CHAPTER 113
"Your Highness, take a look at this."
Madden handed a document to Philip.
From Madden's confident tone, Philip could sense something was up.
"Did you find something?"
"Yes."
Philip picked up the stack of papers with an expectant look.
As he confirmed the contents, his eyes widened slightly.
"This looks similar to that magic circle in the temple, doesn't it?"
"Yes. I've found a magic circle with a very similar appearance."
"With this, we might be able to deduce what that magic circle in the temple is. So, what kind of magic circle is this?"
Philip's question was met with Madden's answer.
"It's a magic circle for summoning demons."
"Demons?"
Weren't demons those beings that last revealed themselves a thousand years ago?
Philip looked puzzled.
"Is it really possible to summon demons?"
A thousand years ago was well before the empire was even founded.
To Philip, demons were too abstract to be considered real.
"Think about the Imperial Law, Your Highness."
"I know the law. It states that any magic or alchemy that could harm the empire is prohibited, right?"
"Summoning demons is explicitly forbidden. If demons weren't real, why would such a clause be in the Imperial Law?"
As Philip fell silent, pondering the plausible argument, Madden continued.
"Except for a few different strokes, the magic circle in the temple looks almost identical. It was probably also meant to summon demons."
Madden sighed inwardly.
'Finally, it's out in the open!'
Even if the temple's circle wasn't for summoning demons, it didn't matter.
The conclusion had been reached.
Philip had been pestering him about investigating that magic circle for so long. He wasn't even interested himself.
"I hope this clears up your curiosity about the magic circle."
Madden awaited Philip's response.
Hoping it meant he could finally stop investigating the magic circle.
However—
"Demons, huh. I always thought they were just mythical, abstract beings. To think there were efforts to summon them even a few decades ago."
Instead of the desired response, Philip asked with curiosity.
"Why would anyone want to summon demons?"
"Demons are said to possess powerful magic beyond human capability. Many wanted to summon demons to make contracts, according to old records."
"So, they wanted to achieve their desires through demons."
"Yes."
So please, let's move on from this magic circle!
Madden hoped.
"Isn't it dangerous to make contracts with demons?"
But Philip's next question again diverged from Madden's expectations.
"What if they demand the summoner's life as a condition?"
"It's said that demons cannot harm the humans who summon them. The contract is completed once the demon grants one request of the summoner."
"Just one request."
Why is he so curious about demons? Philip had an annoyingly strong sense of curiosity.
Philip asked again.
"If their magical power is similar to that of dragons, the Tower Master wouldn't stand a chance, would he? Even if he's the greatest human mage."
"Of course not. The Tower Master is, after all, just a human."
"If demons can indeed exist and don't demand the summoner's life as collateral..."
And then came the unexpected statement from Philip.
"Why don't we try summoning a demon ourselves?"
"What?"
Madden couldn't believe his ears.
Philip's eyes were serious. Ominously so.
"You said they don't take the summoner's life as collateral, didn't you? Then there's no reason not to try."
"But... demons are inherently dangerous."
'I chose my words poorly. I should've just said it was dangerous!'
Madden regretted it.
Philip's intellectual curiosity was far stronger than he had anticipated.
"Is there a specific reason you want to attempt such a thing?"
Leaving aside the feasibility of summoning, Madden wanted to know.
Why Philip wanted to summon a demon.
"Don't we have something we want?"
Philip answered as if it were obvious.
"It seems like a demon could resolve it all at once."
A smile had already crept onto Philip's lips.
"The Tower Master wouldn't even imagine summoning demons. If it's possible to summon them! With a demon's power, the Tower Master would be..."
Philip seemed to be envisioning a scenario where the Tower Master was already removed.
Seeing Philip like that, Madden felt a surge of exhaustion.
He thought it was over, but now things had become even more troublesome.
'Who on earth drew that magic circle in the temple?'
Madden cursed the unknown individuals inwardly.
* * *
It had been a few days since unexpectedly read his father's journal at Lewis' mansion.
During that time, it seemed Lewis had finished reading the journal.
"You've read it all?"
"Yes."
When we read it together last time, after the particularly serious parts, it talked about settling in a new place.
So, the rest must have been a journal about raising Lewis.
"There were a lot of stories about you as a child, weren't there?"
"Yes."
"I bet you were cute as a baby."
After all, he must have been pretty!
Even with no charming behavior, baby Lewis would be cute, right?
But at my words, Lewis leaned his face close to mine.
"Am I not cute now?"
Whoa. I was startled by his sudden approach.
When he gets this close, I...
Ugh, I feel like my face is turning red, so I quickly turned my head away.
Despite my flustered state, my mouth kept moving.
"You're cute. Yes... very cute, and also cool. You have it all!"
"You sound so forced."
Lewis snickered and pulled away from me.
Phew. I sighed heavily inside.
Please, give me a warning before you get that close.
I glanced at Lewis, who then changed the subject.
"About that man James from last time."
"Yes."
"I looked into him, and he's already dead."
"What?!"
He's dead too?
"Among those who participated in the research, my father was the first to die, followed by James, and lastly, Count Heim."
My mouth hung open in shock.
Was it really to silence them?
It seemed the research, which had stopped after my father's escape, really ended just like that.
"The three mages all died during the time the late emperor was bedridden with illness."
"Ah, I heard that during that time, the current emperor took over the administration."
He must have been the crown prince then.
"The late emperor probably knew he didn't have much time left."
So he decided to eliminate all the researchers, including my father?
"He must not have shared the method of cursing through blood with the late emperor."
Lewis mocked.
Having learned all the late emperor's deeds through the secret diary.
It wasn't something we could just let go.
With the records Lewis filmed in the palace library and my father's journal, we had evidence.
Lewis didn't seem to have any intention of letting it slide.
"I don't think it's a coincidence that all three died under mysterious circumstances. The late emperor must have orchestrated it."
"It would have been better if we had solid evidence of that!"
Lewis seemed determined to use the cards he had to their fullest extent.
"The emperor, who should work for the empire's stability, instead attempted to summon demons that could plunge the empire into chaos. This is definitely problematic."
"Right!"
"If it had been exposed while the late emperor was alive, he would have been dethroned."
Lewis seemed to believe it.
An emperor who endangered the empire had no right to rule.
In the past, there had been instances where emperors who caused chaos were overthrown.
"We can't do anything to a man already in the grave."
Yet Lewis showed no signs of feeling powerless.
"But we can shake the Albrecht royal family. That annoying crown prince will be silenced."
It seemed he saw this as a chance to put an end to the crown prince's provocations once and for all.
Finally...
* * *
Lewis didn't immediately publicize the late emperor's actions.
But he continued to monitor Philip's movements.
"It seems they haven't been visiting the temple lately."
When I arrived at the magic tower, Lewis was looking at a crystal ball.
"You said they wouldn't have time because of the documents burnt at Count Madden's place."
"Well, that's what I initially thought. But now, quite some time has passed."
It seemed Lewis had another suspicious aspect.
"Think about how eager the crown prince was about the magic circle. He boasted he would uncover its secrets before the magic tower, yet he's not shown up at the temple."
"Could it be that they've finished their investigation?"
It was odd.
If not, as Lewis said, they should have been frequenting the temple.
I pondered and then spoke up.
"Marquis, this investigation was to uncover the secret of the magic circle, right?"
Lewis and I had already uncovered the secret.
But we hadn't immediately announced it to the temple or the public.
It wasn't a trivial matter, as we thought.
"If they also discovered the truth about the magic circle, how do you think the crown prince would react?"
I thought I knew the original character well.
But now, I had no idea.
Madden was a character with no significant role in the original, and Philip had changed too much from the Philip I knew.
"They wouldn't make it public like we would. The royal family would clearly be affected."
"That could be."
"If the crown prince knows, he'd likely try to keep it quiet. No reason to visit the temple like before."
"Do you think they found out that the magic circle is similar to the one for summoning demons?"
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