Behind Abigail, people clad in black robes entered one after another.
Yellian swallowed dryly at the somewhat eerie atmosphere they exuded. Though they wanted to bolt away, they knew they couldn’t do that.
They looked quite suspicious, but Yellian knew their identities. Leonard had told them in advance.
Their true identities were magicians affiliated with the imperial family. Though the exact details were unclear, according to Elton, receiving help from imperial magicians was an incredibly difficult task. Nevertheless, Leonard had managed to accomplish that difficult feat.
Leonard gazed at the imperial magicians with a stern expression. The total number of magicians present was thirteen, a number unprecedented even for the imperial family to mobilize for a single incident.
Excluding apprentices, there were only about twenty imperial magicians capable of wielding magic freely, meaning more than half of them had been mobilized. There was a valid reason for calling upon so many magicians.
* * *
“Hand over the imperial magicians.”
“Are you insane? That’s out of the question. You know what that means. The nobles won’t stand for it. It’ll only make my position more difficult.”
Abigail drew a firm line. Even so, he explained the situation that prevented him from granting the request of his friend, Leonard.
In his heart, he wanted to help Leonard. In fact, Leonard had helped him numerous times when his imperial authority was weak.
So, he felt he should repay that debt accordingly, but this matter couldn’t be resolved with feelings alone.
“Abigail, this is really important to me. Something is happening to Yellian, and I have no way of finding out what it is. If we delay any longer, it might be irreversible.”
“I understand your feelings, but… you know that mobilizing imperial magicians requires the agreement of the nobles.”
“There’s no time for that.”
“……Even so, what can’t be done, can’t be done.”
At the repeated refusal, Leonard felt a tightness in his chest. Of course, he understood Abigail’s predicament. Having spent many years together, he knew his situation better than anyone else.
Even so, he couldn’t help but act like a stubborn child throwing a tantrum. Even if Abigail criticized him for being shameless, he had no excuse.
A brief silence settled between the two. Leonard let out a long sigh, easing his frustrated heart. When some rationality returned, Leonard spoke again.
“If that’s the case, I’ll formally state my wish.”
“What do you mean by that…… Don’t tell me you…….”
“That’s right. I defeated a dragon that had caused great harm to the common folk for a long time. Abigail, you promised to grant me a great reward and fulfill my wish.”
In truth, Leonard hadn’t intended to pressure Abigail without any plan.
Leonard remembered that during the last hunting competition, Abigail had promised to grant his wish as a reward for slaying the dragon.
Of course, this wasn’t some secret known only to the two of them. Other nobles had also heard Abigail publicly declare that he would grant Leonard’s wish.
The Emperor himself couldn’t retract a promise made in front of so many people as if flipping his hand. Leonard knew this fact well.
“This is my wish. Abigail, you’re simply fulfilling the promised reward. So, the other nobles will have no reason to criticize you.”
“Instead, they’ll criticize you! They’ll say that Duke Abrams, who knows the imperial family’s situation well, made a difficult request! The nobles will think that Duke Abrams pressured me with his power. Your reputation will hit rock bottom!”
“I don’t care.”
“Leonard!”
“Right now, all I can see is Yellian. Nothing else matters to me. So, fulfill my wish as promised.”
Abigail raised his voice in frustration, but Leonard remained calm.
Abigail breathed heavily for a while, then let out a long, deep sigh. Seeing this, Leonard knew that things would finally proceed as he wanted.
“Fine, I get it.”
At last, Abigail gave the answer Leonard wanted. In truth, Leonard knew that the moment he brought up the wish, the advantage had already tilted in his favor.
“I’m agreeing to this because of all the help you’ve given me over the years.”
“Thank you.”
“Forget it. Since it’s come to this, protect Yellian by any means necessary.”
“Of course. I’ll protect Yellian no matter what it takes.”
Leonard responded with a voice full of determination. Though Abigail still felt uneasy, he was glad to see his friend looking somewhat more stable. Before their conversation, Leonard had seemed like a bomb ready to explode at any moment.
It was both strange and surprising that Leonard, who always acted cold and emotionless, had changed so much because of a single cat…… no, a feline humanoid.
Yet, he didn’t dislike this change. As a friend, it was only natural to wish for each other’s happiness.
* * *
After that day’s conversation, things progressed quickly. The nobles believed, as the two had previously arranged, that Abigail had no choice but to provide the imperial magicians at Leonard’s request for slaying the dragon.
The nobles didn’t openly criticize Duke Abrams, but they didn’t hide their discomfort either. Leonard, however, paid no attention to it either way.
“Find out if there’s any magic affecting this cat, and if there’s a harmful spell, remove it.”
As Abigail gave the solemn command, the imperial magicians hesitated, seemingly flustered. Though their faces were half-covered by the hoods of their robes, making their expressions unclear, they were surely dumbfounded.
And understandably so-mobilizing an unprecedented number of imperial magicians just to investigate and dispel magic on a cat was absurd. And all at the request of none other than Duke Abrams.
“What are you all doing? Didn’t you hear my order?”
At Abigail’s repeated command, the magicians hesitantly approached Yellian.
Yellian grew anxious as the magicians, their faces half-hidden, swarmed toward them. Out of fear, they instinctively glanced at Leonard, who looked back with warm, reassuring eyes. Only then did their tension ease a little.
The first magician to approach carefully lifted Yellian. Though Yellian felt uncomfortable and disliked being held by a stranger, they endured it. They had promised Leonard to stay still.
The magician held Yellian with one hand as if cradling them, while the other hand scanned Yellian’s body. A white light emanated from his hand, seeping into Yellian’s body.
“……Huh, ugh.”
After a moment, the magician let out a gasp. Then, he hurriedly handed Yellian to another magician. Seeing this, Leonard’s expression darkened.
“What’s the matter?”
“W-Well, that is…….”
“Speak up at once!”
“T-There are multiple magical energies tangled together like a ball of thread.”
At Leonard’s urging, the magician stammered out the words. Hearing this, Leonard was too shocked to speak immediately. Sensing something was wrong, Abigail asked instead.
“What does that mean? Magical energies tangled like a ball of thread?”
“It means an enormous number of spells are cast on them……. If left like this, their life could be in danger. Generally, every living being has a limit to the amount of magic they can withstand. But this cat has far exceeded that limit. It’s a miracle they’re still alive.”
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