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[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 37: If you don't want to meet the scary castle lawyer, you'd better confess quickly.
I never learned magic.
I wanted to, though.
After all, before I crossed over to the other world, Hogwarts—the school of witchcraft and wizardry—was my favorite movie and novel.
But thinking about it carefully, those guys are actually the worst in terms of magic versatility.
Every single one of them maxed out only their offensive magic; not one of them properly learned siege magic or healing magic.
They brag about their instant-death spells, but no one survives if hit by something like Avada Kedavra.
In that sense, the magic in that world was much more versatile and, frankly, stronger.
But really, is it fair to compare a world where you have to hide magic from Muggles with one where magic openly flourished?
Even though magic was so advanced there, it was all because they developed it fighting demons and devils.
Competing in magic with races who learn it from the moment they're born would be foolish.
The versatility and cost-effectiveness of Hogwarts magic just couldn't compare.
Anyway, for those reasons, I didn’t learn magic.
I only trained with the sword—but that doesn't mean I’m just some brute swinging a blade around.
I might look like it, but I’m a veteran hero.
I’ve lived as a hero for twenty years now, so I can handle basic holy arts pretty well.
In a world without a Church, maybe I'm the best there is.
Just in case, I drove my holy sword into the ground without drawing it for battle.
White radiance swirled around, radiating holiness that was my responsibility to guide to one place.
I controlled it, circulated it.
Thus, I drew a single formation.
"Calhart."
Named after a cardinal who stayed away from alcohol and cigars for seventy years, this sword wasn’t made to kill monsters, demons, or devils.
It was a sword created to save people.
A mystery as wondrous as magic.
A divine power born from holy arts.
The power to save the woman before me.
I exhaled as I looked down at her, her whole body flushed red.
Likewise, Seol Yeonhwa’s chest heaved heavily as she desperately gasped for oxygen.
"I'm doing this to save your life, so bear with me."
I didn’t know whether the holy voice reached her spirit beyond her ears.
If she didn't hear or see it, well, maybe that was just as well.
This was a medical act meant to save her life, but it might be a little embarrassing for her.
Carefully, I reached out and touched part of her.
The bridge of her nose, between her two eyes.
I placed a small, white point of holy energy there.
Then under her flushed, plump lips, I marked another point.
Between the heart and lungs, between two peaks, a larger point was placed.
Doing my best not to focus on the sensation of touching flesh, I poured a large amount of holy power into her.
Above the navel, the cradle of life, I filled it with pure, white divinity.
Four points on her torso, and four more on the centers of her hands and feet.
After marking all eight points, I recited a sacred incantation again.
Well, actually, I didn’t know proper incantations, not being a proper priest.
So I simply spoke the only prayer I knew.
I prayed for peace.
"May the blessing of God be with you."
Point connected to point, becoming lines; lines connected, forming a star.
The star, the light, the warmth, and the miracle.
Snowflake-like, pure white and brilliant holy light began to bloom from her body.
* * *
“Umm.”
After her unique constitution fully awakened, she had always suffered from the cold.
Her whole body was cold; breathing air felt like blades scraping her throat and lungs.
Each time she barely fell asleep and woke up, her body felt heavy and stiff.
She often thought someday she would simply die from it.
And today.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Seol Yeonhwa opened her eyes and felt light.
Instead of stiffness, she felt a refreshing sensation that puzzled her.
Her last memory was of Tower Master Elneor guiding her... Had that surgery she mentioned failed?
Maybe she had died and come to heaven.
She wasn’t sure if she had lived a good enough life to deserve heaven, but if this refreshing feeling was what heaven was like, it made sense.
Rising from her sleep, Seol Yeonhwa felt both refreshed and dazed as she sat up.
Then she quickly realized.
Ah, this isn't heaven after all.
She blinked and looked around at the utterly wrecked surroundings.
Everything was frozen, charred black, with some walls and floors melted entirely.
At first, she didn’t recognize it, but it was similar in size to the Tower Master’s chamber she sometimes visited at the Blue Tower.
And there, bound tightly with ropes, were Tower Master Elneor and Doctor Erneon.
"Yo, good morning."
Sitting casually on a chair she’d never seen before, Shin Yoosung waved at her nonchalantly.
‘...Huh? What?’
The scene was surreal, and she had no idea why he was even here.
Seol Yeonhwa blinked in confusion.
And then realized.
For some reason, breathing was easier than usual.
Each exhale felt light, warm, and dizzyingly comfortable; she touched her chest.
It was warm.
Rather than freezing, her whole body felt filled with warmth.
Her doll-like face moved slightly as she tried to speak but instead looked around awkwardly.
Soon, her gaze met the man’s calm eyes.
Color had started to return to her cheeks, no longer pale as ice.
And without knowing why, tears welled up in her eyes.
The woman who had lived her life trapped in endless winter smiled through her tears for the first time in a long while.
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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* * *
[The Hero and the Woman smile warmly at each other.]
It’s a touching sight.
It tickled at the fingertips, but sometimes a little sweetness is good for the health.
Though, it wasn't exactly the genre the goddess had been hoping for.
She pouted and shouted:
"Just do it already, damn it!"
Why the heck are you just looking at each other so tenderly?
Hurry up and get to the passionate condensed—something!
The goddess slammed her fist down with the sensibility of a viewer rather than the dignity of a great god.
The great balance of order and causality.
Saint Yurseus shook her head from side to side.
"Haah, what a hopeless hero."
Honestly, if they had actually mated there, it would've been a whole different kind of mess, but now, that hardly mattered.
Because they didn’t!
In any case, the hero's purity was preserved, and the goddess had her own top-secret project in full swing.
It wasn’t something sneaky like barging in and stealing the hero away.
It was a friendlier plan.
After all, the world had been created to grant the hero’s wish.
With various checks and feedback, she was preparing a special event.
Since acting unilaterally could cause trouble, she had already coordinated with the god of this Earth.
The hero?
Well, even if he didn’t know yet, once he enjoyed it through sheer reality, he'd probably end up liking it.
Sure, she’d gotten scolded more than a few times for things like this before, but this was just a playful prank between companions who would be together for a long time.
The result of months of secret preparation:
[A Special Event Will Begin Soon.]
Coming soon.
* * *
“...Ah.”
Elneor, the Tower Master, who came to her senses later than Seol Yeonhwa, looked around in a daze.
The tower master's chamber was completely devastated.
She wondered why no one had come even after all the commotion, but of course, it was obvious.
She had sternly ordered everyone not to come inside no matter what happened.
It was her own fault.
Thinking back, it was all so foolish.
Elneor Grants, now thinking more clearly than usual, looked at her disciple.
Seol Yeonhwa.
The jewel of the Blue Tower, discovered a few years ago.
The future.
And her only hope of extending her life.
"…That was such a foolish thought too."
Even if she was a high-ranking mage nearing the final stages of her craft, merely changing one’s constitution wasn’t enough to transcend.
Tower Master Elneor Grants hung her head with a hollow expression.
The more she reflected, the more her actions over the past few months seemed stupid, like a terrible nightmare tangled every which way.
"I'm sorry."
Such foolish words.
Though she hadn't intended to kill her, explaining that would be meaningless now, with no trust left.
Tower Master Elneor Grants quietly closed her eyes and awaited the judgment her disciple would deliver.
"No need to apologize."
But the unexpected words made her blink.
Tower Master of the Blue Tower, Elneor, blankly stared at Seol Yeonhwa.
Was she being sarcastic?
But Yeonhwa’s eyes were clearer and more vibrant than ever.
"Maybe it's just a fleeting delusion because I feel good for some reason... but I don't think you're going to kill me. And I don’t hate you that much either."
A flush colored her cheeks, and there was even a hint of mercy on her face.
Yes, this was forgiveness.
And acceptance.
‘...Ah.’
These were the words Elneor most desperately wished to hear, and it made her regret everything with unbearable intensity.
Ah, why on earth had she done it?
She could claim she had acted for her disciple’s sake, but the truth was her own selfish ambition had been far greater.
Now, regret was all that remained...
As she trembled all over, Seol Yeonhwa let out a sigh.
"Geez, don’t blame yourself so much. I don’t know the whole story, but that person went to find out."
"…That person?"
"Yes, that person."
The one who saved me.
Seol Yeonhwa’s face, speaking thus, carried a warmth Elneor had never seen before.
The Tower Master Elneor Grants opened her eyes wide.
* * *
"Now, if you don't want to meet the scary holy prosecutor, you’d better start talking."
Thud —
The black mage thrown down instinctively trembled as he stared at the shining holy sword.
I wasn’t planning to actually use it today, but bluffs are always most cost-effective when you don't intend to follow through.
I twirled my sword with a smirk and asked,
"So, where did you get the Hellfire Grimoire?"
It seemed there really was a demon lurking around here.
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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