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86.13% THE TRAGEDY OF THE VILLAINESS / Chapter 118: CHAPTER 18

章節 118: CHAPTER 18

As a Saint, Lina should be able to tell without difficulty that Seria Stern's power of purification was not that strong. Even the priests knew that.

But if no one else can correlate the circlet with purification, and Lina is the only one who can tell about the circlet …?

"Then there's really something there."

After Mies told Seria about the moon, Seria spent a lot of time confined to her desk. She wrote and erased over ten hypotheses and eventually burned them all.

Among them, the one that stayed in her mind without being thrown away was : What does Lina have to do with the being who gave the oracle to Mies?

'If so, that being must be like God….'

The name on the necklace was Stigma.

Lina was a saint.It was just that when Seria immersed herself in it, there was a connection to everything.

How did the original circlet come to be moved to the auction house? What was the twist in Mies that made it happen?

Seria kept wondering, but this part was not something she could figure out for sure. So she tried to look at it differently. Considering that all the narratives in the original work were points for the heroine.

If the circlet would not be auctioned, it would be owned by Lina in the end. Then.

'Could it be that Lina is the moon that Mies mentioned?'

'I don't know anything for sure, but ….'

Seria suddenly had a deep skepticism about the original story.

Does the novel need to be so hard? It turned out that Mies did not have a single drop of Berg's blood, he was Berg's illegitimate child.

The heroine was loved by the two brothers…. (Mies and Lesche)

Oh, Cassius and Nissos loved Lina too.

It was only the other day that she remembered the fact that the Princes of the Glick Imperial family were also psychological slaves with a crush on Lina.

Seria just shook off the thoughts.

"When can I go inside the mine?"

"Oh, Grand Duchess, you will be able to see it as soon as they make a quick inspection. As I said, the mine is truly blessed by God. Never before in my life have I seen a mine where the roads are so easy to make, where the reclaimed minerals are so regular, and where the veins are so straight."

Seria followed the aide and tilted her head. Not far from the entrance, her forehead frowned weakly as she looked at the blocked dirt wall.

"Grand Duchess!"

That was when she heard a voice. It was the other aides under Linon's command.

"What is it?"

"They say the altar has just arrived! Where should we put it?"

"Why? Did you bring the altar here?"

Seria was taken aback by the unexpected words. That altar had been carefully brought to the vicinity of the mine by priests who were obsessed with prayer. But she was going to pray in the castle that the Duke of Polvas lent her.

Why did they bring it to the mine?

'Do I look like a divine guardian in the eyes of the aides?'

"The Chief Aide said that in order to purify the demonic energy, you must be present…"

"So he thought I'd stay in the mine…"

"Yes…"

Linon seemed to have said that.

'I'd stay in the mine for a while if I'm going to fool people's eyes.'

It was complicated to tell the aides to leave the things they had gone to so much trouble to get to return it, so he must have ordered them to prepare a place to leave it in the mine.

"Hmmm."

And so, as Seria was walking to inspect the mine again, she quickly returned to her original position, with something strange that scratched her back from earlier. Right next to the entrance of the mine, the pass led her back towards the dirt wall that was a dead end. She had been wondering about the other side for a while now.

"What is it?"

A familiar energy seemed to bloom from there.

No way–Seria didn't have to worry about it for long. She immediately called the aide in charge of the mine. The aide rubbed his hands together.

"What can I do for you, Grand Duchess?

"Open this door."

****

"Why are you suddenly asking me to open this one? The vein of the magic crystal is over there."

"Do you have to aske? Just open it."

"Then we'll have to make a new entrance…. The scale of the job is getting bigger."

"Just open it up. Or you can go to the Grand Duke and tell him you can't do it."

"Oh, no."

They thought that if the Grand Duchess Stern came, she would have a unique way to purify Magi. Perhaps she would have brought a series of purification tanks from the Great Temple, but that wasn't the case. And the workers also thought that Mag was just being purified because "Stern" had arrived.

Of course, after a while, the workers would notice. They will realize that everything was purified faster than even their previous Saint's abilities could not explain.

It was suspicious, but that was the only reason why the Grand Duchess hadn't ordered a complete silence. It didn't bother Seria anymore. Berg's aides did not question beyond the set line.

They probably thought that the magi that was a few meters ahead of them had finally been cleansed as well.

'We will all know later, though, as we slowly make our way through.'

There were a lot of workers who had just been working, so they were able to quickly clear the area that was ordered to break through by the Grand Duchess. The question was….

"Why isn't it dark inside?"

"Are there lights?"

"It can't be!"

There was a hand blocking the way as the workers rushed to enter.

"I'll go first."

"Yes, knight."

It was Abigail. She had a suspicious look on her face. If there was anything in the cave, and if it was good, they could take it and run. And there was no hesitation in looking at the aides and workers with such an expression.

"...?"

Abigail, who was soon inside the entrance, frowned. The workers who followed her in also looked dazed.

The cave was filled with ores that gave off a faint blue light. Thus, the cave, which should have been dark, was bright enough for them to identify. Ordinary ores were usually buried in the soil or stone in their original form, but these ores were like bricks, sticking together in a pentagonal shape with a regular pattern and emitting light.

None of the nearby workers had ever seen this kind of ore. Someone rushed over to call someone of higher rank. Abigail reached out and touched the glowing wall. It was this familiar feeling that slowly robbed her of her body heat.

'Constellation gold…?'

It wasn't long before Abigail came to her senses. Deep in the cave, Abigail quickly took a step back and shouted.

"Everyone, get out!"

***

"Grand Duchess, I have contacted His Highness and the temple."

Seria nodded at Linon's words. The feet were moving diligently.

"When will I hear from the temple?"

"It won't take long. It'll come crashing down."

"I see. They don't deserve to come with dignity."

"Right…"

Linon gave a rare, nervous sigh. It was understandable.

Constellation Gold Mine.

It was a precious metal that could only be extracted from the mines under the Temple. A token of Stern. Iron of God. Raw materials essential to counter demons.

"Did you know that the last constellation gold mine found was a hundred years ago?"

"I'm Stern. Wouldn't I know?"

"I went overboard."

Linon said, still wearing his constellation gold armor. Earlier, he was running in a hurry after hearing the news that a large-scale maggi and a constellation gold mine were found in a cave that succeeded in blocking the entrance and drilling a new one. Linon followed closely, out of breath.

"Linon, stop following me and stand here."

"I'm sorry it's too cold to be that far away from you, Grand Duchess…"

"It's not so cold when you're that far away from me."

"Could there be a mistake in the way the temple measured it?"

"Probably so…"

Shaking her head lightly, Seria told Linon to stand at the new entrance. Not wanting to leave Stern, and not wanting to see the magi again, Linon immediately stopped where he was. Seria walked into the cave, leaving Linon behind. All the workers and aides working in the mine had been handed over.

"Bibi!"

At the entrance border, Abigail was already waiting with her constellation gold armor on.

"There you are, young lady."

Seria was suddenly embraced by Abigail. To the naked eye, there didn't seem to be any immediate Magi contamination.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am."

There was a huge amount of magi swaying inside the cave. The constellation gold minerals wrapped around the walls and ceiling, so the magi didn't seem to affect people's bodies. Likewise, the knights in the gold armor moved the altar and the Stern insignia and placed them inside.

"Everyone, leave. Only Bibi stays."

"Yes, Grand Duchess."

The knights bowed and left quickly. Seria brought the Stern insignia and the temple altar here just in case she needed an excuse to clean up this mess. Of course, it was an excuse that she didn't mind being discovered, but still, the more cards she had in her hand, the better.

She immediately bent down in front of the altar. Then she took out the circlet on her neck and placed it on the Stern insignia in the center.

At that moment, a strong burst of divine power caused her hair to flutter back strongly. The cave in which the pitch black magi was waving disappeared in an instant. It was a relief."It's done, Linon!"

"Yes, Grand Duchess!"

As soon as Seria shouted, Linon came running in from the entrance. When she instructed the workers to normalize the operation again in two days, Linon nodded immediately. He ran quickly, not taking a good look around the Constellation Gold Mine.

So that left just Seria and Abigail in this beautiful and mysterious cave.

"Hmm…"

Seria looked around the cave, finally catching her breath. As a Stern, it was the first time she had actually seen the Constellation Gold Mine in person. It was a constellation gold mineral that constantly emitted a faint blue light. It was certainly so mysterious and beautiful that she couldn't look away.

Abigail came up to Seria and sat down on one knee.

"Are you still holding on to it?"

"Huh? There might still be magi inside."

Seria was holding the circlet against the insignia the whole time because there might be magi in the hidden depths of the mine. Not near the insignia, but at a considerable distance. It was a fact that Seria had learned from the last time she tortured Mies. How to adjust the intensity of the divine power so that she wouldn't get affected. This was one area where Mies was helpful.


next chapter

章節 119: CHAPTER 19

A light divine power continued to erupt through the gaps of Seria's fingers. Even if it felt weak to her, it was a sacred power that purified the magi of the vast land at once. Therefore, it wouldn't take long to purify the magi hidden in this mine.

Even if it took a long time, she had to purify them all unconditionally.

It was a constellation gold mine.

It was the first constellation gold mine to be discovered in a hundred years.

Once again, Seria was dumbfounded.

Is the star that guards Lina also a constellation gold?

The constellation gold was expensive.It was also the reason behind the regulation of the amount that was taken out of the Grand temple without permission, but the amount that was being reclaimed itself was on the low side. If it were to be depleted due to reckless excavation and use, it would be a serious problem. And ultimately, it would be impossible to deal with the demons.

That was why the temple was always nervous about the amount of reclamation of the constellation gold mine. As Linon had said, it had been a long time since a new constellation gold mine had been discovered on the continent.

But this was such a huge constellation gold mine…

It was a discovery that was possible because Seria was a Stern.

Just as priests were sensitive to divine power, Stern was sensitive to the energy of other Sterns and to the energy of constellation gold. That didn't mean that it was like a metal detector looking for iron, but if there was such a large constellation gold mine nearby, they would naturally know.

Still, Seria was wondering.

Because she kept getting the odd feeling that she could feel the energy of the constellation gold from within the walls.

'How much of it has been reclaimed, I wonder?'

"We won't know for sure until we explore further, but there are certain rules to the path the veins follow."

The most experienced miners seem to continue all the way to the back. In other words, this constellation gold Seria was seeing now was an extremely small part of it.

It was strange enough to make her keep thinking about it.

The new constellation gold mine was never mentioned in the original story.

So she had more feelings of bewilderment than amazement that she had now found something so tremendous that it could move the emperor of a country.

How could Lina not have known that the power of the constellation gold was so strong in this mine?

In the original story, Lina had visited this Magic Crystal Mine many times with Cassius. Seria remembered it clearly because she was the one who strangely had bad luck with Cassius since she read the original story.

Was it because the entrance was different? Because the opening position was different.

At that time, it was the workers under Duke Dietrich's command who were in charge of Lina's mine. Now it was the workers under Berg's command who touched this mine.

However, the power of the constellation gold was felt on such a large scale that Stern would have been able to tell just by walking along the wall like this. This was enough for even a high-ranking noble to have a good idea of what was going on. So why was it that Lina didn't know?

'Did she pretend that she didn't know because she didn't want to give Cassius a share?'

'Then I can sympathize with her.'

Lina got Cassius quite a bit of the net profit coming out of the magic crystal mine. Cassius was touched by Lina's generous spirit of sharing. This was actually the most likely scenario, but the problem was that there was no mention of the Constellation Gold Mine until the end of the original story.

Then the conclusion would be that Lina could not use this constellation gold mine.

"I don't understand."

It wasn't like they were building the Crystal Mine mine in front of a large constellation gold mine. Price is price, but how great is the symbolic significance?

If Lina had announced to the world that she had discovered the Constellation Gold Mine, her fame would have truly hit the heavens.

'I hope the novel doesn't keep turning into a mystery like this….'

'I thought this was a romance novel ….'

Seria slowly put the circlet into her pocket. Then she gazed at the altar, thanking the god in charge of money and treasure if there was one.

And then suddenly. Some letters caught her eye.

"This is…."

…What is it?

Seria blinked slowly. The Stern insignia. On that sacred token, there was a lurid inscription that looked as if it had been carved with a cone. No, it was engraved. It wasn't fast enough, but it wasn't slow either.

"This is still…."

"...."

The number of characters increased.

"Does this place still look like it belongs in a novel?"

"...!"

For a moment, the circlet in Seria's hand began to cool rapidly, like a glacier taking away all the heat. The temperature was a stark contrast to the very hot temperature that day when it knocked out Duke Dietrich.

When Seria was about to withdraw her hand from the circlet…A pale human being with a gag in his mouth crawled towards her on all fours.

Seria swallowed a scream, her mouth clogged up in the blink of an eye. Immediately after, a long, thin hand covered her eyes. In an instant, her entire field of vision turned to darkness.

***

*Seria's pov*

'Did I just faint there? What was that earlier….'

Seria blinked blankly.

'Why am I having this dream all of a sudden?'

It was. I was dreaming.

People's traumas often manifest themselves as dreams. Ever since I possessed Seria, I've been dreaming about being killed. Not as often as that, but I also had dreams like the one I'm having right now. It is the kind of dream where I am sitting comfortably and reading the original novel, that helps me expand my horizons.

Like now.

"...."

Anyway, people really change a lot. Only a year ago, the day I had this dream, I woke up and immediately hit my pillow. I had to tear that book up instead of reading it.

But now it's different. I don't cry out when I wake up from a dream. I don't need to say why. It's the face of the man I like that comes to my mind reflectively.

Thinking about these things, I have no doubt as to why I'm aware of the dream. I just saw myself reading the original novel as if enchanted, and suddenly….

I saw things that I shouldn't see.

For example, the color of the hair that flows down her waist.

It's that dark green….

Green?

"...?"

Instantly, a vivid sense of unease hits my chest hard. I feel a twinge in my chest. I slowly lift my gaze along the green hair that is climbing up my chest.

"...."

I saw the face of Seria, the face of "me" reading the original novel.

"...!"

I woke up with a gasp. I bit my tongue in reverence, for a white, disgusting being with a sack in its mouth was standing nearby like a doll.

I was as hard as a stone. The unknown being must have crawled over to me earlier and blocked my mouth and hands. As I did so, I realized. I couldn't move a muscle.

As soon as I had the instinctive realization that I couldn't move, I hurriedly looked around. I wasn't in the constellation gold cave where I had fainted. It was more like the night sky, but there was no trace of light, and only that unknown being stood in front of me.

I was struck by how strange it seemed after all this time. The body was in the shape of a person, but I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, and the gag in his mouth was the same. The gag in its mouth also made it difficult to tell whether it was a man or a woman.

Above all, its long bangs, like a horse's mane, were densely covered up to just above its lips, so I couldn't see its face at all.

If I lifted up its bangs, would there be eyes?

This is when I felt fear.

Suddenly, my gaze fell on my hands. There was an insignia on my hand. Funny enough, it was a fact that I realized a beat too late.

The Stern insignia was too big and heavy for me to hold in one hand, but now it was strangely light.

As soon as I became aware of this, the Stern insignia was inscribed. It was not fast.

'Tuban.'

"…Tuban?"

I made an involuntary sound outside my mouth, and something like a shiver ran down my spine. I asked, my shoulders shook.

"Is that your name?"

There was no response, but I knew instinctively that it was the name of that being.

The hand that held Stern's insignia strengthened. I asked Tuban, intending to smack him in the head with the Stern insignia if this Tuban tried to threaten me.

"You carved those letters I saw earlier, didn't you? What do you mean, it's not in a novel? Where are we then? What novel did I read?"

Tuban stood still like a mannequin. There was no movement. I don't even need to explain how bizarre it was. To tell the truth, I was still in a state of blankness.

Slowly, the writing began to appear on the Stern insignia.

"What you* read…." (The writing) (*you=Seria)

Though it seemed to be slower than before. I bit my lip tightly.

"Do you remember the title of the novel you read?" (The writing)

"...!"

I froze in place.

I remembered the contents of the original novel that I possessed, but I couldn't remember the title. Nothing came to mind from the beginning. While I can generally remember a novel's title in one way or another… it was a fact that passed naturally because my life did not afford me the luxury of being buried in questions.

That's right.

I've never once remembered the title of this novel.

My mouth was already dry. My body began to tremble a little.

"Then… What are these things that you know?" (Seria)

"You…" (the writing) (Tuban meant he knows Seria)This time the speed at which the letters were engraved was definitely slower than before.

"Because you want to live." (The writing)

I got nervous and looked at Tuban. How did he know that? It might have been true to say that I looked at his face because his dense head of hair was covered like a curtain. But that didn't mean that this Tuban was alive and moving. He just stood there motionless.

He didn't even seem to be breathing….

A body without any movement as if it's a statue. The power to engrave letters on the insignia is probably his, right? If it's this slow, does that mean he's exhausted?

"The times you returned because you wanted to live." (The writing)

As I stared blankly at the Stern insignia, I covered my mouth with one hand in a panic. I felt nauseous.

It was the first time I learned that when one is confronted with a fact so shocking that it makes them nauseous beyond help.

****

*So basically when Seria was in a cave, she saw an unknown being like a zombie crawling on four. And that unknown being reached out and covered her eyes then everything went dark. She was magically taken to a space where only her and the unknown being exist. Like a dream. And that unknown being named Tuban. He doesn't talk or move. He has the power to communicate with her by magically writing what he wants to say to Seria on the insignia. Somehow, this Tuban being knew who she was and where she came from, which she came from the novel she was reading (that's what Seria thought anyway). He knew how she wanted to survive. So Seria felt nauseous because how could he know her secret.


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