C88
"Princess Deborah! She's here."
She ran over and greeted me warmly.
She reminded me of a little squirrel looking at me with bright eyes.
"Adorable."
I tried to stifle a smile and entered the laboratory.
The laboratory this time was more spacious than before, as if Father cared about it.
In the past, it felt like a study that could only do research, but now there were tea reception tables and some other items that were supposed to be his hobbies.
"What are these things?"
"I made that for you, but it's not finished yet, so I'm a bit embarrassed!"
Arin suddenly covered the material with a cloth.
I asked her to make a handkerchief that could act as a hot compress, but are you in the middle of that?
"Arin also makes various products for Armand."
There must be a lot of work to do besides these things, but even the words I casually threw out were executed as if they were an order.
"Am I that scary?"
Even if Arin reported me to the Ministry of Labor, it seemed like she had nothing to say, but unfortunately, in this tragic novel, there were no advanced relationships between workers and employers.
I looked at her with weak eyes and took out high-quality tea leaves from a large bag.
"Last time, didn't you say you wanted to serve me tea? Did I understand correctly?"
"Ah, yes! Yes! You're right!"
She nodded vigorously.
"I brought some good tea. Sir Isidor sent it, so it must be good."
"Sir-Sir Isidor sent you tea?!"
"Yes."
"Oh, I see. He received a precious gift and shared it with me..."
She spoke as if she were choking and put the tea leaves into a hot teapot while her cheeks turned red.
I suppose she must be an Isidor fan since she seems so impressed?
As expected, he is the most popular man in the Empire. Perhaps the only person who hates him without reason is probably my father. He didn't seem to have a good relationship with Philap, so he was exempt.
"Well, Sir Isidor is handsome."
Especially when he laughs merrily and his dimples show.
"Really? I think the princess is much cooler... Oh, no, I mean Sir Isidor is very popular."
Arin, who stammered something, carefully poured the hot tea into the tea cup.
As the tea leaves were prepared, a sweet aroma spread throughout the laboratory, and Arin's fair cheeks turned even redder.
"It's really good tea. It's an honor to have tea time with the princess. I'll probably never forget this."
As I got used to Arin's flattery, I took a sip of tea calmly.
"By the way, the tea is delicious. It doesn't seem like black tea but more like it comes from another region."
Is it okay to sell it in Armand?
However, I soon found out that the tea Isidor sent me as a congratulatory gift for being the top-ranked at the Academy was so expensive that it was trading for around 30 million won for 500 grams.
Anyway, I didn't know it was a tea akin to gold dust, and I drank it comfortably, so when it was almost gone, my mouth was wide open.
"Arin, do you perhaps know something about ancient magical tools? Something that has the function of hatching holy spirits..."
Arin murmured, saying that I had called her by name as she covered her two cheeks and then got to the point.
"The hatching artifact I read about in the book explained that there was a switch that released mana or it worked when you put a lot of mana into a mana stone. If the mana wavelength is correct, the egg resonates."
Suddenly, there was a fleeting thought in my head.
"Right, why didn't I think of that?"
After all, the aura used by knights is the fundamental energy source called mana.
I forgot the fact that I had to keep using mana because of my memories from my previous life.
Obviously, in the novel, when Diery infused aura into the sword he was given, the holy spirit's egg must have reacted.
"Is it possible to infuse mana here?"
Arin, who touched the iron sword of the strange shape I had taken out, opened her mouth with a distressed expression.
"I'm sorry, but the only people who can infuse mana into such a firm sword are knights with strong auras. Although I can take measures to prevent the sword's surface from rusting."
"It's a complicated magical tool to operate. There aren't many knights who can use aura."
The knights here practice qi energy in the lower abdomen, where aura accumulates. And only when one can freely raise this aura, can they become a formal knight.
However, releasing the aura with a clear energy and putting it into the sword required natural talent like a wizard.
"If I want to hatch the holy spirit, I need a swordmaster like Diery."
There are only a limited number of people who can use it, so this sword must have rusted and wandered all over the place, then flowed into the suspicious auction store.
Diery has preserved the egg like a fossil for more than 17 years.
"Now I feel like I've really found the right answer."
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Since I knew the principle, the problem was quickly resolved.
I asked my father to borrow the Sword Master of the Knights from the Seymour family for a while.
When the knight infused aura, a strange geometric pattern rose from the back of the sword, and then an unpleasant sensation arose somewhere and suddenly stopped.
After that, the white holy spirit egg in my hand vibrated finely, as if resonating with a strange wave.
"It was a success. The super rare holy spirit has awakened!"
I quickly put the egg in my pocket and pretended that nothing had happened.
Fortunately, everyone was focused on the strange sword where the pattern appeared and disappeared, so they weren't interested in the object in my hand.
"It's annoying if other people know the shape of the holy spirit egg."
Although it doesn't matter after the turtle hatches.
"Deborah, where on earth did you get this strange sword? I surely felt a unique mana wave just now," Duke Seymour inquired.
He retrieved the sword from the knight, examined it with a serious expression, and touched it with his hand.
When the aura was infused, I only felt slightly unwell, but the Duke, with his 0.01 percent superior mana sensitivity, seemed to sense that the sword was not ordinary.
"It's an item I also bought from the peculiar auction house when I bought the sixth-generation family head's book the last time."
"You're very lucky. This sword appears to be an ancient artifact. We need to study more about what it's used for."
"The purpose has already been achieved, Father."
My consciousness was gently stabbed again, as is my daily life.
However, what if another holy spirit egg that responds to that artifact can appear again someday? It wouldn't be bad to hand it over as a relic.
Upon Duke Seymour's explanation, the knight's face was astonished.
"Oh my goodness! A precious ancient artifact! Duke Seymour, congratulations from the bottom of my heart. The princess is truly amazing as well."
"It's because my father is full of virtues and luck."
"Look, my daughter is exceptionally intelligent, still thinks of me, and even has luck. Last time, she brought something like the family relic. Ha-ha! It was Bellemont's autobiography."
"I didn't know the princess would think so highly of Seymour!"
I returned to my room after receiving sudden praise from them.
Then I took out the holy spirit egg, which had started to shine brightly in my pocket.
"Your name is Purple."
Turtle. Purple. Surprisingly, the rhyme fit perfectly.
Furthermore, consider the meaning of Purple. Somehow, it fits well as a name. I placed the holy spirit on a soft feather pillow while admiring the wonderful feeling of naming something myself.
Hatch soon.
The holy spirit was quite strong because it was a mixture of an animal and a spirit. I heard that a high-potential holy spirit could be as strong as an intermediate-level spiritualist.
"I'll give you lots of meat dishes. I'm rich, unlike Mia."
Hoping that the holy spirit would grow stronger every day, I looked at the egg with bright anticipation for a long time.
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"Ophelia, that person entrusted you with the most important task, but you didn't do it properly."
A gloomy and unsettling voice resonated in a dark cave.
Ophelia trembled and knelt in the middle of the base, which had turned black with bloodstains.
She soon thought she might disappear as ordered by the leader, so she got goosebumps, and cold sweat flowed.
"That person showed a sign of disappointment towards you."
"Huk, ugh."
Ophelia's face turned pale as a large tarantula crawled over her fingers on the ground.
In front of the base, a small black spider peeked above her head and then re-entered from the sleeve of the man's wide tunic sitting in the left chair.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
It was a terrible sight, but it was even scarier that the person could punish her, so Ophelia's entire body trembled like a leaf, and she swallowed dry saliva several times.
"Why does Mia lag behind so much? She finally went to the Academy but didn't get the top spot."
"But the temple holds her in high regard."
"Is it one or two priests who hold her in high regard at the temple? She's not at that level; they would have to treat her like a saint. I don't think you've cherished all the support. I can't even count how much holy blood it's cost."
"The supply of holy blood isn't going well in the East. Keep in mind that resources are not infinite."
A man sitting next to the monstrous man, who kept the spiders stacked, said in an annoyed tone.
Ophelia felt intimidated by his continuous warnings and spoke slowly.
"That, according to my analysis... I believe the reason Mia doesn't stand out much more than expected is probably because of Deborah Seymour."