The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 11



Only Noblemtl

Boom!

The office in the Elseid Citadel was quiet until just a moment ago.

The large door swung open with a crashing sound.

Grantal, who had not taken his eyes off the documents, spoke to the sound of someone approaching him, panting.

“Bartleck, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you so excited.”

Batlek, Granthal’s faithful butler and right-hand man.

He was usually such a serious and reserved person.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him so shaken up. If that’s the case, then something must have happened to warrant it.

As expected, Bartleck shouted urgently.

“Your Majesty! Lord Enoch has returned!”

Stop.

The pen that had been moving over the documents paused for a moment.

Granthal slowly stood up from his seat and said.

“There’s no need to make such a fuss. If you’re back already, I can already predict the outcome.”

It was obvious.

What could a young master who couldn’t even use magic and had grown up so well do there?

He must have come back after experiencing the bitter taste of being stopped by one or two thugs at the corner of the alley.

“In the first place, a solo search and destruction mission isn’t that easy.”

Solo search and destroy mission.

It was one of the most notorious and difficult missions.

Excellent combat magic ability is a given.

The ability to conduct local intelligence research in parallel.

At the same time, he has interpersonal skills that hide his identity.

This is the type of mission that can only be expected to succeed if a person with all these capabilities is assigned to it.

The difficulty level is such that even most veteran magicians belonging to the Elseid family would wave their hands in disbelief.

But what about Master Enoch?

Needless to say, he is an immature character, not only in terms of magical skills, but also in terms of human skills.

‘Enoch 9th rank was a person who was imprisoned because he had no talent for magic.’

Of course, neither his talent nor his environment was suitable for developing the ability to carry out the mission.

‘Besides, I heard from the driver that the place he was headed to was the infamous underworld.’

I don’t know what I was thinking when I first went there.

But even though it was relatively small in scale, the underworld was by no means a place you would want to take on as your first mission.

‘But in the end, it was also something that the young master chose for himself. He must have known what kind of result awaited him.’

The boy who was born with bad luck just wanted to make his last effort.

It was just a mission, nothing more, nothing less.

Granthal sighed and asked the butler.

“Still, it seems you came back alive. Were you badly injured?

“No, that’s….”

But Bartleck hesitated for a moment, gave up explaining, and pointed out the window of his office.

“It will be faster if you see it for yourself.”

Granthal looked at him puzzled for a moment.

Enoch’s failure was a foregone conclusion.

That shouldn’t be all that surprising.

“Oh my. You’re acting so out of character…”

Granthal scolded him and slowly opened the curtains on the office window as if he was being rude.

“… … ?”

But the next moment, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

A transport machine carriage was clearly visible outside the window. Grantal was speechless for a moment at the sight.

That’s right.

It was dented here and there, as if someone had deliberately pounded it with a hammer, but it was definitely the carriage that had been hijacked during transport a few months ago.

“I also checked the cargo. The wagon was a bit damaged, but the contents were all intact.”

Batleg, who had come up next to him, reported in a whisper.

Granthal glanced down at the report on the desk, then opened his mouth and muttered quietly.

“… Huh, I heard you defeated one of Lord Dionil’s followers a while ago.”

Boom!

Then again the office door burst open.

“Your Majesty!”

The driver of the mechanical carriage that transported Enoch to the mission site and retrieved him.

“Master Enoch has returned from completing his mission!”

Even he, a veteran who had been with the Elseid family for several years, was unusually excited.

The driver quickly finished his brief report and stepped aside.

Behind him stood the usual Enoch.

“I have just returned from my mission.”

There was a brief silence in the room.

Grantal asked in a low voice.

“Master Enoch. Did you really succeed in your mission?”

“Yes.”

A calm answer.

Grantal raised one eyebrow as if in surprise.

It was hard to believe that this was a successful response to his first mission in life, and that it was a difficult search and destroy mission.

Could it be that, because he was confined to the family castle until he turned 17, just before his coming of age, he grew up as a boy who couldn’t even feel emotional changes?

Granthal lowered his head with a bitter smile.

“Okay. First, could you please report the details of the mission?”

Enoch laid down a few bundles of papers on the table.

These were documents packed with detailed information and even had proper seals.

“The carriage was found in a warehouse in the northern underworld. The group that stole it is called ‘Vendetta.’ For some reason, the contents do not appear to have been tampered with yet.”

Grantal picked them up with a slightly surprised expression and said.

“Vendetta… It’s a word that’s been heard here and there in the Empire recently.”

“According to what I’ve found, the northern underworld guys were just taking orders and storing the carriages. You can check the details in the documents.”

Granthal continued, looking through the papers.

“But it’s strange. According to the investigation conducted by the magicians belonging to the Order, the carriage must have been taken out of the castle via the southern road.”

“Send a letter of protest to the church. Don’t complicate things by doing useless things.”

Granthal looked at Enoch for a moment.

Then he turned his gaze back to the documents and said.

“If that’s true, then you must have had a really hard time. I also knew long ago that the magicians of the sect were unreliable, but I didn’t know it would be this bad.”

Enoch nodded his head vigorously inwardly.

That’s not wrong.

Since I already knew this from experience, I went straight to the dark warehouse, but if I had received the mission without knowing anything, I would have just wasted my time doing useless things.

“I have confirmed the success of your first mission. I sincerely congratulate you.”

Granthal finally put the papers down.

“Since the mission was a secret one, I can’t announce the success to everyone around me….”

Then he looked straight at Enoch and said:

“We will discuss future matters with the family members, along with proper compensation, through subsequent procedures. I am truly sorry that I cannot congratulate you on your success in a grand manner right now.”

“I understand. Then I will go now.”

Enoch simply said that and closed the door. Grantal looked at his back for a moment.

‘I never would have thought that the young master who had to stay locked up in his room would grow up so precociously.’

But apart from that, a big question remained.

Granthal slowly chewed over his own questions.

‘… But how on earth did you succeed in your mission?’

The biggest reason Enoch had initially guessed that he would not succeed in his mission was none other than… .

‘Your Highness Enoch, you are not a magician!’

An incompetent non-magician that everyone knows.

Enoch, who also had no followers to lend him strength.

How on earth did he succeed in his mission?

The reason the family has not entrusted Enoch with any missions until now is because he is not a magician.

Because I judged that if an armed conflict broke out with a wizard, there would be no chance of survival.

Even if he survives, he will only bear the dishonor of having failed in his mission as a direct descendant of the Zhou family.

There was no reason to send Enoch, a non-magician, on a mission with such enormous risk.

However, in this first mission where Enoch played the card of self-destruction, he successfully completed a considerably difficult mission on his own.

‘Of course, if you think about it calmly, it’s possible that the young master hired a skilled magician or bribed someone from the underworld.’

But if that was the case, there would have been a price to pay.

‘But in this mission, the family did not give Enoch anything of that value.’

Of course, Enoch, who lived a life of semi-forcible confinement, certainly did not have any special financial support, let alone a following.

Ultimately, it is said that Enoch accomplished this mission alone, without a doubt, as he did not even have the goods or resources to bribe anyone.

Frankly, it was still an unbelievable achievement.

‘if…?’

At that moment, something clicked in Grantal’s head.

Why haven’t we considered this possibility until now?

‘A sudden mission request. Inexplicable confidence. And even actual results.’

There was only one clear and obvious possibility that Enoch could have acted this way.

‘Master Enoch, could it be that you are using magic?’

But soon he bowed his head slightly.

‘No, it’s not good to make a decision hastily.’

In fact, this could be resolved by calling the person involved and asking them right away.

However, he is the butler of the Elseid family.

Never approach your immediate family with personal feelings or actions.

An official who must remain absolutely neutral in the huge organization known as the Jugamun.

Because he was entrusted with such an important position, it would have been problematic if he had been seen as supporting a particular successor.

‘But one thing is certain.’

But when Grantal turned his gaze back to the documents, a look of interest crossed his expression.

‘We need to watch Lord Enoch’s movements carefully from now on.’

***

As always, there are a lot of people passing through the castle corridors.

As he walked among them, Enoch covered his blood-stained shirt with his robe from the scratches.

Swish

These were injuries sustained in battles in the underworld.

At best, it was just a scratch, but now that the mission was over, the wounds were stinging again.

But the things I gained this time more than outweighed the pain.

‘One of the main villain groups in the original work, and a hostile force that has a great influence even on the ending, “Vendetta.”‘

The evil deeds and various incidents they committed in the game were well described.

However, it has not been revealed exactly what cause they are united under, or why they are resisting the empire and the families.

From the beginning, was not a game that was very friendly to the background or setting.

Settings for characters that can become your companions.

The character relationships were also detailed in some way… .

‘However, only fragmentary information is provided regarding the full-fledged world view and hostile forces.’

For some reason, they never provided a proper explanation and fed it to the players.

‘As for the vendetta, there were a lot of baits dropped, but nothing was properly recovered.’

And of course, this also applies to one of the original main antagonists, Vendetta.

This is a typical example of the negative effects of storytelling, where they just throw out a lot of bait and tell you to figure it out on your own.

I remember that there were always pro- and con-debate discussions in various communities about the unfriendly style of this type of game.

That must mean it was that severe.

‘Anyway, if we read the information we got from the warehouse, we’ll be able to understand them to some extent.’

In-game, you don’t need to worry about information like that, just think about clearing the game.

But this is no longer a game, this is reality.

‘In particular, Vendetta is a group that is deeply connected to Enoch’s death in the original work.’

Therefore, it was necessary to closely examine one of the main antagonists, Vendetta.

Rustle.

Enoch checked the bundle of documents in his bosom.

The most valuable harvest from this mission, a collection of documents submitted to the family for reporting purposes, with only the bare essentials extracted so that only the outline of the vendetta could be grasped.

First of all, we have secured the important information.

Now, I guess I can take my time and read it.

‘Anyway, I guess this is a proper start.’

Even though the first mission was successful, there was strangely little excitement.

Is it because they know that this is such a trivial mission compared to the original main story?

Enoch calmly recalled the original events that would unfold in the future, and was suddenly surprised at himself.

‘Is this how I usually am?’

My mind was strangely calm.

‘Or is it the original calmness of Enoch?’

It was another moment of feeling out of place.

Enoch shook his head, shaking the thought away.

I’m probably just tired and my nerves are dull.

Even if this calmness really was the personality of Enoch before, it wouldn’t have any negative effects on me, so it wouldn’t matter at all.

Squeak

When I opened my door and came in after walking for a long time.

A familiar voice rang faintly in my ear.

“Are you back, Young Master?”

A maid so emotionless that she feels cold.

Lien bowed her head to him politely.

“I heard that your mission was successful. Congratulations.”

Her emotionless eyes, which had been holding up Enoch’s robes, narrowed for a moment as she looked at his blood-stained shirt.

“… You’re hurt.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“I will prepare a change of clothes and treatment right away.”

Lien said that in a clear tone and slowly walked out the door.

Enoch nodded thoughtlessly at her words, then stopped for a moment.

‘Wait, the mission was successful?’

He felt something strange and quickly turned his head towards her.

What Grantal had said just now echoed in my head.

– Since this mission was a secret mission, we cannot announce our success to those around us in a grand manner… .

It must have been so.

‘How does Lien know that?’

Scrub

Lien, who was just leaving the room behind Enoch.

Beyond her silver hair, cold blue eyes were staring at him coldly.