< 66. Jarodin >
#66
bang! Before long the door opened again. Jardin’s skinny appearance looked exactly like a humanized were inchworm. Jaradin said in a voice full of excitement.
“Come in. “If you do my favor you don’t have to pay a penny.”
“Suddenly?”
“Okay come in first. hurry.”
I was embarrassed by the completely different attitude. Ronan and Adeshan suddenly followed Jardin into the room.
His office was not too neat and gave the impression of being barren. Beyond the excessively high windows only the gray-white sky was visible.
The only furniture was a desk and a chair with drawers placed in the corner of the room and a desk erected within arm’s reach. Ronan sniffing his nose furrowed his eyebrows.
‘It doesn’t smell anything.’
The lack of fragrance also heightened the dreary atmosphere. If I had to look for it it would be like a smell of dust. It was an environment in contrast to Varen’s office which was always filled with the smell of black tea and baking cookies. Jarudin said pointing to the desk.
“Sit down properly. As you can see I don’t like clutter.”
There was no furniture for the reception. Ronan sat down on his desk leaving Adeshan behind who hesitated. thud. The moment Jarudin closed the door the noise outside disappeared completely.
“Kya?!”
Ade Shan shrugged his shoulders. The silence that suddenly came was as shocking as the firecrackers exploding next to his ears. Ronan asked.
“Is there a silent spell on the entire room?”
“okay. “I hate being interrupted as much as I hate being interrupted.”
Jarudin fastened the different clasps one by one. The sound of metal clanking was unusually loud.
There were seven latches one more than Ronan had expected. Jardin’s office where not only the smell but also the sound had disappeared was like a prison imprisoning the senses. Jarodin who had fastened all the latches approached the two.
“Now then let’s start the story.”
“Of course. “What do you mean by favor?”
“Would you like to give me the ring first?”
Jarrodin held out his hand. After thinking for a moment Ronan placed his left hand on the hilt of his sword and handed over Saran Te’s ring. He was planning to make him a one-armed person right away if he tried to modify it.
“Don’t just deal with it. “Because it was given to me by a friend.”
“of course. By the way the person who gave this to me was a friend. “We have a very precious relationship.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not easy to be friends with a wizard who has lived this long. It looks like it’s well over two thousand years old… but it’s not a dragon it’s an elf. “The texture of mana is soft.”
Ronan’s eyes widened. Next Jarudin cleverly deduced Sarante’s main attributes and even her habits when using magic.
“I mainly dealt with wind magic but I could basically handle various attributes. “What a wizard.”
“How do you know all that?”
“If you have this kind of talent you can barely make a living.”
Ronan narrowed his eyes. He may have glossed over himself but he was an unusual person. Rodin who had been carefully examining his ring opened his mouth.
“Anyway my request is…to help me extract just a little bit of magic from this ring. Is it possible?”
“Extracting magical power?”
“okay. It was a car that needed mana from a race of longevity that had been using magic for a long time. “Because it is a necessary material for experiments.”
“There are a few elves in Phileon too.”
“No elf has lived this long. ”
Judging from what he was saying Sarante seemed to have lived a long time even by elf standards. Ronan quickly noticed that he was as excited as his child.
I don’t know what kind of experiment he was conducting but he seemed to be looking for it quite a bit. Suddenly Ronan snatched the ring from his hand.
“no I do not want.”
It was as if he was telling me not to even dream. Jarrodin opened his mouth with an expressionless face.
“…Why?”
“I don’t feel like it. “What if the ring breaks?”
“I assure you that will not happen. We will only collect enough magic power to use as a sample. Even if the magic power is slightly reduced it will be restored immediately.”
“I still don’t like it. “I’d rather pay.”
“Then just get out.”
“yes. “Go back Adeshan.”
“Ro Ronan?”
Adeshan opened his eyes wide. Ronan walked towards the door without any hesitation. He was just about to put his hand on the first latch.
“for a moment.”
Jardin’s voice grabbed his leg. Ronan opened his mouth careful not to let his laughter show.
“why?”
“Then how about this? I don’t know what your problem is but I will fully support you until you solve it. Of course you won’t get any money.”
“Senior Adeshan’s problem too.”
“That’s a slightly different story.”
“I’m fine.”
“I will do as you say.”
In the end Jarudin declared surrender. Ronan turned on his heels. Jarudin seeing the smile on his lips twisted his lips.
“I’m looking forward to the future.”
“I hear that a lot.”
Ronan could not hide his laughter anymore. I didn’t like the way he was asking for money from the first moment I met him but I felt a little relieved. Of course the best negotiation tool was earnestness.
“How long does disenchantment take?”
“A few hours at most. It can take as long as a few days. “Let me solve your problem before that.”
“How long will that take?”
“A few minutes is enough to remove mana impurities. “I need to understand your condition first so stand over there.”
Xarodin had Ronan stand in the middle of his office. He placed his hand on Ronan’s back and chanted an incomprehensible spell.
“Wow….”
Adeshan was amazed as he saw the mana spreading through Ronan’s skin. Rodin who was analyzing the situation with his eyes closed tilted his head.
“Huh this is my first time seeing something like this.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I came to my senses just a few days ago. It’s only been a day…I think it’s been two days at best. “Have you never felt mana before?”
“Well that’s right.”
“But the sword energy was revealed….”
Jaradin’s expression gradually hardened. His palm slowly moved down my spine and stopped behind my heart. A chewing voice came out of his mouth.
“…Are you under a curse?”
“How did you know?”
“Because it doesn’t make sense otherwise. There are definitely traces of mana flowing through my body but it is now completely blocked. “It was so subtle that I almost missed it.”
It was the first time since Sarante that I was caught without even mentioning it. Ronan sighed lightly.
“…is it also a curse? “Then is there no way?”
“Wait and see. “I will force you to open it.”
“yes?”
By force? Ronan was about to turn his head. A shock suddenly hit him as if he had been struck by lightning.
“Ahh! “Fuck!”
He had the same feeling as when he fired sword energy at Schlieffen. The numb pain that started in his chest spread through his blood vessels and throughout his body.
Ronan curled up clutching his head. Fortunately the pain disappeared within a few seconds.
“Damn you you’re crazy now…”
“Wow!”
It was the moment Ronan cursed and turned his body around. Blood spurted from Jarudin’s mouth. Fresh blood splattered like a fan and soaked the stone floor. Adeshan was scared and came running.
“professor?!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa…! Get out of the way…!”
Ronan noticed that he was bleeding not only from his mouth but also from his nose eyes and ears. Za Rodin staggered to his desk and started rummaging through the drawers.
He finally found a bottle that looked like a potion and poured it into his mouth. Gulp. Exactly three seconds had passed since his liquid went down his throat. Once again blood spurted out from Jaradin’s mouth like an explosion.
“Kuheuuk!”
“Aaaah!”
It seemed even more abundant because it was mixed with potions. Meanwhile La Mancha was absorbing the blood splattered on his sword body. Ronan hurriedly ran over and helped him up. His slender body was twitching like a twig in a storm.
‘Nimi. Aren’t you going to die like this?’
The situation seemed serious. As it happened Sita was in Nimburton. It was the car Ronan used to measure the distance to the nearest ward. Suddenly Jardin shook off Ronan’s touch and clung to the bookshelf like a cicada.
“What are you doing now?”
“Hey pick out the book I’m talking about. “The third space from the top left the fifth space from the right…!”
“I’ll pick the one at the top!”
One by one Ronan and Adeshan took out the books pointed to by Jarudin. A total of ten books were selected.
‘This arrangement… somewhere?’
Ronan tilted his head. The sight of the bookshelf with all the books falling out looked somewhat familiar. Rodin the one who checked the appearance of the bookshelf cried out spitting out his blood.
“Kashpa Lunajie Delphirim…!”
“what?”
It was a spell I remembered. There was no doubt that Erzsebet had chanted.
Kugugoong! Suddenly the bookshelf was pushed back and a long dark hallway appeared. Ronan twisted his lips. He knew where this passage led. Jarudin fell forward.
“Kuh…keuhuh….”
“Fuck it follow me Adeshan.”
“Uh yeah.”
Ronan ran down the hallway carrying Jardin. Just as his vision seemed to have completely darkened a familiar space appeared. Opening his eyes wide Ade Shan looked around.
“Where are you?”
A huge study covered on all sides with books. It was Separazio the office of Professor Secrit. A young voice came from somewhere.
“Welcome. Jaradin.”
“Secret!”
Ronan shouted. The child who was sitting in the middle of the study reading a book stood up with his eyes wide open.
“Ronan? “Why are you here…”
“It’s been a while and I don’t have time to say hello. “Please look at this person.”
“Jarodin? “How did you end up like that?”
“I don’t know. “He said he would try to open my mana but he suddenly collapsed.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Well let’s see first.”
Ronan laid Jardin on the floor. Since the sun was still up Secret had the appearance of a child. He drew a simple magic circle on the floor with chalk and placed his hand on Jarudin’s forehead. Secret’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Huh you’re doing such a reckless thing.”
“Why did this happen?”
“Your curse has transferred to a very small amount. “I’ll pull it out now so deal with it quickly.”
Secrit muttered something and removed his hand from Zarodin’s forehead. A wriggling shadow-like thing was dragged out clinging to the palm of my hand.
“What the fuck is that?”
Ronan frowned. It looked exactly like a miniature version of the shadow I had seen in the world of images. Secrit waved his hand as if spraying it. The shadow on the floor murmured making a strange sound.
-■■■■!!
It was the moment when the shadow leapt towards Jaradin again. Ronan tugged at the hilt of her sword. Suddenly! La Mancha drew an arc and the shadow split in half. Ronan muttered as if chewing and spitting out.
“Damn I’m going to have bad luck starting this morning.”
-■■….
The shadow disappeared like ashes flying. Jarudin’s convulsions stopped. He quickly raised his upper body and spat out the blood that had accumulated in his mouth.
“Whoa whoa whoa…! Damn it…!”
“You’re lucky Jarudin. “If it had been a little later I would have died.”
Secret held out a water bottle to him. After emptying the bottle from his seat Rodin stood up wiping his mouth. The blood stains along his nose and under his eyes were hideous.
“Whew…were you two originally acquainted?”
“okay. I think I said it once. “They are casting an unprecedented curse.”
“It was this student. shit….”
Ronan shrugged his eyebrows. Secrit and Jarodin seemed to be somewhat friendly. The two began talking about the curse placed on them. Ronan interrupted cutting off his horse.
“What happened? Are you feeling better now?”
“okay. “Thanks to you I lived… It’s ambiguous because I almost died because of your curse.”
“How did my curse transfer to you Professor?”
“It was my carelessness. “No matter how powerful the curse is I thought it would be okay since it has been broken once… but it turned out not at all.”
Jarudin said that the curse was transferred the moment Ronan’s blocked mana vein was touched. He had vomited out a lot of blood and his face was as pale as a corpse. Zarodin said wiping the blood from his ear.
“Still the goal was achieved.”
“yes?”
“Although it was very weak it succeeded in awakening the senses. “Would you please take a look at the secret?”
“Sure.”
Secret who was standing with his back to him placed his hand on Ronan’s back. His youthful eyes slowly widened.
“Really Jarudin. How could this happen…!”
“I told you so.”
“Ronan. “Have you met his father recently?”
“What kind of banging sound is that?”
“Then have you ever fallen into a pit filled with curs eyes or experienced anything that could have significantly affected the curse?”
“…I don’t have anything in particular.”
Ronan said scratching his head. Although a lot of things happened there were no special incidents that seemed to be related to the curse. At best Sarante gave her a ring. Secret continued.
“I don’t know why this is happening but… the curse is weaker than when I saw it before.”
“yes?”
“That is literally true. A force as strange as the curse within your body is weakening it. Just like wind and rain carving a rock.”
Ronan’s eyes widened. He suddenly had no idea what this meant. But what was important now was not figuring out the cause.
“Then…can I handle or feel mana now?”
“In theory yes. Because Jarudin somehow cleared the blocked path. However this ban is of a type that cannot be lifted all at once. In order to use mana perfectly you have to weaken the curse little by little like removing rust.”
Secret was amazed as if he had witnessed a miracle of a cripple standing up. Ronan also couldn’t hide his excitement.
He was finally able to pull out the sword technique that even lesser people like monkeys used. Ronan asked in an uplifted voice.
“How long will it take?”
“Assuming you train consistently every day… I think it will take about 20 years.”
“Nimi 20 years?”
Ronan’s face hardened. He was expecting about a year at most. 20 years. It was a time when it would not be strange for bald people who had beaten the world to build houses and make a living.
Ronan was about to say something. Rodin who was sitting still and catching his breath opened his mouth.
“…No it won’t take that long.”
