[V9C25] Beneath the Surface

The Jade Chamber, located on the top floor of the Ridill Royal Palace’s west wing, was a special room that only the Seven Sages and the King were allowed to enter. As such, multiple barriers were set up to protect it.

The floor below the Jade Chamber contained rooms for each of the Seven Sages. That said, these rooms were typically treated as simple offices, as the Sages were always given splendid guest rooms whenever they stayed in the palace.

The usage of these offices varied from Sage to Sage, but most employed them as a storage for documents and other personal belongings, so they generally ended up pretty cluttered. The only person who actually used the office for work was Louis.

However, there was one Sage who furnished her office with an expensive canopy bed that would not look out of place in a luxurious guest room. Namely, Mary Harvey the Starseer Witch, the eldest of the Seven Sages.

She had arranged for this bed because it was not uncommon for her to take a nap there, following a stargazing session in the Jade Chamber.

But at this moment, the one sleeping on the canopy bed was not the owner of the room.

It was a woman in her thirties with reddish-brown hair dressed in a nightgown… Carla Maxwell the Starspear Witch, a former member of the Seven Sages. Her closed eyelids and exposed neck were covered in eerie black patterns, resembling stains.

Two men stood at Carla’s bedside: Bradford Firestone the Artillery Mage, and Louis Miller the Barrier Mage.

Bradford crossed his arms and frowned, muttering in a suppressed tone.

“The corrosion has spread quite a bit since they found her.”

“…Indeed.”

Louis nodded and adjusted his askew monocle.

Two weeks had passed since Carla Maxwell, Louis’s senior disciple, was discovered in this comatose state. She had been found shortly after the incident during Princess Cecilia’s visit settled down.

They had lost contact with Carla a short while before that incident, so Louis had been keeping Ryn away from the palace as a precaution.

After all, Louis needed to report to the Starseer Witch regarding Carla. He had feared that Ryn’s love of Carla may cause her to go out of control if she overheard their conversation.

Ryn may be Louis’s contracted spirit, but he had little means of stopping her if she truly went berserk. Despite her failures as a maid, she surpassed Louis when it came to sheer power.

(And it seems keeping Ryn away from the palace was the right decision.)

Looking down at his comatose senior disciple, Louis clenched his fists so hard that the leather gloves creaked.

To tell the truth, Louis had not been very worried when they lost contact with Carla. Her going incommunicado was nothing new, and, above all, she was a sharp and talented mage. Louis had complete trust in her abilities.

(To think she would end up like this…)

Carla had been found near a road in the western part of Ridill. Her lack of breathing and practically nonexistent pulse caused her to be mistaken for a corpse left on the wayside.

But once the officials inspected her belongings to confirm her identity, they discovered that she was the Starspear Witch, Carla Maxwell.

Further investigation revealed that Carla was in a state of suspended animation, similar to a coma. Thus, they sent a message to Carla’s mentor, Gideon Rutherford the Smoke Mage, through the Mage Association.

Rutherford then consulted with Mary Harvey and moved Carla to this room——the office of the Starseer Witch.

Since this room was right below the Jade Chamber, they could borrow the power of the Jade Chamber’s barriers to support high-level magecraft.

And so, Louis and the others placed the comatose Carla on the room’s bed and searched for possible means of resuscitating her.

They requested the cooperation of House Roseberg’s witches, who were sisters of the Third Thorn Witch, as well as the Second Abyss Shaman, Adeline Albright, all to investigate the cause of Carla’s condition.

As a result, it was discovered that something like a seed of dark magic was embedded in Carla’s heart. Apparently, this seed was spreading day by day, corroding her from the inside.

While there were practically zero users of dark magic in Ridill, the curses of House Albright and the Abyss Shaman possessed properties similar to dark-aspected magic.

The Second Abyss Shaman, Adeline Albright, explained it this way.

“The seed embedded in Carla’s heart has frozen her in a state between life and death, draining her mana all the while. I can see some similarities to our curses, but the biggest difference is… Hehe, that our curses are a lot more painful.”

Adeline twisted her purple lips into a wicked smile, then continued.

“This is not something human magecraft is capable of, especially not some unknown dark magic that has nothing to do with curses… In which case, the only possible culprit is *that*. Especially since we have eyewitness reports on the man Carla had been pursuing for so long.”

Eight years ago, the ‘Box of Gluttony’, also known as ‘Gluttonous Zoe’, was stolen from Ridill’s treasury. All witness reports identified the suspect as the brother of Carla Maxwell…

(The magical creature biologist, Theodore Maxwell…!)

Simply recalling that man’s dull-looking face caused Louis to grind his molars in fury.

The theft of an ancient artifact was an unprecedented crime that could shake the entire country to its core. Therefore, a gag order was imposed, and all information regarding it was tightly controlled.

The only people who knew about this incident were the royal family, the Seven Sages of the time, and a handful of high-ranking nobles. Gideon Rutherford and Louis were also informed, due to their relationship to Carla.

The incident had also caused many to suspect Carla of acting as Theodore’s accomplice, placing her in a very tough position. She was only let off after Rutherford and Louis argued her innocence tirelessly.

But ultimately, they failed to recover the ancient artifact, as both Theodore and the artifact were lost at sea. Feeling responsible, Carla had resigned from the Seven Sages.

(Not only was he alive the entire time, but he even employed the Box of Gluttony to attack Carla.)

Louis took a deep breath to contain the simmering anger welling up inside him.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Mary’s voice sounded from the other side, saying, “It’s me.”

Louis approached the door and temporarily lifted the barrier set on it.

“Please come in.”

“Thank you.”

Mary quietly stepped inside along with a jingle of her staff. One look at the black stains creeping over Carla’s body caused her to frown in grief.

“…For the time being, I’ve taken every possible measure to prepare for the worst-case scenario,” Mary explained.

The destruction of an ancient artifact required approval from the King, the Noble Council, and the Seven Sages.

The King had already been made aware of the situation and given permission to destroy the Box of Gluttony if it became necessary. However, the main problem was with the Noble Council. Obtaining their approval was no easy task, and it would take a great deal of time.

Apparently, the Starseer Witch had taken a step to address this problem.

“You know, Starseer. I bet the seal on the Box of Gluttony is falling apart… After all, the Third Thorn Witch is dead, and she was one of the three maintaining the seal.”

Bradford offered his opinion, to which Mary nodded silently.

In other words, if Theodore wanted to fully break the seal on the Box of Gluttony, he would target the remaining two seal maintainers, both of who were Sages at the time.

Louis had already arranged for security measures on that front. Furthermore, they had dispatched Gideon Rutherford and Bradford’s disciple to trace Theodore’s movements.

“I’ll say this knowing how annoying the council can get,” Bradford continued. “We need to do everything in our power to solve this.”

Louis nodded in agreement with Bradford.

“The situation has become extremely urgent. It is time to inform the young folks… the Fifth Thorn Witch Raul Roseberg, the Third Abyss Shaman Ray Albright, and the Silent Witch Monica Everett. We must explain the circumstances and request their cooperation.”

The arguments from Bradford and Louis caused Mary to let out a sigh, though she ultimately agreed.

“Once Silas Page officially joins the Seven Sages, I will share the details with everyone, including the truth of what happened eight years ago… of the incident which drove the Starspear Witch to resign.”

＊　＊　＊

Having finished his work for the day, Isaac returned to his room and inserted the key into the lock of his document cabinet. After turning the key, he shifted the side panel to reveal a bundle of documents.

Isaac brought the papers to his desk as Wildianu, in the attire of a butler, laid out a few additional sheets.

“Here is the information I have gathered in your absence.”

Isaac thanked his contracted spirit and perused the documents. After waiting for him to finish reading, Wildianu voiced a question.

“Master, do you believe that the events of eight years ago… that the Box of Gluttony incident is related to your fate?”

“Yeah, though there’s no concrete evidence. The Starspear Witch vanished practically at the same time I received the prophecy of loss from the Starseer Witch. It’s only natural to be wary of some sort of connection, don’t you think?”

Isaac was still publicly a member of the royal family, so he knew the basic overview of the incident.

Eight years ago, Theodore Maxwell stole the ancient artifact known as the Box of Gluttony. He was the brother of Carla Maxwell, who was a member of the Seven Sages at the time.

The Kingdom of Ridill did everything in their power to capture Theodore, but he ended up falling into the sea along with the artifact, and the trail went cold. The Box of Gluttony still has yet to be found.

That said, Isaac was not privy to all the details. After all, he had been fourteen at the time of the incident, and Prince Felix Arc Ridill was only supposed to be twelve. There was no need to provide a child with detailed information.

“First, let’s organize the recent events in chronological order,” Isaac said, rearranging the documents on his desk.

He also grabbed a few chess pieces from the chessboard at the edge of his table to serve as paperweights.

“First, last winter… probably a few days before the winter solstice. Carla Maxwell received a witness report regarding her brother Theodore, and headed to the port town of Talia to confirm it. The only person who knew about this was the Smoke Mage, Gideon Rutherford, her mentor in magic.”

Since resigning from the Seven Sages eight years ago, the Starspear Witch had been constantly looking into sightings of Theodore, then heading to the location to search for him.

However, most of these reports ended up being cases of mistaken identity. Thus, she only informed her mentor of her destinations to avoid making a big deal out of false reports.

“Next, at the beginning of the year. Immediately after the New Year’s ceremony, a party was held at the Starseer Witch’s mansion. That is where she gave me the prophecy of loss.”

Coincidentally or not, the Smoke Mage was also present at this party. Perhaps this was when he informed the Starseer Witch of Carla’s whereabouts.

The Second Abyss Shaman, Adeline Albright, was also present, so perhaps she was told as well.

“Then, at the end of winter… following the festival of Ashelpikeh, and right before Princess Cecilia’s visit from the Empire. Carla Maxwell missed her regular status report to her mentor, and was declared missing. It’s likely that only a handful of individuals related to the incident were informed of this.”

Presumably, that meant the King and the older Sages, as well as the Smoke Mage and Barrier Mage due to their relationship with Carla. The witches of House Roseberg, aka Raul’s grandmothers, were likely included as well.

That said, the Starspear Witch was known as one of the most powerful mages in Ridill. No one believed that anything serious had befallen her.

“It was during this period that Cyril came to Sazandol with the Key of Knowledge… By then, it seems the witches of House Roseberg were visiting the Starseer Witch’s mansion quite frequently. Perhaps it was around then that they discovered the missing Starspear Witch.”

“Has Silent Witch-sama been told anything about the incident…?”

“I doubt Monica knows anything. Nor does Dudley-kun, the disciple of the Barrier Mage.”

A few days before the water dragon subjugation, Isaac had brought up the topic of Carla Maxwell, yet neither Monica nor Glenn displayed any significant reaction.

Those two had always been bad at keeping these sorts of secrets, so it’s reasonable to assume they hadn’t been informed.

“I bet only the older Sages know about this. Well, since the Starspear Witch was found comatose, they will have to tell Monica and the others eventually. Especially with the recent appearance of a new Sage candidate… They probably plan to disclose the details and move into action once that candidate officially joins the Seven Sages.”

Once he finished explaining his thoughts, Isaac performed another scan of the documents on his desk. There was a specific piece of information he wanted to know.

“By the way, where is the document on the new Sage candidate?” Isaac asked.

“Here it is. I kept it separate since it seemed unrelated to the Box of Gluttony incident.”

Isaac took the document from Wildianu and narrowed his eyes upon seeing the name written there.

“A mage with no alias, Silas Page? …Silas? …No way.”

“Master?”

Isaac shifted his gaze to the line containing Silas Page’s place of birth, and became convinced that his suspicions were true.

(How could this be…)

Memories of his hometown flashed through his head. The wreckage of the buildings after they had been trampled by the earth dragons.

The scar above his right eye was long gone, yet it felt as though the skin there was twitching.

(Him as the Sage candidate? Of all people…?)

Isaac glanced at the black and white chess pieces lined up on the desk.

Would this Silas be an ally for Isaac to protect? Or someone who would lead him to doom? The answer was unclear. Or rather, it was impossible to tell at this early stage.

Nevertheless, the destined day was drawing near. Isaac could already feel it on his skin.

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