Memoirs of a Wicked Magician - Chapter 34

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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 34
They hadn’t even fought for dominance, so why did it feel as though she’d lost without gaining anything in return?
More than that, what was this strange situation—holding a meaningless conversation with someone she ought to be wary of?
Liriope pressed a hand to her temples, which had begun to throb inexplicably, and asked him without thinking.
“You… what exactly are you doing here today?”
Belkiers still wore that playful expression, and he let out a soft chuckle as if savoring the moment, before answering.
“Isn’t it obvious? Because you’re here.”
“No, but why would you want to—”
“I just wanted to see you. Do I need another reason?”
Liriope found herself at a loss for words once again.
Under different circumstances, she might have misunderstood such words, but this was no thrilling confession.
Belkiers showed not the slightest hint of such intention.
They were not old friends who had known each other for years, nor could they even be called acquainted. From their first meeting, they had been enemies seeking each other’s death.
Yet the reason he had come to see Liriope was likely…
“Go on and struggle for survival, then.”
“I’ll watch to see how you thrash about in this filthy mire.”
Had he truly come just to watch her suffering?
It was a mercy that he seemed to harbor no intention of killing her, but if her suspicion was correct, she could only call it a disturbingly twisted sense of humor.
Flutter.
A butterfly, once again creeping toward her sister while Liriope was off guard, came into view.
Though it lacked the murderous intent from before, Liriope clenched her teeth and swatted them all away with a sharp gesture.
Robbed of their direction, the butterflies began to swarm toward Liriope instead.
She moved to strike them down as well, but realized it was better to let them land on her own body rather than have them target her sister, so she left them be.
Yet for some reason, Belkiers seemed strangely satisfied by the sight.
“Does that please you? Then I’ll leave one more beside you.”
“What? Who said anything pleased me—”
“And I’ve grown curious.”
Whoosh!
Suddenly wind erupted around him. Liriope’s hair and clothing were caught in it, fluttering wildly.
“Show me how far you can go while shouldering your already tattered sister.”
A swarm of black butterflies writhed around Belkiers’s form.
And in that same instant, an ominous whisper seared into her ear like a brand.
“I suspect you won’t even be able to escape this forest.”
Leaving only a faint black shadow like an afterimage, he vanished before her eyes once more.
Yet his sinister words lingered wetly in her ears, making her heart grow heavier.
* * *
Whoosh!
Belkiers emerged from the black wind.
Mages passing through the corridor quickly lowered their heads in deference at the sight of him.
In truth, all they could truly perceive was a flash of shimmering silver hair and a deep blue cloak, but before a presence so overwhelming that mere appearance inspired dread, it was only natural to bow.
The nine other young men and women chosen by the Tower Master each possessed an equally commanding presence that dominated all around them.
For that reason, the lower-ranking mages who frequented the outer quarters of the Northern Magic Tower had scarcely ever glimpsed the true faces of those bearing Belegoth’s Bloodline.
It was also why Belkiers could so carelessly pass through the outer quarters in the guise of Evangelin, changing only his hair color and eye color.
As always, he paid no attention to such lesser beings and proceeded with a cold aura trailing in his wake.
Like light crumbling as it is devoured by darkness, his luminously bright hair gradually darkened with each step forward.
The moment he crossed the threshold of a gate conjured in empty space, his bloodshot crimson eyes reclaimed their original brilliant color.
By the time the deep blue afterimage trailing behind his form had completely vanished, he was already standing in the center of a room where frigid air hung thick.
“Manuk.”
-Grrrrrowl!
At Belkiers’s brief call, a furious snarl scraped across his eardrums.
Before the boy’s shadow cast on the ground loomed a beast’s shadow ten times the size.
Its jaws, bristling with dense fangs as though eager to devour the boy whole, gaped open as it lunged at him in one fluid motion.
Belkiers watched the creature’s assault without so much as a blink.
Even after an invisible barrier stopped it in its tracks, the beast refused to yield, thrashing desperately to reach him. The sight was both pitiable and admirable.
If others learned that Belkiers had brought a creature from the Corrupted Sacred Land into the Magic Tower, there would be an uproar. But this place was an iron fortress where not even an ant could creep without his permission, so there was no concern.
Belkiers observed the beast for some time as it raged relentlessly without calming.
Finally, when its movements within the barrier began to subside, he reached out his hand.
“Manuk.”
-Grrrowl!
“Hand.”
But the beast snapped at the opportunity and bit down hard on Belkiers’s arm as it entered the barrier.
The creature thrashed about in excitement, throwing a fit.
Yet Belkiers didn’t so much as blink.
“Fool.”
-Gr, grrrow?
“That’s not meant to be eaten.”
He lightly tapped the bewildered creature’s head with his other hand.
Smack!
“For something so vile-tempered, you’re remarkably stupid.”
Yet despite the gentleness of his gesture, the mana channeled through his blow was merciless.
The beast flew backward in an instant, crashing against the barrier with a roar.
It only stared at Belkiers with those slit-pupiled eyes, wariness flickering in their depths, making no move to charge again.
Though its gaze remained as savage as before, its momentum had clearly diminished compared to moments earlier.
Finding the creature’s display somewhat more interesting now, Belkiers drew food from the space around him and tossed it into the barrier before turning to leave.
Behind him, the sound of the beast greedily snatching, chewing, and savoring the food drifted back, and his mood sank into tedium once more.
Everything that had ever held his interest throughout his life seemed to grow tiresome far too quickly, and this beast was no exception.
Yet as Belkiers turned toward his chambers with that same bored expression, his footsteps abruptly faltered as though caught by something.
When he turned his head, a shape that had fleetingly caught the edge of his vision while walking suddenly came into sharp focus.
Ah, that’s right.
There was still one thing remaining.
A girl discovered in an utterly unexpected place—fascinating and most intriguing indeed.
Though he would need to take various precautions to steal this portrait from the corridor gallery where it hung on his bedroom wall, such a task posed no true difficulty for him.
Belkiers sat on the edge of a small table and gazed for a moment at the portrait adorning the wall opposite.
Typically, when a new rival emerged while the current heir was still alive, a deadly struggle for supremacy would ensue.
Just as Belkiers had originally intended.
‘The dead speak no words, and cannot challenge authority again.’
But now, unlike at first, he had no intention of killing the subject of this portrait.
Belkiers’s head tilted leftward, then bent rightward, his black hair rustling softly with each movement.
As he compared the image before his eyes with the face etched into his memory, he found himself murmuring without thought.
“The real thing is far superior.”

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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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