Episode 340
“You must be Jack Valantier. Nice to meet you.”
“Yes. Nice to meet you too.”
“I was going to greet you at the port before, but I couldn’t because you were so absorbed in fishing. If you happen to enjoy fishing, I’d like to introduce you to a good fishing spot. What do you think?”
He was a very sociable man.
But you saw it before?
I thought about it for a moment and then burst out laughing.
I guess you mistook Antonio Senna, who was disguised as me, for me.
Still, it’s right to receive a favor that is given.
“That’s fine with me. But I don’t plan on staying here long, so I’ll just accept your offer.”
“Haha, then I guess there’s nothing we can do. Let’s eat first.”
Charlie guided us inside, and we had a pleasant time eating various kinds of raw fish.
After about 10 minutes, Charlie gave me a piece of information.
“Have you heard the rumor that Angela Hel of the Tulcan Empire has recently gone missing?”
The hand holding the spoon stopped for a moment.
“Missing?”
Charlie nodded, and Harold looked puzzled.
He asked me.
“Yes. I heard that he disappeared without a trace. I thought that Confucius was involved, but I guess not.”
“I’m not the type of person to kidnap anyone.”
Charlotte, who was standing next to him, asked.
“Huh? What about Mr. Blanc back then? Wasn’t that a kidnapping?”
He tapped Charlotte on the forehead.
Oh, no.
maybe.
“But you’re missing… I didn’t expect that.”
I’m serious.
It’s probably Iskandar’s doing.
If he noticed the message I sent to the recording studio, it’s only natural that he would react in some way.
But the reaction is that Angela is missing.
“I guess that kid is up to something again.”
“That kid?”
“There it is. That little bastard.”
Saxon and Ken, who didn’t know the situation, tilted their heads, but Harold and Charlotte, who had a rough idea, didn’t.
Harold asked.
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“What are you going to do?”
“Well, what should we do?”
He took a bite of the fish and smiled faintly.
Hmm.
Before that.
“What is Beckerman doing these days?”
“Heynkes Beckerman, I hear, has been wandering around the territory of Tulcan recently.”
“why?”
“It is nominally a territory patrol, but it seems to be going around to persuade nobles who do not follow the Crown Prince’s will.”
“That can’t be the end of it, right? You’re looking for Beckerman too, right?”
“Yes. I heard that they are asking around about Angela Hell.”
The further you look, the less you can see what’s nearby. Everyone has this in their heads, but they can’t put it into practice: the darker it gets under the lamp.
In his previous life, Beckerman was a man who was mentally mature, physically strong, and skilled in swordsmanship.
I’m very immature now.
“Just give it to him.”
“What?”
“Angela Hell, the Crown Prince is with you.”
Everyone except Charlotte tilts their heads.
The teacher was also there.
[Are you sure?]
“Yes, I am sure.”
[okay?]
“Yes. It’s not a hunch or anything, but if it were the crown prince I know, there’s a 100% chance he’d have Angela with him. He’d probably be locked up in some kind of dungeon and plotting something… … .”
[Decorate?]
“I have a rough idea, but I’m not sure about this.”
The teacher seemed very curious.
Well, how could I not say anything when I see that expression?
“He knows. No matter what he does in this situation, he can’t beat me.”
[That’s probably what everyone who knows you thinks.]
The Master never just said, “I guess not.”
[So, what do you think?]
I thought about it for a moment.
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Should I say this?
Yeah, let’s just say it.
“He will think. What is the difference between me and him? What kind of power I used? How can I use that power? He will think and think again. There are probably two reasons why he has Angela.”
[Two?]
“First, a little bit of faith that he can definitely bring Angela back as his own when he uses the power I have. And second… … Do you remember when I sent a ghost unit to Tulcan before?”
[If it was sent after the destruction of the Teslan punitive force, then yes, I remember.]
“The black magic that created that ghost unit, Duke Hel under Iskandar, is an incredibly talented magician. He is the best on this continent when it comes to making artifacts. The Philosopher’s Stone, the Mana Binding Orb that bound Cell’s body, etc., it’s possible to make something like that.”
[It means that he has an extremely high level of understanding and sense of mana. He is literally a great wizard who far surpasses that of ordinary people. Is that right?]
“Yes. At that level, it may be possible to disassemble and reassemble the magical formula that was briefly felt. The probability is low, but not zero.”
The teacher was very interested.
[Re-creating the black magic that only has remnants left… …. Judging from your attitude, it seems like you believe you will succeed. Is that right?]
“Yes. This is just my intuition, but I think I might be able to figure out how to create a ghost.”
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The teacher’s expression changed once again.
A very regretful expression.
[It’s really unfortunate. A person of that caliber would definitely be able to change the world. He just got in the wrong line.]
I didn’t deny it.
It’s because I’m too much of an irregular, but Duke Hell would be about half a level higher than me when it comes to artifact creation.
Crucially, I cannot create an artifact that completely hides the power of a high-level master, the Philosopher’s Stone, without using ‘Soul Energy’.
“Anyway, this is the second. To summarize, the first is to confine Angela and persuade her until she realizes her own destiny, and the second is to use the reassembled black magic to turn Angela into a ghost.”
It was Harold and the other masters who reacted to those words.
“A ghost?”
“Isn’t that just crazy?”
“The continent is really big. It’s amazing to see all kinds of crazy people out there.”
etc.
In such a noisy atmosphere, I leaned back slightly in my chair.
The teacher asks me this question.
[After hearing the story, I feel like there might be a third one.]
I didn’t really want to say anything, but I guess I should since it just came out.
“If things don’t go as planned, the Crown Prince will probably kill Angela.”
[When I looked at it, it seemed like he wanted to take the child with him, but he was surprisingly relaxed.]
Looking at the situation, it is almost certain that Angela will meet a bad ending in some way.
In that situation, as the teacher said, I was quite relaxed.
Because.
“Because I know I can’t kill you.”
[huh?]
“Let’s see. Is our Beckerman a romantic or not?”
I drank some milk.
Then this thought occurred to me.
Now I think it’s time to start organizing Iskandar too.
I just need to clear out the Demon Forest and get started right away.
He laughed as he poured more milk into the empty glass.
Did my smile seem so sinister?
The teacher next to me tapped my forehead with a strange expression.
[You’re smiling wickedly.]
He shrugged.
* * *
The Demon Forest was located almost in the middle of the continent’s map.
Inside, there were deserts, forests, and mountain ranges, and the size of the land was much larger than one might think.
About half the size of the Tulcan Empire.
To put it more concisely, I would say it’s about the size of Teslan, Ishmael, and Cradle combined.
Each country that borders the Forest of Demons on such a large piece of land deploys a significant number of troops to that border.
No, I let it go.
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It’s past tense.
It makes sense, because there are clearly a huge number of alien species in the Demon Forest, but ironically, they ‘never’ come out.
If it had been a sort of ‘rest period’ of one to two years, it would have been understandable, but for hundreds of years, not once did the other races make a ‘preemptive attack’.
So the number of troops stationed there naturally decreased, and a trend emerged where more mercenaries than regular knights lived in the forest of demons, which was nothing more than a sandbag.
In that way, all the territories bordering the Forest of Demons became a kind of mercenary base.
The countries bordering the Forest of Demons are Tulkan, Teslan, Yoram, and Ishmael.
Now I was at the Raft Estate near the border of the Cradle and the Forest of Demons with my party.
To be exact, we are sitting in a restaurant within the territory.
As always, all kinds of mercenaries come to the restaurant in the territory that has become the mercenary base.
It was the same here.
“There are strange rumors spreading across the continent these days.”
“What rumor?”
“Haven’t you heard that the dragon declared war?”
“It’s even stranger to believe such nonsense.”
“Isn’t this crazy? More than 200 nobles of Canaan and Matthias died. So is this also nonsense?”
Despite those words, the mercenary just snickered.
“It’s not the end. Not long ago, there was chaos even in the Cradle’s palace.”
“okay?”
“They say a royal family called Antos usurped the throne.”
The mercenary, who had been chuckling and not caring much about those words, raised his head.
“Anthos? Anthos Cradle? The son of Grand Duke Xerath is alive?”
“Why do you know him?”
“I don’t know. It was about ten years ago, when I applied for the open recruitment of apprentice knights for the Grand Duke’s family. I failed, but I saw him briefly then.”
The mercenary took a gulp of his drink and continued speaking.
“I thought the Grand Duke’s family was completely wiped out, but it’s strange.”
“I find it amazing even as I speak. Do you know what’s even more amazing?”
“What is it?”
“They say that Anthos has completely taken control of the state.”
“You didn’t just usurp it, you even took control?”
“I heard so?”
“How old was he?”
“Let’s see, when the sun goes down… … 18? That’s about it.”
“Is he that young? He’s a brat who hasn’t even had a coming-of-age ceremony. What about the crown prince?”
“He died.”
“Who killed him?”
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“Who could it be?”
“… … .”
The man who had been silent for a long time spoke.
“It must be one of the two.”
“what?”
“나라를 말아먹을 개새끼거나 진짜 능력이 있는 천재거나.”
“Even so, he’s still a kid.”
“Is a king determined by age?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as I listened to the conversation between the two mercenaries.
Saxony speaks to me like that.
“Shall we organize it?”
“No, that’s fine. Just leave it alone.”
Saxon and Ken looked at me as if I was curious, but Benedict and Charlotte did not.
He was looking at me as if he was familiar with me.
“It’s the path he’s chosen to walk. It’s natural that he’ll be criticized. It’s his job to take that criticism, and it’s also a very basic thing he has to do to turn that criticism into praise. So just leave him alone. Don’t even warn him.”
Saxon, who was trying to spread his energy, felt a prickle and lowered his head.
I turned my head and looked at our teacher.
“What do you think, Master?”
