The Baby Who Regressed Refuses Childcare - Chapter 143

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I took the jar and headed straight to the Research Room on the top floor.

In the Research Room where everyone else had left for the day, only Owen remained.

“Master! Ta-da! Look! Look what I brought, okay?!”

Owen, who had been buried in his desk, looked up with a deathly tired face.

“What is it now… food?”

Then he opened the lid of the jar I held out and jumped up from his seat.

“What! Don’t tell me this is!”

“That’s right! Ulgen’s gift!”

Owen hurriedly took the jar and placed it on the Research Desk.

I also quickly climbed onto a chair and said to Owen.

“Euriko is the successor of the Barkin Tribe, you know. I asked her just in case, and she brought this much right away!”

“No matter what, still…”

Ulgen’s gift was precious powder that was revered almost like a god even within the Barkin Tribe.

‘At first, I didn’t expect Euriko to give it so readily either.’

I recalled what Euriko had said when handing over the jar.

“What’s the big deal with this much. You helped me a lot throughout our time at the Prodigy Academy, Lia.”

“Me? When did I?”

“Lia, you’re so kind it’s a problem, you know? The basic formulas for magic circles – don’t you remember explaining them to me one hundred and twenty times?”

“Uh…”

Euriko, who entered with the 91st rank, had a terrible lack of talent for the subject of magic studies itself.

When the number of times I explained the most basic formulas exceeded a hundred, honestly even I felt hopeless.

I taught her with all my might, and Euriko seemed to understand when learning.

But when I turned around and asked again, she couldn’t answer…

“I seriously considered giving up dozens of times. But I didn’t want to be a burden to you guys either. Actually, I even cried while copying books at dawn, you know?”

“Gasp, really? You never told me…”

“I was already indebted to you guys, so I couldn’t cause more trouble. I thought maybe I’d memorize it by copying, and it actually helped somewhat!”

Euriko poked my dazed cheek and said.

“Still, when you explained it for the one hundred and twentieth time and I finally understood, you don’t know how happy I was! If you had given up on me, I probably wouldn’t have been able to graduate from the Prodigy Academy.”

“Euriko…”

“So this is just repayment for your kindness and persistence! I’m actually very loyal, you know?”

I wiped my nose and lifted my chin slightly to show Owen.

“Master. Remember this well. This is repayment for my diligence, competence, kind heart, and excellent character.”

“I’m sure it is. Of course.”

Owen answered mechanically and immediately brought a small measuring tool to scoop out a certain amount of Ulgen’s gift.

I jumped down from the chair and brought a small flower pot from by the window.

While Owen took the pot and placed it on the Research Desk, I went to the room attached to the innermost part of the Research Room.

Behind my desk was a large iron box sealed with magic.

When I held the magic stone engraved with a decryption formula to the lock, the box opened with a whirring sound.

I looked inside with a deeply furrowed brow.

“Ugh, the day to use this really has come…”

“Good thing I collected it back then, right?”

Owen, who had approached at some point, asked while gesturing at the bottle inside.

I barely managed to pick up the glass bottle with just my thumb and index finger and handed it to Owen.

Owen took the glass bottle nonchalantly and looked inside.

“The moment I saw this, I had a feeling. That someday there would be a use for it.”

“Ugh.”

What was in the glass bottle was randomly cut white hair.

“How fortunate that I collected some before the servants cleaned everything up.”

To be precise, it was Senianna’s hair from when she was imprisoned in the Prison Cell and completely evaporated.

The place where Senianna had been at that time was horrible.

Only some unidentifiable dark liquid, the clothes Senianna had been wearing, and her hair remained.

Throughout the Duke’s Castle, Owen was the only one who could enter and exit that scene nonchalantly, while even the knights passed by with disgusted expressions.

“Shall we try a simple experiment first? We have plenty of hair anyway.”

I looked at the glass bottles lined up in rows inside the box and reluctantly nodded.

And a few minutes later.

“Wow… Master…”

I swallowed hard while looking at the curse formula Owen had drawn perfectly.

“You can even cast curses now? Master, aren’t you the real dark mage…?”

“Quiet, my disciple. You’re not one to talk after dumping all the dark magic research on me and running away, are you?”

“B-but someone had to lead the Academic Society researchers and do productive research!”

“Did you ever think that I could do that too?”

“Of course I did, but the researchers like me much more than my wicked master!”

Owen shook his head.

I made an “Ahem!” sound and gently tugged on Owen’s arm.

“Hurry, hurry and put the hair on first. Okay?”

Thanks to diligently researching dark magic, Owen had recently been able to complete several basic dark magic formulas.

But dark magic was different from ordinary magic that could be activated with just magic stones.

‘Dark magic requires corrupted magical power.’

The problem was that we had no way to obtain corrupted magical power.

So the conclusion Owen and I had reached in the past was this.

“Since we can’t obtain it directly ourselves, let’s steal what Jayden used and left behind.”

The corrupted magical power Jayden had used and left behind.

That was naturally Senianna’s hair.

“Now, like this…”

I stayed far away from Owen and covered my cheeks with both hands.

Owen, wearing thin gloves, was placing Senianna’s hair on the curse formula.

However,

“…Huh?”

“There’s no reaction?”

Even after several seconds passed, the formula didn’t budge.

Ordinary magic formulas emit light and activate when magical power is infused, but there was no such reaction from this curse formula.

Just as I was making a puzzled expression.

“…Uh, uh uh! Uh!!”

Suddenly Owen screamed and backed far away from the Research Desk.

Startled as well, I quickly hid behind Owen.

Even so, I peeked my head out slightly and observed the curse formula.

Sure enough.

On the parchment, something was slowly rising up.

“…It’s smoke!”

And it was pitch-black smoke like what would come from burning something.

Owen said in a tense voice.

“I expected it, but it’s still spine-chilling. Black magic really does produce smoke when it activates…”

“Th-that’s not all, Master.”

I grabbed Owen’s sleeve and pointed to one side of the research desk.

The 12 o’clock position of the completed curse formula.

The plant in the flowerpot precisely placed at the edge of the formula was withering from the tips of its leaves.

It was proof that Owen’s curse formula had activated perfectly.

I looked at Owen with anxious eyes.

“This is something we should be happy about, right?”

“Even though it’s black magic, it’s still a success, so probably…?”

I nodded bewilderedly and asked.

“Th-then shall we try using Ulgen’s gift for now? Ulgen’s gift needs to purify that thing for the experiment to be a complete success.”

Owen headed back to the research desk.

I also took steps one by one while hiding behind Owen.

Owen, who looked down at the research desk as we got closer, said.

“It looks quite strange. It looks like it burned up in order starting from the center of the formula.”

“Hurry up and sprinkle that stuff.”

At my urging, Owen scooped out the Ulgen’s gift he had set aside with a measuring spoon.

And sprinkled it in the center of the curse formula.

I pulled over a chair and quickly climbed on top of it to examine the research desk.

The black smoke that had been rising from the curse formula was incredibly starting to subside.

“Disciple. Look at the plant.”

At those words, I turned my gaze to the flowerpot.

It was definitely a plant that had been burning to ash color from the tips.

But that plant was gradually regaining its vitality.

Seeing the drooping leaves becoming fresh again, I opened my mouth in a daze.

“Wow…!”

Owen made a gasping sound and covered his eyes with one hand.

There were still mountains of things to research in detail, but still.

“This is a success, isn’t it? This is definitely a success! Right!”

I excitedly shouted while patting Owen’s back, who was closing his eyes as if moved to tears.

“Yes! All the black magicians are dead!”

We had found the ingredient to cure the sick Emperor.

Next, we needed a way to deliver this ingredient to the Emperor without Empress Karin’s notice.

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