The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 65
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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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Chapter 65
The blatant stares continued even after we entered the Archmage’s Citadel.
No, they actually got worse.
“Tsk….”
Sharp gazes poured down on me from all directions.
Even Renia, who usually didn’t care about others’ opinions, seemed a bit anxious as she tightly gripped my sleeve.
“Sorry. Everyone here has spent their entire lives trying to fix this ‘mechanism.’ They’re usually good people, but they get unnecessarily sensitive when it comes to issues related to the ‘mechanism.'”
Iline let out a dry laugh as if troubled, trying to smooth things over.
“We came here to help. Shouldn’t they be welcoming us?”
“Yeah. There are people like me who welcome you. But there are also those who can’t accept it as craftsmen.”
Through this, I could roughly understand the atmosphere of Arcamen.
‘Iline also became the family head out of necessity.’
Despite being the family head, Iline Arcamen didn’t seem to have as much influence as the heads of other great magic families.
Well, Arcamen was more like an alliance or guild rather than a single family.
“Alright, let’s stop the difficult talk and get moving.”
Afterward, we unpacked our luggage in rooms under Iline’s guidance. Since Sheril took care of organizing the luggage, we immediately headed to the workshop.
“Now, this is where the real workshop begins. Actually, outsiders are prohibited from entering, but I somehow convinced them.”
“You… convinced them?”
“Well, I got a majority vote, so it counts as convincing.”
Iline smiled bitterly as she opened the workshop door.
As befitting Arcamen’s workshop, considered the best in the Empire, the interior was spacious.
“We carved out a mountain and built the entire workshop inside it.”
As Iline explained, the workshop was a massive cavity carved out from inside the mountain. Magic stones that seemed to hold starlight were embedded in the ceiling like the Milky Way, making it as bright as daylight despite being inside a cave.
Pulleys extending from the outer walls continuously transported materials, and gears erected everywhere meshed together, turning with heavy friction sounds.
“This is revolutionary! It’s the ideal paradise for all magical scholars!”
“Ahaha. That friend of yours has a good eye.”
Victor was completely mesmerized by the sight of Arcamen’s workshop. Well, from Victor’s perspective as an engineer, this place would be like heaven.
“Now, and this is the long-awaited ‘mechanism.'”
Next, we came face to face with the ‘mechanism.’
“….”
And we were left speechless.
When I first heard about the ‘mechanism’ from Iline.
I had assumed that no matter how big a mechanical device could be, it would be about the size of a carriage at most.
However, now that I witnessed it with my own eyes, I had to admit that I had been complacent.
“This… is all a mechanical device?”
“Surprised?”
I understood why Arcamen’s craftsmen had devoted their entire lives to repairing it.
The ‘mechanism’ was a wall.
It was a wall and simultaneously a mountain, a mountain and simultaneously a giant.
It occupied an entire wall of the massive cavity.
I had never heard or seen a mechanical device of this scale in my entire life.
“…You want me to fix this machine?”
“Well, we’ll do the actual fixing. We just want you to take a look with your special vision and see where the problem is.”
“….”
It wasn’t just massive in scale.
Dense mana circuits were intricately tangled across the wall surface.
‘Indeed…’
I understood why even great mages including Steren couldn’t achieve any results despite their efforts.
Not only was it ridiculously large, but its structure was bizarrely detailed and complex.
I doubted whether this was really something made in ancient times.
“Victor, do you think you could fix this?”
“N-no… I don’t understand… anything. I can’t even tell what kind of structure it has or what it’s used for.”
This would be the natural reaction.
It wasn’t that Victor’s abilities were lacking. He possessed such excellent intuition and analytical skills that he could roughly sketch the blueprints of a mana engine just from a train’s engine room.
Even such a Victor couldn’t even begin to comprehend the ‘mechanism.’
“If it doesn’t work even when power is supplied, something must be broken somewhere. So we need to check the broken parts. The problem is that the circuits are so complexly tangled that even high-performance detectors are useless.”
“And finding that defect is my role. Using these eyes.”
“Haha. Right. You catch on quick. I think your eyes, Reagan, are more capable than any detector.”
“Hmm….”
Even the magic of the Archmage King from my previous life didn’t have such a complex structure.
Even though my naked eyes have the special constitution to see through the core of mana…
“Well. I’ve never tried it before, so I’m not sure if it’s possible.”
“Haha. That’s true too. Still, please at least try. I’m asking like this, okay?”
Iline clasped her hands together in request, and I shrugged my shoulders.
Since I had come all this way to this distant land of Arcamen, it would be right to at least try.
“Yes. I’ll give it a try. Please turn on the power.”
“That’s the spirit!”
Iline’s face brightened as she immediately inserted a lever into the massive handle beside her and applied force.
—Creeeeak.
The rusted lever slowly turned over, and mana began to be supplied to the ‘Mechanism’.
Right after that.
————.
A blue maze rushed into my vision.
What overwhelmed my sight were thousands, no, tens of thousands of intertwined mana circuits.
Like the blood vessels of a living, breathing monster.
A vast amount of information that was impossible to grasp with a single glance.
However, regardless of my will, the flow of mana was instantly absorbed into my mind through my eyes.
My vision spun, and along with terrible pain as if my brain was burning, the smell of something burning lingered at my nose.
“Ugh.”
As I retched and stepped back, Iline hurriedly stopped the power supply to the ‘Mechanism’.
“Are, are you okay?”
Even Renia panicked and supported me.
“Re, Reagan! What’s wrong! You’re okay, right?!”
“Yeah. I just had a moment of dizziness.”
I struggled to lift my head.
The maze I had seen just now was the structure of the ‘Mechanism’.
It’s just that my brain couldn’t process that overwhelming amount of information all at once.
“…It seems like it’ll be difficult. Right now, I can see the general flow, but my brain would burn out before I could examine it properly.”
“Hmm.”
Hearing my answer, Iline showed a troubled expression.
“Is it really impossible?”
“Well, if I look at it bit by bit, it might somehow be possible, but…”
There’s no way it would be possible to analyze a mechanical device of this size in parts.
That’s because you need to examine the organically connected circuits as a whole to understand what went wrong.
“…Right. That makes sense.”
Iline showed a noticeably disappointed expression.
But that was only for a moment, as she looked around and then approached me, whispering quietly.
“Then, you know, Reagan. I have one good method.”
“What method?”
“What if, hypothetically. There was a way to make it so your brain wouldn’t feel strain even when looking at the ‘Mechanism’?”
I frowned at those words.
Something feels ominous.
“…Is that possible?”
“Yeah. It’s theoretically possible. However… it might be just a tiny~ bit dangerous.”
Iline smiled bitterly as she pulled out a small container from her pocket.
Inside the container were dozens of red pills.
“Actually, Arcamen doesn’t just do metalworking. There are many craftsmen who are also skilled in alchemy. And this is one of various reagents made in Arcamen. I brought it just in case…”
“What kind of medicine is it?”
“It activates the brain. More precisely, it accelerates consciousness. It’s a pill that makes you feel 1 second like 1 minute. It’s a drug named ‘Chronos’, but…”
Iline lowered her voice even more so that even Renia nearby couldn’t hear.
“It never became commercialized. Why do you think that is?”
Just from the way she’s whispering, I can tell.
“Because it was dangerous.”
“Yeah… It was designated as a prohibited drug in Arcamen’s internal meeting due to very minor side effects. But… if you and I just get our stories straight, slipping it to you wouldn’t be impossible.”
Iline winked with one eye.
She calls it an explanation, but it’s essentially coercion.
When I sighed deeply, Iline hurriedly added.
“Ah, of course. If you don’t want to do it, Reagan, I absolutely won’t force you. I’m just letting you know that this method exists.”
“…You had this in mind from the beginning, didn’t you?”
“Huh?”
“The fact that you’re carrying a prohibited drug means you already thought about giving it to me.”
“Ah, ahaha…”
When I glared at her with narrowed eyes, Iline avoided my gaze.
Fine.
What’s the point of interrogating her further?
“Give it to me. That medicine.”
“Huh, you’re really going to take it?”
“Then am I going to fake taking it? Since I came all this way, I should try everything I can. I’m not the type to give up and go back either.”
I snatched the medicine bottle from Iline.
“Oh, by the way, exceeding one pill per day is a lethal dose.”
Lethal dose.
So taking two pills would kill me?
To readily hand over such a dangerous thing to a son-in-law of a great magic family.
As expected, mages are subtly insane.
“…Ha.”
I wasn’t much different, readily accepting what she gave me to eat.
I opened the medicine bottle and took out one Chronos pill. Just as I was about to put the medicine in my mouth, Renia grabbed my wrist.
“Reagan.”
“…Renia?”
“That’s dangerous, isn’t it?”
As expected, Renia’s intuition was sharp. She had guessed the general situation from seeing Iline whisper something to me.
“Don’t worry. I won’t die.”
“…You know that if something happens to you, I’ll become a widow, right?”
I almost choked on my breath at those words. However, Renia wasn’t joking as she stared directly into my eyes with a serious expression.
“It’s your choice, so I won’t stop you. But if something happens to you….”
“…If something happens?”
“I’ll burn this entire place down by any means necessary.”
“….”
“Just remember that.”
Her violet eyes had turned coldly dark.
“Then I’ll have to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
In the end, that was all I could say.
Renia nodded slightly and released her grip on my wrist.
Meanwhile, Iline was already standing by the lever.
I signaled to her while swallowing the pill.
“….”
Thump—— thump— thump….
My heartbeat slowed down.
Following that, the flow of mana supplied to the ‘Mechanism’ was imprinted in my mind slowly but surely, unlike before.
‘This is manageable.’
It was thanks to my consciousness accelerating and time stretching abnormally.
The flood of information that had rushed in like it would burn my brain now seeped slowly into my mind like a gentle stream.
I could naturally understand the structure of the ‘Mechanism’ as if looking at simple magic.
I concentrated my mind as much as possible and began analyzing the framework of the complexly intertwined mana circuits.
How much time had passed like that?
I disassembled and reconstructed the circuits in my head. Finally, I ignited the completely reconstructed circuit.
The next moment, an unexpected scene unfolded before my eyes.
‘A constellation…?’
That was the last scene I remembered.
* * *
Right after Iline supplied power to the ‘Mechanism’ and Reagan swallowed the pill.
In just a few seconds.
“…Reagan!”
Renia screamed.
Reagan collapsed in place like a puppet with cut strings. His limbs convulsed slightly, and blood flowed from his philtrum.
Even Iline was startled and cut the power.
Were the side effects worse than expected?
Iline hurriedly approached the collapsed Reagan, but Renia had already taken him in her arms.
“Um, Miss Renia? This is just a side effect of the Chrono… I mean, the drug. So….”
Iline, who was trying to explain, lost her words. The look in Renia’s eyes as she stared at her was too sharp.
“Oh my, look at those eyes. She looks like she could devour someone….”
Iline was flustered.
Surely the Lyrnia Erahan von Benheim she had seen when visiting Benheim was nothing more than an innocent girl.
But what was before Iline’s eyes now was….
“Don’t come any closer.”
“….”
A descendant of Benheim with eyes flashing like a beast.
The fierce killing intent emanating from Renia’s body was sharply honed as if it would tear out Iline’s throat at any moment.
“…C-calm down, little miss. I’m just trying to check his pulse. I’m the one who gave him the medicine, right? So I can tell what condition he’s in.”
“He’s like this because of the medicine you gave him. So don’t be ridiculous. How can I trust you with Reagan when I don’t know what else you might do?”
“So, it’s not that I did something bad….”
“If something happens to Reagan, I’ll burn down everything—Arcamen’s mechanism, workshop, everything. Including you.”
Flare.
Mana flowed out due to her emotional agitation.
Sharp golden mana that cut like flesh instantly surrounded Renia and Reagan.
Iline’s eyes widened as she confirmed that density.
“…Renia, you… don’t tell me you’ve reached the 5th Circle?”
Renia neither confirmed nor denied those words.
However, Iline was certain.
Renia had reached the 5th Circle before coming of age.
‘That’s impossible.’
The admiration for that tremendous growth rate was only momentary.
Iline rubbed her forehead in distress.
A 4th Circle mage could be roughly subdued. However, if a 5th Circle mage went on a rampage in the workshop, that would be a disaster.
Iline was an upper 6th Circle mage, but she wasn’t confident she could subdue a rampaging Renia without injuring her.
“Alright, alright. You’re scary, really. Are all people from Benheim this fierce?”
In the end, Iline raised both hands in surrender.
Only then did Renia’s mana subside somewhat.
“First, let me tell you—that drug does have some side effects, but since he only swallowed one pill, it’s not a lethal dose. It won’t put much strain on his body either. Just let him sleep soundly for the day. Do you understand?”
Iline said this and stepped back.
Then Renia immediately withdrew her killing intent and wiped away the nosebleed Reagan had with her sleeve, making a tearful expression.
The murderous atmosphere from moments before was nowhere to be found. The expression Renia was making was unmistakably that of a girl in love.
“…Ha.”
Iline clicked her tongue.
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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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