Report
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 12
Kaylen’s appearance was utterly grotesque.
His entire body was swollen and distorted, with raised lumps of flesh protruding at irregular intervals.
His skin was cracked, exposing unnatural veins.
"Disgusting..."
It was a sight that naturally evoked revulsion.
His face contorted in agony.
Lina had anticipated the negotiation would not be easy.
But Kaylen's condition was far more severe than she had imagined.
"Kaylen... are you okay?"
When Lina saw Kaylen glaring at her with cold eyes, she braced herself for even tougher negotiations.
Still, she thought, he had once been fond of her.
If she appealed to his emotions, perhaps she could find an opening.
"Kaylen, I’m truly sorry...!"
Lina gently placed her hand on Kaylen’s arm.
Though the lumpy, deformed flesh was repulsive, now was not the time to act squeamish.
Instead, she softly stroked his arm, lowering her gaze apologetically.
"I never imagined it would turn out like this."
"I never thought your body would end up in this state... Sob, sob!"
Tears welled up in Lina’s eyes.
"Why did it have to come to this? Really..."
Of course, she wasn’t crying out of pity for Kaylen.
Her tears stemmed from her own miserable situation.
However, Kaylen didn’t so much as flinch at her display.
‘Tsk. It’s not working... The damage must be too great for tears alone to move him.’
Seeing his lack of response, Lina resolved to bring up what she had planned to say on the way here.
"Actually, Kaylen, as you know, our family's magic circle... It’s never failed. It’s always been successful."
"But this time, it blew up like this... The result is so strange. Kaylen, did Alkas do something unusual at the last moment?"
"…Are you referring to your knight?"
"Yes. He collapsed near the magic circle. He was holding his sword."
"I don’t know. I can’t remember. The pain was overwhelming."
"When we asked him what happened after we revived him, he only said something about the magic circle acting strangely. Then he swung his sword and collapsed. Now, he’s rambling nonsense about swords and seems completely out of it."
The knight, Alkas, had collapsed near the mana-charging magic circle.
He had witnessed the anomaly firsthand, and the Florence family could not afford to leave him be.
Currently, he was detained after being treated, but...
"They might silence him later to ensure his silence."
Given the magnitude of the incident surrounding the mana-charging magic circle, the fate of a mere knight held little weight.
"Even though he wields such exceptional skill, the Florence family doesn’t see much value in him."
A swordsman of his caliber had been a rarity even in Kaylen’s era, where fewer than fifty such talents existed.
To think someone of that level could get caught up in this and disappear...
"What a waste."
They held a gem in their hands but treated it like a worthless stone.
Kaylen decided he would take this gem for himself as well.
"Take your hand off me and get to the point."
"Kaylen..."
"Take your hand off me."
"...O-okay."
As Lina hesitantly withdrew her hand, Kaylen got straight to the point.
"50,000 gold."
"...What?"
"If you want to keep my mouth shut, give me 50,000 gold."
Lina had anticipated a difficult negotiation, but his demand was beyond anything she could have imagined.
"...50,000? Kaylen, wait. Did I hear you correctly?"
"Yes, 50,000."
His voice was resolute, leaving no room for negotiation.
The cold tone made Lina flinch momentarily, but she reached out to him again.
"Kaylen, I’m truly sorry for what happened. But—"
"My mana circle... I’ve lost one of them."
"...What?"
"Because of the incident, one of my circles collapsed."
Lina was struck speechless.
Losing a mana circle?
It was a death sentence for a mage.
"Even the circles have been destroyed..."
She had guessed that the aftermath of the incident was severe, but she hadn’t imagined it would extend to losing a mana circle.
"I don’t even know if the remaining circles will function properly."
"My life as a mage is over. So, 50,000 gold doesn’t seem like too much to ask."
"That’s impossible!"
No matter the circumstances, 50,000 gold was far too much.
If she dared to ask for 20,000 more than the 30,000 gold her father had prepared...
"If I do that, even as a three-circle mage, I won’t escape severe punishment from the family."
Even for the flourishing Florence family, 50,000 gold was an enormous sum.
Especially after she had boasted about lowering the settlement amount, adding 20,000 gold now was out of the question.
"Kaylen, p-please. Just forgive me this once!"
"Sure. I already said I’d forgive you. For 50,000 gold."
"50... 50,000 gold is too much!"
At that, Kaylen raised a trembling hand to touch his ear.
"Lina. While I was writhing in pain on this bed, a lot of people came and went."
"They thought I was unconscious, but my mind was clear. I heard everything they talked about."
"...So, what about it?"
"There are many people from the First Prince’s faction eager for me to start talking."
Hearing that, Lina bit her lip.
To think he had been conscious all along.
She had been suspicious since the moment he demanded 50,000 gold.
Even if he had lost a mana circle, it was an extraordinary amount to demand.
There was no way he could have come up with such a figure unless he knew something.
"Kaylen...!"
Desperate to appeal to his emotions, Lina attempted to approach him once more.
"Stop."
"Lina, don’t lay those filthy hands on me."
"W-what...?"
Kaylen’s words were merciless.
"Don’t try to approach me halfheartedly. Send someone new, someone with real authority to negotiate."
"You... You..."
"If you don’t bring a proper proposal within two days, I’ll make sure the First Prince’s side knows everything."
Kaylen left no room for compromise.
Lina, unable to simply walk away, considered grabbing his trousers and begging, but his resolve was immovable.
"If you so much as touch me, I’ll contact the First Prince’s faction immediately."
"...Fine, fine!"
"I hear they’ll come as soon as I call them."
"A-alright!"
Left with no choice, Lina retreated.
She realized that pushing further here would only lead to disaster.
"That... that bastard...!"
Once he’d followed her around with admiration in his eyes, and now he was this cold.
As Lina turned to leave, Kaylen added one final remark.
"And bring your bodyguard with the person in charge."
"Why... Why him?"
"You don’t need to know."
"...Fine."
He wanted her to bring her bodyguard, Alkas?
Weighed down by the failure of her mission, Lina’s mind was clouded, but then her eyes glinted with malice as an idea came to her.
"Alright, you bastard. I’ll make sure Alkas stands right before you."
After Lina left, more visitors came to see Kaylen.
"Have you come to your senses?"
"Such a pity, truly."
"Your condition doesn’t look good at all."
At first, they expressed sympathy and concern.
They were mages who had once taught him.
But this concern was superficial at best.
"What exactly happened?"
"I heard there was an accident in the Florence family’s experimental zone."
"Are they involved in this?"
Feigning concern, they probed for the truth.
Kaylen, however, remained silent.
He wouldn’t give away information without compensation.
But he did leave them with one pointed statement:
"Just wait two days."
"Hmph. These are the people who did this to you. Do you really trust them?"
"I’ll see you in two days."
"Haha, how preposterous..."
The professors, more interested in the incident than their disfigured student's plight, showed no compassion.
Kaylen, unimpressed, added:
"By then, I expect you to bring proper terms to the table."
"Terms? What terms..."
"Professors of your caliber should know better than to ask that."
"Ahem, when a professor asks—"
"If you're here to spout nonsense, leave."
Kaylen promptly drove them all out.
"Trying to take advantage of me, are you?"
The opportunity to deal a financial blow to the Second Prince's faction was too good to pass up.
The First Prince’s side, however, seemed focused on probing further, sending professors instead of offering concrete compensation.
"The Florence family still seems like the best payer for now."
To Kaylen, whether the First or Second Prince won this battle was irrelevant. Their squabble was just the clash of his subordinates' underlings.
What mattered was which side offered him the highest price for his silence.
He spent the rest of the day turning away low-ball offers.
"Five thousand gold coins."
"Not enough."
"Hah! I didn’t expect this from you..."
"Get used to it."
Refusing laughable terms, he waited.
That night, a more serious offer finally came.
"I am Jane, handmaiden to Princess Violet."
Princess Violet—a renowned mage of exceptional beauty, sharing the same mother as the First Prince.
"She’s in her third year at the Academy, isn’t she?"
Despite being busy with her studies and nearing graduation, she’d taken an interest in this incident, even sending her handmaiden to negotiate.
"Her Highness wishes to know the price you desire."
Jane got straight to the point, and so did Kaylen.
"I have an appointment with the Florence family tomorrow."
"Her Highness can certainly offer far more than them."
"That’s something we’ll have to see about."
"Our mages heard that even five thousand gold was insufficient for you. Depending on the importance of the matter, we could offer ten times that amount."
It became clear that the professors' earlier absurd offers were a ploy to gauge the situation's gravity.
For a regular mage unaware of the larger implications—just looking for compensation for their losses—five thousand gold might have seemed generous, even fair.
But for Kaylen, who knew the stakes?
That was pocket change.
But this incident...
In the power struggle between the First and Second Princes, it could strike a blow to one side’s financial backing.
If the victim is aware of the gravity of the situation—how it could break the legendary no-accident record of the Mana Charging Magic Circle—then five thousand gold is an utterly trivial amount.
The five thousand gold offered by the First Prince's side, upon reflection, posed a question to Kaylen:
Did you really suffer such a major accident?
And do you understand just how important this matter is?
Kaylen’s response was simple.
"First, I’ll speak with them."
"...Understood."
If it was just about the gold, selling himself to the First Prince’s side would immediately bring a reward.
However, doing so would severely increase the political burden on the Florence family... and they would acquire far more enemies than gold.
'Besides... the Florence family has another bonus for me.'
With that, Jane left.
Knock knock.
"...Prince Kaylen."
The bonus Kaylen was thinking of had arrived.
"Alkas."
"I heard you wanted to see me."
Alkas, the bodyguard, who had a dagger hidden in his possession, had arrived.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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