Chapter 22
“Aiden.”
“Oh, you’re here?”
Aiden, who had been throwing the ball to Amy, turned his head toward Alice.
“Let’s take a short break.”
“Now? Oh, hello!”
“Hello!”
The children, who had been running toward him after Aiden’s declaration of a break, greeted Alice. Receiving the children’s greetings, Alice spoke to him.
“When did you become so close with the kids?”
“They just wanted to play catch, so I went along. I can’t let them run outside the village like before while playing.”
“You’ve been going through the mountains and forests so much. Doesn’t it tire you?”
“Why? I’m having fun. They’re cute, the kids.”
Aiden said with a refreshing smile. Unexpectedly, he seemed to genuinely like children. Alice gained new insight into him.
Aiden wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead with his hand and asked,
“So, how was the forest? Did you find anything useful?”
Alice told him about everything that had happened in the forest. Aiden, listening intently, muttered with a serious expression.
“A human who looked like a magical beast…?”
“Have you ever heard of such symptoms?”
“No, not at all. If humans could turn into magical beasts from demonic energy, the whole world would already be in chaos.”
“Right…”
Alice nodded in agreement, then remembered something she hadn’t yet told him.
“Oh, and Cherry picked this up in the forest.”
Alice took a piece of paper with a symbol on it out of her ring.
“It was found where the one who attacked me had been. Have you ever seen a symbol like this?”
Aiden’s pupils widened as he looked at the paper.
“This…!”
“Why, do you recognize it?”
Alice asked. Aiden held the paper against his chin, examining it for a while.
“It just looks familiar. Where did I see this…?”
He tilted his head in thought before speaking.
“Oh, it’s black magic.”
“Black magic?”
Aiden casually made the shocking statement, causing Alice to look at the paper in surprise.
Black magic was powerful, being used by demons, but it always required a price when cast.
In the Partia Empire, such evil magic was strictly forbidden.
Even possessing a magic circle related to black magic could make someone subject to punishment.
Knowing what the magic circle was, Alice threw the paper away as if discarding something filthy.
Aiden picked up the paper from the floor and said,
“It’s valuable evidence. How can you just throw it away?”
“Well, would you want a black magic circle in your hands without throwing it away?”
Just summoning a demon or magical beast was already overwhelming; now having a black magic circle too was essentially a straight ticket to execution.
“So we need to catch the culprit quickly, before you get misunderstood.”
Despite Alice’s anxious thoughts, Aiden spoke calmly.
It was easy for him to say. Even if someone else owned the black magic circle, Alice was already someone who had summoned demons and magical beasts.
If the Grand Temple found out, they could execute her immediately.
‘Still, I should find the culprit as soon as possible. I don’t want to be mistaken as the original owner of this black magic circle.’
Alice sighed.
“So, what kind of magic is this?”
“Black magic isn’t really my field, so I’m not sure, but it probably destroys all the targets it’s aimed at. The range of destruction is massive, as I recall.”
“How massive? Enough to destroy the whole Saint Forest?”
“More than enough.”
Alice’s expression turned serious at Aiden’s answer.
A human-shaped magical beast suddenly appearing in a sacred forest, relentlessly trying to kill her, and the archer carrying a paper with a black magic circle.
Although she didn’t yet know the culprit’s motive, combining these facts gave her an idea.
Perhaps the archer planned to eliminate her for witnessing the forest’s abnormal events and then destroy the entire forest using black magic.
However, one mystery remained. How did the archer obtain the magic circle needed to use black magic?
Sometimes, demon-worshipping groups had learned black magic, but that had been long ago.
Since all black magicians were supposedly eradicated, there was no way to learn it.
Moreover, the person holding the paper wasn’t a magician. Being an archer, he wouldn’t have studied black magic alone, so someone must have given it to him.
‘Could a black magician have returned? All black magic records were burned after that incident centuries ago. How did they manage to study it?’
As Alice tried to deduce the culprit’s identity, she heard Aiden muttering.
“But somehow, this magic circle looks different from what I know. Maybe it’s just my imagination.”
“Different?”
Aiden pointed to the center of the circle. Several overlapping lines made it look messy rather than just complex.
Alice examined the circle closely and noticed something.
“Oh? There are some letters written here.”
Letters were inscribed between the lines of the magic circle. They seemed ancient, but were too small to read.
Alice decided to examine them later with a magnifying glass when she returned to the manor and placed the paper in her subspace ring.
‘Still a long way to go, but thanks to Aiden, I got some useful information.’
Alice then asked,
“You actually know a lot about black magic. I thought it wasn’t your specialty.”
“That’s…”
Aiden scratched his cheek and answered.
“I really don’t know much. I just knew this one guy used it frequently.”
“Used it frequently? Enough to destroy a whole forest?”
“Yeah. Being a demon, he didn’t care how much destruction he caused. Every time I faced him, he annoyed me so much…”
Aiden frowned as if recalling the frustration. It seemed he had a bad relationship with that demon.
Even demons could have bad relations, huh. Alice nodded lightly.
“The rest we can figure out back at the duke’s manor. It’s about time we should leave anyway.”
“Don’t you want to investigate a bit more?”
“I’ve collected most of the evidence and testimony. Staying here longer would just be going in circles. I also need to report to my father.”
Besides, the investigation team from the Grand Temple would have reached Erdin territory by now.
Alice needed to leave quickly, avoiding any encounter between the knights, Aiden, and the team.
“Alright, as you wish.”
Seeing Alice’s serious expression as she vowed to conceal his identity, Aiden gave her a gentle smile.
“Miss, are you already leaving?”
Emma spoke, showing her disappointment as she bid Alice and Aiden farewell.
It seemed she regretted that those who solved the village incident were leaving without proper thanks.
Alice smiled and replied,
“I have to return to the duke quickly. I’ll visit again next time.”
“If you ever have free time, come to our village for a vacation. We’ll make up for the hospitality we couldn’t provide this time.”
“Thank you.”
Alice expressed her gratitude and looked at Aiden. He was surrounded by the children, greeting each one individually.
“Brother, are you really leaving?”
“Can’t we stay a little longer?”
The children, regretting parting from Aiden after he had spent time playing with them, asked. Aiden held their hands and replied,
“I’d like to stay longer too, but I can’t. I have to protect our miss.”
“Protect?”
“What does protect mean?”
“It means someone who makes sure our miss doesn’t get hurt.”
Aiden said this, then looked back at Alice and smiled. His face, bathed in sunlight, seemed even brighter than usual.
Why is he suddenly smiling like that? Alice avoided his gaze as he looked directly at her.
