The Patient Wizard Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – Calculation (10)

He waved his wand toward the empty air. Then, a red line appeared in the void. Geometric patterns and characters were engraved inside the circular line.

Tony whispered,

“It’s a magic circle.”

The only magic Chris had seen since entering the Magic Tower was the earth magic that suffocated Henry and the spell that cast a voice bird. This was the first time he had seen proper magic.

The Lion Hall students couldn’t take their eyes off the magic circle. Chris asked.

“What kind of magic circle is it?”

“It seems like it’s for transporting something.”

Peter surveyed the apprentices who were conversing with a disapproving gaze. They flinched and closed their mouths.

Randall said,

“Thomas, you send the message.”

“I will.”

Thomas created a voice bird that was twice the size of Carl’s and had a sharper beak. It looked like it could kill a person.

Thomas embedded his message into the voice bird and released it. The bird passed through the magic circle and disappeared.

Shortly after, a voice bird sent by Seike burst out of the magic circle, making a noise loud enough to make one’s ears ring.

—I told you I’m busy!

Even just from the sound, one could feel how eccentric of a person Seike was.

“Who isn’t busy!”

Thomas grumbled as he sent a new voice bird. The reply that came back was similar to before.

—Why make such a fuss over one dead apprentice? Just handle it roughly and be done with it.

From Seike’s answer, Chris was freshly reminded of a fact he already knew (wizards don’t treat apprentices as people).

“If he wasn’t a prince, I wouldn’t have cared either.”

Thomas sent another voice bird.

Chris heard his words and thought.

At least they treat princes as people.

A moment later, Seike’s reply voice bird emerged from the magic circle. Its beak opened, and a loud voice burst forth.

—I’m weaving rings. I can’t come out even if a wizard dies, so handle it yourselves!

The voice bird dissolved into the air like it would dissolve in water. The magic circle Randall had created also disappeared, scattering red sparks.

Randall opened his eyes wide and asked.

“Is he really weaving rings?”

Harvey coughed awkwardly and didn’t answer.

“It seems to be true.”

Chris thought.

What are rings?

Whatever they were, weaving rings seemed to be truly important work. The three wizards didn’t call Seike anymore. But they strangely seemed to be in a bad mood.

Harvey caressed his wand, showing enthusiasm.

“What should we do first?”

Randall pointed to the corpse.

“First determine the time of death.”

Harvey circled around the corpse while chanting a spell. Then black smoke flowed from the head of his wand. The smoke transformed into a hand shape and covered Mark’s head.

Ssssssssht.

A spine-chilling sound emanated from the black hand.

“I’ve figured it out.”

He counted on his fingers as he spoke.

“Since it’s 7:30 now… he died roughly between noon and 2 PM.”

“Are you certain?”

“That’s when the soul left. I’m certain.”

Chris wore a dumbfounded expression.

You can tell when the soul left? Magic is truly amazing.

Harvey, who looked like a pig with phlegm, seems to have mastered a special magic despite his appearance.

William ordered.

“Separate those with alibis from those without.”

The apprentices were divided into two groups. Only Chris and Alice were standing on the side with alibis. Tony, Faye, and Smith had no alibis.

Juan was standing alone at one side, just watching nervously.

Thomas asked,

“What about him?”

David answered,

“He’s the dormitory servant. He seems to have come to prepare dinner and got caught up in this.”

“You, crouch in the corner.”

Juan did as he was told.

Randall looked at the three without alibis and said.

“None of you will confess?”

The three opened their mouths simultaneously to claim their innocence.

“It wasn’t me.”

“I am innocent.”

“It wasn’t me.”

William said,

“If you confess, I’ll give you a gentle death.”

Who would confess when told they would be killed?

Chris thought William was strangely trying to induce a confession.

“If you deny it and get caught, I’ll torment you even after death.”

At those words, Chris felt his hair stand on end. It seemed wizards had ways to torment people even after death. The thought of a colleague being caught was too horrifying.

“Last chance. Confess!”

All three insisted on their innocence.

“I don’t like to mutilate a corpse, but there’s no choice.”

Randall clicked his tongue and then ordered Harvey.

“Begin the eye examination.”

Harvey took out a dagger and carved out Prince Mark’s eyelids. Faye felt nauseated at the cruel scene and began to retch.

“Ugh, ugh.”

Vomit spilled onto the reception room carpet. While Smith was soothing Faye and patting her back, Chris was glaring at Harvey, who was humming a tune. Harvey seemed happy to be doing this.

Nasty bastard.

Chris cursed Harvey in his mind. Harvey’s dagger suddenly pointed at Chris.

“Shall I gouge out your eyes too?”

Chris hastily bowed his head.

This bad guy has good intuition.

Randall said,

“Don’t focus on distractions and quickly handle your assigned task.”

“Yes.”

As Harvey put away his dagger and waved his wand, Mark’s two eyeballs popped out of the eye sockets and floated in the air. When Harvey’s magic power seeped into the back of the eyeballs, images sprang from the retinas. Chris stared with wide eyes at the scene.

It was black. The scene captured by Mark’s eyes was completely black.

What is this? Why is it darkness?

Chris didn’t understand.

Thomas couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“So the last thing he saw was the inside of his eyelids.”

William continued.

“The fool died with his eyes closed.”

Randall said.

“He should have died glaring at the one who killed him. Kids these days are too soft. They lack fortitude.”

Through their words, Chris understood why a completely black scene had sprung from Mark’s eyeballs. Harvey’s magic was a spell that extracted the last scene Mark had seen.

Thomas said,

“This has become troublesome. What should we do?”

Randall looked at Harvey and asked.

“Harvey, can you extract the scene before that?”

“As the apprentice of Grand Wizard Seike, I can certainly do that much.”

As he chanted a spell and added more magic power, a new scene flowed from the eyeballs. It was blurry at first but gradually became clearer.

“It’s a dagger.”

The dagger lodged in Mark’s chest was visible. Mark had looked down at the dagger that killed him and then closed his eyes.

“Move the view upward.”

“Go to the scene before.”

As the wizards directed, Harvey’s magic power entering Mark’s eyeballs grew stronger. Just as the scene was slowly moving up from the dagger, Mark’s eyeballs burst into flames.

Whoosh.

A foul smell spread, and the scene the eyeballs were showing disappeared.

“Damn it!”

“It cut off at the crucial moment.”

The wizards stamped their feet in disappointment.

Chris wasn’t disappointed. He had been worried that the culprit’s face might appear and swallowed a sigh of relief. Secretly, so that others wouldn’t notice.

Peter, William’s apprentice, said.

“Master, let’s not complicate things and keep it simple.”

David asked.

“What are you suggesting?”

Peter wore an eerie smile on his lips.

“Let’s torture them.”

Faye became frightened and started to whimper.

“Be quiet.”

When Randall got annoyed, Faye covered her mouth to suppress the sound. Silent wailing continued for a while.

Harvey mocked Peter and said.

“Torture like uneducated commoners? The great wizards of Micc Tower?”

Peter was provoked.

“There’s nothing better than torture for quick resolution.”

“Wizards should speak with magic.”

David frowned.

“Don’t tell me you’re suggesting memory extraction?”

“That’s right.”

“If memory extraction is performed, the subject has a high probability of becoming an idiot.”

“Our great master has improved the memory extraction magic. About half can maintain their sanity.”

William said.

“That seems worth trying.”

Half becoming idiots and that’s worth trying?

Chris shuddered at the wizards’ character.

Nasty bastards.

Faye, Smith, and Tony’s faces turned pale. Faye was so scared that her tears dried up. She looked at the two and pleaded.

“Please, confess.”

She begged desperately.

“Save me, please.”

Seeing his colleagues in distress, Chris’s heart was breaking. They had been through thick and thin together for 11 months.

Standing together against Alex’s bullying… Alex? Yes, Alex!

Chris shouted.

“There are more suspects!”

David asked.

“What do you mean?”

“There are more people living in the Lion Hall. Alex, Catherine, and Frank! Since only Alice and I passed through the barrier among the passes issued to the Lion Hall today, those three must have been in the tower… They could have harmed Prince Mark…”

Thomas said.

“That’s a valid point.”

Randall said.

“Thomas, no. What reason would the successful ones who’ve managed to sense magic have to harbor ill will toward apprentices? They’re just like insects to them.”

Chris said.

“If an insect crawls up, you step on it and kill it. That would be the mindset.”

Peter asked.

“Did Mark crawl up?”

Before Chris could answer, Randall said.

“How dare a mere apprentice crawl up.”

Chris said.

“That would be true if they had left him alone.”

Randall glared at Chris.

“You talk too much.”

The wand in his hand twitched. Chris felt sweat running down his back. He was that scared, but he didn’t want to see his colleagues die or become idiots, so he forcibly scraped together courage and opened his mouth.

“Alex often came to torment Mark. He spoke informally and disrespected him. He taunted, scorned, despised him… It was painful even for me, who was nearby.”

“He was just stimulating him to work hard. For that small reason…”

“He came to the Lion Hall today!”

William asked.

“Really?”

“Yes. He came around 10:30 and looked for Mark.”

Chris clapped his hands.

“That’s it. Alex is the culprit. He met with the prince and teased him as usual. The prince’s mood has been at rock bottom lately, so he couldn’t bear it and confronted him, and then Alex’s temper exploded, and he stabbed him with a dagger!”

Thomas pointed at David and said.

“Bring them all. Now.”

David left with quick steps.

Alice watched the wizards and held Chris’s hand. And whispered.

“Be careful. This could get you killed.”

Chris swallowed. Cold sweat was still running down his spine.

“I’ll be careful. Thank you for worrying.”

A little later, David came in.

Thomas asked.

“Why are you alone?”

“I sent a voice bird to the person in charge.”

“Go directly and bring them.”

David looked at the members of Group 1 with sad eyes.

“I was worried about the children.”

In the estate, even at five or six years old, one must work, and once past twelve, they are treated as adults and forced to do an adult’s share of work. If they don’t do the assigned work, they get beaten to death or starve to death. So Chris didn’t think of himself as a child. In the Baronial Estate of Xavier, quite a few people get married at that age. But in David’s eyes, they seem to look young.

David hesitated and then continued.

“Should I go get them now?”

Randall said.

“If you have sent a voice bird, that’s sufficient.”