Chapter 70

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: A Burden of Truth
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This wasn't some half-baked plan made by joining hands with the Epekel family.

‘To think they’d plan to tighten the noose like this.’

The Epekel family was in the magic stone distribution business. Although their mine was small, the pieces they crafted by making the most of it were of incredible quality.

Magic stones were also popular as jewels.

Marquis Epekel compensated for his mine’s smaller output compared to the imperial family and House Etoile with sheer quality, and his strategy worked perfectly.

Thus, it was safe to say that House Epekel was the only one that crafted magic stones. Their craftsmanship was second to none.

However, I was puzzled as to why House Epekel would join hands with Ryan.

In the book, he wasn’t a villain at all. He was just an upright and sincere grandfather who loved Reshuan but had trouble expressing it.

Even after seeing Reshuan suffer at my hands in the beginning of the story, he never once thought of bringing down House Etoile.

‘Why did he change from how he was in the book?’

Let’s think. The book I read was a fluffy story where everything revolved around the female lead. That means only Reshuan could move Marquis Epekel.

Leticia said that Marquis Epekel was promised a portion of the magic stone mine in exchange for his cooperation.

Why does he need magic stones so badly?

The magic stone mine. Reshuan. The link between these two seemingly unrelated things was just barely visible.

‘They brought magic stones to the ball, too.’

It wasn’t the imperial physician who went to Reshuan when she suddenly collapsed.

It was the servants holding magic stones.

It was safe to assume the magic stones could heal Reshuan.

‘But how?’

Making magic tools and healing people are on completely different levels, aren’t they?

What on earth happened that day?

‘I can’t ask Reshuan directly.’

It was uncertain if she even knew herself.

I set that aside and thought of a way to solve the problem.

The first person who came to mind was, of course, Marquis Epekel.

This whole problem could be solved if Marquis Epekel simply said no and told the truth.

Because without House Epekel, our family’s documents could not be forged.

‘Perhaps I should try to make a deal by offering to contract for magic stones.’

What if I could provide the magic stones?

Wouldn’t that be an attractive offer to Marquis Epekel?

‘I’ll have to talk to Darcy, too.’

It was an important matter, so it was only right to hear what Darcy had to say.

“Lady Marso. A package has arrived.”

With that, the package Darcy had prepared for me arrived. After checking the contents, I returned to my room.

Separate from the task of saving House Etoile, I also had to prepare to meet the mages.

Apart from my desire to help people like me and provide opportunities for the mages, another reason had emerged.

I wanted to make this a resounding success.

I would achieve a success so great it would be incomparable to Ryan’s in the original story, making my name more widely known and expanding my influence.

To gain enough power to scoff at such conspiracies and resolve them with ease.

***

Back in my room, I took out the gun hidden under my bed and the band Darcy had just given me.

The journey to meet the mages required traveling by carriage and then on foot. It was impossible to teleport all the way there.

A forest connected to a village deep at the edge of the northern border, a journey of about a week. A village behind a waterfall within that forest.

I didn’t think the journey would be dangerous enough to threaten my life. But there was that unexpected incident with Eaton before, and who knew how the mages would react?

At the very least, I had to be able to protect myself.

I lifted the hem of my dress, fastened the band to my thigh, and adjusted it so it wouldn’t slip.

When I slipped the gun into the loop on the band, it shrank to a miniature size. When I lowered my dress again, it was perfectly hidden.

I looked no different than I usually did in a dress.

‘Wow…’

Seeing things like this always reminded me that magic truly existed.

I took the gun in my hand again and pulled it from the loop. In that instant, the gun returned to its original size.

‘There.’

When shrunk, it was so light I could barely feel it was there.

After changing into a light dress suitable for walking or running, I went to check on Eaton.

When I entered his room, I saw a mountain of magic stones piled on one side. Ryan had left them, but now Eaton was using them as materials.

“Eaton.”

“…But is this right? I really have no idea…”

Eaton, sitting at his desk with his head in his hands, mumbled with a groan. Seeing his near-despairing state made me chuckle.

He was in the middle of analyzing the video player Darcy had given him, piece by piece.

“You can do it. You said you even made a bomb with magic stones.”

“A bomb is much easier to materialize! And what is this bizarre design? Is this even possible?”

He grumbled.

As I’d suspected, not every mage could create magic tools just from my descriptions. It was only possible because Darcy was a genius.

‘Meeting Darcy might have been the greatest stroke of luck in my life.’

I thought of Darcy, who could whip up magic tools in a flash. Eaton grumbled beside me.

“I think Airen would have to see this…”

Airen, he said. That name had come up before. By now, I was curious who he was.

“Who’s Airen?”

“…He’s the person I respect most.”

“Why?”

As I pressed him, Eaton proudly began to describe him.

“Airen is brilliant. They weren’t magic tools, but he even conducted research using magic stones!”

“Research using magic stones?”

He wasn’t even talking about himself, yet he seemed incredibly proud of this Airen fellow.

“Uh, but he gave up on everything after Kapu disappeared.”

With a look of regret, Eaton’s words trailed off. Come to think of it, he had mumbled before that Airen wouldn’t like research on magic stones.

I asked more cautiously.

“…This Kapu must have been important to Airen.”

“Yeah. He was Airen’s father.”

As I listened in silence, Eaton continued to ramble.

“Airen’s father. He left, saying he was going to change the public’s image of mages, but he went missing after that. He was a really kind and good person…”

Eaton’s voice grew somber.

Countless people had suffered at the hands of nobles.

‘And he had to see the son of the emperor, the root of all their problems. It must have been awful for him.’

Perhaps he had been holding back a great deal. I politely bowed my head and offered my condolences for the deceased. Eaton’s mumbled words rang out.

“Anyway… I know you’re not like that.”

I seemed to have earned quite a bit of trust from this young boy.

The boy was quick to anger and easily hurt, but he was just as quick to trust.

Perhaps I should be grateful that he still had some untainted innocence left.

“Get ready. We don’t have much time left before we leave.”

“…When I left, I boasted that I’d create a new place for us to live.”

Eaton’s words reminded me of the island where I first met him. He had said they ended up on that island while searching for a new home.

Their current home seemed fine and well-hidden, so why were they looking for another?

“Is there a problem with where you live now?”

If so, could I include that in my contract to help them?

Lost in thought, I asked Eaton. He blinked before answering in a tiny voice.

“…Because *he’s* the one who gave us this place.”

I immediately realized ‘he’ meant Darcy.

“Darcy?”

“A while ago, he appeared without revealing his face and led us to that place. And from time to time, he would bring other mages.”

“…”

“Everyone was grateful to him, this man who wouldn’t reveal his identity, but I knew.”

Eaton had the ability to see a person’s true form. Just as he had seen through Darcy on the island, he had immediately recognized who he was.

“That he was the mage who captured us, made us prisoners, and killed us.”

Eaton ground his teeth and bowed his head low.

“But I couldn’t say anything.”

Eaton’s voice was trembling.

He bowed his head, clearly not wanting me to see his troubled expression.

“Everyone was so grateful. Where else did we have to go?”

It was a home they desperately needed. The people who had been fighting for so long were exhausted and needed time to recover.

That was why Eaton couldn’t tell them that this man was the very person who had put them in this state.

“Why is he helping us now?”

Eaton’s words poured out like a burst dam. The boy, who had no one to confess the truth to, was telling everything to me, a person he’d known for less than a month.

“Why is he trying to act differently now?”

Wasn’t this his way of unburdening a heart he had carried alone for so long?

Eaton kept asking questions. They were no longer questions for me. They were questions he couldn’t bring himself to ask Darcy.

I couldn’t give him the answers he sought.

Instead of answering, I held out another magic tool in front of Eaton.

It was the greatest comfort I could offer.

“…What’s this?”

And it worked perfectly. Eaton’s attention shifted immediately.

“It’s a magic tool that can record whatever it sees and leave it as a picture. It’s called a camera.”

“A camera?”

“Give it a try. I’m going to the garden for a bit.”

“…Alright.”

Eaton nodded quietly.