Sister-in-law of the Heroine in a Childcare Novel - Chapter 80

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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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Chapter 80

Those who had passed the dangerous Refined Magical Product to Empress Cleo.
They were certainly not friendly toward me or the Castrain Family.
And they could manufacture something that even the Castrain Family deemed ‘dangerous,’ while also securing numerous Magic Beast corpses as raw materials.
Up to this point, it was rational deduction.
But there was one thing I needed to confirm. I could have gotten the answer from someone in the Castrain Family, and fortunately, the people around me were overflowing with Castrain members. The moment I asked, Debbi cut straight to the point.
“You’re asking if small-time operators we don’t even watch in our Family could produce something on par with the trap used to capture Prince Brian in the Imperial Palace? No, sir. That’s impossible.”
Ordinary civilians with no knowledge assumed the Castrain Family possessed a Mana Stone ‘mine,’ and that they simply excavated from it.
But Mana Stones were fundamentally the cores of Magic Beasts—naturally occurring within their bodies.
Which raised a question.
What exactly was this Mana Stone Mine that the Castrain Family owned?
The principle was simple. From ancient times, stretching back decades and centuries, Magic Beast corpses accumulated and piled upon one another, their remains naturally condensing Magical Power, the accumulated force crystallizing into Mana Stones. That was how the Castrain Family’s Mana Stone Mine had come into being. More accurately, it was the legacy of a ‘Magic Beast corpse disposal site’ passed down from the past.
Even with their cores extracted, the Magic Beast corpses retained faint residual power. For this reason, the Castrain Family disposed of bodies in a single, strictly controlled location. Over long ages, as corpses piled upon corpses, vast power accumulated in the earth—and this became the Castrain Family’s Mana Stone ‘mine.’
A Mana Stone mine managed with utmost care by the most powerful Castrain Family.
They inspected it periodically to ensure no Magic Beasts spawned, extracted Mana Stones, and forbade any human or living being from approaching it.
Yet where had they found a Magic Beast containing such quantities of Mana Stone in its core, and how had they manufactured ‘that kind’ of object from it?
“…There’s no way around it but the Black Market.”
I narrowed my eyes in thought.
Neither distribution nor sales would be conducted through official channels.
Though the Castrain Family controlled the north primarily, Magic Beasts were not absent in other regions. Mercenaries hunted the comparatively weaker, mixed variety of beasts in other provinces to earn their living. The Castrain Family itself occasionally employed such free mercenaries. There was no way to catch every instance of these people stealing Magic Beast remains or Mana Stones from the battlefield.
However, the absolute volume would not have been large. If the scale of black-market trade conducted to evade the Castrain Family’s reach had been that extensive, they would have taken measures long ago.
So had they imported the deficit from overseas? Unlikely. Beasts beyond the empire were neither as strong nor as numerous as those in the empire.
Or so I’d heard. Supposedly no more dangerous than common rats or wild bats. Whether the goal was Mana Stones or Magical Power, the quality was far too low to warrant covert overseas imports.
So either they had their own means of procuring Magic Beasts, or they possessed enough wealth to import from the Black Market across the empire while evading the Castrain Family’s notice—though even with wealth, the supply would need to arrive on schedule.
I suspected, therefore, that these people were acting with some definite purpose, and that there existed a ‘leader’ of sorts.
The way this reached the Imperial Palace, the way they attacked Flux Sobaek—dangerous objects like that don’t simply lie about anywhere.
If they did, the Castrain Family would have discovered and eliminated them long ago. Even looking at it with my untrained eye, these aren’t the sort of things made with pocket change. To secretly manufacture such objects, smuggle them into the Imperial Palace, and target a member of the very family that dominates this market…
This was no trivial undertaking.
Originally, I thought I only had to watch out for Prince Brian and Empress Cleo.
After all, they were the central figures in the Civil War in the original story. Prince Adrian became Emperor, the Civil War ended, and everyone lived happily ever after.
But lately, I’d begun to wonder about something else.
Would this truly disappear if I simply severed ties with the Castrain Family and stepped back in the future? This problem?
Was it coincidence that I contracted with that sword, wielded the Power of Light, and recovered my memories from my past life?
If the original story had truly ended with Titania, that wretched villain, simply exiting while the Castrain Family obtained genuine peace and a happy ending…
Then why am I still living like this here?
‘…What?’
My vision blurred for a moment, and I blinked. Something appeared in the air before me.
A hand.
The fingers themselves were straight and orderly, but the fingertips were a mess. The nails were chipped and broken, jagged at the tips. The hand, stained with raw wounds and blood, dirt, and sweat, was strangely familiar.
That hand gripped a sword.
With such intensity that the thin veins stood out against the pale skin.
The sword it held was familiar. It was a sword I knew better than anyone.
From the brilliantly gleaming blade’s edge, white flames flickered like wisps of smoke—flames that burned nothing, heatless and cold. At the very edges, faint red light mingled in.
A voice rang out, resigned in tone.
[It cannot be done.]
…What cannot?
[With what I am now, it cannot be done.]
What does that mean?
[But it is well….]
The voice was grim. Multiple emotions of indescribable colors flowed through it, enough to make my chest shudder at the mere sound. What dominated most were resignation and exhaustion. And…
[‘I’ can correct it, you said.]
A hope so wearisome it felt almost like hatred.
It was a strange sensation.
To suddenly see visions—my ordinary self would have thought about preparing medicine then and there. But something within me… spoke instinctively.
This is something I must remember.
Something I ‘must know.’
Like translating wordless meaning into cards, drawn and colored, placed before my eyes in sequence. Like giving a child word cards and pictures, waiting for her to learn…
In the moment I forgot even to breathe, a shrill voice pierced the stillness.
-=͟͟͞͞(๑•̀ㅁ•́ฅ✧ Honored Contractor, there, there! Here it is! The one you’ve been waiting for!
‘Huh, what?!’
I trembled as though drenched in ice water.
Turning to the stage, I saw an ornately dressed host in a mask holding a lavish tray, gesticulating wildly.
“Distinguished ladies, gentlemen, and honored guests present this evening, welcome.”
The Black Market where Flux had previously met with an accident had been closed. The place we had come to today was the largest and most secretive Black Market since that closure.
Stolen goods, Magic Beast byproducts, slaves, rare items—the password and location changed each time, and it opened irregularly, perhaps once every month or two. Getting the ‘sword’ displayed at this ‘clandestine’ Black Market, with rumors spread in advance, would have been impossible without the help of Hecate’s Tavern.
It was publicly known that my victory over the Magic Beasts in the Imperial City was entirely the sword’s doing.
It made sense. Who would believe that a frail girl who’d never wielded a blade once suddenly slaughtered a horde of Magic Beasts in a single day?
And using that very ‘sword,’ I had healed Flux Sobaek.
I didn’t know how much intelligence my enemies had gathered. But if they’d known Flux was being consumed by Magical Power and dying, and he suddenly appeared hale and whole at the Temple, they would surely have grown suspicious if they were watching him—or us.
How could I possibly have healed him?
And these ‘enemies’ are refining and using Magic Beast byproducts as they see fit. Whether they’re artificially creating Magic Beasts, diverting them from the Castrain Family’s operations, or some other method—I don’t know. But the point is they have access to Magic Beasts. If beings like that suddenly acquired a rare sword capable of even a young girl slaughtering Magic Beasts…
‘If I were them, I wouldn’t pass up this chance. No matter how suspicious.’
Of course, it was suspicious. Some unknown entity had stolen the sword the Princess guarded like her life, and even set fire to the Temple. And now they’re brazenly selling it on the Black Market?
They might have been cautious enough not to openly reveal themselves.
‘But they couldn’t ignore it either.’
I stared at the stage, my eyes gleaming.

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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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