Talent-Swallowing Magician - Chapter 61

Episode 61

To the North

“…Grandpa.”

“Oh my! “Who messed up our Heise’s pretty face like this?”

Augustine was as open-minded to Hayes as he was to Elric.

The difference was that while Elric was simply coveted for his natural talent at first, Hayes’ kind temperament particularly stood out.

From his gentle temperament to his polite attitude toward adults.

The more I looked at him, the more he smiled happily.

Should I say she is like a granddaughter?

I’m not married, but I wondered if I would feel this way if I had children.

‘If only I could welcome this child into my family, wouldn’t that alone be a great Hongbok in many ways!’

Judging by the light handling of the sledge hammer, it appears that he has reached a great level of skill as a warrior.

So Augustine was already thinking of Hayes as his grandson-in-law.

‘Which guy is better? Venta? no. That guy is so blunt. There is a high possibility that our Hayes will only get hurt. Then Yohan…? Well, that guy is so miserable. This is Sannim. Or, since you seem to be close to Sean, should we put Sean in the candidate list as well?’

Hayes said with a stern expression on his face, not knowing that Augustine had already married her off several times in his imagination.

“Is there no way to punish the people who planned this?”

Augustine’s imagination had to end there.

And the same impression hardened.

In front of them, totems of the same shape, with only slightly different colors, were lined up in a row.

It was the culprit that stopped them on their way to the north in the past few days.

Elric and others visited the slash-and-burn villages hidden here and there along the mountain range and were able to easily discover many hidden totems.

The villages were all experiencing different abnormalities.

Some places suffered from severe famine like the first village, while others suffered heavy frost in the middle of the night, destroying crops or causing people to die one after another, and there were also cases where landslides suddenly occurred for unknown reasons and entire villages were wiped out.

All damage occurred over a period of at least 3 years to as much as 6 years.

The number of deaths was significant.

‘The bigger problem was that the local administrative bureau couldn’t even understand it properly.’

The reason why no reports were made until now was because the affected villages were all established by nomads who hid in the mountains to avoid heavy taxes.

Places where it is difficult for the administrative bureau to reach and there is no intention to do so.

It was clear that the people who planned this were deliberately targeting that weakness.

However, since Augustine used his title to upset the local administrative bureau, it was obvious that a full-scale investigation would now begin.

A totem containing demonic energy. I had no choice but to take it seriously as it was evidence that the demons might be on the move again.

Of course, the people in the administrative bureau in this region who neglected the situation until it got to this point will be blown away.

Those were things Augustine didn’t need to know.

‘by the way.’

Augustine narrowed his eyes.

‘I don’t know how the disciple can find something that even this old man can’t find.’

In fact, finding the totem was all thanks to Elric’s ghostly skills.

‘They say it’s a ghost, but there’s clearly no such thing. Or did new characteristics develop through mixing with Mervinger’s temperament?’

Even if I don’t know the reason, a good thing is a good thing, so I don’t intend to dig deeper.

Augustine had never imagined that an ancient demon king named Mephistopheles would sit next to Elric and teach him everything.

“I too would like to catch and cut off all the bastards who committed this shameful act… but I don’t think it is our responsibility to go beyond this.”

Hayes nodded silently.

As Augustine said, there was nothing they could do from now on.

I had no choice but to hope that the investigation would be properly conducted and the culprits would be properly punished.

Because they had to go north quickly.

Hayes’s hand tightened and relaxed several times as he touched the end of the sledgehammer’s handle.

* * *

But Elric and his party had to stop moving again.

It was because there was an unexpected visitor.

“‘Inspection Bureau’? “Why are they here?”

Augustine looked bewildered by the report brought by his coachman Carl.

As the highest adult of the Neresta family, the ‘Inspection Bureau’ was a place that even he, who had nothing to fear in the world, felt uncomfortable getting close to.

“I will tell you the reason after I see Wonju in person. What should I do, Wonju?”

“What are the chances that it’s fake?”

“The victory was certain.”

“but. “There won’t be people who play around with things like that… hmmm!”

No matter how gutsy a thief may be, he would not dare to use the inspector general’s authority.

This was because he could turn the imperial family into an enemy and be chased for the rest of his life.

However, Augustine did not answer hastily and looked back at Elric.

Because it wasn’t up to you to decide.

Even though he was the oldest member of the group, Elric was the one leading the group.

“I’ll go out myself.”

Elric wrapped the robe that had been hanging on the chair for a while and opened the carriage door.

He never thought that he would meet in person the Inspection Bureau, which he had only heard about so infamously, in a place like this.

In fact, it wasn’t that I couldn’t guess the reason at all.

‘They say a demon might appear, so it must have been a spark that fell on my foot.’

The Inspection Bureau was an intelligence agency made up of absolute followers who lived only for the emperor and the imperial family.

These monsters are said to do kidnapping, cajoling, threats, and instigation of murder for the sake of their mission.

It is said without hesitation that it is comparable to the Magic Tower or the Lion House in terms of the power it possesses.

Have you still not been able to understand the movements of the demons that such a place might pose a threat to the well-being of the imperial family and the empire?

Of course, there was bound to be a lot of excitement.

‘This probably means that the imperial family does not view this incident simply as a local disturbance. In a way, is it natural?’

The Great Demon War was a war with such great repercussions that it completely cut out the Demon Inscription, which was a major pillar of the empire.

That happened only a generation ago, so we have no choice but to brace ourselves.

『If you meet those people who say they are from the inspection bureau or something, speak clearly! Azazel, uproot the remnants of that bastard right now! If you want, I’ll even tell you the candidate locations where they might be hiding!』

Mephisto’s rampaging words were full of murder.

[Is it okay to do that no matter how bad we are? Still, we are of the same race, right?]

『Hmph! What about fellow countrymen? We have no such concept. There is only a relationship of being eaten or being eaten.』

[So it was ruined by humans.]

『So? Are you planning to leave Azazel’s bastards alone?』

[That can’t be possible. You have to eat it.]

Even though Elric said so, he had absolutely no intention of leaving Azazel’s followers alone who had planned this incident.

‘Even if it’s late, I planned to find the Temple of Flowers and complete ‘Winter’ and then chase after those guys and destroy them all.’

However, how nice it is that there are people who suddenly come forward and say they will attack these people even though they were not specifically asked to do so.

It’s also comfortable.

“Are you Elric Mervinger?”

Five men were standing outside the carriage.

They all wore black suits and pitch-black masks.

They rarely exposed their faces and identities when carrying out their missions, to the point where they called themselves the ‘Emperor’s Shadow’.

‘What is this bastard?’

The tone of the person who appeared to be the leader was quite overbearing.

As the emperor’s servant, he looked down on most nobles, so he took the attitude that it was natural, and he seemed to have an intention to break the spirits of Elric, who was said to be gaining momentum recently.

Of course, there was no way it would work against Elric.

“Is that so?”

“Yes… only?”

It’s obvious.

One of the chief’s eyebrows could be seen twitching beneath the black mask.

At the same time, a tyrannical spirit naturally flowed out.

The more he said, the more Elric could only snort.

“No matter how much of an inspection bureau you are, if you directly run around the field, no matter how high your rank is, you will be at the level of a supervisor, and at best you will be at the level of a Viscount.”

Goooh –

Elric gradually increased his magic power.

The leader’s efforts to pressure him began to gradually ease.

I could see the eyes behind the mask slightly stiffening.

“I don’t know since when such a mere bureaucrat started treating the duke poorly. “Isn’t that so?”

Whoa!

And when the magic power was fully released, the leader’s momentum was completely pushed back.

Crumbling!

Moreover, it contained a certain amount of the power of the Demon King Hyul.

Elric’s magical temperament, which was a mixture of magic fighting and strong body magic, was as brutal as that of a ferocious beast.

The air flowing around trembled gently.

The murderous intent is so intense that just standing there makes your skin tremble and gives you goosebumps.

‘What is this!’

‘How can the power of an old warrior who fought countless battles be felt in a young man like this?’

‘Hero of Lascent, they say he’s the hero of Lascent…!’

Because of this, only the subordinates who tried to press down on Elric in a high-handed manner were quite embarrassed.

In fact, many of them were jealous of Elric.

Since they had always been active only in the shadows, it may have been natural for them to have such feelings for Elric, who suddenly emerged as a hero in the sun and was of similar age.

Still, I knew that it was once called the disgrace of the magic clan, so I secretly ignored it.

Now that I’ve gone through this, Lascent’s nickname of hero seems rather insufficient.

At this level, he was almost at the level of a mage.

Of course, the magic power released by Elric was not enough to completely overwhelm the leader’s momentum.

Anyway, their leader was also one of the best veterans in the field, and if only his skills were considered, he could easily take the head of most mages like picking fruit.

The problem was that Elric stamped them based on their status and suppressed them.

As the era of the Magic Tower and the Lion House began, few people remember it now, but there are only four dukedoms in the empire.

If they asserted that authority, they had no choice but to bow their heads.

Regardless of his personal status or title, there was no way for the ‘Emperor’s Shadow’ to have an official status.

“…I made a mistake. Please forgive my rudeness.”

“Please forgive my rudeness.”

“Please forgive my rudeness.”

In the end, when the leader slightly bowed his head, the other four people followed suit.

His attitude was still stiff, but he no longer looked as intimidating as he had at first.

“If something similar to this happens one more time, I will go directly to the Senate and make a recommendation.”

In the current government, which operates as a bicameral system, the influence of nobles is so strong that the Senate is called the ‘House of Nobility.’

If they used the above-mentioned approval measures given in the Demonic Inscription, they were bound to receive a disapproval order.

“sorry.”

“sorry.”

“Just raise your head now.”

Elric accepted their apology only after receiving their declaration of complete surrender.

『As expected, you never lose in a battle of energy, right?』

[Is there nothing more left for me than kang?]

『Quuk! But these guys’ eyes have become more murderous. Are you okay? It looks like these are all specialized in assassination. What if I hit you in the back while you sleep?』

[It’s okay. Then they can harass you even more, right?]

『Crazy guy.』

[And even if you’re just pretending to keep quiet, isn’t it important to get the momentum going first? And I’m sure I’m not the only one who scares them.]

『Hmm?』

For a moment, Mephisto didn’t understand Elric’s words and tilted his head, but then he found Augustine looking at him with a smile inside the carriage and burst into laughter.

“but. When that bloody old man steps forward, my legs will inevitably tremble.』

As Elric and Mephisto expected, Augustine was deploying message magic so that only the Inspector General agents could hear.

[I thought I was lucky. If I had treated this old man’s disciple carelessly, I would have dropped him to the ground. Hehehehe!]

At that moment, all the agents’ eyes shook for the first time.

No, it wasn’t just shaking.

It was turbulent.

‘A disciple of ‘White Night’…! ‘Such nonsense!’

The Inspection Bureau is one of the four pillars that make up the empire, and as such, it is always keeping a close eye on the trends of the other pillar, the Magic Tower.

But does Augustine Neresta, the most powerful figure in the Tower of Magic, ‘White Night’, have a disciple?

That’s Mervinger’s deficit too?

It was shocking news that would have caused a huge uproar if it were known to the world.

‘This is an issue that must be reported to superiors!’

Even so, there was news that Byakuya participated in this group, and there was an order from superiors to find out the details…!

For a moment, the leader felt as if a heavy weight was being weighed on his shoulders.

I was already paying close attention to the news that the remnants of the demons might have reappeared, but now I have discovered an even bigger bomb than that.

Then.

“…?”

He had to harden his expression when he happened to spot Hayes, the woman sitting across from Augustine.

I didn’t recognize Hayes. She was just looking this way indifferently.

But the problem was the giant hammer in front of her.

This was because I noticed a hammer with red blood stains on the tip and a black skull seal on the handle.

Why is Hong Il-jeom of the Black Skull, who has been bringing a lot of bad news from the battlefield lately, here?

‘Damn it! How the hell is this going on!’

It was clearly chaos here.

Wizard who swallowed talent