I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 154

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

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‘He seems a bit wary, doesn’t he?’
Karin must have known that old man.
But it didn’t seem like they were on good terms.
“Why are you dressed like that in a place like this?”
Karin subtly moved in front of me as if to protect me.
She seemed somewhat tense.
Who on earth was that old man?
“So it really is you, Karin. By the looks of it, you’ve recovered your magical power?”
“…Yes.”
At those words, the old man’s eyes widened and he crawled closer on his knees.
In an instant, Karin deployed a magical barrier using some spell.
Thud!
The old man collided with the barrier and tumbled backward.
“Ouch!”
Seeing her cast such sophisticated magic without even chanting made me a bit envious.
I have an enormous amount of magical power, but I can’t cast magic that refined.
If I tried, I’d probably end up creating a clumsy barrier about this size.
“I never gave you permission to approach.”
“As you can see, I’ve lost my magical power too.”
The old man knelt right there and begged earnestly.
“Please, have some pity on me.”
“….”
“I’m just an old man with no power now, so let me speak.”
“I’ll hear what you have to say, but I won’t permit you to approach the Princess.”
“Understood.”
After what happened in Duke Bladog’s territory, the people around me had developed a tendency to be overprotective.
Being a natural attention-seeker, I didn’t dislike it that much, so I was actually enjoying it a little.
“Your Highness, would it be alright if I spoke with this person for a moment?”
“Who is that person?”
“That person is… Nelton.”
“Nelton?”
I’d heard that name many times before.
Soon, one person came to mind.
It was a difficult name to match with that old man.
“Pardon? Nelton?”
Could it possibly be that Nelton?
“Count Nelton, the First Archmage of the Magical Federation?”
* * *
Nelton was a great mage.
He possessed outstanding talent and skill, but he was also a figure overshadowed by Beksah, who was an overwhelmingly brilliant genius.
After Beksah’s retirement, he served as the First Starborn Mage, leading the Mirotel Magic Federation at the forefront.
Nelton carefully broached the subject of the current state of the Mirotel Magic Federation.
It was quite a shocking story for Karin.
‘All the Starborn Mages are under Wilhelm’s command?’
He said he couldn’t understand how this came to be, or why everyone had become subordinates or puppets of Wilhelm.
“What’s certain is that the entire Mirotel Magic Federation has fallen into Wilhelm’s hands. I should have realized it sooner, but by the time I did, it was already too late.”
….
“The Magic Federation is undoubtedly heading down a wrong path.”
….
“Magic that controls people? This is nothing short of dark magic.”
Magic respects the free will of people.
To strip away free will and use someone as you please—that is not magic.
It is dark magic, something mages must guard against and abandon.
“I realized it too late and tried to do something about it, but it was futile. As you can see, this is what became of me. I barely escaped and ended up in this state.”
….
“I’ve spent my entire life learning magic, and now that I’ve lost my mana, what can I possibly do?”
He knelt before Karin once more.
“Won’t you tell me how to restore my mana circuits? If you do, I will actively help the Bilotion Imperial Family.”
“I’m afraid it’s difficult for me to do alone. I need to consult with Viscount Biatonn.”
Soon after, Viscount Biatonn arrived at the summons.
Biatonn answered with his usual warm smile.
“Your Highness, the Emperor is looking for you. It seems he wishes to dine together.”
He naturally guided Isabel back to the imperial palace.
As Karin and Isabel grew distant, Biatonn became a different person.
“You managed to escape all the way here with a body devoid of mana circuits.”
Biatonn created a mana ring and wrapped it around Nelton’s body.
It bound him tightly, like a rope.
Biatonn’s eyes narrowed.
Then he grabbed Nelton by the collar and yanked him forward.
“There’s the stench of Wilhelm on you.”
After experiencing it several times, I can sense it.
There’s a distinctive scent of Wilhelm hidden within the mana.
“I can’t fathom what you’re hiding from the Princess that makes you all so obsessed with her.”
“W-what are you talking about, Biatonn?”
Biatonn grinned wickedly.
“The Starborn Mages let you slip away despite your lost mana? And you just happened to show yourself in a place the Princess frequents? In such a pitiful, wretched state no less? How remarkably convenient.”
“Biatonn! I’ve lost magic, which was my everything! What are you saying!”
“I’ve lost my everything too.”
That memory at Lake Yuri.
It was a terrible experience I never wished to relive.
“And I’ve reclaimed it.”
A short blade had appeared in Biatone’s hand.
“I won’t lose it again.”
Biatone rose from his seat and approached Nelton.
His eyes held an expression he had never shown to Isabel.
“What I despise most is a scheme to exploit the Princess’s pure heart.”
“B-Biatone!”
“Do whatever you can, however you wish.”
Biatone had no intention of losing everything he had barely reclaimed.
Chief Advisor Biatone was a man who upheld reason and procedure.
Yet for Isabel’s sake, he could become ruthless without hesitation.
“I will protect her no matter what.”
That night, the moon visible through the window was unusually crimson.
Through the glass pane, the moon appeared as though steeped in red dye.
* * *
“Have a good night.”
Yuri tucked the blanket over me.
Time passed, and midnight arrived, yet my eyes remained wide awake.
‘This has diverged so much from the novel.’
I hadn’t heard the exact details of what happened.
I only learned from Viscount Biatone that Nelton was also being manipulated by Wilhelm.
Apparently, all the founding mages of the Magic Federation could be considered Wilhelm’s subordinates.
‘This never existed in the original.’
Originally, the final mastermind Karin and the male lead Arun were the most threatening figures.
Karin had become completely my ally, and Arun had become an apprentice knight of the Black Whale.
Instead, a new villain named Wilhelm had emerged.
‘I shouldn’t focus too much on individuals.’
People change.
Even I, the doomed villainess of “The Doomed Villainess Dies,” have changed so much.
Yuri, Tesleron, Sermon, Kaman, and Narmore—they’re all living different lives.
‘If I look at it from a larger perspective….’
From a macroscopic viewpoint, the novel’s premise is ‘a certain force destroys the Bilotian Imperial Family.’
‘Since Karin and Arun have changed roles… if I think of it as a villain replacing them, the pieces fit.’
Moreover, Wilhelm was continuously pursued at the imperial level.
My father, having lost Viscount Lancer, gnashes his teeth at Wilhelm.
Yet they’ve failed to capture him for so long, which meant Wilhelm’s power was stronger than expected.
Wilhelm was never this strong in the novel.
‘He grew gradually and even took over the entire Magic Federation.’
There was one thing I was curious about.
Why has he been targeting me from our first meeting until now?
I couldn’t understand why they desired me so desperately.
“What matters is.”
I pushed myself up, sitting upright.
“That I have the strength to protect myself, at the very least.”
Yes. In the end, I had to possess that power.
The next day, I summoned Viscount Biatone, Count Karin, and Viscount Teslone all at once.
Viscount Teslone was as uncooperative as always.
“Ah, I hate being around humans. What is it?”
He complains, but he does everything I ask of him anyway.
So lately, I’ve stopped bothering to respond to his protests.
“I need the strength to protect myself.”
Like the magical barrier Count Karin had deployed yesterday.
I thought if I properly mastered something like that, I could defend my own body.
“There’s this terribly dangerous enemy called Wilhelm. I don’t know when, where, or how danger might strike. Of course, I’m surrounded by many people who care for me, and they would help me.”
I have no doubt about that.
If I fell into danger, there would be plenty of people rushing to my aid.
“But I should at least be able to buy myself some time, shouldn’t I? Until my teachers arrive to save me. I should be able to endure, at the very least. So I’d appreciate it if you could teach me. Magic that allows me to protect myself.”
The three fell silent for a moment.
Viscount Biatone was the first to speak.
“I only thought about protecting the Princess, but I hadn’t considered it from that angle.”
“I’m not just a child anymore, after all.”
Just then, I caught my reflection in a mirror across the room.
I was no longer a child.
I had to be able to bear my own burden.
The three seemed to darken slightly at my words about no longer being a child, but that must have been my imagination, right?
Soon after, Karin spoke.
“There might be a method perfectly suited for the Princess.”
Karin said she and Viscount Biatone had been continuously researching and studying the magic of the Grand Mage Beksah.
It seemed they had found something that would suit me perfectly.
“Grand Mage Beksah called this power the Dimensional Severance Barrier.”
“…That’s quite an intimidating name, isn’t it?”
Hearing the explanation, it truly was intimidating.
It was magic that temporarily separated the space I occupied, including myself, into a different dimension to protect myself.
Because the very dimension itself changed, no physical attack or magical force could touch my body—it was an overwhelmingly powerful magic.
I let out a gasp of admiration.
“Wow.”
The name did have a slightly juvenile ring to it, but it was fitting enough for such power.
“However, there is a condition.”
“What condition?”
Karin paused for quite some time.
Viscount Biatone’s expression had grown considerably darker as well.
“What’s wrong? Why do you all look like that?”

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

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