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Chapter 64 - The Spirit’s Eye

"Neomium!? This is it! Is this the material? The fuel? Whatever it is, doesn’t it seem connected to dark magic?"

"...!"

Neomium.

It’s a substance that appears commonly in various books.

Did it show up in the book Julia had been reading too?

"Neomium? Let me see it."

"Ah..."

Julia sighed in despair, her eyes filled with hopelessness.

She clutched the book to her chest and shook her head, but when I reached out my hand, she finally, albeit reluctantly, handed it over.

Julia shot Charlotte a resentful look.

\'So, this book also considers Neomium to be a key component of dark magic.\'

If this substance appears in so many different texts, suspicion will naturally turn into certainty.

I’ll need to get my hands on some Neomium to start any experiments or research.

But the problem is that Neomium is an extremely rare mineral.

Even if you were to gather all the refined Neomium in the world, it would only amount to a fist-sized piece.

And about 90% of that was fashioned into a single lump.

That lump disappeared into the black market several decades ago, and its whereabouts have been unknown ever since.

\'I’ll have to start by finding that Neomium lump.\'

It’s just a rare and unremarkable mineral.

It’s too soft and fragile to be used in tools.

It’s neither shiny nor particularly attractive, so it has no value as a gemstone.

So, the purchase cost shouldn’t be too high...

But the real challenge is figuring out how to find this Neomium.

I can’t just put an ad in the newspaper saying, "Buying Neomium."

If I did, I’d immediately be branded a dark mage and pelted with stones.

I’ll have to search for it as quietly as possible.

This will be quite difficult, no doubt about it.

"You did well, Julia. Nice find."

"But I found it...!"

Charlotte looked at me with a slightly aggrieved expression.

Meanwhile, Julia\'s face hardened.

Did she really think she wouldn’t get caught after finding it and then trying to hide it?

"Th-That...! It’s dangerous! Everyone who researched Neomium met a terrible end! ..."

"A terrible end?"

"They all went insane or fell into depravity and committed crimes before they died...!"

"..."

Julia stammered, sweating nervously under my gaze.

Surprisingly, it seems she was genuinely worried about me.

[The Evil God, \'Kali,\' sheds tears of joy at our necromancer\'s profound filial piety.]

I was a little moved too.

But that aside, Julia has nothing to worry about.

Because I already know firsthand why previous researchers met their deaths.

\'What do you think the cause was? Of course, it was those mischievous Evil Gods.\'

Any research into dark magic inevitably attracts the attention of Evil Gods.

The fact that Kali guided me down the path of dark magic research already proves that.

And Evil Gods have a strong tendency to meddle with the humans they latch onto.

Do this, don’t do that, and so on—causing chaos at every turn.

The previous researchers probably had no idea what the Evil Gods wanted, or that they were even being watched by one.

They diligently accumulated stacks of the Evil Gods\' displeasure, and when the gods\' wrath finally exploded, they met their deaths.

\'But that won’t happen to me.\'

However, that doesn’t apply to me.

I have the unique ability to understand the psychology of the Evil God attached to me in real time.

And I have a passive trait that makes me beloved by all Evil Gods.

Thanks to that, even when I repeatedly refuse Kali’s demands, I’m always forgiven.

I don’t know if more Evil Gods will attach themselves to me as I continue my dark magic research.

But even if they do, I’ll be able to handle it.

And I doubt Kali, being the resident Evil God, would allow other Evil Gods to approach.

The threats Julia worries about won’t apply to me.

"Thank you for worrying about me. But it’s fine, so you don’t need to concern yourself too much."

"...!"

I murmured softly as I gently placed my hand on Julia’s head.

I had noticed before, when I would often touch her hair while she slept, just how soft it was.

It’s the kind of hair that makes you want to put it in your mouth without thinking.

"Huh? Huh!? Wh-When did I ever worry about you... about someone like Aslan...!"

"..."

Julia quickly brushed my hand away, trying to play it off.

But you were just worrying about me, weren\'t you?

You said you were afraid I’d meet a terrible end.

"Th-That was just something I said! I only wanted to stop you from destroying the world with dark magic, so I made it up!"

"Beep beep! That’s a lie!"

"...!?"

Charlotte suddenly spoke up, adjusting a pair of glasses she had somehow acquired.

Upon closer inspection, one of her pupils had turned green.

What’s going on with her now?

"The Spirit’s Eye says you’re lying! There was no sincerity in what Julia just said!"

"W-What!? There’s no such thing as a Spirit’s Eye..."

"I borrowed it from Earthy! So what this means is that Julia really was worrying about you, Mister! Lie detection success! Heh!"

"...!"

It was already a fact that we both knew, but Charlotte went out of her way to use the Spirit’s Eye to hammer the point home.

Julia’s face turned bright red.

"Ugh! Charlotte, you little...!!!"

"Kyah!?"

Unable to hold back, Julia lunged at Charlotte.

What’s she planning to do once she catches her?

It looks like she’s just charging forward without thinking.

But Charlotte, who jumped around with ease and quickly climbed up onto the bookshelf, wasn’t someone who would be caught by Julia, who mostly spent her time indoors.

Just as Charlotte began to toy with Julia, jumping lightly over the desk and climbing onto the bookshelf...

[Kyaaa! Give me back my eye, you cursed brat!!!]

Earthy’s pitiful scream echoed from afar.

...Didn’t you say you borrowed it?

***

The small commotion that occurred during the dark magic research...

"Charlotte. Come down here. I’ll help you escape."

"Really!? Okay, here I come!"

"Alright. Earthy, come retrieve your eye."

"Mister!? I trusted you!!!"

...Came to an end when I captured Charlotte.

Earthy trudged over, his little face full of irritation.

As he reached out his tiny arm toward Charlotte’s eye, a beam of light was pulled out from it with a flash.

[I lent it to her because she said she wanted to try it, and then she just ran off. What an ungrateful little brat.]

"Wahhh! This feels so weird...!"

The light was reabsorbed back into Earthy’s eye, creating a strange spectacle.

So that’s the Spirit’s Eye.

The one that’s said to see through people’s emotions.

"Is that the Spirit’s Eye that is passed down through the Emperor of the Empire?"

[It’s a Spirit’s Eye, but that’s far superior to mine. My eye can only distinguish emotions by their color, but the Empress’s eye can see through much more. The original owner of that eye was the Spirit King, so that’s only natural.]

I see.

When Earthy watches me, I don’t feel anything special.

But when the Empress stares at me, it’s so chilling that I sometimes wonder if my eyeballs will be pierced through.

So there are differences in the power of the Spirit’s Eye.

\'I wonder if I should steal Earthy’s eye in a pinch.\'

The Empress has a Spirit’s Eye, and Irene has Laura’s Eye, but I have nothing.

If I ever need one, maybe I could forcibly borrow Earthy’s eye.

Earthy hiccuped and backed away as if he had read my thoughts.

"That’s enough research for today. The study’s a mess now anyway."

"Oh..."

Julia and Charlotte looked around, letting out sighs.

Thanks to their little chase, chairs were overturned, books were scattered everywhere—what a disaster.

Of course, it was also partly my fault for not keeping the books properly organized in the first place, so I couldn’t completely blame the kids.

After sending the children and Earthy out of the study, I was tidying up alone when...

"What the? Mister, why are you cleaning up by yourself?"

"..."

The door creaked open, and Charlotte’s playful face peeked through.

"You said you’d have the maids clean up, so why are you doing it?"

"If the maids start cleaning, I won’t know where anything is. So I’m organizing it myself."

"You should’ve said so earlier. I’ll help too!"

"There’s no need. I’m already done."

"Aww..."

Charlotte looked disappointed and slumped her shoulders.

I had hastily shoved the remaining mess behind the bookshelf, pretending I’d finished tidying up.

This was why I wanted to clean up alone.

If Charlotte started helping, there was a high chance she’d make an even bigger mess.

"Oh, right! Mister! Can you help me put on my armor? My armor arrived today, but I have no idea how to wear it! Hehe."

"Ask Sylvia to help you with that."

"The knight sister is super busy! She won’t leave the training grounds. I wanted to train with her too, but..."

Charlotte stomped her feet in frustration.

Charlotte and Julia were temporarily banned from entering the training grounds.

The official reason was that their presence could interfere with the training program or that it might be dangerous for outsiders to enter.

But the real reason was that I didn’t want them to run into Yuri.

I have no desire to face the wrath of Yuri, who is filled with pent-up anger from being grilled by Sylvia.

"So, Mister, please help me change!"

"..."

Charlotte said this with a bright smile.

She’s talking about armor, right?

If you keep saying things like that, people are going to get the wrong idea.

...Like those maids gossiping behind the door right now.