52 – A Mother’s Heart
Ainblad, the city where pure-blooded demons gather.
In the distance, the towering demon castle, Kutranux, could vaguely be seen, and the path made of purple gemstones was an impressive sight.
I was walking alongside Queen Ludmilla, who rules over Ainblad.
I could feel a powerful aura of magic emanating from her, with horns like those of a mountain goat.
Every time she took a step, a blue energy seemed to radiate, displaying the immense amount of magic she possessed.
Shari, who had called for Ludmilla, was obediently perched on top of my head.
I wonder if Shari also lived here in her lifetime.
As a ghost returning to her hometown, how must Shari be feeling right now?
I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
It’s considered a fairly large city, but not far from here, there is even a Demon King. And now, I see that there is a Queen as well.
Seeing the guards, who appeared to be demons, bowing their heads respectfully when they saw her, they then gave me sharp glances.
It felt as if the entire city was hostile towards me.
Is this what it feels like to be a despised existence in the world?
Actually, if I were a demon, this reaction from humans might be expected.
The Karia Clan I saw underground might have been more understanding.
I didn’t expect them to keep attacking even after showing them Shari’s appearance.
The room I entered with Rudmilla was filled with floating purple gems.
Overall, it had an expensive and glamorous feel, but it felt more like a wizard’s room than the queen’s residence.
“It is very rare for a dead demon to become a ghost and remain in the world. It is even rarer for humans to visit this place with that ghost. So do not misunderstand, human. I am only postponing your execution.”
Queen Rudmilla said to me.
I felt sincerity rather than bluff or threat in her words of “postponing the execution.”
This woman’s presence was so overwhelming that I could believe she was the Demon King.
『Yunoa admired the power she felt from Queen Rudmilla, a pure-blooded demon, standing before her.
She possessed the power to turn Yunoa into dust if she really wanted to.』
As the narration reminded me of Rudmilla’s strength, I swallowed my dry saliva.
“I only wanted to let this child meet her mother.”
Rudmilla’s gaze turned to the top of my head.
Shari was clinging to my head right now.
“Humans are a despicable and cruel race. The reason I spared your life is because I was curious about the child’s trust and loyalty to you.”
So Shari has saved my life several times.
Although it was Shari who provided the reason for coming here in the first place.
Ironically, even as a human, I agreed that humans were a despicable and cruel race.
The saying that humans are the scariest creatures must have originated for a reason.
But when the saying was heard by a demon instead of a human, it felt strange.
“Anyway, if I find Shari’s mother, I’ll come back right away. I don’t have any other intentions.”
“I understand what you want. But even so, I can’t just let a human wander around Einblad as they please.”
“In that case…”
“I will have someone find the child’s mother for you. Until then, you…”
Suddenly, Rudmilla’s eyes began to sparkle.
When she gestured, several large, translucent, purple rectangular panels appeared in the air.
And in an instant, they flew towards me and surrounded me.
“…Huh?”
Clank. Clank.
In the blink of an eye, I found myself trapped inside a large, translucent cube.
Rudmilla looked at me, trapped inside the purple cube, and said,
“Stay put in this magic prison.”
* * *
Trapped in Rudmilla’s magic prison, I was transported to a place that resembled a warehouse.
The walls of the magic prison looked like purple glass, but contrary to appearances, they were very sturdy.
I can’t believe I, a human, was locked up in a place like this.
It seemed like Queen Rudmilla intended to keep me here until she found Shari’s mother.
She possessed the power to turn me into dust with a mere thought, so I should consider myself fortunate in a way.
It wasn’t hard to understand the hostility that the demons here showed towards humans.
But if my heart wasn’t uneasy in the current situation of being trapped in the magic stone prison, it would be a lie.
Shari came out of my head and looked at me with apologetic eyes.
You don’t have to apologize.
It was my decision to let you meet your mother.
Shari could still easily break through the walls of the magic stone prison and leave me, but she didn’t.
It seemed like she felt a sense of responsibility because she thought it was her fault that I ended up like this.
Well, anyway, I hope we can find your mother soon.
I forced a smile and said to Shari.
Once we find Shari’s mother, will she really set me free?
I was a little worried, but there was nothing else I could do now except wait.
“The magic stone prison of Queen Rudmila itself contained powerful magic energy.
Physically and magically, Yunoa felt helpless in this strong prison that couldn’t be easily broken.
But Yunoa didn’t know that this magic stone prison also had the potential to be used as a catalyst for magic conversion.”
Sitting inside the magic stone prison, waiting endlessly, I was startled by the narration’s words.
The possibility of using this prison as a catalyst for magic conversion?
I couldn’t fully understand the meaning of what Nareisha said, but since I heard those words, I couldn’t just sit still.
There’s nothing else to do in here anyway. Should I try experimenting a little?
I closed my eyes and tried to sense the magic energy around me, just like when I performed magic conversion.
Certainly, there were a lot of magic stones nearby, so there was a significant amount of magic energy.
In particular, the magic prison I was trapped in was indeed as the narration described, a crystallization of magic.
“It’s really amazing.”
It was definitely an enormous amount of magic, but it felt slightly different.
The magic I had been accumulating in my body had a more verdant sensation.
Strictly speaking, expressing magic in colors was not an appropriate method, but it truly was like that.
Should I say that I could sense the difference with my instincts?
The magic flowing in Rudmila’s magic prison felt distinctly different from the magic I had stored in my body.
If I were to express it in colors, it felt like a deeper and more intense shade of red.
However, I still didn’t understand the meaning of using it as a catalyst for magic conversion, as the narration had mentioned.
For now, I concentrated my mind and attempted to directly absorb the unfamiliar magic in this place into my body.
“Mmm…”
As usual, I gathered the surrounding magic and filled my body with it, repeatedly letting it flow out.
But the magic flowing in the magic prison that was imprisoning me didn’t even flicker, as if it belonged to a different world.
The sensation of magic accumulating in my body through magic conversion remained unchanged.
Even though there was an abundance of magic with different properties in the vicinity, only the type of magic I originally absorbed moved according to my will.
It would be nice if they explained it in more detail.
The narration sometimes reveals fragmented information like this.
I focused my mind again and tried my best to perceive the surrounding magic in as much detail as possible.
If the color of the magic I usually used was blue, then the powerful magic flowing in this magic prison was red.
No matter how hard I tried, my will couldn’t reach magic of a different color.
If that’s the case, what would happen if I use my will to direct the blue magic I can reach towards the alien magic in the opposite direction?
I immediately put my plan into action and attempted to let the blue magic flow through the walls of the magic prison instead of absorbing it into my body.
But it wasn’t easy.
The magic in the air, before entering my body, was not entirely mine.
Manipulating the magic in the air to flow where I wanted it to go without passing through my body was a difficult task in itself.
“But, this is surprisingly interesting.”
I had plenty of time anyway.
I felt like I had found a good toy to pass the time inside this magic prison.
Unlike the previous methods of magic conversion and utilizing the magic within my body, I let the magic in the air flow as it is.
It required a high level of concentration, but surprisingly, it felt like practice as I continued.
The narration clearly stated that the powerful magic flowing in this magic prison could serve as a catalyst for magic conversion.
So, I’ll just wait and continue to experiment until Queen Ludmilla finds Shari’s mother.
Even if I can’t find a way to utilize the magic flowing in the magic prison, it doesn’t matter.
Practicing the ability to manipulate magic itself can’t be a bad thing.
* * *
Unaware of the passing time within Queen Ludmilla’s magic prison, I was completely absorbed in practicing magic control.
As a result, I finally discovered a way to utilize the immense magic flowing in this magic prison as a catalyst for magic conversion.
For convenience, I will refer to the magic I can control with my will as blue magic, and the magic flowing in the magic prison as red magic.
The blue magic floating in the air could be absorbed into my body or moved elsewhere with just my concentration.
I couldn’t directly control the red magic in the magic prison, but when I moved the blue magic to make the red magic flow through the walls of the magic prison, the nature of the magic changed.
The transformed magic felt much more powerful than the blue magic.
Moreover, I could still control the magic with my will.
It felt like a mixture of the characteristics of the immovable red magic and the weak but movable blue magic.
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“So, this is what they meant by a catalyst for magic conversion….”
To enhance the power significantly, I could pass the magic I used to the walls of the magic stone prison.
It was literally playing the role of a catalyst to amplify the magic.
Of course, this process was not easy.
The amplification effect of the magic only worked on the magic in the air that didn’t pass through my body.
No matter how much I tried to pass the magic through the walls of the magic stone prison, there was no change in the magic that had already been absorbed by my body.
I moved as much blue magic around me as possible to amplify the power through the walls of the magic stone prison.
It was a task that required intense concentration to the point where I would break out in a cold sweat and have a headache, but it was worth it.
I slowly brought the amplified magic into my body and absorbed it.
It was like performing the process of magic conversion, which I had been doing tirelessly every day, but with much higher concentration of magic.
I could feel a new color of magic filling my body.
Magic conversion was the process of filling the body with magic and then emptying it repeatedly.
It was like using the body as a filter to extract and accumulate only the magic that could be stored in the body forever.
How much of this new magic could properly take hold in my body?
It was during that time when I was repeating the reinforcement magic conversion using the magic stone prison.
Suddenly, the door to the warehouse opened with a creak, and two menacing-looking demons entered to move the magic stone prison in which I was trapped.
“The queen is calling for you.”
The demon who was moving me into the prison spoke curtly.
Did Ludmilla find Shari’s mother?
Ah, wait a moment.
Please keep me imprisoned for just one more day.
* * *