Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 75 Turan clicked his tongue as he laid the unconscious Meisa down, noting how pitifully weak her resistance had been.
Considering that mana capacity accounts for the largest portion of a mage's physical ability, the fact that she was this frail despite possessing mana on par with the highest nobility meant her physical body was an absolute wreck.
'Then again, she probably weighs barely a quarter of what I do.'
He reckoned that if it came down to a simple fistfight, she would have been a decent match for him back when he was just a boy herding sheep on Hisaril Hill.
In her current state, she wasn't just unable to utilize her full power—her very lifespan was at risk.
Determined to restore her health by any means necessary, Turan pried Meisa's mouth open and slid a prepared tube down her throat. He didn't worry about the hard, rough surface scratching her throat or internal organs. A noble's skin was naturally resilient, often tough enough to turn away needles; their internal organs were unlikely to be any different.
In fact, the tube began to crumple under the pressure of her esophageal sphincter, forcing him to infuse it with mana to reinforce its rigidity.
'Is this enough? No, a bit deeper—there.'
After blowing air through the tube to track the flow and confirming the end had reached her stomach, Turan used fluid manipulation magic to pour in the nutrient porridge. He limited the portion to roughly two ladles' worth.
He had intentionally kept the amount small. During his time in Kalamaf, he had seen people suffering from long-term starvation die after eating too much too quickly. Even if a noble's body was sturdier than a commoner's, it was better to avoid any potential complications.
Once the feeding was finished, Turan pulled the tube out and gathered moisture from the air to form a droplet of water. Splashing this on her would be more effective than shaking or slapping her awake.
"Mmm…"
With a small groan, Meisa's eyes flickered open. As Turan dispersed the water droplet in his hand, she struggled to sit up.
"…Is it over?"
"Yes."
She clutched her head for a moment as dizziness washed over her, then rolled her tongue around her mouth to wash away the metallic taste lingering there. Fortunately, she didn't feel the immediate urge to vomit that usually plagued her whenever she ate. Perhaps it was because it didn't actually feel like she had consumed anything.
"I never imagined it would be this simple…"
"A few more sessions and you should recover quickly. You can't rely on this forever, though. In the long run, you'll have to overcome the mental block yourself."
"I'll try," Meisa replied, though she lacked confidence. She then put back on the magic device she had removed earlier.
After thoroughly erasing all traces of their presence in the bakery, they parted ways and returned to their respective lodgings. Upon returning to her desolate mansion, Meisa collapsed onto her dust-covered bed.
'My body… it's hot.'
A strange vitality surged through her normally lethargic frame. She could feel her entire body heating up—the result of a system starved for ten years greedily breaking down nutrients to generate energy.
*
The next day, Meisa woke up earlier than usual. She immediately left the mansion and flew toward the main family's castle gate. The guards on duty were shocked by the sudden appearance of the heir and snapped to attention.
"L-Lady Meisa! What brings you here…?"
"I just wanted some fresh air."
Though the power players of Arabion looked down on and persecuted Meisa, she was still officially the sole heir of the family. Since no one was brave enough to demand a pass or question her, she passed through the checkpoint without a single noble or knight escort and soared into the vast sky.
Perhaps it was because she felt better than usual, but her flight speed seemed faster than ever. When she returned after a few hours of enjoying her freedom, the interior of the family estate was, predictably, in a state of minor chaos.
"What on earth were you thinking, Meisa! For an heir to act so recklessly! Do you have any idea how many people had to drop everything and gather because of you?"
Kadram and other high-ranking members of the family rushed out, surrounding Meisa and interrogating her. Their aura was menacing enough to make an ordinary person tremble, but she stood her ground without batting an eye.
"I simply went for a walk because I felt suffocated. Does Uncle or anyone else here ask for permission before stepping outside?"
"You must be aware of your position! What if you were attacked by Zahar assassins—?"
"Do you think their family head would come all the way to the Dakein Plains? If not, there shouldn't be a problem. Besides, Uncle, you were the one who said I was being overly sensitive before."
"That was when you were a child!"
"Anyway, I'll go out and come back as I please from now on, so don't worry about it."
Meisa snapped back and returned to her mansion without waiting for an answer. Kadram and the other nobles of the Middle-Aged Faction could only mutter in displeasure; they couldn't reprimand her further. Regardless of their seniority, Meisa was the heir.
When she reached her mansion, the elderly maids—who had likely already been scolded—flocked to her to complain. Meisa dismissed them with a light wave of her hand and went to her bedroom to sleep.
A few hours later, around dawn, she checked to ensure no one was around and slipped out. She entered the bakery where they had met before and snapped her fingers lightly, but nothing happened.
'…Is Reto nearby?'
As they had agreed, Turan would only show himself when he was certain Reto wasn't around. The fact that he wasn't appearing meant he either couldn't bypass her stealth or that Reto was hiding nearby, watching.
After wandering around a few more places to no avail, Meisa returned to her mansion and tried to sleep. Perhaps because her internal organs had been jump-started by the food, a piercing hunger tormented her all night.
On the second day, when Meisa headed to the checkpoint, she was met by several lower-ranking Arabion nobles. It seemed they had decided that if they couldn't stop her from leaving, they would at least keep her under surveillance.
Meisa didn't bother trying to shake off the companions who insisted on joining her "walk." Instead, she flew at even higher speeds as if to mock them, leaving them utterly exhausted.
After returning and sleeping, she wandered through deserted areas in the early hours of the morning, but once again, she failed to meet Turan.
Two more days passed. Just as she was beginning to feel anxious, Turan finally appeared before her as she wandered near the knights' training grounds, which reeked of stale sweat.
"Turan!"
"Reto has been following you for three days straight."
"You can sense her?"
"Yes. Fortunately."
Turan nodded, fingering the Mimic Relic. For the past few days, he had foregone sleep to hide within Meisa's mansion and monitor the interior. Thanks to that, he had seen Reto enter Meisa's room while stealthed to search every corner, and even witnessed her secretly pursuing Meisa when she left the house in the middle of the night.
Discovering that this Mimic Relic could see through even a Zahar's stealth was an added bonus. After spending three days spying on the spy, he had finally revealed himself once Reto—seeing Meisa doing nothing but wandering aimlessly—had ceased her pursuit.
"…I didn't feel a thing."
"That's only natural. So, do you think there will be any issues with your walks?"
"No. It seems they've decided to just let me be, thinking I'm just clearing my head."
While Meisa could act as the heir publicly, the absolute monarch she had to obey was the family head, Badal. If he ordered her not to leave, she would have to comply. However, he had not reacted to these sudden outings. Only the high-ranking members of the family—the ones Turan had dubbed the 'Middle-Aged Faction'—were making a fuss.
He had expected as much. According to the internal records he had scouted from various libraries, the family head had remained holed up in his quarters for the past several decades, leaving almost all affairs to his relatives. The only times he had emerged recently were for the war with Zahar and to see off the Dark Elf Subjugation squad.
"I was hoping the family head would come out personally so I could search his quarters in the meantime."
Targeting the moment the family head might come out to reprimand Meisa had been one of his plans, but it seemed he would have to give up on that. After their brief discussion, Turan knocked Meisa unconscious as he had before and administered the food.
This routine continued for several days: walking, sleeping, and the administration of nutrients.
On the night of the fourth day, Turan spoke to Meisa after she woke from her faint.
"Let's escape tomorrow."
"Already?"
"Any longer and others will get suspicious. You're gaining weight faster than I expected."
Over the past few days, a rapid transformation had occurred in Meisa's body. The hollows around her eyes had filled in, her wrinkled skin had smoothed out, and her stick-thin frame had filled out. For now, people might still be unsure, but in a few more days, the change would be obvious to anyone.
"Meet me at noon tomorrow on the west side of Morgen City. If it's an hour past noon and I haven't arrived, just go back. It means something went wrong."
One of the benefits of having tracking abilities was that they didn't need to fix an exact meeting spot.
*
On the day of the escape, Turan woke up at dawn and immediately set his plan into motion.
First, he infiltrated the mansions of the Middle-Aged Faction nobles, including Kadram, to secure documents detailing their corruption. During this process, he actively utilized the mask's transformation ability rather than stealth. He had already mapped out the internal layouts after several entries and exits over the past few days.
"Hmm? Is that you, Beck? Didn't you just leave?"
"The master gave me another task."
Turan moved calmly in and out of the studies, disguised as various servants working in each mansion. It took him two hours to secure all the documents. Even then, it would have taken less than half that time if he hadn't had to walk between the mansions like a commoner.
After securing the documents of all fifteen targets, Turan took out a strand of hair he had kept and activated his tracking magic. It was time to find the Zahar noble, Reto.
'Let's see… good, she's out of her quarters. Saves me the trouble of waiting.'
As a maid directly under the family head, she naturally stayed in his quarters, but she ventured out several times a day for errands.
In truth, kidnapping her was the biggest variable. If she had no reason to leave and stayed cooped up in the family head's quarters today, his hands would be tied. If that had happened, he would have had to return the documents and postpone the escape.
Disguised as an ordinary gardener, Turan relied on his tracking magic to cross the main estate and arrive at a certain mansion.
'This place is…'
Next to the mansion's gate, the name [Sirel Arabion] was written in large letters. He was Meisa's half-brother, born to a woman of the Nagin family. Reto seemed to be inside, conversing with someone.
'This fellow didn't have much when I investigated him before.'
His study contained only ordinary documents, and while he maintained decent relations with the Middle-Aged Faction as a relative, he wasn't actively involved with them. However, Meisa hated him with a passion. It was because Sirel's mother was the family head's companion, Anietta Nagin.
'After Meisa's mother and younger brother died… that woman apparently mocked Meisa.'
That was also why Meisa had sent a letter calling her half-brother Renod a murderer immediately after the incident. Even if she didn't know the full details, it was as good as declaring that the Nagin family was behind it.
In fact, one of the remaining mysteries was the alliance between the Middle-Aged Faction and the Nagin family. If the family head's true identity was one of the gods, a companion shouldn't mean much. It could just be a pretext to torment Meisa, but Turan secretly suspected there was some related issue within the Nagin family itself. Or perhaps, conversely, he was trying to exert influence over the Nagin family through this.
While he was lost in thought, he saw Reto emerging from the mansion. Turan, already in his prepared disguise, immediately approached her.
"Reto."
Reto jumped at Turan's call, her eyes widening, but she quickly smiled and bowed her head.
"Yes, Lord Kadram! What brings you here—?"
"Follow me. I have a task for you."
Turan wasn't entirely sure if he had perfectly captured Kadram's appearance or if there was any awkwardness in his voice. Meisa had told him it was identical, but he hadn't had the chance to compare them side-by-side.
However, Reto followed him without a hint of suspicion. He had even prepared an excuse in case she asked what the task was, but like a well-trained assassin, she didn't even ask.
As they entered Kadram's mansion, an elderly butler asked with a look of confusion, "Master? Isn't it time for the daily meeting…?"
"I forgot something."
A flicker of doubt crossed the butler's face. Was the disguise too clumsy to fool someone who had known the man for so long? However, the butler seemed to dismiss his intuition as overthinking and simply bowed his head without further comment.
Breathing a mental sigh of relief, Turan led her toward the mansion's basement.
"Um, Lord Kadram? Why are we…?"
Reto had been to the mansion before, but never to the basement, and a strange sense of unease finally clouded her face. Did she think Kadram wanted her body? Instead of answering, Turan walked on in silence. After a moment's hesitation, she ultimately chose to obey.
The basement was pitch black. As Reto, acting on her habits as a trained maid, closed the door behind them, a barrier previously installed inside was activated.
"Ugh…!?"
Before coming to find Reto, Turan had consumed a portion of the Barrier Master bloodline's mana stored within the Mimic Relic. The effect of the barrier he had set up was to slow down and seal the target's movements.
A panicked Reto struggled to pull several hidden weapons from her clothes, but her movements were agonizingly slow. Turan easily caught her hands, disarmed her, and then bound her body tightly with the mana-suppressing chains he had once used on Solif.
Feeling the mana drain from her entire body, Reto cried out desperately, "L-Lord Kadram? What is the meaning of—!"
Instead of answering her, Turan drove a fist straight into her face.
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