Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 48: Monitoring Magic Circle
When Astrid and Charlotte arrived at Jones Farm on the outskirts, Lucas's servants remained nearby as before, restricting easy entry and exit for others.
However, due to the vast expanse of the deactivated land, the servants did not approach to greet them.
Instead, they retreated to a relatively remote corner.
"Lady Charlotte, this is the place I mentioned," Astrid said, having just finished flying.
As her feet touched the ground, she took a moment to steady herself before relaying her findings to Charlotte.
"Lucas placed some lambs in sacks, shoveled dirt over them, and buried them alive. Afterward, the land returned to normal for a while."
Astrid, who knew the truth behind this, understood that it was the underground monster absorbing the life force of the lambs.
However, the method by which the monster absorbed the life force was so subtle that even she could not detect any evidence of its presence or activity.
Hearing that Lucas was using this sacrificial method to restore the land's vitality, Charlotte frowned slightly but remained silent.
She gently inserted the end of her staff into the ground and began channeling her mental power to explore beneath the surface.
Five meters, ten meters, twenty meters... 100 meters, 200 meters...
Charlotte extended her mental power nearly a thousand meters underground, reaching almost to the bedrock, yet she found no trace of any lifeforms.
Such a large-scale deactivation of land could only be the work of a powerful magic circle, likely requiring the combined efforts of multiple magicians.
"This is strange," Charlotte muttered, turning her staff clockwise with her palm.
In an instant, the Arcanist's surging mental power shifted from a vertical to a horizontal spread, quickly covering most of the fields.
Magnus Velrik, who had been meditating, sensed the sudden surge of mental power and immediately opened his eyes, his face filled with shock.
"Such a powerful fluctuation of mental energy... An Arcanist?"
Velrik quickly straightened up, silently reciting the incantation for the Visionary Technique.
His eyes focused intently on the source of the mental energy.
Through his spell, he saw a black-haired woman dressed in a mage's robe, holding a staff and frowning slightly.
Beside her stood a noblewoman with silver hair, clad in an elegant black dress.
Astrid... and Charlotte...
As a prominent figure in the Valeria Empire and one of the pioneers of modern magical energy equipment, using magic circles to improve the lives of ordinary people, Charlotte was well-known.
Velrik, who frequently operated in the imperial capital, had seen her before.
Just as Velrik prepared to continue observing the two, Charlotte suddenly looked up, her light brown eyes locking onto his location with a cold gaze.
In the next moment, Velrik felt a sharp, blinding light pierce his eyes.
He instinctively shut his eyelids, but the searing pain had already penetrated deep into his eyeballs, causing his Visionary Technique to fail immediately.
Satisfied, Charlotte exhaled softly and shifted her gaze away.
In the mage world, using remote observation spells to spy on others, especially without permission, was considered highly disrespectful.
Charlotte's response was merely a warning; next time, the consequences would be far more severe than a momentary sting.
Having dealt with the unwanted observer, Charlotte returned her attention to the deactivated land, continuing her inspection with her mental power.
Yet, the results remained the same as before: aside from the guards stationed around the perimeter, there was no sign of any other lifeforms in the entire farmland.
"This is the first time I've encountered such a perplexing situation," Charlotte murmured, her tone grave and serious as she ceased the flow of mental energy.
Charlotte, an Arcanist specializing in magic circles and magical devices, found herself at a loss when confronted with this strange phenomenon clearly tied to life and death.
Despite her expertise, she could find no clear entry point to unravel the mystery.
There were no magic circles, no elemental involvement, no fluctuations of magic.
The land beneath their feet seemed to have been altered by something that defied natural laws, shortening life infinitely and extending death infinitely.
"Why do you say that?" Astrid asked softly.
Charlotte shared her thoughts with Astrid, who nodded thoughtfully.
"Lady Charlotte, are you suggesting that the rules of this place may have changed?"
Charlotte hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. "That's unlikely..."
Creatures or objects capable of altering the world's rules, even temporarily, are only mentioned in legends, such as the Elven Fountain of Immortality or the burial grounds of dragons.
These entities possess mysterious powers that even modern human magic cannot fully explain.
"It feels similar, but I don't believe it's tied to the rules."
The scale and impact of this phenomenon fell far short of such legendary forces.
Charlotte suspected that there might be details she had overlooked or aspects that couldn't be directly observed through elemental vision.
"Is it possible that there's some kind of monster or resentful spirit underground, absorbing the life force of others?" Astrid suggested, trying to guide Charlotte toward the truth.
Such a theory wasn't unfounded, and Astrid hoped to steer Charlotte in the right direction.
"Hmm—" Charlotte pressed the back of her hand to her lips, deep in thought.
"It's not impossible, but I didn't detect any presence. Unless its very existence could exert such influence even without being physically present."
Historical records, such as the 'Wrathful Undead Incident', described a monster that had built a nest underground, driving undead creatures to roam the fields and spread death.
This suggested that the creature hadn't moved in later but had always existed beneath the surface.
Even Charlotte, an Arcanist, couldn't detect its traces, indicating that the origin of this monster was far from ordinary.
It was a pity that in her previous life, Astrid had never completed the novel 'The Innocent Knight of the Stained Light'.
As a result, Astrid knew nothing about the plot beyond Lyra's promotion to Master Knight and had no idea what deeper secrets this monster might hold.
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After a brief stay in the field, Charlotte advised Astrid to wait and observe further before making any decisions.
"Lady Charlotte, could you set up a retrospective enchantment nearby? That way, we can detect any changes in the land as soon as they occur," Astrid suggested.
A retrospective enchantment, an intermediate arcane spell, would record all events within its range.
The caster could store these recordings in a magic crystal before the spell ended, functioning somewhat like a 3D projector in the real world.
Astrid's intention wasn't merely to document the land's mutations but to prevent Lucas from acting recklessly.
With the retrospective enchantment in place, he would think twice before attempting anything underhanded, making it harder for him to carry out the dark deeds described in the book.
Setting up a retrospective barrier for recording in front of Velrik, Astrid noticed the corner of the man's mouth twitch, clearly taken aback by the imperial princess's audacity in establishing such a circle without Prince Lucas' consent.
However, mindful of Astrid's status and the formidable mage-level prowess of Countess Charlotte by her side, Velrik could only force a smile and allow the circle to be engraved.
Once the barrier was in place, Astrid instructed Velrik to inform Lucas of her actions and to share some of the intelligence Charlotte had gleaned from her psychic search and analysis.
"Her Highness Astrid walks slowly..."
Watching the two figures recede into the distance, Velrik's gaze was complex.
He turned to order the servants to maintain the cordon, then crushed the signal indicating Lucas' location and departed Jones Farm in the direction of the prince.
Meanwhile, Charlotte cast the high-level spell Wind Wings and gently queried Astrid as they ascended.
"Little Astr, is the circle you had me set truly just for monitoring land changes?"
Charlotte had subtly added an extra layer to the regression enchantment, enabling it to secretly destroy itself after three days while continuing to record all events at the scene.
If mere observation of anomalies was the goal, such a secondary spell would have been unnecessary.
Feeling the wind tug at her silver hair, Astrid smoothed her skirt and pressed down her long locks, responding softly.
"Of course not."
Her intentions were twofold: to deter Lucas from any sacrificial gambits through her overt display, and to hedge against the eldest prince's potential recklessness.
Should her royal Lady in the camp fail to report or expose him, or if the magic circle were destroyed, Astrid could still use this delayed-damage retrospective enchantment to gather evidence.
"Velrik isn't new to this mission. I suspect he knows more than he's letting on, hence the surveillance."
Astrid's words ostensibly referred to Velrik, but she subtly conveyed her distrust of Lucas, hinting that he might be withholding crucial information.
Hearing this, Charlotte's understanding of Astrid deepened, and her earlier concerns began to dissipate.
Admittedly, when Astrid had summoned her to survey the land, Charlotte had momentarily doubted the sincerity of Astrid's promise to keep her distance from Lucas.
