Are MZ Shamans In Trouble In Romance Novels? - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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4.

“…Oh, what a surprise.”

Calisia, who had been standing with a blank expression, reacted half a beat late. She only blinked her eyes with a completely unsurprised look. Rather, it was the ghost who was shocked and making a fuss.

-Aaaaah! What a surprise! What, what is this! You, you can see me?

Crimson hair and light brown eyes. A young man with a mischievous smile opened his eyes wide. He had been hanging from the ceiling scaring passersby for years now. But this was the first time a living human had seen him.

-Uhahahaha! You can see me, you can see me! You really can see me!

“You, have you been living here for a long time….”

-Kyaaaaaaah! Scary!

The excited young man suddenly let out a shriek and opened his mouth wide. His thin jaw dropped down and his lips tore apart vertically.

“Damn it….”

Calisia, who had to see his uvula upon first meeting, slowly closed her eyes.

“Hey, stop it.”

-She told me to stop! She told me to stop! Hah… This is new! Do more! Say more! Kyowowowowo!

“I’m telling you for the last time. Stop.”

-Stoooooop!

“Fine. You’re really asking for it.”

Calisia clenched her fist and rolled her shoulders. After all, a beating was the medicine for unruly spirits who couldn’t tell heaven from earth. After loosening up, she quietly drew up her divine power.

When you reached the level of a National Exorcism Agency inspector, you developed a skill different from other shamans. You could attack ghosts without ritual implements like talismans or bells.

In movies, don’t archmages cast magic just fine even when their staffs are taken away? It was similar to that.

-Uh, uh! She’s clenching her fist! A human is clenching her fist! But why is she clenching her fist….

“Here I come.”

Calisia’s small but sturdy fist struck the young man’s cheek hard. Along with a crisp impact sound, a cry filled with pain echoed through the corridor.

***

-Sob, sniff.

The young man with a swollen face knelt down in front of Calisia. He forcibly swallowed his sorrowful feelings and sniffled.

“Introduce yourself.”

Calisia gestured toward the young man with her chin. The startled young man jumped up from his spot. It was because the earlier beating had straightened him out.

-Hello. I am Isaac Eclain. Namely, of the great House of Fire, the Valus Ducal House!

Isaac placed his hand on his chest and bowed with quite disciplined movements.

-The one and only head butler!

“Head butler?”

-…’s son.

Isaac, who had frozen in an awkward position, mumbled the end of his sentence. Even after saying it himself, he seemed embarrassed and coughed while scratching his nose.

“A professional son? That’s a long way of saying you’re unemployed.”

-Unemployed! I’ll have you know I worked very hard receiving successor education as the next head butler!

“Then you must know a lot about the Valus Ducal House too.”

A smile spread across Calisia’s lips for the first time. A head butler was usually a position that oversaw all the major and minor affairs of a noble house. It seemed like she had found quite a useful guide from the start, quality over quantity. Even if he wasn’t the genuine article.

“Isaac, my memory has been a bit fuzzy since I got stabbed in the stomach.”

-You weren’t even hit in the head, so why would your memory be….

Isaac pouted and tilted his head. He looked at Calisia’s stomach and head with suspicious eyes.

“What. Want to try getting hit once?”

Calisia patted her stomach. After all, for those who needed to taste whether something was poop or soybean paste, physical communication was the answer.

-…Huh? No! I understand! That’s perfectly, perfectly understandable. The human body is all connected when you think about it. And the stomach and head aren’t that far apart!

Isaac, who had been making nonsensical sounds, quickly came to his senses and rambled on.

“Who do you think stabbed me? The Second Wife?”

-That can’t be it. The Duke’s Daughter hasn’t performed the Fire Ritual yet.

Isaac shook his head decisively.

“Your explanation is too short. Elaborate.”

-There is only one iron rule in the Valus Ducal House. All Valus must perform the Fire Ritual. It’s also called an unbreakable oath.

Isaac spoke with an unprecedentedly heavy tone. The iron rule regarding the ritual was absolute for the Valus. There was no way the Second Wife would have touched a covenant that even the Head of House couldn’t break.

It would be suicide beyond a self-defeating move. There was no way she wouldn’t know what even Isaac knew.

-All blood relatives of the ducal house perform the Fire Ritual in the year they turn fourteen. It’s a process to determine whether they were born with special abilities. It’s also a journey to be reborn as a complete member of the family. As you know, the greatness of Valus comes from fire.

Ikines, where Valus was located, was different from other regions with its rough terrain and many high mountains. Especially the rocky mountains behind the Duke’s Castle were so magnificent they were hard to take in at a glance.

And among them, people called the red mountain that pierced through the clouds and rose majestically the ‘Trial Rock.’ What existed at its peak was a massive flame that seemed to devour the sky.

The Primordial Fire and a cruel testing ground that determined the fate of young Valus children.

[No fire can harm a Valus.]

The children had to prove they were true Valus within the blazing inferno.

The Primordial Fire was infinitely benevolent to children who passed the ritual. Enough to share its own Eternal Flame.

Swords and bows, shields and spears. Starting from various weapons, sometimes even to spirit beasts. The forms of flames it shared were diverse.

“If you have no talent.”

-You return to fire.

“Return to fire, my ass. That means burning to death. Are you messing with me right now?”

A tradition called killing that had been carried out for dozens, no, hundreds of generations. It was why the area around the Duke’s Castle was eerily haunted.

Calisia, who was furious, was about to kick Isaac’s shin but stopped. An ominous premonition had flashed through her mind.

“Hey, wait. Me, me! How old am I?”

-Hmm, when you left the Main Castle… let’s see. 1 year, 2 years… wait a moment. Ah! You’re exactly fourteen this year!

Bang- Bang-

A death sentence had been handed down. Calisia clutched her head and moistened her dry lips. She couldn’t even sigh at the hopeless situation.

“So you’re saying I’m about to become grilled meat?”

-If you put it rather crudely, yes.

Isaac puffed out his cheeks and stretched his words to show his protest.

“How much time is left.”

-For what?

“How much time is left until that damn ritual!”

Her slender arm grabbed Isaac by the collar.

-Uh, uh… Since it opens when the cold wind passes, about a month and a half?

Calisia sat down on the floor with a haggard expression. Wasn’t burning pain said to be the greatest pain humans could feel?

“Hahahaha.”

Suddenly laughter burst out. And suddenly the glittering gold badge flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern. Jung Kyungjun, the culprit behind the current situation and a candidate for the next presidency.

Where was Assemblyman Jung’s office again? Ah, Seocho.

-Why are you suddenly laughing? It’s unsettling.

“Hahahaha. I wonder how long it would take to fly from Arkea to Seocho.”

Calisia gritted her teeth and jumped up. She left Isaac standing there dumbfounded and ran down the corridor. She had to escape from this insane household as quickly as possible.

***

“I said from the beginning that this place had bad feng shui. Look at how this household operates. It’s not backed by mountains and facing water at all.”

Calisia, who had been muttering to herself, roughly threw open the bedroom door. She rolled up her flowing sleeves to her elbows and charged toward the vanity. Isaac, who had followed asking where she was suddenly going, was with her too.

Operation Name: Midnight Escape

Target: Gold Items

Do you know what’s most important in any operation? An excellent brain for planning. Agile and strong physical abilities. Persistence and patience toward the target. A thorough sense of mission for solving cases.

Wrong!

The correct answer was operational funds.

Especially for escapes, the more money the better. Since you never knew how long you’d be wandering as a fugitive.

Calisia’s eyes gleamed as she ransacked the bedroom thoroughly. Starting with silver candlesticks to decorations made of gold. She swept up everything that looked like it could be worth money.

-Miss!

“Is the castle gate the only way out? No way. That can’t be right. Don’t kings and nobles usually have at least one secret passage?”

Moreover, this place wasn’t just any ordinary mansion but the main castle of a ducal house. The greatest defensive fortress in the Western Region with high towers and solid walls. So there must definitely be a secret passage somewhere.

-Miss!

“Why do you keep calling me! So annoying!”

Calisia, who had been thinking about escape routes, turned her head with an irritated gesture.

-What are you planning to do!

“Run away, of course. Should I just sit here quietly and wait for the barbecue party?”

-Miss. A Valus who hasn’t undergone the ritual cannot leave the castle grounds. Even if there are unavoidable circumstances, the Head of House’s permission comes first.

“Who the hell asks for permission to run away in the night!”

Calisia’s neck veins bulged as she rolled her eyes upward in frustration. Of course, running away wasn’t a perfect plan. She acknowledged it was reckless and impulsive.

But now was the time to grasp at straws. She was a shaman dancing on sharp blades, not a camping gas torch.

-That night escape itself is impossible! Do you know how many knights guard the inside and outside of the Duke’s Castle? And do you know how many soldiers there are?

“That’s exactly why I’m going to find a secret passage.”

-Miss, just give up. Even if you’re lucky enough to get outside, a pursuit team will follow right after you. If you make a wrong move and the house issues an execution order, you won’t die peacefully.

Isaac let out a big sigh and beat his chest repeatedly. House Valus’s motto was ‘I shall thus devour everything-‘. Even blood relatives who shared the same blood were no exception.

-Rather than being cut by swords and spears and having your limbs torn apart, it would be better to return to the flames with honor…

“What did you just say, you bastard?”

A cold silence settled in the bedroom.

-Uh, uh, I mean…! What I’m saying is! You can learn! That’s right! You can learn a special ability so you don’t have to return to the flames!

Isaac, sensing a threat to his safety, shouted in a desperate voice.

-I, I know someone who can help you!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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