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Chapter 12

Celine stared intently at the magic stone Leonhard’s large, firm hand had placed in her palm.

“Pretty…… !”

Exclamations flowed out of her mouth.

The red magic stone was more beautiful than any ruby, coral or garnet she had ever seen.

As he said, it was as beautiful as a jewel, and shimmered more than a jewel.

Celine looked at the magic stone in her hand as if possessed. Perhaps because of the body temperature, the magic stone emitted a more intense light as if the brilliance it had been hiding was gradually released.

Celine smiled as she looked at the red light, and she felt like a fool before she lifted her head to say thank you to Leonhardt.

‘Why are you doing that?’

She got goosebumps for no reason.

Leonhardt, who had become paler than ever, was frozen and staring at the magic stone.

“What’s wrong?”

Celine’s doubts were resolved as soon as she took one step closer to Leonhardt.

The small magic stone filled the room with a bright red light as if dozens of fluorescent lamps were turned on at once.

Surprised, Celine put the magic stone back into the box.

No, she tried to put it in.

Until she realized that the magic stone that had been in her hand a while ago had disappeared.

“Celine!”

Leonhardt called her. Celine blinked. Her chest plummeted.

The whole place was filled with red light, but Leonhard was nowhere to be seen.

“Celine!”

“I…… can’t see. Anything…….”

She was dizzy and a blood-cooling thought crept into Celine’s mind.

‘I’m going to die again.’

But strangely, she felt no pain. Her consciousness did not falter.

She only felt light and heat.

“I’m here.”

Suddenly, Leonhard’s voice rang in her ear. Celine inhaled.

She felt Leonhard’s hand reaching for her.

“Do not panic. It’s no big deal.”

“It’s no big deal!”

A sudden tickling in her stomach gave her the urge to laugh, and Celine laughed uncontrollably.

At that moment, Leonhard’s strangely calm voice was heard.

“Walk slowly.”

“Yes?”

“Walk. Come this way.”

Celine followed Leonhardt without asking any further questions. Leonhardt slowly pulled her somewhere in an unknown direction, and Celine moved her body, relying solely on him.

As she walked, the red light faded little by little, and finally disappeared completely, revealing Leonhard’s face.

“What…… What?”

Celine asked, stunned. An event like this had never happened in a game.

A magic stone was a unit of currency that could be used to purchase items, and in the game, the player had never obtained it.

Leonhardt replied softly, but his face was still stiff.

“Congratulations. You seem to have the talents of a wizard.”

“Yes…… ?”

Celine looked down at the floor, stunned, and closed her eyes, startled by the wriggling afterimage.

“I feel dizzy.”

“You will.”

Leonhard patted her on the back.

“You have absorbed the highest quality magic stone made from monster horns.”

“I’m not going to die again, am I?”

Celine confided in her speculation that her chest was tight.

“As far as I know, the chances are slim.”

“Phew…….”

Celine sighed in relief and tried to walk, but she blinked her eyes in surprise.

Her steps felt so light!

It wasn’t just that.

The air was fresh and the sun was shining. Somewhere in the distance, a bird chirping reached her ears. Celine looked at Leonhardt. His handsome face looked brighter than usual.

Everything Celine saw, heard, and felt was more colorful and beautiful, as if a veil had been removed from her eyes.

She grinned at the bald head of the statue shining in the sunlight, and then without thinking she asked the first question that popped into her head.

“Is it because of magic?”

“That’s right.”

Leonhardt immediately agreed.

“It’s better than I thought. Magic was like this…….”

“…….”

Leonhardt didn’t answer, but Celine didn’t care. She was dazzled by the new world that opened before her.

“Celine.”

“Yes?”

Leonhard looked into Celine’s eyes as she looked up at him with a grin.

Anxiety gripped his chest tightly.

A person born with wizard qualities is one in hundreds. Celine’s discovery of her rare talent is something to celebrate.

Besides, it was fortunate for Celine and for him. With the power of magic in her hands, Celine will surely die less than before.

However, Leonhard did not have a deep friendship with wizards.

Nine years ago, he killed the warlock he thought was a close friend with his own hands.

Leonhard clenched his teeth tightly.

Celine won’t be like that. Wizards are glorious and powerful.

Her position in the North will be consolidated and her death opportunities will be reduced, so he should rejoice.

But Leonhard couldn’t feel so pleased.

“Leonhardt is so handsome!”

“What…… ?”

“Oh, don’t worry. Because I always thought you were handsome. But now, it’s even better!”

Leonhardt couldn’t say anything, startled by Celine’s attempt to caress his cheek.

He had heard of the behavior of the wizards who first embraced magic.

Some get ugly, some fall asleep, some say nonsense and some talk a lot, it’s like being drunk.

Celine seemed to belong to the last group.

“You know this? I’m kind of happy. I heard that being a wizard is hard.”

“It’s not that difficult, it’s impossible without talent.”

“I guess I was lucky though. I have to study hard in the future.”

“…… It is not easy.”

“I know.”

A sigh escaped Leonhard’s mouth.

How can she know, she didn’t even know until last night that monster horns and teeth turned into magic stones!

Celine didn’t stop babbling until she reached Natasha’s tower.

“Leonhard, do you know this?”

“…… what is it?”

“Now, I am not going to die!”

“I really hope so.”

“No no.”

Celine’s eyes were full of unexplained conviction.

“I can tell.”

Celine slept all day.

In her dream, prisms scattered iridescent light, and colorful flowers bloomed in an instant before falling to the ground and rotting over and over again.

The place where they rotted was infested with maggots.

It wasn’t a very pleasant sight, but she couldn’t take her eyes off it.

Still, she thought it was a sight to behold, and soon after, Celine found herself screaming in her dreams.

Hundreds of vipers swarmed under her feet, and flames flew right over her head. Suddenly the thorn bush was growing and binding her.

Celine just screamed and groaned.

Until someone awakened her with a spray of cold water.

“Ack!”

Celine let out a real scream when she woke up, then she screamed even louder.

Standing in front of her was a young man she had never seen before.

The short silver haircut was the most unusual hair color seen here, so Celine could swear she’d never seen this man in her life.

“Who are you!?”

The man walked over to her and grabbed her wrist. Celine struggled, trying to pull away.

El!”

No one came in. An eerie conjecture flashed through Celine’s mind.

‘Assassin? I’ll die like this again? But why?’

But to her surprise, the man soon released her wrist and greeted her politely.

“Sorry. But I had to make sure the magic stone didn’t cause any side effects, so I had no choice.”

Celine grabbed her confused head and barely spit out one of her dozens of questions.

“…… Who are you?”

“I am Carl Vuillant. I am the only wizard in the Grand Duchy.”

“…… !”

Celine’s eyes widened.

It was a name she knew all too well.

Unlike in the game, his hair didn’t reach his shoulders, and he didn’t have a hideous scar on his neck, but she managed to find some resemblance to his in-game character.

Karl Vuillant was the main character’s only assistant in the game.

He doesn’t appear very often, but he was one of the players’ favorite characters when he left after saving the protagonist’s life with magic in some events.

She can’t believe he is right in front of her!

Karl elaborated on whether Celine was surprised because she thought she was a wizard.

“It’s my first time greeting you. I’ve been on a mission for a while, and I’m back this morning. But I didn’t know Miss Hunt had the talent, and you touched the magic stone…….”

“Wa, was it dangerous?”

“No.”

Karl shook his head.

“But if you weren’t lucky, you would have had to get a drink to extract the magic stone from your body again. You’re lucky.”

Celine was slightly relieved. It seemed like luck followed this time around.

“I will bring the escort maids. It might explode at any moment, so I sent them all out.”

As Karl was about to leave, Celine tried to calm her curly hair and asked cautiously.

“Well…… Can you teach magic?”

If he was the wizard, he was favorable to the in-game protagonist, and she wanted to learn from Karl, who was portrayed as a powerful wizard.

“Me?”

Karl had a bewildered look.

“I am very busy with a lot of duties. The Grand Duke will probably give you a good teacher. Wizards are the treasures of the realm.”

“I see.”

Celine closed her eyes.

Her head was still spinning, and the situation was not well understood yet, but her one hope lifted her spirits.

A new world awaited Celine.

A world in which she may no longer die.

Just as Celine’s headache had subsided a little, she heard a careful knock. It was one of her escort maids, whom Karl offered to call.

“Come on in.”

“Are you okay?”

Celine’s eyes widened. Naturally, she expected one of the escort maids to come in, but Natasha, in her light clothes, showed up.

“I’m fine.”

Natasha chuckled.

“You’re all wet Celine! I’m glad you don’t look sick though.”

It was then that Celine realized that she was still dripping water from her head.

“Ah…….”

“Here, towel!”

Natasha grabbed a large towel that was hanging over the chair, and handing the towel to Celina, she sat herself in the chair.

“What time is it?”

“Nine in the morning.”

Leonhardt came to see the magic stone as soon as morning came yesterday and took her hand, so Celine had slept for about a full day.

“Everyone must have been worried.”

“In particular, Rute Karl was the one who was most worried. He said that extracting a wrongly absorbed magic stone is a very difficult and painful task.”

“Rute?”

“Wizards are called Rute. Rute Celine!”

Natasha smiled at Celine.

“Congratulations! Now you don’t even have to rely on us. Wizards are welcome everywhere!”

“…… Where am I going?”

“If the wizard stays here, we are grateful.”

Natasha rang the bell, and the escort maids rushed in. Everyone was holding a chest.

“It’s a gift from my father to the new wizard.”

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