Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System

Chapter 336: Chapter 73: The Voice After the Sword

He slid down the wall like a rag doll, his head lolling lifelessly. His eyes were shut tight, and a shocking trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, a gruesome streak against his pale face.

He had lost consciousness completely, slumped motionless in the corner.

The young woman didn’t even glance at the crumpled figure in the distant corner. She simply turned and continued down the silent stone corridor. Her steps were feather-light, the hem of her pure black dress making almost no sound, as if she were a part of the castle’s shadows herself.

Torchlight from the corridor walls flickered across her, but it failed to illuminate the deep pools of her black eyes.

Finally, she stopped before the heavy oak door of the study.

Without hesitation, she raised a hand and knocked three times, her knuckles rapping lightly on the wood.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

The sound sent faint echoes down the empty corridor. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

A moment later, Murphy’s deep, slightly weary voice came from within. "Come in."

The young woman pushed the door open.

The study was much brighter than the corridor. A steady fire burned in the hearth, chasing away the chill of a spring night in the Northern Lands.

Murphy was still in his wheelchair, which was fitted with a thick velvet cushion. His back was to the door, and he faced the deep night outside the window.

Beside the wheelchair, on the rug, the deep red velvet blanket that had been covering his lap had slipped off at one corner, pooling softly by his feet.

The young woman’s gaze lingered on Murphy’s back for a moment before falling to the slipped blanket.

She walked silently to the side of the wheelchair, bent down, and with slender, pale fingers, picked up the soft velvet blanket.

Then, she carefully unfolded it and gently placed it back over Murphy’s lap, even tucking in the edges to ensure it would hold in the warmth. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Only after doing all this did she straighten up, her calm black eyes gazing at the profile of Murphy’s face.

"Father," her voice broke the silence in the room. "It’s chilly at night. Your blanket fell, and you didn’t even call for anyone."

Murphy slowly turned his head to look at his daughter beside him.

The leaping firelight from the hearth reflected in his deep eyes, creating a pool of warm orange.

He looked at his daughter’s face, which had inherited her mother’s delicate features. "Eleanor, my body is fine."

He said it calmly, as if stating a simple fact.

But Eleanor’s black eyes, which could see the "light" invisible to ordinary people, blinked softly.

She didn’t refute her father’s claim that he was "fine," merely pressing her lips together slightly.

"Is that so~?" Eleanor’s tone was still level, but she drew out the last word. "Then what about that ’Little Insect’ attached to the ’lost’ Imperial guest in the corridor just now? Did it not dare to burrow any deeper and instead flee in a hurry because Father’s body is so ’fine’?"

Murphy was silent for a moment.

"It didn’t get in, did it?" Murphy finally said slowly, his gaze returning to the boundless darkness outside the window. His voice betrayed no particular emotion. "Whether it ’didn’t dare,’ felt it ’wasn’t worth it,’ or had some other reason is not important."

He paused, then continued, "What’s important is that it’s gone. And the castle is quiet."

Eleanor listened quietly, not pressing the topic of the "Little Insect."

She knew her father didn’t want to talk about it, at least not right now.

"Brother Kaiden and Sister-in-law Alina handled the banquet very well," she said, abruptly changing the subject. "That Miss Adela is much smarter and more cautious than Carl, the one the insect burrowed into."

"Mm," Murphy grunted, his eyes still fixed on the window. "Kaiden is doing well. He’s becoming more and more composed. With his composure and Alina’s meticulousness, the Duval Territory can be entrusted to him in the future."

"He learns quickly," Eleanor nodded. "Alina... my sister-in-law, mentioned in her last letter that when he was coordinating between the border outposts and Blackstone Fortress, he was already thinking steps ahead of the Peric Clan’s generals. Sister-in-law Alina is also very methodical in helping him organize accounts and documents."

"As husband and wife, they are one, working in concert. It is the Monte Territory’s good fortune." Murphy’s voice held a trace of imperceptible warmth. "It saves your mother a lot of worry, too."

Eleanor hummed in agreement, and the study fell silent for another moment.

She looked down at her fingertips resting on the armrest of the wheelchair. They were slender and pale, yet a faint current of Dimensional Energy, imperceptible to ordinary people, flowed within them.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally raised her eyes to her father’s tranquil profile.

"Father," her voice was a little lower this time, "are you sure you don’t want me to use Prophetic Magic to locate it? I only recently became an Official Wizard, so my observations using Omen are still rudimentary, but the traces the insect left behind shouldn’t have completely dissipated yet. I might be able to find out where it came from."

Murphy finally pulled his gaze away from the window and let it rest on his daughter’s face. "There’s no need, Eleanor. It’s just a Little Insect. I’ll take care of it."

Eleanor frowned slightly, clear worry showing in her usually calm black eyes. "Father, but your body..."

As if seeing through his daughter’s thoughts, Murphy proactively changed the subject to distract her. "Let’s not talk about that. How have you been feeling lately? Since breaking through to become an Official Wizard, have you noticed any new changes in your perception of the world?"

At the mention of her own Cultivation, and knowing her father didn’t want to press the other matter, Eleanor’s expression became focused.