Talent-Swallowing Magician - Chapter 165

Episode 165:

Defeat or Victory

Elric gave up protesting any more.

If I said anything more here, it was obvious that Mephisto would consider it simply an excuse anyway.

『Instead of that, how about accepting that child’s heart at this point?』

Mephisto stopped laughing only after realizing that he could no longer provoke Elric.

Of course, his mouth was still full of smiles. There were even tears in the corners of the eyes – it goes without saying, but since tears cannot form in a thought form, it was clear that this was intentional.

『It must be hard to find such a strong woman, right? Unless you are an idiot, you would know how that woman feels.』

[As I said, you have no time to worry about such things.]

『I have never been in a relationship before, so I guess you are afraid of doing it. No excuses.』

[…Could you just shut up?]

Elric felt like he would get angry if he continued talking to Mephisto like this, so he decided to just ignore him.

Instead, I calmed down while looking at Prince Zereitz, who still couldn’t straighten his distorted face.

How will the rumor spread after this?

And how will he react?

Elric was curious about that.

* * *

Crown Prince Zereitz and the Great Commandery gave the area to the east of the military camp as a camp for the Byle family.

It was relatively close to the Winds border, so it was a position where one could move immediately when enemy movements were discovered.

‘It probably means that you’ll have to suffer as much as you can in this war. It’s so explicit that it’s actually funny.’

Elric let out a laugh as he watched the camp being built quickly.

Because I could clearly see that this was all the work of Prince Zereitz.

Of course, if we look at these facts, the main office would say that they only arranged it that way based on their own strategic judgment, but… well?

It was strange that unless you were an idiot, you didn’t know what it meant.

A scandal was already spreading rapidly within the military camp about the relationship between Elric and Isabel.

There is even a rumor that Crown Prince Zereitz went to see his former lover in person and was so caught in the frost that he couldn’t even manage his facial expressions.

The fourth inspection bureau belatedly stepped in and tried to quell the scandal.

Because the crown prince’s scandal spread and nothing good came. However, if you try to calm it down, it flares up even more violently.

Even if they don’t show it outwardly for fear of being caught by the crown prince, they will secretly enjoy the scandal. Basically, people tend to be more interested in content like this. And the bigger the scandal grows, the more heated it will be within Prince Zereitz.

Thanks to this, the result was this.

‘Originally, I was going to use a plan to place the Weil family near the main headquarters and place me there to gradually create distance between them… but that’s easier said than done, right?’

As Prince Zereitz, who still had feelings for Isabel, he would have felt impatient and tried to alienate Elric from the Bile family.

Elric had already expected this, so he agreed when Isabel suggested such a scandal.

Perhaps in the future, they will only pick out dangerous battlefields and keep sending them out?

Elric had expected that.

‘It’s ugly, it’s ugly. How can something like that be the next leader of the empire?’

Elric wasn’t too worried.

Contrary to its appearance, the Weil family he had seen so far was very strong on the inside. No matter how dangerous the area is, it will not be greatly shaken as long as it is not overdone.

The reason he came here in the first place was to gain fame, so he had nothing to lose.

No, on the contrary, it was clear that the more he continued to overcome Prince Zereitz’s interference, the more his reputation would continue to rise.

It wasn’t for nothing that I raised the family banner.

‘If there’s a problem, it’s them.’

Elric narrowed his eyes and looked toward the Mervinger camp.

There, many young people were running around busily, erecting steel frames and covering barracks.

“Uh oh!”

“Hold it right there! “It almost collapsed!”

“sorry! “Should we do it this way?”

“Pull hard on the rope! “Make sure you have enough space to put up a flag!”

“hey! “What are you doing!”

It’s noisy as if you’re in the middle of the market. It was a contrast to the familiar Weil family building a camp.

However, there seemed to be some degree of hierarchy among them.

Throughout the march, those who wanted to desert would leave and those who would take the lead would take the lead, and they had already established a certain degree of order among themselves.

Until now, Elric had not significantly intervened in this group of people called the ‘Star Servants’, nor had he particularly developed a close relationship with them.

These are people who have been captivated by their mysterious sense of self and their energetic moves.

In that case, the reason was that there seemed to be no need to remove the sense of mystery just yet, as no clear system has been established.

Of course, I felt that if I continued to distance myself, it would only become too distant, so I was adjusting accordingly.

Currently, there were two people who took the lead within the ‘Star Servant’.

“This part has to be installed this way. “If the central pillar is not strong, the roof will collapse, and if the barracks’ fabric is not fire-resistant, it can easily catch fire in the event of a surprise attack, so do it right now even if it is a lot of work and a hassle.”

One person also looked familiar to Elric.

Brian. He was the examiner for the mage certification exam.

How surprised I was when I first heard that he had joined the Star Race.

Although Brian was a little shy, he explained in a calm tone the reason for joining.

Have you always had a feeling of admiration for the magic master?

He said that he had heard from Nunui’s biological father that he had to repay the debt because the Star Mage had personally saved him from death in the Great Demon War 30 years ago.

Brian was an elite elite who served as a level 5 administrator at a young age, so he was able to quickly stand out among the star sect.

He was focusing on establishing a system for an organization that was nothing more than a ragtag group.

By focusing on effectiveness and efficiency rather than procedures and processes, unnecessary elements were removed without hesitation when issuing orders.

It’s still the same now.

By providing separate training on the necessary things to members who were not accustomed to organizational life, the star group was already taking on the role of an organization.

And the other one.

“Other people are working hard too, so what should I do if I mess around in a place like this? If this is going to happen, just get out of there. “Don’t unnecessarily lower the motivation and morale of others.”

While observing the surroundings, he was picking out those who were trying to free ride instead of doing their job and severely scolding them.

Some people asked him what he was, but he didn’t care at all.

On the contrary, they said that if they wanted to fight for a game, let’s fight.

The name is Ate.

He had the same name as a mythical character who was said to have been cursed by the God of Misfortune in the past, and he was quite intimidating, as was his large size.

Would I have to be as good as Brian to stand up to that? So many of the members had to be intimidated by his intimidation. Thanks to this, discipline was quickly established.

If Brian is acting as a staff member, he is acting as a de facto leader.

In this way, thanks to Brian and Ate, the Star Wars group was building a foundation to some extent, even though it looked like a ragtag group with no discipline or system at all.

But that is just a foundation.

There were many shortcomings in taking them into battle right away.

‘Because we haven’t fully established the system yet and there is no trust among the members. ‘If you take her like this, the damage will only increase.’

The best way to completely equip an organization in a short period of time was to just let it go through a few battles like this.

If that happens, those who will be left out will do so on their own, and those who remain will develop a strong bond created by crossing the line of fire.

However, Elric did not want to take them with him to the point where they became victims in that way.

‘It would be nice if there was some good way.’

At a time when Elric was deep in thought.

‘hmm?’

When Elric saw the noise at the entrance to the camp, he looked towards him to see what was going on, but ended up startled.

“Eric Mervinger my dear friend! I can’t believe we meet again in a place like this. Very nice.”

A man with his hair slicked back was walking in here, accompanied by a small number of guards.

The moment it was revealed who he was, who gave a big greeting as if he was glad to see him, the members of the Star Wars were very surprised and stepped back to the left and right to make way for him.

“Is that person…?”

“Black Lion! Prince Cromhel has appeared!”

“her…! I heard a rumor that the two of you became friends after a past assassination attempt. “I never thought you would come and visit me like this!”

The members all watched with envious eyes as Prince Cromhell approached Elric.

This was because, just as most of them followed Elric, Prince Cromhel was also an object of envy.

The influence and ripple effect of beings called ‘new stars’ on the younger generation was that great.

“I knew well that you were not normal, but… I never thought you would do something so offensive directly in front of the crown prince! ha ha ha!”

Prince Cromhel stretched out his arms wide and hugged Elric. He seemed really happy to meet Elric.

Elric, on the other hand, looked a little shaken.

When we met before, he was polite to the point of being burdensome, but now he doesn’t show any of that.

Still, I tried not to show it as much as possible. In any case, he was the person in the current imperial family who was most favorable to him.

“So it happened.”

“hmm? Why are you being so awkward? It’s unfamiliar. “Didn’t we decide to be friends?”

‘ah. ‘I guess that’s why I stopped talking.’

Elric somehow felt like he knew a little bit about what kind of person ‘Cromhell’, not the 4th prince, was.

“There are a lot of eyes watching, right?”

“So you’re going to differentiate between public and private now? Did a person like that do that in front of the crown prince? “Hehe.”

I felt like I couldn’t defeat him with words.

“is it?”

“then. This isn’t an official event, so why bother being polite? And everyone here followed you to the battlefield? “Then, since I can call you a friend, I can also call you a friend to me.”

Prince Cromhell curled the corners of his mouth as he glanced at the starry group.

“And if we become friends, we should at least exchange pleasantries.”

Wow!

Prince Cromhel lightly clapped his hands, and suddenly people began to enter the camp in large numbers.

Soldiers coming in, each carrying an oak barrel larger than a human body.

The members’ eyes widened.

Prince Cromhell’s smile grew wider.

“I know everyone is busy, but let’s stop what we’re doing for a moment and have a drink. You must have had a hard time coming a long way, so drinking something like this will completely relieve your fatigue. is not it?”

The members’ eyes widened when they heard that the person they were envying would personally serve them drinks, and they each started shouting ‘Hurray!’

“You’ll be okay, right?”

Elric could only smile and nod to the question that Prince Cromhell quietly asked.

Only then did I know whether he had come here in person and whether he was exaggeratedly happy to see me.

He came to give encouragement and to save Elric’s face.

‘It may be that he wants to warn the crown prince and show off that he is his… Still, I’m thankful, right?’

I am grateful for such detailed attention.

I didn’t know that maybe each of these things was his own personal skill. I thought it would be good to learn these things.

Elric flopped down across from Prince Cromhel and told everyone to take a break before working.

Soon, Mervinger’s camp became noisy.

Wizard who swallowed talent