“What did you just say you’re going to eat?”

“No!”

No sooner had Estella spoken than Ciel recoiled in horror and objected, while the Squirrels repeated her words in disbelief. Of all things, to say she would eat a monster’s heart! And not just any, but Zuhara’s heart, enough to make one gag just by looking at it?

She had said Zuhara’s corpse was necessary, but to think she actually meant to eat it! The Squirrels turned pale, as if they had seen a ghost.

Airi cautiously drew back the magic circle holding Zuhara’s heart, while Lily, gagging, spread her arms like a scarecrow to block it.

“Put it down for now. I’ll explain from here.”

At Estella’s command, Airi glanced at Ciel and shook her head. Normally, he would have obeyed Estella instantly, even from his sleep, but this time he still wore a fearful expression.

Seeing the Squirrels’ firm resistance, Estella oddly felt pleased. It meant they truly worried about her.

But she had to convince them.

“If I eat Zuhara’s heart, I’ll become much stronger than I am now.”

Estella spoke firmly with a meaningful expression. But the Squirrels only stared at her more bewildered than before.

Defeating Zuhara in combat had been nearly impossible, and research on it was so scarce compared to other monsters that one could say it barely existed. To people, Zuhara was still an unknown terror.

“Who said such nonsense! It might be poisonous—why would you eat it!”

To Ciel, it looked only like Estella was acting recklessly on false information. Airi seemed to give up and began preparing to freeze the heart again. At her side, Lily urged, “Burn it, burn it so she can’t eat it!” and Estella’s urgency grew.

“Do you think anyone knows as much about Zuhara as I do? You only just learned its heart moves around inside its body. And who but me knew the Abyss Mirror was the only way to see it?”

Of course. Proper research on Zuhara wouldn’t even begin until ten years later, and the discovery of the heart’s properties wouldn’t come until five years after that.

According to those results, Zuhara’s heart was unlike that of ordinary creatures: divided into three parts, with crystalline structures called “mana cores” finely developed between the muscle tissue of each part. If a human consumed it, the cores forcibly unlocked the mana receptors dissolved in the blood.

Normally, mana receptors only opened at birth, which determined who could become a mage. For ordinary people they remained closed, making magic impossible. Zuhara’s heart broke that lock.

In the past, when Aslan had eaten Zuhara’s heart, he had gained the ability to use magic, eventually killed even Archmage Telior, and finally seized the Tower Lord’s seat. With the empire’s greatest power and strength, Aslan became an unstoppable existence.

As far as Estella knew, the only Zuhara in the empire was this one in Belzram. Zuhara was hermaphroditic, lived a hundred years, and bore exactly one offspring. Since the one Estella had slain had not yet borne one, she had ended its line.

Looking at Estella’s determined face, Ciel realized her resolve could not be broken. It felt hopeless, but there was still one possible way.

“So you truly mean to eat it?”

At his grave question, Estella nodded again. Ciel heaved a deep sigh.

“Then I’ll taste it first.”

He volunteered to be the poison-taster.

At his answer, Estella fell into thought.

She only needed to eat one of the heart’s three parts. She could give one to Ciel. If he ate it, Aslan could never poison him. The last one, she intended for Luka.

She felt both curious and excited to see what results the different mana cores would bring to three different people.

“All right. But you must not spit it out partway.”

Estella glared as she spoke, and though Ciel flinched, he slowly nodded.

“Boss!”

“You absolutely mustn’t! There is no official research on Zuhara! No one can guarantee the result!”

Even the usually calm Kyle stepped in to object. Lily and Bruno were no less agitated. Only Airi and Haru remained silent.

It was nothing unusual for Airi, who rarely showed emotion, but it was strange for the cautious Haru to keep quiet.

“Haru! Talk some sense into the boss!”

Lily shook his shoulder, raising her voice. But—

“She has a point.”

His calm reply was nothing like what the Squirrels had hoped for.

“Hey!”

“Why are you saying this too?”

While the Squirrels panicked, Estella’s eyes gleamed as she turned to him. Being half-elf, perhaps Haru had heard more about monsters than humans had.

“In Elkram there’s a legend about Zuhara.”

Elkram was the elf village where Haru had been born and raised. Though his mother’s love for a human and his own birth had turned the village upside down, thanks to his grandfather, the chieftain, he had been able to live there until adulthood.

“The legend said, if you ate Zuhara’s heart, you’d gain unmatched strength. One of our ancestors fought and defeated Zuhara, ate its heart, and gained its power. His name was Assuram.”

Assuram had been an elf, a remarkable mage and warrior. His fame spread not only among humans but also other races. But he had lived 150 years ago. It was a story passed down like legend, and who knew how exaggerated it was.

To the Squirrels, it sounded as absurd as a fairy tale, but to Estella it was confirmation.

At last—

“Bring me the heart, Airi.”

Estella ordered again, and Airi, with no choice, presented the foul-smelling lump before her.

Srrrk, srrrk.

Using Airi’s magic circle as a cutting board, Estella set the heart down and began slicing. Her hands moved skillfully. For a noble young lady who should have had no experience dissecting monsters or butchering cattle, her knife-work was unhesitant.

“I’ll do it.”

“No. I have to.”

Ciel reached out, but Estella refused firmly. Someone ignorant of the heart’s structure might easily ruin the crucial mana cores.

As she cut through the thick outer wall, the muscle divided into three sections appeared, like the segments of a peeled orange.

Drawing on memories of past research records, Estella felt a strange joy at seeing in reality what she had only read about.

“Whoa! It’s real! Three parts! How did you know this?”

“Be quiet! And move your big head, I can’t see with you in the way!”

Lily shoved Bruno’s huge head aside in irritation, while Airi sat right beside Estella, watching intently from the front row.

A moment ago they had all been shouting against it, but curiosity got the better of the Squirrels, and they crowded in like schoolchildren peering at a new toy.

Only Lily still had her nostrils stuffed with scraps of cloth, but even she had long since lost to curiosity.

Skkk, skkk.

Estella’s knife kept working. Peeling back the surface of muscle, she revealed the mana cores, embedded like pearls in a shell.

“Ooooh!”

“I said be quiet!”

Each time Estella cut, Bruno’s exclamations made Lily snap, her patience finally worn through.

Ignoring the noise, Estella carefully pried free the first core.

Crunch!

It tore free with a sound, clumps of Zuhara’s dark red heart muscle still clinging to it.

In total, Estella obtained three mana cores.

The navy-colored one, glowing with heavy light, detoxified all kinds of poisons lingering in the body.

The earthy-colored second one multiplied existing mana and maximized magical efficiency.

And the last, glowing blood-red, had the alluring ability to forcibly open closed mana receptors, granting magic even to those not born with it.

This was the one Estella wanted.

Imagining fire spouting from her palm like a flamethrower, she couldn’t help but smile brightly.

From the three cleaned cores, Estella handed the navy one to Ciel.

“If you eat this, Aslan won’t be able to kill you with ordinary poison.”

Ciel still looked doubtful as he received it.

“What are you waiting for? Not eating it? Should I go first?”

At her words, he put the core, about the size of a jawbreaker, into his mouth and chewed. Contrary to expectation, what seemed hard instead chewed soft like caramel.

Estella had expected him to grimace, but his face remained calm. Apparently it wasn’t so bad.

Estella quickly put the blood-red mana core in her mouth and chewed.

“Ugh!”

It felt like chewing a lump of clotted blood, and her face twisted in disgust. At that, Ciel too furrowed his eyes and shuddered.

Realizing he had only pretended to be fine to tease her, Estella glared at him, but it was no use.

After several gags, both managed to swallow their cores.

After Estella departed for Belzram, Luka had practically lived in Gerard’s laboratory.

Gerard always grumbled as if Luka’s visits were a nuisance, but he still answered each question with great effort.

“Kid! You’ve been coming three times a day lately!”

“I’m sorry, Master Mage. If it’s not rude, could I just—”

“Come in, come in! Just get in already, why so many words?”

By now they had spent enough time together to be at ease, but unlike Estella, who had called him “hey, you!” from the start, Luka was overly polite. It was endearing, but sometimes stifling.

At Gerard’s permission, Luka bowed politely in thanks and entered the laboratory.

The new lab, awarded to Gerard as a reward, was far larger than the semi-basement near the forge, and he alone could use all three floors.

“So, what are you here to ask today?”

Gerard crossed his arms and leaned back as he watched Luka open his notebook neatly. Geniuses recognize geniuses!

Gerard found the process of tackling Luka’s questions together highly enjoyable.

“Actually, I think I might have discovered something.”

“What is it?”

At Luka’s cautious words, Gerard leaned in with great interest.

Chapter 156

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