NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20: Proof of Lineage
２０． Proof of Lineage
"That's the gist of the situation, ask Sofia for the details." said Platy as she left the room like a storm.
There was only Sofia and I left behind in the room.
「… Uhm.」
I really had no idea how to call out to Sofia who was standing dumbfoundedly in place.
I noticed that our relationship had changed thanks to my contract with Ante.
It feels awkward.
Waay too awkward.
It felt as awkward as when we discovered a senior child in the orphanage bed-wetting his bed. This reminds me, that I also forgot about the name of that senior child…
When I was having a nostalgia in trying to recall my worm-eaten memories of my previous life, Sofia finally turned around.「――Well then, Jilbagias-sama. Let's start our magic lesson.」
Said Sofia as she fixed the position of her monocle with the usual crisp look on her face.
… She got over it already!
「Understood.」
I guess I had nothing to say in this regard as someone who was sympathizing with her.
「We shall participate in that lesson too.」
And yet, Ante left my body again―― and sat on my lap since there were no chairs left. Sofia whose state had just returned to normal was starting to tremble like a newborn calf again.
「Stop teasing the poor girl.」
I mean, look at that pitiful girl. And when I dropped a hand chop on the head of Ante who sat on my lap, 「For a mere mortal whose lifespan equals the same as an insect to me…! To strike Mine's head…! What a humiliation,」 it only ended up with her getting excited instead.
This fella… Rather than a pervert, she might be in fact a bi―― No, let's stop that dangerous train of thought. By the way, I noticed that my power had increased slightly. So landing a chop on the head of a Demon God was a taboo, eh… Sofia who witnessed the entire process had already started blowing bubbles from her mouth.
Ante, you've no choice but to back down in this matter. I couldn't have my lesson after all.
†††
And then, regarding magic.
「There're many ways to refer to 『Magic』, from miracle to curse but, all of them are in fact still part of magic itself.」
Sofia who regained her composure after Ante went back into my body was explaining in her usual easy to understand way.
「In the future, Jilbagias-sama will learn various kinds of magic too. But, the one you've to learn right now is your hereditary magic, otherwise known as―― Lineage magic.」
「… Magic that is inherited with blood, eh.」
「Yes. It's magic that's being passed down for generations within the clan.」
The human race had something similar to that. Tightly guarded miracle, or secret arts.
「So, does that mean every demon race has been using their own lineage magic?」
「Not everyone. Only those noble families with a long history and certain status had such magic.」
Ante inside my body scoffed upon hearing that.
Maybe she knew that the demon race was nothing more than a savage tribe a few hundred of years ago. Thus, calling those families as 『Noble』 sounds like a joke to her.
「And My Lady's clan, Reiju is one of those 『Noble』 families. Naturally, the same goes for His Majesty Gordesgias-sama, he's also from a noble family.」
「―― Proof of lineage. In short, all I've to do is learn the two lineage magic from both families.」
「Correct.」
Bring it on. At first, I thought that I was blessed since birth but, it turned out I could even use two inherent magic in the demon race. This will be a huge boost when I fight the demon king.
「So… what kind of magic are they?」
I quickly asked while suppressing my excitement.
When I fought the demon king during the assault tactic―― It was vexing but I couldn't even force that guy to go all out. Especially because he didn't seem to need some sort of spell. He easily brushed aside all of our interference with pure magic resistance and slaughtered all of us with brute force.
「The lineage magic of the Orgi clan, the tribe where His Majesty, the Demon King comes from is【Name】.」
What the heck is that?
「It's magic that strengthens oneself by introducing yourself before the battle.」
Ah, come to think of it, the demon king did manage to intercept us after saying 「We're the demon king, Gordesgias!」, it turned out to be that kind of magic eh… That time, I thought that his presence had become more pronounced but…
That bastard turned out to have such a trick in his sleeve. And we simply failed to notice that.
「Magic of 【Name】 is learned by receiving the initiation from the Orgi clan, or His Majesty, the Demon King himself. Even a devil of knowledge such as myself has no idea how it's inherited.」
Sofia said so with a vexed look on her face. Well, it was only natural for a devil of knowledge to want to know more about lineage magic.
「Next is the lineage magic passed down in My Lady's clan, the Reiju clan, the truth is―― The truth is, Reiju clan is an extremely distinguished family responsible for medical treatment, they're responsible for treatment in all of the demon race in the demon kingdom.」
！？
Medical treatment!?
Platy was… A DOCTOR!?
Dark folks shouldn't be able to use healing magic though!?
「And the reason for that is their ability to use their lineage magic, 【Transpose Curse】.」
「Transpose curse, so it's a curse?」
「Extremely powerful one. It's a kind of sympathetic magic that 『Transpose』 your injury, or another person's injury toward a different person.」
That was―― rather than healing, it's more like――
「Forcing one's injury or illness to another person, huh.」
「Correct.」
… Okay, I understand now.
It wasn't something like 『Miracle』 of healing, it was more like a curse befitting of dark folks…
「But, if they have such convenient magic, how in the world did they fail to safe the first demon king?」
The first demon king, Raohgias was in fact killed by the human race.
He received a stab with a dense amount of holy attribute in the moment of carelessness in the battle, and every wound was the reason why he kicked the bucket.
And yet, how in the world did they fail to save Raohgias with such a convenient curse? Could it be that the transpose curse couldn't be used to a wound with a holy attribute?
「The target for the transpose curse must be one own's subordinate, people who are related strongly to the user or living things under their control.」
Sofia explained so.
「In fact, all members of the Reiju clan were trying their best to treat His Majesty, the 1st Demon King's wound back then but, none of them could bypass the 1st Demon King's natural magic resistance. In short, His Majesty's body itself reject all kind of outside curse.」
… The first demon King had outstanding magical power. In short, his own high magic resistance had finally backfired on him. This means that it wasn't as versatile as 『Miracle』.
Serves you right, bas*tard.
「In a certain meaning, His Majesty should be safe and sound as long as the transpose magic is successful.」
If that was the case, suppose that there was a Demon King who could literally reflect the wound inflicted to him back to his opponent, that must be the birth of the history's strongest demon king…
… Eh?
That's really useful, eh? Someone from the Reiju clan should be able to do that.
「Could it be that Reiju clan is an extremely powerful clan?」
「Yes. In fact, they're one of the most influential clans in the demon kingdom.」
Sofia replied with an indifferent look on her face.
「Reiju clan has never lost against a clan with weaker magical power than them. But in the case of an equally powerful opponent, unless the other party deliberately received it, or the user comes up with a clever plan to use the curse, the curse basically wouldn't be able to bypass the magic resistance of their opponent.」
A clever scheme, eh…
Hey, Ante.
『It seems there's a really interesting way to utilize this magic…』
The Demon God replied with an extremely bad smile on her face.
「But, that Reiju clan―― has weakened for a period of time due to their failure in saving the 1st Demon King.」
A~h.
It was easy to imagine such a situation.
The other clans most likely banded together to criticize the Reiju clan's failure.
「Thus, Platyfia-sama's marriage ended up delayed for quite a bit. Considering her contribution to the demon kingdom, it's not strange if she's the first on the Demon King's wife's list.」
… So the wedding was postponed due to the incident with the 1st Demon King.
So that was the reason behind her bizarre obsession…
―― The sound of footsteps resounded.
「Jilbagias! I'll teach you how to use our lineage magic.」
That moment, the person whose name I just mentioned in my heart made her appearance.
「Have you heard Sofia's explanation about lineage magic?」
「Yes, mother. I just received the explanation about Reiju clan's transpose curse.」
「Great. The wise you should've understood, right? The potential of our clan. You, who inherited the lineage of Reiju clan and His Majesty's lineage―― Have the qualification to become the strongest Demon King in history.」
After closing the door, Platy unleashed her mana in the room and recited a spell.
With a snap, I felt the change in the air.
「Soundproof barrier.」
And then, Platy took out the portable spear that she always tucked in her belt.
「The inheritance of transpose curse is simple… You just need to receive the curse.」
Platy revealed a gentle and lovely smile as she brushed the blade of her spearhead.
「It's faster than the original plan but, you'll eventually taste the pain of the battlefield anyway.」
… Crap, I got a really bad feeling about this.
I more or less have some resistance to pain.
But, the painful thing was still painful! No one likes to be hurt!
「Prepare yourself.」
The moment she said so, Platy stabbed the palm of her hand with the spearhead in her other hand.
Thus, the spearhead easily tore through the palm of her hand.
But, that amount of pain only managed to make Platy's eyebrows twitch―― It wasn't even enough to make the savage smile on her face crumble.
「That look really painful, mother.」
「Yes. But, you should be able to endure this level of pain――【Metaphysics(Transpose)】」
The next moment, I felt a scorching hot pain running through my right hand.