How much time had passed? Aint opened his eyes.
Everyone's attention turned to his mouth.
"…Uh, so."
Startled by the sudden focus, Aint hesitated, then quickly composed himself.
"I did the best I could, but, as Senior said, I could not detect any taint of demonic energy."
"Not even a little?"
"Not even a little."
"Then Senior was wrong…?"
But the two people most involved, Pernyan and Rosalia, didn't change their expressions at all.
"Professor, now please show us the real thing."
"The real thing?"
"This is already amazing — what else could there possibly be?"
"Follow me."
Rosalia led them to a small door in the corner of the laboratory.
It was a small side door; when she opened it, a wide chamber full of magical items and another sphere came into view.
"This is…?"
"This is the real one. That other one is a sort of experimental piece."
The sphere in this room was different from the ice-crystal outside. At first glance it was a single orb, but on closer inspection it was a tangled assembly of hundreds of magical gems.
Its surface was densely carved with magical formulas and circles, and the magical power radiating from it was far more intense than that of the ice-crystal.
"…I never thought I'd live to see something like this, Senior."
Jace, the magic-obsessed, drew a harsh breath.
"This is like—"
"Like?"
"Like a sun. It's like an artificially-made sun."
"If you look at it in broad terms, that's not entirely wrong."
Its purpose, mechanism, and form were all different from a real sun, and it couldn't be compared to the real thing — but it was true that it offered an almost limitless amount of magical power.
"Professor, if it's not rude, may I examine this a bit?"
"You're reacting very differently from before."
"That ice-crystal astonished me. To create an artificial magical gem… but this is on another level entirely."
Jace swallowed dryly. He looked like a child with a fascinating toy or a scholar possessed by intense curiosity.
"Have at it. We'll present this at the continental academy conference soon anyway."
"Thank you, thank you!"
As they say, the more you know the more you see. Except for Rosalia, Jace was the most brilliant mage in the room and immediately recognized the object's value.
"How did they even carve these runes? Oh — these opposing formulas are interacting with each other…"
Meanwhile, regardless of Jace's excitement, Pernyan fixed his gaze on Aint.
"Aint, your task is the same as before. Check whether there's even the slightest trace of demonic energy in there."
"And if there isn't?"
"That's good."
"Good?"
"Yes. It's better for you to give the professor double the research funds than have some heretic cause trouble at the continental conference or have the exhibit banned."
"I never said I'd stop at only doubling it."
"It doesn't matter how many times. Whatever it costs."
Whether profit or loss, Pernyan would take responsibility. And now that he had transferred the three great metals to his father, Pernyan stood to receive enormous sums soon.
Aint stepped up to the composite of magical stones. The dense magic that could be felt from even a short distance made his skin tingle.
'So that's how they hid this — the wall…'
The runes and magic circles on the walls were all of the type that concealed and blocked the energies within the room. With dozens of such layers stacked, there was no way anyone outside could detect what was inside.
— He compared this to a sun. Indeed, that's an appropriately dense concentration of magic.
— If heretics did something to this place, they could probably summon a demon.
'Summon a being from another dimension with pure magic instead of sacrificing life?'
— To break a dimensional barrier and call something from another plane requires a massive amount of energy.
— Whether that energy is life force or magical power doesn't matter.
Only that life force, being purer in terms of energy, tends to be more effective — that's why heretics favor it. They value efficiency over the lives of mere creations; that's why they're called demons.
— Remember how Andromalius was summoned.
'Ah.'
Recalling Andromalius, who had been summoned through the World Tree's branch, Aint understood clearly.
'If this really fell into the hands of heretics, what would they do with it?'
— What else but summon demons.
Gardner said it flatly.
— Or, summon huge numbers of monsters and throw the continent into chaos. In any case, that's what could happen.
'Then I should hope all the more that Pernyan senior's claim is false.'
— That would be best.
Aint took a deep breath, brought his sword up, and closed his eyes. Then:
"…Externally, there are no problems."
Rosalia's brows twitched.
"So internally there is a problem."
"Honestly, I don't have deep expertise in the theory of magic, so I can't say whether the circles, runes, or formulas are flawed."
However—
"The only thing I can be certain of is that I sense and find demonic energy well."
That had been the strength the Armians had possessed since the era of the first emperor.
"Enough preamble."
"There is something strange inside."
"Strange?"
"A seed."
A seed. It wasn't exactly right to call it a seed, but in broad terms that's what it looked like.
"It was surrounded by the magical gems and hidden by the dense power, so it wasn't easy to find, but it was definitely a seed of demonic energy."
When Rosalia had activated the composite at Aint's request earlier, the fragment of demonic energy had absorbed magic and had grown slightly.
If that wasn't a seed, what else could it be?
The ominous part was that nobody knew what would happen if it grew to full size.
"Aint Armian."
"Yes, Professor."
"Are you certain?"
"Even after checking two or three times, it's the same. I may be far less skilled than you, Professor, but when it comes to demonic energy I'm no less competent. I stake the honor of my ancestor who founded the Empire: there is demonic energy."
"I can't believe it."
"To think a crystalline wonder like this would be contaminated by demonic energy…! I can't believe it either! Aint, surely you didn't misread this?"
Rosalia began examining the composite of magical gems.
But she had been studying and checking it every day, and if Pernyan had claimed there was nothing wrong, then the sudden discovery of a problem was hard to accept.
That's precisely why it seemed unbelievable.
She hadn't noticed the remaining presence. She hadn't detected it.
For Rosalia, who had lived as a genius all her life, the current situation was utterly incomprehensible.
"If everyone is to notice it, there is a way — we could break this composite."
"That's absurd. The continental conference is less than a week away; you want us to smash it?"
To Rosalia that was nonsense not worth listening to. But the objection came from Pernyan Fallenberg, so it wasn't something to dismiss lightly.
It was Aint Armian who spoke with conviction.
"There's another way."
It was Fernan.
"Speak."
"If we can't properly confirm that there's something wrong with the artifact, then we can catch the one who caused the problem."
"The heretics?"
"No. Someone inside—who planted the seed within. Do you think that's possible without being deeply involved in your research, Professor?"
"..."
The assistants. The answer lay with them.
It had to.
Something felt different.
After a day's rest, Aaron returned to Professor Rosalia's laboratory and immediately sensed it.
Nothing had visibly changed — not the placement of items or documents, not the assistants' appearances or behavior, not even the professor herself.
And yet, something was different.
He couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, but his instincts told him it wasn't good.
Before he could figure it out, Professor Rosalia entered.
"Attention."
Clack — the door closed behind her.
She immediately gathered all the assistants and took something out.
A perfectly clear, transparent crystal orb.
"Some of you may know what this is, and some of you may not."
'That's…'
Aaron recognized it at a glance. An artifact said to have been created by the Dragon God Cult — one that detected demonic energy.
'Don't tell me… they found the seed?'
No, that couldn't be it.
If they were capable of finding that, they would have already done so.
'Did the Chancellor give another order?'
Had he turned the entire academy upside down again in search of heretics and found another lead?
If that was the case, then there was nothing to worry about.
"You've all heard about the incident in Altrierk involving monsters and heretics, haven't you?"
"Yes…"
"The academy has decided to take precautions in case something similar happens here. This is an artifact made by the Dragon God Cult. It detects demonic energy within mana."
"So you mean, Professor, that we're suspected of being heretics."
"The order applies to all academy staff, not just you."
"Is that so?"
Aaron smiled faintly and placed his hand on the orb.
"So, I just inject my mana into it?"
"Yes."
He did. But the orb didn't react in the slightest.
"Next."
And so all five assistants were tested.
Aaron mocked the calm-faced Professor Rosalia in his mind.
Search all you like. Panic and struggle all you want. You won't find anything.
"All right. Everyone passed the artifact test. Now for the next step."
"The next step?"
"Come in."
The door opened.
"Greetings, assistants. I'm Aint Armian. I came at Professor Rosalia's request."
The person who entered had dazzling golden hair.
Clear blue eyes like gemstones — and a presence that was downright unpleasant.
A chill ran down Aaron's neck. He instinctively realized something was wrong. He felt like an insect trapped in a jar by magicians.
"I believe I don't need to introduce who this young man is. The nemesis of demons will personally verify each of you."
He had to get out. This couldn't be allowed to happen.
"You're saying we should allow Aint to observe our bodies? Absolutely not."
"That's right."
"No matter what you say, Professor…"
The others sided with Aaron.
For both mages and knights, allowing someone to observe their inner workings was unthinkable unless it was family or a mentor.
It exposed their aura, mana flow, engravings, circuits — essentially everything about their being as a mage or warrior.
"Once the continental academy conference ends, I'll give each of you 500 gold as a performance bonus and a month's vacation. I'll also personally review and assist with your papers."
"You think we'd agree for just that—"
"1,000 gold."
"…In that case, maybe we could reconsider?"
"…gulp."
'What the hell are you saying?!'
Aaron hadn't realized these assistants were practically slaves to the lab.
For them — who worked themselves to exhaustion every day — that much gold and rest was an irresistible temptation. It was a fortune an ordinary citizen would take three years to earn.
"I won't check anything else. Just whether there's demonic energy or not. That's all."
"If Aint Armian causes any harm or misuses what he learns, I'll stake my family name, Bienderk, on compensating and avenging you."
"…If you put it that way, then fine."
"I'm fine with it. I trust you, Professor."
The assistants nodded obediently.
'They've been worked like slaves so long their minds have become slaves too. You're letting that brat peer inside you for that cheap a price?'
Aaron wanted to shout that it was madness — but the tide had already turned.
"No matter what, this is—"
Just as he tried to object again, his eyes met Rosalia's.
"..."
"..."
And he understood.
No matter what he said, Professor Rosalia would carry this out.
Resistance was meaningless.
There was no escape, no way to avoid it.
All he could do was pray that the ability which had hidden his true nature so far would still hold before Aint Armian.
And a moment later—
"Your name was Aaron, right?"
"Yes."
"I'm not good at small talk or going in circles, so I'll be direct."
"What are you—"
SMACK!
Aaron's face snapped violently to the side.
"Wh-what the hell—!"
"As the saying goes, the best cure for heretics… is a good beating."
And that fragile hope he had lasted all of ten seconds before it shattered.
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