They Say an Age Gap Like This Doesn’t Even Need Matching - Chapter 70

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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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I hurried toward him, cupping his face in my hands as I examined his expression carefully.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
I had sent him to check for the presence of a life-force supply device, yet he returned covered in dirt—what in the world had occurred?
Dried earth and grass clung to various parts of the cloak draped across his shoulders, and a thick layer of dust coated his gloves.
Even his face and hair bore traces of soil.
But the greater concern was…
“Ser Brin….”
Something about his condition felt wrong.
There were no visible wounds.
His breathing remained steady, his gait unfaltering.
Yet the eyes that normally held a calm, settled composure had grown darker, sinking to an even deeper abyss.
‘Like someone who had witnessed something they should never have seen.’
In that moment, something surfaced in my mind.
[That garden is not used for any good purpose. It harbors the foul sins of the Imperial House.]
If the Crown Prince’s words were not mere metaphor.
‘Oh no.’
What Elhart had discovered in that place must have been traces of truly horrific atrocities.
‘I shouldn’t have sent him alone.’
Of course, having spent considerable time on the battlefield himself, he had often witnessed terrible sights, but…
‘This would be entirely different from those who fell in war.’
The corpses of those who had died amid merciless and brutal sexual abuse and violence would have been there.
Buried carelessly, without any dignity.
In the darkness of night, they would have been perfectly concealed, but judging by Elhart’s current state, he must have dug into the earth to confirm it.
“The life-force supply device… it wasn’t there. But I found a clue.”
I asked in surprise.
“You found a clue?”
“Yes. There was a magic circle installed beneath the garden.”
Elhart reached into his breast and withdrew a single sheet of paper.
“I drew it as accurately as I could. I’m not well-versed in incantations, so…”
I accepted the paper he offered and examined the magic circle closely.
‘This is also the method from three hundred years ago.’
It was unmistakably a magic circle installed by Kailyb.
“It appeared to be a structure designed to absorb the life-force of those buried in the garden.”
Kei drew in a sharp breath.
“…Are you certain?”
“Certain.”
The answer was brief and resolute.
Hearing those words, I rapidly sketched the structure in my mind.
“So that’s why you’re covered in dirt?”
Elhart nodded.
“I had to excavate part of the ground. There’s nothing visible on the surface.”
Of course there wouldn’t be anything exposed.
Otherwise, we would have discovered it during the banquet last time.
‘There must have been someone who died not long ago.’
Elhart, sensing the discrepancy, would have followed the direction of the flow and excavated that spot, discovering countless corpses and magical formations.
“That flow connected in all directions. I’ve been tracking the most distinct one among them.”
“Where is it?”
“The Imperial Palace.”
At those words, Kei’s expression hardened.
The Imperial Palace was one of the places we hadn’t yet searched, given the considerable risk involved.
Kei had been struggling to obtain the blueprints of the Imperial Palace, but it wasn’t easy.
“This magical formation must be installed in other places as well.”
Both Kei and Elhart nodded at my conjecture.
“So it’s drawing life force from various locations and sending it to a supply device.”
Kei was right.
Perhaps the entire Imperial Palace served as a means to supply Kailyb’s life force.
“Our job is to find the nodes and mark them. We can’t do anything beyond that.”
The moment we touched the web-like network to damage it, Kailyb would surely notice.
“Once Raern joins us, we’ll be ready to destroy it immediately.”
Fortunately, the Expedition Team had a secret marking method that Kailyb didn’t know about.
Using this, we would be able to mark the locations of the magical formations without Kailyb discovering us.
I folded the paper and tucked it into my pocket, then turned to Kei.
“Let’s move.”
Kei’s eyebrows shot up.
“Right now?”
“There’s no reason to delay.”
Exhaustion or not, it couldn’t be helped.
“The longer we wait, the more variables emerge. We need to at least understand what this flow is.”
I turned my gaze to Elhart.
“Can you guide us to a relatively accessible location?”
“You’re stating the obvious. We’re leaving right away, aren’t we?”
“If you’re willing.”
Elhart nodded and pulled the hood back over his head.
“Let’s go.”
***
Elhart exited the Separate Palace and, as if gauging something, guided us in one direction.
A place where even moonlight failed to reach.
It was a neglected area near the outskirts of the Imperial Palace.
Elhart stopped first.
“It’s around here.”
I swept my gaze across the surroundings.
There were no buildings nearby, nor any soldiers standing guard.
To bury a magic circle in such a place where even the location was difficult to pinpoint.
It was a cunning approach that caught us off guard—we had been searching primarily suspicious or high-importance locations.
Elhart moved slowly, his senses concentrated as he surveyed the area.
“Ser, it’s this way.”
He then knelt at one spot and began excavating the ground.
Kei and I quickly moved to his side to assist.
It was when we had collectively removed about a handful of soil.
“Huh…?”
Kei and I exchanged glances simultaneously.
“Is this it?”
“This must be it.”
A faint current caught at my fingertips.
That thin, viscous thread was invisible to the eye, yet it undeniably existed in that space.
“It’s almost as if it were alive.”
I murmured, narrowing my eyes.
“Wow, it would be difficult to find without deliberately concentrating your senses.”
“Right.”
I thought that if Elhart hadn’t happened to search the Imperial Palace garden today, we would have struggled to find even a clue.
Because the life force possessed by a living, breathing person is so immense, the minute amount this absorption device draws in becomes all the harder to detect.
It was like standing in the middle of a waterfall and trying to distinguish rainwater.
As we excavated a bit more, the magic circle soon revealed itself, and it was in exactly the same form as what Elhart had drawn on paper.
Seeing that not a single stroke differed, Kei and I expressed our admiration anew.
“That’s impressive for someone unfamiliar with magic.”
“Right, truly remarkable, Elhart.”
Perhaps embarrassed by our sudden praise, Elhart gave a small cough and asked.
“How are you planning to mark it?”
“Oh, that.”
I retrieved several pairs of bundled reagent bottles from my spatial pouch.
“We’ll use these.”
I handed a pair to Elhart as well.
These were reagents crafted using bodily fluids from a certain demonic beast found only in Hell.
When a paired reagent was applied to the eyes, one could perceive the marking with extraordinary intensity for several minutes.
‘It was said to be a means by which the female lures the male.’
I decided not to go into the detailed explanation of what it was made from to Elhart.
There might come a time when I’d need to apply the male reagent to his eyes, after all.
“One is marked ‘female’ and one is marked ‘male.'”
Ugh… who would label them so directly…
‘Well, I obviously did.’
Anyway, it’s easy to tell them apart, isn’t it?
“When marking, just use the reagent labeled ‘female.'”
I carefully applied the reagent along the magic circle, taking great pains not to touch the lifeline.
“Captain, please be careful.”
There was nearly an accident when a sudden gust of wind almost caused the reagent to splatter elsewhere.
“Phew…”
But I managed to handle it safely with extreme reflexes.
“I told you to be careful.”
“Then you do it.”
Watching us bicker, Elhart’s expression grew troubled for a moment.
‘He’s not thinking this is what an Expedition Team is supposed to be like, is he?’

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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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