Time Healer Ceres - Chapter 69

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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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“Pardon?”
“No, it’s just… I’ve been meddling in things that aren’t really my business.”
As a result, I’ve stumbled onto information I didn’t need and found myself tangled up in an inconvenient mess.
‘Though I can’t blame him for it.’
Which only makes it more frustrating—having no one to resent.
“Would you like something to drink? I could make tea.”
“No, skip the tea. I came to ask you something.”
“Sure. What is it?”
Seres had sought out Chaien today because there was one thing she needed to know.
She could have come earlier, but Kainel had kept insisting she respect normal working hours, so by the time she finally arrived, evening had already fallen.
Even as he’d left work, that cold expression on his face—all because he couldn’t seem to get his mind off something—had struck her as almost pathetic.
“About that Alarm Device you created.”
“The Black Forest Alarm Device?”
“Does it happen to have a detection radius? How far does it reach?”
“A radius? Why would you need to know that?”
Chaien looked puzzled.
Since the Black Forest consumed entire cities at its largest and entire villages at its smallest, there was no point in calculating its radius.
If an alarm sounded in someone’s home, it meant the entire community had been swallowed by the Black Forest.
“Does it reach ten meters?”
“Hmm, probably not, actually.”
Ten meters was generous. He doubted it even reached one.
“I see. So that’s how it is, then.”
The distance from the alley where the corpse had been found to the nearest shop was clearly well over ten meters.
Since the Black Forest that had manifested inside the alley was extremely small, there was no way the alarm device would have sounded.
“And it’s not as though the device was distributed to every shop in the Capital.”
“What do you mean? Is there something wrong with the Alarm Device?”
“A corpse was discovered in the heart of the Capital—someone killed by a monster. But nobody detected the monster’s appearance. I was wondering if perhaps that somehow connects to the device.”
“Oh! I heard about that. I’ve actually been concerned about it all day.”
“…You have?”
Luka, the secretary who had been quietly listening to their conversation, let his expression slip into disbelief.
He’d filed reports on the matter all day long, yet Chaien had barely acknowledged them—had given no real answer whatsoever.
And whenever he looked at those eyes, they always seemed to ask: “So what? What exactly are you expecting me to do about it?” Who was he to say he’d been concerned about anything?
Chaien kept his gaze fixed on Seres, ignoring Luka’s penetrating stare.
“Could you expand the detection radius of the Alarm Device?”
“I could manage it.”
He answered readily, though unable to hide his bewilderment.
Since the goal had been to distribute it as quickly as possible, he’d deliberately set the detection radius to a minimum. But expanding that range wasn’t impossible.
Still, what was the point?
“Just a thought. There’s a possibility the Black Forest could manifest at very small sizes.”
“Small? How small?”
“Very small. Large enough to trap just one person.”
“Just one person? Can a Black Forest even form that small?”
“Looking at the corpse they found this time, I started wondering.”
“Ah…….”
Now Chaien understood why Seres had brought this up.
“A Black Forest small enough to trap just one person… Yes, you’re right. A corpse like that could definitely exist.”
He nodded decisively.
At his reaction, Seres found herself looking at him with something like surprise in her eyes.
He was accepting this at face value? Just like that?
‘This ridiculous theory?’
She’d spent the entire journey here worrying about how to explain it properly, only to find his response completely unexpected.
“That’s nonsensical. There have been no reports of a Black Forest of that nature until now, sir.”
Luka interjected again, shaking his head firmly.
‘Yes, that’s the normal response.’
A Black Forest small enough to trap just one person—if she hadn’t witnessed it with her own eyes, Seres would have laughed it off herself.
“Just because something hasn’t happened before doesn’t mean it can’t happen now, though.”
“That’s true, but something so unreasonable as that…….”
“Don’t worry, Seres. I’ll remake the Alarm Device right away.”
“…Right.”
Chaien flashed a brilliant smile as he said he’d fix the Alarm Device right away, and his secretary Luka’s face filled with bewilderment.
Though Luka had spent considerable time with Chaien, this was the first he’d seen him move with such brisk efficiency.
He even felt a touch of betrayal.
This was the man who shook his head eleven times when asked ten times—and now this?
“I’d like to propose the secretarial position again.”
Luka urged Seres once more to take up secretarial duties, with more sincerity than he’d shown before.
If she would work alongside him, he felt an overwhelming certainty that his days ahead would become far easier.
…….
Meanwhile, Alackes stood quietly to the side, observing the three of them in conversation.
‘A little Black Forest, is it…….’
The corners of his eyes, curved in a gentle smile, drooped further as he gazed at Seres.
Chapter 19. The Day of the Gathering
“Ugh!”
“Would some water help?”
“Yes, I… I think that would.”
Kainel’s aide Del quickly clamped his mouth shut.
He still couldn’t get used to Spatial Movement Magic. With each passing day, it felt increasingly dreadful.
‘Why did he suddenly start using the Spatial Movement Scroll?’
Del found it puzzling that Kainel had begun traveling to the Imperial Palace only by scroll now, rather than by carriage.
‘Why go to such lengths?’
The distance was easily manageable by carriage.
“Seres seems to be handling it well.”
“Well, yes.”
Unlike himself, who felt queasy every time he used the Spatial Movement Magic, Seres showed no ill effects—a fact Del observed with genuine envy.
“Rest.”
“Yes…….”
At Kainel’s command, Del—still keeping his mouth covered—bowed and trudged toward the waiting room beside the conference hall.
“Don’t follow me.”
…….
Seres, who had started to slip after him, let out a short sigh at Kainel’s summons.
She was already itching to get away. If she could, she’d have summoned Chaien on the spot and set off an Alarm Device just to escape this.
“When are you going to send support to our department?”
“The thing is, we don’t have enough personnel to dispatch…….”
“Are you seriously trying to make excuses right now?”
“Do you know how many times I’ve submitted requests? If you don’t send support, what are our patients supposed to do?”
“Ah… yes, I understand. I apologize.”
“Our department is urgent too! You absolutely must send twenty healers by this week!”
“Twenty? That’s rather….”
“Listen! Our needs come first!”
“Stop waffling and give me an answer now!”
“Tsk, tsk! Perhaps because you’re young, you…….”
The conference hall was its usual cacophony of voices.
But today, instead of splitting into opposing factions, they were united in attacking a single person.
‘Tsk.’
Seres clicked her tongue softly as she identified the target.
‘Poor thing.’
The one being openly disrespected was none other than Herion, the newly appointed House Head of House Elsethia.
‘Their tactics are just the same as always.’
Seres shook her head slightly. She could see plainly why the nobles were circling Herion like this.
A young woman newly ascended to the position of House Head.
One holding such tempting fruit in her hands.
‘No one would leave such a delicious prize untouched.’
They meant to crush her spirit from the start, breaking her will so she’d obey their every word without hesitation.
Their coordination was disturbingly perfect.
“Herion.”
“……! Seres!”
The moment Seres spoke, color flooded back into Herion’s face, which had been growing pale with sweat.
As Seres approached, she glanced at Herion’s hand.
There, as expected, sat the House Head’s Ring, resting exactly where it should be.
“I have a question I need to ask him.”
“That person? Who…?”
Had it noticed her referring to herself? The red light of the ring flickered more intensely than usual, casting trembling shadows.
Or perhaps—was it that the current situation Herion found herself in also displeased this creature?
‘Its temperament is rather difficult.’
Still, there was no one who cherished and protected the House Head more fiercely than this one.
“Jubelios….”
Whoosh!
At Seres’s call, a presence materialized as if it had been waiting all along.
It was none other than Jubelios, the Spirit King of Fire.
‘Damn it!’
This wretched bird actually appeared when I called? How could this happen!
She had only meant to tell Herion to summon Jubelios—and yet the Spirit King of Fire had answered to her voice itself.
Seres ground her teeth inwardly while forcing an awkward smile.

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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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