30 Allegiance (5)

"..No. Just no," Yulia turned around and was prepared to leave the space.

"Halt," Heine stopped the woman in her tracks.

With an unwilling expression, she faced the Fae King in displeasure. "What now?!"

She was a little irritated, understandably so. She had been tricked out of her focus and offered a job she didn't exactly want.

"Consider doing this.. not for Estelle, but for your own sake. They have been cultivating monsters. We haven't confirmed whether it is artificial or not, but I reckon the variety of specimens would interest you in some type of way," Heine tried to persuade her.

"..You say it like I'm not an actual Witch, and I could just steal a couple for myself,"

"That's true, but don't you want to solve the mystery? Find the production method? Who gave them the knowledge to do so?" Heine knew that the conversation was heading in his preferred direction. With a lovely smirk, his voice's tone grew more convincing, eliciting a disgusted glare from the blonde Witch.

Indeed, she was quite interested on how they managed to do it.

So far, no one got interested in managing the 'Strays'. They originally had a low number too, so where did the new beings pop up from?

"Think about it, Yulia. They are running a large - scale operation, one that you won't be able to solve by yourself. However, by cooperating with us, not only are your duties lessened in the case that.. they go rampant and the Royals ask for help, but you'll also be able to torture the person over there all you want,"

Heine did not shy down from telling the truth, he already sensed instability from the monsters. It won't be long before the control weakens.

"Ha! There is no telling that.. I'm not the person you're telling me torture. What if.. what if I was the creator after all?"

"..Knowing you, you won't be able to resist showing off such a discovery. It wouldn't be a surprise attack by then, you would purposely send them a notice containing the news of your visit... Because you want to brag about your results," Minerva inserted herself into the conversation, showing her perfect knowledge of her sister's behavior.

Yulia was suitable to being called a madman. In this case, she wouldn't stay secretive and would display it firsthand. Perhaps she'd even open a gallery for people to look at her results.

"Correct!" Yulia clapped. "I'll take you up on this offer. Since you're requesting the service of this great me, I better be the one leading the infiltration,"

"No one is infiltrating anything, though?" Heine smiled, contradicting her point.

"Eh?" Yulia tilted her head in confusion.

"You're telling me that you need me to find.. something you don't even have a clue about? Are you really being this ridiculous?" Yulia brought her pale hand to her forehead as a support.

"Yes, but the location counts as a clue, no? We know that there is a high chance that it is located inside this mansion. We only sought your help to break down this mansion's barriers and look for an abnormality," Estelle chimed in.

"There is a high chance.. So that means it could potentially not be here at all," Yulia frowned in displeasure. "What if it turns out that there's nothing? Will my work be wasted? It's tiring on my part,"

"The reward still stands. For the specimens, we promise you that we'll obtain it somehow. In high quality, too," Heine guaranteed.

It was a dangerous guarantee, since they weren't sure about the perpetrator, but at least they knew that Duke Alfonso was connected in one way or another.

As long as they investigated it, the truth would come out one day.

"..I don't like formalities. Stop it," Yulia waved her hands as if dismissing Heine and Estelle's way of speech.

They were way too rigid for her.

"That makes it easier, though. Don't forget your promise. After this all ends, bring the items to me.. including you, Minerva," Sighing, she conceded defeat. Yulia's sight then fell onto the crimson - haired lay who had a sudden jolt.

"Come, let's go," Yulia stood up and tied up her long hair into a ponytail. "Lead me to this mansion's powerhouse,"

An aristocratic land is obligated to dedicate an entire space as the barrier's core. Not only does it make the strength more stable, it also prevents the barriers from being disrupted. In order to completely bring down a barrier, one must unseal said protective layer or destroy the core.

It must be said that every core was under heavy protection. Of course, the higher the authority, the stronger the barrier needed to be. If you do not desire to risk your life, the arts of seals is the only path you can take.

Aside from Yulia's Arcana Magic, there is other forms of sealing magic. It might not be as strong, but it was enough for petty thieves to steal a couple of things from the lower ranked nobles.

Of course, the barrier erected for the Clareste Dukedom would not be far off from the Royal Palace, leaving no leniency for a crime to be committed.

"Heed my words. Spread high and far in between," Yulia chanted, and the spectators were immediately hit with a cold mist.

"Lend me your power, search this land and bring me the results I desire," A magic circle formed below her feet and made a couple of rings around her. They simultaneously glowed and signaled the start of the search.

Estelle raised her brow in confusion.

Yulia's chants was different than what she knew.

It was like she became a vassal for a foreign power. She felt it too, the unknown vibrations that entered Yulia's body, slowly giving her power.

Like the magic wasn't hers, but this foreign being's gift.

Heine took one look at Estelle and knew that she was still foreign to Yulia's display. After all, due to the lack of people that practiced the method, close to no concrete writings were left behind.

"She's a Spirit Borrower," Heine said.

"Borrower?"

"To put it simply, she contacts an otherworldly spirit to channel their strength through her. The Spirits that lend their powers have no relations to my people. In fact, there are a few Spirit Borrowers in my country, too. It's just that Yulia's power is far greater," Heine explained.

Not everybody could become Spirit Borrowers, the Spirits have to acknowledge your presence first before they'd lend you their powers. To make it harder, no one was able to see the otherworldly spirits, because they were described to be in a different space and time altogether. Only through the Spirit Borrower could a channel be formed between the two worlds, letting their powers trickle into this world.

"Otherworldly.. huh," Estelle was reminded of her previous world. It was far more advanced than this one, but at the same time, there were no traces of magic.

"Why have I never heard of it?" Estelle questioned. She made sure to study magic without leaving any knowledge behind.

The extent of the magical spells she knew wouldn't be overtaken by anyone. She was confident.

"Because, the users outside of the Spirit Kingdom can be counted in one hand, including Yulia. The arts of Spirit Borrowing is really hard to reach. Even in my Kingdom, only a select few individuals could perform it. That's why Yulia is so special. She is loved by otherworldly Spirits, as seen as how they are willing to lend her power. You wouldn't be able to find another one like her," Heine explained.

"In terms of Spirits, she excels more than anyone, more than Spirits itself. It's really a strange case. A Witch's power is always unpredictable," He continued, gazing at the focused woman.

"Then, since her power stems from this borrowed power, would there be any chance for me to perform her Arcana Magic if I'm not loved by the otherworldly Spirits?" Estelle asked.

"Who knows," Heine chuckled. "You're much weirder than Yulia is, maybe you could do it someday,"

"Hmmm," Humming, Estelle took in the new information. Perhaps she should really investigate this matter.

The term 'otherworldly' caught her interest.

Her vision was once again set on the blonde woman who was now surrounded by a bright magic circle, her hair fluttering wildly even though there was no wind.

"Found it... Wait, what?" Yulia was about to break her focus before she retreated and licked her lips as she increased the magic output to confirm what she just saw.

Realizing that Yulia was acting strange, the spectating trio looked at each other and decided to seep their magic to sustain the changes. Yulia's power was increasing with every passing second and they were not aiming for the power core to explode anytime soon.

Minutes passed and the energy waves started to get more violent. In order to ensure that no damages were made, Heine knew that they had to do this from a different approach.

"Estelle, just redirect her leaking mana. If needed, absorb it. She's wasting so much mana, damn it!" Heine pulled out his wand as he couldn't contain the outflow with bare hands.

Minerva also did the same, and nodded at Estelle.

The work originally done by three people was now shared between the two, so they had to put more effort.

Estelle removed her parts and left it for the other two to manage. She began to supply her own energy to overpower Yulia's mana and make it dissipate.

The quartet did their own thing, maintaining their focus and not spewing a single word. Yulia was already drenched in light sweat for as long as they could remember.

All of them had an understanding that the balance was not to be broken and they had to bide for the right time.

The time spent was nearing an hour. Estelle felt the leaking mana lessen and lessen before it was all perfectly contained back in Yulia's mana pool.

Just when Estelle wanted to sign the other two to stop, Yulia suddenly dropped down to the ground and showed no signs of intact consciousness.

"Big sister!" Minerva was the first one to rush towards the collapsed woman, which was then followed by both Heine and Estelle after repairing some minor damages.

"She wasted too much mana. It's natural that she'd collapse, her mana is not infinite.. like a certain someone," Heine took the chance to remind Estelle about her ridiculous cheat. As a full - fledged magician, Heine was quite envious of the girl's perks, but did not succumb under the difference and whine.

"...Should I give it back to her?"

"What?"

"The mana,"

"No, no, no. You can't do that, it'll cause a backlash," Minerva hurriedly waved to tear down her idea.

"I mean, I've created the exact energy type using my magic, it's not exactly my mana. It should be fine.. I don't if it'll work well or not, though," Estelle justified her claim.

"...Wait, I actually want to try. Can you replicate mine?" Heine was curious not just for fun's sake, but also for an important test.

Minerva looked at Heine like he was insane. The daredevil was completely disregarding the chance of something deadly happening.

If it was her, she'd stay as far away as she could.

"Sure," Estelle nodded.

Heine leaked his mana into the surroundings, which was then absorbed by Estelle. The rest of it was contained by Minerva, who was full on glaring at their leisure when she had to work for nothing.

"..Done," Estelle breathed out after a couple minutes. She wasn't used to the process yet, but she had spent the long minutes protecting Yulia with full productivity. The method was devised right then and there, as the idea sparked within her not long after she realized that all mana were similar, yet so different.

"Just to remind you once again, I've never tested this before. Don't blame me if something bad happens," Estelle brought up her hand, gesturing for Heine to do the same.

"Don't worry, I'm not that weak. Just pour a little, we'll see how it goes," Heine grasped the smaller hand in his own before feeling a certain type of energy flow to his bloodstreams and into his mana core.

At first, it was a foreign feeling, but it soon developed into a pleasant and soothing experience. Estelle's provided mana was cooling, it was akin to his own but much more purer.

"Purer mana.. I should've expected it from the one with a 99% core purity," Heine felt his mana deposit rise until it was filled up to the brim. In the process of protecting the mansion's powerhouse, they had wasted a ton of mana, but the exhaustion disappeared. Completely.

Heine hurriedly checked his status before widening his eyes in shock.

He turned to look at Estelle with dark and solemn eyes, wondering as to how Estelle's existence was allowed.