Episode 110

“High Priest.”

As the man hurried into the orphanage director’s office, Ismail tensed up.

“Ah, Logan.”

For forty minutes, Magnus had simply sat staring blankly after sending the urgent letter.

Now, he suddenly lifted his head to greet his guest.

“You’re finally here.”

“Why did you call me? You’ve never contacted me like this before—”

Logan spoke quickly, but his voice halted when he noticed Ismail.

His eyebrows twitched as he asked,

“And who’s this?”

“Just a child I was privately counseling. Introduce yourself, Ismail. This is my long-time friend, Logan—”

“This isn’t the time for polite introductions. You’re acting strange today, High Priest.”

Logan sharply cut him off.

“…!”

At those words, Magnus’ eyes flickered with uncertainty.

Ismail quickly reached under the table and grasped Magnus’ sleeve.

The moment their eyes met—

Fwoosh—!

The wavering uncertainty in Magnus’ gaze disappeared, replaced by an eerily artificial smile.

“It’s been a while, and yet you seem so rushed, my friend. Sit down first.”

“High Priest.”

“Have some tea and take a moment to relax.”

“That’s unnecessary. We don’t have time for—High Priest!”

Logan tried to stop him, but Magnus acted as though he hadn’t heard a word.

He stood up and walked over to the tea set, beginning to brew the tea himself.

Logan, clearly confused, scowled as he watched him.

But after a moment, he let out a deep sigh and collapsed onto the sofa.

Sitting across from him, Ismail secretly exhaled in relief, pressing a hand to his racing heart.

‘That was close. The hypnosis almost broke.’

Commanding someone to stall another person required far more precision than he had expected.

When controlling someone for an extended period, he had to leave part of their consciousness intact to prevent their interactions from feeling unnatural.

His blessing, the power to command, was a form of suggestion-based hypnosis.

By channeling divine power into his words, the target would follow his instructions without question.

Orders like “wet your pants” or “steal something” were relatively easy—

Because they were clear, direct commands.

But keeping someone engaged in a conversation, adapting commands in real-time while making sure they sounded natural,

And on top of that—maintaining his cover as a mute…

It was absolutely exhausting.

‘Why did I agree to this in the first place…?’

As cold sweat dripped down his back, Ismail deeply regretted ever telling Belze,

“Got it.”

“You’ll have to control the headmaster again—make him send an urgent letter to Logan for a meeting. And after that…”

“Can you stall him for as long as possible? So he can’t leave right away?”

Making the headmaster write the letter was one thing—but now, he also had to control him to keep a visitor from leaving?

That was a level of command he had never attempted before.

To be honest, it was nearly impossible.

And regardless of whether he could or couldn’t do it, controlling the orphanage director was a huge risk.

A few days ago, the director had personally taken two children with abilities to the temple.

The official reason was that a patron had come forward to sponsor them—

But Ismail didn’t believe that for a second.

If the children really had received noble sponsorship, the orphanage would have been informed.

And if the sponsorship fell through, they should have returned to the orphanage.

But instead, their whereabouts remained unknown.

Living every day anxiously, pretending to be mute, Ismail knew that the smartest choice was to refuse Belze’s request.

And yet—

“Teddy-teddy bear! BEATDOWN MODE—!”

At that moment, the memory of Belze throwing herself into danger without hesitation for his sake flashed through his mind.

And he just couldn’t bring himself to say no.

“Logan just went to see the Duke. You heard Magnus, right? He called him his ‘friend’!”

“Logan seems like a bad guy! Help me out a little, okay?”

Even a five-year-old was struggling to do something, trying desperately to make a difference. I couldn’t just keep hiding, waiting for Belze to figure out an escape plan.

Unlike Belze, Ismail’s divine power was released through his eyes. Fortunately, aside from the initial command, all he had to do was occasionally make eye contact and reinforce the suggestion with minimal divine power.

However, he wasn’t sure if he could truly meet Belze’s request to “stall Logan for as long as possible.”

Only twenty minutes remained.

The hypnosis lasted one hour.

Too much time had been wasted between sending the urgent letter and Logan’s arrival.

As Ismail bit his lip anxiously, he heard a soft click.

Magnus, having finished brewing the tea, placed two steaming cups on the table.

“Please, drink.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to send the child away first?”

Logan didn’t even glance at the tea, his impatience clear.

“Oh, there’s no need to worry about that.”

Returning to his seat, Magnus gestured toward Ismail with a calm expression.

“This child is mute. He won’t be able to repeat anything he hears.”

“…What the hell is wrong with you today?”

Logan, finally unable to hold back, dropped his formal tone and shouted.

“That’s not the issue here!”

“…”

“Sigh… So what was so urgent? I don’t have time for this—just say it.”

“Well…”

Despite Logan’s pressing demands, Magnus only smiled vaguely, avoiding the question.

Of course.

Ismail was controlling him, and he hadn’t come up with an excuse yet.

If he were a few years older, he might have been able to steer the conversation with small talk.

Unfortunately, Ismail was only eight years old.

“You…”

Logan’s expression grew darker as Magnus, who had summoned him, remained silent.

Staring suspiciously at Magnus, Logan suddenly let out a low hum.

“Is this about the material supply?”

“Material supply?”

“Yeah. The stuff you sent last time wasn’t very effective. Lord Ursis was furious.”

Deciding that Ismail wasn’t a concern, Logan spoke freely.

“So, you’ve finally decided to use that brat, Belze?”

The familiar name made Ismail freeze.

“…And what if I have?”

“Tch.”

Magnus replied exactly as Ismail wanted, but Logan just scoffed.

“It’s too late. I don’t know what she did, but that girl made the Duke’s second son walk again. Damn it, how does a kid on the brink of death suddenly become perfectly fine?”

“…”

“And recently, she even sweet-talked the Duke into giving her a blank check. That damned brat.”

Logan cursed under his breath, glaring at Magnus.

“This is why I told you from the start to use that girl. If you and that idiot Dunkeski hadn’t opposed me, by now—!”

Then, suddenly—

His eyes widened, and he stopped speaking.

“What’s wrong?”

Magnus asked, his voice neutral.

It was because of Ismail’s control.

“…Someone broke into my room.”

Logan’s face twisted viciously.

“They triggered the sealing magic by touching the prayer scroll. Damn it, who dared to enter my room…?”

As he hastily stood to leave, his gaze suddenly snapped back to Magnus, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Magnus.”

“Yes?”

“You reek of something disgusting.”

Taking slow, deliberate steps, Logan moved toward Magnus.

“I noticed it when I first walked in, but I assumed it was just because we were near the temple.”

“…”

“But now…”

Thud.

Logan finally reached Magnus—and suddenly, his hand shot out.

“Guh—!”

But instead of grabbing Magnus—

He grabbed Ismail by the collar.

The sudden force lifted Ismail off the ground, and a small gasp of pain escaped his lips.

Fwoosh—!

At that moment, the eerie glow in his eyes vanished.

As the divine energy dissipated, the subtle hypnosis controlling Magnus shattered.

Magnus, who had seemed hazy and unfocused, suddenly blinked as his eyes regained sharpness.

“Logan?”

“…”

“What are you doing here…? Ismail?”

His confusion was evident as he looked between Logan and the young boy.

“This little rat… It’s him, isn’t it?”

Logan’s sharp gaze flickered between Ismail and Magnus.

Realizing he had been caught, Ismail’s face turned pale.

“No wonder you were acting weird today.”

Logan let out a dry chuckle.

“You were being controlled by this brat.”

“What…?”

“Pathetic. Letting a kid manipulate you.”

Logan tossed Ismail onto the sofa like a rag doll.

The impact sent another wave of pain through him.

“…”

This time, he barely managed to suppress a cry, but—

That moment was enough for Magnus to fully regain his senses.

“Ismail, what the… what is going on?!”

Logan, his voice dangerously low, muttered,

“Well, at least we were running low on material. And this one’s ability seems to be intact.”

A dark shadow fell over Ismail’s fear-stricken brown eyes.

“Sorry, kid.”

“You’re coming back to the temple with me.”

 

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