still exceedingly immature and tender. From these few helpers she hired, you can already make out a clue or two... But this is a matter utterly without alternative. Pursuing the Frostwood Sycamore Tree is a matter holding immense risks; particularly even more so for the Turan family."
Herdor's calm and rigid voice could not conceal the sincerity of his language, making Fisher thoroughly turn around to face him directly,
"She bet her own life to go search for the Frostwood Sycamore Tree. I absolutely do not wish for her to end up with a fate of failure and dying entirely in the end... Although saying it sounds somewhat discourteous, I wonder if I could entreat Mister Fisher to assist her with all your heart and entirely your utmost effort? Naturally, Valentina is a good child who knows to repay debts of gratitude; she will not disappoint you. She will definitely let you harvest abundantly similar yields..."
"Dying entirely? Sounds like a secret of the Turan family; and it's related to your purpose of searching for the Frostwood Sycamore Tree?"
"Sizzle... Yes. That is also all the matters I can reveal to you right now. Saying any more would be overstepping boundaries. But Valentina will ultimately tell you... after you obtain her trust. How about it? May I entreat Mister Fisher to help Valentina?"
Helping Valentina, and not helping the Turan family?
Fisher remained silent for a moment. Subsequently, raising the magic materials in his hands, he opened his mouth and responded,
"Miss Valentina and I possess identical goals; I must also absolutely arrive at the Frostwood Sycamore Tree no matter what. And prior to that time, helping her is exactly helping myself as well... Therefore, you can greatly set your mind at ease."
"Sizzle... Being as such, is excellent. Good night, Mister Fisher."
"Good night."
Fisher left Herdor's magic workshop. Within the ship compartment's corridor, it was dead silent. All those residing on this floor were people of the Turan family. Valentina and Herdor's rooms were both here, as well as the rooms of some maids serving their daily lives. Therefore, even the decoration style was exceedingly different.
Hauling a large pile of medicinal herbs as he walked back, the Emhart upon his shoulders began blabbering and talking incessantly again,
"Phew, finally got out of that guy's room. Those upon his bookshelves are basically thoroughly concerning magic. There's only a single book on mythology I'm reasonably interested in, and further I haven't seen it yet. However... However, having said that... I'm truly quite interested in that mysterious person he mentioned could help him change bodies. Since when was there such technology? Do you know?"
"Don't know. Nor do I wish to know either."
"Tch. Forget it if you don't say it. And to think I even wanted to share a bit of information I just saw in those books with you! It's regarding the Phoenix Race, you know~"
Fisher cast a glance sideways at Sir Book Artifact alongside him who tilted his head up and swept his eyes toward elsewhere. His incomparably cheap and lowly appearance almost made Fisher reach a hand out to single-handedly beat him up for a session.
The footsteps he walked with slightly paused. Following this, heaving a sigh, he stated,
"Our transaction: you will ultimately obtain the contents of an exceedingly enticing book from my side in the end, correct? That technology holds relations with the knowledge you desire to obtain."
"Real or fake... Then are you capable of this move too? I mean, could you help install a pair of mechanical arms on me, so I can strike back when you bully me or something? Exactly like that Herdor."
Sir Book Artifact shook his body in midair, completely as if he were swinging punches at the empty air. While swinging punches, he even silently distanced himself from Fisher a bit, deeply afraid he would grab him again and torture him for a session. But obviously right now, Fisher possessed zero mood to mess around with him, merely opening his mouth to state,
"Therefore... now it's your turn to speak."
"Tch. What kind of information does this piece of yours count as? But forget it; it truly is extremely difficult for a stinky brat like you to utter a few sentences that make people comfortable... The matter goes like this. In that mythology book on the bookshelf just perfectly now, I saw a short story. It was concerning the youngest daughter of the Phoenix King—Moon Princess. It's just unknown whether it's genuine or fake. You know it: ever since humans treated the Phoenix Race as deities, they fabricated many abilities for them that they fundamentally completely lacked. Pretty absurd..."
"Moon Princess?"
Fisher abruptly thought of that strangely shaped scimitar held within Valentina's hands when he first met her. That weapon was precisely the sword of the Phoenix's Moon Princess. It's just that Fisher had experienced the might of that weapon once; feeling it was far, far inferior to Alagina's Ice Prince Sword...
"Ah, yes. The Moon Princess was the daughter most doted upon by the Phoenix King. Moreover, she held intensely good relations with all the races in the Northern Border. Hearing it told, at that time the six races all firmly determined she would be the next Phoenix King... But the matter I am about to say completely lacks such a grand background; rather, it is a minor matter within the Phoenix household."
"It stated: after defeating the Chaos-kin invading the Northern Border, the Phoenix King hosted a banquet with the six races upon the Sycamore Tree. Even the Holy Progeny arrived at the Northern Border to celebrate their victory... But right at the tail end of the banquet, an uninvited guest arrived without invitation, appearing within the grand hall of the banquet."
Emhart's voice turned a bit lower and deeper. Seemingly, the story transpiring next also made him rather deeply shocked and surprised,
"The person arriving was a Demon-kin originating from the West Continent. But it didn't clearly state which Demon it was. The text merely recounted he came over to celebrate the victory of the Phoenix Race, yet forgot to bring a congratulatory gift. Hence, he wished to strike a bet with the Phoenix King. If the Demon lost, he would compensate for the discourtesy of forgetting to bring a gift this time; repaying the Phoenix King a hundredfold. And if the Phoenix King lost, then the Phoenix King would have to forgive this Demon's discourtesy, and additionally gift him ten humans as sacrifices..."
"Ancient humans were genuinely far too frail and puny. Situated at the very absolute bottom of the rank system. Therefore, absolutely no races cared about them at all. It was solely races like Demon-kin who required desires whose relations with them were quite acceptable. Thus, the so-called ten humans practically equated to merely an extra bonus addition, nothing more. And the termination of the story, you can naturally guess: striking a bet with a demon inherently possesses zero talk of victory."
"The Phoenix King lost the bet; holding no choice, he could only forgive the discourtesy of this demon, and also gifted him ten humans. And the demon accepted those ten humans; furthermore, he drank wine and apologized to the Phoenix King regarding his own discourtesy. However, the Moon Princess, who held profoundly excellent relations with all the myriad living entities in the world, consequentially grew infuriated, leaving the seating and returning to her own fiefdom; forever ceasing to return to the Frostwood Sycamore Tree again... Quite interesting, right, this story?"
Fisher speechlessly cast a glance at the Emhart beside him. He thoroughly failed to comprehend exactly what meaning bringing up this story to him possessed. Aside from letting him know that the Moon Princess who had long died entirely was a high-tier demi-human extremely loving and benevolent towards humans... he felt speechless precisely as if he had listened to a segment of celebrity gossip news.
"Hence... Because you heard the noun 'Demon', it triggered your demon trauma stress disorder? Wishing to share it with me, and perfectly letting me comfort you a bit?"
Emhart widened his eyes open intensely large. Yelling out with a face of feeling it unbelievable,
"Your mom! How could that be possible?! What I mean to say is... the actions of that demon within legends strictly resemble Bai... It's exactly that demon! And once possessing a relation with that demon, there exist absolutely zero good deeds! I even suspect the withering and perishing of the Phoenix Race holds relations with that demon... Alright, it's also fully possible she grew bored and wished to come over to play for a bit; it's also possible alas. But..."
"Demon? What fun things are you guys talking about? Could I listen to it for a bit?"
"Ahhhh!! Baimon, ah!! Fisher, save me!!"
Right when Emhart was frantically explaining to Fisher amidst panic and fluster, a female voice suddenly transmitted out from behind him. It frightened him into strictly resembling lightning as he immediately darted from midair straight into Fisher's embrace; instantly transforming into an entirely harmless-to-people-and-animals corpse book, no longer moving an inch.
"..."
A face full of speechlessness, Fisher raised his head and looked towards the Heidelin who had just perfectly come down from the stairs, wearing an apologetic smile. Yes, actually just earlier he had already seen Heidelin coming down from upstairs. Yet this guy Emhart was deathly afraid lacking bound whenever the Archdemon "Baimon" was spoken of; thus he entirely didn't interrupt his speech. Merely never expecting Heidelin abruptly appearing would completely scare him half to death; even believing Baimon had come over to claim his life.
"Apologies, ne, Mister Fisher. I merely heard conversation noises downstairs so I came over to take a look. I entirely didn't expect to frighten your friend..."
Heidelin's black hair still similarly wore that dark green hair crown; deviating her appearance extremely distantly from traditional servants, whilst adding a few points of mature intellectual beauty. But right at this very moment, because of apologizing to Fisher, she winked her own right eye; making her look utterly lovely and playful...
This contradictory sensation made Fisher look at her once more. Utilizing the same moment, he shook his head. Raising the medicinal herbs within his hands towards her, he stated,
"It's nothing. He was merely talking about stories within Northern Border historical myths, that's all. I am intensely interested towards the history and demi-human races of the Northern Border. Thus, I inquired a bit more matters from him... Right, these are the medicinal herbs Herdor gave me just exactly now. Saying they're to be boiled in water for that Sister Ilos to drink. Do there exist any places on the ship capable of doing this sort of matter?"
"Ara... Intensely interested towards demi-human races, ya... This is truly rarely seen... Although Mister Balzac on the ship is extremely interested towards the history of the Northern Border, he harbors a bit of looking-down-upon towards demi-human races. Thus, he frequently argues and fights with Phyllis; providing me immense distress..."
Seemingly quite distressed, she reached out her hand rubbing her own cheeks. That body carrying a mature fragrance moved a bit closer in Fisher's direction. Unconsciously touching Fisher's arm for a moment, she wished to receive the medicinal herbs upon his hands,
"As for these medicinal herbs, I can bring you to the kitchen, oh. Just follow me, it's fine."
Not knowing whether it was an illusion; Fisher constantly felt this older sister... um, seemed to be somewhat overly warm and enthusiastic towards himself. Since the very beginning when just boarding the ship, there had already existed a tiny bit of this sort of sensation; merely concealed by the gazes of others at that time, that's all.
The Heidelin in front reached out a hand gripping the medicinal herbs upon his hand, yet discovered Fisher was scrutinizing herself and didn't release his hand. She simply smiled and utilized a single hand to grab Fisher's sleeve; gently hauling him towards upstairs as they walked,
"Not far away. Perfectly right upstairs. After finishing boiling it, you can perfectly directly bring it to that nun to drink. The other maids are also resting right now; troubling them again wouldn't be very good... Ma, though I estimate if a handsome gentleman exactly like Mister Fisher went to call upon them at night, they wouldn't reject it either."
She led Fisher walking upstairs. Turning her head back, she winked at him with a single eye. The sensation flickering wildly beneath those slender eyelashes was completely blistering heat; dropping completely unconcealed upon the robust muscles on Fisher's body.
"Then I will be troubling you, Lady Heidelin."
"Un-heng, acting as a guest on the ship, helping you guys is only as it should be. This holds benefits for Young Lady as well, doesn't it? Searching for whatever... um, Sycamore Tree still has to rely on you guys. Right, are you hungry right now? I possess the habit of boiling late-night snacks to eat at night. If you're hungry, we can eat together..."
Somewhat unaccustomedly, Fisher followed her walking upstairs. He wished to break free from the hand of the other party pinching his sleeve; as a result, shaking slightly, he only then discovered she was gripping intensely tightly. If he were to break free, the actions would be far too obvious; very effortlessly causing the other party's face to look awful...
"...Thank you, Miss Heidelin. But better forget it. I completely lack the habit of eating late-night snacks."
Having no choice, he could only allow her to haul his sleeve cuffs continuing forward; concurrently casually rejecting her invitation in passing, replying exactly as such.
Yet utterly unexpectedly, right after this sentence emerged, the Heidelin walking in front suddenly slowed her footsteps down. Slightly distressed, she turned her head back looking at the Fisher behind her. Using her right hand, she fairly conspicuously pinched her own lower abdomen right in front of him. He nonetheless saw that loose traditional Northern Border attire, after being pinched by her like so... immediately revealed a bit of the shape of a tiny belly right after.
She cast a glance at her own belly; subsequently raising her head to look at the Fisher before her eyes with a bit of hidden resentment. Stating,
"As expected. You men all detest and dislike women who are greedy gluttons and ate themselves fat, correct?"
Fisher cast a sideways glance at her soft lower abdomen whose shape was distinct, yet utterly fell far from being considered 'fat'. He entirely didn't wish to say anything; yet upon his mouth, he still courteously stated politely,
"How could that be? Miss Heidelin completely isn't fat in the slightest. I merely lack much of an appetite at night, that's all."
"Un-heng, then I shall genuinely take it for real, oh... Sweet-talking Naris gentleman."
"..."