Byblos did not stop at shouting, he also took the pen and paper that Perdes was holding.
Squeak, he ripped the paper because he had been holding it so roughly. Black ink splattered from the nib, leaving a stain on the table.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Why are you doing this?”
Byblos, with his eyes wide open, thrust the torn paper in front of Perdes' eyes and asked.
“Do you know what this is when you draw it?”
Before Perdes could answer, his words continued.
“Oh, you don’t know. That’s why you came to me, right?”
This time, Perdes did not answer, but he clicked his tongue and scratched his head as if he was greatly annoyed by Byblos's arbitrary decision.
“Ignorance is bliss, but isn’t this too brave? Trying to draw a magic circle without even knowing what it is? What if the magic circle is activated?”
“That won’t happen.”
“How would you know that? It could have been infused with mana without even realizing it.”
“That means that won’t happen. I don’t have mana.”
There was silence for a moment.
Byblos looked at Perdes blankly as if he had lost his mind, and then asked back.
“What did you just... say?”
“I said there was no mana.”
"Lie."
Perdes laughed in vain at the firm denial.
He's not a party involved, so why is Byblos saying something like that?
If he knew Perdes well, he wouldn't know, but since he didn't, it was even more absurd.
As Perdes was about to say with certainty that he was not lying, Byblos suddenly approached him and sniffed at Perdes' body odor like a dog.
“What are you doing now?”
Perdes frowned at the extremely unpleasant behavior and pushed Byblos away.
“That’s not my taste, so go look somewhere else.”
Byblos also frowned as if in displeasure.
“Do you think I’m a pervert?”
“Wasn’t it? I thought it was because you suddenly came up to me and sniffed me.”
“It’s for another reason!”
“What other reasons are there?”
When Perdes said something along the lines of, 'I don't believe there's another reason, but I'll give it a listen,' Byblos, whose blood pressure rose, grabbed the back of his neck.
But he can't say anything because he also knows very well that his actions just now were very misleading.
But that is...
“That’s because you lied!”
When Byblos protested as if it was unfair, Perdes sighed.
The story is back to square one.
“I don’t know why you think I’m lying, but I really don’t have mana.”
“You smell like second-rate shit, but you don’t have mana?”
Second-rate. One of the words used to refer to non-humans, such as elves and dragons.
But you say my body smells like second-rate stuff?
Perdes blinked, bewildered by the words he had never heard before.
Byblos, seeing his reaction, also felt something was strange and asked.
“You really don’t have any mana?”
Perdes nodded.
“Not even second-rate?”
“As far as I know, both my parents are human.”
“Then what is this smell?”
Byblos leaned his face toward Perdes again and sniffed.
Perdes flinched at the unnecessarily close distance, but he knew that Byblos had no strange intentions, so he did not avoid him or push him away.
“Did you have a different race among your ancestors? No. If you did, it wouldn’t have smelled so strong.”
Byblos tilted his head and asked and answered to himself.
“The fact that it smells this strong means that either the person in question is second-rate or there are second-rate people around them... Is your lover second-rate?”
Perdes was about to say no but then remembered that Adele had been blessed by the red dragon
'No way.'
Adele was simply blessed but did not inherit the dragon's blood.
So he figured it had nothing to do with it, but you never know.
“What? Something seems to be bothering you?”
What should I do? Should I ask or not?
“That part is private.”
Perdes, who was worried that asking this question would require revealing his identity, chose not to reveal it.
To be exact, he chose not to rush in before asking Adele.
“I don’t think we’ll need that information to uncover the true nature of this magic circle.”
Byblos picked it up and laughed.
“So it sounds like you’re admitting that what I said was right.”
“Think as you wish. The important thing is that I have no mana.”
“Yeah, that seems to be it. When I smelled it again, I couldn’t smell anything second-rate.”
“Does mana smell?”
This is the first time he's heard of this story.
Is it because you are a great sage that you can feel it?
When Perdes asked in a puzzled manner, Byblos smiled meaningfully and put his index finger to his lips.
“This is my private life, and it is not information needed to reveal the identity of the magic circle, so I will not tell you.”
And when he returned the quote he had said, Perdes, who had nothing to say, closed his mouth.
“You can keep drawing it since you don’t have mana, but you should know what it is and draw it so that later on when you hear the truth, you won’t blame me for not telling you in advance, so let me tell you.”
Byblos showed the paper with the magic circle drawn on it back to Perdes and spoke gravely.
“This is a magic circle for Diabolos.”
"Yes."
Since it was a fact he already knew, Perdes answered calmly.
Then Byblos asked in amazement.
“Do you not know what Diabolos is?”
“I know.”
“But why aren’t you surprised?”
“Well, I already knew that. I was really surprised at first.”
"Ha."
Even though you knew everything, you tried to draw this magic circle.
Byblos clicked his tongue and shook his head.
He felt it from the moment he first met him, but this guy...
“This is no ordinary bet.”
“I will take that as a compliment.”
Perdes responded lightly and then asked.
“So, do you know what this magic circle is used for?”
"I don't know."
Byblos looked down at the magic circle drawn on the paper.
“I knew this was a magic circle for Diabolos because of the phrase written on it. The only race that uses this phrase in their magic circles is demons.”
"Yes."
Even the great sage doesn't know?
Perdes sighed deeply inwardly.
The disappointment was as great as he had expected.
“Just in case, try completing it. It might be something I know by some miracle.”
Byblos took out a new sheet of paper and handed it to Perdes. The old one was torn and could no longer be drawn on.
Perdes also agreed with his words and obediently drew a magic circle on paper.
When the magic circle was finally completed, Byblos looked at it carefully and asked.
“Can you tell me when, where, and under what circumstances you discovered this magic circle?”
“I discovered the magic circle...”
Perdes explained the situation at the time, cleverly leaving out the part about Adele's connection to the Duke of Leopold.
Even after hearing the whole story, Byblos sighed softly and shook his head, still feeling uneasy.
“I don’t know. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can help you with this.”
“Is there any other way to find out about this magic circle?”
“None. There’s no way other guys would know something I don’t know.”
It was a very unfortunate statement, but he had to admit it.
Because Byblos was a great sage.
It is no exaggeration to say that he is the best in this field.
"Yes."
Having come a long way and not having obtained any information, Perdes swallowed a bitter smile and stood up, holding the paper with the magic circle drawn on it.
“I’ll be going now. Thank you for taking the time.”
Now that his business was over, he would never see him again, but Perdes greeted him politely and left the lab, then went straight back to his quarters.
And he explained everything to Gnosis, who was waiting for him in the room.
Gnosis sighed deeply at the news that even Byblos had not discovered the identity of the magic circle.
“I thought even the great sage wouldn’t know... It’s really a shame.”
"I know."
Perdes also swallowed his regret and set fire to the paper.
It would be better to burn these things right away because they might cause strange misunderstandings if seen by others.
As Perdes watched the paper burn away, leaving behind only a pile of pitch-black ash, he suddenly remembered something he was curious about and asked Gnosis.
“Gnosis, is there such a thing as the smell of mana?”
“Huh? It smells?”
Gnosis tilted his head.
“It’s okay if you don’t know.”
When Perdes waved his hand, taking it to mean that he was hearing it for the first time, Gnosis waved his hand back.
“No, I didn’t mean I didn’t know.”
“So you know?”
“Should I say I know this, or should I say I don’t...”
What is this ambiguous reaction?
As Perdes looked at his incomprehensible actions, Gnosis scratched his head and continued speaking.
“Did you know that each mana has its own unique characteristics, to the point that mana can be called a second identification card for wizards?”
"Huh."
“Usually, that trait is distinguished by aura, but I have heard that some races distinguish it by smell.”
“Is that race perhaps an elf?”
When Perdes asked, remembering that Byblos was a half-elf and half-human, Gnosis shook his head.
“It’s not an elf, it’s a dragon.”
...What?
“I heard from the person I met at the ruins of Ethymos that among the different races, dragons are the only ones who can distinguish mana by smell.”
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