Diane was startled and pointed inside the shop as the children disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“I-I’ll be right back…!”
“Ah, yes, please go ahead.”
“Thank you!”
Watching Diane rush off, Ivan smiled faintly. He had felt the same at the café earlier; both young ladies were so lively that it must be quite a handful.
“Ha, children…”
“It’s nice to see them healthy. Oh, thank you again for your help. It’s thanks to Miss Idel, but I feel bad for dropping by like this.”
“It’s nothing. It’s fine. Thanks to you, my student will also get a chance to look at the magic books after a long time.”
Vilred, who had received lighthearted thanks, settled into his chair like an old man and kept his mouth shut.
Despite his calm appearance, Vilred’s mind was in turmoil. From the moment he returned to the shop after receiving a call from the substitute owner and heard the story, it had been that way.
‘Creation of life… The probability that he actually managed such a crazy feat is low, but the subject of his research and his methods are too similar to those guys.’
He had felt the same when he saw the curse on Idel.
Once could be a coincidence, but if the same intuition keeps repeating, it’s no longer a coincidence—especially in matters like this.
‘Even if it involves some risk, I need to confirm it. If they start moving in earnest, then…’
“Oh, it’s so heavy. Master, I’ve brought the magic books…”
Sigmund awkwardly added a polite word, looking at the face of his master, who was older than usual.
Seeing this, Vilred, pretending to be a kind old man, chuckled and slowly got up from his seat.
“Ha ha, alright. Let’s take a look.”
“May I look at them too? If you tell me what to look for, I can read them well too! I might not understand… but I’ll try…”
“Oh, you’re Del’s sister, right?”
“Yes! I’m Gianna!”
“I see. The more help, the better. If you come across words related to stones, hallucinations, or brainwashing in the magic books, please set them aside for me.”
“Huh? Um, not about pregnancy or babies?”
Vilred nodded while looking into Gianna’s bright eyes.
“This old man has been settled in this Raven’s den for quite some time now. And to this day, I haven’t heard a whisper of anything related to it.”
“Oh…”
Unlike the somewhat confused Gianna, Ivan immediately understood Vilred’s words.
“Are you saying there’s a higher chance that Farell lied?”
“I’ve heard that the doctor believes it needs more observation, right?”
“But the priest…”
Ivan, who had been responding reflexively, slowly closed his mouth. This was partly due to the silence of the old magician before him but mostly because he already knew the answer.
‘Not everything visible is absolute.’
It was a phrase he always recalled when conducting his investigations.
And soon after thinking of this phrase, Ivan realized that he had been thinking wrongly all along.
“…Hey, isn’t this what you were looking for?”
The young magician, who hadn’t been expecting much, had found the fragment of truth he was desperately searching for.
Unknowingly, he rushed over, and in his eyes, there was a word and an illustration he had never seen before.
“Solitude…?” (고독?)
“Um, it’s a type of summoning magic… using a method of feeding insect eggs?”
“Feeding insect eggs? But wouldn’t they just be digested? Just like how eating apple seeds doesn’t grow apples in your stomach.”
“But ‘Simic’ is a magical creature, so it wouldn’t die that way…”
Sigmund, answering Ivan’s sharp question, suddenly realized something was off.
“Wait. But wouldn’t it be quicker to ask my master instead of me? I don’t even know if this is the answer yet.”
“Ah… yes, that’s a good point. I got too excited… So, um…”
Ivan’s neck turned red as he habitually pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and began jotting something down.
No matter how urgent it was, he had completely forgotten for a moment that the other person was a child.
As Ivan covered his mouth with the back of his hand to hide his embarrassment, Vilred, who had been fixated on the magic book, spoke up.
“No, you found it well, Sigmund.”
“Huh?”
“Using Simic for summoning magic is indeed forbidden dark magic… they used quite a bit of ingenuity. If done well, they could deceive not just the doctor but even the requester themselves. As expected from these guys…”
Muttering something incomprehensible to himself, he suddenly threw a question at Ivan.
“Do you know how priests and magicians diagnose pregnancy?”
“No, I don’t know much about that field either.”
“Priests and magicians determine pregnancy by sensing the foreign energy within the body. This is because there is no perfectly identical energy in the world.”
Whether it’s magical or divine energy.
“If you look a bit more closely, it’s about sensing the energy of a living being.”
“…So you mean they look for traces of a ‘living being’ that has a different energy from the mother’s inside the body?”
“Exactly. And the magical creature called ‘Simic’ that Sigmund mentioned…”
“It has different energy, so it could deceive the eyes of priests and magicians. I understand, Grandpa. So what do you mean by saying it could deceive the doctor later?”
Vilred opened his mouth to respond to Idel’s urging to move on quickly, then closed it again.
“That’s because the egg… Ah, never mind. You’re too young to hear this.”
“What?”
“Oh, I see. I understand.”
Seriously, now you’re saying I’m too young to understand?
Idel, having roughly grasped the situation, glanced around and let out a light scoff.
It seemed that the only person who couldn’t guess what Vilred had said was Gianna.
Watching Gianna’s wide-eyed confusion, Idel shrugged indifferently.
“Is it a good thing or a bad thing?”
What good would it do for a child to know such terrible stories?
“Well, that aside, according to what Grandpa said, that man lied again, right?”
“That’s right.”
Idel, with her arms crossed and blinking, turned her head toward Ivan.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“Ah, I plan to organize the information provided and discuss it with the Countess. And with Madam Kalia as well.”
“And after that?”
“Since it’s a highly probable hypothesis, I need to prepare to negotiate with Prince Farell. But I intend to act quickly. If it’s true that dark magic was used, then Prince Farell might also be in danger.”
“I’ll oppose that.”
Ivan paused for a moment at the word he never expected to hear from a child.
“…Uh, yes?”
“That’s such a boring and unoriginal perspective. Is this really the best you can do?”
She tossed out a statement that would shock anyone who made writing their profession, flipping her hair back with one hand.
“He dared to challenge me, so I can’t let it slide this easily.”
“What? What does this have to do with you?”
“He’s telling lies so carelessly that even mere children can see through them? Ha!”
No one had challenged her, but it seemed Idel was already engaged in an epic duel with Farell in her own world.
As the adults fell silent, thinking it was enough if she was satisfied, Sigmund, offended by the word “mere,” shot back at her again.
“Hey, let’s be straightforward. Calling it ‘mere’ is an understatement for both the magic book and my analysis of it.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that. Let’s agree on that.”
“It’s not about agreeing; it’s the truth. You…”
“You what?”
“…You’re as cute as a puppy, my friend.”
He quickly shifted the subject under Gianna’s gaze from the side and secretly clicked his tongue.
‘Why does she look like that while watching me and the customer fight?’
Isn’t it not good to be close?
As Sigmund shook his head, unable to understand the thoughts of such people, Idel, after a moment of contemplation, spoke up again.
“I’ve come up with a good idea.”
“A good idea?”
“Of course, it’s a way to outsmart Farell. And to use that method, we’ll need to utilize that side.”
“…Are you talking about me?”
“Yes. Ivan Ernest, it’s you.”
Idel, with her hands on her hips, raised an eyebrow and smirked slyly.
It was a mischievous grin one might expect from ‘the’ second child mentioned in the rumors.
