I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 94

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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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Marco spoke.
“If we have the ‘Thousand Eyes Orb,’ we can create the ‘Ten Eyes Orb’ as well. In simpler terms, we can produce multiple copies with diminished effects.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. With sufficient time, it should be entirely feasible.”
Marco’s eyes gleamed with genuine emotion.
The competitive spirit and passion of a master craftsman burned brilliantly within him.
Narmore, with the intuition befitting a future magnate, saw through the situation perfectly.
‘This is my opportunity.’
Countless opportunities pass through everyone’s life. Most people fail to recognize them as opportunities and let them slip away.
But Narmore instinctively grasped what this was.
“That’s welcome news indeed.”
Yet Narmore’s instinct extended beyond merely recognizing opportunities.
He would never make the mistake of losing something greater by being consumed by immediate greed and excitement.
“However, I must consult on this matter at minimum. Would it be acceptable if I returned tomorrow at noon?”
As Narmore took a step back, it was Marco who grew impatient.
He desperately wanted to research that ‘Thousand Eyes Orb’ by any means.
“You’re certainly thinking positively about this, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Then wouldn’t you entrust it to me?”
“I’m afraid I cannot do that.”
Narmore chuckled softly, yet he had said everything he needed to say.
As a character written in the novel as a ‘schemer,’ he was far more seasoned than Yurko, who had lived his entire life as a craftsman.
* * *
Narmore returned to the Imperial Palace and immediately sought out Servant Deilsa.
“Steward, I need your help.”
“Do you think I’m your servant?”
“It’s for Her Highness the Princess.”
“….”
Servant Deilsa listened silently to Narmore’s words.
He was asking for Deilsa to accompany him to tomorrow’s negotiation with Marco.
“Why ask me specifically for such a favor?”
“Do you know rock-paper-scissors?”
Rock defeats scissors.
Scissors defeats paper.
Yet paper defeats rock.
“People have matchups, you see.”
Narmore grinned widely.
He himself was an excellent schemer, but he knew how to deploy the right person in the right place.
“All I need is for you to be a steward—as favorably as possible toward Her Highness the Princess.”
The next day.
Marco, who accompanied Servant Deilsa, had dark circles under his eyes that were deeply shadowed.
“…Yes, that’s right. If you would simply permit the creation of the ‘Eyes of Ten,’ I will accept all other conditions.”
Narmore stepped outside the Yurmiel household and chuckled softly.
“I never expected you to receive 300 million Ludens as a lump sum. The compensation clause for damages, the complete ownership of the Eyes of Ten—isn’t this arrangement rather one-sided?”
“He was able to achieve satisfaction as a craftsman, so it was a mutually satisfactory transaction.”
“If that’s the case, Master Marco’s dark circles have become quite severe, haven’t they?”
“He must have been lacking sleep.”
“How shameless of you.”
“Enough of such talk. You must do your utmost to be of service to Her Highness.”
“But, Steward. I think it would be best if we returned to the Yurmiel household.”
“Why is that?”
“I feel as though we’ve overlooked something. Something very important.”
When Narmore and Servant Deilsa returned, Marco gasped in surprise and dropped something he had been holding.
“What did you drop?”
“That is….”
Narmore caught the scent of money.
I wasn’t entirely certain, but this was unmistakably the smell of money.
A powerful intuition pierced through my mind.
“Could it be a diamond?”
“….”
Strangely, Marco glanced at Servant Deilsa’s expression.
Servant Deilsa, worn down by countless affairs, sensed something suspicious about Marco.
‘His behavior is suspicious.’
Why?
Servant Deilsa examined Marco with a sharp eye, and Marco suddenly rushed forward, prostrated himself, and fell to his knees.
“Steward. I was not deliberately trying to hide this. I naturally intended to tell you….”
Marco confessed that the engagement stone had shattered.
Servant Deilsa’s eyebrows twitched.
Then Narmore stepped forward.
“The engagement stone cracked, and after a special magic circle appeared there, diamonds began to spring forth from that place?”
“Y-yes, that’s correct.”
“Then the diamonds would belong to Her Highness, wouldn’t they?”
“…Yes?”
Narmore whispered to Servant Deilsa.
“Steward. You said there were two things I needed to complete the technique I’m researching. One of them is a very large quantity of diamonds.”
Servant Deilsa nodded.
“Of course they would be Her Highness’s. If you hand over all the diamonds, I will not pursue the matter further, and I will speak well of you to Her Highness.”
* * *
Servant Deilsa, who had returned to the Arena Palace, distanced himself as though nothing had happened.
Narmore, watching his departing figure, murmured to myself.
“Rahela must be mistaken about Servant Deilsa.”
From what Rahela knew, Deilsa was never a kind or warm person.
“Yet he’s being so gentle. It seems like he’d find it cute even if I crawled up to him.”
In any case, Narmore returned to the Arena Palace and continued his research with Biatone and Tesleron.
What he researched was the technology to manage the Tesabel Portal systematically and effectively.
“To think I could obtain diamonds so easily. I was fortunate.”
Why did it smell like money back then? If I hadn’t returned to Yurmiel back then, I wouldn’t have had such luck, would I? Hehe.
He became happy.
“The technology is complete.”
Technology that manages everything perfectly so that the Magic Federation or Magic Towers cannot commit petty acts.
The core technology uses “Ten Eyes” based on “Thousand Eyes,” and it consumed 3,000 diamonds.
* * *
Narmore spoke.
“Viscount Biatonn and Teslone worked very hard to assist. And Karin, who returned from the Magic Federation last month, actively participated in the research, and we finally completed this technology. The provisional name is Blockchain Technology, and the official name will be ‘Isabelchain Technology.'”
Isabel’s mouth fell open at three points.
She was surprised once that blockchain technology, which should only appear in the distant future, had already emerged.
She was surprised a second time that the technology that should be called “blockchain technology” even in novels would be called “Isabelchain Technology.”
“D-Did Teacher Karin return?”
She was surprised a third time at the fact that the final mastermind Karin had returned.
And a month ago at that.
This was something Isabel had no knowledge of whatsoever.
‘Why?’
Not just anyone, but the final mastermind Karin.
Why had she hidden her return, and why had she secretly participated in developing the Isabelchain Technology?
‘What scheme is she up to?’
Isabel’s mind began to grow complicated.
* * *
One month earlier.
The Magic Federation, the Primordial Mage Council.
A council where twelve Primordial Mages, who are revered as nearly divine in the Mirotell Magic Federation, gather.
With Wilhelm, who had been one of the Primordial Mages, absent, there were currently eleven gathered.
What took place there was not a discussion but an interrogation.
“Are you truly saying you will betray Mirotell?”
The one being interrogated was Karin.
“It is not that I will betray. As a magical researcher, I intend to make the technical utility and value of the Tesabel Portal widely known to the world.”
The Primordial Mages did not listen to Karin’s words.
“The Tesabel Portal is a strategic asset of Villorian. If it spreads across the world and becomes available to anyone, sword-wielding barbarians will roam throughout the Magic Federation and commit atrocities.”
“Sword and magic have developed in balance for thousands of years. Yet now, the sword encroaches upon the realm of magic. Do you truly not know Villorian’s base intentions?”
“What you are doing is treason. Are you not ashamed of selling out the Federation to satisfy your own greed?”
Karin, who had anticipated all these reactions, silently endured their anger.
“You truly refuse to bend your will?”
“That is correct.”
One of the eleven Starborn Mages clicked their tongue in disapproval.
“Ungrateful wretch—we took in a pitiful orphan, fed you, clothed you.”
“If Lord Wilhelm knew of this, he would beat his chest and weep with regret.”
They had reached their own conclusion.
“You must surrender everything you have gained from Mirotell.”
“…I accept the consequences.”
Karin’s magical circuits were completely sealed by them.
Every trace of mana within her body was destroyed, rendering her incapable of casting magic ever again.
“You shall never set foot in Mirotell again.”
“What is my crime?”
“You still haven’t come to your senses.”
Karin was never told her exact crime.
She was expelled from the Starborn Council and forced to leave the Mirotell Magic Federation immediately.
Near the border.
Karin encountered a tall woman with crimson hair.
“Viscount Biatonn sent me to receive you.”
Her name was Kiruen, Captain of the Guard protecting the outer walls of Villorian’s capital.
“You appear to have endured terrible hardship. Allow me to carry you.”
“It is unnecessary.”
Kiruen forcibly carried Karin on her back.
Karin, having lost all her mana, could not resist.
Around four in the morning.
Kiruen set Karin down upon a large boulder.
“They said assassins might follow us…”
Quite skilled assassins had indeed caught up with them.
They appeared to be acting under orders from the Mirotell Magic Federation.
They wore masks and were quite adept at concealment.
“I shall not ask your identity or affiliation. I am Kiruen, Captain of the Guard protecting the outer walls of Villorian’s capital.”
The masked figures were momentarily startled by Kiruen’s overwhelming presence, but felt reassured upon hearing she was merely a captain of the outer guard.
They communicated silently through mana.
-The outer guard alone should be manageable to suppress.
-Besides, she’s not even properly armed right now.
Indeed, Kiruen carried only a blunt club instead of a sword.
They made their decision swiftly.
-Kill them both.
It was their greatest mistake.
Though Kiruen was Captain of the Outer Guard, she had originally been Vice-Commander of the Imperial Palace Knights, demoted only for assaulting a superior officer.
Despite wielding a club rather than a blade, she beat all eight masked assassins senseless.
“What do you mean, Captain of the Guard…?”
“Silence.”
Thwack!
The club struck the masked figure’s head.
All eight of them lost consciousness.
Then Karin spoke.
“We must kill them all.”
“You certainly sound brutal for someone so reluctant about it.”
“If we kill them here, we won’t leave a trail. To return safely to Imperial territory, killing them is the right choice.”
“Is that your survival instinct?”
“It’s my instinct to save her.”
Kiruen immediately understood what Karin meant.
To save her.
Karin was speaking of saving Isabel, who was living on borrowed time.
‘She seems desperate.’
The Karin that Kiruen saw was not someone suited for murder. Yet despite this, Karin drew a short blade from her bosom.
Kiruen simply watched Karin in silence.
“If I do the killing, it will also benefit Villorian. There will be no trace of Captain Kiruen.”
That was also why Kiruen had deliberately not brought a sword.
If Kiruen used swordplay, it would leave the distinctive blade marks of the Empire. So she had brought only a club instead.
In the end, Kiruen spoke a few words.
“Murder is not easy. And once you cross that line, you cannot return. Think carefully.”
“….”
In the end, Karin crossed the river from which there was no return.
She found a nearby ravine and washed herself for three hours.
When Karin returned to Imperial territory, she could not go to Isabel.
‘The scent of blood on my body will reach the Princess.’
She suffered from phantoms.
A phantom of blood that would not wash away no matter how much she scrubbed, soaked into her very being.
That is why she could not find Isabel.
‘I am a murderer. My filth must not taint the Princess.’
So she kept her return secret from the Princess.
Instead, she met secretly with Narmore and Tesleron, helping them perfect the Isabel Chain technology.
She had made her home in the slums where Narmore once lived.
And as time passed, one early morning, a voice she longed for reached Karin as she slept.
“Teacher. Teacher Karin. Wake up. It’s morning.”
That morning light was far too bright.

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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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