The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 183

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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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It’s an incredibly useful ability for thievery.

If you just disguise yourself as the person in charge and walk out with the keys, robbing a vault becomes literally as easy as eating cold porridge.

‘But seeing how Tesagh is asking this, it seems like it’s not just a matter of lowering your voice a bit and changing your face?’

Even if you use magical tools for disguise, you can’t copy their behavior and speech patterns.

The reason Tesagh told me this information relatively late was probably.

‘He was being cautious because he couldn’t know who Eivor had disguised himself as.’

I tried to recall the wanted poster again.

‘It would be great if I could remember the contents!’

If that were possible, I could know three years’ worth of investigation results in advance at this point.

‘But I can’t remember…!’

Perhaps it was natural.

I had only glimpsed it just before dying, and at that time I was in such shock after learning of Grandfather’s death that I couldn’t even feel pain.

‘Isn’t there a way?’

As I was wracking my brains in thought, I heard Chloe’s voice.

“Following behavioral patterns means…?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. Beyond simply mimicking, he’s skilled at ‘pretending to be someone else’ to the extent that even those around him don’t feel any sense of incongruity.”

“Th-that’s why you thought he had taken someone else’s memories…”

Chloe, who had been thinking deeply, shook her head.

“To get straight to the point. …It’s impossible to use black magic on yourself.”

“Why? And how do you know that?”

“…Because I’ve tried it before. I wanted to erase my memories.”

Chloe muttered quietly.

“But no matter what I tried, it was impossible. I think it’s because of the nature of black magic.”

“The nature, you mean.”

“Black magic is, well. …Basically magic that harms the target.”

Chloe’s expression darkened as if recalling Tanya.

“But black magic tries to protect the caster, the host. More precisely, it tries to keep them alive for a long time to build up power.”

“So that’s why you can’t use it on yourself. A sword can’t point itself at its own wielder.”

“Yes. Since it needs to consume the host to be used, it tries to preserve them in as ‘intact’ a form as possible until the power fully matures. So…”

Chloe bit her lip and spoke quietly.

“Black magic, which is magic of destruction and deception, can paradoxically only be used by those with a strong will to live.”

Because it would be troublesome if the host died before the power was fully developed.

Chloe, who added this bitterly, rubbed her face wearily.

“I wanted to live even after doing such things.”

I know what choice Chloe made in her past life.

Even though she struggled so hard to live, I know how in the very end she stopped her own heart to remain human.

Instead of offering hasty comfort, I moved a little closer to Chloe and poured her more warm tea.

‘But listening to this…’

Tilting my head in thought, I asked Tesagh, who was frowning.

“Um, Duke. Why did you come to think that Eivor used black magic to manipulate memories in order to impersonate others?”

“Because there was no other way to explain it. Both the lack of remaining spell traces and the method of the crimes.”

Tesagh pushed a file folder toward me as he continued speaking.

When I opened the documents, they were densely filled with the past activities of the ‘collaborator’ who had been found dead.

“This 70-year-old man had worked as a butler for nobles and wealthy families for a long time. He had a good external reputation.”

The old man’s eyes were green.

“But recently, precious treasures began disappearing from the manor where this old man worked. Naturally, the employers suspected the newly hired attendants or outsiders instead of suspecting their trustworthy butler.”

“But that wasn’t the case.”

“Right. There were no signs of external intrusion, and interrogation revealed that all the attendants were innocent. But then a maid hesitantly gave testimony.”

Tesagh’s face scrunched up.

“She said she saw the butler touching the treasures. When he noticed her watching, he tried to persuade her in various ways and asked her to keep it secret.”

“Oh, then couldn’t they catch the culprit right away?”

“The problem was that at the time the maid testified about, the butler was greeting guests in front of everyone.”

“Ah, how unfortunate.”

“He even underwent hypnotic interrogation while claiming his innocence, and when the maid’s testimony was proven false, the butler’s ‘false accusation’ was quickly cleared.”

Tesagh spoke with a complicated expression.

“Because of this, the employers trusted the butler even more and even granted him access to the secret vault. And after that, as you know.”

“He thought ‘now’s the time’ and made off with all the precious treasures in the vault.”

“Right. I believe the person the maid saw was Eivor in disguise.”

“You’re saying this because Eivor’s aura, that is, traces of Rugenote, were detected in the vault too? You believe Eivor was also the one who robbed the vault?”

“Yes. But I wonder what method he used so that the maid didn’t feel any sense of incongruity. If he can’t use black magic on himself…”

Tesagh seemed to think it was something Eivor and the butler had planned together.

The butler would lend his identity while Eivor would act as the butler and secretly steal treasures.

‘It sounds reasonable at first glance.’

As I flipped through the list of treasures the butler had stolen, I tilted my head once again.

“Something’s strange.”

“What is?”

There had been something bothering me throughout Tesagh’s story.

‘The common trait of Eivor’s collaborators, that is, the imperial palace attendant who stole the tiara and those who kidnapped me.’

Their memories were so incomplete that it was difficult to interrogate them.

This would have only strengthened Tesagh’s conviction that Eivor manipulates memories.

But.

“If Eivor really is a black mage who manipulates memories, why did he leave the maid who witnessed him alone?”

“…What?”

To Tesagh, who turned to look at me sharply, I explained point by point.

“Think about it. According to what you said, Eivor is someone who doesn’t hesitate to kill his collaborators, so why would he create a witness? He would have erased her memory or done something worse.”

“…Then you’re saying.”

“Yes. He deliberately made the maid give testimony. And this might be speculation, but there’s another possibility.”

Frowning slightly, I continued.

“Perhaps. The person that Eivor, who’s skilled at disguise, disguised himself as that day wasn’t the butler but… the maid who gave testimony?”

“Gasp!”

Chloe, who had been listening, covered her mouth.

“Co-come to think of it, the butler was briefly framed by the maid’s testimony, but…!”

“Yes, conversely, when the false accusation was cleared, he gained both an alibi and his employer’s trust simultaneously. Don’t you think it’s too convenient a coincidence?”

I asked Tesagh, whose expression had hardened.

“What happened to that maid?”

I asked, but I felt like I already knew the answer without hearing it.

‘She was driven out. More precisely, she disappeared.’

“…She was immediately fired for giving false testimony. We made inquiries to hear about the circumstances at the time, but her whereabouts after that couldn’t be confirmed.”

As expected.

Eivor had definitely disguised himself as the maid that day and deliberately given false testimony.

“The fact that he did such a cunning and troublesome thing? It’s also proof that Eivor can’t use memory magic.”

“Yes, yes! Elisha is right, I think. B-but.”

Chloe asked cautiously.

“This mage is very tall and obviously male to anyone who sees him, so how did he disguise himself as a maid…?”

“Did he use regular transformation magic? Unlike black magic, that can be used on oneself, can’t it?”

“No. That’s not it.”

Tesagh shook his head.

“Covering your entire body with disguise magic is a great burden on magical power and has limitations.”

As someone who doesn’t know much about magic, I thought couldn’t he just use transformation magic?

But listening to Tesagh and Chloe’s alternating explanations, it seemed it wasn’t as simple as just putting on a doll mask.

“According to what I heard from the mages at the Magic Tower, it’s similar in difficulty to sculpting an entirely new body. The case you mentioned would be even more difficult.”

“Ah, since it’s transforming into a woman, you’d need to shrink the body rather than enlarge it?”

“Right. Since you have to create a ‘body’ with actual substance rather than just illusion magic, it takes a long time too.”

That’s why cases of using magical tools that only change eye color and hair color are overwhelmingly more common.

If the goal is to hide one’s identity, that much is sufficient after all.

‘But Eivor’s goal was to disguise himself as a completely different person. Then that means it’s not transformation magic.’

As I pondered over what Tesagh had said, I suddenly raised my head.

‘Oh, wait.’

Isn’t there a much simpler word left that could explain this situation?

“By any chance.”

Both of their gazes fixed on me.

“What if Eivor isn’t disguising himself as someone else, but ‘controlling’ someone else?”

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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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