Chapter 13: The Lifeline That Will Save Me
December 14, 2021
I couldn’t remember how I had finished the royal ball or how I had returned home. What mattered was that my plan to successfully bring Noxia and Rohel together had completely failed.
“Isn’t the original story way too twisted?”
The protagonists, who were supposed to feel affection for each other, had become awkwardly distant. Noxia, having heard what was said, would no longer trust Rohel, and Rohel would now feel uncomfortable toward her.
“Is the male lead of the novel going to change? Or will it connect in a different way?”
Ah, I had no idea. My head was spinning. What I wanted was a peaceful life. I was worried that the story, now altered from the original, might affect that.
“Why did Rohel have to talk like that in front of anyone? And why did Noxia have to come looking for me? If she wasn’t at the ball, she could have just assumed I wasn’t there.”
I felt a twinge of resentment toward them, but that wouldn’t undo what had already happened. The water had already spilled, and I had to accept it somehow.
“No matter how much I know the original story, I can’t control everything.”
This was something I realized clearly after this incident. Human relationships are too complicated and delicate; even the slightest deviation can lead things in a completely different direction. If I were being precise, my actions, which differed from the original, also had an effect. In the original story, Tanasia would have tried to mingle with people at the ball, but I had made a different choice. I never expected that such a small choice would lead Noxia to come searching for me. On top of that, I hadn’t anticipated that Noxia would, unlike the original story, gather the water in one place, or that Rohel would end up standing there. It could only be described as bad luck. But I couldn’t just accept it casually; my life was at stake. I knew the death route would unfold in the future, so I couldn’t just stand by.
“People can’t be trusted, after all.”
I had tried to quickly bring Noxia and Rohel together to solidify the relationship between the Brelov family and the royal court, and maybe prevent a war—but I was wrong. Human hearts can change at any time. I couldn’t bet my life on something so uncertain because I could never truly know their inner thoughts.
“To prevent war with the Kaluah Empire, I need something more certain.”
Something that, unlike human hearts, could be obtained reliably if I put in the effort. Since this was a matter of my survival, I took it seriously. At that moment, there was a knock at the door, followed by Jerin’s voice.
“Miss, the tutor has arrived.”
Ah, today was the day for my tutoring session with Martella. While it was nice to be recognized as a prodigy, I had no time to think about that now. I would have to make up some excuse about not feeling well and postpone the lesson to another day.
“Please bring her in for now.”
“Yes, Miss.”
After Jerin’s reply, Martella entered the room. I deliberately wore an exhausted expression as I looked at her. Unlike usual, Martella carried a huge load in both hands—so much that her face was barely visible.
“Teacher, what is all this?”
“Oh, these are materials to help you decide on your future career.”
“My future career?”
“Yes, I heard from your father that you were still uncertain about your path, so I brought these along.”
Hearing that, I recalled the conversation I had with Orland during dinner.
─ I don’t want your talent to go to waste, but I have no intention of ignoring your opinion. Start seriously thinking about your future now. I will support you as much as I can.
─ Ah, yes. I’ll make sure to inform you first once I have decided.
Even if I no longer hid the fact that I was a prodigy, studying had many different fields. I had to choose a path to know which lessons I should take.
“You’ve already done this…?”
I wanted to say it was too early, but Martella seemed too focused on unpacking her materials to hear me. The documents she brought were spread out, regardless of my opinion: medicine, law, research… an overwhelming array of fields.
“You don’t mean to explain all of this today, right?”
“I don’t think we’ll have time to cover everything today. We’ll continue in the next session.”
“No, I mean…”
I was about to explain that I wasn’t feeling well enough for a lesson today when my eyes caught sight of something: Magical Engineering. It was an unfamiliar name. Magic and engineering—an unusual combination. Without realizing it, I read the description below: Weapon Development, War Preparedness, Military Strengthening. Words that caught my interest as someone wanting to prevent the war with the Kaluah Empire in the future. I quickly pointed to the section labeled Magical Engineering and asked Martella:
“What is this?”
Martella, finally having unpacked everything, wiped the sweat from her forehead and replied:
“Oh, you mean Magical Engineering. To put it simply, it’s a field focused on developing weapons for war.”
Hearing the words “weapons for war” sparked an idea.
“What if I developed weapons capable of countering the Kaluah Empire?”
As long as Ascan remained with the Brelov family, the Kaluah Empire’s human weapon experiments would hardly succeed. But I couldn’t ignore the worst-case scenario. If those experiments did succeed, the Empire would wage war. If I could develop weapons to counter them beforehand, I could change a lot.
“This is it!”
Something that could be obtained reliably with effort. The first meeting between Noxia and Rohel had gone wrong at the royal ball, and the story might change unpredictably. This felt like a lifeline coming down to save me in an uncertain situation.
“I brought a lot of materials, so it seems some Magical Engineering stuff was included. Don’t pay too much attention to it; it’s a niche field, and I wasn’t sure it was suitable for you…”
“No, I’ve made up my mind.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m going to study Magical Engineering from now on. And I will create the most powerful weapon in the world.”
“Eh?”
Martella was clearly surprised by my unexpected declaration. She hurriedly showed me other materials, speaking again:
“But you should look at other things too…”
“My path is decided: Magical Engineering. Even if I look at other subjects, my mind won’t change.”
Martella reluctantly nodded in response to my firm determination. I was the eldest daughter of the Brelov family. With a fortune I could never fully spend in a lifetime, there was no need to choose a conventionally bright future. Of course, Martella probably hadn’t considered that. She just wanted a young noblewoman to pursue a more refined field. If I had lived a long life, perhaps I would have chosen such a field—but survival was my priority now. If I could help prevent war, there was no reason to hesitate.
“Teacher, when will lessons on Magical Engineering begin? I don’t mind starting right now.”
In fact, I had previously been distracted during Martella’s lessons, but my attitude had now completely changed. Martella, unaccustomed to this, smiled awkwardly:
“I didn’t expect you to decide so quickly, so starting right away may be difficult. We need to bring in an expert in Magical Engineering as well…”
“Yes. Please bring the best instructor available.”
I didn’t care about the cost. I was even willing to build a lab if necessary. I didn’t know yet how far I could excel in Magical Engineering, but my enthusiasm for this new goal had ignited.
“Also, I should write a letter to my father informing him of my choice and ask him to support my studies.”
“Oh, he’ll be very pleased to know your path is decided.”
“Since there’s no lesson today anyway, could you wait a moment?”
And so I began writing a letter to Orland. The war might be far off, but every second mattered.
Arwen Empire, Slums near the Border
Two mysterious men appeared in a village. In just half a day, they had scanned all the boys around 15 years old and said:
“Doesn’t seem like they’re here either.”
His name was Tendai, a veteran swordsman who had once served in the Kaluah Empire’s knights, his face marked with a large scar. Standing beside him, Andro stomped the ground in frustration.
“Number 13, where the hell has that rat hidden?”
Unlike Tendai, Andro had long been a mercenary, skilled not only in swordsmanship but also in tracking. Number 13 was the identifier Ascan had been given in the Kaluah Empire’s lab—just a number assigned based on the order of experiments. Ascan was the 13th among thousands of test subjects. These men were the hunters pursuing the escaped Ascan.
“I knew it was impressive when Number 13 escaped the lab, but I didn’t expect him to vanish without a trace.”
Calm Tendai spoke, while Andro gritted his teeth:
“Just counting the comrades Number 13 killed during the escape, there were dozens. Just try finding him—we’ll annihilate him.”
“Set aside personal feelings. According to our superiors, Number 13 displayed astonishing abilities. Capturing him again will accelerate the experiments.”
Although neither Tendai nor Andro had seen Ascan escape directly, they had heard many stories. Ascan could not be harmed by swords or arrows, and he could manipulate an unextinguishable flame like a demon from hell. Nothing remained where he had passed except ashes, and almost no one survived.
“What good is monstrous ability if he’s powerless with this?”
Andro revealed a glass vial from his pocket, containing a violet liquid exuding a mysterious aura.
“That must be the sedative they talked about.”
“Yes. It renders the test subjects incapacitated.”
Andro smirked sinisterly:
“As long as Number 13 stays alive, losing a limb or two won’t matter for the experiments.”
Tendai said nothing. They only needed to capture Ascan—his intact body wasn’t necessary.
“Ah! Do you know why Number 13 suddenly escaped?”
Tendai shook his head.
“How could we know a test subject’s thoughts? Maybe he just didn’t like it there.”
No one would willingly live as an experiment. So no one sought the reason for Ascan’s escape. Andro clicked his tongue in regret:
“If we knew why he ran, we could search accordingly.”
“Stop wasting time. Move to the next location.”
Tendai fired a signal flare. Whoosh! White smoke rose into the sky. The rule was: white flare if Ascan wasn’t found, red if he was. Far off, more white flares appeared—indicating more teams had also failed.
“Are we going all the way to the Arwen Empire’s capital?”
Tendai glanced toward the capital:
“No matter where he hides, we’ll find him eventually. It’ll just take more time.”
Andro chuckled. In an instant, the two vanished without leaving a trace.
“Ascan—!”
Walking along the street, Ascan turned his head at the call. He was hiding in an unexpected place and identity, summoned by the eldest son of the Brelov family of the Arwen Empire. The reason he couldn’t easily escape after being discovered by Tanasia was this. The one who called him was Lela, a maid of the Brelov family, in her mid-thirties with an 8-year-old son.
“Sorry, can you watch my son for a moment? I have something to do, and he’s followed me all the way here.”
Ascan’s gaze naturally fell on the boy clinging to Lela’s skirt. He had seen the child a few times before when he had come with Lela to the Brelov mansion.
“Lela! Lela!”
Hearing someone call her from afar, Lela hurriedly pressed her son toward Ascan:
“Please take care of him for a moment!”
“I… I—”
Ascan tried to refuse, but Lela had already gone. He looked down at the boy clinging to him: an 8-year-old with bright, shining eyes.
“Big brother?”
Even the lisp in his speech made him sound very young. Ascan gave him a puzzled look.
“…What’s your name?”
“Me? Ett.”
“Ett?”
“No, Eeeett.”
Although the boy’s pronunciation was unclear, Ascan could easily guess his name.
“Your name’s Ed?”
“Yep!”
Ascan got it right. Ed grinned and nodded. For a moment, Ed’s face reminded Ascan of the child he had met in the lab.
─ Big brother, I’m 1890.
He didn’t know the child’s real name or age—he was just called 1890. Ascan’s reason for escaping the lab wasn’t unknown; it was simply that no one cared to ask, and no one sought to know.
