Chapter 84: 85

Michael was so worked up that he couldn’t even breathe properly.

I was dumbfounded, and so I said,

“…Michael. What’s wrong with you?”

It was strange. Not Michael’s words, but his attitude.

“You don’t have to do this because the Duke is back.”

Michael shuddered at my words.

I took the opportunity to pull out the wrist that had been caught and caress the slightly reddened skin.

“You don’t have to force yourself to take care of me now.”

For the past four years, Michael had been taking care of me under Alan’s orders.

Now that Alan was back, the order was completed. He didn’t have to be concerned and worried about my safety.

Still, Michael clenched his teeth tightly and did not leave the place.

After mulling over the words for a while, he spit it out.

“Brainwashing you is an insult to House Bauner.”

…That’s what it was. His loyalty to the duke’s family was almost breathtaking.

“Okay. I will go.”

I was only pricky because my opponent was Michael, but I needed to check it out if it was possible to brainwash me.

As I was getting ready to go out, Michael turned his back and said, “Okay then.”

I called him up out of confusion.

“Where are you going? You said we should go to the academy.”

“You go alone.”

Michael lowered his head and muttered.

“…If I go, I will only ruin Brother Hugo’s mood.”

I couldn’t refute it. Michael was indeed an outcast at the duke’s castle, and Hugo was particularly cold towards him.

‘After all, he’s the son of Lily’s kidnapper….’

I sneaked up to Michael as he was about to leave the room and linked my arm with his.

He looked at me, startled.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Please guide me to the academy.”

Michael crumpled his face as if he had chewed an insect. His face was funny, and the gloomy mood I had since the morning improved a bit.

“Did you not hear me? I can’t even go in with you.”

“You’re going with me, so why can’t you come in?”

“You really…”

“Let’s go!”

I deliberately moved lightly.

Last night, I was able to hide the emotions that were as though I was going to break down under the surface of the water.

It was thanks to Benny holding me right before I was engulfed in despair.

However, if I let my guard down, I would feel guilty again as though it was apathy.

I had to pretend that it was a little more enjoyable. Only then could I remain a bad kid until the end.

***

“The Crown Prince appeared in your dream?”

I glanced at Michael’s face as I nodded alongside him.

Hugo raised his eyebrows fiercely.

“That damn royal bastard. Even to Lily’s dream…”

The flask in Hugo’s hand cracked.

I hurried over to him and tugged his sleeve as if to appease a beast.

“C-Calm down, Brother Hugo.”

Still, Hugo did not calm down easily. He repeatedly apologized to me, grinding his teeth.

“I’m sorry. I should have been careful enough with my magic.”

“Ah, the opponent is a pure-blooded spirit. It’s hard to deal with.”

Hugo’s shoulder suddenly drooped as he grappled with the words of ‘comfort’ from me.

“Still, it’s strange. Even if you entered the domain of the imperial family, how did this happen… I don’t know if they had injected magical energy into your body beforehand… No. I won’t make excuses. It is all my fault.”

Hugo let out a remorseful sigh.

I thought he would dig a tunnel endlessly if I left it alone, so I quickly changed the topic.

“It’s okay if he just appeared in my dream! But… Brother Michael says he’s worried that I might be brainwashed by the Crown Prince.”

Although I was careful, fearing Hugo might explode, his reaction was completely unexpected.

“Oh, that will never happen.”

Frustrated for not being able to overprotect me, Hugo simply shook his head.

“Huh… Why?”

“Entering a dream is definitely high-level magic, but it’s a kind of white magic anyway. But brainwashing is a whole other level of ability.”

Another level?

I couldn’t understand what Hugo meant, so I just blinked.

“It is easy to get confused if you are not an expert. Usually, we only hear about magic through rumors.”

Hugo tapped his fingertips to pick a word.

“So… Brainwashing is black magic.”

Black magic. An evil power that appeared regularly in fairy tales and superstitions.

I had never seen it myself, but the word itself was familiar.

“I’ve heard of it. Then the Crown Prince may have used black magic?”

“No. It’s impossible.”

Hugo immediately shook his head.

His unhesitating answer made me rather hesitant.

“Is black magic that hard?”

Black magic was a field in which Archmage Hugo frantically researched, but failed over and over again.

‘Isn’t it too early to conclude that it’s not possible at all?’

I didn’t know about others, but the opponent was Garou. He smelled very dangerous.

‘In this world, even ‘Demon Kings’ exists.’

The content of the original, which I had gathered and combined with Benny’s information four years ago, came to mind.

A villain who appeared in every play, the Demon King.

The man who ambitiously dreamed of destroying the world with numerous black wizards under his subordination was absolutely real.

‘There is no evidence, so even if I tell him, he won’t believe it.’

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Out of all my memories, there was only one line about the Demon King.

「— was the Demon King.」

With this alone, I could not know anything other than the fact that the demon king existed.

Whether he dreamed of destroying the world as if in a play, or if so, when to put his plan into action.

‘Well, even if the end is coming, I don’t think it is now.’

At the time I remembered, I was concentrating on Benny and didn’t pay attention to the Demon King.

And now, since there wasn’t a sense of crisis, I was ignoring him.

If the world were to perish immediately, there would have been a harbinger of anything.

To people, the Demon King was nothing more than a villain in the legend, seemingly far away.

‘Unlike the Demon King, there are much more detailed records of black magic. Like the black books that Hugo reads.’

I just couldn’t ignore this. I tugged on Hugo’s sleeve again.

“But we never know. Maybe he’s hiding his black magic ability…”

“It can’t be.”

I was so bluntly denied that I almost hiccuped.

Hugo was strangely confident.

“It’s not just that I’m overconfident of my strength. It’s ridiculous for the Crown Prince to do black magic.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Yes. I can explain a little bit more about how this happened? Although it’s still a hypothesis…”

Hugo stopped talking and glanced at Michael. There was a slight contempt in those blue eyes.

“Since it’s a family story, I want the third party to leave.”

Hugo openly drew a line.

Michael left the black magic lab as if he was used to it before I could even say goodbye.

I felt a chill with the cold wind blowing between the two of them.

As soon as Michael disappeared, Hugo smiled and opened the drawer under the desk.

“Lily, do you know about the three Gods who created us?”

“Huh… Yes. The three siblings.”

I glanced at the stairs where Michael had disappeared to and replied bitterly.

The human god who created humans, the beast god who created beasts, and the plant god who created the spirits.

It was a story I had heard countless times.

“You know it well. But maybe…”

“…….”

“What would you think if there was one more God”?

“What?”

I was speechless.

What did he mean by ‘there’s one more God’? I’ve never heard of such a story anywhere.

“Until now, evil spirits have been regarded as failures that were created after three Gods created perfect creatures. But since that monster appeared, I’ve been changing my perspective a bit.”

Hugo opened the cabinet under the desk and pulled out the oldest among the black books.

It was thick enough to believe it was a blunt weapon rather than a book.

“The monster… You mean Benny?”

“Yes, it’s uselessly strong to call it trash.”

Tuck!

The black, heavy book scattered dust and landed on the desk.

“I’ve studied that monster and came up with a new hypothesis.”

It was a hypothesis, but Hugo was almost certain.

“Perhaps there is another God who created the evil spirits?”

For a moment, my heart pounded.

‘The monsters… There’s a God who created me?’

I was unsure, but it seemed much better than being called a failure.

“I have always been curious. Why can’t even I, an Archmage, use black magic?”

Hugo opened the thick book. There were a lot of unknown characters written on a single piece of paper.

“Then all of a sudden, I thought there was one more thing I couldn’t do.”

What Hugo couldn’t do? I only know he didn’t know how to use his body.

As I tilted my head, Hugo raised his glasses.

“Changing into animals like Father and Brother.”

I was puzzled by what was so obvious.

“That’s… because you are of different races, right?”

Alan and Pedro were beasts, and Hugo was a spirit.

Although they were of mixed race, the only thing that the mixed blood affected was their lifespan.

The abilities of each race were markedly different.

“That’s what I mean. One cannot use the power of another race.”

Hugo put his elbow on the desk while turning over the pages of the book.

“Then curses, brainwashing, prophecy, resurrection… All those abilities that are called ‘black magic’ are not actually types of magic.”

His sapphire eyes shone sharply.

“What if the power of the God who created the monsters were passed down to his creatures?”

The God who created me passed me black magic powers?

I had never used black magic, but even considering that, Hugo’s story was quite interesting.

As I shrugged and pondered, a ray of realization flashed through my head.

“…Ah.”

I finally understand. Why Hugo so adamantly rejected the theory of Garou using black magic.

“Now you know, right? Lily.”

Hugo nodded as if he knew what I was thinking.

“That means that no single spirit in the Empire can do black magic.”

Crown Prince Garou was a pure-blooded spirit.

I watched him perform white magic with my own two eyes.

Therefore, the idea of him using black magic was as absurd as Hugo’s transformation into an animal.

According to Hugo’s hypothesis, being able to use black magic was a matter of race, not talent.

Because only demons could use that evil power.

To be continued…

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