Chapter 75: Suspiciously Wealthy (1)
Elisha became a ve.
No, the majority of the leadership from the Sylvan Magic Tower, including Elisha, became ves.
The summoning of spirits originally carried the death penalty… but it was halted at the nning stage due to the whistle-blowing of an internally panicked informant.
It was an unexpected stroke of luck for me.
If it had followed the original scenario of H&A and led to execution, I would have been utterly powerless.
However, if it was the ve penalty, the story changed.
After all, like with Ca, couldn’t I just buy them with money?
“That’s why I’d like to take a leave of absence, Professor Iona.”
“Yandel… So you want to take a leave of absence to buy back your friend, who’s now a ve?”
“Exactly.”
“Once Elisha, who has be a ve, bes your attendant, will she attend sses under the pretext of escorting you?”
“We n to join social events and hunt monsters togetherter.”
“That sounds fun! Go on!”
And so, Ca and I temporarily left the academy.
As for the specifics… Well, I was sure Iona would handle it.
<hr>
Inside the carriage to Gef City.
Ca, sitting closely next to me, deactivated the floating magic circle in mid-air.
Recently, I’ve been learning the Lindelheit family’s arcane magic circles from Ca, and we’ve reached a milestone.
Initially, I tried applying Korean or Chinese characters to the magic circle since they could convey intuitive meanings, but for some reason, it didn’t work.
The reason was simple.
Whether Korean or Chinese, they were types of ‘characters’.
You need to interpret these characters when you see them, while symbols in magic circles should be instantly understandable.
Certainly, a character or two would work in a magic circle.
But when you startbining them, simple words be sentences, requiring interpretation.
In essence, they move away from intuition and into the realm of rationality, making them ineffective.
That’s why I’m now learning about the Lindelheit family’s arcane magic circles that Ca had previously suggested.
Ca, who was looking proud of my clumsy magic circle, suddenly poked my thigh.
“Master, Master.”
“Hmm?”
“I have a question. Can I ask?”
“Go ahead.”
I retrieved the mana from the magic circle and met Ca’s ruby eyes.
“I’ve been wondering… Why did Elisha receive the same ve penalty? I still don’t get it. Do you know something?”
“…I have some suspicions.”
The head of the Sylvan Magic Tower tried to summon spirits for Elisha, but Elisha herself had no direct involvement.
Yet she received the same punishment…
inly speaking, she was framed.
Elisha was involved because the summoning was for her and due to bad rumors in the academy.
Seeing Ca, her one-time rival, as a ve and feeling the umted inferiority of losing her ce at the academy led to my sess in hunting down Edmerek in the first year. This triggered her involvement in the spirit summoning.
All for the sake of obtaining greater power.
All to dominate at the pinnacle.
…that was the whole impression of the story.
Elisha was portrayed as a magician who was power-hungry.
They proimed this fabricated story as an official investigation result and pped the ve penalty.
It was a stereotypical but usible story. And being an official announcement from the Unified Church, everyone just epted it.
But to someone like me, who had directly heard about her fall, it was just ludicrous.
Even without that, from my experiences with Elisha in H&A, I knew she wasn’t that vile of a character.
So, she was framed.
“It’s probably the doing of the ‘Boiling Silence Church’.”
“…Isn’t that the ‘Evil God Church’?!”
“Right. Those guys who are good at infiltrating and causing disturbances from within.”
If the corrupting lust in the ‘Tainted Unity’ represented gluttony and the grotesque proliferation represented lechery, then the ‘Boiling Silence’ was the master of sloth.
But the twist was that to achieve their sloth they were paradoxically quite proactive.
“Followers of the ‘Boiling Silence’ are always ready to do anything to win without fighting.”
Whether it was manipting territory wars, framing someone for punishment, or even setting major facilities on fire.
Most of the incidents that gued our side could be traced back to them.
The very ones who framed the Lindelheit family for a demonic cult were Apostles from the Boiling Silence who had infiltrated the Levantine Empire’s Royal Court.
… I should tell Ca about the truth behind the Lindelheit family’s downfall.
But not now. The time wasn’t right.
As I pondered this, Ca, flipping her tinum hair, chimed in.
“Can’t we just reveal the truth behind the false charges made by the ‘Evil God Church’?”
“Who would believe us? Especially without any evidence. Even if we had some, any careless move would just backfire. The level of maniption suggests they are very powerful.”
The ‘Boiling Silence’ was everywhere.
And their main storyline involving the Levantine Empire hadn’t even begun. So, targeting the ‘Boiling Silence’ here without any leads was impossible.
“Let’s just focus on Elisha for now.”
“Hmm, you’re right. One wrong move and things might get moreplicated… Ah, should I act a bit pitiful at the auction?”
“Why?”
“You’ll be buying everyone out, right? If I, who became a ve first, amfortable by your side, won’t the Boiling Silence Church find it difficult? Their ns to break me down by making me a ve might be rendered useless.”
“That’s… a good point.”
While they sessfully devastated the Sylvan Magic Tower, if the spoils (like me and Ca) remained unscathed, it was all for naught.
If I, as always, treated Ca well, especially if they found out her mana core was intact, they might try to intervene in the auction, or… they might even attempt to assassinate me.
An excellent spy could also be a formidable assassin.
“Alright, let’s do as you suggested, Ca. Should I act like a cruel ve owner?”
“Hehe. I have something in mind…”
Ca’s ruby eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
The meticulous detailing in her expressions, dialogues, and actions radiated her deep desires.
… She didn’t think of this as some kind of role-ying game, right?
<hr>
A few dayster, on the day of the auction at the Gef City Auction House.
The Gef City Auction House, still acimed as the best on the continent, was its usual dazzling and bustling self.
No, it seemed even more chaotic than usual.
“Long time no see, Merchant Filrap.”
“I didn’t expect to see you here, Count Lano.”
“I’ve heard a very valuable item will be auctioned today, so I made my way here.”
“Same here. I suppose that’s the case for most people present.”
“Hehe… I came hoping to grab something, but it feels like I might have to loosen the purse strings more than expected.”
Yes.
Today was the day the elves from the Sylvan Magic Tower were being auctioned.
As Ca had mentioned earlier, ves usually undergo a training period before being auctioned.
But this time, they were put up for auction immediately upon arrival… and there was a reason for that.
Firstly, most of them were mid-tier magicians, and the tower lord was even a high-tier magician, making them hard to manage.
The entire leadership of the magic tower tried to summon a spirit, so in the wake of this sensational news, the decision was to sell them off quickly.
Andstly, due to the image associated with the elf race.
In this world, there was a significant fantasy surrounding the allure of elves.
It was more profitable to sell elves who still possessed their pride than those already broken.
Hence, the rushed auction.
And the swarm of affluent attendees.
In the more animated atmosphere of Gef City, I was…
…fondling.
With Ca by my side, I stood at the entrance of the auction house, tantly groping her rear.
<em>“Ugh…”</em>
With her head bowed, Ca, half leaning into me, looked like she was either crying or trembling from shame.
But one thing was certain: there was a thorn vine tattoo on Ca’s neck, and she showed no resistance to me.
The gatekeeper, after alternating nces between us, bowed deeply at 90 degrees.
“Wee! Please, make your way inside!”
“…….”
What’s this? I came with my regr appearance, but why was I being treated as a VIP?