The Prince Of Magic

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Silence reigned upon their side as Hadrian and his retainers processed the ill news dropped upon their l.a.p.s.

Charles, Dia and Arturia, being good-natured knights they are, looked the grimmest by his former mentor's answer.

Hadrian, on the other hand, remained calm as he pondered about the new info.

"Hmm… it makes sense now." Hadrian began, almost absently. "No wonder the people that were kidnapped were found already dead with no fatal wounds."

And it was true.

From all the reports of casualties he read regarding the murder cases, most victims that had been kidnapped were found dead yet their bodies remained unblemished. There were some exceptions, but most bodies that mage groups had come across were left untouched.

They have unknown rune symbols drawn across their bodies, painted in fresh blood, but other than that, there were no signs of the victims' bodies being violated.

It was something that caught most mages in a stump as they try to make sense of the matter.

A sigh from his former mentor snapped Hadrian out of his thoughts.

"That's right." Lord El-Melloi agreed, looking a bit weary. "They had some injuries, but not to the point that it was grievous."

"Then, what of the ones that were killed horribly?" Charles asked, a scowl on his face.

"They were the ones that resisted. Well, tried, I suppose, since they ended up dead anyways." Lord El-Melloi II shrugged, turning to the retainer. "The ones with no fatal injuries were hypnotized, so that they can't resist throughout the process of the rituals. An effective method to use especially against the normal folk."

Due to the lack of magic circuits in their bodies, the normal folk (ordinary humans) are easily susceptible to magecraft.

Even the weakest of spells, a normal human would not be able to resist the effects of a spell before he or she would succ.u.mb to it.

Whereas an average mage has a higher chance of breaking through the effects of a spell, possibly even become immune, depending on the quality and quantity of their magic circuits.

Hadrian himself was part of the latter group, considering as he has an unnaturally high resistance to most spells to most modern magecraft.

He has his lineage (Lucis and Schweinorg), magic circuits and that one other thing to thank for that.

For example, the Gandr spell has an effect that decreases one's health.

If a normal human was hit with the spell in question, they would immediately feel its effects and become ill. If they were repeatedly hit with it, their condition would plummet from healthy to sick within a record time.

An average mage would also be affected, but not as much as a normal human would. It would several charge Gandr shot to thoroughly make a magus sick.

Hadrian, on the other hand, would be immune to the spell's effects.

A magically charged Gandr would still hurt him physically, probably in a way a light punch to the arm would feel, but his condition would not be affected. It would be a different matter if the spell was on the level of a powerful Noble Phantasm, but the spells produced in the modern era (without any special characteristics) had never been a concern to him for some reason.

'It's probably due to my lineage. The Lucis do have a significant amount of divinity in their blood and soul. That, and probably because of that guy…' Hadrian mused, thinking of a certain king in mind.

Beside him, Hadrian noticed his female retainer prepare herself to speak.

"And the ones that resisted?" Arturia asked, frowning slightly.

"The few autopsies we did have found that they were beaten or drugged into submission." Lord El-Melloi II answered. "Some groups looking into these murder cases discovered a few victims, alive but seconds away on the brink of death. The teams could barely make out what the victims were saying, half-conscious and delirious as they are. They tried to heal them, but the damage was done."

Lord El-Melloi II took a moment to finish his second cigarette before he held it in between his fingers.

"As you know, normal folks lack the magic circuits to necessarily produce prana in their bodies." He lectured, depositing the cigarette into the ashtray that was almost full. "Therefore, with these rituals, instead of prana, their life-force are the ones that was depleted. And when that happens, the body would be the only thing left behind while the soul has disappeared, making them a soulless husk. The human would enter a state that was alive but dead at the same time. So, even if the victims' bodies were healed, they would remain unresponsive."

"Not only that, their minds were also destroyed. Chances are, they probably lost their senses of who they are. Saving them would be pointless at that point." Reines pitched in, daintily sipping her tea.

Charles and Arturia appeared like they want to snap at Reines for her nonchalant attitude to human lives, but had thought better of it.

As gentle as her voice and demeanor might seem, the young woman was still a magus by heart and mind.

And magi were known for their ability to regard others in a cold outlook. Lies, manipulation and bearing an uncaring attitude to the safety of the normal folk was a common thing for most mages.

Their liege was no exception to this, but at the very least, Hadrian and his family have morals and boundaries they limit themselves to.

The princess of El-Melloi II, however, was the opposite.

Reines might be favorable towards Lord El-Melloi II in present time, but there was no telling of what might happen should she suspect the man of betrayal.

Knowing of his circ.u.mstances, Charles, Arturia and Dia held their tongue, silencing their own opinions to prevent themselves from causing more Lord El-Melloi II than necessary.

Instead, the retainers turned their gazes away from the El-Melloi princes and back to the former student and teacher.

"Moving on, what was the thing Blair was investigating?" Hadrian asked.

Rather than answering him, Lord El-Melloi II turned his head to the stacks of paperwork beside him and reached in with his hand.

After a few moments later of rummaging, he picked up a book with a black leather cover before throwing it lightly in front of Hadrian on the table.

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