Talent-Swallowing Magician - Chapter 76
Episode 76:
Burnt Snow
Field King Velence did not understand when Elric first told him to wait in the next room for a while before bargaining in earnest.
-You will see an interesting sight.
When I found out what that ‘interesting sight’ was, my young heart was torn to pieces.
“Wow, king.”
Pen was unable to soothe the young Tiger King’s feelings and had to stamp his feet.
Although he also had some idea that Fury’s ambitions were getting stronger day by day recently, and to make matters worse, even General Dong came to visit him, creating a bad atmosphere among his subjects.
Still, I never thought it would be like this!
Above all, the biggest shock to Pen was the visit of Prime Minister Norus.
When he was told to sell the magic to himself, he couldn’t control his anger and almost kicked out the door.
Who would have thought that the loyalist who managed to save Antromorph, who was almost destroyed after the Beast-Man Union was completely disbanded, and even preserved the bloodline of the Tiger King, would be like this?
If even he himself was feeling this betrayed, he couldn’t even imagine how much of a shock it would be for King Velence.
King Velence was already biting his lower lip hard.
She was trying her best not to cry, but the moist eyes around her eyes broke her heart even more.
“I would like to ask how much you can give me.”
Then, when Elric urged him to answer, Pen’s expression couldn’t help but crumple.
“What a vulgar business! Seeing how shocked the king is now, are you still willing to bargain for the price?”
“I’m sorry, but I have to correct two things. One is that I am a wizard, not a merchant, and the other is that I am not bargaining but giving advice.”
“what?”
“Do you know that politics is just a pastime? If you comfort someone who is hurt, will things get better? Ultimately, politics is the logic of power.”
Elric’s expression, which had been smiling so brightly as if he would take out his liver, turned serious.
For a moment, Pen flinched as the air flowing within the villa became heavier.
King Velence looked at Elric with eyes that were somehow fascinated.
“No matter how good a cause or authority you have, in the end, if you do not have the strength to support it, you will be ignored and each person will end up divided.”
Elric knew this fact better than anyone else.
It was a sight I had to watch ever since I was young.
People who praise people for being famous in the magic world, but then are busy ignoring them.
The noble families turned their backs on me without hesitation when I asked for help since they were long-time friends of the family.
The vassals who hit the back of the head and disappeared with the remaining property.
The imperial family was always busy keeping it in check for fear of revival.
The magic tower was trying to somehow take away the authority and legitimacy of the magic clan…
In particular, his classmates, who had ridiculed Elric because he suffered from arrhythmia and could not properly learn magic, changed their faces and even came to see him when he emerged as the hero of Lasent.
And after experiencing only good things, such as getting screwed by Professor Verlux and being noticed by Augustine and Gility, Elric knew very well how harsh the world was for someone who did not have that much power.
Elric knew very well how bad it was to be powerless.
“Grow out your claws.”
“Claws…?”
King Velence’s eyelids fluttered.
Elric nodded heavily.
“yes. “You’re a tiger, right?”
King Velence was increasingly captivated by Elric’s words.
“Grow your toenails by yourself without anyone knowing. And when you think it’s all grown up, swing around and take it all.”
Elric slowly approached King Velence and slightly bent his knees to bring them to eye level.
“I will help you. How is it?”
When I held out my hand to him, King Velence took it without realizing it.
The small pupil containing Elric’s image was now greatly agitated.
[How about this angle? Or is this angle better?]
『It completely captures the soul.』
[This is the most expensive way to eat it. how is it? Doesn’t this seem like you’ve completely lost your mind?]
『You will achieve great success when you become a demon. For demons, cunning is a very important skill.』
[Thank you for the compliment.]
『Crazy guy.』
Mephisto clicked his tongue and shook his head.
‘This guy is really disingenuous in some ways. ‘I’m deliberately taking a difficult path.’
In fact, he knew that Elric was acting like this, contrary to what he said, as a play to strongly stimulate King Velence.
If you’re going to sell it for a really high price, there’s no need to bother like this.
All you have to do is go to Prime Minister Norus and negotiate a bigger deal.
But Elric didn’t bother to do that.
This may be because he projected himself onto the lonely-looking King Velence.
The only difference is that Elric was able to grow this much without any major ups and downs because he had a strong supporter named Haze, whereas King Velence doesn’t have anything like that?
If things had gone as planned, Prime Minister Norus would have taken on the role of Hayes.
‘When I found out that the prime minister was a demon, I was completely shocked.’
Demons become evidence of betrayal. Mephisto couldn’t help but laugh.
In the end, that’s actually what happened.
‘Anyway, if there is no difference from before even after doing this, it means that that is the fate of the Tiger King.’
Mephisto crossed his arms and looked at King Velence with cold eyes.
Will that young child be able to receive enough stimulation and grow the claws of Gangchejutsu to once again display the same dignity as his ancestors?
“…There is a report that King Yulho left behind the wall south of the wall.”
King Velence spoke in a firm tone, as if he had firmly resolved something.
At that moment, Elric’s eyes brightened widely.
King Yulho was said to be the fiercest of all the tiger kings of all time and led the beast race to its heyday.
Since they had crossed the wall several times and at one point almost turned the northern region into the territory of the beast people, they must have gathered quite a lot of goods.
“O king! But that will have to be used when our Antromorphs are revived…!”
Fenn looked horrified and shouted, but King Velence stretched out his hand to stop him and continued speaking.
“I’ll give you a map of that location. Instead, please hand over the Gangseojutsu to me.”
The corners of Elric’s mouth curled up.
“That’s deferred payment, right? Besides, you can’t check if the map is real from here, right?”
“He is like that too. Then… there are materials that our species studied to restore the Gangseojutsu, and I will share them with you as well.”
“great.”
Even though Elric had restored the steel body technique to some extent, there were still many parts missing.
No matter how hard I tried, there was a lot of information I couldn’t find.
However, if I could fill in those parts, I might be able to get all of Fuchosik back, including Oui and Secret Qi.
“Ahhh…!”
And Pen shed tears of joy at the fact that Gangchejutsu was finally returning to the King of Tigers.
“I will also open the Flower Temple.”
“I heard it was closed because of General Dong?”
“The King of Tigers has been the guardian of the Temple of Flowers for generations. “I have a previous relationship, so if I go and ask for it personally, it won’t be difficult to open the door.”
Elric could tell that these words meant a request to get him out of the Antromorph safely.
‘Well, there are a lot of eyes watching here, so it wouldn’t be a good idea to secretly grow your toenails.’
It seemed like they decided it would be better to hide and wait for the opportunity.
‘I thought it was just cute. ‘He’s quite smart, isn’t he?’
I carelessly thought that if Pen had found out, he would have been furious and said it was an insult to the king.
Elric squeezed the hand of the young but not young Tiger King.
“The deal is done. “We will take you safely.”
He grinned.
* * *
“….”
After all transactions are completed.
King Velence flopped down on the floor as if his legs had lost strength.
“Wow, king!”
“are you okay. “I just want to rest for a while, don’t worry.”
Pen was startled, but King Velence stretched out his hand and shook his head, saying it was nothing.
But Pen couldn’t say anything because he knew the deep sorrow on the king’s face.
How can I relieve this frustrating feeling?
Then, Hayes quietly approached me.
“you are…?”
Pen tried to be on guard, not knowing what harm humans might do.
Before that, Hayes hugged King Velence’s small body.
“If you want to cry, cry as much as you want. “It’s not good to force yourself to endure it.”
A warm voice.
A friendly hand stroking your head.
King Velence’s face turned red for an instant.
“This is so reckless! No matter how young I look, I am the king of Antromorphs…!”
As Hayes stroked the back of his head, King Velence had to stop talking for a moment.
For some reason, that touch is very similar to that of my mother who passed away when I was young.
at last.
“Ugh!”
King Velence had to shed tears while being held in Hayes’ arms.
* * *
“Now that I think about it, I heard that cats really like having the back of their heads scratched. So is that so?”
“Aren’t the Tigers tigers?”
“It’s the same cat, so wouldn’t it be similar?”
Elric and Augustine are having a brief, unproductive conversation.
King Velence barely raised his head.
Perhaps because he was embarrassed, his face was as red as his eyes.
Hayes was still stroking my head, smiling sweetly as if it was okay.
It was as if he was comforting his youngest brother, who was much older than him.
King Velence seemed to be in a good mood, as the tail on his butt was constantly shaking.
“hmm.”
Elric strangely didn’t like the sight and was upset.
“Are your eyes a little swollen?”
King Velence yawned softly like a cat for a moment as he felt Hayes’ touch, but when he heard Elric’s words, he was startled and buried his face in Hayes’ arms again. The ears were more red.
“You, Elric!”
Instead, when Hayes’ ax eye flew, Elric quickly changed the topic.
“I think we should leave now. Do you plan to take the SS with you?”
Fen looked at King Velence with concern, but when Elric asked him a question, he quickly came to his senses and shook his head.
“No. Irina, the captain of the royal guard, is the adopted daughter of Prime Minister Norus. “At first, I thought he was pledging allegiance to the royal family for generations, but he is actually a guard appointed by the Prime Minister.”
“uh? “Then doesn’t the Prime Minister already know that the King is here?”
“First of all, when I left the palace, the Royal Guard also came out secretly. But… you might know by now.”
“hmm! “I guess it would be difficult to sneak out.”
It was clear that not only Prime Minister Norus, but also other ministers and officials had hidden snow near the villa.
The moment you move you will be discovered. Then I had to find another way.
‘Then the invisibility magic…? no. That’s even more suspicious. Most fighters have very sensitive senses. ‘You’ll be caught soon.’
Elric scratched the back of his head.
‘Do we have no choice but to just fight it out and leave?’
I didn’t think that it would be very difficult if there was an armed conflict anyway.
No matter how much Antromorph was a kingdom, it was just a city that was already on the verge of collapse, while this was a munchkin that even had a great sage from the 9th circle.
‘If you have to, you can fly into the sky. good. Let’s play a game late at night and run away.’
As long as we escape into the black snow field, they won’t be able to chase after us as long as General Dong is on the rampage.
Elric tried to convey his decision to his companions.
Then.
Dang dang dang-!
Suddenly, alarms rang out everywhere, telling the city to leave.
“It’s an emergency alarm! What’s going on? Could it be that Fury came in?”
King Velence lifted his head up with a startled look on his face. Fenn hurriedly ran to the window and pushed aside the curtain.
Elric and the others also looked surprised because they had already known that Fury was the beastman force with the most conflict with the Antromorphs.
Didn’t they say that when General Dong comes to visit, all cities and powers stop fighting and lock their doors? Could it be that they were trying to use that instead?
However, if the Furies invaded, it was obvious that King Velence would not leave the city.
Elric opened the window wide and could see that the city was noisy with explosions and commotion happening everywhere.
And suddenly, two large figures flying here like cannonballs.
“What is it?”
Elric hurriedly raised his magic power, thinking it was a surprise attack from the enemy, but his eyes widened when he heard a familiar voice.
“Elic? Elric, right?”
widely!
Someone peeked out from behind the large man who had landed on the window sill and shouted happily.
“This Isabel?”
Wizard who swallowed talent