Memoirs of a Wicked Magician - Chapter 113

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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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Episode 113
[What’s this? Does Hart Ruins look that impressive to your eyes too?]
‘What?’
[Why, stepping into the Hart Ruins in person, I felt something uncommonly grand about the place. So I thought perhaps you’d wanted Hart to be your master?]
How was she supposed to interpret this response?
She’d only brought it up half in jest, and here Od was, as if waiting for this very moment, testing her understanding of them.
‘What’s with the excitement all of a sudden? Did something come back to you?’
[That’s not it. But the moment I entered this place, I felt oddly… familiar with it.]
The truth was, Od still didn’t know their true identity.
The more they visited corrupted holy sites and ruins, the more fragments of memory they gathered, yet the most crucial pieces remained beyond recall.
So what Liriope knew was that Od had been one of the great mages of the Golden Age.
And that they were a descendant of the now-fallen Ancient Magical Civilization, as well as an ancestor of Liriope herself.
Liriope too had many unanswered questions about this bloodline matter and had tried to learn more over time, but obtaining information proved difficult.
Her parents had long since passed, and the house where they’d once lived had vanished completely during the floods.
When she’d asked Caliona if she’d ever seen her parents use magic, Caliona had only tilted her head uncertainly.
‘Come to think of it… we both have hazy memories of the day our parents died.’
Was it because they’d been so young and suffered such a profound shock?
‘My mind’s wandering again.’
In any case, she’d been in the middle of saying Od’s reaction was deeply suspicious.
Liriope didn’t truly believe Od could be the original master of this ancient laboratory.
A mage with such a repulsive, grotesque laboratory couldn’t possibly be Od, could they?
‘No, I’m not impressed with Hart. You couldn’t be this person.’
[What? Not impressed…? Why?]
Od faltered at Liriope’s firm statement.
‘Why? Look at this place. It’s sinister and bizarre at first glance. The owner must be the same way.’
[………]
‘You wanted the Research Notes, so I gathered them, but honestly I’m reluctant to even open them. I have a terrible feeling they’ll be full of gruesome human experiments. Ugh, look at these stains on the paper. It’s absolutely revolting.’
Yet Liriope still gathered every stack of papers from the drawer for Od, who wanted the Research Notes.
[……Hart’s research may occupy a blind spot in magical study and appear dangerous and unsettling, but there are also many contributions to the magical society. So don’t harbor too much prejudice.]
But Od’s voice that followed sounded somehow drained of vitality, and Liriope noticed it and hesitated.
‘Oh… did I make a mistake?’
It seemed Od felt a stronger familiarity and intimacy with the Hart Ruins than expected.
‘Well, Od. I still don’t think you have any connection to Hart, but even if you did, I wouldn’t mind. Your tastes are quite—no, a little unusual, but Hart was certainly an extraordinary mage.’
[Enough. How would I know such a human butcher? That person has nothing to do with me.]
Liriope tried to smooth things over, but it had no effect.
‘Hmm, is there anything else you want to take besides the Research Notes? Since we’ve come this far, we might as well take everything we can carry.’
[Mana Stones are always useful—gather every one you see. And if you search carefully, you might find the final ingredient needed for that Mana Enhancement Elixir you wanted to try making. There should be other useful grimoires and magical items too, which I’ll point out separately.]
‘Wow. The Hart Ruins—now that I think about it, they’re really worth something. Hart was definitely a mage of exceptional skill.’
Liriope shifted her stance transparently. Then came the faintest sound of Od’s scoff.
“Aaaahhh!”
Right then, a sharp scream suddenly came from outside.
The four people, each searching their assigned area, all looked up at once.
“What? A scream?”
“W-wait, there was someone else here before us?”
Liriope recalled a fact she’d forgotten. There had been one person who entered the ruins ahead of them.
The four decided to investigate the source of the scream.
Bang!
But the moment Caliona and Milena stepped out of the room, the door slammed shut right in front of Liriope’s face.
She was trapped in the room with Cassel alone.
“What—the door won’t open!”
And the rope connecting to Caliona and Milena began moving strangely.
The rope that should have led outside twisted erratically—through the ceiling, the floor, across distant walls—changing direction mindlessly.
Crunch-crunch!
At the same moment, the walls surrounding Liriope and Cassel began slowly closing in.
Objects in the room crumpled as the space compressed.
[The laboratory recognizes Intruders and is restructuring itself. Follow the shadows!]
Liriope hurriedly obeyed Od’s instruction.
“Cassel! Take my hand!”
Cassel, sensing the urgency of the situation, grasped Liriope’s hand without hesitation.
The two of them used the shadows cast at their feet as passage, barely escaping the closing space.
* * *
“Gasp!”
Liriope and Cassel emerged into what looked like a Surgery Room.
Like what they’d glimpsed in the Corridor before, human-shaped monsters in burlap sacks stood motionless in clusters—a sight that made the blood run cold.
Worse still, they formed a perfect circle around Liriope and Cassel as if waiting for them, looking down at the pair.
As panic flickered through her mind, the light she summoned wavered.
“Aaaaaahhh!”
Clang, clang!
“Kyaaaaaahhh!”
Clang-crash!
Yet the light blinked—perhaps a second at most—only twice.
In that brief darkness, a blade weapon flew. And the grotesque creatures shaped like men let out horrifying screams as they advanced.
Steadying her mind and maintaining the light, the threatening attacks and approaches halted once more without fail.
“Damn, how does such a wretched place even exist?”
But Cassel seemed far more repulsed by these creatures than by any other savage monster.
“Sick deviant mage bastard. What the hell were you making?”
[A misunderstanding! These may not have been in the laboratory originally. Perhaps they became corrupted later, and strange mutations resulted……]
Still unable to abandon the possibility that they might be Hart, Od offered a hurried explanation. But Liriope’s frozen mind was no longer functioning properly.
Cassel turned to stand guard around them, then suddenly became aware that Liriope was gripping his hand so tightly he thought it might crush.
When Cassel turned his head to the side, his expression became curious.
“What’s wrong? Are you… scared right now?”
“No.”
Liriope reflexively denied it to Cassel.
But her face still looked somewhat drained, her pupils trembling as if from a tremor.
“What do you mean no? Something’s been off about you since earlier. And there’s a lot of cold sweat on your palm right now.”
“It must be your sweat.”
But Liriope’s words weren’t entirely false either. Cassel’s complexion wasn’t great either.
Crunch-crunch!
Just then, the room began closing in again.
“We’ll move through the shadows, so keep holding my hand.”
“Yeah, can’t be helped.”
Fortunately, affected by the nature of the ruins, Liriope could use Dark Magic more easily than usual.
“Ah, this reminds me of the time some crazy mage kidnapped me and almost used me for experiments. Maybe it’s because the environment here is similar to that place?”
“How did you escape from that laboratory?”
“Played dead until the bastard mage came close, then cracked his skull. Simple as that.”
After the laboratory stopped shifting, the two moved to find Caliona and Milena.
Fortunately, they too seemed unharmed, sending Liriope a signal.
Liriope and Cassel walked quietly, conversing to push back the dread the dismal space inspired.
“Hey, by the way… are those injuries from last time really all healed now?”
Cassel asked Liriope with some concern.
“I’m fine. Fabian fixed it up completely.”
Though truth be told, it had been with Belkiers’ help, not Fabian’s.
“Still……”
“Why don’t you take care of your own body? You’ve had your body stitched and patched so many times, and there are quite a few parts that are downright fake.”
Liriope ran her eyes over Cassel’s form with a frown.
Even some of the fingers of Cassel’s hand she was holding right now weren’t real. What right did he have to worry about anyone?
“Last month you had a hole right through here, and you still do this? What’s the point? Do you want to replace your entire body with Mana Stones?”
Liriope’s hand, full of complaint and concern, felt along Cassel’s waist.
In that instant, Cassel’s body jolted sharply.
He hurriedly seized Liriope’s hand.
“Hey… what are you touching? Have no shame at all.”
“Oh, I thought it was completely healed, but is it still not? Did I make it worse?”
“No, it is healed, but that’s not what I meant……”
Cassel trailed off and sighed again. Then, with a noticeably heavier tone, he asked:
“Are you always like this with that guy too?”
“That guy? Like this?”
“Do you touch the Magic Tower Master’s son like that without hesitation?”

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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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