Have Magic - Chapter 83



Only Noblemtl

Embrace the Magic (83)

Gowen, the man who died from Rodin’s magic, was a wanted criminal. He was on the wanted list not only in the Ingrem Empire, but also in the Riaz Kingdom, Belos Kingdom, and Paris Kingdom of the 13-nation alliance.

Originally, Gowen was a soldier of the Ingram Empire who had been mobilized for this war. He was also a leader of ten, and was in a position to lead his subordinates.

However, after drinking alcohol and accidentally killing his superior, he fled from his unit. The Imperial Army belatedly dispatched a pursuit force, but Gowen managed to escape somehow.

Gowen’s crimes as a deserter did not stop there. He wandered around and took in other deserters, eventually building a force with over 100 subordinates.

Gowen led his men to kill and pillage those who had fallen from the camps of the Thirteen Nations Alliance and the Ingrem Empire. In the villages, he massacred civilians and turned young women into objects of desire.

Gowen, who was on a winning streak, was caught in the northern part of the Parry Kingdom by a special force from the Ingrem Empire.

In a single surprise attack, the Gowen gang suffered a near-annihilation.

Gowen fled with only a few people to survive, and arrived at the port city of the Kingdom of Paris.

“Get out. Before I kill you too.”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

The survivors fled in panic at Rodin’s cold words, not even thinking about picking up Gowen’s dead body.

Rodin used his Dig magic to dig up the ground and dispose of the body. It was a bit of a hassle, but it couldn’t be helped since this was a city.

If the body was left there, it was obvious that the police would come to investigate.

“Larry, Bianca. How are you feeling about today?”

“Did you feel it?”

“Um…, um. Does the bad guy die?”

Rodin returned to the inn with his brothers, asking them a few questions.

Larry looked as if he had experienced a lot of things today. Bianca was also shocked, her face still pale.

“There are many bad people in the world. And Larry, you can’t protect your sister with the power you have. So think twice and thrice before you go out. Or you will die not only for yourself but also for Bianca.”

“Oh! It’s my fault.”

“And Bianca, if you were the one who coaxed Larry out, you almost killed him today. Your foolishness is not only putting you in danger, it’s putting Larry in danger too. Remember, the world is a very dangerous place for you.”

“Ah! Larry, I’m sorry.”

It was a day that made him feel many things. Rodin also realized that there are many annoying things in the world.

No one knew it, but Gowen was the enemy who killed Rodin’s parents and older brother. Today, Rodin unknowingly took revenge on his parents and older brother.

But Rodin didn’t know that. Even Gowen died without knowing that the grudge had been returned.

* * *

Fortunately, nothing happened until the next day. Rodin, Larry, and Bianca were able to recover from their travel fatigue at the inn and board the ship again.

The subsequent voyage was smooth. There were frequent stops in port, but no incidents like those before occurred.

“Hmm, it’s finally over.”

From the moment he felt that he could communicate with the language, Mr. Proval’s class was really easy. The content itself was from beginner to intermediate level, so for Rodin, it was just an opportunity to learn the language.

“It’s finally past 2 o’clock.”

I moved the hour hand on the pocket watch to 2. There’s still a long way to go, but what’s important is that I’ve become familiar with the language.

“Shall we begin?”

The hour hand on the pocket watch was set to 2 o’clock. The welcoming teacher of Proval began the class by saying, ‘We will now begin the advanced course.’

‘Hmm, the level is pretty high.’

The first class was math, and it featured formulas that were much more complex than the math I had seen at the library.

Rodin wasn’t particularly surprised. He had kind of expected this to happen.

When the hour hand was 1, the highest level of math content learned in the library came out. So it was natural that the class starting from the hour hand 2 would be of a higher level.

‘Oh.’

Sometimes exclaiming in admiration, sometimes tilting his head, Rodin concentrated on the lesson.

Following mathematics, classes in various fields continued, including geography, administration, architecture, law, and culture.

Rodin did not skip any of the unnecessary classes. He believed that knowing them all would help him understand the classes that would follow.

“It would be nice to have a history class too.”

Strangely, history was missing from the class. I rolled the minute hand back a few times just in case, but history didn’t come up.

The history of Proval goes back at least 5,000 years, overlapping with the history of the Magic Empire, or even longer.

If we could know the history of that time, we would be able to know what happened to the Magic Empire and what kind of relationship there was between Proval and the Magic Empire.

“There’s nothing I can do.”

I put my regrets aside and focused on class again.

It took three months to travel from the port city of Rance in the Kingdom of Veros to the port city of El Peso in the easternmost Kingdom of the Thirteen Nations Alliance.

Whenever Rodin had time, he received instruction from Proval Welcome, and filled his head with many things.

“The math is definitely of a high level.”

Rodin had never once thought that he was lacking in mathematics. He had a wide and deep knowledge of not only the mathematics required for magic, but also the discipline of mathematics itself.

Even the self-proclaimed mathematician Instructor Kruper was lacking in many areas compared to himself. Even when using magic, he was able to calculate formulas faster than anyone else, overwhelming others.

However, Fruval’s mathematics was far beyond his level. The gap was as large as that between an adult and a child.

I felt overwhelmed by the mathematical symbols and formulas that I had never seen before. There were so many things to learn that I wondered if what I had learned was really mathematics.

“I guess I’ll stop here for today.”

I finished my afternoon classes a little early. For some reason, I wanted to cool my head a little today.

“Kids are kids.”

For a while after the kidnapping incident, Larry and Bianca did not leave Rodin’s side. They were afraid that something like the kidnapping would happen again.

But that life didn’t even last ten days.

He started sneaking around the deck a little bit at a time, and now he goes out to the deck every day to play and then comes back. He was even late for mealtimes.

“What are you playing with?”

Rodin had attached Undine to Larry and Bianca. If there had been any danger, the amount of magic consumed would have changed immediately. The fact that there had been no such incident meant that they were playing safely.

I went up to the deck. There were quite a few passengers there enjoying the breeze.

“Huh. Me too.”

On one side of the deck sat Captain Krondel of the Capleton. Beside him, Larry and Bianca were eating snacks and watching the sea.

“You were here?”

“Huh? Hyung!”

“Brother Rodin!”

“Mr. Rodin, you’re here. Please sit over here.”

Captain Krondel took his seat in the commanding position.

Perhaps because he was the captain, the chair he was sitting on was a soft sofa like those seen in high-class inns. Larry and Bianca were also sitting on the sofa, and Krondel was also half-reclining on the sofa.

“Thank you. The wind is nice.”

“That’s right. I wonder if it’s because of the sea god’s blessing. The wind is particularly strong these days.”

If the wind is too strong, the ship becomes dangerous, and if there is too little wind, the ship cannot make speed. The wind that is blowing now is the best for sailing.

“I guess days like this are rare?”

“It’s rare. The sea has a capricious and ill-tempered disposition. When it sees a ship sailing smoothly, it becomes grumpy.”

“I guess I’ll have to hope it stays like this. But you guys have been here the whole time?”

“I have friends that I play with, but my mom called me and I went in.”

Bianca’s expression looked gloomy. Larry’s expression looked calm, so he seemed to be Bianca’s friend.

“Why did you come out, hyung?”

“I just wanted to get some fresh air. It feels good to be out. I should come out more often from now on.”

“That’s right. Mr. Rodin, come out often. There are quite a few people among this group of passengers who would be helpful to know.”

“Is that so?”

Rodin glanced at the people on deck. They were all dressed in luxurious clothes and were gathered in small groups, talking.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“A little bit.”

“Most of those people are going to flee anyway. They still think they are nobles and are arrogant. But once they go to the central continent, their thoughts will change.”

It’s not that the Central Continent doesn’t recognize the nobles of the Western Continent. No matter what country’s nobles are, they tend to treat them accordingly.

But that was only when the country still existed.

No one would recognize the nobility of a ruined country. If you had a lot of money, you would be treated like a rich commoner, but if you didn’t even have money, you were just a commoner who was once a noble.

“Anyway, we can avoid the flames of war. Isn’t the central continent more peaceful than the western continent?”

“Hahaha, you’re mistaken. The Central Continent is a place where wars occur more frequently than the Western and Eastern Continents. If you just look at the number of wars, the Western and Eastern Continents combined won’t be able to keep up with the Central Continent.”

“Really? Is the peaceful rumor just a rumor?”

Rodin had heard from Bronn that the Central Continent was peaceful. Bronn was from the Central Continent, so it was hard to believe he had been mistaken.

I had a feeling that maybe he was deceiving me, but Bronn had no reason to deceive me.

“Hmm, well, to really understand this, you have to understand that the cultures of the two continents are different.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The Western Continent is centered around the state. In reality, the power of the king is very strong, and everything in the country is decided by the king’s word.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“That’s not at all natural. The Central Continent is centered around families. Numerous families reign like kings in their own territories. Among these families are swordsmen and magicians, but there are also scholars and merchants.”

It was hard to understand that Rodin was not a nation but a family-centered world. It felt like there was no difference in the Western Continent, as noble families also exerted great power in their own territories.

“I don’t quite understand.”

“This one sentence will make it clear. The laws of a territory are made by the lord of that territory. Even the king cannot dictate what to do. Barring treason, the lords are those who have virtually unlimited authority within the territory.”

“Hmm. It looks like it’s going to be a mess.”

“Well, you could think so. In reality, there are such territories. However, territories are the property of lord families that have been passed down for hundreds of years. Lords do not want their lands to be ruined. In fact, they manage their territories more carefully than the kings of the Western Continent.”

The part about managing the territory more carefully than the king caught my ear.

Since the size of the territory is smaller than that of the country, it will be easier to inspect it carefully. Also, since the population is small, it will be easier to manage the territory residents.

“If the autonomy is that strong, then isn’t there no need for a king at all?”

“In most cases, yes. The King feels like just the biggest of many houses. But the King plays a very important role.”

“Are you fighting against foreign powers?”

“That’s correct. The royal family doesn’t do anything else, but they do protect their territory with all their might when there’s an attack from another country. In return, they receive 10% of the territory’s taxes every year.”

The Riaz Kingdom in the Western Continent collects 40% in taxes from the territories every year. Since they collect so much, the nobles end up collecting more than 40% to support their territories, which in turn leads to suffering for the territorial residents.

“We can defend the country with just 10% of our strength… Is that really enough to maintain our military power?”

“Of course, if we were to move this system as is to the Western Continent, it would be a problem. In the Western Continent, once you move troops, you’ll have at least hundreds of thousands of troops. However, in the Central Continent, the troops that the King can directly move are usually tens of thousands. In many places, they don’t even have 100,000 troops.”

Since they are similar, it means that they can be maintained with just 10%. In other words, it means that no country wants to collect a lot of taxes to maintain an army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

“That’s interesting. So, is it easy to become a citizen of the territory?”

“You can’t have too much power. I don’t think they’ll look favorably on anything over 100 people.”

“You’ve become too powerful a force within the territory.”

“That’s right. That’s why the Central Continent prefers a small number of elites.”

Special Forces Training Center Commissioner Xer and Commissioner Havignon were already aware of this fact. The decision to take only the best of the trainees to the Central Continent was also to avoid the lords’ excessive vigilance and restraint.

“But what do you mean by saying that wars break out frequently?”

“Ah! That’s a war between territories. Territories fight each other very often. They fight for small interests, for pride. They fight for all sorts of reasons.”

“Captain Krondel, where do you think I should settle down? I would like to ask for your advice.”