Chapter – 27
“Came sooner than expected.”
“Teleportation, regeneration, and tracking magic… Have you lost your mind? Do you even know what happens if you use such large-scale magic in Mundus?”
Pupa ground his teeth and dropped the parchment on the floor before striking the ground with his staff.
The spell engraved on the parchment flowed out like ink, forming a magic pattern beneath their feet. It was a type of defensive magic.
Croport let out a hollow laugh.
“Is the old man supposed to be sleeping now? Ah, or is it that age has taken away your morning sleep?”
“You insolent brat…”
Pupa clicked his tongue, and the woman standing beside him quickly scribbled something with a fountain pen.
“Miss Lin, you have violated Article 1, Section 1 of the Exile Order and the Magia Guardian Agreement. According to the Special Law, the exile restriction takes priority, and you are ordered to undergo 36 days of confinement.”
The woman tore the words that were wriggling on the paper and sent them floating toward Croport.
The moment the magic restricting Croport’s movement overlapped with the woman’s magic—
The spell that had been wrapping around his body loosened for a moment, and Croport forced it apart with sheer strength.
“Croport!”
It happened in an instant.
Croport shattered Pupa’s defensive magic and fired a spell at the two men who were still playing cards.
The woman immediately planted her fountain pen into the magic circle to restrain Croport, but the spell had already reached the men.
“Ugh!”
“H-Hey, what was that!”
The brothers startled, rubbing their necks and shoulders where Croport’s spell had struck.
They glanced around, scratched their heads, and then picked up their cards again.
“These damn pests… They come out whenever the weather gets warm.”
“Brother, it’s probably because the factory is too old. We should just tear this place down once.”
“Give me money and I’ll replace it.”
Pupa held his breath and observed the two humans.
After several seconds passed without any abnormality, he immediately shouted at Croport.
“You damn bastard! What did you do? What kind of magic did you use!”
“You can investigate that now. Isn’t that your job?”
Croport sneered, completely unconcerned, while covering his neck.
The woman’s magic had taken effect. Sweat began slowly running down Croport’s entire body.
Pupa clenched his teeth, veins popping on his forehead, then turned his gaze to the woman.
“Tenevre. Check the magic circles attached to the humans.”
“Yes, sir.”
The woman—Tenevre—looked at Croport and the men in the room with her black eyes, then flipped through her papers searching for the magic circle.
While she worked, Pupa walked over and kicked Croport’s knee.
Croport collapsed weakly, kneeling on one knee.
“You’re good at causing trouble. I don’t know what magic you used, but seeing that you’re still alive means it’s not a life-threatening spell, right?”
Croport did not answer. He clenched his teeth tightly to endure the surging pain.
“Who are those people? Another damn antique shop request?”
“…Who knows.”
Croport smiled, sweating.
“Go find out… That’s your job.”
Pupa sighed.
He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a black bag.
“Stop useless resistance. I’ll send you to your antique shop.”
“Thank you… for that.”
Pupa clicked his tongue and pulled out a separated metal ring of unknown origin from the bag. Then he glanced at Croport with a cold expression.
“I heard you’re raising children at the antique shop.”
Croport’s blue eyes, previously consumed by pain, suddenly flashed.
He stared at Pupa without answering.
“I don’t know why you saved those magic children, but send them to Magia quickly. The Grand Duke still does not know.”
“….”
“Such a dreadful expression. Hey, do you think I report everything?”
Croport’s breathing grew rough.
In the end, he could say nothing as Pupa confined him inside the metal ring laid on the floor.
“You must learn moderation, great mage. Even for you, casting magic all over your body is not good.”
“My work… I’ll handle it…”
“Enough. Go now. Keep quiet during this confinement.”
“Damn brat.”
Finishing his words, Pupa struck the ring with his staff, triggering the teleportation.
Croport was lifted by a yellow pillar of light erupting from the metal device.
Pupa stared at the mechanism before tiredly running a hand through his hair and picking up the ring.
“This damn boy always causes trouble at dawn. Damn brat, rotten brat.”
He grumbled until he disassembled the metal ring and placed it back into the bag.
Then he sighed deeply and turned his gaze to Tenevre, who was floating several parchments in the air.
“Any results?”
“It’s difficult to be certain, but it appears to be a curse-type magic. It won’t seriously endanger their lives.”
“A curse, huh… At first it was an attack spell.”
What an unpredictable fellow. Pupa muttered quietly.
Tenevre adjusted her glasses once and asked the old man.
“What should we do, Pupa-sama? Should we remove the magic Croport Lin placed on the humans? However, since the spell is complex, dismantling it will take a long time.”
“How long?”
“Roughly three weeks if we are generous.”
Pupa fell silent.
Even if the binding magic that restrained the body wrapped around him like chains, a great mage was still a great mage.
To draw such a spell in mere seconds…
He stared into the dark, damp factory air for a moment before shaking his head.
“Forget it. Let’s go. As long as it doesn’t endanger human lives.”
“Yes, understood.”
Tenevre gathered the scraps of paper and placed them into her uniform pocket.
Pupa looked at the two men who were giggling and bumping into each other, then turned his head sharply.
He walked away with heavy steps, and Tenevre followed behind him.
“…Roport!”
“…Cro… port!”
Faint sunlight and the now-familiar scent of a baby.
Croport frowned and opened his eyes.
His entire body ached as if it had been beaten with a hammer.
“Croport, why are you sleeping here!”
Marie’s face turned pale as she grabbed his dirty cloak and shook him.
Croport pushed himself up, then groaned as a sharp pain shot from his lower back.
He looked around.
The smell of old wood and dust floating in the sunlight, antiques covered with thin cloth.
It was his magic antique shop.
So he had safely returned to the shop.
“Croport, did you drink alcohol?”
“I’ve seen old men sleeping on the street before…”
Shasha looked at him curiously, while Marie watched Croport worriedly.
He waved his hand, saying it was nothing, but perhaps due to the magic’s side effects, a ringing sound echoed in his head.
Like someone suffering from a hangover, he held his head and groaned, and Shasha leaned in, trying to sniff alcohol.
Croport pushed Shasha’s face away and stood up as if nothing was wrong.
“I didn’t drink, so don’t look at me like that.”
“Croport, if you sleep in a cold place, your face will twist…”
Marie’s serious concern made him laugh in disbelief.
“I had my cloak. It’s fine.”
“Even if there’s a warming spell!”
“I’ll change clothes and come out. Go to the kitchen and wait. Let’s eat breakfast.”
“But are you really sure you didn’t drink? Shouldn’t you drink warm honey water?”
“I’m fine.”
How did she even know that?
Croport sighed and avoided Marie’s gaze.
He couldn’t meet the children’s eyes right now.
‘Did I succeed with the curse?’
He couldn’t properly confirm because of the watchdog’s restraint magic.
“Damn it.”
His whole body hurt. Ignoring the children whispering behind him, Croport walked into his bedroom.
The old room was filled with various magic circles and miscellaneous trinkets.
He kicked aside the objects blocking his path and sat on the bed.
“Ugh…”
It was confinement again. He had expected it, but Pupa and Tenevre arrived sooner than he thought, ruining his plan.
‘To think I could only cast such a spell.’
The punishment he gave the factory owner and his younger brother, who had driven Molly to death, was “eternal nightmare.”
A semi-permanent magic that persists unless the caster personally removes it.
Now, whenever they closed their eyes, they would feel the terrifying pain of their bodies being torn apart.
Every night, without missing a single day.
There would be no immediate threat to their lives, but well… if their minds were weak, who knows what might happen.
Croport found himself ridiculous and let out a hollow laugh.
‘I should have killed them.’
The two brothers would have experienced horrifying nightmares since last night, but it still did not satisfy him.
What would these bright children think if they learned their mother’s enemy?
He couldn’t imagine it.
Especially Marie…
Croport let out a slow, deep sigh and rubbed his face.
Then he stood up sluggishly and tossed his white cloak carelessly.
His sweat- and dust-covered shirt fell to the floor, revealing his back, faintly glowing through strands of white hair.
On Croport’s back was a gigantic magic circle rotating like clockwork at a constant speed. When the magic circle completed one rotation and shimmered, the iron chain-like mark on his ankle rippled like a shadow.
Croport put on a clean shirt from the wardrobe with a cold expression and wrapped his cloak around himself.
‘I must hide this.’
The children were too young to know the horrible truth.
Above all, Marie, who had developed the habit of watching others’ moods, would suffer if she learned that the two brothers were cursed.
Parents’ matters, but he could not tell them.
He had taken revenge, but he could not reveal it.
‘If the children grow a little more…’
But by then, he would probably have left the antique shop.
To a safe and peaceful place…
Yes, somewhere far away from the antique shop.
They would never see each other again.
Croport unbuttoned a few buttons that were choking his chest and walked stiffly out of the bedroom.
