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TL: ALT
Chapter 50 – Each Person’s Life in the Demonic Land (Hel)
Let me tell you about the time I was researching forbidden magic.
I graduated from the Elf Magic Academy at the top of my class, and I mistakenly thought that I knew all kinds of magic. In other words, I was just an idiot. Back when the four major magic elements─fire, water, earth, and wind─were at their peak, I could use light and thunder magic, so I was invincible.
I worked as a magician who only accepted requests from nobles and not from commoners. I was also blessed with a good marriage to a nobleman and easily gained a high social status. My husband didn’t seem very interested in my research, but he would provide me with the things I needed. The only thing that stressed me out was having to go to social gatherings with all those idiots.
My research topic is “Explaining why there is light magic but no dark magic.” Even when I read through ancient texts, there is no description of it anywhere. I think it must exist because it is a common idea, but there were no records as if someone had erased all descriptions. However, I felt that by testing the paradoxes of light magic, I would be able to see the existence of dark magic.
It seems that no one did because the process of eliminating each possibility one by one was mind-numbing, but I decided to give it a try because I was born an elf with a long life. The days of repeated experiments and proofs continued.
One day, it was discovered that my husband had been having an affair while I was away, so I decided to try the dark magic that had begun to look vaguely promising. At that moment, the existence of dark magic was proven.
However, I was soon discovered by the guards and arrested. I divorced my noble husband and was tattooed with a magic circle that prevented me from using magic on my body. Dark magic is so dangerous.
While in prison, I spent most of my time researching pharmacology and forbidden magic. If you want to learn something, you can learn it anywhere. It was around this time that I came across necromancy. Although it was considered a forbidden art, there were curses all over the prison walls designed to suppress the lingering resentment of the dead, and if you could decipher the code, anyone could learn it.
While necromancy has its own rituals and incantations, it is not considered magic. There are probably a number of reasons for this, but I think it’s because it’s possible to summon spirits without using magic.
Once I’ve learned the art of necromancy, all I have to do is summon the researchers who came before me. The existence of dark magic was also revealed to me, and I was taught the dark history of the elf kingdom caused by it. It’s only natural that dark magic, which can make both plants and humans sick at the same time, should be banned, but I don’t agree with the country’s approach of denying its existence.
I decided to flee the country after carefully planning my escape. Even if I can’t use magic, as long as I have pharmacology and necromancy, it will be easy to get out of the country. Now, I just need to get a map and decide which route to take to escape the country.
I’ll ask a spirit to get me a map using necromancy. I hope to be able to climb the steep mountains in the south where security is weakest, but I don’t know what lies beyond. There are supposed to be advanced civilizations and city-states there, but they only appear in ancient texts.
It was written that an elf named Kazira, who could manipulate time magic, had gone to check it out, but I couldn’t find any mention of him returning. I tried to summon the spirits several times, but they didn’t respond.
When I was lost, the notebook containing the plan was stolen. It seems that the culprit was a prison guard who searched my cell while I was bathing.
“So much for that. I’ll have to start all over again.”
Just then, a government official entered the cell with some documents.
“Is that you? Who wrote this plan?”
“…..”
The man had an unpleasant face. He was too thin, but his eyes were sharp.
“I want to hear what you have to say. I can also ask your body, you know?”
He seemed ready to use torture.
“What’s in it for me?”
“I get you out of here.”
There seems to be something behind it, but once I’m out of the wall with all the guards, I can do whatever I want.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you.”
I was still handcuffed, but I got out.
However, I was taken to a military research facility.
“I heard that there is a place east of the Kingdom of Estinia called the demonic land. They say there is treasure there.”
The ancient texts mention a highly advanced civilization, but they don’t mention treasure. Maybe they’re blinded by the word “dragon bone” in ancient texts.
Since ancient times, dragon bones have been said to be strong and to cut magic in half. However, there are very few of them in the world, and engineers who can process dragon bones are also rare.
However, it seems that the dwarves living in the hidden village discovered a few years ago are able to process them. The hidden village has already been conquered by the elves, and the government’s plan is probably to make weapons out of the dragon bones before other countries find out about them.
“You mean the dragon bones?”
“It says in the demonic land that the island flies in the sky and is protected by dragons. There is also a dragon graveyard. There is also an abundance of monster materials and dragon bones. There should also be advanced magic artifacts left in the ruins. However, the Kingdom of Estinia does not seem to be interested in them. So, the wise elves are trying to use them effectively. That is the story.”
I don’t know what kind of story it is, but it seems that this idiot wants to go to the demonic land.
“Where will you find a fool who trusts all those ancient texts? For starters, there are mountain ranges to the south, so it’s impossible to get into the demonic land.”
“That’s right, so we’ll build a road to the demonic land.”
“You don’t mean…?”
The government is going to attack the Estinia Kingdom?
“You see, there’s a border military facility on the side of Eastern Kenya that has never been captured by anyone in history.”
“East Kenya is currently in a state of political instability, and there are few guards. Now is the time!”
“Wait, wait. There are also strong adventurers over there. You can’t tell how many guards there are just by looking at the numbers.”
“Adventurers can be bought with money. What we need is the demonic land. They will use necromancy to summon ancient spirits and lead us to the dragon’s tomb.”
“I’ve already told you, are you all stupid? Do you think I’m going to move for people who are going to die?”
“There is no choice. We’ll have to enslave you. I thought you’d be willing to cooperate.”
Suddenly, the elven soldiers grabbed my arms and held me down.
“Stop it!”
Despite my resistance, the slave brand was pressed into my shoulder, and I was returned to my cell. If I disobeyed orders, the slave mark would heat up and burn my shoulder.
I scraped off the slave mark on my shoulder with a knife. My tolerance for pain may be my talent. I wrapped it in bandages with medicinal herbs, but the blood kept pouring out.
I drugged the guard and ate as much food as I could from the storeroom. I had to get the blood back. I stole a pair of shoes and a winter coat and escaped from the prison.
I had no choice. My face was so disfigured that I couldn’t roam the elven country. If I couldn’t cross the border, I had no choice but to climb the mountain.
Even though I was wearing warm clothes, the snow-covered mountain made me feel as if my bones were freezing. This stopped the bleeding, but my eyes began to blur. A wild bear came out of the cave and attacked me, but I threw a bag of pepper at its nose, and it ran away. After burning some sleep-inducing herbs in the cave, I heard the wild bear snoring.
I covered my mouth with a cloth and went into the cave. Before falling asleep, I killed the wild bear and ripped open its belly to take out its entrails. I drank the still-warm blood of the wild bear and then crawled into its belly. The warmth of the wild bear and the sleeping powder that still filled its body made me lose consciousness easily.
I don’t know how long I slept, but I peeled off the frozen blood and crawled out of the wild bear’s belly. I ate some warm meat and started climbing up the mountain again.
My body was getting cold from the extremities. I was afraid that I would freeze to death if I stopped, so I just kept going. On the way, I heard a voice calling me. Maybe it was a spirit in the demonic land calling me. I went in the direction from which I heard it calling.
Maybe because those who can do necromancy are liked by the spirits, it can sometimes be a journey to death, but it seems that the spirit of the mountain decided to let me live. Maybe there is a hell worse than the land of the dead waiting for me. For some reason, that thought made me laugh.
I have always enjoyed doing things that the elves have forbidden. Of course, entering this mountain is forbidden as well. I felt good as if I had made fools of the elves, who thought they were wise because of their long lives. The feeling of my smiling cheeks was numbing. Still, I kept moving forward.
I found myself moving through the clouds, and before I knew it, I had crossed the peaks of the mountain range, for the sky was covered with pitch-black clouds.
Lightning flashed, and raindrops hit my body. My warm clothes, which had absorbed the rainwater, became heavier and heavier, and my body, which could no longer bear it, rolled to the ground. The gravel crumbled and carried me down the mountain. When I regained consciousness, I was in a wasteland at the foot of the mountain.
The black clouds had dissipated, and the rain had stopped.
I took off my heavy winter clothes and walked through the wasteland. When I saw the forest, I knew that I had finally reached the demonic land.
However, I didn’t know how dangerous the plants in the demonic land were. I was bitten by the fruit, and the sticky sap took my shoes. When I tried to get them back, the soles fell off, and they broke.
As I continued through the forest barefoot, I collapsed as if my body had been sewn to the ground. I don’t know if it was exhaustion or the magic of the demonic land, but gradually, my body was buried in the dead leaves.
I couldn’t move my arms or legs. The only thing I could do was to make a spirit invocation. If the ancient document was written by an elf adventurer, then there must be an elf spirit in the demonic land. I continued to chant the necromancy spell.
I thought the monsters would attack me, but they didn’t seem to be interested in me since I couldn’t move.
For several days, I just stared at the dead leaves piling up on my body until Makyo found me.
And so began my life in the demonic land.
Apart from the fact that Makyo is a bit strange, the women are also a strange bunch.
Chel is a demon with a troubled past, and considering her magic power, it’s no surprise that she’s a demon king class. I asked her about it while she was making pottery.
“If all demons had the magic power of Chel, Estinia wouldn’t have won the war 100 years ago, do you think?”
“Ah, it’s because of the demonic land. Living here naturally increases your magic power.”
“Is that so?”
She dodged the question nicely, but in the literature written by an elf adventurer in the past, it was stated that the king of the demon tribe had tremendous healing power.
There must be a connection.
Jennifer is also strange. I don’t think it makes sense to hide your abilities in this demonic land.
She declares that she will become Makyo’s wife, but it seems that she is showing her weak side to stimulate his desire to protect her. Makyo, however, didn’t seem to mind. She is good at calculations and memory, but she seems to be lacking in the art of seducing men. Well, I like that she is honest about her feelings.
On the other hand, I think it would be more effective to be aggressive like Sylvia. When I was on guard outside the cave at night, I saw Sylvia go into Makyo’s room a few times. I didn’t want to pry, but after a few minutes, my eyes met Sylvia’s as she came out of the room with a flushed face.
“Looks like you had fun, huh?”
“I-I-I-I didn’t do anything!”
“You think that excuse will work?”
“I-I-I-I don’t care what you think.”
Sylvia said that and went back to her sleeping place. When I looked at Makyo the next morning, he didn’t seem to be concerned about Sylvia. What kind of relationship do they have?
But that’s not the point. The magic tools at the back of the cave are proof that there was a super-ancient civilization in this demonic land. Makyo and Chel said there was also a flying island.
It seems that I’ll have to spend my whole life exploring this demonic land.
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