Editor 81

The Stage of Enactment (1)

Cleio, standing in the middle of the stacks, refrained from moving rashly. Instead, she activated “Perception” and slowly moved only her head.

On the right bookshelf, even at a glance, there were old and worn books, and boxes used to store ancient texts, stacked layer upon layer.

‘Could there really be a loose sheet of palimpsest stuck somewhere in there?’

But that was not something she could search for right now. Cleio turned her attention to the bookshelf on the left.

That side seemed to be organized not by general book classification, but by journals and related documents arranged by the year the events occurred.

It was a relief that it would be less work to find what she was looking for.

‘First, the journal containing the circumstances of the Red-Eyed Mage’s rampage in 1793.’

“Perception,” as sharp and delicate as a needle, scanned the spines of the books on the left bookshelf one by one.

Soon, Cleio found the shelf with the 1793 journal.

Her keen “Perception” detected traces that the 1793 journal had been pulled out and stuffed back into the tight shelf.

Those were marks made not too long ago.

‘Either the visitor log was wrong, or the person who pulled this journal was an intruder, or perhaps the queen is the culprit.’

Cleio’s head was almost overheating from weighing so many possibilities.

‘But isn’t it too risky for Juleika herself to go in and out of such an easily identifiable place? No, did Philip even make a mutual with his political marriage partner in the first place?’

There were so many possibilities that it was difficult to reach a clear conclusion. She couldn’t even afford to ponder it for long.

Melchior was surely watching this side. She wanted to avoid being questioned by him as much as possible.

Cleio deliberately moved slowly, checking each shelf one by one as she moved to the 1793 section. She also pulled out the three journals before and after the incident in question.

‘I’m glad there were several crazy people in 1793. There was even a mage who caused an accident while casting so-called climate magic.’

There was more material left on climate magic than about the Red Eye, whatever that was.

The reason it was banned was also because one person tried it over and over again, disregarding discipline.

‘They said when it rained in one place, another place suffered a drought. Since the mage was level 7, the circle size was 500 meters in diameter, so it wasn’t a big problem… But in the end, he did an experiment by the river and completely dried out the royal rose garden. That’s why it was banned, tsk.’

Climate magic was a topic she had chosen as a smokescreen in case she was caught investigating the Red Eye or aether.

Resolutely, Cleio activated “Memory” and examined the journals.

Aside from climate magic, there was an offensive spell on the list that consumed gold magic stones, which were more expensive than diamonds of the same weight.

In this case, the magic was banned because a noble mage exploited his serfs to obtain gold magic stones.

‘Mages, once they get obsessed with a subject, will try anything. Tsk.’

She flipped through the pages as if estimating the volume, and at the very end of the 1793 journal and in the next volume, she saw a lot of burned paper scraps pasted in.

‘Whew, let’s keep my wits about me.’

Cleio, careful to maintain a steady pace turning the pages, began to read slowly, page by page.

This was so it wouldn’t be obvious which magic she was paying particular attention to.

---

Bang―

“The Red Eye is the result of a failed experiment to raise the aether level with the blood of a beast?”

Hot-tempered Chel slammed the desk and stood up abruptly.

Cleio, picking up a teacup from the shaking desk, spoke.

“No, beast blood alone isn’t enough. Hey, if that worked, my level would have gone up first. Or I’d be dead.”

Liphy, who was munching on dried apricots as a snack, chimed in.

“Right, Ray, didn’t you get found drenched in beast blood last time?”

Cleio quickly expanded a circle large enough to cover all the children, then deployed magic formulas.

Few people ever passed by this remote lab where they often made appointments while waiting for Fran, but the more protection, the better.

“As you know, my level stayed the same. The aftereffects are from a potion made by mixing other ingredients with beast blood through special processing. The potion’s name is ‘Hydra’s Venom.’ Fitting name—records say the mage who drank it went mad and attacked everyone nearby.”

Thinking ahead, Cleio did not explain the ingredients of ‘Hydra’s Venom’ in detail, but glossed over it.

“Where did you find all that out?”

“The royal archives.”

The moment the words “royal archives” left Cleio’s mouth, Arthur, who had been silent, shot her a sharp look.

Since it was Arthur who first told her about the royal archives, he must have realized who had opened them for her.

Thinking there was no need to make excuses, Cleio calmly continued her explanation.

“According to the visitor log, officially, no one had checked those materials in decades. Of course, who knows the truth.”

Ishiel approached the table with a serious expression.

“If someone besides you, Cleio, accessed that material…”

Fran, arms crossed, picked up Ishiel’s thought.

“They must have tried to recreate ‘Hydra’s Venom.’ It’s clear the user’s aether level did increase.”

Chel, finally sitting back down and fanning herself as if regaining her composure, expressed a doubt.

“But, if the aftereffects make you go berserk and die, what’s the point of raising the aether level? Who would try such a thing?”

Fran’s gray eyes, behind her glasses, deepened.

“There are plenty who’d sacrifice others as test subjects just to get a potion that raises aether level. There are as many ways to force unwilling subjects as there are ways to collect usury. If you have money and power, that is.”

Her voice, past the point of anger, sounded cold.

Cleio, trying to calm the atmosphere, quickly added more explanation.

“The point is, the Red-Eyed Killer may not be the cause, but rather the result of something. Whether they wanted it or not, those who use red aether may have been created by the potion.”

Red eyes, red aether.

Assassins with dangerously unstable powers.

Though she couldn’t reveal it in front of all the children, it was highly likely that Aslan was behind this case.

‘And the biggest problem is that those imperfect assassins no longer appear.’

Arthur had said so at the watchtower before the gates of Mnemosyne opened. He said it was unsettling that there were no more night visitors.

‘Does that mean Aslan or Juleika’s side succeeded in making proper Hydra’s Venom? So they no longer send failed ones? Is the culprit in this case also a test subject?’

None of these questions could be answered for sure until the culprit was caught.

Cleio kept her mouth shut at an appropriate point instead of making hasty assumptions.

At that moment, Ishiel raised a valid question.

“But wasn’t the origin of that theory an ancient legend about sharing beast blood after a hunt? Is there any point in interpreting and practicing that literally? Besides, it’s not like a thousand years ago when beasts were common.”

Fran, instead of Cleio, replied in a voice still dripping with chill.

“There was just one recent case where a large amount of beast blood was obtained. Cleio Aser, you killed a beast in Oreils.”

Unlike the beast’s body, which turned to dust, the blood that had already been shed soaked the ground and clothes and did not disappear.

“The ground was sealed off right away, and while I was unconscious, the city guard collected all the bloodstained clothes. Every single sock.”

Cleio quickly clarified the facts lest she be suspected. Chel also supported Cleio.

“I heard that even in the city guard, the labs of the mages aren’t very well secured. There are so many eccentrics, ordinary people don’t even go near them. The place where the beast died was the same—just a single ‘no entry’ fence.”

“So there were plenty of places to get beast blood.”

Fran, calming herself as she cleaned her glasses, put them back on, looking no different than before.

“I’ve thoroughly investigated the actor Gehaim Zinger. He lived so frugally you wouldn’t believe he was a popular actor. No lovers or mistresses, and he turned down seductions from noblewomen, living in a tiny underground room near the opera house and donating most of his income and gifts.”

“Hey, that’s suspicious! I don’t believe in ascetics. Fran, you went to the theater the other day. Didn’t you see anything suspicious on stage?”

“Not at all. I checked my way, but I couldn’t sense any aether from him.”

“Eh~, not everyone in the world is like you, Chel.”

“Fine, Liphy, call it my prejudice. Besides, even if the actor seems suspicious, we can’t cancel the final performance of the most popular opera without evidence.”

“Then tonight, let’s have the strongest examiner and the strongest mage watch that great actor right from the front of the stage!”

“Agreed!”

With Liphy and Leticia chiming in, today’s surveillance team was quickly decided. As always, Fran wrapped up the meeting.

“I’ll watch the stage door and backstage after the performance starts with Nebo. I’m familiar with the theater’s layout and Nebo knows the area well, so it’ll be easier to respond if anything happens.”

.

.

.

Today, only Arthur and Cleio were in the Aser family’s box seats.

The wife of a prince of the Krater Empire had come to purchase a large amount of gold magic stone jewelry, so Dione, shedding tears, missed the final performance.

She was someone who prioritized money over hobbies.

Of course, even if she couldn’t come to the performance, Dione meticulously made sure Cleio was dressed properly.

Perhaps because she regretted missing the performance, she was even fussier than usual today, sending Cleio off with round cuff buttons said to be made of gold magic stone for protection.

Cleio was only worried about losing the jewelry, which was more expensive than diamonds of the same size.

And the person who came to the theater instead of Dione was rambling during the intermission with comments that would drive her crazy if she heard them.

Arthur, who had been on edge and deep in thought during the afternoon’s meeting, had returned to his usual demeanor in the theater.

Cleio didn’t bother to probe Arthur’s feelings.

If he wanted to appear this way, sometimes it was better to go along.

“Hey, what’s so good about these ridiculous stories that so many people flock here for? I was dying trying to stay awake.”

“Keep your voice down. A prince shouldn’t be so uncultured.”

“What! In the Kishion estate, a traveling troupe comes only once a year. Where would I have learned about opera?”

Arthur, who had tears welling in his eyes from stifling yawns throughout the first and second acts, protested.

“Fine, whatever. I’m not going to talk art with you. So what did you think of the actor, Gehaim?”

“Uh, I don’t know much about this stuff, but can singers that old and shriveled really take the lead role?”

“What?”

“His voice sounded young, so I didn’t notice at first. But when the lights hit, I could see under his mask—his cheeks and around his mouth are all wrinkled.”

“That can’t be. He looked young to me.”

“Did they switch singers?”

“That voice isn’t something just anyone can mimic.”

Because of this, Cleio had watched the same performance four times.

No matter when she heard it, Gehaim’s voice and pronunciation were very distinctive.

Moreover, tonight’s acting was so good even her untrained ear could tell it was the best.

“Maybe you saw wrong? I heard there are burn scars under the mask.”

“Ah, when you put it that way, maybe. I’ll look more closely next act. But are the scars all over his face? He’s an actor.”

“I didn’t see them before. Maybe they’re covered with makeup. Let’s just watch.”

Looking again at Gehaim as he returned to the stage, his face and even his wrists, visible between the gloves, appeared red and misshapen as Arthur said.

Cleio, ready to deploy a circle at any moment, watched the stage nervously.

The familiar story repeated.

Archenie’s misunderstanding, Luminita dragged away by her brother and then returned.

Luminita’s high voice protesting her innocence.

Would the final performance really end without incident?

Had she and Behemoth misidentified the Red Eye?

Luminita’s aria reached its climax.

“”

And then the lord of the plateau bit his lover’s neck.

No one in the theater even breathed.

Even though the vampire scene ran a little longer than usual, perhaps because of the extraordinary acting tonight, everyone was absorbed.

Clack―

“Ray.”

Arthur was the first to sense something was wrong.

“That’s not acting. That soprano is having a seizure.”

Tonight there were no soldiers, knights, or mages in the audience.

Here, Arthur probably had seen more people die than anyone else.

Sword in hand, Arthur leapt over the balcony railing and rushed onto the stage.

Sensing Arthur’s presence, Gehaim released his mouth from the soprano’s neck and let go of the body he was holding tight.

Blood gushed from the woman’s neck as she collapsed.

Aaaahhh!

Kyaaahhh!

Perhaps because they thought it was part of the play, it took several beats before screams erupted from the audience. Amid the chaos, people began to rush out in all directions.

Cleio jumped down after Arthur, casting a magic formula.

“1)”

And she moved against the flow of the crowd. There was no time to check the stage.

Cleio quickly hugged the soprano’s body and cast magic.

Aether, brighter than the stage lights, overflowed on the stage.

The bleeding from the soprano’s neck stopped instantly, and the bite wounds from the fangs healed. Her pallor returned, and her pulse stabilized.

‘It worked!’

Bang! Crash!

At that moment, Cleio saw Nebo bursting in from the right backstage as if rolling in.

“Nebo! Quickly move this lady outside. Take her to the city guard and have a mage or doctor check her!”

Cleio helped Nebo carry the unconscious soprano and asked,

“Where’s Fran?”

“She was guarding the opposite side of the stage with me. If something happened, she’d fire a gun to signal—”

Bang―!

Bang, bang bang―!

In the empty theater, after everyone had left, four gunshots rang out.

1) “James Lee’s Wife,” Robert Browning, adapted.