NOVEL NEXT Chapter 372
Karem has the talent for magic of a mere feather.
It’s no wonder even the peak of this field, Wales, had never seen a being as talentless as you, so he nailed it. I wasn’t hurt since I was used to hearing similar things.
However, even Karem understood that the raw gem he lifted before him was no ordinary item.
The opaque yellow stone, fresh from the mines, looked more precious than any magical stone Karem had ever seen.
If one looked closely, its faint and slow flicker was almost hard to catch, yet somehow it felt comforting to gaze upon.
Last autumn, it was the byproduct of the one who caused such trouble in winter. An ordinary object could not be that.
By the way, this has to be a magical stone, right?
“You should have said so earlier! Cough! Uh! Ahem!”
Catherine kept coughing as if she couldn’t shake off the shock from what she heard.
“Yes, huff. The vitality and magical power that reside in the heart. If it comes from such an existence, it makes sense.”
As Catherine’s voice finally calmed, Mary brought a napkin to wipe her mouth.
“However, I don’t sense any remnants of black magic or necromancy.”
That’s something I should probably ask Narque about. Then again, if she did, Catherine would have done it sooner. By the way, this feels oddly warm and makes me strangely happy.
“I also feel a peculiar divine power.”
“…Pffft! Wait a second, Karem. What did you just say, cough!?”
“Divine power. Divine power.”
Cough-cough—the astonishing fact nonchalantly uttered by Karem finally pushed Catherine over the edge.
“Why on earth would it be felt from there!!!”
“Well… I wouldn’t know?”
Karem shrugged. Though, he had an inkling of what it might be.
“That Gomot giant was either a demigod, a being destined to ascend, or something revered as a god in the distant ancient past?”
“That makes sense. It does, but…”
Catherine seemed too weary to be angry at the bizarre news now; she let out a heavy sigh.
“That sounds a bit odd.”
“What do you mean?”
“Is it even possible for a being with divine power to wield necromancy? Aren’t they completely opposite?”
“Strictly speaking, the two powers aren’t necessarily opposites.”
Catherine responded while chewing on her pizza, addressing Mary’s question.
“In fact, the origin of necromancy is said to stem from holy magic.”
“…Wait, what and what now?”
Are the platypuses like glow-in-the-dark leather? Wait, if it’s a platypus, maybe it’s something real. No, that’s not it. What?
Clang-crash!
Mary, utterly shocked, dropped her glass of milk. Karem understood how she felt.
“What did you just say—”
“While I’ve only indirectly encountered Adobice, I’ve heard that the priests serving the god of the underworld in Adobice practice necromancy.”
“…Do you have any source for that?”
“The vault keeper, Nepanek, told me what I know is correct.”
I thought only Mary had a knack for blabbering nonsensical things. The problem is, Catherine has never spouted nonsense. What’s more, if it comes from Narque, who is a necromancer, it’s extremely credible.
I don’t know much about Nepanek, but…
No, more importantly.
‘Naglfar, huh…?’
That insane dragon who was so enthralled by necromancy he altered his own body into magical catalysts.
“Speaking of which, Narque mentioned that the first necromancer was Naglfar from ‘Europan’…”
If he was just the founder of the philosophy of necromancy, he would’ve simply referred to himself as the first necromancer without the ‘Europan’ prefix.
“My memory is a bit hazy…”
At that moment, a scene from the past flickered through Karem’s mind.
The warriors clad in ancient Egyptian-style full plate armor, moving with a sense of unity as if sharing a single mind.
Though it was cold, they were bundled up so tightly that it was as if their eyeholes were entirely obscured—
“You must have heard this long ago. Your memory serves you well.”
Catherine’s tone of unexpected admiration broke Karem’s reverie.
“Well, if I can remember my past life, remembering this life should be a breeze.”
“True.”
Catherine opened her mouth but then shook her head.
“No, this isn’t right. How did the conversation veer this way?”
“Because of divine power, I guess.”
“Right. That’s where it all began.”
Conversations tend to weave and wind like a waterfall that can change direction unexpectedly.
With that, Karem went back to chewing on his pizza and emptied his beer glass. Mary immediately refilled it.
“So, have you decided how to use it?”
“What do you mean by ‘decide’? About what?”
“That magical stone.”
This time, Karem’s head naturally turned toward the heart of Gomot as Mary tilted the kettle over Catherine’s empty glass.
“Since His Grace, the Duke, has bestowed it upon Karem, doesn’t that mean he becomes its owner?”
“Well, I think that needs to be verified.”
Karem glanced toward Catherine.
“Huh?”
“What do you think you can create with this?”
Catherine, who had been stuffing her face with pepperoni pizza, finally spoke after swallowing.
“That’s hard to say.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean, bringing something like this out suddenly…”
Catherine really seemed serious as she scratched her head in a daze.
“Strong materials need to be paired with appropriate materials.”
Karem, prompted by her gesture, placed Gomot’s heart on the table before pushing it toward Catherine.
“Still, even if it’s degraded, with the vitality and magical power of an entire mountain, plus the faint divine power you mentioned, how precious and powerful do you think the necessary materials would need to be?”
“Um… I wouldn’t know?”
Still, he understood what she meant.
Basically, it’s akin to cooking.
No matter how great the quality of the main ingredient, if the other ingredients, like spices, are trash, or if the soup of a broth restaurant is delicious, but the kimchi is bad, or if you eat a hamburger filled with soggy vegetables?
“I think I can guess one thing.”
“One thing, what’s that?”
“If this heart wasn’t in a degraded state, and if the right materials, environment, and time were all in place…”
Karem pointed at Catherine’s floating finger next to her staff, the Third Glory of Palatino.
“Then you could definitely create a treasure of this magnitude.”
“Catherine, you mean?”
“Of course, it would require cooperation from several skilled individuals.”
Catherine lifted Gomot’s heart and tapped its surface in sync with its slow flicker.
“Of course, nearly all the materials are practically prepared.”
Knowing very well that even though it was just a simple village in Europan, it had the Duke’s family’s resources, Karem blinked. Catherine, with a dumbfounded expression, pointed at him.
“The one who brought that material forgot?”
“Me?”
“The tail! The tail.”
“Oh. Oh, right… That.”
What Catherine referred to was clear.
The tail of the Red Dragon Lord, Wales.
If the byproducts like blood, bones, scales, and leather came from it, there would be no shortage of materials to make anything with Gomot’s heart.
There was just one problem.
“Before that, think about what to make first.”
“Umm… Well, we’ll think about it later.”
Right now, the growing cold pizza and the warm beer were far more important. Suddenly being told to decide what to make, nothing came to mind, nor did I particularly want anything.
Actually, there was one thing.
“Can we make something like a 100x spell crystal?”
“Ah, that requires different materials, so that’s not possible.”
“Then I guess we won’t know for now.”
“Yeah. Take your time to think.”
Karem nodded in response and took a bite of the pizza. Catherine was left speechless by his nonchalant attitude.
‘To act so casual about such a treasure.’
The higher the skill, the harder it becomes to find equipment worthy of that skill, even with enough money. The reason is simple. Many people desire them.
Starting with Catherine, even if she had no staff from the Felwinter treasury, she would’ve desired that treasure several times over.
“Hmm… I don’t know, so I’ll just leave it to you.”
With such a statement coming from the absolute opposite perspective, Catherine, who had expected this, let out another heavy sigh.
“Haah… Okay. Just let me know when you decide.”
“Yes.”
Boom—
Catherine frowned at the resounding noise coming from outside the tower.
“Looks like someone’s doing construction.”
“That sound should be from the warehouse being torn down.”
Karem cleared the dryness in his mouth with beer.
“I was supervising that until just now.”
“Weren’t you supervising the cooks? What’s construction got to do with you?”
“Well… It’s a bit complicated to explain.”
Catherine paused for a moment as if considering Karem’s gesture suggesting they go see it, then finished off the last slice of pizza, washed it down with beer, and stood up.
“If someone asks for me, just say I stepped out for a moment.”
“Yes. Understood.”
As Mary devoured the remaining three cheese pizzas all at once, Catherine exited the break room through the door Karem stood aside for.