The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 17
Only Noblemtl
A city in the northwestern part of Elseid.
Leopolis.
A place with very inconvenient transportation, requiring a long journey on an unpaved road. A small city completely isolated geographically, surrounded by large mountain ranges.
And it was a very familiar place to Enoch, especially the mansion right before his eyes.
“The Mansion of the Leopolis Magistrate”
It was a very large mansion.
A luxurious place with an old but quaint atmosphere, large gardens and villas.
Enoch smiled slightly at the familiar sight.
A place you’ve visited many times in the game.
It wasn’t much different from the mansion five years later.
“There is not much time left until contact time, Your Majesty.”
Lien spoke in a transparent voice from the side.
Enoch glanced over and looked at her standing respectfully next to him.
Since Lien agreed to cooperate at the banquet hall, she has never left this side.
‘I never thought Lien would accompany me on this mission of exemption.’
It was a bit unexpected that she followed him to the mission site. However, from our perspective, there was no reason to refuse Lien’s company.
Lien is a wizard of at least level 10. You won’t find a more powerful ally anywhere.
There was no reason to refuse help.
From the Zhu family to the many magic families of the empire, if you look at the precedents of all families, all exemption missions that have existed up until now have ended in failure.
‘Most failures in exemption missions result in death.’
This means that those who are exempted from the mission are being given a mission of ridiculous difficulty.
So, originally, it was a harsh mission where it was questionable whether or not it would be possible to accompany the existing clans.
Of course, it would be better to have at least one more person to accompany you on a mission.
‘And… … . I was the first to receive an exemption from the mission without even consulting Lien, who had agreed to cooperate.’
Since the exemption mission was such a dangerous mission, it was obvious from the beginning that Lien would not be convinced.
But for this side, it is necessary in many ways to remain in the family through the exemption mission.
So, it was Enoch himself who took on the exemption mission without telling his collaborator, Lien.
Therefore, since they had decided to cooperate with the common goal of ensuring the safety of Enoch’s body, there was nothing to say about her companionship.
In fact, I was the one who acted arbitrarily first.
Rather, from this point of view, there is no reason to refuse her company, so there is nothing more to wish for.
But apart from that.
Enoch was becoming more and more curious about this maid named Lien.
‘I had expected it to some extent, but I didn’t know he would be so serious about protecting Enoch’s safety.’
Enoch’s life over the past few days flashed before his eyes.
When he was eating in his room. When he was studying the knowledge he needed. Even when he was waking up from sleep, Lien was always by his side, coldly watching him.
Literally, Lien was always by Enoch’s side.
Of course, she was a beauty on the outside, but sometimes it was creepy to see her act so blindly for Enoch.
‘… Of course, since Lien’s purpose is to protect Enoch’s body, it is understandable why he would act like that.’
A maid who blindly tries to protect Enoch’s body like that.
Now that I think about it, even before I started to seriously suspect this, I seemed to have been around Enoch for quite some time.
‘What on earth was the original relationship between Enoch and Lien?’
Even so, to that extent, it seemed far from simple loyalty.
Enoch glanced at Lien, hiding his slightly puzzled expression.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but I don’t know what happened between Lien and Enoch in the past that made them do something like that.
Moreover, the fact that Lien was an excellent wizard of rank 10 or higher amplified the curiosity even more.
Of course, the castle’s servants, such as maids and butlers, also have set quitting times.
But for her, who was always by his side like a shadow, it seemed like she hardly had any personal time.
‘however…….’
Enoch thought about Lien for a moment, then glanced at her walking beside him.
The biggest question I’ve been thinking about for a while now.
Enoch asked her something he had been meaning to ask her since long before he arrived there.
“You, what are you wearing?”
A black one-piece dress with a pure white apron.
As usual, Lien’s attire was still a maid outfit.
Of course, that’s her work uniform at the family fortress where she works, but she insists on wearing it outside.
But Lien asked coldly as if there was no problem.
“What’s the problem?”
“…no.”
Enoch, who was wondering where to start pointing out the issue, decided to just ignore it after hearing Lien’s cold, emotionless tone.
Well, maybe in this world, it’s not so strange to walk down the street in a maid outfit.
‘Especially if it’s around a mansion like this, it might feel more natural.’
In fact, you can often see female employees dressed as maids walking around here and there in the mansion.
“Thank you for your hardship in coming such a long way. I am pleased to meet you, a member of the glorious Elseid family.”
A while after arriving at the mansion.
A man came into the reception room and greeted me.
A man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. From his sophisticated attire and dignified manner, he seemed to be quite a sociable person.
“My name is Oscar Wise, the mayor of the small town of Leopolis.”
“This is Enoch Elseid.”
“… I have heard it well. I thought the direct descendants of the Elseid family would come for this matter.”
He spoke with an outwardly polite manner.
But Enoch did not miss the subtle expression that briefly crossed his face.
‘You’re ignoring me.’
Although it is a small city, he is the administrator of Elseid Territory.
It would be more unnatural if he had never heard of Enoch.
Elseid, the center of countless battle-specific magic powerhouses spread throughout the empire.
A family that has produced many elite battle magicians who have stood at the top of the empire for a long time, and a focal point where many high-ranking magicians gather who would never reach a rank that most of the empire’s citizens would ever reach.
Most of the things that happen in such places become huge topics of conversation even among the general public.
Who is the stock price inquiry, what is their relationship with whom, what they did, and what evaluation they received.
Every little thing that happens within a family is reported in great detail to the public through the media.
Because it is precisely such news that forms the basis for determining a family’s ‘reputation’.
What about Enoch, who is famous as the only non-magician among the direct descendants responsible for the future of the family?
“I heard that you were informed of the details of this matter in advance.”
The administrator asked with a smile.
Enoch nodded and recalled the instructions for this mission.
–
“The Whereabouts of the Disappeared”
A while ago, at an orphanage in Leopolis City where non-magical children gather, an incident occurred where many children went missing.
The kidnapping method is impossible to determine because the perpetrators leave no evidence or traces.
Search and rescue operations conducted by Elseid’s dispatched personnel have already failed twice.
Additionally, a major incident occurred where the 13th-grade wizard from Elseid who was dispatched on the mission last time went missing.
Because time has already passed, the fate of the kidnapped children is unclear.
Therefore, the rescue of the recently dispatched wizard should be given top priority. The investigation into the life or death of the kidnapped children and their rescue should be given lower priority.
“Recommended magic series: Exploration, Tracking, Purification, Defense”
–
This is all information that you already know, but to summarize it roughly, it’s like this.
‘They are blatantly prioritizing the rescue of the wizard belonging to Elseid who went missing during the rescue operation over the kidnapping of the orphans which was the initial cause of this mission.’
How shamelessly they show off their speed.
After all, the principle of action of the Zhu family, which is called the pillar of the empire, is only thorough self-interest and gain.
It wouldn’t be strange to prioritize a missing 13th-grade wizard over a missing non-magic orphan.
‘He may never reach the level of a 10th-grade Lien, but he’s quite skilled at 13th-grade.’
The Imperial Household’s specialty is to value the lives of wizards based on their skills.
There was no way I could give up such talent and trade it for non-magical orphans from a remote city.
In the end, the arms always bend inward.
It’s no different because it’s a world where wizards live.
Suddenly Enoch asked the magistrate.
“But… why are you building a daycare center in this mansion at your own expense?”
The administrator looked out of the reception room.
A spacious garden spread out beneath the window.
There, under the supervision of their supervising teacher, several children were seen running around and laughing.
“Shouldn’t non-magical children who are left on the streets have a place to eat and sleep?”
Oscar muttered with a sad expression.
“Children with magical talent have a way to be cared for in the Empire. But no one will accept children without magical talent. This place was created for such children.”
In other words, the children of Leopolis Orphanage were not just simple street orphans.
Children who are completely alienated from the system of the Magic Empire.
Boys and girls who were born with the fate of being abandoned from the beginning and unable to use magic.
Of course, not all non-magicians are thrown out onto the streets, but a significant number of them are.
Enoch was already well aware of these facts.
“Why on earth did they kidnap those children who were shunned by society for having no magical talent? And what happened to the magician from Elseid who lost contact while trying to rescue those children? Even now, the more I think about it, the heavier my heart becomes.”
Oscar speaks with a serious expression.
“I would feel better if they had demanded the ransom in an easy-to-understand manner. But we haven’t heard anything from the kidnappers yet. This makes me even more anxious.”
As he said, the most valuable thing in the Atlas Magic Empire was magical ability.
Even Enoch, who was originally a descendant of the Earl family, was despised simply for being a non-magician.
So, logically, there would be no reason for the kidnapper to kidnap children who had no magical talent whatsoever.
This means that the criminal’s purpose for kidnapping the victim and not even demanding money is unknown for the time being.
“… I hope those poor kids are okay… .”
But there was little hope to be found in Oscar’s muttering voice.
It was already a done deal that the kidnapped children had little hope of surviving, as the wizards who had been assigned to the mission had already gone missing and time had been delayed.
‘… That actually happened.’
And Enoch already knew how the mission was described at the time in the original.
“Kidnapped children meet a miserable fate.”
“The missing wizard has not even been found.”
“… … And so, five years passed.”
In the original, five years pass without the children or the missing wizard being found.
‘According to the official history, this mission was originally set after the disappearance of a 13th-rank wizard. Several more attempts to find him failed. And he was abandoned by his family until the original story.’
In the Elseid House, this mission actually occupies a rather ambiguous position.
If we look at it objectively, this disappearance case is a problem that could be solved in an instant if some high-level magicians came from Elseid.
But reality doesn’t flow that simply.
Elseid is in a position where he must take responsibility for all the territories under his jurisdiction.
Higher-ranking, more capable wizards are routinely called away or drafted for more urgent and important missions.
So, in the end, we have no choice but to send excellent personnel to more urgent issues than the disappearance of orphans in these remote small towns.
Dangerous monster extermination and maintaining peace in conflict zones cannot be solved with the power of the Imperial Army alone.
Or, the reality is that we have no choice but to give priority to dispatching talent to high-value missions commissioned by those with political interests.
‘Therefore, only magicians with mid-level positions within the family can afford to take on such missions… … .’
Even the mid-level magician within the family, a 13th-grade wizard who was dispatched for this incident, went missing.
Even after several additional personnel were dispatched to search for the missing persons, they all failed to find any clues to rescue them and complete the mission.
Because of such a terrible precedent, the family even lost applicants for this mission.
In other words, it is a mission that is so difficult that even a mid- to low-ranking wizard would be reluctant to apply for it, let alone a wizard with outstanding ability to carry out other urgent missions.
The calculation is that rather than this difficult mission where the advance party has failed repeatedly, it would be more beneficial for them to apply for other missions to increase their merits.
Ultimately, for these reasons, the disappearance of the orphans was left unattended for several years until the original story was published.
The world was infinitely cruel to the marginalized, and ironically, it wasn’t much different in this world where magic existed.
‘And after that, this incident develops into a major incident in the original work.’
Enoch looked out the window for a moment.
A small town that looked peaceful came into view.
But the street scene that his memories overlaid was a complete hell.
Enoch’s ears were suddenly filled with the screams he had seen in the original story, like tinnitus.
-Kuaaaah!
-Save me! Please, help me here…!
Five years from now.
Not long after the original story began.
[Demons] suddenly appear in Leopolis, destroying and trampling the city.
‘The devil can appear naturally.’
Originally, powerful monsters that appeared in the remote areas of the empire or in the sea were called demons.
Most demons take the form of animals or plants.
But the ones that appeared here were different.
‘The demons that appeared in Leopolis were completely different from the demons that appeared naturally in the remote areas of the empire, and they had the appearance of ‘people.’
The [Demons] that appear here are, surprisingly, horrifying monsters with half human and half beast appearances.
People who were having their limbs torn off and eaten by demons of such unprecedented appearance cried out.
The building collapses, and the children trying to run away are crushed into nothingness.
The original city, filled only with screams and blood.
That was the future of Leopolis that Enoch knew.
‘… According to in-game standards, it was a mission that boasted an extremely high level of difficulty.’
“EP. 43: The Demon Created by Experiment”
Countless [demons] suddenly pour out from the underground of a small town.
The city is devastated by the violent experimental subjects who attack with such great quantity and power that even the numerous high-ranking magicians dispatched to resolve this sudden disaster are left struggling.
‘That very incident is directly connected to the route of Enoch’s death in the story.’
And the [Demons] created through such experiments, for some reason, spread throughout the empire and ‘tracked down and attacked Elseid’s direct descendants.’
The first victim was a non-magician who had been excommunicated from the Elseid family at the time.
It was Enoch.
‘That’s why I had to solve this case first. Because it’s related to Enoch’s death flag.’
In the original work, it was not revealed what purpose the ‘demon beasts’ were created for, and why they specifically attacked Elseid’s direct descendants.
At that time, I was just moving according to the original quest.
But now that I have become Enoch Elseid.
In the current situation, only one thing was certain.
Through this mission, which was to be the starting point for the creation of the original experimental subjects [Demons], Enoch’s death flag had to be removed in advance.
‘And in the original, the place where the demons were created through experiments is….’
Then, interrupting his recollection, the administrator spoke in a polite tone.
“Lord Enoch, I’m sorry to say this, but I have to get back to work now. If I leave the office for too long, things will get delayed.”
He added with a rather apologetic look on his face.
“I have prepared some items that will help you carry out your mission in your own way. From now on, my butler will guide you to the storage room in the mansion.”
As Enoch nodded, the administrator bowed politely and left the room. The butler bowed.
“From now on, I will guide you.”
I walked for a while, following the butler’s instructions.
When we finally reached the top of the mansion.
He walked towards the large door at the end of the hallway and channeled his mana into it.
Clang, clang!
The sound of a complex mechanical lock unlocking could be heard from across the room, and then the heavy iron door opened.
As Enoch entered, numerous types of artifacts appeared before his eyes.
“These are the items that the administrator can use for your mission. Please choose the ones you want and use them.”
Enoch nodded.
Of course, the more artifacts there are, the better.
However, artifacts that do not fit you or are unnecessary for this mission will only end up adding to your unnecessary burden.
So, what we need this time is just one thing.
Swish
Enoch picked something up, ignoring all the other artifacts on display in the display case.
“that……!”
The butler looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression.
Of all the different types of artifacts, why did you pick up ‘that’?
“Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
Enoch nodded at his words.
Enoch glanced at the artifact he had chosen and put it in his bosom.
‘Everything else is useless.’
Anyway, Enoch, a non-magician, can’t even use the other items. In the current situation, there is no other correct answer than ‘this’.
“If you have any questions or need any supplies… … .”
Enoch shook his head briefly at the butler’s bewildered tone. He left the butler looking at him with a slightly strange expression, and went out the door.
Lien naturally followed behind him.
As we were walking down the deserted hallway, she glanced over and asked quietly.
“What are you trying to do?”
“First, collect evidence.”
Since we already know how this case will unfold, we naturally know how to resolve it.
‘So right now, I just need to do what needs to be done first, step by step.’
Just because you know how to untie a knot doesn’t mean the order in which you untie it changes.