Chapter 247: ​Intertwining Intentions 8

​As Liliana began to slowly pour her mana into the wall, intricate patterns gradually emerged where there had been nothing but blank stone. The sound of Ben and Petra catching their breath reached her ears, but Liliana didn’t stop. The drain on her mana was heavier than she’d anticipated; a creeping chill began to settle in her fingertips and toes.

​Once the entire array was clearly visible, Liliana cast a Fest spell to fix the image in place before slowly pulling her hand away.

​As she took a step back, Petra’s voice reached her.

​“Are you all right? How do you feel?”

​“I am perfectly fine,” Liliana replied, offering a smile to put her at ease. In truth, the sudden vacuum left by the mana the array had devoured left her head swimming with a touch of vertigo and a faint ringing in her ears. Still, it was nothing she couldn’t handle—certainly nothing worth making a fuss over.

​Petra gave her a searching look, but didn’t pry further. Instead, she turned her attention back to the sorcery array, letting out a sound of impressed curiosity. However, her expression held a hint of exasperation.

​“I didn't think it would show up this clearly. We can even read the fine script.”

​“Truly. Though looking at it now, it feels like the culmination of some rather... unsettling techniques,” Ben added, agreeing with Petra. His face was grim as he stared intensely at the array. “I suppose the silver lining is that it doesn’t look like there’s an immediate danger.”

​Ben and Petra were radiating a heavy, tense atmosphere, leaving them little room to worry about Liliana’s expression. Petra’s lips were pressed into a thin, hard line.

​Liliana gazed at the array and let out a small, silent sigh.

​(This is the worst possible outcome.)

​Her bad feeling had been right on the mark.

​The array that had appeared on the wall was something that, by all rights, shouldn't have appeared until next year. In the otome game of her previous life, it was Belasta Draco who discovered this array. He had remembered seeing a similar pattern in a forbidden book he’d read once, and he would directly petition Crown Prince Riley, warning him that this array signaled a continental crisis involving not just the Kingdom of Slibegrad but the neighboring nations as well. That event had marked the beginning of the long, grueling journey for the heroine and her targets.

​Questions bubbled up one after another. The biggest mystery was why the array had manifested now, even though Liliana had done nothing to trigger it.

​(In the game, everyone said it was all Sasha—the original Liliana’s—doing.)

​But looking at the current situation, that clearly hadn't been the truth. Liliana hadn't lifted a finger, yet the array was here.

​Beside the pensive Liliana, Petra and Ben were meticulously checking the patterns of the array. The scale of the spell was so massive that they couldn't even begin to analyze it fully. For now, they had to extract whatever information they could from the visible symbols.

​The two elite sorcerers pulled paper from their robes, carefully noting down characters as they deliberated over the contents. There was no way Ben and Petra would miss what the game’s Belasta had deciphered. After a while, a low groan escaped Ben’s throat.

​“...This is bad.”

​“You think so too? I was really hoping I was just misinterpreting it,” Petra replied.

​When Liliana glanced at them, they noticed her gaze and shared a look before letting out a small sigh. Then, they cast an illusion spell over the wall.

​The array, now vividly manifest, was in a state where anyone could see it. Most sorcerers wouldn't even understand what its purpose was, but they couldn't risk a stray observer. There was also the danger that someone might meddle with it and cause the array to go berserk. That said, returning the array to its original invisible state was impossible. It might be doable if Liliana drained the mana back out, but there was no guarantee she would come out of that unscathed.

​Ben spoke up. “Let’s head back to the Director's office. We’ll talk there.”

​“Understood,” Liliana nodded.

​◇　◇　◇　◇

​Even after returning to the Director's office, the air surrounding Ben and Petra remained heavy. Before even sitting on the sofa, Petra went to the small kitchenette in the room, boiled water, and brewed tea for the three of them. Liliana offered a smile and a word of thanks before taking a sip. While the other two also drank, their expressions remained somber, punctuated by deep sighs.

​“Straight to the point, then,” Ben began.

​Liliana and Petra turned their attention to him. He was usually a mercurial, hard-to-pin-down man, but now he wore a rare expression of being driven into a corner.

​“That sorcery array is meant for sealing something incredibly powerful. There are several types of seals, but in Eastern Magic, it falls under the broad concepts of Sokusai—calming disasters—or Chobuku—subjugation.”

​Ben looked at Petra, suggesting she might have more details. But Petra shook her head slightly.

​“I’m confident I’m the most knowledgeable in this country, but Eastern Magic is fundamentally secretive. I can’t give you a detailed breakdown.”

​Liliana blinked. Sokusai and Chobuku—terms she was hearing for the first time in this world. However, her memories from her previous life recognized them immediately.

​Seeing Liliana's reaction, Ben and Petra assumed she simply didn't know the terms. Ben offered a somewhat apologetic, matter-of-fact explanation.

​“I can't get too technical, but you can think of Sokusai as sorcery to 'eliminate disasters or obstacles,' and Chobuku as a form of 'exorcism or cursing.'”

​“Yeah, that’s not far off,” Petra added.

​Experts often fall into the trap of over-explaining until the details become overwhelming. Knowing this, Petra likely chose ambiguous words to keep it simple. Liliana didn't intend to press for details right now anyway.

​Ben continued. “I’ll skip the minutiae, but that array had patterns very similar to Eastern Magic engraved into it. Obviously, it’s not pure Eastern Magic, but there’s no doubt that it’s the foundation.”

​“The foundation is Eastern Magic?” Liliana asked back, widening her eyes slightly to show surprise. Since she usually lacked emotional expression, overreacting would only seem suspicious.

​She couldn't let Ben or Petra suspect that she already knew exactly what the array did.

​Fortunately, the two didn't cast any doubtful looks her way and continued the lecture.

​“The book covering this is classified as forbidden, so even we can't just look at it whenever we want. But we were allowed to check it once for research purposes. What was written there was the sorcery of Chobuku—or 'The Art of Subjugation' in their tongue.”

​The forbidden book had roughly outlined the method. It involved burning specific thin leaves in a unique way, using a specialized tool to perform a ritual mimicking the piercing of the target's head or chest, and chanting incantations in the appropriate place. It was apparently a curse intended for killing, but by changing the movements and words, it could also be used to seal a target without killing them.

​“A portion of the incantation was recorded, and those same patterns were integrated into that array. Luckily, we don't actually know how to pronounce them.”

​“In short, that array is almost certainly something meant to seal something away,” Petra summarized as Ben finished his piece.

​Liliana felt a surge of admiration for the two of them. As expected of those praised as geniuses, they had come incredibly close to the truth in a very short time. The question was whether they could identify what was being sealed.

​However, Liliana’s concern was quickly addressed. Thinking aloud, Petra voiced her theory.

​“This is just a guess, but I don't think that array is for sealing something in the future. I think it already sealed something in the past.”

​It seemed Ben had reached the same conclusion; he narrowed his eyes and glared at the cup in front of him. Liliana, feigning ignorance, looked back and forth between their faces.

​After a heavy silence, Ben spoke with a grave expression.

​“A while back, I think I told you that the 'Demon King actually exists.' Do you remember?”

​“Yes... I thought it was merely a fairy tale, so I was quite surprised,” Liliana replied.

​That was about six years ago, back when she had first met Ben. She wouldn't have been surprised if he’d forgotten, but it seemed he remembered. I suppose he wouldn't forget telling a child a state secret, Liliana thought as she nodded honestly.

​At that time, Ben had suspected the seal on the Demon King might have broken due to the abnormal frequency of monster stampedes. In reality, while the seal had frayed in places, it hadn't reached the point where one could say it was broken.

​—The fact that he was bringing that up now meant...

​Liliana felt a sense of certainty bloom in her chest.

​Regardless of Liliana's internal reaction, Ben went on. “I was the Vice-Director of the Ministry of Magic back then. I had a fair bit of freedom, and I considered the possibility that the seal was breaking. The result was... well, it wasn't broken.”

​“But,” Ben said, “I didn't tell you where the Demon King is sealed, did I? Do you know?”

​“No, I do not.” Liliana shook her head.

​In truth, she knew. If the setting was the same as the otome game—the place where the Demon King was sealed was...

​“Beneath the Royal Palace. And for the record, you can get there from here, the Ministry of Magic.”

​“Which means,” Petra took over Ben’s explanation, “that array is likely what sealed the Demon King when the Kingdom of Slibegrad was founded.”

​“And the fact that the array has manifested means the seal is definitely weakening.”

​Liliana took a deliberate, slow blink.

​(A brilliant deduction, you two.)

​She fought down the urge to smile. After pretending to think in silence for a moment, Liliana spoke. In a situation like this, there was only one thing her "clueless" self would say.

​“Assuming that array is indeed the seal for the Demon King—but the actual place where he is sealed is the Palace, correct? It feels as though the distance between the two is a bit too great.”

​“Normally, sealing spells are applied directly to the location of the target. But Eastern Magic is a bit different,” Petra answered. “Take that Chobuku sorcery Ben mentioned.”

​“In that ritual, the target and the caster are in separate locations. That array is of a similar nature. As for why they chose to put the sealing site under the Palace—in the basement—but put the actual array here at the Ministry... I don't know.”

​“There are no records left. But there was likely some reason for it,” Ben agreed.

​Liliana nodded quietly. “In that case, we must re-seal the Demon King.”

​“Exactly. But the method is the problem,” Petra said bitterly. Ben also crossed his arms, looking as if he’d chewed on a bitter bug.

​Liliana tilted her head. In the otome game, the explanation for re-sealing the Demon King was always just 'you need to collect artifacts scattered across the continent and abroad.' It never explained why those artifacts were necessary.

​Only that they had been used to seal the Demon King during the founding of Slibegrad.

​As long as she had that fact, the details didn't matter. The only issue was that she had to deduce what those artifacts looked like and where they were based on the cryptic descriptions in the records.

​But in reality, there had to be other ways. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in a position to collect every single artifact.

​Unaware of Liliana's internal thoughts, Petra continued her explanation.

​“The techniques used are just too old. There aren't any decent explanations left in the literature—probably. Unless it's something only royalty can see, but at the very least, we don't know it exists. Replicating it is difficult. In other words, we can't just 'patch up the frayed parts' and expect the seal to be as good as new.”

​“Does that mean we must completely break the seal once and then re-seal him from scratch?”

​“That's the gist of it. Depending on how much the seal has already deteriorated, of course. It would be better if we could just mend the cracks without breaking the whole thing.”

​“You catch on fast, my lady,” Petra said, but to Liliana, it was obvious.

​(It seems that, at this point, the only solution is the same one from the game.)

​Gather the sealing artifacts from across the world, completely release the Demon King’s seal, face him, and seal him again—that was the only viable plan they could form.

​“For now, we have to report this to His Highness the Crown Prince,” Ben muttered with a sigh, and Petra nodded silently. Liliana took a moment to consider.

​There was no doubt that Ben would be the one to speak directly to Riley about the Demon King's resurrection. So, Liliana didn't technically need to be involved. However, the resurrection of the Demon King was one of the central events of the otome game. Even the secret route targets in the second playthrough were deeply connected to it.

​“In that case, shall I contact His Highness for you?”

​“You, my lady?” Petra asked, eyes wide with surprise. Liliana nodded pleasantly.

​“I happen to have an appointment to meet His Highness after this. I believe we can see him much faster this way than by submitting a formal request for an audience.”

​“That would be a huge help—but are you sure? Isn't it a date with your fiancé?”

​“Oh. We usually just discuss administrative matters, you see.”

​So please, do not give it a second thought, Liliana smiled. Petra raised her eyebrows and let out a theatrical sigh, looking utterly exasperated.

​“...Fine, whatever. We’ll leave it to you, then.”

​“Yes, of course.”

​Leave it to me, Liliana thought, her smile gentle.

​It looked like things were about to get very busy.

—-

Toc

Chapter 248