Talent-Swallowing Magician - Chapter 62
Episode 62
To the North
The Black Skull’s Hongiljeom was also called ‘Red Skull’.
The reason was very simple.
‘Because there was always a sea of blood wherever he passed by.’
So it was notorious in the mercenary industry as well.
‘Did you say you were going to pick out the head and crush it with a big hammer? There was a lot of talk within the Inspection Bureau that he had cruel hands that didn’t match his slender body… but I never thought he was from Mervinger’s side.’
Of course, according to investigations conducted by the Office of Inspector General, there have been frequent reports that the Red Skull may have some kind of connection with Mervinger.
The judgment that the inspection bureau had been making was that Mervinger was now nothing more than a fading family with only the facade remaining.
There was a strong tendency not to pay too much attention to mercenaries, judging that no matter how good they were, it would be difficult for them to cause harm to the imperial family.
‘But I guess I’ll have to report it to the higher-ups first. ha!’
Moreover, at some point, the leader had to swallow dry saliva while looking at wild animals such as tigers and cheetahs openly roaming around.
‘Even the Beast King Guilty Tenz…! What on earth are these guys doing? Are you trying to commit a rebellion somewhere?’
The leader nodded, pressing his temples, thinking that Mervinger’s matter would be noisy for a while.
I thought I would feel better if I just finished my errands quickly and left.
“I’ll say hello again. “I’m a Patran from the Fourth Department of the Inspection Bureau.”
At that moment, Elric’s eyes lit up slightly.
‘Four countries? ‘It’s quite a bitch, isn’t it?’
The Inspection Bureau had no choice but to be divided into various departments due to its size, and among them, there was a separate department called ‘Hangarak’.
A country where only the best gather.
The four countries are said to have very few people who have ever worked in the shadows.
And the 13 countries that are said to have the most outstanding military power.
In addition to this, there was also Kingdom 0, which was said to be ruled only by the emperor, but these are only rumors and their existence is unclear, so they are an exception.
In other words, the man in front of me named Patran – of course, there was a high possibility that his name was an alias – was a powerful person with a fairly prominent position within the Inspection Bureau.
‘Personally, you said that you stood on the crown prince’s side in the imperial palace where the succession battle was fierce, right? I guess I smelled something from the crown prince’s side this time.’
Exterminating the remnants of the demons would be a significant feat. The crown prince will be able to solidify his position to that extent.
Elric was convinced that the value of this incident was greater than he thought.
“You must be very busy, but I feel like I’ve wasted your time, so I’ll just tell you briefly about my business.”
A much more polite attitude.
Still, it seemed as if he had pride in not showing respect until the end.
Elric gestured as if telling him to do whatever he wanted.
It looked like a superior, or rather an old man, manipulating his subordinates.
Patran’s anger rose again, but he had to suppress it.
‘We’ll see! Soon, I’ll crush that arrogant nose and tell you that you did something wrong!’
Have you ever experienced this kind of humiliation while working as an inspector general?
“Can you please tell me the specific circumstances surrounding the discovery of the reported totem…!”
“Before asking for cooperation, shouldn’t you first explain this issue briefly?”
“…I’m sorry. “I was out of my mind.”
“I just wanted you to know I’m sorry.”
‘You bastard!’
Patran had to vent his anger again by repeating to himself the same words that every person involved with Elric would say in the same way.
Of course, in the activities of the Inspection Bureau, there was originally almost no prior explanation or request for cooperation.
I just bullied him and extorted the answer he wanted.
“This… issue has been something that our country has been secretly pursuing for a very long time.”
“So something similar to this has happened several times?”
Now, he is even quietly letting go of his words.
“That’s right.”
Perhaps out of frustration, Patran’s fists were shaking the whole time he spoke.
Despite receiving specialized training in killing emotions to function as an agent.
For some reason, after a few words with Elric, it didn’t go well.
“3 years ago. There was an incident in which nomads starved to death on a large scale in the pasturelands of the southwestern region. Although it is not well known, each corpse had traces of demonic energy invading even the bone marrow.”
“If there is any trace of demonic energy flowing through it, it is a totem that has not yet been completed. Is it a prototype?”
“…exactly. At first, I thought there was some kind of black magic research going on, but things continued to turn out that something was strange, so we started investigating with the ‘Protestant Alliance’.”
The Protestant Alliance was, of course, one of the four major powers that supported the empire, along with the Inspector General.
“And we were able to find an unidentified group. They…”
“I guess they’re ‘Grigori’.”
“That’s right. And… how do you do that?”
For a moment, Patran’s eyes widened without realizing it.
Elric chuckled.
“I guess the Inspection Bureau just forgot where it was?”
“…Mervinger. “A natural enemy outside of humanity.”
“bingo.”
“Hmm!”
Patran looked helpless as Elric knew very well the name of the organization they had been chasing for three years and had finally found out.
“Anyway… our country chased them down very secretly. “If you touch it without looking for the body, the snake may hide in the grass.”
“In the midst of all this, we suddenly made the incident an issue, so did we hit the ground running?”
“…It’s a bit strange to express it, but you can look at it that way.”
Patran asked again, swallowing back his anger.
My eyes sank coldly.
“So, please cooperate with the investigation.”
“Should I at least respond to the summons in person?”
“There is no need to go through the trouble. “I just want to ask you a few questions.”
“However much.”
“Could you briefly tell us about the circumstances under which the totem was discovered?”
Although Patran said it was ‘succinct’, the questions he asked were all detailed and persistent.
It’s as if he’s going to clean up everything, even the bottom line, if he has anything to hide.
“I heard that a total of 10 totems were discovered, but only 3 were submitted to the administrative bureau. “Where have all the remaining seven gone?”
“We have it?”
“According to Article 11, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act, items related to demons are kept by the imperial family as evidence…!”
“I heard that Article 8, Paragraph 1 regarding ownership states that acquisition of demonic items for research purposes for Tangma (meaning wiping out demonic demons) is only possible with permission from administrative agencies? “Permission has already been granted.”
“….”
Ownership of the totem had already been acquired through Augustine.
Of course, they were all consumed by the seal of ferocity.
‘Thanks to you, I got to 6 stars, right? ‘I don’t know if it’s really okay to be like this because I’m growing steadily even though I didn’t do anything.’
The more it happened, the more Mephisto’s face became distorted with anger… but what could I do? Before Elric could do anything, the seal of ferocity snatched him away.
Actually, for Elric, it didn’t matter one way or another.
like that.
The interview that followed was nothing special.
As Elric, I didn’t have anything to hide, so I didn’t have much to worry about.
Because he was so eloquent, the interview went smoothly and ended in less than 30 minutes.
“…Then let me ask you one last question.”
“what?”
“How did you know so accurately where the totem was hidden?”
Patran’s eyes were very sharp.
Since the previous interviews had been jam-packed, I was ready to stick to this one persistently.
but.
“Didn’t I tell you? “It’s called Mervinger.”
“…That kind of vague answer won’t give you the answer…!”
“Then, are you asking us to present our family’s vision to the Inspection Bureau?”
“…!”
Patran kept his mouth shut.
If we continue the investigation like this, something big will happen.
In a situation where the strange case of ‘the duke was persecuted and ignored’ was already caught, they could easily make a ridiculous case that ‘the inspection bureau persecuted the duke’s family’.
‘You snotty bastard!’
As Patran looked at Elric’s smiling face, his stomach, which had barely calmed down, seemed to boil again.
『This guy is so pitiful. Tsk tsk! That should have been done right from the start.』
Mephisto was the only one who stood in the position of a fellow soldier and shook his head.
“…Thank you for your cooperation.”
In the end, Patran had to close his notebook and step back without much gain.
If you want to ignore the name value of the toothless magic inscription, you can ignore it as much as you want.
However, since the White Night and the Beast King were here and favored Elric, the conflict was not good.
‘We can’t collide with the Magic Tower over something like this.’
It wasn’t time yet.
In the end, Patran and his subordinates disappeared like that.
“Fuhaha! “The inspection bureau, who have always been so stiff, are like that, and this old man feels refreshed!”
Augustine chuckled and patted Elric on the shoulder, saying he did well.
The Magic Tower, which represents the nobility, and the Inspection Bureau, which serves the imperial family, had a bad political relationship from the beginning.
“I felt dizzy the whole time I was watching it! How good it feels. “After all, he is our student.”
Giliti, who was in the Free Revolutionary Army and was chased by the Inspection Bureau his whole life, is also in a good mood.
but.
“It’s not over yet.”
“Eh?”
Elric shook his head calmly, and Augustine and Gility tilted their heads, wondering what that meant.
Sigh!
Elric smiled very evilly as he looked at those teachers.
“I can’t just let go of the people who set me up. “Something like that will set your teeth on fire later.”
“then?”
“At the very least, I have to have my teeth pulled out and my backbone pulled out so I can sleep with my feet stretched out. “Isn’t that right?”
“….”
“….”
Augustine and Gillity gaped at the completely unexpected answer.
『Of course.』
Mephisto crossed his arms and shook his head as if he knew this would happen.
* * *
The Inspector General agents, including Patran, stopped only after they had completely left the ridge.
After using the magic tools I had, I checked for any possible wiretapping.
Cheek!
Partran knelt down on one knee in front of the agent who maintained a particularly stiff attitude among the agents and bowed his head.
A look that can only be seen in a master-slave relationship.
Compared to the other agents, he was tall and well-dressed, so he turned around as if it was only natural.
His gaze looking down at Patran was extremely cold.
“…I have no shame, Your Majesty.”
“Raise your head.”
“sorry.”
“It’s okay, so raise your head.”
Only after the man’s voice mixed with irritation did Patran barely manage to raise his head.
Then the man sighed lightly.
“I’m just sorry for mixing up my emotions. And it is not you who are without respect, but it is I, the monarch, who should be, not you, the subject.”
The man’s tone and demeanor were full of the dignity that only those who ruled over all people could exude.
“I was so blinded by jealousy that I didn’t even think about understanding the other person properly and just looked down on them. flaw! “That’s probably why I ended up in such an ugly situation.”
“Your Highness, how could you say such a thing…!”
As the man continued to blame himself, all the agents, including Partran, became restless.
This was because the status of the man called ‘Your Highness’ was so supreme that he could easily throw away their lives just by putting his mind to it.
Crown Prince Zereitz.
He was the person closest to the next emperor, even within the imperial family, which was overflowing with numerous princes, princesses, and royal family members.
Especially considering that he received the support and loyalty of the four inspection bureaus, he was like the best superior to Patran and others.
Of course, since they were following such a person, it was also proof that their skills and position were very outstanding.
‘I brought humiliation to someone who had been considered a universal figure all his life…! It’s a serious crime that wouldn’t be surprising if you committed suicide right now.’
When the Crown Prince first expressed his desire to meet Elric in person, Patran and others tried to change his decision somehow.
Although Elric is the current head of the Mervinger family, who have been loyal to the empire for a long time.
This was because, based on his personality as determined by the inspection bureau, he was not judged to be a very loyal person.
On the contrary, the fact that he was suddenly cured of the incurable disease arrhythmia, used excellent magic, and was praised as the hero of Lascent and all, was full of suspicion.
So, as much as possible, they tried to keep the crown prince away until his loyalty to the empire was confirmed…
‘…who would have guessed that Lady Isabel would be involved there?’
The problem was that the crown prince still had feelings for his former fiancée, Isabelle Weil.
Isabelle Weil, the Blue Lion’s only daughter.
she is beautiful.
But even more than that, he has a warm personality and excellent knowledge.
She is the kind of woman that every man cannot help but love.
However, the political struggle surrounding the throne was so intense that it was difficult to maintain pure love, and the crown prince eventually gave up pure love and chose politics.
But that didn’t mean he had completely given up on his feelings.
Even after several years, a lingering regret remained in his heart.
That was the reason why I went out of my way to see Elric.
The Crown Prince was belatedly able to learn of the incident that Isabel had to experience in Lascent City a few months ago.
At that time, I was so heartbroken that I almost lost her.
Still, the fact that Elric saved her made her jealous.
I should have been there.
I should have saved her from danger and made her sit next to me…!
I felt like I wanted to go see Isabel right away, but I couldn’t because, as a prince, if I made a careless move, it could cause a big repercussion.
Then, while I was away, I became involved with Elric again.
‘Is there really such a thing as bad luck?’
Since Patran was always by the crown prince’s side, he was able to observe all of his psychological changes.
‘This mission is to subdue the remnants of the demon race and give all the credit to His Highness the Crown Prince to strengthen his political status…!’
Patran gritted his teeth.
In this case, he was also at fault.
By trying to put Elric down in order to appease the prince’s feelings, they only gave him an excuse to be humiliated.
‘But not anymore. No matter how angry you are with your lover, you must absolutely avoid getting involved with him any further!’
In fact, if the crown prince came here and a report was made to the superiors, he would be immediately disciplined.
‘So at this point, we have to somehow defeat the Mervinger family!’
Wizard who swallowed talent