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Chapter 109
The relic had disappeared.
And, of all times, it coincided with the disappearance of the ray gun.
Even if others didn’t notice, the priests who had visited the Tower of Magic with the Grand Priest knew how extraordinary that ray gun was. Nothing with that level of power had been seen before… except for a relic.
What if the “relic” that Lady Elizia Semperion had wasn’t the Pendant of Prinis but that weapon?
Of course, many aspects didn’t fit the situation, but such a possibility had to be considered.
Frilien, sensing all eyes on her, panicked and raised both hands. The Grand Priest spoke with a serious expression.
“Lady Semperion… might have left the Tower of Magic.”
“But before the signal disappeared, we can infer that the last place it was detected was the temple.”
It made sense since Elizia had destroyed the Pendant of Prinis in the temple’s basement. The relic tracker didn’t give precise locations—it only provided approximate directions and distances.
“Then we should check it directly,” the Grand Priest said.
At that moment, the Duke spoke.
“If we contact the Tower and it becomes known that my daughter was quietly there, what will you do?”
His voice was not loud, but it carried a certain menace that froze the room. Recently, the Duke’s late wife’s belongings had gone missing in the temple, and any misunderstanding could easily cast an unfair accusation on Lady Semperion.
The priests felt a chill run down their spines.
“I-I… please let me handle it!”
It was then that Frilien spoke urgently.
“This is my fault, Your Grace. Please… give me a chance to ask for forgiveness.”
Her eyes were glistening as she lifted her head. Despite the seriousness of the situation, her firm gaze and clear voice moved those present. Even the nobles murmuring about the temple’s actions fell silent, focusing entirely on Frilien.
“…But it seems there’s no one here to accept your apology.”
The Duke spoke in a low voice.
“In the end, it’s my daughter who suffers the most.”
It was Elizia who had been accused of stealing the relic, and who had given the temple her mother’s belongings and could not get them back.
Frilien’s face darkened at the thought.
“Y-Yes, that seems correct. I will… go immediately and apologize to her.”
Seeing Frilien tremble as she spoke, the Duke remained silent. The situation was oddly amusing—there were still questions to be asked, but the matter had been diffused immediately. Any additional anger would make the Duke appear cruel. The Duke slowly turned to look at the Grand Priest.
“The rest is something that His Majesty should know, so let’s discuss it slowly.”
It was essentially a declaration that everything would be reported to the Royal Court. The Grand Priest bit his lip, defeated.
Elizia and the Crown Prince left the meeting room and walked down the corridor. As she walked through the Tower’s hallway, Elizia thought:
‘By now, have they realized that the Pendant of Prinis is gone?’
The temple likely checked regularly. She had even considered this in her movements. Elizia had stayed only briefly during her temple visit, paying attention to the relic tracking. Even if they realized she went to the temple instead of the Tower, it would seem like a simple error.
‘It would’ve been better if I could have destroyed it at the sealed door while I was there.’
The item could neither be transferred nor discarded easily, and only a few methods existed to destroy such an item. Since it contained so much holy power, she worried that it might not be destroyed. That was why she had planned a quick return.
Fortunately, the “sealed door” was no ordinary door, allowing her to destroy the relic in one attempt.
‘At least now it’s free from tracking.’
From the temple’s perspective, it must have been infuriating—one moment they detected the relic, the next moment it was gone.
And if, by chance, the ray gun lost its power or disappeared at the same time?
Could it be that the ray gun was the relic, and once Elizia took it, it became untraceable? Such misunderstandings could arise. Amid so many speculations, the temple would become even more confused and fail to uncover the truth.
But Elizia had no need to clarify anything. With a bold attitude of “I’m just a reckless noble girl who doesn’t know anything; you’re the ones clinging to me”, they wouldn’t be able to do anything.
‘They can’t even use lie-detecting magic here.’
At their first meeting, Jerome had used lie-detecting magic, so she worried he might try it again. But it seemed that this magic was only secretly usable in the Tower of Magic—and perhaps only by someone like Jerome, the assistant tower master.
After all, the Royal Court, the temple, and the Tower were all keeping each other in check. If only one side could detect lies, how threatening that would be.
Whether or not this had been considered, even during the Lady Marigold incident, scenes had appeared where people argued diligently without lie detection.
Elizia decided to overlook the existence of lie-detecting magic. She couldn’t use it often anyway, Jerome didn’t abuse it, and if neither the Royal Court nor the temple knew of it, it wouldn’t be used against her.
Even if it were, she had ways to counter it.
As she pondered these thoughts, the Crown Prince interjected subtly.
“I heard a rumor that you became a research mage. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“What are you researching?”
‘I haven’t decided yet.’
Originally, she had applied just to obtain an invitation to the banquet. But if she said so, it could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings, so she gave a vague answer.
“I’ll decide that later. There’s too much in the world to research.”
She really wanted to research a way to return home via dimensional travel—but she couldn’t say that.
“Then why do you keep following me? Haven’t we passed the exit?”
Elizia glanced at the Crown Prince with curiosity. She had been so absorbed in thought that she passed the exit, and he was following knowingly. He, however, looked equally incredulous.
“Aren’t you showing me the Tower?”
“I don’t know the Tower’s structure either.”
“You live here, and you’re a mage. How could you not know it?”
“Huh? If you know it well, why do you need an introduction?”
The Crown Prince chuckled.
A hooded mage strode down the Tower’s corridor. The hallway had an open space in the center, like a plaza, with floors visible across the railings.
From below came laughter. The mage paused, peeking outside. The Crown Prince was laughing brightly on the first floor, and beside him…
Elizia.
‘I thought no visitors were allowed.’
Had the matter been urgent enough to change her mind?
“Why stop in the middle of walking? Did something come to mind?”
Jerome, following behind, looked surprised at the Crown Prince’s expression.
“I’m asking just in case, but warn me beforehand so I can prepare… Are we about to have an apocalypse today?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Well, your expression looks bad. Someone who barely reacts to anything is acting unusually. Could there have been poison in the meal?”
Their conversation used soundproofing magic, so no one could eavesdrop. Jerome, genuinely concerned, looked down from the upper floor.
“Oh, it’s the Crown Prince. You came to see Lady Semperion… Ah!”
A mischievous smile spread across Jerome’s face.
“I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“I’m too perceptive not to notice. Honestly, no way I wouldn’t know.”
It would be laughable to anyone else. Jerome, usually so oblivious, now noticed everything.
He continued with pride:
“Even during the last saint’s descent, you insisted on going when you heard Lady Semperion was there. Even at the poisoning incident, you wanted to go yourself. If you still didn’t notice, that’d be foolish.”
Jerome chuckled as he watched the Crown Prince and Elizia.
“You’re wondering whether to intervene now, right? Tell me honestly before I use lie-detection magic… that you specially…”
“Jerome.”
The firm call silenced Jerome. Perhaps he had gone too far teasing them. The mage walked ahead, hood pulled tighter over his face, hiding it more than usual.
“…I should work. Busy, after all.”
“Yes, busy. The first results of the ‘poison’ research came in.”
The poison Elizia had ingested—officially researched and secretly re-examined using the potato she had given.
…And the results were shockingly significant, difficult to reveal publicly.
Jerome followed grumbling as she prepared to organize the findings again.
‘Seems the Crown Prince wants to recruit Lady Semperion to the Tower’s research lab… What’s the big deal? I can’t even make small talk?’
Indeed, Jerome was, as always, oblivious.
