Book 14 Chapter 29

The Hero's Hometown,

In the Central Empire (3)

The day I taught Gorilla2 Beast-Human magic, my dream strangely progressed.

- I'm done, Master.

I handed the old man a piece of paper. It was a drawing paper filled with meticulously copied runes of creation.

- What feelings did you experience while writing these characters?

- My heart… felt reverent.

- That's because the characters of creation contain the heart of creation. In other words, transcribing the runes of creation is one way to resemble that heart. The use of magic is also the same. It is to pursue the same righteousness (義) using those runes. If you have understood this mindset, you have climbed the first step.

As the old man reverently clasped his hands together, a light of magical power spread across the floor.

It's Osarius-style Beast-Human transformation!

The dream ended there. It was ominous. Could this be a premonition? Will I ever grow old like that?

I see.

This is pressure.

It seemed like an inner pressure, urging me to do my best in this moment so as not to grow old and ugly with such lingering regrets, had manifested as a dream.

Hence, a vigorous and bright morning, the strongest mage awakes.

My mornings always begin before the rooster crows. This morning, I felt even better than usual. This time, I was able to interpret a key rune into its beast-human form from the lord's library.

Field (場).

It is a rune that bestows the property of territory establishment. One of the essential runes for the strongest thunder and lightning magic I am currently developing.

Thunder (雷).

Field (場).

Throw (投).

Fall (落).

Flash (剡).

The runes required for the strongest thunder and lightning magic are as follows.

Although Osarius has already interpreted Thunder (雷), my skill is still insufficient to use a primordial rune for 5-star magic, so I am compromising by using Electricity (電).

However, this is a problem of my capability; if it's a matter of knowledge defects, then three more remain.

Anyway, I tried to use this magic as a Jorhen type, but the consumption of physical and mental energy was excessively high, and the calculations became inaccurate.

It takes too long to make it accurate, which would disqualify me as the strongest mage. How can magic that sacrifices practicality be the strongest?

"Osarius-style Beast-Human, Calculation Abbreviation. Thunder (雷), Field (場)."

The calculation for Throw (投), which is not yet usable as a beast-human form, will be complete once it's finalized as a Jorhen type.

"Iyaat!"

When I point my finger at the birds soaring through the morning sky, magic activates, and electromagnetic waves shoot out, electrocuting them.

"Kkwae-ek!"

"Iyyap!"

"Kka-ak!"

"Ha-at!"

"Gyu-ut!"

I accidentally used it on some fluff-ball too, but it's a surprisingly sturdy fellow, so there's no problem. Hehe, perfect.

"Kkyu-woo-woo-ut!"

Ignoring Svall's protest, whose downy fur stood on end due to the electromagnetic waves, I neatly prepared the two birds I'd shot down and headed to the inn.

"What? You'll give me those birds to make breakfast? It's fine, but aren't you losing out too much?"

Actually, while the meal was a meal, I also wanted to try one of the actions of the [Strongest Mage].

"Innkeeper, is there a [strongest] person in this city?"

A traveler from somewhere, abruptly asking about the hierarchy of power.

An action only the [strongest] would dare to do.

But a cool gleam passed through the innkeeper's eyes, who I had expected to tell me to stop spouting nonsense and just eat.

"You seem to have been a young master who wielded some power in the North, but if you value your life, it'd be best to wake up from that dream."

I saw passion in the innkeeper's face. In fact, perhaps the innkeeper had been looking forward to such a conversation? If so, I should show as much passion as I started.

"Hmph…"

It's one of the best lines when you have nothing to say, because people will interpret it in the best possible way on their own.

"This place is <Centralnorth>; due to its size and location, all sorts of thugs gather here to show off their strength."

The innkeeper's daughter squeezed fresh milk from the cowshed and poured it into a cup for me. She affectionately stroked my head and told me to enjoy it.

I like milk.

Therefore, that cheeky act can be considered the price of milk, and I can put up with it. To grow tall, one must drink milk.

"Hey, give me another glass of milk."

While I was drinking milk, the innkeeper's long speech seemed endless.

"You ask who the key figures are? Good grief, I'll tell you, but drink that and then leave."

I only wanted to perform a [Strongest Mage action]; in truth, I wasn't interested in who the strongest person in this city was.

What's the point… I'll just leave as soon as Rista's clothes are mended and I find a satisfactory apology.

So I decided to just listen with the [Reading a Grimoire to a Cow] mode, letting it wash over me.

"There are many troublemakers. First, there's Alissa, the proprietress of the Alissa Merchant Guild. She came in a few years ago and has been greatly expanding her influence. There's the Lawson Merchant Guild branch as the long-established guild, but lately, they're losing a lot of ground to Alissa's side."

"Oh-ho."

"On top of that, there are thugs who try to extort protection money for everything, and mercenaries too, but there's not much to worry about. Because there's Duke Apeltas, who has completely leashed all of them."

"Hmm."

"You ask who Duke Apeltas is? You really don't know anything. Isn't this the city of the Apeltas Duke family? One of the 18 families who earned their peerage through the sword! The current head is Riland Apeltas. He's a 3-Lock (鎖) Knight who was nicknamed 'Flash of the Frontier' for his fierce activity on the demon realm border in his youth. He was the former Sword Saint of the Imperial Yellow River Secretariat."

"Oh-ho-ra."

"His daughter also inherited his talent and is making a name for herself as the strongest Fey Courier of all time. What a look, like 'who is that?' Did you come from some rural village? I'm talking about Rista Alter Shirpang."

I stopped reading my book and glanced behind me, at the inn's entrance. It felt as if someone had called Rista's name. Was it a mistake?

"Anyway, thanks to both of them, the family's honor has been greatly elevated, but strictly speaking, they are now strangers by law, so the family's future remains dark."

"Hmm?"

"The heir to succeed them is called the 'Incompetent Young Master.' Unlike his father, a 3-Lock Knight, or his sister, the strongest hero. If we were to look for another heir, the Duchess passed away a long time ago, alas."

* * *

"Riland Apeltas is often away due to the [King's Flesh] problem occurring on the outskirts of the city. He has no time to worry about matters within the city. Everything is going according to plan."

It was widely rumored that the main building of the Alissa Merchant Guild was larger than the lord's mansion. This would be true if comparing only the size of the residences, excluding the inner castle walls.

The basement of the main building was designed like a labyrinth, suitable for the clandestine meetings required for business.

This was the rarely opened second basement floor. Excluding the guild staff, the attendees at this meeting, where Alissa herself was present, had a bizarre presence.

"How are your preparations coming along?"

A woman wearing a dark blue robe, her hood pulled low over her eyes, said. The rune [Ice (氷)] was embroidered on her back.

That's right.

She was Bremena of the Ice Mirror (氷鏡), a dark mage belonging to [Seven Souls], the elite organization directly under the Black Church's Second Pillar.

"We have no problems."

Alissa chewed gum, her jowls shaking.

"I'm talking about preparing for grains from the North to spread throughout the empire, and conversely, for grains gathered from all over the empire to spread to the North. What about you all? A large quantity of [King's Flesh], you've definitely prepared it, right?"

[Seven Souls] was plotting to finely shred and grind the flesh into a powder, distributing it nationwide in a structure similar to narcotics.

People would unwittingly consume the flesh, and within the whispers of its abyss, they would begin a struggle for power.

This was an absolute order from the Black Church's leader, the First Pillar, not Zernix. Disobedience was impossible.

"It's not over just with the flesh. I still don't know if you can truly get rid of that thorn in my side, the Flash of the Frontier."

This was a deal.

Alissa wanted to use this chaos to turn <Centralnorth>'s underworld into her own commercial kingdom.

To do so, the excessively capable and dangerous Riland Apeltas had to be removed from power. It would be best if his incompetent son succeeded him.

"Don't worry, I'll kill that Riland fellow."

Someone standing to the left of the dark mage Bremena said. His face was hidden by a deeply pulled-down hood, but the murderous intent (殺氣) in his voice and gaze was chilling to the bone.

However, merchant guilds thrive on information. Alissa immediately recognized his identity.

"The former Sword Saint's rival, Zieht, the 3-Lock Knight…"

Knights who use mana chains follow a 5-Lock system.

The 5-Lock is a legendary realm, with no one having reached it except for the strongest mercenary, the Dragon Slayer; the 4-Lock is a realm akin to that of an Archmage.

In other words, a 3-Lock could be considered similar to a 4-star mage. An ordinary swordsman is said to reach 1-Lock, a genius swordsman 2-Lock, and only a genius among geniuses reaches 3-Lock.

"The fact that you, who were incarcerated as a heinous criminal in <Ikegrad Prison>, are here means that the collapse of that infamous prison wasn't just a rumor, but truly happened. Good, someone of your caliber is trustworthy."

"What about the heir?"

At Bremena's remark, all eyes turned to the man standing to Alissa's right.

Neatly dressed in a formal knight's uniform, he was a swordsmanship instructor invited by the Apeltas family.

He opened his mouth with an arrogant shrug, as if making a boast.

"We're brainwashing him daily to believe he's the most incompetent person in the world. Once Duke Apeltas is removed, he will become a slave to the [King's Flesh]."

"There was information that he started associating with a strange fellow three days ago, is that true?"

"Ah. It's a kid named PM, but he's nothing to worry about. He's a brat without a single mage rank. It seems he brought some stray kid into the mansion under the pretense of being a magic teacher or something."

"Make sure of it. I will not tolerate any unforeseen variables."

"Hmph, if that's the case, I'll enforce some discipline for the first time in a while."