Magician in Type-Moon

Page 568

She wanted to find her brother.

I took a deep breath, looked directly into her eyes, and asked:

When did you first become aware of that possibility?

"Perhaps, just as you think—it was some time after I entered the Department of Law and Politics."

She pushed her glasses up slightly, her fingertips moving very lightly, as if trying to avoid waking up dormant memories.

"However, by the time I realized that possibility, both Hartles and Kuro had already disappeared from the clock tower."

The two disappeared ten years ago.

Given Lingli's current age, that would be around the time she became a full-fledged magician and began her major studies. The timeline matches perfectly.

"So—do you know Kuro's secret?"

I asked directly.

She gave a slight smile, as if satisfied with my assessment:

"Yes. Although it's just my own speculation."

She gently stroked the temples of her glasses, her tone no longer as light and cheerful as before, but with a touch of calm.

"However, I have never met my brother. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to leave this question to his former teammates in Albion?"

As she said this, her gaze swept across the other end of the round table.

Her gaze slid in a certain direction like a snake locking onto its prey.

Without a doubt, it was Ashira.

The brown-skinned woman's brow twitched slightly, revealing an expression completely different from her powerful entrance at the Grand Order Decision—a look of distress, almost bewildered, as if she were entangled in memories.

“...Kuro…”

She whispered the name, but paused halfway through, as if she were suddenly tripped up by some detail.

“Kuro… does indeed possess some kind of supernatural ability. He has a rare talent… to be able to identify unstable, temporary rifts between the ground and the spirit tomb Albion.”

"Oh……"

Rufreus leaned forward slightly, his wrinkled face heavily shadowed. His eyes, weathered by time, seemed even more sunken.

The moment he made that expression, his already ominous aura became even more like that of a cunning and treacherous demon.

“He didn’t…have that ability from the beginning,” Ashira continued, her voice slightly hoarse.

"But one day, during a chance discovery of the crack... that 'talent' seemed to suddenly awaken."

"During the discovery of the crack?"

El-Melloi II pressed for an answer.

Ashira nodded with a slight hesitation.

"Almost no one outside the explorers knows that the cracks in the Spirit Tomb Albion actually form naturally in a periodic manner, although the pattern is extremely vague."

As she spoke, her gaze lowered slightly, as if she were retrieving a regrettable detail from her memory.

“But strangely, Kuro encounters these kinds of cracks far more often than the average person. Even he himself finds it inexplicable. I tried to ask him how he found them, but he said... he couldn't explain it, it just felt like pulling a ‘rope’ out of thin air.”

She looked up, still seemingly unable to explain the phenomenon.

"...This is a kind of magic eye."

At that moment, Hana Ryori's voice came softly from the side, as if responding to some family destiny that she did not want to be revealed.

“I’ve heard that this ability… occasionally manifests in the Adashino family.”

Her tone was calm, yet carried an undisguised hint of sarcasm.

"It's more like a spell to find lost items than an ability to find cracks. Perhaps even calling it a 'mystic eye' isn't quite accurate."

At this moment, Orange, who had been observing all along, suddenly interjected, her tone casual yet precisely hitting the nail on the head:

"I see. So, the magic of the Adashino clan originates from snakes?"

"That's right. What's wrong?"

Hana no Ryori responded without hesitation, showing no surprise.

El-Melloi II had witnessed Ryougi's magic several times. Indeed, the slippery, entangled, sudden, and cold-blooded aura in those spells, just like her, inevitably evoked the image of a "snake."

"I just think...it's interesting."

A slight smile curved at the corners of Orange's mouth, as if she were savoring a truth hidden in an old legend.

"After all, in human culture, snakes have always been particularly associated with 'finding lost items.' Praying for lost items to return, seeking wealth or a way out, or even finding people... the common symbol in these rituals is not a dog or an eagle, but a snake."

Her gaze swept over everyone present, her tone unhurried, as if gently brushing away a layer of historical dust.

"On the one hand, it's because the pit organs of snakes—thermosensitive structures that humans only understood in modern times—were considered in ancient times to be a sacred power that could 'perceive the hidden.' On the other hand, snakes are often close relatives of dragons, and in some cultures, the two are even the same concept. Dragons are sacred, snakes are hidden—symbols of things that crawl, spy, and search from beneath the earth."

As Orange spoke, she nodded gently, as if she had finally pieced together a puzzle.

"In that case, if Kuro's Mystic Eyes are indeed an ability derived from the 'serpent' lineage... then the more familiar he is with this land—especially a land like Albion, the tomb of spirits, which retains ancient memories—the stronger his perception will be."

She paused, a glint of light flashing in her eyes.

"In other words, the 'Mystic Eyes of Kuro' will gradually assimilate with the 'Vision of the Dead Dragon'—that is, Albion's original will—without anyone noticing."

In the brief silence, even the air seemed to freeze for a moment because of those words.

"Oh?"

Inola looked at her, her expression unreadable, her tone half teasing and half questioning.

"My troublemaking disciple... has he come up with something new again?"

Orange simply shrugged, as if she had no intention of revealing her thought process at all:

"No, I just think this structure is incredibly ingenious. From inheritance, land, the magic eye to Albion's special properties... it makes sense in every aspect. I'm completely convinced now."

El-Melloi II looked at her, his brows furrowing slightly, but he couldn't quite decipher the reasoning behind her words.

That's their style.

Although the clock tower is large, there are very few combinations that can rival the pair of master and apprentice, Inole and Orange.

One is a Grand Magician, an authority who can personally designate his disciples for the Sealing Order.

One is a mysterious magician who escaped from the seal and hid in the world for decades.

Their conversations always leave one wondering whether they are genuine exchanges or tests.

This time, Orange seemed to be just "speaking offhand"—but a certain intuition told everyone present that there was an unrevealed truth hidden behind those words.

Putting aside the political power struggles, in terms of magic alone, trying to compete with these two is futile.

Whether it's their mastery of magic, the depth of its inheritance, or their control and analysis of the mysterious—they have already stood at the pinnacle of this era.

It's as if the possibility of "competition" never existed from the beginning, and any challenge would only become a joke.

Chapter 609 The Buried Things (4k)

"However, Lord El-Melloi II's reasoning—has one obvious error."

Ashira suddenly spoke.

"……what?"

The Second Prince's brow twitched, and in an instant, an ominous ripple spread through his heart.

Not right.

That was the sixth sense he had honed over many years as a magician, through countless bets and rituals—and it was now clearly issuing a warning.

"How is this going?"

He pressed for an answer in a low voice.

Ashira remained silent for a few seconds, as if weighing the costs and consequences, before finally speaking.

"...I'm so sorry, Dad."

She first bowed her head to Magdana in apology, her tone a mixture of shame and resolve.

"It was me...we made this decision on our own."

She finally turned to El-Melloi II.

"As you said, we did have some contact with certain forces on the surface when we teamed up in Albion, the Tomb of Spirits."

"Then—"

The uneasy premonition in my heart finally took shape and pierced my chest.

What she says next will tear everything apart.

El-Melloi II could hardly bear to listen.

Ashira closed her eyes and spoke again.

"However... the one we killed ten years ago was not Hartres."

At that moment, time seemed to be frozen by a spell.

"We killed—Kuro."

My ears were ringing, and my heart felt like it skipped a beat.

He couldn't even understand the meaning of that sentence at first.

It's like being caught off guard by a desperate counterattack from your opponent when you're exhausted from a fierce battle.

My thoughts drifted away, and my breath was caught in my throat.

Logically speaking, this statement does indeed shatter his previous reasoning.

The initial assumptions, the chain of events, the motivations, and the interpretation of the current situation all collapsed in that instant.

But he saw Ashira's face.

That's not making excuses.