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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 88
She spoke calmly as she glanced over the girl called Lilia.
In Lilia’s hands was a pure white dress.
“That dress?”
“Oh, I wanted to show you first. It’s the dress I’ll be wearing for my wedding.”
It was a dazzlingly beautiful white dress.
Melissa narrowed her eyes and asked,
“You’re showing someone your wedding dress before the ceremony?”
“You’re my friend, so it’s fine. Besides, I haven’t even worn it yet.”
Speaking nonchalantly, Lilia took Melissa’s hand and pulled her to sit down.
“Come on, sit. We have so much to catch up on.”
“We do.”
Though Melissa briefly felt uneasy about leaving Leon behind in Cascadia, she quickly pushed the thought aside.
Meanwhile, back at the estate...
— Come on! Move! We have to finish this today!
— Let’s go!!! The count will take responsibility anyway!!
— We know nothing about this!!
Of course, Melissa had no idea what was happening in her domain.
Lilia, overjoyed to see Melissa after so long, chattered away, sharing everything she hadn’t been able to say before.
Seeing her so genuinely happy, Melissa responded with a faint smile.
Back in her academy days, Melissa had many acquaintances, but Lilia Berner was the first true friend she had made.
“Haha, do you remember Siger Reden? From the Reden Count family of the empire?”
“Oh, that scoundrel?”
“Your brother completely wrecked him. Did you know? That guy has almost regular panic attacks now, just from hearing your brother’s name. That night at the banquet was insane.”
“You saw it?”
“Yeah, from a distance. Even from far away, it was terrifying.”
“No way... that lunatic caused trouble there too?”
Melissa was at a loss for words.
“Don’t say that. Your brother stepped in because Siger Reden was saying awful things about you. Honestly, it was kind of amazing.”
“B-because of me?”
“Yeah. You knew, right? That pervert always looked at you strangely. Apparently, he was bragging about how he’d humiliate you in front of Lord Leon.”
Ah, in that case, he did well.
Knowing Leon’s strength from past encounters, she had no doubt Siger got what he deserved.
As their conversation flowed easily, the atmosphere became more relaxed.
Then, Lilia slowly spoke.
“I’ve been engaged for a while, but now that I’ve come of age after my last birthday, I’m getting married soon.”
She lifted her teacup calmly.
“Was this your father’s decision?”
“What are you saying? We’re nobles. A noblewoman doesn’t have the right to choose her marriage. I just hope married life won’t be too difficult. But I’ve been lucky.”
She smiled brightly.
“I heard your fiancé is a prince.”
“That’s right. Prince Dorn Lu Pascalia. He’s kind and warm. My first love, too.”
That was good news.
Dorn Lu Pascalia was known by an unusual title—"a collateral prince.”
In the empire, it was a unique status.
Though not born of the emperor, he was granted the title of prince due to his lineage and the special duties assigned to him.
Unlike illegitimate children, he was still a legitimate part of the imperial family.
As long as no major incidents occurred, those in his position typically led normal lives.
Seeing Lilia’s face flush as red as a ripe persimmon, Melissa smiled faintly.
“Congratulations on your marriage.”
“When I was young, I always thought that if I had to get married, I’d want it to be with someone kind. I love Prince Dorn, so honestly, I’ve been looking forward to this.”
She didn’t seem unhappy at all.
In fact, she welcomed the marriage.
“That’s good. As long as you’re happy. What about the academy?”
“After I get married, I won’t be able to focus on my studies, so I’ll have to drop out. But I’m more worried about you. You’re still on leave, aren’t you? What are you going to do?”
“What else? I’m a count now. Going back won’t be easy.”
“There are a few nobles who hold titles and still attend the academy, you know?”
At her playful remark, Melissa let out a short sigh.
She had enrolled in the academy to prepare for inheriting her title.
But now that she had already taken over, she wondered if there was still any point in returning.
“I don’t know. Since I already have my title, I’m not sure I need to go back.”
Lilia didn’t press her any further.
“I just regret that I won’t get the chance to visit the western continent’s beaches. I always wanted to see them.”
She seemed genuinely disappointed that marriage would prevent her from going.
After some thought, Melissa pulled out an artifact she had.
If the beaches of the western continent were anything like the landscapes created by this artifact, they must be breathtaking.
She happened to have an extra prototype.
Leon had planned to discard it, so giving it as a gift wouldn’t be an issue.
“Let’s go to the beach.”
“What?”
“I’ll show you. My brother made this.”
“An artifact?”
“Hehe, you’re going to be amazed.”
Melissa puffed out her chest proudly.
There was nothing illegal about it, so there wouldn’t be any trouble.
Still, whether Leon’s invention would draw admiration or chaos remained to be seen.
* * *
While Melissa was off visiting her engaged friend…
I was making drastic changes to my domain.
“Hey!! Pull that over there!!”
“One, two!!!”
Dozens of strong men heaved on ropes, lifting a massive structure into place.
These weren’t particularly skilled laborers.
The work wasn’t overly difficult, and the pay was surprisingly good.
For the idle villagers with nothing else to do, this was an unexpected windfall.
They dropped whatever they were doing and flocked to the construction site.
Melissa wouldn’t be back anytime soon.
She’d likely stay for her friend’s wedding and negotiate with the Pascalia trading companies or magic towers while she was there.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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It was clear that she didn’t want the Cascadia territory to remain just a rural village monitoring the Demon Realm.
That meant we couldn’t afford to stand still either.
“Don’t worry! It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission!”
“Let’s go!!!”
I grinned in satisfaction as I watched the workers respond to my chant and raise the structure.
We cleared a huge open space in one part of the village and built a massive structure there.
It was none other than a statue.
A statue of Melissa standing proudly with her hands on her hips and her chest puffed out.
The confident expression on the statue’s face was completely uncharacteristic of the real Melissa, who had no hint of cuteness to her.
If she saw it, she would definitely go berserk trying to destroy it.
[Warning: Upon confirmation, there is a very high probability that she will attempt to tear you apart.]
“That’s exactly why I’m doing it.”
[I cannot understand your reasoning. Is it related to the special fortress walls?]
“If you knew, you wouldn’t sound so stiff. And don’t make it sound like I’m some kind of pervert. I guarantee Melissa will do nothing but grind her teeth in frustration.”
I hadn’t gone to the trouble of mobilizing the entire territory just to build a statue for nothing.
Surprisingly, I had learned that Melissa was quite popular among the people of the territory. The best way to mess with her was exactly this.
“This is it!”
“Wahaha! Look at our princess standing so proudly!”
Seeing the territory’s people laughing and enjoying the sight of the finely crafted statue, made using the Heart of the Machine God, was immensely satisfying.
It likely meant that Melissa had done a good job winning the people’s trust and affection.
Even the mercenaries from outside the region were chuckling at the statue.
Besides that, a few more buildings had been completed.
The most striking among them was a unique structure with four curved legs rising from the ground toward the sky.
“Leon.”
At that moment, Luna approached me.
“Can that thing actually work?”
“Yeah, it’s possible.”
Teleportation magic was technically reserved for mages of the 7th Circle or higher.
However, there weren’t many known 7th Circle mages on the continent.
Historically, there had been a few, but as of now, it was commonly accepted that none existed.
Maybe the magic tower had one.
The important thing was that I wasn’t an ordinary mage—I was a 6th Circle necromancer.
It was ironic that I couldn’t even use teleportation myself but was working on building a teleportation device.
“Do you know what the biggest weakness of teleportation devices on the continent is?”
“No idea.”
“They have more security holes than you’d think.”
Most of the teleportation devices had been created long ago by great archmages.
I had no intention of downplaying their expertise, but in my opinion, conventional magic had weaker security than necromantic magic.
“So, you’re going to make it using necromantic magic?”
“I’m combining magitech and necromantic magic.”
Necromantic magic wasn’t particularly outstanding in spatial manipulation, but its security capabilities were top-tier.
Of course, most necromancers on the continent didn’t care much about security, but from what I had seen, that was a crucial distinction between necromantic magic and elemental magic.
However, since a 6th Circle necromancer alone couldn’t create a teleportation device, I needed to supplement it with magitech.
“This is the real question—do you think the concept of spatial transfer comes from magic first or from nature first?”
“Huh? Obviously, nature… Oh?”
As she spoke, Luna’s eyes widened.
Magic was ultimately a system humans had created by observing natural phenomena and artificially replicating or modifying them.
“Exactly. A 7th Circle mage is essentially someone who can recreate those natural phenomena on their own.”
That meant if there was another element that could assist in implementing the concept of spatial transfer, it could be achieved without needing the level of a high-tier archmage.
The existing teleportation devices had been created by powerful mages, but what I was attempting didn’t require reaching that same level.
“Plus, this method actually increases its versatility. If someone tries to use teleportation magic on their own, they have to consider a lot of factors.”
Of course, if you reached an extreme level of mastery, those limitations didn’t matter.
“But the materials will be hard to get.”
“No. Moonstone will do. We compensate for a lack of skill with technology and a lack of materials with magic.”
“Again with the moonstone?”
“Moonstone is like single-crystal silicon—it’s one of the most efficient materials for all sorts of applications. Honestly, it’s weird that moonstone is so undervalued.”
In human history, iron had been one of the most crucial resources.
If I had to pick the two most essential resources in magitech, they would be moonstone and mana-infused magic crystals.
Moonstone, which could retain specific mana patterns and information, was incredibly valuable.
The only issue was that it wasn’t something that could simply be mined, making it difficult to obtain.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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