The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 26
Only Noblemtl
As soon as day broke, the mansion was turned upside down.
The fact that there was an underground facility secretly built in the mansion garden a long time ago.
And the fact that a fairly large-scale laboratory for black magicians was built there.
This was after all the facts had been revealed through the materials Enoch had collected and the testimonies of the children.
And the most shocking thing of all is….
“Oh, Mr. Oscar? Is that true!”
The fact that the administrator was the mastermind behind the kidnapping of the children.
The people in the mansion, including the butler who was still staggering from the shock, were in a state of considerable confusion.
But I couldn’t help but believe it.
A blueprint of the mansion’s basement.
Fake adoption contracts and documents.
Even the records containing the details of the experiment.
The evidence presented by Enoch pointed to him as the clear culprit.
Even one of the Vendetta wizards captured by Enoch is regaining consciousness.
When he wakes up in the future, we will be able to question him about more details.
And above all… .
“Master Enoch. Is that true?”
The reception room of the executive mansion.
The teachers at the daycare center who had gathered there after receiving Enoch’s call all looked surprised.
Everyone looked untidy, perhaps because they had been running around desperately looking for Chloe after hearing the news that she had been kidnapped.
“The missing children and the wizard all returned safely? Is that true?”
“Yes.”
But despite Enoch’s words, the teachers at the orphanage just looked at each other with blank expressions.
The existence of a secret laboratory in the basement of the orphanage garden, and the crimes committed by Administrator Oscar.
So many things were happening at once that it seemed like he still had a hard time grasping the situation.
Enoch looked at them one by one and smacked his lips inwardly.
‘Afterwards, I searched the study and the mansion and conducted additional detailed investigations in various ways. However, surprisingly, not a single person in the mansion knew about this fact.’
That means the vendetta was moving very meticulously.
If there were any informants or accomplices among them, they would have been arrested immediately.
Unfortunately, there were no further bonuses to Enoch’s achievements in this mission, as it was clearly stated on paper.
“But Lord Enoch, that’s… how did it happen in just one day?”
The daycare teachers, who were still looking this way with bewildered expressions, soon asked cautiously.
Enoch didn’t say anything else and immediately opened the door to the room across from the reception room.
And when I saw the scenery inside the room.
The teachers’ expressions were all filled with bright joy.
“ah!”
Lien was protecting the children in the room. The children were huddled together around her.
When the door opened, the children turned around and came running, smiling happily.
The teachers hugged the children who came running at them all at once and shed tears of relief.
There was no need to guess how much they had suffered since their children went missing and how happy they were at this reunion.
But Enoch, who was watching those touching scenes, was busy calculating in his mind.
‘Good reaction.’
The greater the impression, the better the reputation of the mission, and the more money you’ll get in your pocket.
Enoch smiled contentedly. Inwardly, of course.
“Lord Enoch.”
Then, a teacher approached me.
“Thank you very much.”
He looked back at the children and teachers in front of him and continued speaking slowly.
“When we first heard that you had been dispatched here, we were worried that you might be overdoing it, having only heard rumors about you. However, it was a huge oversight.”
Enoch simply nodded briefly.
It was a look so different from the contempt he had received since he first became Enoch.
“I just did what I had to do as a direct descendant of Elseid.”
The teacher in front of me opened his eyes wide at those words, then bowed his head deeply again.
“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Elseid family for their hard work, Enoch.”
He thanked them again and turned around to face the children again. Enoch, who had been watching his back, slowly leaned back against the wall.
With this, the first stage of the exemption mission was successfully completed.
Of course, there is still a ‘second immunity mission’ that must be overcome in order to have the expulsion cancelled, but at least the first step has been taken.
It’s a pretty good start.
‘Then, let’s take this opportunity to organize it.’
Enoch calmly collected his thoughts behind the people who were in a state of emotional ecstasy.
‘The mission itself was a success, so others are in a celebratory mood. But this one was only a half-success.’
He reiterated the obvious.
‘We cannot be completely at ease as long as Tantalus, the one who created the monster, is still alive.’
Of course, we destroyed the laboratory itself, and we also obtained solid information that he was using children as experimental subjects.
It’s probably become quite difficult for him to create demons the way he used to.
But on the other hand, that’s as far as it goes.
‘As time goes by, Tantalus will once again gather test subjects and mass-produce demons.’
Judging from the vault’s vaulted archives, Tantalus had been obsessed with human experimentation before coming to this orphanage.
So even if the plan went awry here, there was a high possibility that they would quickly settle down somewhere else and resume human experiments.
‘Tantalos himself is a level 10 or higher wizard, but he is not a combat wizard. He is closer to a scholar or researcher.’
Of course, as a wizard who has surpassed the 10th level barrier, he is stronger than most battle wizards.
However, as described in the work, Tantalus was described as being inferior to wizards of the same level in direct combat.
So, even in the brief moment when he confronted Lien in the basement earlier, he would have been clearly being pushed back.
But the truly terrifying thing about Tantalus was not just his solo combat.
‘The moment Tantalus truly demonstrates his power is when he creates an army of powerful test subjects.’
Enoch recalled the endless legions of experimental demons that the original Tantalus had mass-produced.
Experimental demons also involved in Enoch’s death.
Of course, if we let him do it, things would be a lot of trouble.
‘If I keep wasting time on that guy, I’ll be the one who’ll be at a disadvantage.’
We have to end this somehow before he catches us again and breeds more test subjects.
Enoch briefly recalled Tantalus’ actions in the original.
If my guess is correct, Tantalus’ next move can be roughly predicted.
In that case, it would be better… … .
“…hey.”
Suddenly a small voice was heard calling him.
When I raised my head, I saw a familiar face: Chloe.
She came here instead of going to the teachers like other children.
Chloe came right up to the front and looked up at me as she asked.
“Are you going now?”
“okay.”
Chloe stared at him silently, then carefully moved her lips apart.
“Actually, when you were locked up, I saw you dealing with those monsters.”
“You saw it?”
“There was a small hole in the wall opposite the cage I was locked in, and I could see them fighting. I was so scared that I couldn’t make a sound at the time….”
Enoch’s eyes narrowed slightly at the unexpected words.
So, did you see this guy using a sword?
Maybe things will get annoying.
If you realize that this isn’t your average battle mage, you might find it annoying to deal with.
But contrary to his expectations, Chloe spoke with sparkling eyes.
“This is my first time seeing a wizard fight!”
Enoch let out the breath he had been holding for a moment.
Luckily, she seemed to think this guy was a wizard.
“I see.”
“yes!”
She smiled bashfully once. Then she held out the doll in her hand to Enoch.
“And this.”
Unlike the rabbit-shaped dolls she had claimed were foxes until then, this one definitely looked like a fox.
“It’s a gift!”
Chloe lowered her head, looking a little embarrassed, and spoke in a small voice.
“Even though I manifested magic, honestly, I didn’t know anything until now. What to do, what magic to learn. But now I think I know for sure. This is my reward for that.”
Chloe held out her doll to Enoch and spoke a little sheepishly.
“… Are you a real fox now?”
“Yeah, good job.”
Her face turned bright red as soon as she heard Enoch’s praise.
Chloe said, glancing at the doll with her face flushed red.
“Well, actually. Based on what I just realized… I succeeded in casting elemental magic on a doll for the first time.”
She covered her doll with her hand.
Hwaak.
Then, the doll in her hands began to glow brightly on its own.
“When taken out of a dark place, the doll absorbs sunlight and glows brightly on its own.”
Chloe continued speaking, hesitating, perhaps a little embarrassed.
“I know that bestowal magic isn’t my specialty, so it’ll only last a few hours… but I thought that maybe something like this might be useful in a dark place like when you came to rescue us…”
Enoch’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw the doll Chloe held out.
‘That means the doll was enchanted with a magic that automatically makes it glow in the dark.’
In the Magic Empire, most artifacts are ultimately items that can only be used with magic.
However, if it was an artifact with such a self-operating function, even Enoch, a non-magician, could easily use it.
But what really surprised him wasn’t just for such practical reasons.
“I know it’s nothing special for a battle mage of the Zhou family, but… I wanted to express my gratitude in my own way. Would you accept it?”
Enoch looked at Chloe blankly as she held out the doll in front of him.
It was a little confusing.
‘That’s impossible.’
A magic that not only creates the perfect shape you want with elemental magic, but also gives it the property of emitting light on its own.
Actually, this in itself is not that special of a magic.
However, it makes no sense to say that ‘Chloe, of all people, uses this magic’.
because….
‘… This is a 13th-grade elemental enchantment magic?’
In the original, Chloe is a low-tier wizard with only rank 14.
Just one of those characters with no special features.
It must have been so.
Suddenly, in the original, she went beyond the stagnant rank and used 13th rank magic?
‘no way.’
Suddenly, only one possibility flashed through Enoch’s mind.
‘Chloe overcame the wall of enlightenment that she couldn’t overcome even in the original?’
The enlightenment of magicians is vague.
In theory, you could get to the magical level by doing something that seems like nothing to others.
In other words, no one knows the reason for each individual’s attainment of enlightenment until they themselves attain it.
Therefore, in order for wizards to rise above their innate limitations and level up, they had to put in tremendous effort and undergo intense self-reflection.
It’s like trying to overcome a huge barrier with no correct answer.
So, for wizards, the ranks are called ‘Walls of Enlightenment’.
‘But Chloe crossed the wall of enlightenment five years before the start of the original story? And it was after seeing the battle we fought?’
Of course, in the original, Enoch and Chloe were characters who had no connection whatsoever… .
‘Is this story possible?’
But it was possible, and there was no need to doubt what had already happened. Enoch paused for a moment and slowly opened his mouth.
“Thank you. Sincerely.”
Enoch accepted her kindness and carefully packed the gift. Chloe, who had been staring at Enoch for a moment, cautiously called out to him again.
“hey.”
“What now?”
Chloe tugged at his sleeve, forcing Enoch to bend down slightly, then stood up on her heels and whispered in Enoch’s ear.
“Someday, I too will work at Elseid Stock Exchange.”
She looked into Enoch’s eyes and smiled brightly.
“And at that time, we decided which clan we would join!”
After saying that, Chloe smiled bashfully and then quickly turned around, appearing in the distance.
Enoch looked at her back for a moment.
‘Chloe… She surpassed her limits and became a 13th-grade wizard 5 years earlier than the original. It feels like an unexpected coin has skyrocketed.’
I never thought something like this could happen.
‘By the way, it’s a Chajong family.’
Now that I think about it, there was something he had forgotten for a while.
‘Come to think of it, I should also bring in a follower family as soon as my position is established.’
If only Enoch’s banishment were revoked, he would have followers.
But even if that moment came, we had absolutely no intention of welcoming those idiots as our followers.
Because this side already has everything planned out.
‘The answer is to recruit ignorant performance characters!’
A strategy that uses the skills and combinations of the recruited party members to suppress enemies.
In other words, the plan to recruit the original Tier 1 characters had to be successful.
Since we already know everything about them, we all know that they are a good example of talent scouting.
As soon as he thought of the magicians who boasted crazy performance in the original, Enoch’s heart started pounding.
“… Ah! You are here, Master Enoch!”
Just as he was finishing his thoughts, a man came towards him with a welcoming look on his face.
Looking closely, it was the wizard of Elseid who had been captured in the underground laboratory earlier.
He bowed before Enoch and said,
“I am so grateful to Lord Enoch for saving my life. It has been eight years since I became a battle mage for the Elseid family, but I never dreamed that something like this would happen.”
Still a gaunt face. It was a face we hadn’t seen in the original, but he was a very sociable man.
“I am Askle, a third-ranked follower of Lord Loctes. I will report to the family separately about your achievements.”
As he said this, he took out a fancy badge from his pocket.
“And this is my personal reward.”
A thin card-shaped design made of simple yet luxurious metal.
He handed it to Enoch and continued his explanation.
“If you present this card to the family, you will be able to freely use some of the powers that Lord Loctes has, for one time only.”
Enoch accepted the emblem with a rather bewildered look on his face.
‘You’re giving me this?’
Among the plans he had made, taking this kind of reward was not on the agenda.
The numbers between each rank indicate the succession order.
In particular, it is famous for granting various rights and benefits within the family as you rise in rank through meritorious deeds.
It is a position that grants all sorts of privileges, including the ability to mobilize family resources, confidential information, and even the authority to issue operational orders to powerful magicians belonging to the family.
And it wasn’t anyone else, it was the 3rd rank!
This badge was a kind of certification that allowed him to use some of the many powers he possessed.
And of course, no one knows how to use this better than Enoch.
“I hope this helps, Master Enoch.”
He smiled as he said that. It seemed like he was really grateful for something like that.
Enoch nodded slightly and took the cards from him with his usual calm expression.
But he couldn’t hold back the laughter pouring out of him and was laughing heartily.
‘It’s so sweet.’
Just how many rewards did you get from this mission?
It’s so sweet that it makes my teeth rot.
Things were going so much better than I expected.
“Oh, by the way. Master Enoch.”
The moment I thought about that.
Then Askle looked this way and added.
“Didn’t you say that the lord will return to the castle soon?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. If the young master knew that you had achieved great success in this mission, he would be very pleased!”
Enoch nodded slowly at his words.
Come to think of it, the second exemption mission was none other than a mission given directly by the Count.
If so, you’ll probably have to meet him in person and talk to him to get your next exemption.
‘If you say the head of the Elseid family, then he is the top wizard of the Magic Empire… a first-class wizard.’
A first-class wizard.
Enoch smiled for a moment without realizing it, thrilled by the weight of those words.
There was no need to recall how much they were beyond imagination.
Because you can easily guess what they are like with just one sentence from the original.
“Those who stand on the border between humans and gods.”
That’s the title given to first-class wizards.
The realm of those who have come closest to the goddess who created the world with mana in the beginning in mythology, through their own power.
A first-class wizard was someone who was called with such respect and awe.
‘Well, anyway, it turned out well.’
While I’m at it, let’s take a look at Enoch’s father’s face.