The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 18
Only Noblemtl
“Administrator’s Study”
A personal space that the imperial nobles, who must possess both culture and ability, unconditionally have in their residences.
And at the same time… … .
‘In the original, it was a place to find clues about missing children.’
That’s why what this side had to do was the same as the original.
Enoch pulled the hood of his robe down and entered the study when no one was watching in the hallway.
Originally, in order to find out where the children were kidnapped, you had to explore each of the various gimmicks installed in this study.
But Enoch didn’t have to do that.
‘Because it’s something we all already know.’
Enoch entered the study without hesitation.
‘It was this book.’
Sigh
I pulled out a familiar-looking book from the bookshelf against the wall, revealing a hidden lever inside.
I manipulated the lever, recalling my memories of the original. The sound of gears turning behind the bookshelf resonated faintly.
A small door opened in the corner of the bookshelf in the study with a small squeak.
─The hidden safe.
It was an item made with a purely mechanical locking device, not a magical locking device, so that it could not be detected by most detection magic.
‘Up to this point, it’s no different from the original.’
Enoch picked up one of the envelopes stacked inside the safe, one with a familiar label.
“Oscar Mansion’s Early Blueprints: Labyrinth Garden’s Underground Research Facility”
Inside, a well-crafted blueprint was revealed: a garden plan for the mansion’s backyard.
But this is not the end.
Enoch picked up another document attached to the inside of the blueprint.
“Leopolis Orphanage: Subject Supply Contract and Logbook – Vendetta”
‘Vendetta.’
Enoch’s eyes narrowed slightly.
When I opened the envelope and checked the contents, of course, the exact same words as the original appeared.
“Hereinafter, the orphanage will provide test subjects in the form of adoption on the due date every month.”
Enoch checked the chart at the bottom.
The latest developments from a few days ago, which seemed to have been written very recently. Those brief records caught my eye.
“Unable to meet the requirements for proper adoption by the due date. Administrator requests provision of test subjects in other forms.”
“The wizard dispatched to solve the missing person’s case has been subdued. Additional dispatches from the Juga clan for search are expected soon. Request to temporarily suspend biological experiments.”
“We will take care of the subject’s health until the next experiment. We will resume the experiment once the wizards of Elseid return.”
“Urgent. A 13th-grade wizard dispatched from the Elseid family has approached the details of the experiment. He is currently subdued and detained. It is believed that he could be a good experimental subject for future ‘Demonization Experiments’.”
With this final note, the journal stopped.
But even with this alone, it was clear how things were going.
‘The [Masuhwa experiment] mentioned in the documents. As expected, it’s just like the original.’
─Human experimentation.
The “Underground Research Facility in the Mansion’s Maze Garden” that appeared in the documents earlier.
It is in this very research facility that Vendetta is leading human experiments to turn people into devils, and in collusion with the administrators, he is using children as test subjects.
And since adoption was no longer feasible, the children to be used as test subjects were kidnapped.
‘Perhaps the wizard who was dispatched on the last mission was also subdued while chasing them.’
Judging from the documents, both the kidnapped children and the missing wizard were likely still alive.
‘It matches the situation described in the original work.’
At the point when the Elseid family virtually gave up on the mission they had been given here, it seems they decided to resume their experiments.
Everything is as expected.
Enoch was about to leave when he suddenly saw something sticking out from inside the safe and stopped.
‘… Wait. Is there something more?’
Enoch tilted his head.
Something felt off. Surely this document was all I could get from the original?
But deep inside the safe in front of them, there was another strange bundle of paper.
Enoch took out the unfamiliar bundle of papers and examined them, and was momentarily confused.
‘Why is this in his safe?’
Numerous letters with crooked writing in crumpled envelopes.
It was obvious that these were extremely personal letters that should not have been kept in such a well-hidden place.
Enoch, lost in thought for a moment, tilted his head slightly, feeling something strange and uneasy.
‘Administrator, I don’t think so… but I guess I should take care of this too.’
Enoch gathered the materials in his bosom and left the study. He had secured the evidence and materials.
With this, the primary goal has been achieved.
But just then, Enoch encountered an unexpectedly familiar face on the stairs of the hallway.
“Ah, Enoch. It’s nice to see you here again!”
Oscar Administrator.
He looked over at Enoch, greeting him politely.
“But. What’s going on in the main building of this mansion?”
“Ah. I’m not familiar with the geography yet, so I’m just looking for a place to stay.”
He tilted his head slightly at Enoch’s calm response.
A secret space hidden in the study. Various materials stored inside. A momentary ominous thought crossed my mind about it.
‘no way.’
But the administrator quickly dismissed his doubts as he looked at Enoch’s black hair.
Anyway, although Enoch is a direct descendant of the Juga clan, he is nothing more than an incompetent non-magician.
Even the wizards who had already been dispatched here were unable to find a solution to their investigation for a while. It was even more impossible for Enoch, a non-wizard, to find out the secrets of this mansion.
The administrator, who had made that judgment, said with a well-prepared smile.
“Oh, there was no separate guidance. The accommodation is in the south wing. I will call a servant.”
Enoch nodded once, nodded briefly, and continued down the stairs.
Oscar looked at Enoch’s back with a humorless expression and walked towards the study.
But just in case, I need to check.
Oscar went into the study and checked the bookshelf. As expected, there was no change in the books arranged there.
The administrator, who had been looking ahead with relief, habitually took out the book and checked its contents.
‘Then is that so…?’
At that moment, the lever of the secret safe located inside the bookshelf caught his eye. Oscar’s eyes filled with shock as he confirmed it.
He had a little habit.
A very small habit, but one that I usually follow thoroughly.
Always place the end of the lever against the corner of the book covering the top of the lever.
But this time it was different than usual.
The position of the book was very subtly off.
A difference so subtle that it would not even be noticeable if he had not been the type of person who had this habit pathologically.
But that’s why I was able to notice.
‘You touched it.’
His gaze, which had suddenly become sharp, turned towards the window.
Outside the window, I saw Enoch walking calmly.
And at that moment, the boy’s pitch-black eyes glanced in my direction.
For a moment, their gazes met exactly.
Although it was a long distance, the administrator slowly raised the corners of his mouth as he met Enoch’s black eyes.
‘…Look at this?’
***
Enoch turned his head.
‘If I had checked, I would have noticed by now.’
I could guess what kind of expression the administrator had when he checked the safe.
But it doesn’t matter if I get caught anyway.
Because it’s important to have the evidence in hand.
‘If we don’t collect these materials, we will lose the evidence to solve the case later.’
It might be a good idea to just raid the lab without thinking about the consequences. However, doing so could lead to the administrator immediately destroying any evidence related to the vendetta.
Therefore, securing these materials was a priority.
‘Just one thing.’
Despite this evidence, there were still some lingering issues.
‘In order to rescue them and complete the mission, we will eventually have to enter the underground laboratory directly.’
If the magistrate cooperates with Vendetta like in the original, and Enoch, who is currently dispatched alone to Leopolis, suddenly requests reinforcements from his family, the magistrate will immediately notice and take action.
In other words, it is certain that the only solution is to enter the basement directly, just like in the original.
‘But now that it’s in the past compared to the original, we don’t know how many enemies are stationed in the basement.’
Don’t forget. The enemies in the original laboratory that we experienced were from five years later.
We cannot rule out the possibility that unknown ambush troops or additional troops have been deployed in the underground laboratory, or that some kind of trap has been set.
If you charge in blindly, you never know what kind of misfortune might happen.
‘Of course, we have some plans for each situation, but we are not completely sure yet.’
The regrettable points had to be made up for somehow. But since I had finished the urgent work, I could think about it slowly.
To begin with, I can roughly guess the size of the enemy in the underground laboratory.
‘By the way, Administrator Oscar, you pretended to care about non-magicians in front of me earlier, but are you saying that you built the orphanage under orders from Vendetta with the intention of using the children from the beginning?’
Enoch sneered.
The reason the administrator established the orphanage was ultimately just a facade to create a human laboratory for Vendetta.
Of course, the exact story wasn’t directly presented in the original or now… but judging by all the evidence, it must have been so.
Sigh
Enoch stopped thinking and looked away.
A huge maze garden is maintained behind the mansion.
It was lunchtime on a bright sunny day, and all the children were out in the garden, playing excitedly.
Without even knowing what the heck was lurking underground below.
‘… It’s a scene that I passed by without thinking much about in the game.’
Enoch looked at the children in the orphanage for a moment.
Those kids and Enoch were both non-magicians, except that they had a genius for swordsmanship instead of magic.
Enoch, who inherited the excellent blood of the Juga clan, was unable to use magic because he was talented with swords.
He was treated as a failure of the family and a non-magician, and was hidden in a corner of the room.
In an effort to gain recognition, Enoch turned away from the sword and desperately clung to magic he could not manifest.
However, he was ultimately nothing more than a sacrificial lamb created by the system of the Magic Empire, who met a miserable death on every route.
As I was absentmindedly watching the children play innocently, the fact that I had become that Enoch came to me with a renewed sense of reality.
‘Honestly, I still don’t fully understand Enoch’s actions as shown in the original work.’
Enoch would certainly know himself best.
Just looking at those countless swords lined up in the training grounds, he would have definitely known that his talent lay in swordsmanship.
‘But why on earth did Enoch give up everything and throw away his sword when he was around 13 years old?’
What exactly was the reason Enoch had to cling to a magic he couldn’t even manifest?
Was it simply because of the gaze and pressure of the Zhu family, a renowned magic family?
or not….
“Look over there! That guy over there, he has black hair!”
Then, interrupting his recollection, one of the children chattering beside him shouted.
“Wow, it’s true! And he’s so handsome!”
The children discovered Enoch and ran towards him, looking at him with curiosity.
Among the children milling around, a curious little boy bowed next to Enoch and asked.
“Excuse me! Are you a wizard from the Elseid clan?”
“Wow! I didn’t hear that a magician came this time!”
Enoch nodded reluctantly. Well, not exactly a wizard, though.
“Then do you know where the magician who came last time went?”
Enoch paused for a moment.
The other kids were also curious, so they stopped playing and looked in this direction.
“wizard?”
“Yes! He was a funny old man who used to play with us a lot. I heard that he was from the Elseid family too….”
Are you talking about the wizard who was previously dispatched here?
He, who is currently missing, probably came here and had some contact with the children at the orphanage.
It seems that adults never bothered to tell their children what happened to him.
Enoch shook his head slowly.
“I don’t know.”
It seems like you still don’t know what the situation is, so there’s no need to say that he’s missing or anything.
Enoch continued walking, looking at the children who had slightly gloomy expressions, perhaps expecting news of the wizard who had been dispatched first.
Even if they are children, there is no reason to talk unnecessarily.
“wow….”
But soon the children’s attention was completely focused on Enoch’s back.
The child, whose gaze had been blankly drawn to the spot behind Enoch, asked Enoch cautiously.
“Hey, by the way, who is that incredibly pretty maid behind you, oppa?”
Looking at it that way, it seemed like there were already many other children who had their eyes stolen by Lien.
Enoch reluctantly looked where the boy was pointing.
There, Lien was still quietly guarding behind with her usual emotionless expression.
“Wow, that girl really is. She’s like a doll…”
Another boy next to him muttered in a daze.
Enoch simply smiled bitterly at the children’s innocent admiration.
Certainly, Lien’s beautiful appearance was enough to steal the children’s attention.
But Enoch’s feelings were slightly different from the pure admiration of those children.
‘It looks like he’s really worried that something will happen to Enoch’s body.’
A strange feeling of being strong but also having a cold feeling on the back of your head.
at that time.
A child nearby spoke as if he had just remembered something.
“Oh! By the way, that wizard told us that he had something to leave for the other wizards in the family… Did you get it by any chance?”
Enoch stopped dead in his tracks when he heard those words.
“Anything to leave behind?”
“Yes! Didn’t you hear?”
It was the first time I heard this story.
In the official history, this orphanage was the first place to be devastated by the evil spirits from the underground experiments.
In the first place, there were no children left in the original who would say such things.
‘I was disappointed that there was no more information.’
If the wizard who went missing earlier had wanted to leave something behind for the other wizards of Elseid, he may have already realized that he would go missing.
If it were information left in that situation? There’s a high chance that it would be useful.
I couldn’t miss this unexpected information.
“What is that thing you left behind?”
But the children shook their heads.
“We don’t know what it is either. We haven’t seen it ourselves. But I think Chloe has it.”
Enoch opened his eyes wide in an instant. The name coming out of the child’s mouth was quite familiar.
‘Chloe? Could it be that “Chloe”?’
The name of a character that also appears in the original work.
But there was no mention of him being from here.
“Chloe Ivia”
A 14th-grade wizard appearing in .
It seems that he was a wizard who specialized in common, elemental magic.
Chloe is one of the characters that the protagonist can welcome into the family. She is a kind of basic character.
In-game, he surprisingly has decent performance for a 14th-grade wizard, but he doesn’t really participate in the main story. He’s a wizard who doesn’t have much of an impact on the story or related settings.
Her name comes up here.
Something felt quite strange.
‘Chloe was a wizard in the original. But Chloe came from an orphanage where non-wizards gathered?’
Even though he is a level 14 wizard whose performance is inferior to that of other high-level wizards in an in-game where monsters of level 10 or higher dominate, he is considered a genius who has surpassed level 15 when viewed in terms of the proportion of the entire empire.
I had no idea that she came from an orphanage full of non-magicians.
Of course, in the original work it wasn’t stated where he was from, so there’s more to it.
Well, there are probably more than one or two people named Chloe. You’ll know exactly when you meet them.
“Where is Chloe now?”
“Oh, Chloe is always sitting on the chair at the back of the garden during this time! She doesn’t really play with us.”
“I see. Thanks for letting me know.”
Enoch headed straight to the place the children had mentioned.
If there’s anything left behind by the previous wizard, it wouldn’t hurt to find it.
First of all, it is now five years since the original story began. There is a good chance that the situation is different now.
‘If I had wanted to leave something for the wizards who were dispatched later, at least it wouldn’t have been useless.’
The back of the garden that the children were pointing to was surprisingly quite far away.
Eventually, as the chatter of the children playing earlier began to fade away and die down, Enoch finally found the place the children had been talking about.
‘Here it is.’
At the back of the garden.
But it was a quieter, more remote place than I thought, hidden in the shadow of the daycare building and by the trees.
Enoch, who was moving forward while looking around, stopped for a moment.
‘What is this?’
My eyes were drawn to the various animal-shaped figurines that seemed to be made of pebbles, lined up in a flower bed. They were crude, but there were quite a few of them.
Enoch picked up one of them.
‘Is that a rabbit shape?’
Although it looks like a rabbit that has been in five traffic accidents, it will probably be a rabbit.
But that wasn’t the important thing.
‘It was made with mana.’
Surprisingly, through the “Mana Sense”, I was able to feel the faint remaining mana energy in the stone dolls. I didn’t know that it was possible to confirm such things with the Mana Sense.
Anyway, it was clear that they were made not long ago.
And Enoch, standing up with his doll in his hand, saw a wondrous sight beyond the flowers in the flower bed.
‘… … ?’
A young girl was sitting on a chair.
At most, he would be about thirteen years old.
She had bright yellow-brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and a neat and pretty face that suited her young age.
A character definitely seen in the original work.
It was Chloe’s younger self.
But Enoch was even more surprised for another reason.
Woof
Dazzling particles of light were arranged in the air, forming a faint magic circle at the fingertips of the sitting girl.
And in front of it, a stone was floating and forming a shape.
Enoch saw it and tilted his head slightly.
This very fact was the strange feeling I felt when I heard the name Chloe earlier.
‘Why is Chloe, who is so obviously a wizard, here?’
This must be an orphanage where only non-magicians gather.
Of course, since it’s not stated in the setting where she’s from, it’s not all that strange that Chloe came from this orphanage.
But honestly, it was surprising in many ways.
Enoch looked back and forth between the girl in front of him and the magic circle for a moment.
The girl who happened to notice this tilted her head at Enoch and said.
“…thief?”
Enoch paused at the sudden words.
Although her face looked much younger than the original, it was definitely her.
Chloe.
One of the characters that appeared in the original work.
A character that was considered to be around Tier 3 in the tier list of characters circulating in the community.
A wizard with no particular special qualities other than his pretty appearance and the fact that he has a very small number of die-hard fans in the community.
Such a person was actually standing before my eyes.
Of course, he looks much younger than in the original.
“that.”
chuck.
She pointed to the hand holding the doll, immediately looking at the person who was blankly staring at her.
“I made that doll. Please give it back to me.”
Enoch swallowed his words, wondering if anyone would steal such a piece of stone, and glanced at the doll in his hand.
Looking at it that way, Chloe’s initials were written in small letters on the doll’s back. It seemed clear that she had put a lot of effort into making this doll.
‘By the way, Chloe. How should I treat you?’
Clearly, she is a character from the original work.
Still, I vaguely remember the character since he is something I can recruit for my party… but it was a bit awkward meeting him like this.
Of course, it’s partly because she was a much younger child than in the original, but it’s also because Chloe wasn’t really recruited to the party during the game.
‘More than anything, the performance was really bad!’
In the original work, her performance as a magician was level 14.
The overall skill set is disappointing for a party formation, but it doesn’t have any special merits either. It’s just an ordinary side character.
Even if you bring him in as a follower in-game, it is difficult to use him for missions because he is pushed out by other tier 1 and 2 characters.
Again, he was an extreme performer.
‘It wasn’t an appealing character. It didn’t really have much of an impact on the story.’
Even though he appears in the early part of the original work, his presence is quite weak, if not as much as that of Enoch, who is a supporting character.
But right now, Chloe was the key person holding the information she needed right away.
Besides, there was another reason why he had to be especially careful about Chloe.
‘According to the original work, Chloe has a fairly upright personality.’
You could say that he has a stubborn personality, with clear likes and dislikes.
The reason I remember Chloe, who didn’t have much of a role in the original, was because of her sharp personality.
Of course, that doesn’t mean she’s unusually venomous or anything, but if she keeps doing this, she might get upset and not give you any information.
‘Then it’s best not to offend!’
Enoch held out the doll as politely as he could, trying not to offend her.
“This rabbit is well made. I was just looking at it for a moment.”
But at Enoch’s answer, Chloe’s pretty face suddenly turned sad.
“Sat, rabbit…?”
And the next moment, she cried out with an extremely aggrieved expression.
“Anyone can tell that she’s a fox!”
“… … .”
… Really.