Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Subtle Principle

Lucy released Ferda’s hand and plucked a rose petal from the garden.
As she squeezed that small petal in her hand, it instantly turned into a dried tobacco leaf and went into her pipe.
She produced a flame on her finger, lit it, and deeply inhaled the tobacco smoke once more.
Ferda, who had been waiting for her action, finally asked his question.
— What do you mean by “it becomes a blessing”?
Ferda could not understand those words.
Lucy smiled with a mature smile and replied.
— As you know, Blue Circle cultivation universally originates from meditation.
The cultivation method of the Blue Circle mostly begins with meditation.
Emptying the mind or concentrating on a single thought to maintain a steady rhythm while forging mana circuits.
If there is a way to mess with those people, it is naturally by shattering that composure.
— What is the source of strength in the Red Circle?
— The emotion that originated when creating the circle.
— That’s right. If it began with joy, it grows with even greater joy; if it began with hatred, it continues with even greater hatred; that is growth.
Lucy nodded.
— Then how would you hinder them?
— Contradiction and dilemma.
One who hates loses their life as a mage precisely when they lose the reason to hate.
Give them contradiction and dilemma, and the emotion cools down and turns freezing.
Ferda knew this well because he had always lived keeping it in mind.
— Right now, there are two things in your heart: a yearning affection and regret.
— That’s right.
— If you want to grow stronger purely according to Red Circle theory, you must nurture the yearning affection and suppress the regret; only then will you grow purely according to your love, isn’t that so?
Up to this point, Ferda already knew the content.
He nodded slightly and asked her.
— So you’re saying you know how to eliminate that regret?
Lucy shook her head.
— That is a foolish choice, sweetie. Are you trying to burn down the house for bedbugs? Emotion is such that even if a single one is missing, the balance collapses.
— What does that mean?
— It means all emotions are connected by cause and effect.
Lucy took a deep drag of tobacco smoke.
— Because denial exists, affirmation exists. Because that regret exists, you have a yearning affection.
Ferda frowned slightly.
— If I don’t erase the regret, it will keep testing me, won’t it?
Ferda uttered those words, yet it still felt as if an unnecessary organ had been added to him.
Lucy probably anticipated that Ferda would think that way too.
Because she was also someone who had mastered the Red Circle.
— Then let me ask you. Why does that regret exist?
— This is…
As Ferda hesitated, Lucy added.
— You don’t have to answer. Think deeply and find the answer yourself.
Because he killed Valdrova.
She, who was purer than anyone.
If this regret were erased… what would become of his feelings toward her?
Thinking like that, he came to understand.
Why he had to keep the regret.
— Sweetie, your regret is like a heart. Too much or too little causes problems, and if it disappears, you die. If you know how to control it, it becomes an excellent driving force. Do you understand?
Ferda nodded.
— Then what should I do?
Lucy traced a straight line with her index finger and spoke.
— Draw a line.
— Draw a line?
— If you put up a fence that does not allow emotions to mix, you will be able to know what they are made of.
As a mage who wields the Red Circle, he could roughly understand what she meant.
Emotion is ambiguous like paint.
If you don’t focus, they flow together, mix, become murky, and lose their essence.
The moment the essence disappears, the growth of the Red Circle dies.
In that aspect, Ferda was an elite.
He, who had converted everything into anger, purely reached the 9th Circle.
“But this time I have to divide two.”
First time with a mana circle operating on yearning affection, first time with regret interfering.
Naturally, putting fences between those two was also a first.
A mana circuit operating on both yearning affection toward Valdrova and regret.
How do you put a fence between these two?
— In that sense, sweetie, you have already taken a step.
— What step?
— Shadow Form.
It was a mana cultivation method recorded in Barbatos’ Shadow Arts.
— The shadow becomes me, and I become the shadow. Do you remember that phrase?
Ferda nodded.
— The answer lies in that.
Lucy finished her words just like that.
Ferda felt she had stopped mid-sentence, but Lucy didn’t care.
— And as for another reward, what should I give…?
Lucy tapped her pipe.
— Mmh…
She stared intently at her pipe, then smiled.
He wondered if she was trying to give him something useless.
Then the thorny vines surrounding Lucy gathered toward her hand.
A hundred serpents rose, intertwined lasciviously, and spat out something.
It was a tree branch extending in a straight line.
Was it because he looked consciously? It resembled the pipe Lucy was holding.
— What do you think this object is?
— …A pipe?
— Why would I give you something like that? You are too young to know the true taste of tobacco.
As if saying ‘don’t smoke things like this’, she blew tobacco smoke with a teasing face.
Of course, Ferda had also smoked before.
But he had stopped doing so due to the hazy feeling.
When he was about to ask what it was,
Crackle!
Red sparks flew around the staff.
It was the Reverse Sky-Defying Lightning.
She laughed with delight, looking at Ferda’s expression.
— It’s Jibul.
— Jibul?
— I named it ‘Jibul’. It’s a magic staff I made myself.
— Is that so?
— There is a branch I struck with lightning, right? That thing mages ignite the fuse in their eyes for and rush toward. It will absorb that power knowingly. Then the instability will settle and you’ll be able to use that power completely.
He didn’t understand why she was explaining this to him.
In this context alone, it sounded like she was giving it to him as a gift, but he didn’t jump to that conclusion.
It could be a test of his desire.
— Take it.
He didn’t believe it, but that was correct.
She even said ‘take it’ directly, yet Ferda could not grab the staff.
— Your arm will fall off, sweetie. I might look like this, but am I a fragile girl?
— …
— I’m giving you a gift, why do you make the face of a pig that received a mountain of rice? What? Does it look like I’m going to butcher you?
— It looks like it.
Lucy burst into laughter, “Puh-hat!”
— Truly shameless words. Why can’t you think that I might give it to you for free?
— Because those bastards died a long time ago.
— That’s right. Those words are also correct.
She said, laughing heartily.
— As I said, I help women of twisted fate. Valdrova also possesses a twisted fate. So I wanted to help that woman. But it wasn’t easy.
— Why?
— There is a terribly fierce dog by her side, isn’t there?
He didn’t need to ask who it was.
That fierce dog prevented entry to this space, didn’t she?
“Who knows what she’ll do when I return.”
He was already prepared to be scolded.
Thinking of the green towel in his hand made him reflexively tense.
— That puppy says she cannot trust a witch’s words, so how can I help?
It’s natural that she wouldn’t listen.
Ruri is Valdrova’s attendant, and Lucy is a witch with terrible notoriety across the continent.
No way would she stand by watching while her master is manipulated by a witch.
— There are no means of contact either, so I thought helping through you would work. Even if you are a man, there is no reason to be anxious about saving a woman of twisted fate.
Listening to this story, it didn’t seem like a lie.
He had felt it when he fought against her in the past as well; although she is the leader of the witches, she didn’t feel full of malice.
Like Ferda now, it seemed emptiness continued and she became infinitely calm.
Is she bewitched, or does she have self-conviction?
If bewitched, it isn’t trusting oneself; if conviction, it is believing in oneself.
There is no choice.
Ferda finally accepted the staff.
When he took the blunt end of the staff she handed over, a change occurred.
Instantly, the tree branch transformed into a smooth, black staff.
It was made without any sense of incongruity, matching Ferda’s atmosphere and attire.
Simply transforming is a trick other staffs can do as well.
The only part Ferda was surprised by was just one thing.
‘I don’t feel any magic power.’
Generally, since staffs or wands assist spell formulas, they must have a reservoir to hold magic power.
The better the staff, the larger that reservoir, but even a bad staff cannot lack a reservoir.
Ferda tried sending mana, just in case.
Crackle!
Then red lightning began to surge.
‘It doesn’t release stored converted mana, but immediate conversion.’
It can use magic immediately when desired, and since it contains no magic power, it is treated as a simple staff.
It is a magical tool that is a dream for all mages.
— I will use it with appreciation.
— Hm? Why are you suddenly using honorifics?
— You have helped me so much, how could I not use honorifics?
— Mmh, is that so? Quite a commendable boy.
Lucy looked at him with bewitching eyes.
It seemed honey would drip from her eyes.
— Is there anything else you need?
— I would like one more clue about the possibility of Shadow Form…….
— Haha, was that why you were flattering me?
It would be a lie to say it wasn’t.
Feeling good at that moment, Ferda had to extract information from her.
— Fine. I’ll tell you. In Eastern terms, that is called Shadow-Self Unity. Controlling it like limbs is the essence of Shadow Arts, isn’t it?
— That’s right.
— If you believe the shadow can truly become you, wouldn’t anything be possible?
What is she saying?
Ferda wanted Lucy to explain more, but before he could even ask, a small finger touched his lips.
— This is the last favor this girl can give, the clue and the subtle principle.
Lucy’s small finger slid up and touched Ferda’s forehead.
At that moment, Ferda’s spirit was sucked somewhere.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back in that place where he had received the invitation.
After Ferda disappeared, only the witch remained in the Witch’s Garden.
Lucy covered her face with a black cloth and returned to the Rose Pavilion.
The witches were laughing and chattering as usual.
— How did that man look, Ferda?
— A shameless bastard. Speaking informally to our Eldest Sister and all.
— I wanted to stick this needle under his fingernails…….
— There’s nothing better than a stoic man screaming.
— I like the groaning. I’ll make him groan for 3 hours.
The witches cackled while listing twisted fetishes.
Then they teased Lucy slyly.
— Our Eldest Sister looks demure today, did you decide to go with that concept?
Lucy Philias.
The Eldest Sister of all sat sprawled in her seat, smoking ceaselessly as if uninterested in the conversation topic.
Other witches watching her chimed in.
— Right, you look unusually troubled, unlike our Eldest Sister.
— It’s been a while since you saw a man. How agitated must your heart be?
— Youth, youth.
Lucy tapped the ash into the ashtray.
Despite all the teasing, she opened her mouth without getting angry even once.
— Ferda Valdrova.
A name that came out with the tobacco smoke.
A name coming from Lucy’s mouth meant becoming a target.
— How do you want to handle him?
— I’m curious to know what plan you’ll come up with.
A gesture as if her heart were burning.
Lucy answered like this.
— Investigate that man more thoroughly.
— Is that all? Nothing else to order?
— Yes, there is.
Lucy added as if she had just remembered.
— Do not dare touch that boy carelessly.
The snickering laughter of the witches stopped.
— An unusual order? He’s a man, and you say don’t touch him?
— Oh my, has our Eldest Sister truly become interested in a man?
— Pathetic things, pathetic things. It isn’t for simple entertainment like you guys.
Lucy raised her head and spoke to the seated witches.
— Because I don’t want to see you die at that boy’s hands.
— ……What?
— Does that make sense? A mere 19-year-old brat killing us?
If it were anyone else, they would think it a joke, but Lucy’s words carried weight.
When she speaks to the witches, she doesn’t lightly say things she doesn’t mean.
— So, like…… you’re talking about reincarnation or something, right?
— Do you think it’s such a trivial story? That boy has erased his existence from this earth before.
— Did he invade here?
— He didn’t stop at invasion.
Tobacco smoke came out in a puff.
— He took even my life.
All the witches held their breath.
It was a silent question and, simultaneously, a shock.
Limbo is a land no existence can properly trace.
He entered such a land and killed Lucy Philias, the mother of all witches.
It was a virtually impossible feat.
The witches who had been teasing her and taking it as a joke closed their mouths along with Lucy.
It was the first quiet silence that greeted the Rose Pavilion.
They must be racking their brains in their own way.
‘If I died in that position, there must have been a reason.’
Lucy considered this another message sent to herself.
She didn’t know the meaning, but it was a sign that Ferda is special.
‘All of that…… is it because of that woman after all?’
Lucy subtly emanated mana from her hand.
She drew a fixed shape.
It was a rune.
The rune that had dwelled in Echidna’s heart and almost killed her helplessly.
That rune is a massive aggregate of information purely forged from emotion.
‘Is this rune that boy’s regret?’
Like Echidna, Lucy tried to test it lightly.
Yet she released it before even testing it.
Even she, the Eldest Sister, cannot handle this.
She, who can be called the Authority of the Red Circle,
Wondered how a human could possess so much emotion.
The answer was clear.
‘He rewound time.’
How Ferda was able to do that was inevitably curious.
Because to reach that realm, one must enter the 9th Circle, the Demigod realm, and use a ‘Wish’.
‘Did he reach that place I gave up on because I couldn’t attain it?’
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t jealous.
Yet knowing the futility, she killed the emotion.
‘He sang regret as a wish…….’
Lucy smiled.
— A guy worth watching for a while has appeared, so it won’t be boring.
After more than a thousand years, the worn-out emotion in her chest throbbed.
It was unmistakably excitement.