Chapter 10: Relieve the Crisis

After dinner, Duke Rogest sits down with his daughter, Aresia, in his study to talk.

Getting to the point, Aresia says, “Father, I have something to fetch from my room. I’ll be back in a moment.”

The Duke nods and agrees, “Don’t take too long.”

After Aresia returns to her room to retrieve the prepared items, she enters the Duke’s study. Her father and older brother are already seated, sipping freshly brewed tea.

In the study, Aresia takes a seat as her brother Amos pours her a cup of tea.

After the Duke takes a sip of tea, he gets straight to the point.

“Aresia, honestly tell me, how does this combination magic array on the piece of spider silk work?”

His tone is serious, carrying a hint of gravity, causing Aresia’s gaze to become scrutinizing.

Even though Aresia lacks a deep understanding of magic, Duke Rogest knows that his daughter is more than capable. Not only can she weave spider silk into magical fabric, but she can also draw four magic arrays on it, and two of them are as yet undiscovered.

This is an extraordinary creation, made by a highly skilled alchemist. Who would suspect that it was the work of a just-turned-fifteen-year-old girl? Not even the most imaginative bard would dare create such a tale.

When the Duke was asked to come back, he didn’t suspect anything. But now, pondering over these matters, Duke Rogest cannot help but seriously consider what is truly going on with his daughter, Aresia.

The Duke had his suspicions about the authenticity of the girl. The priest’s examination was not in vain, as a pile of magic tests were conducted, along with the testimonies of the servants, and even the feelings of his daughter, all proved that the girl in question was indeed the real Aresia.

If she was indeed an imposter, the fake Aresia should have been more cautious and not revealed even the slightest hint of a disguise. Instead, she openly displayed her extraordinary powers without any concealment.

The Duke’s interrogation was met with a prepared response from Aresia.

“I recently had a special encounter that made me realize that magic is even more fascinating than I had imagined.”

Aresia handed something to the Duke, which she had retrieved from her room.

“Father, start with this.”

It was a magic book, or more precisely, a magical notebook.

The book was thick, as thick as a brick, with a black cover made from the skin of some magical creature, faintly bearing traces of magic. The pitch-black cover depicted a complex magic circle, which the Duke couldn’t decipher; it seemed more like a decorative pattern.

The cover appeared old, indicating that it had been around for quite some time. The rough edges and signs of wear suggested that it had not been carefully preserved. Besides, it seemed quite ordinary if not for the magical reaction from the creature’s skin. Anyone could tell that it was a magic notebook.

As he flipped through the pages, there was no signature on the front page, but there was a single word written by the owner of the notebook.

“Magic should never be separated from life, and life should not be far from magic.”

Aresia said, “The owner of this notebook has been researching how to integrate magic into life. Their methods are thoughtful and have achieved considerable success.”

Flipping through the pages of the book, a multitude of text and patterns caught their eyes. The pages were disorganized, and the handwriting was messy, like doodles hastily scribbled on paper. It was difficult to make out the content, but upon closer examination, they realized it was a study on practical magic.

“This is the formula for Spider Silk Solidifier, and this is a temperature-control spell. Oh, and this one is a cleaning technique,” Aresia helped the Duke of Magic flip to the corresponding pages, pointing out the content written there.

Amos approached his father and quickly skimmed through the written material.

Although they were not magicians themselves, they understood some aspects of magic principles. However, the content they were deciphering belonged to the owner of these hastily written notes, and it seemed to be their area of research.

Indeed, they came across terms like solidifier, temperature-control spell, and cleaning technique, which were written above the corresponding sections. The Duke flipped through the other pages, and each one seemed to contain fascinating and almost unheard-of information.

The owner of this notebook was clearly an eccentric individual, different from other magicians. Regular magicians wouldn’t bother studying practical magic, as it seemed absurd to manipulate something as intangible as air. Yet, Aresia couldn’t help but notice the things she had been doing coincided with the content of the notebook. It was evident that the notebook’s contents were not fabricated.

“Where did you get this magic notebook?” Duke Rogest asked, trying to come up with a believable excuse.

“I bought it from a bookstore. It was an added bonus when I purchased a book,” Aresia responded promptly. In truth, Aresia would frequently visit bookstores, often using the excuse of buying books.

Bookstores in this world didn’t just sell new books; they also bought and sold used ones. Some bookstores even sold stationery and writing instruments as well. The Duchess’s most recent visit to the bookstore was to purchase a set of blank magic notebooks.

“In the beginning, this notebook was not meant for this purpose. Originally, it was just an ordinary magic apprentice’s notebook. Its content was nothing special until one day, a drop of my blood accidentally fell onto this magic circle, and that’s when it transformed into what it is now in this world.”

Pointing at the magic circle on the cover.

“But I find the content in this notebook quite interesting. I’ve conducted some experiments, and the results have been fascinating.”

The timeline of the notebook became blurry, making it unclear whether it was made recently or ages ago.

The Duke believed Aresia’s claim that the information in the notebook was genuine. He didn’t suspect for a moment that she might be lying about it.

The Duke handed over the notebook to Arseia, saying, “Since you like it and have such a talent, don’t give up halfway.”

Aresia solemnly promised, “Of course, I won’t.”

She would never give up on magic.

After explaining all this, the Duke, satisfied with Aresia’s answers about the magic circle, ended the questioning.

“Rest now, tomorrow we’ll send you to the academy.”

Although Aresia had already completed her enrollment, it was still necessary for her to attend the academy’s ceremony. The distance between the Duke’s mansion and the academy was quite far, and Aresia didn’t have enough time to make it there on her own. So, she decided to stay at the academy after completing her enrollment directly.

Aresia hugged the magic notebook, bowed, and left the room. As she closed the door, she glanced back at the notebook, feeling a hint of guilt in her eyes.

Aresia does indeed goes to the bookstore, and the bookstore owner did give her a gift. It wasn’t just once, as she is a frequent customer of the bookstore. To attract customers, the bookstore owner often gives out complimentary items when they make a purchase. On several occasions, the gift happened to be a magical notebook.

The notebook is a new blank one, but the magic notes written inside it are fabricated by Aresia.

The notebook appears to have content, but it is actually Aresia’s own fabricated content. It contains annotations on various chapters, which were previously written and collected by her. The notebook does not have a fabricated owner’s name because the content is gathered from research conducted by numerous magicians and does not belong to a single individual.

Aresia didn’t write this extensive content in such a short period. Instead, she utilized a special magic pen that continuously extracts memory fragments and writes them down on the notebook, day and night. The notes on the notebook are intentionally designed, and the original owner is a real magic teacher whose handwriting is messier than a doctor’s.

The notebook used by Aresia is originally from the bookstore. Aresia put effort into making it look old and added a seal-like magical array on the cover that reacts to blood, disguising the notebook as one that requires blood to recognize its true content. This explains why the bookstore owner gave it as a gift, but others have not seen the content of this notebook.

Aresia is not afraid of the Duke sending someone to investigate the notebook. When she visited the bookstore, she specifically bought more notebooks, but she took the opportunity to secretly alter the bookstore owner’s memory. This ensured that the owner would genuinely believe they gave her an insignificant second-hand magical notebook.

Unless a magician stronger than Aresia examines it, nobody would suspect that the bookstore owner’s memory has been altered. Aresia has no worries about the Duke sending someone to investigate.

Overall, this plan is not without flaws, but the flaws are quite subtle.

The origin of the solidifying agent magical array used to explain the lucky find of the magical notebook cannot be explained by the limited power of the magical pen.

Normally, even if Aresia had enough time to create a solidifier within this short period, she would not be able to construct a combined array formation consisting of four magic circles.

If Duke Rogest understood this point, and they should have noticed this issue within a short time.

Aresia cast a confusion spell on them, preventing them from realizing this problem. Subconsciously, they recognized that their daughter had been researching this topic for a while, and they themselves possessed the same capability.

She used a memory confusion spell on the bookstore owner, a spell that affected the soul. Despite Aresia not removing it, they continued to believe it, even though others expressed doubt. They remained steadfast in their conviction that Aresia was the only one capable of the magic’s effects, unless someone stronger than her, like the Duke, could break its continuous effect.

Aresia felt guilty for this and wanted to resolve the issue without arousing suspicion from the Duke. She knew that once the Duchess returned, she would present a meaningful “gift” to resolve the situation.